“Literature will stand the test of time, and I would want the world to remember her, even after I am dead and gone.”
This is what Venkatesh Govindarajan envisions when he sits down to write in honor of his late wife, Varshita, who passed away in early 2020. Since then, he has dedicated much of his own life to sharing her story and love for the world and its people.
“Varshita’s concern and burning desire to make the world a better place to live in, which she shared with me, as true soulmates are often said to do, needs to be fulfilled by me,” Venkatesh says.
Over the past two years, he’s established several funds in Varshita’s name for causes including girls’ education, cancer treatment and vision care. As a longtime Plan sponsor whose first sponsored child happened to be a girl from India, Venkatesh knew working with Plan would help carry on Varshita’s legacy faithfully. Venkatesh created a special Endowed Sponsorship in Varshita’s honor through Plan, as well as the Varshita Venkatesh Girls’ Education Fund at Plan USA to keep girls in school and support early childhood development.
“There is indeed a strong possibility that some of the girls [supported] by the fund may become entrepreneurs or world leaders or award-winning scientists in the future, contributing to socioeconomic development in the world, and keeping Varshita’s legacy alive,” Venkatesh says.
[Read more: In memory of an ambassador for the real India]
Meanwhile, Venkatesh has turned to literature to share the impact his wife had on the people she moved through life with and continue her legacy.
“[Varshita] was a citizen of the world who spoke many languages,” Venkatesh says. “Literature is something which can take shape from the original in many languages over time. A global citizen who has left behind her heart-prints in the lives of numerous people (from different countries, speaking different languages) can be best honored through literature.”
His first tribute to Varshita took the form of a poem series, “Varshita: A Tribute to My Soulmate,” proceeds of which go to St. Jude Childrens’ Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
“Among the last sentences I uttered to her on the 10th of January 2020 was, ‘I will do whatever I can in your honor and memory, and make sure that you are not so easily forgotten by the world.’”
Now, Venkatesh is publishing a new book to honor Varshita. What he had hoped to be a newspaper article written by Varshita herself upon beating cancer for the second time has become a memoir immortalizing her kindness, courage and love forever. “Till Death do us Reunite” weaves the story of his and Varshita’s life together, contrasting events creatively so that, by the end, “the best and the happiest period of [our] married life is juxtaposed with the saddest and most traumatic.”
But hope is also tethered to this sad story. Venkatesh has established the Varshita Venkatesh Sports for Learning Fund with Plan International India to provide girls with learning opportunities through sports programs which provide equipment and organize local activities. Proceeds from purchases of “Till Death do us Reunite,” which will be released in June, will go to this fund, fueling girls’ leadership for a better future.
“Varshita was an epitome of generosity, compassion and devotion, true grit and resourcefulness,” Venkatesh says. “These are virtues which humanity needs to surmount the challenges that lie ahead!”
