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mary h.'s avatar

Beautiful writing as always, Vidushi. Thank you for sharing!

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thank you so much, Mary. Sending love for the new year!

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Srini Iyengar's avatar

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. The best account of a light that inspired many of us is to hear it from another illuminated soul.

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thank you so much for your kind words. He was (and remains) truly a light.

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Vinit Taneja's avatar

Sudhakar was a batch my junior from iimc. Whilst I did not really know him that well in college but got to do so in the 2011 to 2012 period when we shared some common contexts like the interventions he had in Mastek with Nithya Shanti, my kalyanmitra and the Conscious Capitalism movement. I was really privileged to receive the manuscript of his book and the opportunity to review it, thanks to this connect.

I feel you have captured his soul really beautifully in this blog and I thank you for that. Vinit

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thank you so much for your comment—we were all blessed to know uncle. I struggled a lot to express some of what he meant in words, but I'm really grateful to hear that they resonated with you. I'm inspired to learn slowly more about conscious capitalism and some of the work that moved him, too.

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Rajaram Gopalan's avatar

Wow, very nice and well articulated!

Listening without prejudging is the essence of empathy 🙏

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thank you for your note. I very much agree!

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Alison Awtrey Graham's avatar

This is so beautiful. "The opposite of being forgotten is being asked for help. Not only did uncle hold space for a multiplicity of opinions, but he also treated the people holding them as his collaborators." I will remember this. Thank you, as always, for writing.

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I hope we can make room our hearts for the span of people and ideas he welcomed into his.

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Deepika Kaul's avatar

You have been really lucky to meet a person who valued your opinion and everyone mattered to him. It’s a lovely tribute and enjoyed reading it.

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thank you so much— it is incredibly difficult to capture his quiet counsel in words, but I'm glad some of it came through and resonated.

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Reva Abrol's avatar

Vidushi, this is a beautiful essay. "The best thing I could do for the world wasn’t to attempt to pre-plan a career of scale—it was to reflect on my values, reach a hand to a neighbor, and listen for what matters." – I feel like I've been suffering from the same "impact at scale" ailment lately, and your tribute is a much-needed remedy.

What a one-of-a-kind mentor. Your time staying at your Uncle's home reminds me so much of my last month in Mumbai, when I stayed with my college roommate's grandmother in Santacruz. We'd have tea in the mornings and chat out on her balcony. It was always quiet, local, interdependent – lovely. Thanks for your inspiring reflections, always.

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Mishti Sharma's avatar

Thanks so much for the thoughtful note. I feel like many of us ended up in the same headspace after graduation — it's hard not to try to skip to having as much impact as possible without really getting the little, important stories that build up to it. Loved the bit about your time in Santacruz. I'm glad you found such beautiful moments together with someone who just understood :)

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Muraleedharan Nair's avatar

Marvellous writing !! I worked with your uncle from Jan 1985 till Nov 1993. I found him as a down to earth personality - you feel very comfortable with him always. He had solutions to all problems and a helping ❤!!

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