The canny captain from Pataudi

As long as men are born, men will die. No matter how hurtful to the immediate family, it's as simple as that, all of the time. But every now and then a man dies leading to countrywide mourning of unknown magnitude.
A few days ago a very special Indian slipped away quietly and with great dignity, leaving behind a billion vulnerable Indians exposed to their own mortality! Tiger Pataudi was that Indian.
The entire family stood by as morphine made his departure less painful. The disease takes time to take life yet there was no sign that it would gallop the way it did. The nawab, mamoojan to me, was too intelligent to be an escapist and knew his days were numbered yet he stood tall, giving his family the strength to deal with his departure.