OBITUARY
VINOD
AND ANITA VIJ
J.L. Singh’65
The ill-fated AVRO
aircraft took off from Pokhra in Nepal on the morning of the 5th of
September’99. As it lumbered into its take-off position at the top the short
runway, the ten passengers and five crew members were already counting the
thirty-five minutes it would take to land in Kathmandu. Among the passengers,
Vinod Krishan Vij ’62 and Anita Vij, had just completed a holiday in Nepal
where their daughter, Divya, was working with Pricewaterhouse. They were to
take a connecting flight from Kathmandu to Delhi as Anita in particular was
very keen to be in Delhi so that she could cast her vote, the 5th being an
election day in Delhi.
Ten minutes from
Kathmandu, destiny willed otherwise. One of the plane’s wings hit a
communications tower, sending the 45-seater craft into an uncontrolled and
fatal spin. The pilot had the presence of mind to jettison the fuel tank thus
avoiding an explosion. But it made no difference—all passengers and crew were
killed.
Vinod Krishan Vij,
“Kuku” to friends, born March 24th 1945, died September 5th 1999. Anita Vij
born Septenber 17th, died September 5th 1999. The life of two of the brightest
and best known lights of the Sam fraternity was snuffed out in a twinkling.
Most things about Kuku
Vij were special. Born in Lahore, which was then part of an undivided India,
life for him never had a dull moment. His early schooling was at the
Lawrence School in Sanawar but ended at
the prestigious Doon School. It was the Class of 60 at the latter - ex-prime
minister Rajiv Gandhi’s class to be precise. After school, he did a short stint
at St.Stephen’s College, Delhi before joining as a Special Class Apprentice of
the ’62 batch. Passing out of Jamalpur in January 1967, his first posting at
the end of his probationary period was as AME, Tatanagar. After a not too long
spell on South Eastern Railway, where he was posted at Kharagpur and Calcutta,
he was transferred to Northern Railway. In the late seventies, he proceeded on
deputation to the PEC of India Ltd. and was later Joint Director Mechanical of the high-powered Railway Reforms
Committee. In the mid-eighties, a UNDP assignment saw him in Vietnam
rehabilitating GE- locomotives. On his return to India, he was re-posted on
South Eastern Railway. In 1988 when the Government of India decided for the
only time in its existence to recognise the worth of training, Kuku Vij was
handpicked to be posted as Director at the Alma Mater, Jamalpur. This was at
the time when training of probationary officers was also being centralised at
the concerned training institute. So, a whole generation of SCAs and direct
mechanical officers went through his hands and would be grateful that they did.
After Jamalpur, Kuku
Vij was posted in the Board followed by DRM at Vadodara. It was only a matter
of time before he was elevated to the post of CME, Northern and even his
adversaries, if he had any, accepted that he was well on his way to becoming a member of the Board , if not
the Chairman.
A perfect foil to his
multi-faceted personality was his better half, Anita. Exuding a charisma that
left lesser mortals in awe, she supported Kuku as only she could. An alumnus of
the Welhams Girls School, Dehradun, she was married to Kuku in December 1970.
Among her many accomplishments was her linguistic ability; being fluent in
German and French. in fact, she worked for a German firm whenever she was in
Delhi for well over 30 years. They had two children, Varun and Divya. God give
them strength to face this double tragedy.
Whether it was at work
or whether it was at a party, Kuku and Anita Vij were always centre-stage and
they both felt totally at home in that situation. this writer feels that
anything written about them would not do them justice. But they were so well
known and so popular, that perhaps nothing further needs to be written. A few
random thoughts, however, would be in order.
Take Club Day, for
instance. The basic celebrations have been the same at least since the middle
sixties. That is till 1989. In that year, with Kuku and Anita at the helm, a
new concept was born- that of an Old Boys’ dinner on the 13th at the Director’s
residence. Local Sams chip in with their mite for this function, which is now a
permanent part of Club Day lore. And another addition to the Club Day is the
concept of a focal batch. This was thought of by Kuku and is now as traditional
as any other part of the Sam anniversary.
The Sam community, nay,
the entire railway community, will not be able to replace them.