Always in Our Hearts
It is with great sorrow the family shares the sad news of the passing of Ambassador Bal Anand, who left for his heavely abode on Friday 29 July 2022.
Born in a humble beginnings, he rose through academic excellence to become a Professor at a young age. He then went on to qualify and join the Indian Foreign Service, completing a long distinguished career as a diplomat in destinations all over the world. He served as an India's Ambassador and High Commissioner in Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Armenia, New Zealand, Samoa, Nauru and Kiribati (ref: Diplomat's Journey & Amb Bal Anand Profile).
Well versed in English, Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu languages, he was also fluent in Persian, thus had a deep interest in Literature and Poetry. He regularly wrote his thoughts in this blog and after retirement he authored several books and magazines in Punjabi and English. He shared his life's rich journey in his writings, and always enthusiastically responded when invited to lecture. One of the aspects he most treasured was all the great friends he made along the way.
The early loss of parents, being the eldest in his generation, and his young achievements meant that he had to be the strength others counted upon. In his fearless and optimistic drive he helped advance everyone's outlook. With his deep recall he helped bridge our past inheritance to the ever changing future. He passed on his artistic, human, scientific and technical curiosity to his children, not by decree but by gentle nudging and inspiring. He will ever be dearly loved by his children, Varoon and Aditya, his grandchildren, Krysharohan & Antariksh, and his life-long-fellow-traveller, his wife Aradhana.
Details of Final Ceremonies:
Please join us for
- Cremation on Saturday, 30th July at 1pm at Moksh Dham Shamshan Ghat in Greater Noida (Map location link)
- Prayer Meeting on Wednesday 3rd August at 12pm at Gurudwara Sri Guru Kalgidhar Singh Sabha in Greater Noida, Knowledge Park 3 (Map location link)
Messages:
- Please share your messages with your name in the comments below. Please note these may take short while to appear.
- For a private message to the family, please click here to send email.
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26 comments:
Dear Dadaji,
It's very sad to see you go. I remember how you always lit up when seeing me or Rohan. and whenever we visited in person, you were so exited to be able to spend time with us and teach us about some fauna, or show us a cool picture of a bird perched in a tree enjoying their life. Our Table Tennis matches were very fun, and you could always muster up the capability to out-ping-pong me!
I will always love and remember you.
Antariksh Anand
Words are not able to express the loss our family feels .what an amazing person uncle ji was, he was an humble ambassador, amazing family man and a gem of person. I have had the privilege of being so close to him and the family. I know he leaves an amazing legacy of goodwill, love and respect.
Very sorry to hear Aditya and Varun. We feel very fortunate to know and meet him during his Wellington posting.
May his soul rest in peace.
Regards
Ruchir
Demise of Ambassador Bal Anand is very painful and a loss for me too. I regard him as my Guruji and inspiration.
I feel he is going to be the first IFSOWO member to mingle with the mati, pani and hawa of Greater Noida eternally. I convey my heart felt condolences to the bereaved family and friends. May his soul rest in peace.
Bishal Mani,
From Canada
As a resident of IFS Villas, we will miss his lively presence at various community events. He had a great wit and charming gift of repartee.
I will miss discussions with him on traditions of Indian literature and other arts. He went away very young. But his spirit will alway remain with us.
RIP Bal Anandji. May God grant peace to Aradhana ji and the bereaved family
Aum Shanti
Suresh K Goel
Very sad to hear... May God give strength to bear the unrecoverable loss to all family members and peace to great departed soul of uncle.. Om Shanti🙏🙏 Varoon Bhai... My family is with you in this hard time.. Take Care.
Very sad to hear... May God give strength to bear the unrecoverable loss to all family members and peace to great departed soul of uncle.. Om Shanti🙏🙏 Varoon Bhai... My family is with you in this hard time.. Take Care.... Atul Walia 9212710747 Rohini Delhi
The news of Ambassador Bal Anand passing away appeared yesterday on the IFS blog as a major shock and with a deep sense of grief.
