Family and friends
Avani was a special soul who cared deeply about the world and all living beings. She was taken from this world far before her time, but made every moment last that she had. She was a lover of music, dance, art, deep writing, thoughtful conversations and of life itself. She was a loving daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, friend and gift to the world.
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Join MemoriesGauri Khanna
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Gauri Khanna Avani at Trisha’s 1st Birthday
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Gauri Khanna Avani and Trisha
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Gauri Khanna Avani and Paul
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Liza Hall We met in fall 1983 at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, one room over from the weird green carpeted space in the photo. She'd seen the photos of Boy George I had taped inside my locker, and she walked up and asked, excitedly, "Do you like Culture Club?!" We started talking about our then-favorite band and hit it off immediately. I wish I had photos of her and/or us then, but I didn't have a camera.
Chavi K
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Chavi K Avani's 13th birthday w/ Chavi
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Liza Hall Avani at 17 (the month before she turned 18) in my driveway in Ann Arbor.
John Briere Avani used to take me different places in Ann Arbor, although we both grew up there she knew magical places I had never seen
I met Avani at Hampshire College in a seminar on Futurism and Fascism by Mary Russo. This was Fall 1993 or Spring 1994. At the end of the course, Avani and I had the assignment of decorating for a Futurist end of semester celebration. We bought a lot of funky pens and paper and made cutouts for the walls featuring sounds like "Bang" and "Clunk," wh...
When I moved to Ann Arbor MI after graduating from our alma mater Hampshire College, I was lucky to find that Avani had also moved there and fronted vocals in a friend's band, Sugo. Halloween was particularly fun with her, as was going out dancing at some infamous spots that included City Club and St. Andrews in Detroit.
Chassy Cleland Avani had her own way of bursting with feeling. This was during a visit to SF after I hadn't seen her in 3 or 4 years.
Liza Hall Avani at an 80s dance party, complete with neon pink nail polish and Duran Duran t-shirt. :) Durham, NC, shortly after starting her MBA.
John Briere I was so happy that Avani was able to attend my wedding
Liza Hall Avani relaxing by the fire at my wedding, talking to ShuNahSii.
Liza Hall Avani and the other bridesmaids (Erica, Susannah, Beate, Rachael) at my wedding
Liza Hall Avani representing the element of fire at my wedding. She represented fire because of her Sagittarius Moon. Real fire wasn't allowed in the redwood grove, so she carried an LED ice cube that lit up in red and orange.
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Ram Kapoor Avani enjoyed hiking at Mount Tam.
Sonali Chopra
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Liza Hall Avani was a pool shark! I forget the details, but as I recall she actually ranked among the top players in San Francisco.
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Sonali Chopra
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Sonali Chopra Hanging with the cousins in the Mission!
Ram Kapoor A cousins' hang at the Union Square skating rink.
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Gauri Khanna In front of The National Gallery in London
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Ram Kapoor A lazy day at 35 Lee, with Zoab.
Ram Kapoor Smiles all around - with Nuj, Ryan and Zoab. (I'm behind the camera as usual.)
Ram Kapoor We (Indu, Ram, Rush, Zoab) met Avani while watching the solar eclipse from Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. Cool green glares!
Gauri Khanna Pretty in pink at Chetan and Jane's wedding
Sonali Chopra Avani looked gorgeous at Chetan and Jane's wedding and did a beautiful reading. I also had so much fun dancing with her at all the events.
Ram Kapoor Picture perfect with cool moves. Chetan-Jane's wedding celebrations!
Ram Kapoor Dancing with Nuj and Rekha at Chetan-Jane's wedding.
Ram Kapoor Waiting for the fireworks at Sausalito. July 4th. With her Londoner niece Mila, Zoab, David uncle and Indu.
Gauri Khanna Raksha Bandhan ❤️
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Ram Kapoor The post-Thanksgiving dinner slouch. Jeevs-Sonali the ever gracious hosts.
Ram Kapoor A mini family reunion at 35 Lee - in honor of visiting uncles Teji mama and Jiti mama.
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Ram Kapoor Watching a video of Neil jumping out of a carton to surprise his mum!
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Gauri Khanna Ryan and Ginny's Wedding
Chassy Cleland Avani could be bubbly sometimes.
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Mike Hayden Avani visiting her mom in Taos. A photo she sent me of her dancing in the backyard.
Mike Hayden On our way back from Taos stopping by the river.
Mike Hayden On a picnic in Tilden.
Jonathan Harford Avani was a regular at my family's dinner parties. She came most Sundays, and stayed after for conversation and games of Drawful. She laughed a lot, and made us laugh. We miss her.
Mike Hayden Out at a Thai restaurant in Oakland. We had the place to ourselves!
Liza Hall Avani loved this description I wrote of "Avani as a wine."
Mike Hayden In Hawaii picking up some Papaya to enjoy later.
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Mike Hayden Back in Tilden for a relaxing afternoon in a meadow.
Liza Hall When one of my sons lost his stuffed beaver and made "Missing Beaver" signs to hang around the neighborhood, Avani played along by sending an email where she pretended that she had found a stuffed beaver near our local park and wanted to know if it was ours. My kids were SO EXCITED that the "Missing Beaver" signs had worked! Even though the beaver Avani claimed to have found wasn't ours, they were delighted that someone had found a stuffed beaver, taken good care of it, and reached out in response to the posters. Thank you, Avani, for delighting my kids.
Mike Hayden Hiking in Samuel P Taylor Park.
A Scene with Avani (with love from Roz) [Wolfhound Bar, San Pablo Avenue. Oakland, California, Autumn 2018] “Your elbow is just the hinge. Watch: bring your forearm up like this. See my hand swinging back and forth? Like it’s just hanging there, dead on a hinge? You have to relax your tricep.” We had the backroom with the pool table to ourselv...
A haiku for Avani: Sweet beautiful rose Said softly, "Pick me, pick me!" She lives in our hearts.