Farewell, Lalitha Lajmi, Hope You Are Reunited With Kalpana

Reputed  painter Lalitha Lajmi lived much longer than her  entire  family.  Her legendary brother Guru Dutt  was  only 39 when he  allegedly committed  sucide. His leder son Tarun only 35 when he died.

While Guru Dutt committed suicide in 1965, his elder son Tarun Dutt (who had directed Rekha in the 1984 caper Bindiya Chamkegi) apparently took his own life in 1985.

Guru Dutt’s younger son Arun died at  58  in 2014.Arun, and his siblings Tarun and Nina, grew up in the homes of Guru Dutt’s brother Atma Ram and Geeta Dutt’s brother Mukul Roy after their parents passed away.

 Tarun and  Arun were   only eight years old when their  father passed away. The children didn’t know  their father’s reputation as a living legend. Guru Dutt never encouraged his children to be a part of the movie business. He knew better than most how heartbreaking the industry could be and even made the classic Kaagaz Ke Phool on the disenchantment served up by the film industry.

  After  Arun’s death his  cousin Kalpana Lajmi(Lalitha Lajmi’s daughter)  recalled Arun as a gentle and troubled soul. “He was a wonderful cerebral person. But eventually he was afflicted by the tragedy that gripped the family… the tragedy that befalls children of colossal personalities. Can you imagine what a burden it must have been for Tarun and Arun to carry forward their parents’ legacy?”

And now the legacy is  wiped  out. Kalpana  Lajmi died at 64, leaving her mother behind . The lovely Lalithaji spent  her time painting and doing social work.

But the loss of her daughter was a  blow  she could never come  to terms with.