Nirmala Nayak

Nirmala Nayak was born in T. Nagar in the city of Madras, India – currently known as Chennai. She lived in T. Nagar her entire life but her circle of family and friends spanned many parts of the world. Her interests growing up were in music and movies. She was gifted with a beautiful voice that she used extensively for devotional music (bhajans), but also had a lot of interest in light music. She was a walking encyclopedia of movie trivia, and could recall names of cast members, songs, and musicians with consummate ease.

As the older sister to three brothers, she helped her mother in their upbringing, never shying away from any responsibilities. After her years in school and college, Nirmala pursued her interests in devotional music being associated with spiritual leaders like Divine Mother Sree Rama Devi and Sathya Sai Baba.

Meanwhile, Nirmala’s circle of friends grew rapidly as she put anyone she met at ease with her charming smile and humorous conversations. It did not matter whether the new acquaintances were senior executives, the staff in a restaurant or store, or even members of her medical team. She was quickly laughing and exchanging pleasantries with them. She truly had a heart of gold, always looking to help people in need, be it in kind or just words of cheer. She loved to make herself presentable for any occasion, from grocery shopping to weddings, and enjoyed wearing jasmine flowers in her hair. Over the years she had become extremely careful with what she ate, and earned the respect of her doctors and dieticians.

As far as family was concerned, she took care of her brothers after both parents has passed on relatively early, and fiercely defended her siblings in every situation. She adored her sister-in-law and was the doting aunt to her brother’s son, ensuring that he had the best experiences every time they met. The unbounded love and camaraderie were very evident between aunt and nephew, and she used every opportunity to shower him with everything he could want.

While Nirmala’s passing was very unexpected, she was blessed to have a departure with absolutely no suffering, having spent the last few days in the company of her immediate family.