Bal Anand Bhai, as he was popularly addressed by his friends and contemporaries, had numerous friends in various walks of life, vouching for his multiple natural qualities of head and heart. He never uttered a vile word for anyone, was friendly and respectful to all, and was a treasure house of scintillating tales and memories.
All this besides his professional skills as a diplomat.
Little wonder his sudden and untimely demise is mourned widely.
I offer my sincerest condolences to Bal Anand's family and friends, and pray for them to have strength to cope with this irreparable loss. I also pray for peace for the departed soul.
Om Shanti!
- Dinesh Kumar Jain
So sad to know. Rest in Peace. Om Shanti Om
Our heartfelt condolences to family nd friends on the sad demise of Ambassador Anand!
It is highly painful to hear about the passing away of our BAAL ( as we used to address him).
The qualities in his character are so numerous that
my mind is so overwhelmed to extract these separately.
I was with him at Karamsar (Rara Sahib), lived at Ahmedgarh and shared so much with you all.
Unforgettable person to everyone who ever met him.
May his soul rest in peace.
I am sorry that my health does not permit me to be with you in time of such grief. We are thinking about you all and pray that God grant you strength to bear the loss and support your mother in this difficult time. Please accept our heartfelt condolences.
Charanpal.
sad news indeed. bal was one of my favourite colleagues- a genuine human being, prolific writer, and a great upholder of punjabi and harmonious indian culture. my wife enjoyed his lively hospitality in saudi arabia and would forever talk about it.
condolences to the entire family.
santosh kumar
Deeply saddened to learn Ambassador Bal Anand's sudden and untimely passing away! Can't believe he is no more! He was my Ambassador in Panama (1996-99). He inspired us immensely with his affable and jovial personality. He was always in touch with me. Spoke to me about a month back when one of our colleague Ashutosh Agarwal had passed away. He impressed upon me to take good care of my health. Heartfelt condolences to Ma'am and Varun and Aditya!
Harbans Singh Aulakh
The sudden and untimely passing away of our most distinguished friend Ambasador Bal Anand ji
is too shocking and beyond expression. It is a personal loss which is difficult to make up. I can not believe he is no more.
Our heart felt condolences to madam Aradhana Ji and the family for this irreparable loss. May his noble soul Rest In Peace. Our thoughts and prayers.
It was a great privilege and honour to come close to Anand Ji ever since he joined as High Commissioner of India in Wellington New Zealand in the early 2000. We had some mutual friends and acquaintances because of our initial teaching background in Punjab.
Truely Ambassador Anand ji was a treasured gift of India to New Zealand. He was a saint scholar diplomat, most gentle soul and kind hearted generous human being. He would help anyone who approached him.
We will always remember our Anand Sahib for his sincerity, humility, kindness, simplicity and eternal smile.
He was both an avid reader and author both in English and Punjabi. Thank God he completed his autobiography which will continue to inspire us
Dear Anand ji you are being farewelled only not separated. You can never be replaced but will always be in our hearts .
He will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by his family, friends and the Indian community in New Zealand. Rest In Peace our friend . Our thoughts and prayers will always remain with you.
I was privileged to know Ambassador Bal Anand as a neighbour in IFS. He always had a gentle smile and a kind word for us, whenever we met. My deepest condolences to your whole family. And prayers for his immortal soul. 🙏🏻
My deepest condolences to you Varun, and your family. Thinking of you.
Heartfelt condolences on untimely passing away of Ambassador Bal Anand. I had the privilege of working under him in my first station of posting (Bucharest, Romania 1985-87). He was my mentor and guardian in office, a very lively person and great human being privately. Always willing to encourage my hidden talent at cultural gatherings, both official n private, fond memories. May God grant eternal peace to the departed soul n strength to Madam, Varun and Aditya to bear this personal loss. Om Shanti 🙏 🕯.
