Rakesh  Aggarwal

I met Nick in 1990 when in a lunch queue at one of the eateries at Bradford University. I made eye contact with him and said “Hello”. Within 20 minutes I was opening up to him about how I had been verbally attacked at a student meeting. Nick listened patiently and was not only sympathetic, but helped me realise why it could have happened.

This was the start of a lifelong friendship.

My early years were challenging – a high expressed emotion family without any positive role model. This left me with a self-esteem and social skills which were not the best. Nick was one of the very few … who had the wisdom and kindness to see past the often anti-social façade which I unwittingly carried. In his own non-intrusive way he very respectfully reached out to me. He listened and counselled, helping repair much of the damage that had been done. But with Nick, of course, it was not just a one-sided relationship. I listened to him, pointing out some of his wonderful qualities he was not aware of, and I helped him with practical DIY.

He very quickly became a close friend and a role model. I would often ask him what to do in various situations, and I learnt much from observing how he interacted with others.

But it was fundamentally a relationship of equals filled with love, playfulness and humour. Very early on he began to call me Rakkers. What choice did I have but to call him Nickers?

I came from generations of business people but I began to discover, about a year after meeting Nick, that I am, at heart, a writer. Nick was the first person I told about my writing and, for a long time, he was the only person who was allowed to read it. He, of course, gave me bucketloads of encouragement, corrected my grammar and, in time, gave me a direction in which to take my writing. He was able to see nuances in my work that no one else saw, and was always keen to point them out. As I grew as a writer, his constructive criticism became more direct, allowing me to develop further and find the direction I wanted to go in. This carried on for over 30 years.

He respected my intelligence like few people have. I was touched when he told me he quoted me twice in his PhD thesis.

When I was kid, other kid’s role models were the likes of Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and the SAS. It was a popular pastime to watch boys have a fight after school. I walked away from such shows of violence – I was more interested in those who strove to make the world a better place, such as Dr Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi once said: “An eye for an eye, leaving the whole world blind.” Nick helped me open my eyes and see so much good in those around me and in myself. He helped me relate to myself and others in a deeper way and with less resentment. This was typical of Nick – he spent his life building bridges between people, and caring deeply for those around him and the world as a whole.

Mahatma means Great Soul. When I think of the people I admire for striving to make the world a place of sustainability, peace and justice, Nick is high up on that list. I often recall that initial meeting at Bradford University. What it fate or was it chance? I don’t know. But I do know that it is one of the greatest privileges of my life to have known Nick. To me, he will never cease to be anything short of a Mahatma.