Good Bye, Krishna!

Krishna Saharia Das, wife of Dr, Pradip Das, of St. Louis, passed away on August 17, 2007 after a three year battle with leukemia.

Krishna was born to the late Hiranya Kumar Saharia and Mrs. Aparajita Saharia of Guwahati, Assam, India, on October 16, 1963. She grew up in Shillong, the then capital of greater Assam and attended Pine Mount School, Lady Keane College and Northeastern Hills University (NEHU),  from where she received her MA degree in English Literature.

Krishna and Pradip Das were married on January 28, 1988. She came to join Pradip at Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1990.  Their daughters Joy Shri and son Porag Jeet were born in 1991 and 1994, respectively, at Holyoake, Mass. She took her oath of U.S. Citizenship at the historic Franeuil Hall in Boston in 1994, of which she was always very proud.

The Das family moved to St. Louis in 1996, where Pradip is pursuing his career as the Director of Crop Analytics at the Monsanto Company. Krishna was deeply involved with their children’s education and extra-curricular activities. She also volunteered as a teacher’s assistant and library aide at the Old Bonhomme Elementary School in the Ladue School District. In spite of the demands on her time, Krishna loved to do quilting and stay in touch with literature.

Leukemia struck Krishna in 2004, but it could never dampen her spirit or rob her of her ever present smile and upbeat demeanor. She fought her battle valiantly, and left us at 2:15 AM on August 17, 2007 with a legacy of courage and determination for the rest of us who were close to her and her family to look up to. In addition to Pradip, Joy Shri and Parag Jeet, she  leaves behind her mother Aparajita Saharia of St. Louis and a brother and sister-in-law Drs. Chandan and Kavita Saharia of Guwahati.

By Chandan Mahanta, St. Louis