Tiger is no More ......I got up after a siesta and checked out the mobile to see if there was any call that I had missed. I failed to attend 5 calls and all were of my mother. I knew that something was wrong. That very moment the phone rang again. At first, I vacillated to answer the call but somehow I gathered audacity and answered . I suffered a thud in my heart as my mother told me the matter. There was a complete tranquility in the room for a moment. TIGER WAS NO MORE.
The last time I saw Tiger was in June 2009. He rang the bell and came in. He was an impressive figure with an air of dignity about him. He came in and sat on the sofa and in his powerful voice said “Tiger, go and get me a glass of water.” Then he asked me how my vacation break was going on and then our talk accelerated and it didn’t show any signs of ending until my mother made black tea for him [He always preferred black tea to normal tea.] He then told my mother and my grandma that he had to leave as he had to turn up at a marriage ceremony. That was it. I didn’t see him after that. Well I did see him but in the snapshots that my mother had captured in her mobile while she was there in the hospital to visit him in Pune.
Tiger, namely Col. Pradeep Pasbola ,was in 5/11 Gorkha Rifles.In relation,he was my father's brother-in-law,in short he was my " Phuphaji". He was an impressive figure with an air of dignity about him. An army officer by métier, he was extra ordinarily erudite. Ask him anything, he would always have the correct answer regarding your question. Never did I see him sitting idle, always active. Even when he was “suppose” to sit idle, he always had a book in his hand or was solving sudoko, or watching some sports channel on T.V. He was a person who would get mixed up with anybody and with ease. Often times he use to interact with my brother and me. He was also very enthusiastic about music[Only English music]. This I only discovered in Leh, when we had gone there to visit this place that he had been posted to. He was a sports aficionado. Playing sports had always been a part of his routine. Jogging was also a part of his daily routine. He loved to play Golf {it was his favourite sport} and whenever he came across a golf course near his place, he never missed any opportunity to play there. He also knew a lot about football. Oftentimes I had seen him following football matches on television. Whenever he was at my house and wanted to watch television, he always asked me on what number were channels like "ESPN","Ten Sports" etc. being shown. Now speaking about his physical fitness. Never had I heard him carp about any sort of ache. He was so completely fit. As mentioned earlier he was too much into sports which helped him to remain fit and healthy.But he did not use to eat much.I hardly saw him eating dinner and what I observed was that he loathed to eat tomatoes.
In comparision to this, while he was suffering with cancer the whole scenario changed. He first showed signs of pain while he was in Leh. He complained about backache and got his medical checkup done. The doctor told him that every thing was normal and he would soon get well again. Here’s where the biggest faux pas was commited. The doctor present in Leh should have conducted tests to detect whether there was any problem or not. Had it been detected earlier, the chain of events would have been different today.Another stroke of bad luck which came to his way was that the GCO in Leh did not grant him leave. The reason for this was that there weren't sufficient officers on duty to push on with the work .Since the doctor had declared that Tiger would soon become well again, the GCO requested Tiger to remain on duty. Tiger being a hard worker and a very dedicated officer agreed to stay back and to go on with the work inspite being in so much of pain.This was where the delay was caused. The cells of cancer kept on multiplying and he remained unaware of this deadly fact. After some days, Tiger could not take it any more. He was then hostpitalized in Leh and was there for about 8-9 days. When the doctors could not detect what the problem was, Tiger went to Hyderabad {This is where his family resides}.It was a voluntary decision as he knew that it was of no use staying in the hospital in Leh where the doctors were unable to detect the problem. He got his check up done again in Hyderabad. An eye opener came to us as he was detected with cancer and the worst part was that it had spread from kidneys to liver. This news came to us as a big blow. But more than us it was Tiger who was shocked and was very sad by this news. My mother told me that he once said that after hearing this he was completely shattered. He could not get what was going on. But he was a fighter. He did not take much time to get to the grips with the situation. He was then recommended Command Hospital in Pune which is one of the best army hospitals in the country. This is where his suffer begins. Cycles of chemotherapy started making him weak but hats off to that person who did not give up during such baffling phase of his life. I still remember talking to him on the phone where he said to me “TIGER I WILL SURVIVE.” But destiny had planned something else for him......
