A personal remembrance

HONOURING DR ASHOK GUPTA'S LIFELONG CONTRIBUTION

- Jagdeep Singh

his personal tribute might seem a wee bit late (he passed away on 3 March), but it's not jaded for sure.

For it takes time to get over the shock of the passing away of a friend and I am proud to call him one. Senior to me in years, I first met Dr Ashok Gupta (henceforth will be only called Ashok Gupta) in the year 1978 at the Journal Press in Jayanti Market. My weekly tabloid (Rajasthan Echo) used to get printed at this printing press, which was owned by another common friend of ours, Ajay Kala, now a prominent jeweller.

Since I went to the printing press on a daily basis, I had often met Ashok Gupta there. He had just taken over as the Founder Principal of the newly established Maheshwari Public School (MPS). He had this passion for the school publications to be top-class in terms of their design as well as the quality of printing. He was convinced that the first impression of the school was created by the prospectus and the school brochure. The three of us (Ashok Gupta, Ajay Kala, and I) gradually became good friends. Our common friend, Virendra Sharma, who used to then work for a bank, would also drop in with us for an evening together. Mr Gupta then also had an office at Tilak Nagar, where all four of us would foregather on some evenings.