Ila Ma’am — someone I never met, but will always remember

The news of Ila Sharma’s sudden cardiac arrest on July 13 deeply shook me. I felt restless and uneasy, my heart racing for reasons I couldn’t explain. Why did her passing affect me so much?

We had never met—not even once. I wasn’t involved in politics and knew very little about her personal background. But one thing I did know: she had a truly kind and compassionate heart. Sadly, it was that very heart that gave out.

Even without meeting her, I could feel her warmth, empathy, and love from afar. That’s why I felt so connected to Ila Ma’am. I could sense her spirit and understand her deep care and dedication.

Just a week before her passing, she had messaged me:

“Shivaji, are you around? It would be great to meet in person.”

She had attended an Animal Nepal event at Hotel Everest, which I couldn’t join. I told her I wasn’t able to come. She replied:

“Alright, let’s meet soon—Prabhat Rimal, Pramada Shah, you, and me.”

But that meeting was never meant to happen.

She left before we ever got the chance.

Now, the thought that we’ll never meet fills me with guilt and sorrow. She had wanted to talk. Maybe not about herself, but about the animals she cared so deeply for—the ones who suffer silently from abuse and neglect. That pain, I believe, weighed heavily on her heart. Perhaps it even brought her to tears.

Last winter in Sanepa, someone brutally beat a street dog, breaking its legs. Ila Ma’am messaged me:

“That 7-year-old dog, born and raised here, was badly injured today. In this cold, it’s fighting for its life. What harm did it ever do to anyone?”

She did all she could to help the dog get treatment and justice.

With a master’s degree in international public law and human rights, Ila Ma’am had held powerful roles—she was a former Election Commissioner, a legal expert, and a journalist. But when it came to defending animals, she often felt powerless. And that helplessness pained her deeply.

I think she feared the cruelty of people—their ability to hurt animals without remorse. That fear came out in her restlessness.

Once, over a phone call, she asked me:

“How did you come to love animals?”

I told her my story. She responded excitedly, “That’s exactly how it happened for me too! It was because of my daughters. They can't bear to see animals suffer. They love them deeply.”

In the later years of her life, Ila Ma’am had everything—wealth, respect, influence. She could have chosen a quiet, easy life. But she couldn't rest while animals suffered. Human cruelty disturbed her peace.

She was driven by one question: Can we do something for those who can’t speak for themselves?

That’s why she spoke out against animal cruelty, fought for justice, and gave her time, money, and heart to help injured and abandoned animals. She didn’t do it for recognition—she did it because she truly cared.

In an interview, she once said:

“My dream for the later part of my life is to build a community where people live in harmony with animals and nature. A model village with traditional farming, food forests, permaculture, and a shelter for animals nobody wants.”

But sadly, time ran out before she could make that dream real.