Piyush Pandey’s demise marks the end of an era. And what an era it was! He gave India some of its most beloved advertisements. Think Titan, Cadbury, Fevicol, Asian Paints. He gave Indian advertising a wonderful voice on the global stage. He taught us that deep emotion lies at the heart of great communication. And he taught us that being rooted in our own country’s culture is the most important trait that we Indian marketers can cultivate and possess.

One morning at around 6 am (this was sometime in March 2022), I received his voice message on my telephone. “Harish, can we speak? I have a great idea about which I would like to chat with you.”

We were in the midst of discussing a corporate film for the Tata brand, which would be played at the finale of Tata IPL.

I brewed my morning coffee

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