Col Girish N Purandare

The sad news of sudden demise of Col Girish Purandare has come as a rude shock to us. Destiny has dealt a grave blow to his family by snatching him away from them in the prime of his life. I am writing these lines to pay my homage to Girish who was a great human being and an excellent Signaller. His early departure is a great loss not only to his family but to the Corps of Signals too.
Although I had not been in regular touch with Girish for many years now (having taken early retirement 9 years ago), I had been hearing about his steady success in the Corps through others. I recall those CME days in 1986 -87 when he was a student of SODE 56 course and I happened to be their Instructor teaching some Electronics subjects. He was one of the brightest and liveliest students of the course and a good sportsman too. I remember, there was a healthy competition for the top position among 3 - 4 students in the course - Girish being one of them . Girish raised the bar for others also. Those youngsters could give tough times to an instructor if he did not come well prepared and I enjoyed teaching them. In the end , it was Girish who pipped others by his sheer brilliance and hard-work. He stood first in the CME leg of the course and later in MCTE leg too . Even in his success, he was a symbol of humility and was well liked by all his friends and colleagues.
May God Almighty bless his noble soul.
Mrs Purandare, we are with you in this hour of your grief. You can depend upon us, this fraternity of Signallers, for any support required any time. May God give you courage to bear this great personal loss and strength to shape the lives of your young children in the mould of their brilliant father.

Col Niranjan Pandey (Retd)