Dear Colleagues, Patricia Balm completed her life yesterday morning, March 21st. Pat, who was in her 90s, had been in poor health and slipped into a coma a couple of days ago. Her son Kevin messaged me to say that most of her family had gathered to be with her in her last days. I got to know Pat, and her late husband Mally, when we set up the Hyderabad House in the 1970s. Their home in the Gunfoundry neighbourhood was a meeting venue for the metro cadre. They moved to Maliwada when we set up the Human Development Project there. Pat impressed me with her can-do spirit and her stories about bringing up a large family through difficult times. She, like Mally, relished putting their minds to solving problem, both in their family ventures and in the ICA projects. They, along with their sons Desmond and Kevin, were instrumental to a lot of our work in India as well as around the world. The family eventually migrated to Perth, Australia. The photo of Pat that I’ve posted here is about 10 years old. If you want to send messages of condolences to her family, please message Kevin at balmkevin@gmail.com. Regards, Dharmalingam
