Pragati Sehgal nee Buche

My memories are faint and distributed as I was very young when my Mama went to US for higher studies. I just recall a few random scenes at Delhi airport. I also very vaguely remember him having married his Co-student, also an Indian from Nagpur and my Nani, my grandmother, hosting a small kirtan at her residence celebrating his simple church wedding in US. He actually married Pragati Buche, a Maharashtrian from Nagpur on 12th July 1968 after a brief courtship and exactly after 54 years, he lost his life partner on 12th July 2022. Pragati, my aunt, lost her battle to cancer and left this world, more importantly her children and her beloved husband, my Mama, her companion of more than five and half decades.

In a sense, they were a made for each other couple- so different- he a Punjabi Khatri and she a Maharashtrian Brahmin – and yet so much aligned and in love. His subtle sense of humour never provoked or upset her, though she’d pretend to be angry at his leg pulling. And they traveled the world over and yet remained simple all their lives – in their lifestyle, food habits and everything else.

While Nagpur was her home, her special love for everything Maharashtrian made their Mumbai visits very special. She loved Panshikar’s food, Waman Hari Pethe’s Jewellery and so many other of such ilk. I personally learnt so much about Marathi language, food and culture from her.
I and my wife looked forward to hosting them at our new residence in Mumbai, but this dream of ours will now remain unfulfilled. We pray for long and healthy life for our Mama, but without his Pragati, our Mami, neither he nor his visits will be same.

We pray for her peaceful rest in God’s abode and her repeated rebirths to be my Mama’s life partner.