Thank you all for coming to say goodbye to a truly remarkable man. To me he was a father, a mentor, and a friend. We shared so much in our lives together.  We shared work, play and even our friends.

A testament to this is here today as I look at generations of people who knew my father as much more than an acquaintance. The reason for this perhaps is the way you felt after meeting him, even for the first time. He had way a leaving a little piece of himself with you to keep and remember him by.

My niece, Keya, had this to say…

It’s been precisely 22 days since I saw him… and it will be forever that I will remember his visit.  The day he was returning to the US, we went to the airport to see him off and we certainly did not know that was the last we would see of him.  I specifically remember telling him “Navinmama, you are going to live for 100 years, for the simple reason that you bring so much life, I can then only imagine how much you would have for yourself”.

One such person, who met him briefly on his visit to India was Air Marshall D. C. Nigam, who upon hearing the news, wrote a letter to my family.

“It is extremely difficult to comprehend that Navinbhai is no more.  I had a brief association with this wonderful person at Nagpur and he impressed me with his down-to-earth attitude.  He was a cheerful person who was honest and frank in his dealings.  He made people smile, words are not adequate to describe this gorgeous individual.   Navinbhai, you are etched in our memory.  It is an irony of fate that God calls those whom we don’t want to go.”

I think that most of you here today can remember their first encounter with Navin.  Where he gave that piece of him that was impossible to let go.  I would like to assure everyone today, that you never have to let go, it was meant to be kept in your hearts forever.