To Piyush Pandey, with eternal gratitude

Padma Shri Piyush Pandey was a legend, and history will ensure he’s remembered as one. But for me, it is both his warmth and his frankness that I will miss the most. 

Through the years, I have been fortunate to gather a heap of fond memories with Piyush ji -- moments that will rest inside of me for the years ahead. It’s difficult to pen each one down, but  what I will miss the most is his constant feedback, his sharp criticism that cut like a knife’s edge in terms of directness and his belief and encouragement in everything we were building at Republic Media Network. 

I remember the early days of Republic, pre-launch, when we were a very small team working every minute to make a dream happen. Piyush ji and I had a conversation about the contours of what I was setting out to do, and his interventions were transformational - brutally honest, deeply insightful and always anchored in pushing one to think through the holistic larger picture.

Over the months of February, April and March 2017 he dedicated an overwhelming amount of time to the Republic launch campaign, even on Sundays which were often working presentation days.  

In most of those meetings, I recall Piyush ji sitting at the very back of the presentation room quietly deliberating the pitch, soaking it all in, speaking frugally. When the pitch was over and the room turned to him in anticipation of feedback, he would most often still be ingesting before springing up with a wildly creative but unexpected drift that eventually crafted the foundation of Republic’s launch campaign. He was instrumental to it. 

Beyond the presentations and the creative ideations, Piyush ji would often discuss the ethos of the brand that we were seeking to build. He was masterful at taking our mission statement and purpose and blending it with the artistic output that eventually went public. I will always have the deepest gratitude for the time he and his team at Ogilvy and O&M gave us at the very start of the Republic journey. I cherish those days dearly.  

But my association with Piyush ji goes beyond the Republic launch campaign. We connected at a deeply personal level on matters that concerned the nation for over two decades. 

He would call post me my show right from my Times Now days. He would drop texts to me during my Debate show. He would be my fiercest critic when he disagreed with my point of view. No matter whether he agreed or disagreed - he would be as vocal on both. That’s what I’ll miss the most. 

We shared the stage at the RedInk Awards in clips that went viral, less than a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic 2014 election victory. The topic was “Did the media create the NaMo Wave”, and Piyush ji’s interventions were classic: he cut through the chase with precision in an environment where flaying hands in the post Modi victory became the norm for a section of the media which was still in disbelief. That’s who he was- fearlessly direct, unswayed by trends and always driven by his own conviction.  

I remember when Republic had undertaken the #UnitedByLanguage campaign on-air in September 2022. He texted me during my show and I referenced an article he wrote in the 1990s- a splendid reality check for urban India. That’s who he was- an icon rooted in India’s plurality and unity. 

When India turned 71, he joined me in the Republic Studio in Mumbai to talk about his journey. What stood out to me always the most about Piyush ji was that he paved his own path in everything that was innately Indian, everything that was proudly embossed with Bharatiyata, at a time when everyone was seeking to ape the West.  That’s who he was - an unapologetic nationalist who brought the nationalistic spirit into every piece of his work that defined almost four decades of advertising in India. 

As COVID-19 raged like a fire, when there was dimness everywhere, he came on my Sunday Debate to uplift the nation with his words and solid assurance that “we are winning”. That’s who he was - a believer, a builder of hope, who could turn adversity into optimism with a few simple, powerful words. 

For the Nation, Piyush ji will rest in the history books as an institution for the ad world. For me, he will always be someone who made me think harder, dream bigger and stay true to who I am and what I believe in.

I will miss you, Piyush ji. The Nation always will.