A small and inadequate tribute to one awesome human being

Like summer tempest came our tears, Dilip-May you rest in peace. At 2;30 pm on 4th Oct, I got a call. It was past midnight in India. My mother cried hysterically into the phone saying, my cousin Dilip was killed in a car accident. He was just 45. The grief and sorrow comes from so deep, that it sucks the entire body of will and strength. But I dont want to keep crying over his last few moments, I want to celebrate his existence. He was a chartered accountant , but taught classes as a profession. But what made Dilip extraordinary was his ability to find solutions. He was the go to man for anyone with any kind of problem. From mundane issues to earth shattering ones, he had the innate ability to think straight and resolve issues. His diplomacy was unparalleled. But he was the guy you never heard of, the person who worked behind the scenes to make it happen. He just helped people without expecting anything return. This, I know, he inherited from his dad. These are the people who will be by your side, bad or good and stick with you till you are good to go. His above par intelligence is usually sidelined, but his clear thought process and the ease and smile with which he faced life head on can be a lesson for all of us. His larger than life existence came to end because of a mere car drive. Only after his death, I realized one thing-Dilip had a unique relationship with each person he came in contact with. He knew what level of thinking each person could handle,he could stoop to the level of a young child or raise the bar to the highest level with a top bureaucrat. He is the guy everyone called as their "best friend". Whether it was my wedding or my book launch, he was there, strong as a rock, by my side. As I try to grieve and try to find logic in this senseless premature death,Dilip's ever-smiling face and his jokes will remain etched in my memory. I pray that God give his wife and mother much strength to get over this loss.Good bye Dilip- You were one of a kind!