Papa, my father, was born on June 23rd 1934 to Sardar Gurmukh Singh & Sardarni Gobind Kaur Mehta in Peshawar ( present day Pakistan). He was their third child : his siblings included two brothers and five sisters. He was of happy demeanor in his childhood, a loving brother and an obedient son to his parents.  Family moved to Narela, India after partition and he finished his  matriculation at Nari, where his father was a head master of a local high school. After matriculation Papa studied to be a surveyor and worked as an instructor before joining the Department of Atomic Energy, Atomic Minerals Division as a scientific officer.  He contributed to many important projects and was even a key participant in a two person team from his department that worked on “Smiling Buddha “  project in Pokharan, Rajasthan in 1974. 

Papa was also a devoted Radha Swami, like his family. He took naam from Maharaj Sant Kirpal Singh Ji and was a follower of the Ruhani Satsang Mission until the end. My father married my mother, Sardarni Gurjit Kaur (daughter of Sardar Gurcharan Singh  and Sardarni Mahtab Kaur Chandhoke of Ludhiana, Punjab) in October of 1962 . My mother came from a large family, she had nine brothers and two sisters. My father was very fond of his younger brothers in law and had a mutually loving relationship with my older uncles and aunts. My parents welcomed their first daughter in July of 1964, Bawa (Surinder) and second daughter Mona (Prabhjot) in 1969. We were a small, affectionate and loving family. My parents both worked very hard and instilled in us the value of hard work and of being a good human being, at all costs. He showed us , by example, that being a good human being was our true religion. We were a middle class family, and were proud of our upbringing, we had many neighbors that were part of our every day life. Papa’s job required him to travel and he was posted all over India. We would visit him in camp and those are some of the best memories we have of our childhood —— visiting papa in camp! Even after retiring from AMD, he was honored by his department and served on the hiring committee as a specialist for BARC in Bombay, Maharashtra.

Papa taught us to be kind in speech, polite in action  but firm in thought. He was a simple man with principles. He taught us principles are not something you talk about, but something you live by when no one is watching. We loved Papa, we could ask him for anything and he would always agree, much to mummy’s chagrin!

Papa was so proud when his daughter was admitted to IIT, to be an engineer. Although he would never show it openly, but it was something that gave him immense pleasure. In later years, he was also very proud when he visited the United States and spent time with both his daughters at their universities as they were pursuing graduate studies. He had a sense of accomplishment that his daughters had achieved higher education. He also visited Canada on these occasions and spent many happy days with Chandhoke family —— he had such fond memories of those visits!

In later years, especially after losing his life partner, (mummy passed away in 2014) Papa’s Health started deteriorating, He also became more quietly contemplative. He moved in with Bawa and Pawan and lived a comfortable and caring life they lovingly provided. Papa  had two loving sons in law Pawan and Vinod who gave him much love and respect. He had special bond with his loving grand children : Anmol & Samik, Rohan & Maya. We will miss you dear Papa & you will be remembered lovingly everyday !