Tribute to Ritu Singh

It is with a sense of sorrow and shock that we learnt of the passing away of Ritu Singh. She had translated many of our books into Hindi such as Aloo-Maloo-Kaloo,Salaana Bal-Kataai Diwas, Bani, Kal Milenge, Chhuk-Chhuk-Chhak, Chulbul’s Tail , Muft Ke Teen,Wailers three…A competent and efficient translator, a good editor Ritu would drop by at our office on her way to her children’s school. Always cheerful, she would chat about the world in general and I remember having a conversation with her once where she asked how she should translate ‘wine in the cellar’ in one of our folktales. She finally used ‘kanji’ for wine in Hindi as it is a mildly fermented drink made out of carrots in many north Indian homes and I congratulated her on her clever choice.

Ritu died of lupus within a month of diagnosis and leaves behind her husband and two children aged 8 and 12 . Lupus is a little known auto-immune disease and strikes one in a million people and many of them are women their forties.Her husband mentioned she was ‘one among the chosen’ and we can only say we wish it had not been so. Our deepest condolences to the family and prayers for Ritu’s soul. We will miss this fellow traveller.

– Written by Manisha Chaudhry