Bidyut Ganguly

Bidyut Ganguly (née Bhattacharyya) born May 18, 1931, was the eldest daughter of the late Honorable Pares Chandra Bhattacharyya, OBE, and Srimati Kamala Bhattacharyya, and the wife of the late Dr. Debi Prasanna Ganguly. Bidyut has three children, Keya (Timothy), Joya, and Devapriyo (Ankhi) and two grandchildren, her beloved grandson, Shaunak (15) and brilliant granddaughter, Aaleya (11). Bidyut was an extraordinary woman, having been a botanist extraordinaire who completed her Master of Science degree in Botany from Delhi University and her PhD from Calcutta University in 1959 on the structure, cytology and morphology of Pandanus Odoratissimus.(Sanskrit: Ketaki,  Bengali: Keya). Prior to coming to the United States in 1979 with her husband and children, and from the time of her doctoral studies, she was an active participant in seminars and workshops in the Department of Botany at Calcutta University as well as a scientific researcher at the Tata Cancer Research Hospital in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. It is difficult to overestimate Bidyut’s love of flowers, Indian classical music, tennis, current affairs, and in her later years, golf! She was an avid follower of national politics and current affairs and held deeply felt views about issues of justice and equality, the redistribution of wealth, and the dangers of climate change. She was an amazing (though reluctant) cook, with her specialties being Bengali vegetarian dishes such as lau shukto,  palong shaag, and her very special panchmishalir tarkari. Among the qualities that most describe Bidyut were her incandescent smile, courage, strong will, and determination to be independent for as long as she lived. She achieved this goal in the most remarkable way—going from someone who was described as “really healthy” by her physician less than a month ago, to someone who—unbeknownst to her sorrowful siblings, children, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren—had evidently sensed her impending demise. She thus arranged to depart this earth speedily, with a brief hospitalization, and her end coming on the auspicious day of  Ekadashi, or the Christian calendar date of Friday, June 24, 2022. We salute you, Ma, miss your wonderful presence, and continue to seek your blessings. In turn, we hope that the Almighty eases your way into eternal peace. You will always be a part of us, even if your worldly self has left the mortal coil. May God bless you and keep you in his arms forever. Om Sri Sai Ram ॐ
A viewing and puja will take place Saturday, June 24 ^th at 12:00 pm at Leroy P. Wooster Funeral Home & Crematory, 441 White Horse Pike, Atco, NJ. Cremation to follow. A livestream of the service will be available to view via this link https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/1493893518 or by clicking on the tribute wall tab.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Vedanta Center of Greater Washington ( vedantadc@gmail.com ) and/or an independent war relief organization of your choice.