Death is More Real than Thought to be

At least for me. I have strong Buddhist Leanings. I think about absolute happiness and tranquility. Aspire to be as tranquil as Eckhart Tolle and S.N. Goenka however the pressure of Job makes me forget about higher things. Keep writing emails, teach the students , reach home , fall asleep ... continue next day. I want to read more , meditate more but somehow keep postponing. I am 33 and death does not seem to be approaching fast however , so far I have lost two colleagues.

I was just searching the internet for an old friend of mine (Piyush Gigras) and was shocked to come across his obituary. He had already died in the year 2001. He must have been 24 then. It was shocking. Difficult to believe that a young man could die. The other colleague I have lost was Kandi Saritha Reddy. She was my Colleague in M.Tech. She Died around 2002, She must have been 25 then. Can I be sure of living long? I wonder should the reading for spiritual enlightenment be postponed for the old age. Where to strike a balance between Professional development and the spiritual development.

Mindfulness is required. Mindfulness to balance. Read, think , Meditate.... Love, Be kind , Be compassionate.... Be mindful...






copied from:
http://wupa.wustl.edu/record_archive/2002/01-11-02/obits.html

Obituaries

Gigras, chemical engineering graduate student

By Tony Fitzpatrick

Piyush G. Gigras, a graduate student in chemical engineering, died Monday, Dec. 17, 2001, in an auto accident in northern Iowa while en route to visit family in Minnesota.

Gigras was born Nov. 1, 1974, in Moradabad, located in the northeast part of Uttar Pradesh, the most populated state in India. He spent most of his life in the northern part of India.

His father, Gopal Gigras, worked for the government of India as a scientist. Gigras joined one of the most prestigious institutes in India, the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, in the fall of 1995, majoring in chemical engineering.

He came to Washington University as a graduate student in the chemical engineering department in the fall of 1999. He began working in the field of non-Newtonian fluid dynamics under the guidance of Bamin Khomami, the Francis F. Ahmann Professor of Chemical Engineering.

"Piyush was an extremely gifted student," Khomami said. "He was a first-rate researcher. He was kind and generous, and touched the life of all he knew in a very positive and meaningful way. He is truly missed by all of us.

"I truly feel that I have lost a son, a very promising son who would have had a great impact not only on his profession but also on the people that would have come in contact with him."

Kartik Arora, a chemical engineering graduate student and friend, said, "Piyush had a very pleasant personality, and was liked by everyone who knew him. He was fun-loving with a very comforting smile.

"He liked seeing new places. In his 2 1/2 years in the United States, he saw six different states and eight different cities, including Las Vegas. He enjoyed taking pictures with his 35-80 mm focal length SLR camera.

"We shall miss him forever, and for some of us, life will never be the same without him."

Gigras is survived by his parents and two brothers. At his family's request, his body was transported back to India. A campus memorial service is being planne