Remembering Mitali

It is always painful to write about a dear friend who dies young. And ironically, this piece of tribute is appearing in the newspaper where we shared space in the editorial desk as happy, carefree youngsters some one-and-a-half decade back. Mitali Kalita Bardoloi who winged her way into eternity on April 9 after waging a brave battle against cancer was indeed an exceptiol woman.
Our association during the Sentinel days was for only about a year but the bonding we developed made it seem that we had been friends for ages. Those joyous days testify to the truth in the adage that we live in certain special moments and not in years.
We were a bunch of like-minded individuals, and despite working under tough taskmasters and the strict Sentinel regimen, we were able to mix pleasure with work. So much so that I regard – and I believe all my former colleagues would agree – The Sentinel days as among the best days in my life.
Enterprising, hardworking and easy-going, Mital embodied many a quality of the head and the heart which endeared her to her friends. After leaving The Sentinel, she worked with several reputed media houses in different metropolises. Later she joined the HDFC and went on to become the Head of HR of HDFC Life, Mumbai in her short professiol career. She also settled in Mumbai with her husband Sabyasachi (who, too, was our colleague in The Sentinel).
An accomplished photographer and a travel buff, Mitali was a voracious reader and a movie aficiodo as well, taking delight in all the finer things of life. An ever-smiling lady with an incredibly comforting presence, Mitali had a zest for life and it had something infectious about it. Wit and humour was her forte, and since the time we met first till her last days she was her ever-ebullient self. She might no longer be with us in her physical form but her memory will endure in our hearts forever.
Today on her adyashraddha day, I pray to the Almighty to grant eterl peace to Mitali’s noble soul.
—Sivashish Thakur