Hope people benefit from Rajan Mishra COVID-19 hospital, says son Rajnish

Rajan Mishra, one of the foremost exponents of khayal gayaki along with his brother Sajan Mishra, died of COVID-related complications at a Delhi hospital on April 25, shortly after friends and well-wishers put out SOS messages on social media looking for a ventilator for him.

The Pandit Rajan Mishra Covid Hospital opened in Varanasi this week in memory of the renowned vocalist who died in Delhi just weeks earlier for want of a ventilator bed. The new facility won’t fill the void but might heal the pain if people in need get timely medical help, says his son Rajnish. The irony of the 750-bed hospital set up in his father’s name by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for COVID-19 patients at the Banaras Hindu University’s campus in the family’s home Varanasi is not lost on Rajnish. The hope is that his father’s soul finds peace, Rajnish, also a Hindustani classical singer, said.