Mr Gill was extraordinary …always smiling always quipping and so chivalrous with the ladies ! He had the heartiest laugh and seemed like such an easy going fun person! 

He was very quick witted and Sapan loved his company! We will miss you Mr Gill!

Rennu,

At the outset please accept our heartfelt Condolences to you and all the  members of Gill, Dhillon and Nijjar family for the most untimely demise of my dear friend of childhood - Baldi.

I met Baldi in the 1969 spring term( Jan to May)  when I joined Mayo. Although we were in different houses, we dined in the same mess and our boarding houses were almost co-located . We knew each other but our friendship deepened when we both landed in BT House in Autumn 1970. Same house, same dorm and love for sports/ adventure brought us closer. The good thing was almost all of us in BT House were like minded. So we all have wonderful memories of our teenage years at Mayo with Baldi being a part of us.

Baldi always displayed his capacity to carry a team irrespective of the discipline or domain he was engaged in. His leadership qualities were borne out of his genuineness in understanding the group he was involved with and his humane approach with abundance of maturity even at that age. This I can say on hind sight at this stage of my life.

His love for football, hockey and everlasting zeal  to be an effective part of any team was something we are proud of.

He loved Deep Purple , CCR, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull and we waited for the time when we joined back from holidays for the latest albums he brought.

He was the Football ( Soccer) Captain of Mayo and led the team as a true Captain with an outstanding scoring average that no individual of Mayo team had in one season.The performance of the team was so good that the entire soccer team was given the "colours", which has happened once in the history of Mayo College to the best of my knowledge.

We learnt from each other and I personally gained immensely in many fields from him. He introduced me to photography and it was then I adopted this as my hobby.

Some years back I got in touch with him over the telephone and thereafter we met at Bangalore at Sartaj 's place.

We all spent hours together replaying our past , fond memories of school days and what we did thereafter.

(He always called me Bobs, that's the identity I got in the Mayo 73 batch)

Losing of Baldi has come as a shock to me and to most of our batchmates. We are at  loss.

We pray to Waheguru ji for the departed soul to attain Sadgati.

In grief with you all.

Bhabani Das.

( Bobs)

PS

I am attaching three pictures of our Baldi when we were at Mayo College, Ajmer.

I first met Baldi in 1973 at his family’s home in Nairobi. He became good friends with me, my brother and my entire family. We lived in London and between 1974 and 1984 Baldi spent many happy hours with us.  In those years we were often in different countries to each other because we were studying but we always stayed in touch. . 

We got married in the same year -1983, Baldi to his first wife, Paz, me to my husband Sverrir.  We lived in London, Baldi had an Indian restaurant outside London that he ran successfully. We supported him through Paz’s illness and untimely  death in 1985. 

After that Baldi left for America - he surprised my brother on his 40th birthday in 1996 in London and told us all about Rennu and the girls and that he wanted to marry Rennu, which he did in 1997.  We were thrilled that Baldi had found love again, he was devoted to his little family who gave him a new lease of life. 

We met Rennu and Baldi in 2018 when they both came to London and in 2019 when Baldi visited us. Little did we know that that would be the last time we would see him. . He met our first granddaughter Rosie who was about to celebrate her first birthday and was wonderful with her. 

Thank goodness for social media! It enabled us to follow his life in California i - he was never more in his element than when he was surrounded by his family,; the icing on the cake were the three little grandchildren who doted on him as much as he doted on them. 

Baldi had a magnetic personality.  He radiated kindness and fun with an infectious smile that lit up every room he was in, He laughed at his own jokes and we would laugh with him, just because his laughter was so infectious! Even though we didn't see each other as often as we would have liked to because of geography,  it was always a comfort to know that Baldi was just a phone call away. I can’t imagine a world without Baldi in it. We miss him so very much. 

Thank you for the countless memories, Baldi, for the happy and sad times that we shared, for your friendship and love and just for being you! 

Our heartfelt condolences to Rennu and the girls and to their families at this very difficult time. 

With love, 

Shameem and Sverrir 

Many of you may not know of how long I have known my buddy - about 50 + years - from Mayo College, Ajmer, India.

Baldi - our soccer /football captain and hockey mate. A year ahead of me in school!

Of course you -ragged us in our good old Mayo days but we were all one happy family in Boarding school.

You were an amazing fellow, an all rounder, vibrant, bright and full of energy, commitment and compassion as I recall. And being your junior in school I was so envious of your talent.

We had a fabulous journey together with each other in our school years and after.

You Guided us through our journey then as a Prefect in school maintaining discipline in private school. Our boarding years together were so memorable.

You were truly a good chap then and now

I was so fortunate to have been a part of your life and journey. We had some amazing times together

Baldi - you will always be deeply missed and always remembered my friend.

I truly miss your fond friendship and guidance.

Till we meet again…