Five years you have left this world and yet your presence is still felt among your family. Your honesty , integrity and goodness is the most precious heritage you have bequeathed to us.

Born on 15 April 1924 in Morcellement St. Andre and died at the age of 78 on 14 January 2003 in the same village, Rameshwar Jaypal dedicated his life for the cause and well-being of the northern community.

His father died when he was only nine months old. Supported by his elder brother, he became a primary school teacher. He also founded the First Secondary School of the North in 1953 which he named ?Northern College?.

Supported by his uncle and mentor, the late Sookoo Ramprasad Neewoor ; ex-President of the Arya Samaj, he also dedicated his life to the cause of the Arya Samaj Movement. When he died, he was the Honorary President of the Arya Samaj Northern Federation.

Supported by his father-in-law, Deepnarain Padaruth, a.k.a Pandit and by family members, Rameshwar Jaypal joined active politics in the 1950s. He was elected as Member of the then Legislative Assembly in 1959, in 1963 and in 1967 successively for the constituency No.6 (Grand Baie-Poudre D?Or ). He stayed in the same Assembly until December 1976.

Apart from participating actively in the Historical Constitutional Conference of 1965 at the Lancaster House, U.K. with the 25 other Cabinet Ministers and M.L.A?s of the mauritian delegation which led the country to the its Independence on March 12 1968, Rameshwar Jaypal also served as minister of Information, Cooperatives and Reforms Institutions. He led and participated in many government missions abroad. He has also participated in the United Nations summit conferences in New York and Geneva. He also served as Chairman of the Development Works Coporation and as member of the Public Service Commission until 1992, when he left the political arena to dedicate himself to social life and agriculture.

In 2000, he stood publicly by his friend Sir Anerood Jugnauth in the campaign for the general elections which led the latter to the Prime Ministership of the country again. Rameshwar Jaypal was nicknamed ?Dil ka Raja? meaning ?the heart of the King among his northern fellow countrymen.He was elevated to the rank of the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1977.

Rameshwar Jaypal?s first motion in the Legislative Assembly was to offer a complete meal for lunch to every pupil of the primary school. After lengthy discussions and consultations and due to financial constraints, the then government amended and approved his motion and bread plus a cup of milk was finally voted.

He was personally congratulated by Anthony Greenwood, the then Island Commissioner for the Queen and her Heirs for this unprecedented and so humane motion in the Legislative Assembly by these words: ?With people like you leading this country, the children?s future is very bright.?

<B>Dinesh. K. JAYPAL </B> From New York.