I just cannot believe this.
I am stunned and speechless.

I saw him only three weeks ago, on Saturday on X-mas day, at his show at
Thamel's Buddha Gallery. Together with Dhrubesh Dai, Atul, as always, gave
an inspired performace. Afterward, we talked about doing a show with another
tabala player -- Sarita Mishra -- to raise funds for Kirateswor Sangeet Ashram.

Atul -- an abstemious and a deeply religious man with strikingly good features -- looked as healthy as ever, and had recently started his doctoral studies in tabla in Benaras.

All I can say is that Nepal has lost a fine and an intensely talented classical musician.

My condolences to his family, to colleagues at Kirateswor Sangeet Ashram at Pashupati and to the band members of Sukarma.

I just don't know what else to say.

oohi
ashu

*************************
Tabala Maestro dies


Tabala maestro, Atul Gautam Photo source : Kantipur daily

Celebrated tabala maestro, Atul Gautam, died of internal haemorrhage early Sunday at the age of 32.

Gautam was admitted at a private hospital in Kathmandu last week after haemorrhage.

A member of ?sukarma? band, Gautam had acquired masters degree in music from Allahabad seven years and stood topper all over India.

A resident of Jai Bageswori in Kathmandu, Atul was inspired by his grandfather, Kabi Prasad.

Other members of his band include Dr. Dhrubesh Chandra Regmi (sitar) and Shyam Nepali (sarangi).

Last rites of Gautam were performed at Aryaghat, Pashupati in the capital this afternoon. nepalnews.com by Jan 16 05

My heartfelt condolence for the departed soul.

May his soul rest i peace.

Its a good that several articles have been dedicated to
Atul, but they simply miss to go beyond one word citation
on "died unexpectedly of a massive brain haemorrhage".
Should not they try to pull the attention of public why
such well established musician died all of sudden? What made
him the victim of "massive brain haemorrhage"? If this can
attract more attention and we have more discussion on
"massive brain haemorrhage" and possible heart attack
on busy peoples like him, we might save a few lives
and these lives might be of the peoples involved in music
business itself. I think its time to spare a few pages
or columns on "brain haemorrhage" and "heart attack"
that are usually caused by "urban diseases: BP, Sugar
and cholestrol", because peoples who are in white collar
jobs or in urban have no real work related to muscles
and spend more time on chair or sofa, such that our
body and DNA chains made for constantly moving purposes
don't have enough execercises to dispose off the Salt,
FAT and Sugar. ...... I think that if mass media misses
this time to write something on this topic, we might have
to confront another untimely death of another important
person and chain might continue to exist......

For youngs / adults above 30 years old, if you are in
white collar job or don't have at least 20 minutes walk
each day and you find your Body Mass Index more than
25 (BMI= Body weight in Kg divided by Square of your
height in Meter). If your BMI goes beyond 29, think of
dieting and excercise and reducing it to 25. For sports
player BMS is not that important, but peoples with Obesity
and BMI greater than 29, you are in high risk zone and
BP + Cholestrol + Sugar might trigger BH or HA .......

Example: Body weight 63 kg Height = 1.6m
Height Squared = 1.6x1.6 = 2.56 sq. m

BMI = 63. /2.56 = 25 kg/sq. m

BMI should not be less than 21, that kind of excessive slimness
is als not good for health. In Kathmandu, the way upper
middle class peoples eat and drink, and rarely walk can be said
to be in high risk zone for BH and HA. I wish the Nepali Newspaper
(main newspapers) spend sometime to explain why, how and when
the BH and HA can happen to you irrespective of your age and
gender. .............

If you appointments and project deadlines are approaching, then
check your BP, cholestrol and Sugar. When we are under those
circumstances, we sleep less number of hours, and when you sleep
less hours, then to back up your body towards hardwork, we
consume more carbohydrates and take more fats or cholestrol
high red meats (in Nepal: khasi ko masu), do not move at all, this
results increase in body weight and cholestrol level, less sleep means
sudden increase in BP ...... this can lead to BH and HA. A relative of
mine who is now in Japan, was with these circumstances and he was
alone so did not have enough motivation to make balanced diet,
so he said he cooked daal bhat tarkari and prepared fried egg
every day in the morning and evening around the time he was supposed
to go for annual health check up. Then, the medical report showed
excessively high cholestrol. So, after 30 reduce the intake of egg,
after 50, stop eating any thing that has relatively large portion of kukhura
ko egg. I remember when we had party with a Japanese people last year
about their program in Nepal, and when foods were served with some
part of egg, none of the japanese consumed a single peace, because
they are all around 50s, and they gave the same reason: Cholestrol content.

Indeed, annual health check up against BP, Cholestrol, sugar and stomach:
stool and urine can help you avoid fatal health problems. My former boss even
suvived Cancer after it was detected in early stage, and it was detected
during the annual check ups. Those who write stuffs on such health awareness
things, they should also stress on annual health check ups, they are really
helpful and this is what I am missing here in US. In Nepal, its affordable for
upper middle class peoples, as more and more doctors are graduating and
more and more labs are opening and they can have special plans for such
periodic checks. In Japan, the employers always force their employees to
go through such annual health check ups.


GP