Composer Sanjeev Rathod: Darshan will send us the recording of our father Shravan Rathod’s last rites

Music director in the Hindi film industry, Shravan Rathod, of the

Nadeem-Shravan

duo, tested Covid-positive a few days ago and breathed his last on Thursday night, at a hospital in Mumbai.

His son Sanjeev Rathod was quoted saying to the media, “After returning from Haridwar, my father was facing difficulty breathing and had also become very weak. We got him admitted to the hospital, where he was tested for coronavirus. His results came positive. Gradually, his organs also started failing, resulting in his death.”

In a conversation with Bombay Times, Sanjeev said, “We cannot say that my father contracted COVID-19 only because he went to the Kumbh Mela. It could’ve happened anywhere.”

Sanjeev adds, “My father had actually been suffering since the last six months with some internal issues. He was taking medicines for it too from our family physicians. He was trying to fight it all out with just medicines because it was Covid time and he did not want to go to the hospital. He would’ve eventually gotten better. He had also been travelling all over India to many religious places including Haridwar, Jammu, Badrinath. He did the

Chardham

yatra also in the last six months whenever he would feel better.”

The composer went on to add that whenever the family would ask him not to travel he would persuade them. “When I asked him not to travel he would say, ‘Beta yahi toh time hai mere paas. I am already 66’. He would take my mother along for all his travels. I want to take all this positively. The fact is that woh aadmi zinda rehke Ishwar ke Charon Dhamon mein ho aaaya hai. And now Ishwar se mel ho gaya unka. Kumbh Mele mein gaye thee yeh bahut badi baat hai,” he stated.

Sanjeev and his mother Vimladevi are also battling the coronavirus in a hospital while Darshan his younger brother has been home quarantining. “My brother is handling all the last rites and my mother and I are recuperating in the hospital. He will record everything of the antim yatra for us, and my mother and I will watch it all later today.”

He adds, “I have one very important message to give everyone since I have been in the hospital for a while now and I’m seeing first-hand what all is going on everywhere. I want to urge everyone to wear multiple layered masks and

N95

masks. We had been used to wearing cloth masks, including my father and now we have all realised the importance of wearing proper masks.”