Nirdosh

There will be a Party to celebrate Nirdosh at Cape Cornwall on Sunday, 2 July 2023, 2pm, organized by Thelma (thelma@boswedden.org.uk) at Boswedden House (www.bosweddenhub.co.uk)
The day before, on Saturday, there is a small festival, in case you would like to be there for the whole weekend.

Swami Nirdosh Uday Hitchins (nirdosh meaning innocence, uday meaning dawn) left his body at the beginning of June.

His supporting role

by Mala

On a sunny afternoon in June, beloved Nirdosh went for a nap on his sofa, covered in a blanket, and never woke up. He left his body, after a suspected heart attack, and went on to new adventures beyond this realm.

My memories of Nirdosh are fond ones – our last adventures were in Candolim, Goa, in 2014; hanging out on the beaches and going on a 3-day trip to Hampi with a small harem of us female friends.

I remember he could eat all the street and train food that made others sick. He had a stomach of steel!

Upon arrival back in Candolim, a sannyasin friend, Leela, got sick and was admitted into a local hospital whereupon she was diagnosed with a brain tumor. We all took it in turns to be with her in the hospital overnight, and it was Nirdosh who went the extra mile and accompanied Leela when she got moved to the main hospital in Margao. He stayed with her for two more weeks whilst she was undergoing further tests and until a flight could be arranged for her to return to the UK. I think, Nirdosh actually accompanied her back to the UK, cutting his holidays short to do this for his friend.

My memories of Nirdosh were always in a supporting role. When I first met him at Osho Leela in Dorset, UK, he was sitting in the office. He was always the first person to welcome you with a big hug and smiles after a long journey.

Nirdosh was one of the staff on my first Humaniversity groups. And he continued to support meditations when he relocated down to Cornwall. He was a beloved community member.

He will be missed by all.

Mala x

‘Near Dosh’*

by Kailash

Swami Nirdosh Uday – Nirdosh meaning innocence, as per the card from the Osho Zen Tarot. It’s very much a quality Nirdosh had, I feel. He was an unconventional mind and soul with a calm steady energy.

He was not afraid of death (he had had an out-of-body experience at some point in his life and knew clearly from this that we are not the body) and accepted this stage of life with contentment in his heart and being.

His favourite joke, when he was Finance Director at Osho Leela, was to make his name Nirdosh sound like ‘near dosh’, designed to help new people remember his name.

He lives in my heart now and that of many I am sure. Such a good friend.

Much love,

Kailash

* dosh = English slang for ‘money’

Strimmer man

by Vishwa

My first memory of Nirdosh is from what we refer to as Leela 1, the Osho Leela community’s first 4 years in a rented location near Wimborne in Dorset.

When Nirdosh came, he always brought his strimmer and tidied up around the house and garden. There was a two-story wendy house in the garden as well. Nirdosh took on the repair of the wendy house and on his visits he brought all sorts of material he had picked up. I think his project never really got completed, but it was part of the pioneer spirit from those early days…

The strimmer was also in good use when we later moved to Gillingham further north in Dorset. At some point Nirdosh decided to move in with the community full-time.

Nirdosh had a great affection for the colour Blue. Whatever room in the house he stayed in got painted blue – not a pale discreet blue, but a strong bold blue. Later, inhabitants of these rooms had a hard time to turn the walls back to its ‘normal’ Magnolia….

For a year or two, Nirdosh and I were the main office staff. In those days most workshops and events were paid in cash or by cheque. At the end of an in-check night, you would find us in the office, counting money, both flustered but determined to make the money count up. Sometimes we could carry on till midnight. In most cases we got there in the end and would leave the office to join the happiness in the group room where people were dancing and hugging, or find our friends at the bar.

In later years, when he no longer lived in Osho Leela, he still came to support the office for big events. So great to have friends who could step straight into the situation! Nirdosh was part of the director group for a short while as well.

For many years we used to run what we called ‘AUM on Tour’. We filled the car with a sound system, speakers, an Irish coffee kit and off we went to different venues. Nirdosh was our man of the far south west. He would gather a small crowd from Cornwall and bring them to a community hall near Totnes meeting up with the AUM devotees there, to scream, hug, dance and make friends – and finish off with an Irish coffee…

More recently, Nirdosh would be a keen member of the gardening weekends, possibly again with his strimmer….

One more thing: We have a padlock on one of the office drawers. The code for it is the date of birth of Nirdosh’s mother….

Vishwa

Up on stage as a politician

by Shruti

Nirdosh was supportive in me getting a council flat in Twickenham near London, in 1986. He also helped me and Maya to go to India in 1988. It was the last time I saw Osho.

After moving to Devon in 1990, I lost track of him but, lo and behold, in 1997 I saw him standing as a politician (independent) in Cornwall, a big change for the Lib Dems. He was up on stage with the lot… as a Caucasian White Male! Very funny. We then reconnected via Leela.

Thanks to Shruti for alert and to Mala for collecting the tributes and sending the photos

More Tributes

We were running our regular Thursday Meditation together for many years. Nirdosh was always available to take over when I was away. Very generous and a big heart. I will miss his presence and joy to work with.
Vimlan

Nirdosh was a community-minded man and a kind and loyal friend. For some years he was the booking office King in Osho Leela, touching many people with his friendliness and humour. For a long time he was a solid supporter and participant / assistant of the Totnes Humaniversity Aum which I led regularly. I couldn’t have done it without his enthusiasm and encouragement.
Premal

You can leave a message / tribute / anecdote, and send a photo, by writing to web@oshonews.com (pls add ‘Nirdosh’ in the subject field). Your contribution will be added manually, typically within 24 hours.