YIR 2019: Famous Indian personalities we said goodbye to in 2019

The death of Manohar Parrikar, the BJP leader who served as Chief Minister of Goa, left a great void in the political scene both at the Centre and in Goa. Parrikar passed away on 17th March, 2019 of pancreatic cancer at his residence in Panaji. Parrikar was the first IITian to become a CM when he took on the reins of the Goa state in October 2000. The four-time Goa CM had served as the Defence Minister under the Modi government from 2014 to 2017. He was also a former member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. A widower who lost his wife, Medha to cancer in 2001, Parrikar continued to work till the end, despite undergoing intensive treatment for cancer. Image credit: By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45542651

Credited with building India’s coffee culture, VG Siddhartha’s life ended tragically. The founder of Café Coffee Day was found dead in the Netravati River in Mangaluru on 31st July, 2019. A letter, which surfaced a few hours after he had gone missing, in which he apologised to his staff for failing them, raised speculations that he had committed suicide. Siddhartha mentioned having huge financial burden due to harassment from Income tax officials. The coffee baron was the son-in-law of former Karnataka CM and former External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.

Three-time Delhi Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Sheila Dikshit passed away on 20th July, 2019 at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi. A close confidante of Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, Dikshit was one of longest serving Chief Ministers of Delhi, which she served for a period of 15 years from 1998 to 2013. Dikshit was handpicked by Rajiv Gandhi to be part of his council of ministers after he became the prime minister in 1984. As the CM of Delhi, Dikshit is credited to have developed the Capital’s road infrastructure, transport, education and health sectors. Image credit: Election Commission

Noted actor, playwright, director and Rhodes Scholar, Girish Karnad, passed away on 10th July 2019 of a prolonged illness. Considered as amongst Kannada literature’s foremost playwrights, Karnad wrote his first play, Yayati, in 1961, while at Oxford. Some of his other notable works in Kannada include, Tipu Sultan Kanda Kanasu, and Tughlaq and Taledanda. As an actor, Karnad worked in both the Kannada and Hindi film industries, acting in movies such as Pukar (2000), Iqbal (2005) and the more recent Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and its sequel Tiger Zinda Hai (2017). He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. Image credit: By Pushkarv - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19065930

The death of one of India’s most loved politicians, former External Affairs Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj, came as a huge shock to the nation. She had been ailing for a while and had also undergone a kidney transplant in 2016. Swaraj was the first woman to hold the office of Ministry of External Affairs, after Indira Gandhi. During her career as a politician, she was elected seven times as a Member of Parliament and thrice as a Member of Legislative Assembly. A social media star in her own right, Swaraj was known for her readiness to help out people in trouble, her quick wit and epic Twitter comebacks. Once a man on Twitter had asked her when Mangalyaan 2 would be launched as he was stuck on Mars and his food supplies were running out, Swaraj sportingly responded that even if he was stuck on Mars the Indian Embassy there would help him out. Image credit: By Andrew Scheer - https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewscheer/45124842302/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81455084

Just as the nation was recovering from the death of Sushma Swaraj, came the news that another BJP stalwart – former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had passed away on August 24th, 2019, at the age of 66. After stepping down from his post as the Finance Minister due to ill health, early this year, Jaitley was reportedly diagnosed with a rare form of soft-tissue sarcoma and was undergoing treatment in the US. On 9th August he was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS) where he was on life support. The former senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India held a number of cabinet portfolios during his political career - Finance, Defence, Corporate Affairs, Commerce and Industry, and Law and Justice in both the Vajpayee government and Narendra Modi government. Jaitley was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 2009-2014. The Indian Cricket team wore black armbands for a day to condole Jaitley's death during the test match with West Indies. Image credit: By Augustus Binu, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43081093

The veteran composer who is known for his classic compositions in films such as Kabhi Kabhi and Umrao Jaan, passed away on 9th August, 2019 due to lung infection. Khayyam was honoured with many prestigious awards during his lifetime including the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for his work in Umrao Jaan in 1982. The musical legend was also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Padma Bhushan. Image: Former President, Pratibha Patil presenting the Padma Bhushan award to Khayyam on March 24, 2011.

