Goutam was the quintessential Bengali bhadralok and bhalo manush (good human being), overflowing with joie de vivre. I have known Goutam from the early ‘80s since his days at Clarion. Although we began by sitting on opposite sides of the table, over the years our business relationship quickly metamorphosed into a personal one and became ever more enduring over the years. His commitment to professional integrity and his infinite quest for fairness endeared him to all his friends. Although he headed a lot of coveted professional bodies like the AAAI , ABC, ASCI, ACI etc, with intrinsically polarised views on every matter, I have never seen him get angry with anyone. Although he would make his views known quite forcefully, his conciliatory approach, laced with humour saved many an awkward situation. No industry matter was ever settled without Goutam’s valuable advice.
As Chairman of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations, Goutam led the committee that put together the Adasia in Jaipur in 2003. For me it was an absolute delight and privilege working with him and Ramesh Narayan to organise that mammoth event. The ever gregarious Goutam’s sense of situational humor at work and joke-a-minute after hours, which I experienced during our promotional travels overseas will be etched in my memory forever. To relive the experience, we even kept planning a holiday together – the three of us – which unfortunately never happened.
Will miss you, Goutam. Your wisdom, your banter, your smiling face. I am sure you are entertaining someone somewhere up there.
