Mahatma gone, soul remains

Ludhiana: Rasam kirya of the last of the Hero brothers Satyanand Munjal, who passed away on April 14, was held at a resort on Ferozepur road on Sunday.
The man who was known as "Mahatama" was paid homage by hundreds of people including eminent industrialists, dharam gurus and politicians. The prayer meeting began with vedic mantras as per Arya Samaj traditions, of which Munjal was a dedicated follower.
One of India's best classical dancer and choreographer, Padam Vibhushan Sonal Mansingh cast a spell on the audience when she sang bhajans and recited excerpts from the holy Gita to pay tribute to the departed soul.
Acharaya Akhileshwar, with whom Munjal and his family had close association, recalled how along with business, Munjal's life revolved around works of social, cultural & charity and he was a Mahatama in true sense.
Some of those who attended the prayer meeting included his sons Mahesh Munjal, Yogesh Munjal, Umesh Munjal, Suresh Munjal, Sudhir Munjal and family members Suman Kant Munjal, Sunil Kant Munjal, Vijay Munjal.
Some of the politicians who were present included Avinash Rai Khanna, Sharanjeet Singh Dhillon, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Surinder Dawar, Sanjay Tondon, Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, Gurdev Sharma Debi, Vijay Danav and others.
While Kamal Oswal, Neeraj Saluja, Komal Jain, Sachit Jain, Rajni Bector, Mridula Jain, Padam Aul, Ashok Malhotra, Manjinder Singh Sachdeva, Capt V K Syal, S K Rai etc were also present.
Elaborating about the towering personality of his father, Mahesh Munjal, said, "My father was a karm yogi and a dharam yogi. He touched many lives. Discipline, hard work and religion were the three principles that my father had learnt from the gurukul. He started his business journey successfully from coal trading but after that he moved on to India to lay the foundation stone of Hero Cycles with his brothers. He looked after the production of cycles and was very dedicated to his work and remembered names of all his workers."
Mahesh also added, "He led to setting up of 22 Arya Samaj institutions in Ludhiana and around."
Nidhi Kapoor, Satyanand's eldest granddaughter, while paying homage, said, "Our saint is gone, "Pitaji" as he was fondly called by us left his mark on lives of all of us. He might not be here with us physically but he is around us and watching us. The best way to keep him alive among us is to try to replicate his good deeds and we will continue to do so."
Sunil Kant Munjal, while paying homage to his uncle Satyanand Munjal, said, "This is the 4th setback for our family in recent times and this is end of one generation for us. Our seniors have left a legacy for all of us and it's our responsibility now to carry it forward. ‘Pitaji' did unending amount of social work and was completely unique soul with amazing levels of patience. He never got angry or aggressive even during worst of situations, he believed in transforming the society."
Yogesh Munjal said with demise of his father, the next generation has even greater responsibility now to perform in business and in social works too.
In one of the most touching moments of this prayer meeting, Yogesh thanked and introduced 5 attendants and servants from the past 50 years who took care of his father.