The renowned actor known for her role in movies like "Rajnigandha" (1974) and “Choti Si Baat”, passed away on August 15th, 2019 at the age of 71, after battling lung and heart disease. Vidya Sinha was born to film producer Rana Pratap Singh. She started off as a model and won the Miss Bombay contest. In the 1970s and 80s, Sinha became famous for her versatility while playing different characters – she could pull off a sad and somber role as easily as she could a light and breezy one. Apart from films, Sinha had also worked on T.V. shows such as Kkavyanjali (2005), Ishq Ka Rang Safed (2015), Chandra Nandini (2016) and recently in Kulfi Kumar Bajewala (2018 onwards). Image credit: Bollywood Hungama

The Sahitya Academy winning writer passed away on 30th September, 2019 after a prolonged battle with cancer. A poet above everything else, Nabaneeta Sen’s published work includes more than 80 books in Bengali, poems, short stories, plays and children’s literature. Born to poet parents, Sen started writing English and Bengali poems while at school and published her first collection when she was just 21. Sen was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 and the Padma Shri in 2000. She was the first wife of economist and noble laureate Amartya Sen

The mathematician who became famous worldwide for challenging Einstein’s theory, Vashishtha Narayan Singh died on 14 November 2019 at Patna Medical College and Hospital in Patna after a prolonged illness. As a child prodigy, Narayan was allowed to sit for his BSc. examinations during his first year at Patna University, and for the M.Sc. examinations the following year. His grit and hard work took him from the nondescript village of Basantpur in Bihar to the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his PhD programme. On his return home, Singh taught at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. Narayan reportedly suffered from schizophrenia for 40 years and this condition hampered both his professional and personal life. Director Prakash Jha had announced a biographical film on the life of Narayan, but it had to be shelved due to legal issues. Image credit: Anand Kumar/Twitter

The former Chief Election Commissioner, died at his home in Chennai on 10 November 2019, at the age of 86. A no-nonsense officer, Seshan cleaned up the electoral system at a time when booth rigging and misuse of government machinery was rampant. He enforced strict electoral rules and re-invented the way elections were being done at that time. Seshan appointed Special Forces in every state to ensure that the elections were held in a fair and transparent manner. He also checked on election spending to ensure fewer cases of money power and bribery during the campaigning. He contested the presidential elections in 1997, but was defeated by KR Narayanan. Seshan was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1996. Image credit: By Rishabh Tatiraju - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18948316

Veteran politician and amongst the highest paid criminal lawyers in the country, Ram Jethmalani passed away on 8th September, 2019. The nonagenarian had been ailing for a long time. During his career as a lawyer he fought many high profile cases that others were hesitant to take, including defending L.K Advani in the Hawala case and Manu Sharma in Jessica Lal Murder Case. The flamboyant lawyer, who had more than seven decades of exemplary practise, also served India's Union minister of law and justice, the chairman of the Indian Bar Council, and as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Image credit: By Ramesh Lalwani - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6748237

Acclaimed Hindi and Marathi actor Viju Khote passed away at the age of 77 on September 30, 2019 due to multiple organ failure. While Khote has acted in more than 440 movies in Hindi and Marathi movies, he was best known for his portrayal of Kalia in Sholay and Robert in Andaz Apna Apna. Khote’s iconic dialogue in Sholay, “Sardar maine apka namak khaya hai,” and “Galti se mistake ho gaya,” in Andaz Apna Apna is known to every movie buff in India. Khote’s other popular films were Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Ventilator, Golmaal 3, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. Image credit: By Pushkarv - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19065930

Veteran Marathi and Hindi film and theatre actor, Dr Shriram Lagoo passed away on December 17 at the age of 92. A multifaceted personality, Dr Lagoo trained as an E.N.T specialist and worked in a hospital in Kenya as a surgeon for many years. Though Dr Lagoo was active in theatre and was a prominent figure in the rise of Marathi theatre during the post independence era, it was at the age of 40 that he entered into commercial acting. Dr Lagoo is remembered for the roles he played in films such as Pinjra (1972), Gharonda (1977), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Laawaris (1981) and Ek Din Achanak (1989). Dr Lagoo has also essayed the role of Gopal Krishna Gokhale in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982). Image credit: Bollywood Hungama