A requiem to a departed colleague : The man, a friend
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 13, 2024 -

Death is the final destiny of all living beings, and in as much as death is certain, it also stands that it is uncertain when death will come knocking at one’s door.

These are the words that come to mind even as The Sangai Express and the media fraternity of Manipur come to grips with the sudden passing away of Senior Sub-Editor of the Manipuri edition Sanoubam Surjeshwar who left behind his wife, children, an elderly father, brothers, sisters and other family members on January 11 evening.

It was disbelief when news first came in of the late man being admitted to hospital following a hemorrhagic stroke on January 10 and the disbelief gave way to one of shock when he never recovered and passed away the next day, that is on January 11.

For full 24 years the late man was associated with The Sangai Express, having joined in 1999, the year the paper first hit the newstand.

To mere mortals, men and women, who are all destined to die, 24 years can appear to be just a blink of the eye and 57 years is certainly not the age to die, but as they say God has a special plan for everyone and it is this belief which gives a sort of comfort to the staff and management of The Sangai Express.

To some 24 years may seem a long enough time, but there are times when not everything can be read and understood strictly according to just the number of years and this is the sentiment amongst his peers and colleagues at the office of this newspaper.

Certainly the time as the world understands it can be very different from the time graph of the Almighty and perhaps the calculation up there in Heaven meant that Surjeshwar has spent enough time with his family, friends and colleagues at The Sangai Express and hence thought it better to take him to be up there with Him.

To many, singing paeans to a departed soul may sound ‘treading the beaten track’ but to the family at The Sangai Express, this is not just a paean to a departed soul but is also much about coping with the absence of a colleague who was here to guide, prod, pull and encourage the others, particularly the juniors, the folks who came later into the profession of journalism. Gentle and someone more on the quieter side, this however does not mean that the late man did not know how to laugh or share a joke with his friends and colleagues in office over a cup of tea.

This is only the second or third time that this column is being dedicated to a late soul, a colleague, and penning down these few words has not been easy.

Memories come flooding back, but to put the memories, those moments spent together all these years, in fact since 1999, into words is not easy.

It is this sentiment that was written in bold over the cold morning on January 12 even as reporters, editors, correspondents and more importantly the family members of the late man assembled at the office of the Manipur Press Club to bid adieu and pay their last respect to the departed soul.

Not the first time that the Manipur Press Club has been the home for such an event, but to the many who were present, January 12, 2024 would be something different, a day to bid their last adieu to a man who was known as a kind, helpful individual , a man who never judged but accepted everyone as they are.

This was the outstanding quality of the late Surjeshwar and it is this quality which is hard to find in the increasingly ‘artificial’ world where getting into the good books of the people who matter seem to have become the calling card of many.

It was this quality which endeared him to many amongst the journalist fraternity and there is something meaningful in the observation of a colleague, who holds, ‘When Surjeshwar laughs, he does it with all his heart’.

A man with a heart, a golden heart, who meant no harm to anyone and to whom cosying up to the powers that be was anathema.

This was the Surjeshwar that The Sangai Express knows and will remember.

Adieu Surjeshwar.