Tribute for Late Pradeep V Singh

My friend, Pradeep V. Singh

Pradeep’s grandfather, Lala Raghubir Singh, had founded Modern School and his father, Gen. Virender Singh was the Secretary, Board of Trustees (at the time when we were in School). That alone would have been sufficient to weigh down any child. Perhaps to find him space to grow without the burden of his lineage, he was sent to Doon School after Junior School. But that vanvaas was only fleeting and did not last long and he was back in the Class with us, where he rightfully belonged.

Pradeep carved a niche for himself. He had a large circle of friends in the Class and it was his generosity with undiluted friendship, his warmth and sincerity that made him a friend of friends.

Pradeep was a keen swimmer and an ardent dancer, first under tutelage of Mr. B.S. Sharma in Junior School and then under Mr. Narendra Sharma in Senior School. He was in Patel House with me and he was at the forefront of the Ballet for the House Functions and for the Founder’s Day. Of course, studies for him were a necessary evil and a punishment that had to endured so as to enjoy things extra-curricular. No wonder his academic disconnect was ever too evident.

After School, Pradeep joined Hindu College, with me there too. To borrow the phrase from Neeraj Ghei’s father, Pradeep “graduated gradually.” I doubt there was any good thing in life that he didn’t try tom enjoy before finally settling down.

It was after he got involved in the management of the Schools that Pradeep came into his true element. He was conscientious, caring, egalitarian, non-hierarchical, and worked seamlessly with all stakeholders. He could

. . . talk with crowds and keep [his] virtue,

Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch[.]

He never threw his weight around. He always attempted to carry the faculty, non-teaching staff and students with him by ironing out differences and building consensus.

He lived and breathed “Modern”. He wanted to take the Schools to still greater heights. He spent almost 6 years developing and nurturing Modern School, Vasant Vihar. In fact, he took justifiable pride in the auditorium in VV, the first state-of-the art air-conditioned auditorium in any of the Schools. He had implored me numerous times to see it but sadly I could only go for his Prayer Meeting to deliver his eulogy.

We worked together, along with General Sahib, after he insisted that I become legal adviser to the Board of Trustees and member of the Managing Committee of Senior and Junior Schools. I saw first hand his vision, his commitment and his drive.

Pradeep was always in a rush. He wanted everything done yesterday. May be unwittingly he had some premonition that his time was short and he wanted to achieve as much as he could in the time he had.

We in MSOSA, through generous contribution from his wife, Mira, organise the Pradeep V. Singh Memorial Badminton Championship, at state level for school children of Delhi, which in a short time has become one of the premier badminton tournaments in the country with more than 500 participants. It is a true tribute to his memory.

It is also comforting for us, his friends, that Mira is carrying forward the torch, now as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of Modern School and Chairperson of the Faridabad Branch.

Pradeep left us in July 2008 after fighting, in coma, for about 3 months with an apparently botched up abdominal surgery.

We miss Pradeep’s zest for life, his commitment to the School and his friends, his large heart and his abiding faith in goodness in people.

RIP, my friend.

 

AJAY VERMA