ASHWIN POPAT

(1943-2021)

Ashwin Popat was a Life Member of the Himalayan Club.  In a close-knit trekking community loss of a companion is always sad. He was my long-standing trekking friend, though ailing for a while, still till the end he was thinking of hills.   Weakened by medical treatment, a looking almost a skeleton, first thing he did was to climb a hill near his house. The hill may be small but the spirit he was showed was high.

We first met on a trek in the local hills and we got on fabulously, went for treks into remote areas, climbed many hill forts in a span of almost four  decades. Those were the fun-days when we simply packed rucksack with some food and branched off to a fort of Shivaji in the hills near Mumbai, walked through villages, climbing steep trails in sun and sleep in a cave. There were no other groups and the entire fort just belonged to us. There were chats about mountains, family, business and life between our close group of friends.

With retinue of servants at home, I think Ashwin had never cooked a meal. On local hills we have turns for who will cook on overnight trips. When his turn came, he went to the village and asked a lady to cook for the party. She was well paid, and all were happy with fresh village food. Since then, when available this became a norm. Similarly, instead of travel by local buses he bargained to arrange a taxi on “per seat basis”. His ideas to make trek travel comfortable and convenient, caught on. Things have changed so much today, in the local hill or in the Himalaya, that local buses are far and few while share taxis are roaming on most routes. 

Ashwin was a different person. He was a successful architect who developed many high buildings.  It was a   high-pressure job though he was very creative. Ultimately tired of the world of finance and buildings, which was never straight forward, he decided to wind up his business and devote more time to life in nature and travelling. With his family he travelled to the Arctic, Antarctic, Amazon Forest, Northern Lights, Tibet and Nepal; thoroughly enjoying various aspects of nature. During all this while his love for the Himalaya remained supreme. He made trips to the forest of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal, Uttarakhand and several areas with different companions.   He was a romantic at heart, joking with friends, loved good food and enjoyed a walk every morning to a hill near to his house.

Likes of him are nowadays rare who would give up many material things for nature and concentrate on enjoying life. He will be sorely missed by all of us.  His daughters Urmi and Jasmine were capable and looked after the entire family during his sickness.  He enjoyed with his grandson Arrav.   Our condolences to them and his wife Shankuntala whose loss is the greatest.

I’m sure his heart would be living in hills wherever he is.

Harish Kapadia