REMEMBRANCE PIECE – Prayer Failed to Avert the Loss of a Dear Friend

I came across a message on WhatsApp on Sunday morning. It read simply: “Dada is no more.” A wave of dread washed over me!
Since the previous night, I had been deeply apprehensive about my friend Sanjay Biswas, who was battling for his life in the Intensive Care Unit of a private nursing home in Silchar, in southern Assam.
Our mutual friend, Hiranmoy Roy, who teaches at a central university in Uttarakhand, had alerted me the night before about Sanjay’s critical condition.
Sanjay’s younger brother—Joydeep Biswas, a well-known lawyer in Silchar—did everything humanly possible to keep him alive.

But God had other plans!
I met Sanjay during my graduation years at Gurucharan College, a prestigious institution in southern Assam that has recently been upgraded to a state university. After completing our studies, life took us in different directions—I moved to Guwahati, while Sanjay went to Arunachal Pradesh after completing his post-graduation at Assam University.
As time passed, we gradually lost regular contact, each busy with professional commitments and personal responsibilities. Yet we remained aware of each other’s journeys from a distance. In the intervening years, Sanjay lost his beloved wife. He returned to Silchar from Itanagar with his only child, Sohum, who flourished under his loving care.
Incidentally, Silchar is home to the world’s first polo club, established in 1859.
Sanjay embraced the demanding dual role of both mother and father to Sohum with quiet resilience.
Whenever I visited Silchar, Sanjay would unfailingly come to meet me—often with Sohum, whenever the boy was free from academic pressure. The child has now stepped into adolescence.
Sanjay was a social paragon—warm, generous, and effortlessly connected with people. He remained in touch with most of our college friends, and I frequently received updates on our circle through him. He took genuine joy in nurturing those bonds.
Now, when I visit the southern Assam town, I know I will encounter a profound and indescribable emptiness.
Had my prayer been answered, I would have met Sanjay Biswas (Liptu) on my next visit, just as always. I believe everyone who knew him shares the same sense of irreparable loss. He was the thread that held all of us together.
I wish I had not received that WhatsApp message this morning from Joy, who now must shoulder the dual responsibility of uncle and father to young Sohum.

My deepest condolences to the Biswas family—and my heartfelt love to Sohum.
Wish my prayer to God had been heard, at least!!

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist.)