Family Baffled by Mysterious Murder
By Kalyani Giri
Last updated: June 07, 2009

HOUSTON: For Dhirubhai Karsaliya, Thursday, May 28, 2009 began like any other. The content family man was up and about at dawn, pottering in his bountiful garden. That morning he picked mangoes and made sweet spicy pickles before hopping into his truck and heading out to work. A certified pest control technician by trade for the past 18 years, it wasn’t unusual that he work odd hours, but by midnight when his wife Hansaben failed after several attempts to reach him on his mobile telephone, she started to worry.

In the early hours of Friday, her worst fears and those of the couple’s three children were confirmed when they learnt from the police that Karsaliya had been brutally shot in the head by an unknown assailant and left unconscious and barely breathing in the cabin of his vehicle at a gated apartment community on Synott in the southwest area of this city. Karsaliya was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, but died Saturday, May 30. He would have celebrated his 56th birthday on Monday, June 1.

Now his grieving family and the local Indo American community are left struggling to accept the loss of a devoted husband and father, and a selfless man who always put the needs of others above his own.

“My father lived by rules, he epitomized virtue and lived very simply - he wasn’t one to place too much value on money,” said Parika, 27, the oldest child of the Karsaliyas. “He dedicated a lot of time to keeping the family together and in serving the community.”

Hailed as a karma yogi by community leaders, Karsaliya, who came to the US in 1983, served a term as Vice President of Gujarati Samaj in 2002 and continued helping further the goals of that organization over the years.

“I knew Dhirubhai for 20 years. He was a man of action, an active and dependable volunteer for the Samaj,” said Vinod Patel, who served as president of Gujarati Samaj in 2002.

In India while studying toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, Karsaliya came in contact with actively socio politically influenced people at district level, and that laid the foundation for his future in social activism. Together with Hansaben, the couple actively volunteered with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) heritage youth camps annually, working the kitchens and helping keep the youth engaged.

“He volunteered with me in different events like the youth camp, sakhi sammelan, family camp, Makarsakranti and volunteer training camp. He was most dependable, self motivated and very multi-talented. From cooking to any other task, he was willing to do it all, he had very good team spirit,” confided Dinesh Shah, longtime coordinator of the VHP-A heritage camps.

The Karsaliyas also dedicated time and effort to the Saurashtra Patel Samaj, the BAPS Swaminarayan Temple, and the Hare Krishna Temple. They were closely associated with the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA, the vanguard organization promoting Hindu culture through service.

“Dhirubhai was never in any organization for the name or position, he was there to do the work,” said Ramesh Shah, a former president of Gujarati Samaj and community activist.

Fellow community activist Vijay Pallod was also eloquent about Karsaliya’s work ethic.

“He worked 50-hour weeks doing hard physical labor, but still made time for community service. That’s commendable,” said Pallod.

Very few details have been released by homicide detectives of the Houston Police Department (HPD) who are investigating the case, as there were no eyewitnesses to the senseless crime. Residents at the apartment complex called 911 after hearing gunshots. Police found Karsaliya slumped in his truck with the engine running. According to initial police reports, the truck had rolled into the fence of the complex located on Synott adjacent to the Beltway 8 toll road. The Karsaliya family is unaware of why he was in the area.

“We are grateful that the HPD is trying its best to find answers,” said Parika. “ My father didn’t deserve this.”

As they learnt of the tragedy, the large extended family began arriving from all over the country. Karsaliya’s 94-year-old mother Amba Karsaliya presided over the chanting of prayers by family and friends at the family’s Sugarland home Sunday evening. Grappling with grief, the Karsaliya children Parika, Kayur (21), and Sagar (17), reminisced about their father and shared little personal glimpses into the kind of man that he was. He loved people, he was always there to help with homework, and his cooking skills were legendary. And he could fix anything.

“I’d any day take dad’s cooking over mom’s, he was such an inventive cook!” said Parika, a speech therapist.

Karsaliya was also an avid gardener whose backyard flourished plentifully under his ministrations. The family is vegetarian and there were always fresh homegrown vegetables on the dinner table. The rest were shared with friends and neighbors.

“My dad was the ideal man and my role model, he was always putting everyone else’s needs before his own. He worked hard but still made time for us,” said Sagar, a junior at William B. Travis High School. “Recently I had a tough project that dad helped me with. He left home at 5.00am, got back from work at 6.00pm, and worked with me until nearly 1.00am. Only after that did he eat dinner,” added Sagar emotionally. His brother Kayur worked at their father’s company and studied part time at the University of Houston.

“Dad always told me that to succeed in life, you have to be honest, trustworthy, and sincere,” said Kayur.

Amidst the grief, lighter moments came when the siblings recalled a weeklong family holiday in Cancun two years ago.

“Dad loved that trip! He walked around in swim shorts all day long and he was so relaxed,” Parika reminisced. She also told of a visit to India when her father took them to the Sajiyavader village in Gujarat where he grew up.

“He wanted to show us India as he saw it. We traveled by train, ate from street vendors, and rode on a bull wagon. He wanted us to develop a love of India and he accomplished that,” Parika added. “While mom taught us independence, dad spoilt us!”

For Hansaben Karsaliya the traumatic loss has rendered her bereft. The couple was happily married for 28 years. Speaking in Hindi, she told of how people were drawn to her husband because of his caring nature.

“The fragrance of his warmth and loving ways left everyone who met him with indelible memories. His passion was to feed everyone,” said Hansaben. “It’s evident even in the pickles he made that morning,” she added.

Karsaliya’s nephews Shashi and Atul Antala from Delaware recalled a pleasurable family reunion last year that drew over 70 family members to Florida. “Our uncle took a leadership role and facilitated the vacation right down to taking a turn at cooking. He was a great man,” the Antala brothers said.

Karsaliya’s funeral was held at the Garden Oaks Funeral Home on Tuesday, June 2, and widely attended.