Monday, 9^th March, will forever be remembered as one of the darkest days that the Indian Turf has seen. Deepak Khaitan, the Chairman of the Royal Calcutta Turf Club breathed his last early this morning and succumbed to that dreaded disease – Cancer.

 It was a battle that he must have always known he would not win, but he never gave in.  He fought it with exemplary courage, never once complaining about how much he must have suffered or the pain and discomfort that he bore for well over eight years. Here was a Man amongst men. Fate has reared it’s ugly head and plucked him from our midst well before his time. Yes he may be no more, but his memory will forever live on.

People connected with the Turf would not need any introduction to Deepak Khaitan and the legendary Gold with the Red Belt silks that his horses sported. But there was so much more to him than just his passion and glory for the Turf.

 As a Sportsman,in his younger days he was a top amateur Golfer who played almost to a Scratch Handicap. “ A man who had the game and could well have made the  Indian Golf Team had he put his mind to it,” says Indian Golf Consultant and Pro Brandon DeSouza.

 On the Corporate front he excelled and the story of what he did to turn around a Company like Eveready Industries will always be living testimony to his craft. As the Chairman of the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, he led from the front. He never allowed his failing health to get in the way and never once did he use it as a lever to get his way.

Bit is was his horses that brought out the best and the most in him. They were his passion and his life. And what an eye he had for them. He has owned some of the greatest horses that ever raced in the country and although Elusive Pimpernel will always be considered the best, there were so many others who had inscribed their names into the archives of Indian Racing History.

 Even when he was fighting his personal battle against that killer disease, he still loved to be at the Track at the crack of dawn to start his day. Anyone else would have been whining complaining and looking for compassion. Not Deepak. He took that war to the protagonist. He never let it slow him down and went about his life as if it was never there.

I had the good fortune of knowing him well, both as a friend and as a colleague and although we may have differed on occasion on the approach to issues, I always knew that he would always be there for me when the chips were down.

He is survived by his parents Mr. and Mrs. B.M.Khaitan.His wife Yashodra. His son Amritanshu and his daughter Nitya.His brother Aditya and his sister Divya. For them the last few years have been truly Herculean struggle. They rallied behind Deepak and stood alongside him shoulder to shoulder as he defied death and lived a life that he always knew would not last. Even today I just cannot come to terms with the fact that he is no more. Farewell Deepak and may your memory live on.