Obituary of Rajeev Thadani

Rajeev Thadani was a self-made man, who was big, bold, charming and loud. He once made a joke that he immigrated to America for the Bacardi and Coke. While that may be entirely true, he also left Mumbai for New York City in 1981 because he knew the potential of what his life could become. He wanted to soar, far past any of India’s middle class bounds. And that’s exactly what he did. His education in India was nothing to brag about, but when he moved to America he taught himself how to build his own software. He went on to create a data entry company out of the basement of his home in Glen Rock, NJ in 1993 — and he continued running it everyday for 27 years with his wife, Lovina, from early in the morning into the wee hours at night. Perhaps Rajeev’s proudest moment was watching his son, Rohan, take over that business with so much energy and dedication. For 63 years, Rajeev had a steady grip on life — always knowing where he wanted to go and how he was going to get there. He led with his gut and heart, often ignoring logic and barriers along the way. That way of navigating the world got him far, especially when he decided to marry Lovina the moment he heard her voice over the phone in 1988. He was the type of guy who could be overly opinionated and controversial, but helplessly adored by all those around him at the same time. Rajeev was many things to many people: The friend who always made sure the booze, food and music was flowing. The boss who had around-the-clock gripes, but loved mentoring his employees and watching them succeed. An exciting partner of 31 years for Lovina, and the type of Dad who always pushed his kids, Rohan and Trisha, to be better, stronger and work harder. While he could get easily irritated by little things  —  a missing remote, a poorly decorated Christmas tree, bad cell phone service — he had another side that was so kind and sweet. He adored little kids, cried during movies, and would dance with his wife. He would get lost in the climatic saxophone riff in the song Stranded by Van Morrison, no matter how many times he played it. He loved working with his son, and would say it often. And he would read anything written by his daughter, a journalist, even if he had no idea what the article was about. Rajeev was just getting ready for a well deserved retirement in September 2019 when he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. While his illness took him much faster than anyone could have expected, he died peacefully on Feb. 19, surrounded by family and a lot of love. The doctors said his quick spread of cancer was rare  —  unprecedented, even  — faster than they had ever really seen. They said he wouldn’t make it more than a few hours in hospice, but he shocked them by lasting four-and-half days. But his final fight was unsurprising: Rajeev was never one to follow a conventional path, and he continued that until his very last breath. Although we take solace in the fact that he is no longer suffering, Rajeev’s life had so much more to it. His loved ones will forever mourn all the things he didn’t get to do or see. He leaves behind his wife Lovina, two kids, Rohan and Trisha, sister Kavita Hurry, brother-in-law Vivek, niece Tania, nephew Aditya — and far too many friends to count.