'I have literally watched Aadesh die in front of my eyes'

'The last month and a half has taken a toll on all of us, especially his wife, my sister Vijayta. She has endured a lot,' Lalit Pandit tells Subhash K Jha.

Barely had the Pandit family gotten over the murder of their eldest sibling Sandhya Pandit, now Vijayta Pandit has lost her husband Aadesh Shrivastava to cancer.

Reliving the nightmare of seeing a healthy man wither away, Lalit Pandit shudders, "Bhagwan aisi maut kisiko na de (May God never give anyone such a death). I have literally watched Aadesh die in front of my eyes. The last month and a half has taken a toll on all of us, especially his wife, my sister Vijayta. She has endured a lot."

This is the third mortal blow to have struck the family.

A few years ago, Aadesh lost his elder brother in a road accident. 

"Those who believe in these things say our family is cursed," says Lalit. "I don’t know what to believe. We have never harmed anyone. Why are we being put through these endurance tests?"

Lalit expresses concern over Aadesh’s growing sons, Anivesh and Avitesh.

"They are just kids. How would they understand what is going on and why their father has left them? In fact, Avitesh went into a state of shock when his father died. The boy can’t come to terms with the fact that he will never see his father again,” Lalit adds.

The composer is grateful to the film fraternity for their support. "They have been with us in this hour of distress. We feel we are being well looked after by God even after He has punished us so cruelly.”

Vijayta and Lalit’s elder sister, former singer-actress Sulakshana Pandit who lived with Aadesh and Vijayta, and who has not been keeping well, took the tragic news with stoic resignation.

“She is trying to come to terms with the loss, like all of us,” says Lalit.

In the picture: Aadesh Shrivastava and Lalit Pandit