The story of beloved Papa Paul who
departed to his heavenly abode at 2.23 am on Sunday 10th November
2013.
Ravi Darshan Bushnel Paul was
born In UP on 2nd April 1922 to parents Helen & Rev J.D.B Paul
who was then the first principal of Ingraham Institute at Ghaziabad. Boshi ( as
his siblings called Him) Had four sisters: Bonilla Viola , Cherry and Nargis.
They were orphaned in early childhood
and grew up learning about togetherness, God and family through difficult yet
family bonded years.
He attended Ingraham institute
for his formative schooling and eventually ended up in Rawalpindi at Gordon
College, where in addition to his studies he discovered his prowess in hockey
and swimming. In 1941 he came to Lucknow Christian College, graduated and was
in college hockey XI which was won the UP State Championships.
It was in 1946 that he met and
married Nirmal Paul who was with him for 63 years of glorious marital bliss. In
1947 they were blessed with a son, Joseph( Raju). In 1949 they had a daughter
Parveen.Papa devoted his entire life to raising the 2 children to be the best
they could be. He enrolled them in away-
from - home boarding schools and sacrificed enormously to pay the huge fees. With
his wife at his side, he set about
coaching them in all viewpoints and people. He taught by doing and lived a
scrupulously useful life, full of stewardship and consistent patience.
He loved the true Christian life
of love , faith and charity. He gave his tithes and supported the leprosy home
and Shanti Bhawan locally.He helped anyone who came to his ddorstep, be it a
child, an adult or an organisation. In a true humble spirit and purity of
heart, he never bore anyone a grudge. His simplicity was model to emulate.
How fortunate I have been to have
known Parveen’s dad for 2 decades .
Having spent many evenings with Papa
Paul ( in the initial days over a peg of good old OLD MONK RUM ) trying to
decipher the many ills that plague this
nation from corruption to communalism, terrorism and match fixing in
cricket I found that he had the most
practical solutions to many and being a
good listener he had the wisdom and experience that very few people had when he
chose to give his opinion. Having served in the Air force among the various subjects his insight on Indo
Pak relations were interesting. His love for hockey was a common trait that I shared and so did Parveen. However I had the
embarrassment of him watching me swim when I was 35 and he 80. Boy was I glad
it was not a competition. He took to the DDA swimming pool like fish to water
to my amazement. His calm presence and experience in dealing with many iissues
personal and professional is unmatched and his hospitality whenever my friends
joined me at Parveen's house was worth ever moment. I was most enthusiastic if he
gave me any task to do, mostly he found me fit to replenish his stock of Old
monk rum ( which as a true army man since he stopped drinking he
loved to distribute) and which I relished doing once every few months.
He also had this enormous heart
to always help people remotely connected with him and always remembered all our birthdays. Papa
Paul always found time to enquire about my family’s welfare and I was honored
to have his sagacity as an adviser and non executive Director of my company.
He has contributed immensely in
all our lives by his timely suggestions, advise and unmatched calmness and grace.
A wonderful man and I along with
all my friends will miss him forever. Rest In Peace Papa Paul!!!
