With profound sadness, we announce that Mrs. Nandini Jha passed away peacefully in her sleep at Credit Valley Hospital on August 3, 2023. A celebration of her life will take place at 7:00A.M. at Brampton Crematorium located at 30 Bramwin Court, in Brampton, Ontario.

Ma, badi ma, behin ji, badki bhauji, dadi, nani, she was known by many names to the dozens of people who loved her. Ma was a mother from an early age, as she began caring for her siblings as a teenager, and shortly afterwards began to raise her eldest son Raj. By the age of 24, she had given birth to her second son, Tushar, her older daughter, Alka, and her younger daughter, Tanuja. While it would be easy to think of her as a mother first and foremost, those who understood her best knew that as much as she loved her children, siblings and in-laws, her greatest love was her late husband, Dr. Shashi Shekhar Jha who she spent 50 years with before his untimely passing in 1996. In the process of arranging photos for Ma, we saw clearly that her smile shone brightest when she was with him, and the love between them is palpable through the lens. While we cannot adequately express the grief we feel from her loss, it gives us comfort to know that they are once again together, and they are smiling together upon us.

In British India, in a small village called Bhawanpura in Bihar, her birth to her orthodox brahmin family would have suggested that she was destined to live an ordinary and simple life. Destiny, however, had other plans. In an arranged marriage to a man himself from a simple family, she found a partner with whom she would go on to transform an entire dynasty. In a time when patriarchal sensibilities would give little reason for women to read or study, she saw a world open up through Hindi literature. Despite her limited formal education, Ma was perhaps the most well-read of our family. While her husband went to study and obtain a doctorate so that he could become a professor, Ma made his education possible by attending to the various responsibilities at home of taking care of the many people at home who depended on them. Ultimately, she would follow her husband to Zambia and Canada, where they brought an entire clan to settle and grow into an immigrant success story. While many consider her husband as the reason for this family's settlement, the truth is that Ma provided the foundation of love and care that made this family strengthen its roots in Winnipeg in the 60s as it grew to have branches throughout North America and Australia. She felt safe and cared for around her husband, but as soon as necessary she carried her household on her shoulders.

Fiercely independent, Ma protested to no end when her children asked her to stay with them permanently She continued to split her years between Patna and Toronto, taking her last flight from Patna in April, 2023. She lived her life on her terms, brought her family to the greatness it maintains today, and in the loving way that only she could do. Ever the domestic politician, she convinced her children and grandchildren that each of them were her favourite without the others ever learning about her diplomacy. While we never could sort out which of her children, nieces, nephews, cousins, and grand children (and even great-grand children!) were her favourite, we will forever agree that she is our favourite. She raised our enormous family with never-ending adoration, and yet found the love and space in her heart to support the people closest to her whether or not they were relatives. Every person who knows her will readily admit that she touched their lives in a positive way. Whether you needed a kind word or fees for tuition, she was always ready to care for you.

She found joy in the little things, and while she did love flowers, we ask that you do not spend your money on those for her. If you feel compelled to part with your funds to show your gratitude to having known her, please take the money you would have spent on flowers and donate it to a charity that supports an educational cause.