NIFT professor disperses his mentor’s ashes across the high himalayas

When Prof. M.C. Mohan, a respected professor at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad, passed away unexpectedly on June 2, 2026, at the age of 59, he left behind nearly three decades of teaching, mentoring and shaping the lives of generations of students.

Among those students was Prof. Avinash Raipally, now a faculty member at NIFT Hyderabad and an accomplished professional mountaineer. Prof. Raipally first knew Prof. Mohan as his teacher in the early 2000s and later had the opportunity to work alongside him as a colleague. Like many of Mohan’s students, he remained deeply influenced by his mentor’s intellect, values and guidance.

After Mohan’s passing, Raipally decided to undertake a journey that was far more than a mountaineering expedition. He wanted to take his teacher back to the mountains and give him a final farewell in a landscape of immense natural and spiritual significance.

On October 10, 2026, he began his journey from Sankri in Uttarakhand, heading into the high Himalayan region towards the Ruinsara ranges and Bali Pass. The route took him through dense forests, mountain trails, rushing rivers, alpine meadows and increasingly challenging high-altitude terrain. As the trail climbed, the landscape gradually changed from forests to snow-covered ridges and the stark Himalayan wilderness. The journey culminated in the crossing of Bali Pass, which rises to approximately 4,950 metres (16,200 feet).

But for Prof. Raipally, reaching the pass was not the real destination. The Ruinsara region carries deep cultural and mythological significance. Local traditions associate the surrounding valleys and the Swargarohini massif with the Pandavas’ final journey towards heaven, with Yudhishthira traditionally believed to have continued towards Swargarohini on his ascent. Ruinsara Tal lies in this dramatic landscape, surrounded by peaks including Swargarohini and Kalanag, also known as Black Peak.

Against this backdrop, Prof. Raipally carried his teacher’s ashes through the mountains. He spent two nights in the Ruinsara region, surrounded by the towering Swargarohini peaks, before finally reaching the Supin River. There, amid the vast Himalayan landscape, he immersed Prof. Mohan’s ashes in the river.

For Raipally, the moment meant more than a ritual farewell.

He describes the journey as his final guru dakshina — a student’s last offering of gratitude to a teacher who had helped shape his life.

“Throughout the journey, I felt as though I was walking with my teacher one last time,” he reflected. “A teacher shows his student the way through life. Perhaps this was my opportunity to show my teacher the way one last time.”

The thought stayed with him as he walked through the snow, crossed rivers and climbed the steep ridges towards Bali Pass and the Ruinsara Valley. In his imagination, he was not merely carrying his mentor’s ashes; he was accompanying him. Standing beside the Supin River, beneath the vast Swargarohini massif, he felt as though he was holding his teacher’s hand one final time and taking him towards what local tradition regards as the gateway to heaven.

And then, he let him go.

For a professional mountaineer accustomed to climbing mountains for exploration and personal challenge, this journey was different. There was no summit to conquer and no record to chase. The purpose was deeply personal: to honour a teacher, mentor and colleague whose influence had extended across generations of students.

Prof. Mohan’s nearly 30 years of service at NIFT had touched numerous young lives. His legacy, therefore, lies not only in the courses he taught or the years he spent in the classroom but also in the students he mentored and the people they went on to become.

Prof. Raipally’s journey is perhaps one such expression of that legacy.

Sometimes, a student carries his teacher a little further.

Sometimes, the final lesson is not taught in a classroom.

And sometimes, the greatest guru dakshina a student can offer is to walk one last mile beside the person who once showed him the way.

For Prof. M.C. Mohan, that final journey ended beside the Supin River, beneath the silent presence of the Himalayan peaks.

For his student, the journey will remain a reminder that a true teacher may leave the classroom but never really leaves the lives of those he has taught.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India