Remembering Harsha – Eulogy by Rajesh and Manisha

Thank you to all our family, Harsha’s friends and colleagues for joining us here, for friends and family locally and globally joining online to pay tribute to our loving sister, to a graceful and caring.

We wanted to pay tribute to the colourful life Harsha lived, she left us early because she has been called, we take comfort here today, together as she would expect, to celebrate her truly fulfilling life and to appreciate the generosity she gave and inspiration she bought to our lives. 
Harsha Nanavati, born 13th February 1968 in Kenya is the beloved daughter of our mum Shanti Nanavati and our dear father Late Pravin Nanavati.   Harsha along with mum and big brother Rajesh joined dad in the UK in 1969.  

After a short time in a rented house in Sudbury, we found our permanent home here in Alperton, Wembley almost 50 years ago.   Home is where the heart is, this is so very true of Harsha, her heart was in her home and her home was an open door for all of her loved ones,   although quiet she developed her strong, kind hospitality skills from an early age.   Not only caring for her baby sister Manisha, but for all of the children that entered our home.   She was the perfect host and the perfect babysitter.   She ensured that everyone was made to feel welcome, but above all ensured no-one never went hungry, a substantial meal in her eyes was a bowl of sev covered with tomato ketchup followed by a slice of Mr Kipling’s Angel cake.  As our sister, she was the practical, meticulous one and she ensured that we were fully trained in her life skills, cleaning, organising and even how to correctly record something on the VCR and how to record your favourite single on the radio during Sunday evening Radio 1 The Charts.   

Her role as babysitter, or more fondly known as fui, masi and Harsha aunty to everyone else became one her most dedicated roles.  Every cousin, niece, nephew and even certain pets will tell you about a time they visited or played or had a chat with Harsha.  And no matter how little or how long they had spent with her, she always left a lasting impact on them.   The impact was powerful, it was thought-provoking and it was full of love and uttermost care.   The next best thing to having Harsha as our sister was definitely our children having her as their aunt.  Time was never an issue, responsibility never a challenge, but what we always knew was that they were always safe, happy, entertained and above all would return home having learnt a life skill!

Her passion was music, TV shows, Theatre, musicals, Tennis and Football.  She was a huge Wham fan and continued love for George Michael too.  She had deep music passion for Bon Jovi, Take That and without any choice whatsoever being dragged around by Manisha to see Wet Wet Wet, for which she would gladly confess she definitely had just as big a crush on Marti as she had.    She queued for hours outside the Wembley box office to get tickets to attend many many concerts,  and when she could not attend a concert, sitting on the steps at Wembley Stadium to be part of the atmosphere became one of her favourite activities.   

Ivan Lendle, Jimmy Connors, just a couple  of her all time favourite tennis players drew her to Wimbledon every year, many days and evenings in June glued to watching the tournament.  The attraction grew even more when Manisha took her to her first ever Centre court Wimbledon tournament in early 2000. In true Wimbledon style, a punnet of strawberries in hand, she was hooked and ever since then it became her annual mission to ensure she could go, accompanied by her dear friend Carole on many occasions and photos sent back to us of Henman Hill showed how much joy this sport bought her.

She followed dad’s footsteps as a huge Manchester United fan, a proud United supporter she quietly, yet smug celebrated their victory over and over and over again. Her fondest memory is when she took a trip to Manchester and walked to Old Trafford to see her sporting temple for real.

She kept abreast of her entertainment and celebrity news via her Hello magazine, the knowledge served her incredibly well in a game of Trivial pursuit or a quiz night. She was the queen of pop, TV series and her specialist subjects Don Johnson, David Beckham and Shane Ritchie among many other tall handsome celebrities..

Harsha travelled wide and far across the world, from visits back to Kenya, her birth place, family trips to India and many visits to Europe, USA and the other side of the world to Australia.  From collecting tokens from the Sun newspaper for a cheap deal to France, to travelling in Club class holidays (thanks to her brother in law Dipan), travelling for her were her dreams turning into reality, there was never any hesitation to fly the world when the opportunity arose.      We were blessed to have travelled from a very young age. At the age of 20, without the parents Harsha, Rajesh, Manisha and Sona took a trip to Toronto, New York and Florida, fulfilling a dream to visit Disney World as well as a magical but slightly crazy road trip down to Miami.  We recreated the trip and took mum and dad adding LA to the trip when Chandra moved there in 1992.   Since then Los Angeles certainly become one of her favourite places and another home for her, she visited countless times to see Chandresh and Sarita and her international nieces. The Winter visit to Boston will always be memorable, wondering what on earth we were thinking in such cold weather, all it took was her hot water bottle, some laughs and great company to leave lasting memories. In 1993 she generously planned a Cosmos coach tour around Italy for the two of us just before I left home for University, she wanted to make the most of the summer before I moved out and we really did! In 2002, Divya, myself and Harsha had a trip of a lifetime, negotiated with our bosses we secured 5 weeks travelling to Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, it was such an adventure from landing in Alice Springs with no luggage, driving miles and miles through true Australian outback on the Stuart Highway to Ayres Rock, sailing and flying over the Great Barrier Reef, chilling on the Whitsunday islands, freaking out over Dingos on Fraser Island and even venturing into the bush for some bush tucker, well not really, you all know Harsha well enough to know she would not dare touch it (unless it had ketchup on it!!)  this voyage along with the beauty of Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland is definitely one trip never to be forgotten .   In 2004 we took on another adventure travelling to Chicago and then onto Las Vegas before endeavouring on our long road trip through Utah, Arizona and the grand canyon,  this definitely hit the top of her list of most favourite places she visited. She also joined me (Manisha) on a work incentive trip to St Kitts in 2011 in the Caribbean, I remember her saying she never imagined having the opportunity to go to the Caribbean, I am so glad she did.  One of last and most memorable trips was when we celebrated her 50th birthday in Dubai in 2018, it was another dream come true for her, a trip she had planned in her head for over a year and we made sure her plans were turned to reality as we celebrated her.  These are just a snip of her journeys, her passport was full, her photo albums filled with memories, her travels with family and friends created moments to cherish.  Every trip was an adventure and was full of laughs there was always a story to tell when she returned!

