NEW DELHI: For 21-year-old Navnoor Singh, Tuesday was meant to be a day of celebration. He had started working only recently and was eagerly looking forward to celebrating his birthday with his parents on Sept 16. He had already decided on the gifts he’d buy with his first salary — a watch for his father and earrings for his mother. But on the eve of that day, Navnoor sat in the lobby of a hospital, grieving the loss of his father and waiting anxiously for his mother to recover.His father, Navjot Singh, deputy secretary in the finance ministry’s department of economic affairs, was killed and his mother, Sandeep Kaur, critically injured in an accident near Dhaula Kuan on Sunday.“They were more like friends than parents,” Navnoor told TOI. “They would go out on small dates every weekend. My father would take the car to work, but when it came to taking my mother out, he preferred the bike.”
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Navjot Singh (57) had built a distinguished career in govt service. After graduating from Hansraj College, DU, he pursued his master’s in botany and cleared the SSC CGL exam in 1995. Over the years, he served in both the defence and finance ministries, most recently overseeing India’s economic coordination with Japan and South Korea.
In June this year, he represented India at the UN during the Fourth Preparatory Committee Session for the International Conference on Financing for Development, attended by several heads of state, ministers, high-level govt officials and senior officials of international organisations. He frequently accompanied finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to international conferences, his work taking him to the US, Spain, New Zealand, and other countries.At home, he ensured a work-life balance. Navnoor described his father as someone who deeply cherished life’s pleasures. He loved motorcycles, recently riding a Triumph Scrambler 400x after years with his old Royal Enfield.“He was passionate about photography, always carrying his professional camera or, lately, a new phone he decided to buy solely for its camera quality. He had an eye for detail. Even on trips, like when they went to Vietnam last year, he would document everything,” said Navnoor.Also See: Dhaulakuan BMW AccidentThe family had just celebrated Navjot and Sandeep’s 23rd wedding anniversary on Sept 1. “My parents were best friends first,” their son recalled. “They really enjoyed each other’s company. We’ve been living here for four generations. My great-grandfather served in the British Indian Army, and my grandfather, who is 85, is a retired Indian Air Force officer.”Navnoor remembers the last conversation with his father vividly. “I was leaving for my friend’s house to celebrate my birthday a day early so I could have time with my parents. He said ‘bye’, and I told him I’d see him very soon. I had fully intended to spend time with them this year.”The most painful part for him is his father will never get to see the gifts he chose for them. “I had picked out the watch already. I knew exactly what he wanted, and how happy it would make him. For my mother, I had selected the earrings she wanted. I couldn’t wait to give it to them,” he said.Bitty Singh, Navjot’s sister-in-law, said, “He was always like a brother to me. He had represented India at the UN Peace Forum, IMF and in China. He was doing so well for himself. He was such a sweet soul — jolly, likeable and truly everyone’s favourite.”Also read: Road crash: BMW rams motorcycle near Delhi Cantt; finance ministry official dead, wife injured
