Not everyone would drop everything to help their family. Even fewer would drop everything to help a stranger. Yet, Bharti Bhagu Shahani spent her life doing both.
Bharti’s sister, Namrata Shahani, said Bharti was always concerned for others, especially her family, and would constantly check in with her sisters.
“So she was caring, a very kind, very compassionate person,” Namrata said. “She was like a second mother to my younger sister and I. She was kind of like the glue that held our family together.”
Though Bharti only experienced one in-person semester at Texas A&M due to COVID-19 protocols, Namrata said Bharti had some changes to face. Instead of constantly caring about her family, when she moved to College Station, Bharti had to learn to care for herself.
“She felt a sense of freedom, which I feel is very hard for an immigrant family’s [first child] to feel,” Namrata said. “She just felt like the only thing [she] could take care of in College Station, away from home, was herself.”
While at A&M, Bharti took pleasure in playing badminton and developing a friend group with her classmates. She also spent time with her cousin Mohit Bellani, who is also a student.
However, no matter how much time she spent learning to care for herself in College Station, Bharti never lost her helping hand with others and her family. Namrata said one of many instances of Bharti’s selflessness occurred recently. Even when the sisters were meant to be having fun together at Astroworld, Bharti was still checking in on her sister.
“As we were kind of waiting for the concert to start, she just kept checking in with me, kept asking me if I was OK, if I was alright,” Namrata said. “I’m sure she was feeling what I was feeling, too, but she still put me in front of her own needs. Instead of worrying about herself or telling me how she was feeling, she kept asking me if I was OK.”
Bharti’s kindness extended to others who asked for help, Namrata said. At the same concert, Bharti showed her generosity to a perfect stranger.
“Fifteen minutes before the headliner was about to perform, this guy came up to us to say, ‘Do y’all have water?’” Namrata said. “We had like a bottle and a half. The half was what I was drinking, and then she had the bottle for herself. Without even thinking or anything she just gave her full water bottle to this guy.”
Namrata said Bharti was a best friend as well as a sister, and will miss having someone tell her everything will get better, as Bharti always did.
“She would always be there for me,” Namrata said. “She would always laugh with me; she would always tease me. I don’t think I can ever find anyone else or any other singular person who’s going to be able to do that for me. Her love for us, her love for me, I feel, and I’m realizing, was just extreme.”