By Zile Singh
Ambassador(Retd.)
Kuldip “Kal” Rangi
(October 22nd, 1954 – October 2nd , 2018)
I was posted as Deputy Consul General with the Indian Consulate in Vancouver from August 2004 to July 2007. The Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Mrs. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, came on an official visit to British Columbia. As the protocol required, I went to receive her at the Vancouver Airport. When we came out after clearance from the Immigration, we saw a Limousine waiting for her. Instead of the Hotel where she had a booking, we were taken straight to Kal Rangi’s house in Richmond. At least a dozen prominent people from the community were in waiting. They welcomed the Hon’ble Minister with their open heart and affection. Matters of common interest of the Diaspora were discussed over tea, samosas and sweets in an open and friendly way. Here, for the first time, I came in contact with a tall, handsome and very amicable person named Kuldip (Kal) Rangi and his lovely family comprising his wife and three young sons. Thereafter, whenever the Minister visited Vancouver or there was any community function at his house or elsewhere in Vancouver, Kal made it a point to invite me not in my official, but in my personal capacity as a friend. Our association continued even after I left Vancouver for my next appointment as Indian Ambassador to North Korea. However, North Korea being only the last Stalinist State and one of the most closed countries on earth, Kal must have dialed many times to reach me in Pyongyang ( Capital of North Korea, officially known as Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea ). He, of course, succeeded in contacting me on phone several times there, which is almost next to impossible. The Hermit Kingdom. Such was his eagerness and steadfastness.
Our meetings continued even after my retirement. I stayed in New Delhi from 2009 to 2014. Kal visited Delhi in June 2012 and invited me to meet him at the Punjab Bhavan in Delhi. He could avail of the facilities of a VIP with a special room, Ambassador car with Red Light on it, with two armed security personnel provided by the Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab. I landed in Vancouver as a Permanent Resident in June 2014. Our friendship continued. For me and my family, it was a fun to pluck blueberries for our personal use every season from his farm adjacent to his house.
“Kal” would have been 64 years on 22nd October. On this occasion, let us reflect on the Five Boons of Life. It goes like this. In the morning of life came a good Fairy with her basket with five gifts: Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure and Death. and said, “ Here are gifts. Take one. Choose wisely. Only one of them is valuable.” The youth eagerly chose one by one the first four gifts. With every gift, he found himself miserable as all were short- lived, vain and empty. Finally, the youth said, “ They were not gifts, but merely deception. Fame, Love, Riches and Pleasure : they are but fleeting and temporary. They finally result in Shame, Pain, Grief and Poverty. The Fairy truly said that in her basket there was but one gift which was precious. That was the Death. In comparison with the other gifts, death is esteemed, dear, sweet and kindly one, that steps in dreamless and enduring sleep. The Death eliminates the pains that persecute the body and the shames and griefs that eat the mind and the heart. The Youth, after knowing the uselessness of the other Four Gifts, said, “Bring the last gift! I am weary. I want to rest.” The Fairy came and bestowed her blessing in the form of Death on the Youth (Kal). The Fairy’s gift of Death spared “ Kal” from the unwanted, diseased, frail and helpless Old Age.
“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”- Cicero
While there is nothing I can do to change what happened, I offer my sincere condolences and support to your family and friends. Please also know you were in my thoughts and prayers when you were embracing death on the hospital bed on October 2nd. I regret that I was not in Canada to meet you at the last moment of your fully lived life. I believe that you would remain watching upon your family and friends from the height of the clear sky. We journeyed together only for a short time from August 2004 to August 2018. We met for the last time at your place on August 20 at a lavish party thrown by you, though you were in a frail state of health at that time. Still, you proved to be an ideal host. “KAL” may your soul rest in peace!
