Age 59, of Newark, DE, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 6, 2007, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
Ashok was the second brother amongst four brothers and two sisters, and was born June 28, 1948 at Varanasi, India, located on the banks of the Holy Ganges in the house of his maternal Grandfather, Mehtab Rai, younger brother of the Great Novelist Munshi Premchand. He spent his early childhood in Avon Grove & Lisa Hill tea estates in the lush green valleys of Darjeeling which were managed by his father, Krishna Kumar Verma, who was a veteran freedom fighter and eminent educationist and also the first Indian to manage a tea estate.
The family returned to Gondia where his father established the Gondia Education Society to fulfill the need of institutions of Higher Education in the Bhandara District. Ashok schooled in Gondia in the Gujarati High School and had his early college education in D B College of Science, Gondia. After the demise of his mother, late Laxmidevi, Ashok with his brothers and sisters moved to the town of Jabalpur where his completed his Bachelor's Degree in Science and thereafter attained a Double Master's in Literature and Sociology. Following the rich traditions of his family and the legacy of his father, Ashok led the student movement during the turbulent years of the Eighties as the President of the University Students Union in Jabalpur.
After a year of teaching English Literature in S N Mor College, Tumsar, Ashok returned to Jabalpur to take up a career in Journalism at the Narmada Herald, the first English News daily of the town. He also contributed extensively by writing on subjects of Public Interest and Social Advocacy in the leading news and feature service 'World Features'.
Ashok married Mridul, younger sister of Manjul Asthana of Delaware in 1977. He was appointed by the UNI, the leading News agency of India and posted to cover the news originating from the State Capitol, Bhopal.
Ashok was sent to study the working of newspapers in the erstwhile USSR in the capacity of the General Secretary of the State (MP) Working Journalists Union (IFWJ)during the cold war period and obtained specialist training in the Warner-Lamberz International Institute of Journalism in Berlin, East Germany. He covered news relating to the infamous gas leakage at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in 1984 for a period of three years for the French News agency AFP.
A year after the birth of his son, Pranshu, he shifted to Delaware in 1988, where he joined the News Journal, looking after Archives and Photographic Section. He achieved a high level of competence in various IT skills and in his spare time created a news & information portal dedicated to News as well as other important sub links about India. His link was www.neetimarg.tripod.com. The website updates itself daily and will continue to be a living tribute to him. He became a U.S. Citizen in 2001.
Ashok leaves behind his wife, Mridul, and son Pranshu who is doing his Bachelors in Science (finance) at the University of Delaware. His interests in Journalism will be carried by his younger Brother in India, Jayant, who himself is a keen Journalist and Social Activist. Ashok was a hardworking, straightforward, very honest, and upright person. He was loved and admired by one and all who knew him.
A memorial service will be held at the Hindu Temple, 760 Yorklyn Road, Hockessin, DE on Saturday,
May 12, 2007 at 10:30 am.
Ashok was the second brother amongst four brothers and two sisters, and was born June 28, 1948 at Varanasi, India, located on the banks of the Holy Ganges in the house of his maternal Grandfather, Mehtab Rai, younger brother of the Great Novelist Munshi Premchand. He spent his early childhood in Avon Grove & Lisa Hill tea estates in the lush green valleys of Darjeeling which were managed by his father, Krishna Kumar Verma, who was a veteran freedom fighter and eminent educationist and also the first Indian to manage a tea estate.
The family returned to Gondia where his father established the Gondia Education Society to fulfill the need of institutions of Higher Education in the Bhandara District. Ashok schooled in Gondia in the Gujarati High School and had his early college education in D B College of Science, Gondia. After the demise of his mother, late Laxmidevi, Ashok with his brothers and sisters moved to the town of Jabalpur where his completed his Bachelor's Degree in Science and thereafter attained a Double Master's in Literature and Sociology. Following the rich traditions of his family and the legacy of his father, Ashok led the student movement during the turbulent years of the Eighties as the President of the University Students Union in Jabalpur.
After a year of teaching English Literature in S N Mor College, Tumsar, Ashok returned to Jabalpur to take up a career in Journalism at the Narmada Herald, the first English News daily of the town. He also contributed extensively by writing on subjects of Public Interest and Social Advocacy in the leading news and feature service 'World Features'.
Ashok married Mridul, younger sister of Manjul Asthana of Delaware in 1977. He was appointed by the UNI, the leading News agency of India and posted to cover the news originating from the State Capitol, Bhopal.
Ashok was sent to study the working of newspapers in the erstwhile USSR in the capacity of the General Secretary of the State (MP) Working Journalists Union (IFWJ)during the cold war period and obtained specialist training in the Warner-Lamberz International Institute of Journalism in Berlin, East Germany. He covered news relating to the infamous gas leakage at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal in 1984 for a period of three years for the French News agency AFP.
A year after the birth of his son, Pranshu, he shifted to Delaware in 1988, where he joined the News Journal, looking after Archives and Photographic Section. He achieved a high level of competence in various IT skills and in his spare time created a news & information portal dedicated to News as well as other important sub links about India. His link was www.neetimarg.tripod.com. The website updates itself daily and will continue to be a living tribute to him. He became a U.S. Citizen in 2001.
Ashok leaves behind his wife, Mridul, and son Pranshu who is doing his Bachelors in Science (finance) at the University of Delaware. His interests in Journalism will be carried by his younger Brother in India, Jayant, who himself is a keen Journalist and Social Activist. Ashok was a hardworking, straightforward, very honest, and upright person. He was loved and admired by one and all who knew him.
A memorial service will be held at the Hindu Temple, 760 Yorklyn Road, Hockessin, DE on Saturday,
May 12, 2007 at 10:30 am.
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