Obituary: Arnab Ray, the Greatbong

by Arnab Ray

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Arnab Ray. All his life he had tried not to be late. Late last night he became exactly that.

The cause of his death is not known, but since the fact of his death is, who cares?

Arnab was a loving father, a good husband and a great author and we say that because one does not speak ill of the departed. He was funny. Often unintentionally. He was never quiet. Whether it be trolling random people on social media or expressing his opinion on things he really didn’t know anything about or complaining about how everyone else was doing better than him or just snoring loudly at night, he was always himself, inimitable, full of sound and fury and of life. He never apologized, whether it be for his political beliefs or for farting in a closed room. He was generous. No one who came in contact with him would ever leave without unsolicited advice or fierce judgement of their personal choices. His cash was clean and so was his cache. He loved history and cleared it every day. And finally the most defining thing about him was his ability to find beauty in the most unlikely of places like Anil Kapoor’s back and his face in the mirror.

The family requests privacy in this hour of grief, which means please do not send them Candy Crush requests or tag them egregiously in your vacation pictures for no good reason other than to show what a perfect life you have. The family would appreciate a #RIPArnab hashtag on Twitter, for that is what the deceased would have preferred. Even if you had never known Arnab or heard of him, they request you tweet your personal stories of how his writing left a lasting impact on your lives, in the way you did for Maya Angelou.

His service will be held next Friday. He will be autographing his books for those that are interested.

Arnab Ray is the author of three books May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss, The Mine and Yatrik. He blogs at http://greatbong.net and is on Twitter at @greatbong