Her working life……
We have some words that have been shared from her colleagues about her working life.   Harsha began working as a Civil servant straight after leaving school in 1986, after some time in administration in Stanmore,  Harsha joined the DWPs Financial Investigation Unit not long after its inception in early in the 2000s. Her extensive career included a number of roles, managing referrals across the UK, becoming an accredited financial investigator and Confiscator with the National Crime Agency (acing her exams along the way and outdoing her manager and gaining her BTEC too!) and then becoming an enforcement specialist.

Of course, this wasn’t enough for Harsha, as then she naturally became a leading light to the new recruits by becoming an accredited tutor.

Tutoring was a natural role for Harsha, as her personality traits of care, commitment, improvement and her thirst for knowledge laced together with her humour and patience meant she has helped dozens of our staff to achieve their aim of becoming accredited to deliver their specialist roles.   

Her colleagues have described her as a lovely, kind, intelligent person, a gentle soul, genuine and caring, generous with her time and knowledge, conscientious about anything she tackled, and constantly looking to improve how the job was done to get the best results. she was a loyal, selfless individual, who always looked for the best in every person and every situation.  She will be remembered for her sparkling personality and incredible warmth. One of her newer colleagues said “I take solace in the fact that you are finally at peace and have found rest, true undiluted rest, a well-deserved rest for a rare gem, a hero and a caring and loving human being that you are”.  Another paid tribute by saying “when the sun begins to shine next year, I will plant a sunflower, care for it and watch it bloom in the same way Harsha did this year with her sunflower.

Her life as a friend….. she attended Barham Primary school followed by Copland High School in Wembley and here she developed incredibly fond friendships, from school girl movie star/pop star crushes to afternoon tea outings more recently, she was true, genuine and loyal.  This loyalty truly demonstrated through the reconnections that had been made recently when her Copland pals reunited.  Her friends recognised  her for her kindness and they appreciated her for her sense of humour, fondly remembering how much she made them smile.   A friendship that has lasted 45 years is a true friendship indeed, Smita, her friend forever, her companion, from their school relationship to travels, to unique dining outings and shared giggles and laughter – partners in crime they truly were.    

  
Everyone one of you here today, knew her, not for the words she spoke but the actions she quietly took, her selfless love, her generosity and above all her unique connections she made with everyone.  Her purpose was clear, she taught us to love and prioritise love and she taught to care and focus on the detail.   And she was always there for you!  Memorable song Bon Jovi (I’ll Be There For You)

Harsha was always there for us. She liked nothing better than a party, engagement, wedding, picnic with large groups or small groups or simply one to ones with old and young.  She was often called upon to be a master of ceremonies at family or community events and would take this on with great enthusiasm and ease.  She was definitely a social butterfly, but without doubt her choice was no less than 5 star, Afternoon Tea’s, classy restaurants and only the best possible hotel visits.   

Harsha you leave a huge physical void in our lives, one that cannot be filled by any individual however in that space you have left in our hearts and minds so many memories and love. Your legacy will continue to live on through the people you nurtured in your very own special way.


Harsha You were everyone’s big sister, everyone’s aunt but you will always be my little sister (Rajesh).  Time has passed so quickly and I guess that was because we were having fun. Yes it was indeed fun from just the two of us spending playing time together to then having fun with Chandresh Jayesh Divya Masi and Masa in our 2nd home in Southampton. That fun just continued when another little one came into our house alongside many more as the extended family grew and grew and grew. You were the perfect big sister / aunt / friend / confidante to so many who are here or watching today but right now we are not having fun.

I hope my tears will subside and I will then be able to clearly look at all of the photos and remember the wonderful fun times I and we all had with you around. I am honoured that you came into my life and that you allowed me to share in your life and am incredibly proud to be known as Harsha’s brother.

Her sparkle will always continue to shine in our hearts forever, her light will shine bright in our lives. Her love will be felt forever by all.  The impact she made will inspire us when we need it the most. Left us too soon, and quietly walked out the back door, Our family chain is broken, And nothing seems the same, But as God calls us one by one, The chain will link again.

Your tributes, kindness, thoughts, messages via our much loved tribute site, your cards and calls have been truly overwhelming and comforting. The family are so incredibly grateful for all of you who bought joy and love into Harsha’s too short, but full life -thank you so much!  Everyone has donated so generously towards Cancer research, we know your contributions will go a long way, Harsha was a giver and donated generously, we know she will be so grateful for your support towards the charity.   Let’s pay tribute to our amazing Harsha, we ask you to sit back,  watch a little bit of  Strictly come Dancing, tuck into a slice of her favourite Angel Cake and be sure to add a side of ketchup to whatever your next meal is,  smile and send her a loud cheer as you raise a glass of diet coke to her our beautiful dear!