The name "Tiger" goes hand in glove with his personality. Actually it was he who used to call others by this tag of "Tiger," but for me he was a tiger in true sense. Just like a tiger, he too was "Fearless." "Fearless" of the fact that he had been detected with cancer. "Fearless" of the fact that it is almost out of the question for any patient detected with cancer of liver to survive. "Fearless" of the fact that this phase of his life would be the worst and the most thorny phase of his life. Instead he took it very normally and went on fighting against all odds.The first four months would have been difficult for any person who would have been in his place. But for tiger nothing was difficult. Everyday he used to walk for atleast 2 km. He used to watch television and like always found it a great fun to talk and to interact with people. People went on to visit him and had just one thing to say after meeting him, "His will power to live will not let his soul leave his body too soon." He was as powerful as before,in body as well as in mind.
In the interim,everyone who knew him was doing whatever he could so that Tiger would get well again. His relatives were on the job of visiting temples and performing rituals. His brother Mr. Sudeep Pasbola,an advocate by line of work, paid frequent visits to the hospital to be by his brother's side during his most difficult times. Many of his coursemates and colleagues too paid habitual visits to the hospital.
Now getting back to Tiger who was fighting it out to live. 6-7 months passed and still the skirmish between tiger and the deadly disease was on. He started looking like a man in his early 60's. Suddenly his impressive figure seemed equivalent to an old man’s fragile body. His knowledge had started to fade. He hardly remembered anybody’s name. His powerful voice seemed to be alike an ailing man’s voice. Whenever I talked to him on the phone he took a lot of time to absorb what was asked to him. Suddenly a man who was always active and never idle had hardly anything to do besides sleeping. A person who would easily get mixed up with people, found it very antagonizing to even talk to his closest relatives or pals who had come to visit him. Over a period of time he regularly carped about pain. This went on for about 7 months and one day my aunt called my mother and told her that he was in his last stage of cancer and was throwing up blood which was a sign that some collapse had happened to his system. My parents left for Pune that very night and a bolt from the blue came to me when they told me about his condition. It was even worse than before. He was shifted to I.C.U. that very night when he was throwing up blood. But I tell you, his will power to live was serving as a barrier between life and death. His spirit was as powerful as before but his body was not supporting his doggedness to live. Soon his body stopped giving responses to the medication. It meant that the cancerous growth was at its height. Nothing could be done to reduce or to restrict the cells from multiplying. Seeing all this, he was then taken back to Hyderabad and admitted there . After 8 months of a long battle with cancer, he gave up. He breathed his last on 19 May 2010.
The news came as revelation to the people not because he had died but because THE TIGER, THE FIGHTER, and above all A GREAT HUMAN BEING had died. Even during his last time he did not give up. Like a guerrila fighter he went on fighting with this lethal disease.
I would like to thank all the people who stepped in with support and help for Tiger. His colleagues were the people who stood beside Tiger during his battle with cancer. One of them was Brig.Jayrath, whom I had met in Leh, when he had come with his family for a low key meeting with Tiger. The support that he gave and provided is indeed exemplary.
Col.G.P. Singh and Brig. Mishra (retd.) had also been one of the frequent visitors who proved to be a great helping hand for Tiger.
Another mention must be made of Retd.Col.Chinnappa and Col. Durga .They both provided a great abet to Tiger's family in Hyderabad.
I would also like to thank the orderlies namely Jitender, Harminder and Roshan who were in service to tiger in Command Hospital.
A special thanks to Dr. Col. Kapoor who was treating tiger and the whole staff of the Command Hospital,Pune.
