admin
Thu, 27/02/2003 - 21:45

In memory of our beloved Geeta Barua Deka

After a brave battle against cancer, Geeta Deka passed away at 6:30 PM (CST) Houston time on February 23, 2003 at the M. D. Anderson Hospital. Geeta was surrounded by her family members and friends at the time of her death. Almost all the members of the Assamese community from and around Houston came to the hospital to pour their love and to give support to the family.

Geeta Barua Deka was born in Shillong, Assam, to parents Mr. Hema Chandra and Kamal Kumari Barua. She is survived by her only son Raja Deka and husband Madhab Deka and among her relatives living in the USA with their families are: her elder sister in Tallahassee, her younger sister in Boston and her younger brother in Sugar Land. Her mother was the then Education and also Finance Minister of Assam, who may have been one of first women from Assam to obtain a master degree from Calcutta University. Geeta attended her higher secondary education in Shillong, and then attended Cotton College where she obtained her B.S degree with honors in Botany. While finishing her collegiate education, she got married in 1973 to her NRI husband who is an electrical engineer by profession. They moved to Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston, Texas in 1983 and since then she had been living there after a brief relocation to Tennessee to be with her husband on a job assignment. She loved Houston. While in Tennessee, she could not stay away from her friends in Houston; she used to visit Sugar Land quite often.

She was a realtor by profession and was very good too. She had consistently been a multi-million dollar producer for her company. She was a people oriented person, which was the key factor for her success in her career in real estate.

It was an extremely sad day for her family, her relatives, and her loving friends, who were eagerly waiting for a miracle to happen. She was the popular Auntie among the kids. She, by nature was always happy, never showed her temper, and did not show any worries, as she never wanted to make others sad.

Among her favorites were Bhupenda, Bihu songs, and dance. She herself was a very good Bihu dance performer and participated in group dances with the Houston ladies in several Assam (ese) conventions. Even in the last convention in Denver in 2002, while still undergoing chemotherapy, she danced away. It was hard to imagine that a person, who was still smiling and laughing on the outside, was fighting for her life on the inside.

It was a loss not only to the family and relatives, but also to the entire Assamese community living in the USA. We sadly mourn the untimely death of our beloved Geeta. Although no words can possibly express the feelings felt by the family, the entire Assamese Community offers their heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the bereaved family.

“Geeta, may your soul rest in eternal peace. We will miss you very dearly.”

By Mano Hazarika, Sugar Land, Texas (with love and sadness from Dada)
Feb 25, 2003

----------------------------------------------------------------------

It is really sad that Mrs. Geeta Deka of Houston passed away after a brief illness. I would like to
convey my sincere condolences to her family, particulary to Raja and Madhab da.

May her soul rest in peace.

The first time I met Geeta Baidew for an extended period of time was the Assam 2001 Conference in Toronto. We spent an wonderful evening, till early morning, together with Geeta Baidew, her husband Madhab Deka and Lonee Baruah, all of Houston.
I exchanged several phone calls with her during the planning stages of Assam 2002 in Denver as well. She and the Texas team of dancers had performed and impressed everyone in the 2002 Conference in July. She looked cheerful, healthy and active, and we never suspected that she was bravely fighting a mortal disease.

Geeta Baidew impressed everyone including me with her ready smile, her gentleness, her thoughtfulness, and her ability to communicate and connect with anyone she met. There was a general aura of understated elegance and grace about her which only a few individuals are blessed with.

Her exit from this world of ours into the heavens beyond was quick, and that itself should be considered a gift of god, because I have witnessed tremendous sufferings spanning long periods of time from the
cruel disease of cancer.

Jugal Kalita
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Read a few posts in AssamNet: