An ode by his son Vikram 

 

Papa was always a man ahead of his time. He was willing to pay the price for it as well. From refusing to accept dowry, an unthinkable thing in those times, where he had to then foot the whole wedding bill himself as punishment to being the first importer of fax machines in India when the tech revolution was yet to take place. 

 

We were also one of the first members of National Stock Exchange and one of the first few internet users in India. Sometimes I feel sad looking around and cant help thinking someone with his zeal and his affinity for technology would have done very well in the current tech startup environment if health hadn't caved him in. 

 

I do believe he was a lot more tech savvy than I am, again health proving to be the bugbear. So much of what I am applying in my own business today are principles that I have unconsciously picked up from him. Like how important it is to keep your word especially when it comes to money. 

 

Papa made a lot of his fortune as a go-between where people kept him in the middle simply with the belief, “Yeh Aadmi ghar bechke bhi mera paise lauta dega if something goes amiss”.

 

My father wasn't perfect of course. He had his own issues, prejudices and whims as well. From the time it took to accept my Bengali brother-in-law to our perpetual battles over why I shouldn't be allowed to take maths Tuitions. 

 

But what is important to keep in mind his how far he came despite the challenging environment he came from: Eldest of 12 kids in a remote Dhundlod village, a near fatal kidney failure with no financial backing, and a temperament that often made compromise difficult if differing from his principles. I think I have picked up a lot of things from him including his flair for public speaking, an inability to accept a status quo and hunt for new avenues and probably most of the intelligence is a genetic gift. 

 

Conversely, have also inherited his impatience, his lack of subtlety and maybe a bit of that temper as well ;). 

 

When I have connected with any of his BITs or IIM buddies, what they all had in common was a recalling of a person of warmth and sincerity perhaps well complimented by my mother who brings the same open heart to the table. 

 

He has been gone over a year now. The last few years were hard as we saw the man we loved and admired slowly wither away and cant help feeling he deserved a better send-off. 

 

I cant do anything about that now but can only hope to continue a legacy that will make him proud hoping that he is watching from everywhere - That dorm in IIMA, that tree in Dhundlod, that little corner in my maternal grandfather’s house that he always occupied as “Poddarji ki Gaddi”. 

 

Here’s to you Dad, hope you are finally flying that Kite to the moon and watching it with the telescope you always wanted to as a child.