Goodbye, Suspi

In a profession which celebrates designations, titles, perks of leadership, Suspi was unmistakably a simple man extremely fond of his Sambhar Rice. His journey started as Anand Subbarao in a small town of Shimoga in Karnataka.

He rose through the ranks in advertising to gather a formidable body of work across various brands. Bulk of his years in the industry were in Lowe Lintas, where he was entrusted with the creative leadership of Lowe Lintas Delhi, which happened to be not just the 2nd largest business unit the agency, but also the toughest one. This mandate defined his inherent ability to manage large and complex businesses, and foster great relationships with some of the best in the business.

From his landmark campaign for AIDS Awareness (Condom Bindaas Bol) to his creative service on Maruti Suzuki, Havells, Hindustan Times, Nestle and Micromax to name a few, Suspi found the calling to set off on his own. On this entrepreneurial bus, he was joined by Harpal Singh and Rohan Tandon, his friends and colleagues from the Lowe Lintas days.

The name And And was his choice of not putting another classic abbreviation of names as the masthead of their new ship. The two ampersands between the three names should suffice, he said. And it is still going strong. More than 12 years, where Suspi himself led from the front and managed big businesses like Future Brands, Kohler, Boroline, Escorts Kubota and most notably the launch of Gionee Mobiles in India.

He was the co-founder and fountainhead that took the 3 men squad to bustling, mid-sized independent unit of about 90 people. From mopping the floor on a rainy day to ordering dinner for the team to leading them into meetings whether in person or on teams, his legend only grew bigger at And And.

Between all this, he authored two books. The first book Half Pants Full Pants is an autobiography of his early days. People have compared it with Malgudi Days for its palpable simplicity and authenticity. The book was also adapted for screen as a series on Amazon Prime. Then came his second one called The Bookseller of Mogga, a delightful read for those who love books and authors.

All of 54, Suspi was a great conversationalist on subject as varied as Bruce Lee to advertising to life in general. All punched with his peculiar wit and satire. And he considered Eminem and the likes as true poets. His fondness for rap got him to be the car rapper himself. He would memorise songs, practice on beat for months and record a video from behind the wheel, driving to office, one of those days.

“We will miss those days, and miss you, Suspi”, say everyone in one voice at And And.