Raja Ram Mehrotra is professor of English at the Benares Hindu University. He specializes in the use and misuse of English by Indians. In the latest issue of English Today, he has focussed on obituary columns appearing in Indian newspapers. The language used is usually literal translations of Hindi. Thus swargvaas becomes 'heavenly abode' unknown to the Brits, who do not treat death with the solemnity we do. They are coarse enough to make fun of it. To wit expressions like 'give up the ghost', 'peg out', 'bite the dust', 'pop off', 'kick the bucket', 'cash in one's chips' and so on. The word, 'abode', is archaic and no longer in use elsewhere in the English speaking world. With us it has several variations: 'eternal abode', 'entered the portals of the Lord's abode', 'rested on the Lord's lotus feet' and suchlike. At times, instead of 'abode', our obits have 'eternal home'. Some Victorianisms persist in obits sent in by Indian Christians. Amongst the most popular is 'safe in the arms of Jesus'. Often, blame is cast on god for taking away one's relation: 'The cruel hands of fate snatched him away', 'He was stolen away by fate for ever...', 'The wind of fate blew, making her lifeless', 'Cruel fate grabbed him', 'Destiny whisked him away', 'We were robbed of our most precious possession' 'Destiny took your benign presence and our breath away in an aircrash' 'Nature recalled him to his fold', 'God took you away from us', 'God snatched my father', 'God took away his precious gift from us', 'He was plucked from God as he was the best flower on earth', and so it goes on. The Hindi family of religions subscribe to the belief that with death, a person merges his or her identity with god. Jyoti Jote miley - as light mingles with light eternal. Here are a few instances: 'He left us all to abide forever with the Almighty', 'He attained the lotus feet of the Almighty/ Lord Mahavir', 'We handed God's gift back to him', 'He passed on to the eternal glory', 'She attained eternity', 'He became more dear to God than to us all', 'My precious gift flew away from my own lap to the Heavenly Father', 'God withdrew him to light up a world elsewhere', 'The greatest of the great called him', 'He became one with parmatman'. Life on earth is regarded as temporary halt in a continuous journey: 'He left his earthly sojourn', 'She travelled on a voyage of no return', 'He made his journey to heaven', 'She took departure from this world', 'He left for his ultimate journey', 'He left us for that journey to the unknown', 'She departed from the ethereal to the celestial', 'He left for an unknown destination never to return', 'He completed his earthly journey', 'He crossed over...He slipped into the other world', 'He glided away in a silvery flash', 'His river of life reached its final destination on this day', 'He entered the realm of immortal bliss', 'His soul migrated from the ephemeral world', 'He left this mortal world with Hari Om Namo on his lips'. Everyone who falls in battle becomes a 'martyr', with slight variations such as these: 'He attained martyrdom', 'He laid down his life', 'He embraced death for the honour of his country', 'He went away to God while in uniform'. Professor Mehrotra holds that 'one of the basic tenets of Indian thought is to consider the whole world as a family (vasudhaiva kutumbakam) and hence a mourner prays not for the peace of his relative alone, but also of the others who are no longer alive: 'On this day we also bow our heads to other departed souls and pray to God to keep them in peace.' Unsung and unhonoured There are people who do what they think is their duty (karma) to the best of their ability without caring whether or not they get recognition or monetary compensation for it: they are true examples of the exhortation in the Gita: Karmanyev adhikarstey ma phaleshu kadah chana - perform your duty without consideration of the fruits thereof. One such person who came into my life for nine long years was RGK. He was on the staff of The Illustrated Weekly of India when I took over as editor. He stayed on after I was sacked. The management ignored my recommendation that he take over from me. Without the slightest concern he continued to do the job under a succession of editors; Kamath, Khanna, Pritish Nandi till he ret- ired. He died a couple of weeks ago, unhonoured and unsung. Despite daily contact with him for almost a decade, I knew very little about him besides that the 'G' in his initials RGK stood for Gopal, the name we called him by. He wrote more for the weekly than any other member of the staff, but did not want any credit or byline besides his initials. He was the one man we relied on to write on different aspects of Hinduism because he knewall the sacred texts in their Sanskrit originals. All the years he worked for the journal, he sat on a corner table of the large hall which also accommodated the staff of Dharmyug, Femina and Filmfare. Behind him were urinals and toilets. Newcomers and visitors who wanted to use the facility often interrupted RGK in his work to ask 'Where is the loo?' He put a placard on his table saying 'Toilets straight ahead'. He did not have agreat sense of humour. I never heard him laugh and rarely saw a smile on his face. We knew he was South Indian but not sure whether he was from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu or Kerala. Once Bikram Vohra asked him 'RGK, are you Malayalu?' RGK replied, 'How would you like if I asked you, 'Are you Punjaboo?'' And that was that. Not many people fromThe Times of India group knew of RGK's existence. He could not care less if no one in the world knew about him. Gray's verse applied to him: Full many a gem of purest ray serene Dark, unfathomed caves of the ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen And waste its sweetness in the desert air. Without a stitch on the victory stand The story about the advantages some gain in the Olympics through the use of technology suggests that a return to the original standards of the games is in order. The Greeks competed in the nude. People forget that the origin of the words 'gymnasium', 'gymnast' and 'gymnastics' derive from the Greek word, gymnos, meaning 'naked'. For the Greeks, competing in the nude kept females from participating. But today it would ensure that no athlete would get an undue advantage from new technology, be it special swimwear or running shoes. And perhaps such a change would greatly increase viewership of the games. (Chris Thompson in Washington Post)