courage under fire

– The Playground of heaven awaits my friend,by Vedobrato Chatterjee

It’s a time of mourning at the Pande residence. Their 24-year-old son,Harshvardhan Pande,who suffered from athro-gryeosis congenital complications (orthopedic deformity of legs and hips),passed away on April 23 after a massive heart attack. Yet,their house in Viman Nagar is filled with a sense of positive reconciliation. In the hall,neatly placed in rows,are framed pictures of Harshvardhan in different moods – a matte-finish photograph of the young boy at a friend’s wedding for which he travelled alone to Jodhpur; a gold medal for a national level paper presentation on innovative software design. A huge sketch book sits on the side,its pages filled with pictures,newspaper articles and cards. His father Lt Col Lalit Mohan Pande has preserved the memories of every personal and professional achievement of his son,including paper cuttings lauding him for excellence in standard 10 and 12. “ Life is not about the quantity,its the quality that matters,” says Harshvardhan’s mother Smita.

Loss is evident in the family’s demeanor. Lt Col Pande’s voice has a faint quiver as he reads out a poem,’The playground of heaven awaits my friend,’ penned for Harshvardhan by his friend Vedobrato Chatterjee. Twenty-five-year-old Digvijay,Harshvardhan’s older brother,hesitates a little before he starts talking about his brother and Smita’s eyes keep wandering to the framed picture of her deceased son. And yet,one feels that Harshvardhan left behind a happy background score.

After finishing his high school,Harshvardhan went on to pursue Computer Engineering from the College of Engineering,Pune. Here too he left a mark – a 10-pointer in his last semester,he was an inspiration to many. At his job he gained accelerated promotion in barely two years. “When one looks at success in the conventional way,we could say that he had it all. He was indefatigable. But it was the other things he did in life that made him who he was,” says Lt Col Pande as he shows Harshvardhan’s thick file of certificates and letters of appreciation.

At the side of the stairway stand a pair of crutches. On the table next to them sits Harshvardhan’s first unpublished fictional novel,Hiccups. “Currently,we have given this to publishers to review. We will soon get it published,” says Digvijay. Harshvardhan was also working on a book of quotes penned by him. “In a lot of ways writing satisfied him,” says Digvijay. The family’s face lights up as they read out the synopsis of Hiccups.

Harshvardhan also displayed a wicked sense of humour. “He came up with lots of crazy ideas. Like on Facebook,we launched this Breakup Project,” says Digvijay as he opens the page. “ So he would make these videos trying to come up with new stories of how couples broke up on the third date.”

Harshavardhan battled his way through 14 complex surgeries and still kept his lust for life intact. In his resilient spirit was also evident a frustration towards fighting a system that didn’t make life any easier. Poor accessibility in public spaces was a constant obstacle. “ He avoided trains. It was really a discomfort,but air travel he did on his own,” says Lt Col Pande. As one goes through the newspaper cuttings,one finds a first person account penned by Harshvardhan in 2003. In it is a line that summarises his attitude: “ I am happy despite the setbacks.”