Condolences to Dr.Rizal
About one hundred friends, students, well wishers & general Bhutanese Community personnel attended a memorial event organized to celebrate the life & legacy of Dr Govinda Rizal on May 18, 2024 at the Himalayan Daycare Center at 6954 Americana Parkway, Reynoldsburg, Ohio coinciding with the 13th day of his passing away. This memorial event was organized by The Bhutanese Community of Greater Columbus. The event was somber and very emotional for some of the participants including some speakers.
The event started by chanting Vedic Mantras by Bhuwan Pyakurel & lighting diya by one of Dr Rizal’s best childhood friend, Sri Bhim Bastola. Immediately after this, Chandra Subedi greeted the people in the audience and gave insight about the memorial event and highlighted some of his significant contributions to the community. Jhuma Nath Acharya, who happened to be the emcee of the event, took over from Chandra Subedi and reminded the audience that Dr Govinda Rizal was one of the solid pillars of the Bhutanese community and his loss has dealt a tragic blow to not only his immediate family but our community at large. The emcee, without delay, invited Bhim Bastola to speak about his cherished childhood memories with Dr. Rizal. Mr. Bhim Bastola paid a solemn tribute to Dr. Govinda Rizal and shared his experiences growing up with Dr. Rizal. Mr. Bastola informed the audience that Dr. Rizal had a very unique personality since his childhood. He was inquisitive, innovative, charismatic, and a bundle of joy for his friends and family. The emcee thereafter invited Mr. Ganesh Ghimirey who happened to be Dr. Rizal’s colleague and one of his closest friends in his initial days in the refugee camp. Mr. Ghimirey came with a heavy heart to pay tribute to his cheerful, humorous, kindhearted friend. He spoke about the Dr. Rizal’s immeasurable contributions in both formal and informal education in the refugee camp. Mr. Ghimirey informed the audience that Dr. Rizal was instrumental in establishing community development classes (CDC) and classes for the differently abled/disabled youths in Beldangi 2 extension camp. Mr. Ghimirey shared interesting stories about how Dr. Rizal volunteered to help underprivileged youths and took immense pride in being able to make positive changes in the lives of marginalized individuals. He reminded the audience that Dr. Rizal wore many hats, one of which being his role as a brilliant Agricultural scientist, historian, human rights activists, poet & a prolific writer. Mr Ghimirey talked about his immense contribution to the community & the irreparable loss sustained as a result of his untimely death.
The stage was thereafter handed over to Mr Ganga Lamitarey, a well known literary figure, who informed the audience about Dr Rizal’s contributions to Nepali Literature. Mr Lamitarey told the audience that Dr Rizal’s contributions are priceless & his departure has left a void. Mr Lamitarey talked about Dr Rizal’s commitment to our cause and applauded his efforts to uplift the community. Emcee invited Mr Bhuwan Pyakurel, council member at City of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, who knew Dr Rizal from 2019 by way of his association with(Bhutan Research And Information Network) BRAIN. Mr Pyakurel shared one story about Dr Rizal’s interaction with his teenage daughter and his uplifting words for her to pursue her dream. Mr Pyakurel talked about his brief interaction with Dr Rizal and his three hours long interview with his 90 plus years old father. Mr Pyakurel shared information about Dr Rizal’s contribution to BRAIN in collecting documents from people living in Nepal. This was followed by showing video clip prepared by our prominent activist Mr Ram Karki from Netherlands. Due to technical issue , we weren’t able to show the clip and the emcee invited Dr Rizal’s students to come to the stage & share their memories of Dr Rizal. It was heartbreaking to hear their stories & their pride of being his students. Laxmi Upreti led the student group followed by several others including Nirmala Adhikari, Lok Acharya & Shanti Adhikari. Each of them shared amazing stories of Dr Rizal being an excellent human being besides being their beloved teacher. Emcee thereafter invited Mr Kashi Adhikari, the proprietor of Himalayan Day , who provided the space for us to host the event to say few words about his relationship with D Rizal. Mr Adhikari spoke about his first meeting with Dr Rizal while Dr Rizal was participating in AMCC movement at Mechi Bridge. Mr Adhikari told the audience about his connection with Dr Rizal in course of getting his books published. Mr Adhikari applauded Dr Rizal for his scholarly conduct. Due to limited time, we weren’t able to invite everyone to speak though many wished to say something. Emcee thereafter invited Mr Bhuwan Pyakurel to lead the audience to observe two minutes of silence to pray for the departed soul. As soon as the moment of silence was observed, attendees were requested to offer flowers at Dr Rizal’s photograph placed in front of the stage. Once everyone offered flowers, Mr Jhumanath requested Mr Bhim Bastola to provide the details of the unfortunate incident that took his life. Mr Bastola shared the tragic details of the accident and payed solemn tribute to Dr Rizal. Jhumanath Acharya thanked everyone for being available to pay tribute to Dr Rizal and shared the wish of Mr Arjun Rasaily to organize this type of event every year to honor Dr Rizal. The event was concluded by providing light refreshments provided by Ved Pyakurel & Tara Acharya.
Report Compiled by Ganesh Ghimirey