It is with a sense of great disbelief that I received the sad news of the untimely passing away of Ambassador Bal Anand. Though I never had the opportunity to work under him, I was fortunate to have come in contact with him online about three years ago. He was a very kind and noble soul who touched and enriched my life in various ways because of his deep interest and knowledge in almost every intellectual pursuit. It makes me so sad that I wouldn’t be able to see him though we always talked about meeting each other during my next visit to India. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and to all our common friends whom he always treated as his own family. I am really heart broken today and feel myself poorer with the passing away of Ambassador Bal Anand.
Om Shanti
Jagdish Rai
Austin, TX
Our reverred Respected Shri Anand ji touched our lives so closely with utmost love and affection.His daily mails,his phone talks will ever remain fresh till we live.We were waiting for his visit at our Alma Mater at Ludhiana. His going has personally jolted many like me.Will not be able to reconcile. Our condolences for entire family.--Brij Bhushan Goyal Org Sec Alumni Association SCD Govt.College Ludhiana
Aditya and Varoon, Very Apt "In his fearless and optimistic drive he helped advance everyone's outlook." Very respectful personality.
It was so amazing how quickly and with so much ease he was able to connect with everyone, Small children to the oldest.
Bal Anand Bhai Sahib you will be missed by everyone. I will always remember that I was able to spend few days with you during my last visit to India, few years back.
I will be missing your weekly emails.
You were able to make time to communicate with so many of us and so regularly, very commendable! May his soul rest in peace.
Aradhana Didi Jee, Varoon, Aditya and family may God provide you the strength to get through this time of sorrow. Take good care of each other.
P.S: Bal Anand ji even named our daughter when she was born in Delhi early 90s, by simply saying that Deepika's daughter should be called 'Jyotika'
Missing you,
Jasbir, Deepika and Jyotika
Toronto Canada
He has gone early ,He was an ambassador of love,friendship n many other qualities also. RIp sir
Deep condolences with pray to God to equip the family to bear this huge loss.
Salute to you sir
I am very sorry to know about the passing away of Ambassador Bal Anand. I thoroughly enjoyed his warm friendship when he was here in Wellington. Even after that we were in regular email correspondence. He was such a kind-hearted good man, with lively scholarly interests. I pray for his sole. My sincere condolences for the family.
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay
Wellington, New Zealand
Ambassador Bal Anand’s sudden and untimely passing away is deeply saddening. Chhaya and I fondly remember meeting him when he visited Jeddah from Riyadh and later in External Affairs Hostel in New Delhi when he was enroute Islamabad to join his next assignment as Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan. We were touched by his humility, warmth and graciousness. He instantly exuded exceptional positive energy for everyone around and made them laugh with his spontaneous wit ! My next meeting with Bal Anand Sir was in the corridors of South Block in 1994 when he was visiting from Islamabad and I had just been transferred as First Secretary (Eco & Comm) in Bonn, Germany. During that fortuitous and swift interaction, he gave me a warm hug, said he was so happy about my posting to the ‘economic and technological powerhouse of Europe’ and conveyed his best wishes. After many years, we spent some time together about a year and a half ago—as always, he was smiling and full of cheer and affection ! How could I imagine that we would never have the good fortune of seeing him again ! In Ambasdador Bal Anand’s passing away, the world has lost a noble human being and the IFS a distinguished, seasoned and effective diplomat who was overwhelmingly gracious and modest—a natural practitioner of winning hearts and minds and the art of understatement ! Our deepest condolences to his family and numerous friends and admirers in India and abroad. May God grant eternal peace to the noble departed soul and strength to the family amidst their tragic loss 🙏
Very SAD
My name is José Antonio Fraiz, from the Embassy of Panama in India, (embassyofpanama92@gmail.com) and I extend my condolences to the family, I have seen the videos with the traditional Panamanian shirt called panabrisa that he wore. Strength for your loved ones. He was a good Ambassador of India in my country.
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