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Khushal Gala
File:Khushal Gala Picture.jpg ...

Khushal Gala was an Indian chartered accountant and social worker who died of lung cancer on July 12, 2013.

Early life

Khushal Gala was born in Hyderabad on 30th June, 1953 to Laxmichand Gala and Manjula Gala. He was the eldest of five siblings – Bharat, Mahendra, Lata and Manda. Khushal was enrolled in Keshav Memorial High School for his early education and later completed his Bachelors degree (B.Com) from Badruka College of Commerce, Hyderabad. He then moved to Mumbai to pursue a Chartered Accountants (CA) degree. Living with his uncle in Santa Cruz, he worked and gave his final exams to become a registered CA within three years. Soon thereafter, he started his own practice in 1979 in Patwa Chambers, Masjid Bandar, Mumbai.

Career and social service

Khushal started his career by doing audits, accounts and income tax applications for clients. With the Indian Income Tax offices being a hotspot for corruption, Khushal would take up only clean and straightforward cases. Finally fed up, he decided to move his practice to his hometown of Hyderabad in 1993.

In 1995, Khushal joined as Director of KOMACCS (also known as Kutchi Bank). As years progressed, he rose from being an Administrative Director to Finance Director and finally Managing Director. Khushal was instrumental in turning the bank into a cooperative credit society and under his stewardship, the bank became a highly stable financial institution.

Khushal was always socially involved. He was part of the Bombay Kutchi Visa Oswal (KVO) Book Bank that loaned out highly priced textbooks to students for only a nominal deposit. Khushal later took this concept and started the KVO Book Bank in Hyderabad as well, soon after moving to the city. He held various positions in community organizations, including Treasurer of Sabhrai Jain Seva Sangh, Treasurer of KVO Hyderabad, Founding member of Manav Mitra, Committee member of Kutchi Mitra Mandal, Treasurer of Dakshin Bharat KVO etc.

Personal life

Khushal was known to be a simple, dignified and disciplined man throughout his life. His clothes, simple shirts and trousers (brown and blue dominating his wardrobe), were a good representation of his ideals. He remained inspired by Gandhian principles and the swadeshi movement. For example, he did not use or allow his family members to use any foreign-made goods and bought products made only in India. He was extremely interested in Chess and played against various opponents through the All India Correspondence Chess Federation, where players would send every move to each other using postcards. With the advent of Internet in India, he also played online against international opponents. Khushal also played the flute and was known to be a good painter.

Khushal was always a man of great principles. As an example, Khushal refused to pre-date a loan to the Chairman of the bank itself, explaining that if board members flouted rules then the bank should not expect the general public to follow them either. Family members narrate that Khushal had decided to marry the first girl that his parents would ask him to see, as he despised the showmanship and coldhearted insensitivity associated with arranged marriages. Khushal got engaged to Leelavanti Dedhia from Kalyan, Mumbai in a very simple ceremony, attended by only three people from each side. Khushal even refused the gold chain given to him by his would-be father-in-law. In a time and society that was accustomed to lavish weddings, the pair got married on July 12, 1979, with the bill of their wedding expenses totaling a mere 50 rupees. The couple was childless for nine long years before their daughter Khyati was born on December 13, 1988.

In 1996, Khushal met with a serious accident on his 2-wheeler in a hit-and-run case. His friend brought him home in an autorickshaw. Khushal had suffered a fracture to his left leg but his feet had turned black showing signs of nerve damage. Friends and family rushed him to Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills, where he underwent vascular surgery and was in bed for about three months. In 2012, he suffered several bouts of simple illnesses like throat infection, cough and fever. In a cruel twist of fate, Khushal, a non-drinker and non-smoker all his life, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer through chest x-rays and biopsies and spent the next few months undergoing chemotherapy. Khushal finally passed away on July 12, 2013 – the day of his 34th wedding anniversary to Leelavanti. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

References

http://komacs.org/performance.html http://komacs.org/gallery.html http://www.asanjokutch.com/print.asp?formno=F000039