Remembering Sunil Mehta (1965-2006)

Nasscom vice president Sunil Mehta passed away in Mumbai on Saturday following a cardiac arrest. He was 41.

CIOL reports: Mehta has been instrumental in some of Nasscom’s recent initiatives such as the online national registry of BPO employees and Nasscom Assessment of Competence (NAC) that involves tests to grade BPO applicants.

Like Kiran Karnik, the president of the industry body, he has also been quite vocal in denouncing the anti-outsourcing critics and also defended the country’s BPO industry in the light of the certain security breaches at call centers.

In his role, Mehta was responsible for leading Nasscom’s research initiatives. He also was in charge of Nasscom’s international public affairs and public relations.

I was flipping through the Economic Times this morning when I noticed the ad which carried the sad news. I read and re-read it a few times... It was just too shocking.

Sunil was an amazing human being, whom I was privileged enough to meet and get to know a little over the last two years. Of course, we planned to meet more often than we actually met.

Sunil had a wry sense of humour. He smiled a lot. And probably smoked more than he should have.

Sunil had a lot of fundas to share with me, having been an entrepreneur himself, before joining NASSCOM. After graduating from IIM A in 1988 and working briefly with Citibank, Sunil started a research company called INFAC. From 1989 to 2000, he ran this company, finally selling out to CRISIL.

We joked about the possibility of Rupert Murdoch buying out my company. "Then you too can join NASSCOM".

A little known facet of Sunil Mehta was his blog. It gives you a peek into his sharp and sensitive mind. No, I never got around to adding him to my blogroll...

At times like this, one is reminded of what is truly important in life. How little we know of what lies ahead. My deepest condolences to Sunil's family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Goodbye, Sunil. You will be deeply missed.

Prayer Meetings:

Mumbai: Monday, 18th December 2006 from 5.30 to 7.30 pm.
Venue: 701, Horizon Apts, 9th Rd, near kaifi Azmi Garden, JVPD Scheme, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai. Ph 26701744

Delhi: Wednesday, 20th December 2006 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Venue: NASSCOM, International Youth Centre, Teen Murti Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Phone: 91-11-23010199

Bangalore: Thursday, 21st December 2006
Time and venue to be confirmed. Check here.