Rest in Peace — Ranjana

My sister, Ranjana Smetacek, passed away on September 1, 2023 after a four year battle with Ovarian Cancer. Her body betrayed her.  Period. 

Ranjana was a doting mom to Bianca and Kartik, and was smitten by her grandchildren, Shaira, Sara and Dhruv. She had a wildly successful career, but her accomplishments and global contributions went way beyond her professional accolades.  

She was a brilliant communicator, and fiercely independent.  And as Kartik reminded us, she had a pretty good record in winning arguments — 1 million to zero. 

As her primary caregivers, Rohini and I had the front seat in her battle with her disease. She was tenacious through her multiple sessions of chemo and scans. She fought with every ounce of her being so that she could live to see her family blossom. She fought for life — why is that such a difficult ask?

During her final days, she was admitted to hospice and in one of our final chats, she held my hand and told me that she was no longer in pain, that she was comfortable, and that she was at peace.  Her downward spiral was a shock to all of us.  

Her daughter Bianca, spent the last week with her, holding her hand and loving on her, as only a daughter can do.  She passed peacefully, way too young and way too tragically.  The void she left will stay with us in perpetuity.  

I silently wished that she was less brilliant and less well read.  She devoured books as if her thirst for knowledge could never be satiated. She read everything and had a deeper intellectual curiosity than any one else that I know. 

She often told me that my writing was terrible — thanks Sis — and would often correct my English. Oh well, I never really stopped being a kid brother to her.  The last four years, she bought me golf balls for Father’s Day, symbolic of our evolving relationship, and our bond.  

To say that our family is heartbroken is putting it mildly. We are learning to cope and live through the grief that never seems to abate.  The past few weeks, we have painstakingly disassembled her life and converted her home into a house. More on that later.  

For now, we grieve and we relive the memories of a disciplined, brilliant and a one of a kind lady. Our hearts are broken and we miss her dearly. Rest in Peace Sis — till we meet again.