You played a beautiful innings: Arnab Mitra remembers Atul Hegde

Arnab Mitra remembers Hegde as a man who corrected you without making you feel corrected

by e4m Staff
Published: Jul 7, 2026 1:18 PM | 3 min read

Atul Hegde, a respected CEO and mentor, was known for his ability to provide constructive feedback without making others feel criticized, emphasizing leadership accountability.
The author recalls a pivotal moment in 2007 when Hegde taught him the importance of owning responsibilities as a leader, rather than deflecting to subordinates.
Hegde was also an accomplished cricketer, embodying composure both on the field and in the business world, and was part of the golden era of Indian advertising.
The author reflects on Hegde's lasting impact on his leadership style and expresses regret for not having the opportunity to convey his gratitude before Hegde's passing.

Atul Hegde was the kind of man who corrected you without making you feel corrected.

In 2007, my team missed a deadline. Something he had to carry to Dubai and explain on our behalf. I was his business head. He was the CEO. I should have walked into that cabin and owned it.

I couldn’t face him.

So, I sent my junior instead.

He sent my junior back. And called me in.

I walked into that cabin expecting everything I deserved. The anger. The disappointment. The reminder of the gap between his chair and mine.

Instead, he looked at me and said something I have never forgotten.

“Never ever expose your juniors to your seniors. Name, fame and shame all belong to the leader.”

His words scathed me in a way a reprimand never could have.

Because he wasn’t angry about the deadline.

He was holding up a mirror to the kind of leader I was becoming.

But I knew him before the cabin.

I knew him at the Oval Maidan. CAG Shield. Mumbai cricket; the way Mumbai cricket is supposed to be played - on real turf, under real pressure, with men who take the game as seriously as their work.

He was a batter. I was a medium fast bowler.

And I can tell you - he was as composed at the crease as he was in the boardroom. The same stillness. The same refusal to show you what he was thinking. You had to earn every inch with him. On the pitch and off it.

That’s who Atul was. Completely himself in every version of himself.

He was the last of a kind. The great men who belonged to the golden years of Indian advertising - when ideas were built slowly, when craft actually mattered, when you learned by watching someone like him work a room, a brief, a relationship.

That world is gone now.

And today, so is he.

I’ve spent every year since that cabin trying to be worthy of what he said to me. Through every company I’ve built, every team I’ve led, every moment I’ve been tempted to step back when I should have stepped forward.

I never forgot.

I never told him either.

That’s the thing about people who shape you without trying. You always assume there’ll be time.

Atul Hegde was the kind of man you don’t realise you needed until you can no longer call him.

Rest well, my friend. You played a beautiful innings. Gone too soon, so for me you will be not-out.