It is difficult to believe that Mooli ( I used to call him Oberoi) has left us for good. I first met him briefly in 1980 in Shillong and after I joined AM cadre of IAS in1981, we were colleagues and friends for the last 38 years. He guided me immensely when I served in Finance and Personal department of Govt of Assam. I nostalgically recall interactions with him and Nandini, over the innumerable numbers of dinner, I had at his 30 Defence Colony residence whenever I was in Delhi. He had a passion for NorthEast especially Arunachal Pradesh. He travelled the length and breadth of North East and always strived to project the beautiful land and people of the region. In recent years, I had the privilege of accompanying him to Majuli for Raas festival and Tezpur for the Garu Bihu ( first day of Rongali Bihu). The best thing about him was he was always smiling and positive about life. I was touched when he called me from his hospital bed on 1st April 2020 at 10pm and was confident that he will be again up and about in a couple of months. But destiny decided otherwise. I will always cherish my association with him May his soul rest in peace. Subhash Das