Also, 9 on 10 places visited by me are because of him. I would specially like to mention, that those of you have read my article on Leh must know that I could only pen down that article because of him. He had been a constant pillar of support for me in putting down that article. It is one of the places that I have visited becuase of him since he was posted there. I’ll cherish each and every moment that I got to spend with him and especially his most favorite word "TIGER" . In the end I would only like to say :
The last time I saw Tiger was in June 2009. He rang the bell and came in. He was an impressive figure with an air of dignity about him. He came in and sat on the sofa and in his powerful voice said “Tiger, go and get me a glass of water.” Then he asked me how my vacation break was going on and then our talk accelerated and it didn’t show any signs of ending until my mother made black tea for him [He always preferred black tea to normal tea.] He then told my mother and my grandma that he had to leave as he had to turn up at a marriage ceremony. That was it. I didn’t see him after that. Well I did see him but in the snapshots that my mother had captured in her mobile while she was there in the hospital to visit him in Pune.
Tiger, namely Col. Pradeep Pasbola ,was in 5/11 Gorkha Rifles.In relation,he was my father's brother-in-law,in short he was my " Phuphaji". He was an impressive figure with an air of dignity about him. An army officer by métier, he was extra ordinarily erudite. Ask him anything, he would always have the correct answer regarding your question. Never did I see him sitting idle, always active. Even when he was “suppose” to sit idle, he always had a book in his hand or was solving sudoko, or watching some sports channel on T.V. He was a person who would get mixed up with anybody and with ease. Often times he use to interact with my brother and me. He was also very enthusiastic about music[Only English music]. This I only discovered in Leh, when we had gone there to visit this place that he had been posted to. He was a sports aficionado. Playing sports had always been a part of his routine. Jogging was also a part of his daily routine. He loved to play Golf {it was his favourite sport} and whenever he came across a golf course near his place, he never missed any opportunity to play there. He also knew a lot about football. Oftentimes I had seen him following football matches on television. Whenever he was at my house and wanted to watch television, he always asked me on what number were channels like "ESPN","Ten Sports" etc. being shown. Now speaking about his physical fitness. Never had I heard him carp about any sort of ache. He was so completely fit. As mentioned earlier he was too much into sports which helped him to remain fit and healthy.But he did not use to eat much.I hardly saw him eating dinner and what I observed was that he loathed to eat tomatoes.
In comparision to this, while he was suffering with cancer the whole scenario changed. He first showed signs of pain while he was in Leh. He complained about backache and got his medical checkup done. The doctor told him that every thing was normal and he would soon get well again. Here’s where the biggest faux pas was commited. The doctor present in Leh should have conducted tests to detect whether there was any problem or not. Had it been detected earlier, the chain of events would have been different today.Another stroke of bad luck which came to his way was that the GCO in Leh did not grant him leave. The reason for this was that there weren't sufficient officers on duty to push on with the work .Since the doctor had declared that Tiger would soon become well again, the GCO requested Tiger to remain on duty. Tiger being a hard worker and a very dedicated officer agreed to stay back and to go on with the work inspite being in so much of pain.This was where the delay was caused. The cells of cancer kept on multiplying and he remained unaware of this deadly fact. After some days, Tiger could not take it any more. He was then hostpitalized in Leh and was there for about 8-9 days. When the doctors could not detect what the problem was, Tiger went to Hyderabad {This is where his family resides}.It was a voluntary decision as he knew that it was of no use staying in the hospital in Leh where the doctors were unable to detect the problem. He got his check up done again in Hyderabad. An eye opener came to us as he was detected with cancer and the worst part was that it had spread from kidneys to liver. This news came to us as a big blow. But more than us it was Tiger who was shocked and was very sad by this news. My mother told me that he once said that after hearing this he was completely shattered. He could not get what was going on. But he was a fighter. He did not take much time to get to the grips with the situation. He was then recommended Command Hospital in Pune which is one of the best army hospitals in the country. This is where his suffer begins. Cycles of chemotherapy started making him weak but hats off to that person who did not give up during such baffling phase of his life. I still remember talking to him on the phone where he said to me “TIGER I WILL SURVIVE.” But destiny had planned something else for him......
