Sudha-Didi: Ninety-Four and Traveling Intercontinental

[Note: Two days ago, I published a blog piece on Sudha-Didi’s life. This piece is a longer version of the same, with more detail.]

 A First Encounter

I first met Sudha-Didi in 2017 at a dinner hosted by the Rotary Club of Calcutta. The hosts were her younger brother, Dilip Rohatgi, a former club president, and his wife, Veena. My wife, Kalpana, and I were among the guests.

Sudha-Didi was already in her late eighties then, yet she looked far younger. There was something unmistakable about her presence. She was soft-spoken, gentle, kind, and deeply calm. No sharp edges. No bitterness. Not even a whisper of complaint. She radiated warmth and grace. She had been widowed for many years, yet love seemed to surround her, as if it had chosen to stay. She was, and remains, the mother of three sons, now in their late fifties and early sixties.

A Small Moment, A Large Lesson

Years later, on February 5, 2026, I met her again, this time over tea at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata. I was hosting a small gathering. Present were Sudha-Didi, Veena Rohatgi, my wife, Kalpana, and our daughter, Kasturi.

Sudha-Didi and I at the Tollygunge Club, Kolkata, 5Feb2026

As Sudha-Didi approached the table, I pulled out a heavy, solidly cushioned rattan chair and set it slightly away from the table. She sat down, then calmly lifted herself, leaned forward, pulled the chair closer, and settled in with ease. She was two months short of her ninety-fifth birthday. Watching her do this without effort or drama felt quietly astonishing.

Hirak, Sudha-Didi, Kalpana, Veena, and Kasturi
at the Tollygunge Club, Kolkata, 5Feb2026

Then there was the tea. She ate a samosa. She drank Fauzi masala chai, adding a sachet of brown sugar. Later, she had onion pakoras and another cup of tea, this time Darjeeling tea, with milk and a sachet of white sugar. When I offered sugar-free, she refused gently. No fuss. No rules. No anxious negotiations with age. She ate modest portions, one samosa and two pakoras, but she ate freely. No allergies. No fear. No apologies for being old. I was deeply impressed.

Roots and Education

Her full name is Krishna Sudha Rastogi, née Rohatgi. She was born into a well-to-do Rohatgi family that lived in a large mansion on Armenian Street in Kolkata, in the heart of Burrabazar and China Bazar. The Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, built in 1724, stood close by, its bells audible from the house. The river Bhagirathi flowed within walking distance. She was the fifth of eleven siblings. I have known four of her brothers: Pravat, now ninety-two; Pradip, now ninety; Ajit, now eighty-nine; and Dilip, who passed away in 2020 at the age of eighty-two.

In her youth, Sudha-Didi was known for her beauty. Even now, in her nineties, she remains striking. During her years at Presidency College in the 1950s, when she earned her PhD in Physiology, young men reportedly gathered at the gates to watch her pass. That image feels entirely believable.

In 1960, she married a medical doctor, a Rastogi who had qualified in England. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Canada. Rohatgi and Rastogi are essentially the same North Indian surname, with roots traced to the Kshatriya caste.

Sudha-Didi is on Facebook under the name Krishna Sudha Rastogi and has recently joined LinkedIn. She remains curious, open, and connected.

Science, Work, and a Global Life

Canada became her home. She lived primarily in Toronto. There, she worked briefly under Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin, and earned a postgraduate degree at the University of Toronto. She also worked with James Campbell on diabetes and insulin research. In 1969, she co-authored a paper with Campbell in the journal Metabolism, titled “Actions of Growth Hormone: Enhancement of Insulin Utilization with Inhibition of Insulin Effect on Blood Glucose in Dogs.” The paper has been cited many times. Earlier, in 1962, she published a solo paper in The Journal of Nutrition titled “Distribution of Serum Proteins in Biotin-Deficient Rats.”

She raised three sons. The eldest is a general practitioner in Toronto and looks after her with both professional care and filial devotion. The second lives in Los Angeles and visits frequently. The third lives in Ottawa and does the same.

Daily Life at Ninety-Four

Sudha-Didi lives in an independent terraced house in Toronto. Until four years ago, she lived entirely by herself. Then she welcomed a young working woman into the house. The woman lives on the lower floor; Sudha-Didi occupies the upper levels.

She climbs two floors about fifteen times a day, her chosen form of daily exercise. Four times a week, she joins a forty-five-minute Zoom class for exercise and yoga. A vegetarian, she eats lightly at lunch, usually a cheese-and-tomato sandwich, and prefers a cooked dinner. She has no diabetes or cholesterol issues. She does have high blood pressure, controlled with medication.

Until the age of ninety, she drove herself. After a car accident, she stopped driving and shifted seamlessly to Uber and similar services. She still goes out about once a week, attending conferences, Indian diaspora events, or gatherings that interest her.

When I asked her whether she might live another ten or fifteen years, she smiled and said, “Could be, but I don’t think about that.” She lives one day at a time. She does not worry about death. Even the idea of dying alone does not disturb her. Anxiety seems to have lost its grip on her long ago.

Her memory is extraordinary. She recalls dates, names, and numbers faster than people half her age. She walks upright, without a stick or walker. She manages her finances with help from her doctor son, meticulously preparing documents for her annual tax returns. She has made a will, though she has not yet decided how to distribute her jewelry among her sons and their families.

Travel, Family, and Courage

In January 2026, at the age of ninety-four, she traveled alone to India. She flew nonstop for sixteen hours from Ottawa to Delhi on Air Canada. Her son checked her in; her brother Ajit received her in Delhi. She used a wheelchair at the airports. From Delhi, she flew alone to Mumbai to visit her ailing brother Pradip, who has been comatose for a few weeks. She stayed in his apartment for ten days, even though he did not recognize her.

From there, she traveled to Kolkata, staying first with Veena, then with her brother Pravat and his wife, Shashi. She moves from home to home, adapting quietly. When I asked her whether staying in different houses with unfamiliar layouts and risks, like slippery bathrooms, made her uneasy, she answered, “Yes, but there is no other way to stay intimately connected with my relatives.”

That is Sudha-Didi.

What Her Life Offers the World

Fearless but not reckless. Thoughtful without hesitation. Anchored in love, empathy, and connection. She shows us that aging does not require shrinking, worrying, or retreating. It can be lived with dignity, appetite, curiosity, and courage.

At ninety-four, she reminds us that a long life is not about control or caution alone, but about trust, acceptance, and staying open to people. She is an inspiration to anyone in their seventies, eighties, and beyond, a quiet lesson in how to live fully, lightly, and without fear.