Obituary of Akhil Kumar Bhandari

Akhil Kumar Bhandari passed away peacefully in Toronto on May 19, 2021. He was 70 years old. He was dearly beloved by a wide group of family and friends around the world. Akhil was born in Jalandhar, India, to the late Shri M.C. Bhandari and Shrimati Usha (Chopra) Bhandari, and was the respected eldest brother to his four siblings - Rohit, Manju, Mohit, and Neelu. Akhil was a proud graduate of the Regional Engineering College Kurukshetra. He spent several years working in New Delhi, where he married Usha (Khetan) Bhandari and saw the birth of his daughter, Esha. In his early 30s, he moved with his family to settle permanently in Canada, where his son Ashish was born. Akhil completed an MBA at Western University, and was a Vice President & CIO for the last 19 years of his career at three of Canada’s prominent multinationals before retiring in 2014. Akhil was Chairman of the Canadian Council of CIOs for three years, and an Advisory Board member of the largest Canadian technology venture fund for five years. Akhil had a passion for the arts, particularly poetry, and promoted Indian arts and cinema. He was associated with several literary and cultural organizations in Canada. He served as the Vice President of the Kabir Centre for Arts & Culture in Montreal, and Shayari Editor of Sahitya Kunj, a literary magazine in Toronto. In May 2021, he published a book of poetry in Hindi, titled Raat Bhar Jaagane Se Kyaa Haasil (What Comes From Staying Up All Night). Akhil is survived by his wife Usha Bhandari, his children Esha (Samuel) Bhandari and Ashish Bhandari, his mother Usha Bhandari, and his siblings Rohit (Neelum) Bhandari, Mohit (Savita) Bhandari, and Neelu (Madan) Syal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please be advised about the temporary limitation of funeral services in GTA, as per the following link: https://thebao.ca/registrars-directive-bao-additional-restrictions-for-bereavement-sector/ Our building will be able to accommodate the following under these guidelines set out by the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) and Public Health. The Restrictions are as follows: • Maximum of 10 guests allowed on the property at one time. • No Line Ups Permitted • No Cycling of Guests • One Entire Group at one time • Attendances need to be scheduled by appointment only • Screening and logging of guests must be done by our staff • Intervals of 15 minutes between visitations mandatory for disinfection of facilities and continuous cleaning of surfaces throughout. • As always face masks and cleaning hands are mandatory as well as keeping social distancing of 6.5 feet. Please note that for religious services that we cannot accommodate any intervals and will require only a maximum group of 10 for those ceremonies. These rules are mandatory and Lotus Funeral and Cremation Centre Inc needs to follow these for the safety of your guests as well as the staff. Visitation and funeral services are attended BY INVITATION ONLY. Please contact the family if you wish to attend, NOT the funeral home. We can also provide families with zoom video options for them to invite friends and family that may not be able to attend in person due to these restrictions.