44-year-old Naren Kaushik, son of retired Journalism Professor R.N. Padmanabh, died of breathlessness; last rites held at Leh

Mysuru: The trekking expedition turned tragic for Naren Kaushik (44), a city-based techie and a resident of Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru, who passed away in Leh district in Ladakh on Sept. 7.

He was presently working as Deputy Manager, General Electric Company (GE) in Bengaluru.

Naren is survived by his father Prof. R.N. Padmanabh, a retired Professor, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Maharaja’s College, Mysuru, mother Nagarathna, wife Radhika Kaushik, daughter Varuni Kaushik and younger brother Pavan Kaushik. Last rites were held at Leh on Sept. 10, according to family sources.

Naren had left Bengaluru on Sept. 2. He, along with seven of his friends, accompanied by two doctors and sherpas, began trekking on Sept. 4.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck on Sept. 7 when Naren had reached the altitude of 18,000 ft. He suddenly suffered breathlessness and was brought down to a lower altitude. Efforts to save him did not yield any results as he breathed his last on the same day.

The Leh authorities informed his family members about the tragedy on Sept. 8 and the mortal remains were handed over to his family on Sept. 9 evening after conducting the post-mortem.

Though arrangements were made to transport the body to Mysuru, the family decided to perform the last rites at Leh as it was more than 72 hours when the body was handed over.

Speaking to Star of Mysore  this morning, Prof. Padmanabh said that Naren had taken part in similar trekking expeditions before which he had completed successfully.

“It is unfortunate that my son could not survive though all seven of them suffered breathlessness when they reached an altitude of 18,000 ft. The doctors tried their best but they could not save him,” he rued.

Prof. Padmanabh said that though last rites were performed in Leh, 12th and 13th day rituals would be held at Sri Vaishnava Sabha in Saraswathipuram, Mysuru on Sept. 18 and 19.

Naren, an engineering graduate from SJCE in Mysuru, had secured third rank in Polymer Science Engineering. He was a member of SJCE cricket and badminton teams. A flautist and disciple of renowned flute maestro Nithyananda Haldipur, Naren had presented several programmes at Bhopal                           and Bengaluru.