Loyal in every relationship
She valued people deeply and stood by them with honesty, responsibility and affection.
About Manu
Some people enter a life. She transformed it.
Monika Rana was the purest soul I ever met. Loyal, courageous, disciplined and generous, she gave herself completely to the people she loved.
Even when she disagreed with someone, she never allowed dislike to diminish her humanity. If help was needed, she helped. If something had to be done, she did it properly. If someone she cared about was struggling, she stood beside them as if their difficulty were her own.
She had the rare ability to remain in people’s memories after even a brief meeting. Friends, students, colleagues, relatives and people encountered during journeys remembered her warmth, confidence and unmistakable presence.
Courageous when something was wrong
She did not remain silent merely to keep others comfortable. Fairness mattered to her.
Generous without calculation
She did things for others with the same effort and care she would give to herself.
Always fully alive
Travel, food, festivals, friendships and ordinary days were all reasons to celebrate.
Rooted in Himachal. Unmistakably her own person.
Childhood and early strength
From Nahan to Una: a childhood shaped by courage
Manu was born into a family with three elder sisters. Her father was a police officer known for his loyalty to duty. Her early childhood was spent in Nahan, where both our families were connected through the police department.
Later, her family moved to their ancestral home in Behdala, Una. Moving from a town environment into village life was not easy. The family faced hardship and an entirely different way of living. Manu worked alongside her parents and sisters and learned early that strength was not something one merely spoke about—it was something one practised.
She studied in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and distinguished herself in sport. As an athlete, she competed with such determination that students from other states recognised her name and knew that Monika Rana would be a formidable competitor.
She was never afraid to take a stand.
When something felt unjust, she spoke—even when remaining silent would have been easier.
A life in education
More than a teacher. A mentor people remembered.
Manu began teaching in 2001 and built a career across schools, technical institutions and an international university.
2001–2003
Lecturer in English
Geeta Adarsh Vidyalaya, SolanThe beginning of a teaching journey that would continue for nearly two decades.
2004–2010
Lecturer in English
BL Central Public School, SolanYears spent teaching, guiding students and building lasting relationships.
2010–2011
Coordinator and Lecturer
LR Polytechnic College, SolanA role that brought together classroom teaching and academic coordination.
2012–2013
Assistant Professor
Green Hills Engineering College, SolanShe taught communication skills and contributed to academic records and quality-assurance work.
2013–2020
English Language Instructor
Northern Border University, Saudi ArabiaShe taught English, coordinated academic work and served in quality assurance at the Rafha Female Campus.
M.A. EnglishHimachal Pradesh University
B.Ed.ICDEOL, HPU
M.A. EnglishIGNOU
QualifiedHP TET
Northern Border University
She went to Saudi Arabia with courage, not fear.
Moving to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was another step into the unknown. Manu approached it exactly as she approached every new road: with confidence, discipline and the determination to build a life there on her own terms.
At Northern Border University, she became more than an instructor. She coordinated academic programmes, supported teachers and students, assisted with faculty selection, helped develop academic-support systems and maintained quality-assurance records.
Her students loved her. One student learned to write her teacher’s name in Hindi and placed “Monika Rana” on the white band of a handmade Indian tricolour. It was a small gift, but it revealed the affection and respect she inspired across language and culture.
English Language Instructor
Teaching language and communication skills in the Preparatory Year Programme.
Department Coordinator
Coordinating programmes, study material, faculty support and academic communication.
Quality Assurance Coordinator
Maintaining academic records and supporting institutional quality processes.
A Teacher Remembered with Affection
Students carried her influence beyond the classroom.
Our story
It began with Aloo ka Meetha.
Our childhoods had crossed in Nahan, but life took us along different paths. Many years later, when both of us were passing through difficult periods, we met again.
I often visited her elder sister, Babita Di, who was posted in Nahan and offered me guidance during that time. One day, while I was waiting at her home, Babita Di had to leave for urgent work. She asked Manu to serve me Aloo ka Meetha.
Manu was an excellent cook. She served it with the natural warmth with which she did everything. That ordinary moment became the quiet beginning of an extraordinary relationship.
Childhood connection
Two police families whose paths first crossed in Nahan.
Meeting again
Two lives rediscovering one another during a difficult time.
A simple meal
Aloo ka Meetha, served with care, became part of our story.
A shared life
Friendship, travel, marriage and years of discovering the world.
The roads we travelled
She taught me not only to drive, but to move forward.
When we met again, I did not drive a scooter, a motorcycle or a car. We were both in our mid-thirties, and our first journeys together were made by bus.
Manu taught me to ride a two-wheeler. We bought a Honda Activa and explored the roads around Solan. Then she encouraged me to learn to drive a car. I did it because she believed I could.
After marriage, our journeys continued in Saudi Arabia and later across India. By the time I reached my mid-forties, I had driven on difficult mountain roads and challenging terrain that I would once never have imagined attempting.
She changed my relationship with fear. Every road I drive today carries something she gave me.
Dolma — our Jimny
One February afternoon, she turned an idea into another journey.
In February 2024, while we were in the Solan market, Manu suddenly said, “Yaar Trilok, let us go to Nexa and see the Jimny.”
She liked the old Gypsy spirit and immediately imagined what the Jimny could become for us: a vehicle for Leh, long roads and journeys across India.
We went to see it. In her characteristic way, she made the decision with enthusiasm and certainty. We bought the Jimny and named her Dolma.
It was never merely a vehicle. It represented the life she believed in—a life in which one should not postpone the road forever.
Trilok, life is in today.
— ManuThe things she loved
She filled ordinary life with colour and meaning.
Travel
She loved roads, movement, new landscapes and the feeling of being somewhere unfamiliar.
Cooking
She cooked with skill and served food as an expression of affection.
Festivals
Celebrations mattered to her. She gave time, colour and care to every occasion.
Animals
She loved animals, especially dogs, and responded to them with immediate tenderness.
Friendship
People who came close to her never felt that friendship was a casual thing.
Doing Things Properly
Discipline, detail and sincerity were visible in everything she undertook.
What she left behind
Her legacy is not a list. It is visible in people.
Manu changed people without announcing that she was changing them.
She gave students confidence, colleagues support, friends loyalty, family her complete attention and me a life I could never have built alone.
She made me travel. She made me drive. She taught me to be less afraid. She showed me that life is not something to be permanently postponed for a safer or more convenient day.
Every person who carries forward a little of her courage, generosity, discipline or appetite for life becomes part of her continuing story.
CourageLoveTeachingTravelLoyaltyDisciplineGenerosityJoy
∞
Always with me
I do not carry only her memory. I carry the life she placed inside mine.
Manu remains in every road I now have the courage to take, every journey Dolma completes, every celebration I try not to postpone, and every moment in which I remember that life is in today.
With love, alwaysTrilok