The name "Tiger" goes hand in glove with his personality. Actually it was he who used to call others by this tag of "Tiger," but for me he was a tiger in true sense. Just like a tiger, he too was "Fearless." "Fearless" of the fact that he had been detected with cancer. "Fearless" of the fact that it is almost out of the question for any patient detected with cancer of liver to survive. "Fearless" of the fact that this phase of his life would be the worst and the most thorny phase of his life. Instead he took it very normally and went on fighting against all odds.The first four months would have been difficult for any person who would have been in his place. But for tiger nothing was difficult. Everyday he used to walk for atleast 2 km. He used to watch television and like always found it a great fun to talk and to interact with people. People went on to visit him and had just one thing to say after meeting him, "His will power to live will not let his soul leave his body too soon." He was as powerful as before,in body as well as in mind.
In the interim,everyone who knew him was doing whatever he could so that Tiger would get well again. His relatives were on the job of visiting temples and performing rituals. His brother Mr. Sudeep Pasbola,an advocate by line of work, paid frequent visits to the hospital to be by his brother's side during his most difficult times. Many of his coursemates and colleagues too paid habitual visits to the hospital.
Now getting back to Tiger who was fighting it out to live. 6-7 months passed and still the skirmish between tiger and the deadly disease was on. He started looking like a man in his early 60's. Suddenly his impressive figure seemed equivalent to an old man’s fragile body. His knowledge had started to fade. He hardly remembered anybody’s name. His powerful voice seemed to be alike an ailing man’s voice. Whenever I talked to him on the phone he took a lot of time to absorb what was asked to him. Suddenly a man who was always active and never idle had hardly anything to do besides sleeping. A person who would easily get mixed up with people, found it very antagonizing to even talk to his closest relatives or pals who had come to visit him. Over a period of time he regularly carped about pain. This went on for about 7 months and one day my aunt called my mother and told her that he was in his last stage of cancer and was throwing up blood which was a sign that some collapse had happened to his system. My parents left for Pune that very night and a bolt from the blue came to me when they told me about his condition. It was even worse than before. He was shifted to I.C.U. that very night when he was throwing up blood. But I tell you, his will power to live was serving as a barrier between life and death. His spirit was as powerful as before but his body was not supporting his doggedness to live. Soon his body stopped giving responses to the medication. It meant that the cancerous growth was at its height. Nothing could be done to reduce or to restrict the cells from multiplying. Seeing all this, he was then taken back to Hyderabad and admitted there . After 8 months of a long battle with cancer, he gave up. He breathed his last on 19 May 2010.
The news came as revelation to the people not because he had died but because THE TIGER, THE FIGHTER, and above all A GREAT HUMAN BEING had died. Even during his last time he did not give up. Like a guerrila fighter he went on fighting with this lethal disease.
I would like to thank all the people who stepped in with support and help for Tiger. His colleagues were the people who stood beside Tiger during his battle with cancer. One of them was Brig.Jayrath, whom I had met in Leh, when he had come with his family for a low key meeting with Tiger. The support that he gave and provided is indeed exemplary.
Col.G.P. Singh and Brig. Mishra (retd.) had also been one of the frequent visitors who proved to be a great helping hand for Tiger.
Another mention must be made of Retd.Col.Chinnappa and Col. Durga .They both provided a great abet to Tiger's family in Hyderabad.
I would also like to thank the orderlies namely Jitender, Harminder and Roshan who were in service to tiger in Command Hospital.
A special thanks to Dr. Col. Kapoor who was treating tiger and the whole staff of the Command Hospital,Pune.
Also, 9 on 10 places visited by me are because of him. I would specially like to mention, that those of you have read my article on Leh must know that I could only pen down that article because of him. He had been a constant pillar of support for me in putting down that article. It is one of the places that I have visited becuase of him since he was posted there. I’ll cherish each and every moment that I got to spend with him and especially his most favorite word "TIGER" . In the end I would only like to say :
I know that you will be gifted heaven,
Because you deserve it.
I know that your soul will rest in peace,
Because you deserve it,
I know that all your unfulfilled wishes will be fulfilled in heaven,
Because you deserve it,
And one more thing I know dear tiger,
According to God you deserved death
Because he needed the most humble & caring person on earth
To help him to manage the universe.
Au revoir dear Phuphaji,
May your soul rest in peace…….
By SHREYASHI KUKRETI
IX C.J.M. [DehraDun]
