'Monjit was a beautiful soul who loved deeply and fully'

Guest column: Shweta Rathee, Publisher/Director Sales at ELLE Magazine and the wife of the late Monjit Sharma, remembers her husband as someone who was a people person through and through

There’s something about the line, “You can check in anytime you want, but you can never leave,” from the Eagles that makes me think of Monjit. He was easy to love but impossible to leave.

His friends remember him for his smile, his generosity, his calm demeanor, and his unwavering kindness. He never complained or harboured ill will, and people gravitated toward him naturally. He had a way of making you feel at home, of welcoming you into his life so fully that leaving wasn’t an option. A lot of you know this—coming to our house often meant staying longer than you intended, because Monjit wouldn’t let you go. He loved people, and people loved him.

I remember meeting a lanky, charming 21-year-old with a world of ambition and dreams. He had this magnetic quality, drawing people to him without even trying. I married him because he could cook and because he could talk to me about anything under the sun, and because—if I’m being honest—he’d borrowed so much money from me that marrying him felt like the only way I could get it back. But more than that, I married him because he was one of a kind—a beautiful soul who loved deeply and fully.

Thank you, Universe, for giving me this rare, genuine love, for giving me Monjit. And thank you to all of you, his friends, for being part of his journey. The love and goodwill you showered upon him in his final days is the only thing he could take with him, and it’s something he earned in abundance. Monjit, you can check out, but you can never leave, because you will live on in our hearts with the beautiful memories you’ve given us.

Cheers to a life well-lived, my love. If grief is the price we pay for love, then even this debilitating grief is a small price for the immense love I received from you. Till we meet again, my beautiful soul.