'Kaise dhoondhe koi unko, nahin kadmon ke bhi nishan'

A year back, on August 31, Sh Umesh Upadhyay and I were in robust disagreement over a motivated write up in the western media. Umesh-ji was on the core idea in his book on western media narratives, i.e., "jaane deejiye, ye log aise hee hain?"  My point was that the stakes are far higher than "jaane deejiye!"

Heat in the kitchen is core to what we had signed up for at Reliance Industries Limited ten years back — one more passionate than the other in our world views; a personal relationship running in parallel

Full disclosure: Umesh-ji & I even had a family WA group called “Mango Village”. It was named after a beach hut where I really wanted to host him one day

On “Mango Village”, a disagreement reached such a flash point that I actually exited!! Umesh-ji reinducted me, without even asking me offline. He then posted something so Umesh-ji: "Mango village aapke ghar hai, Rohit. Koi apna ghar nahin chhodta!" What could one say to this!

The man lived “management 101” on disagreements. That one can disagree without being disagreeable. Our’s created refinement — a blend of the best idea — not a ledger on who the originator was. I suspect though that Umesh-ji’s peace-dove strategy of "jaane deejiye, Rohit-ji" prevailed more often in our 27+ years of being friends, 15 as colleagues (in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, Rockland Hospitals, and finally Reliance Industries Limited).

Then came the Black Day, September 1, 2025. Rohit Dubey called to apprise me that Umesh-ji had had a fatal fall. The hospital, the cops, the huge funeral, mantras at the immersion, almost everything felt surreal and futile. There he was united with Shri Ram, the Lord. As Shalabh, his brave son, poured the ashes, Umesh-ji didn’t say, "jaane deejiye, Rohit-ji". He just left. Bas chale gaye...

These sands in the real-world Mango Village would never host Umesh-ji. So many of us miss you — as indeed we miss each friend who we disagreed with the most

Don’t we wish we could find that friend one last time: if only to concede & say you were right…The song in the head: duniya se jaane wale, jaane chale jaata hai kahan! kaise dhoondhe koi unko, nahin kadmon ke bhi nishan.

(The writer is a former editor and Group Head of Communications at Reliance.)

Read more: Earlier tribute