Everone loves Suman

When I first came to my current company, it was Suman Horo who was sitting behind me, or should I say, I got to sit behind Suman, sharing a largish open cubicle. One of the jobs thrusted upon me was third party alliances. I had no clue what that meant. It involved dealing with the mutual funds and negotiating with them on behalf of the company. To put it mildly I was – well – lost. I know nothing beyond the basics of mutual funds, nothing about brokerage and nothing about whom to interact with. Suman on the other hand was an expert. He knew the entire industry. I was commercial and he was the fundamental part of dealing with the funds. He would research the funds and I would get the best brokerage. When I first met him I could sense no political bone. A straight sweet guy with no airs and no arrogance. Mutual fund dealings from a distributor side can get heady. You have the senior guys and who’s who talking to you, trying to get on your side, hoping to do something that will influence you to recommend their fund. This has of course resulted in a lot of inflated egos from our ilk. Suman was an exception. With me as a willing student, he got me introduced to a lot of people. He got my name on their lists. The spams of course, but also to the Diwali and Christmas lists of the funds. He saw no territorial issues. We both could get along pretty well. We had a common boss. We even fought on the same side with him. Ganging up for something we believed in. he believed in me, I believed in him. It helped the firm. We worked as a team, in tandem.
It’s rare to get such stuff from office colleagues. When I first came in and was arranging my table. He generally looked behind and asked me – do you play cricket? A ha – what a question to ask, do I play cricket, do birds fly, do fish swim. At that time it self, I pulled out a trophy of mine (some cricket tournament) and showed it him. Great he got me into a team he was helping form for the internal tournament. Suddenly I emerged captain that tournament and he my most reliable player. We played many matches afterwards. Every time I need a sane head to bat or bowl I turned to him. It wasn’t that he was exceptionally talented, but he had a quiet grit. The ability to back himself within his limitations. He would bat and bowl with a clear head and a strong heart. We really got along well.
When he finally resigned from our company, I really felt bad. He was a good resource. It was not for him to handle his bosses. He played it like he saw it. He was simple and wasn’t the one to be given to any outbursts. He did what he could do best, use his feet.
We kept touch though we were in rival companies. Whenever I need to understand something I would call him and vice versa. He was my listening board for my frustration and ideas. The only guy among bankers who could appreciate creativity. We used get together for chai often, wenting our ire. It was therapy for sure.
In many ways he was my elder and it was a pleasure to know him, to work with him. I learnt quite a bit from him. In many forums where the mutual funds used to gather us we met. I always wanted to be with him. He translated the stuff for me from financial stuff to common sense. And when I used to get bored from it all and say ‘kya fart hai’ he would humbly smile and agree. This one photo I clicked of him at the Bandra Worli sea link which we had gone visiting. That’s his normal smile.
And this one is the one he has clicked of me standing on the new Bangalore airport runway. The two photos together tell the whole story. I was always cynical and wanted to laugh at everything. Everything was fart and one big picnic. He would always smile and understand. Very amiable. He would let you lead anything. He was confident about his role, his knowledge and his work.
Doing all this and still getting respect and love together from a cut throat and selfish industry is no mean achievement. Everyone loves Suman. They would regularly praise him. Great guy. I love him and I learn from him. I even shared my Chakrams with him which he took home for his daughter Noella. Very cute kid. Looks like him too.

One often is over effusive when one feels the loss, but Suman was one great guy who deserves everything I said so far and much more. I felt the wind go out of my lungs when on Saturday I learnt that he passed away due to cardiac arrest. He was around 36 years old. The industry was shocked and they all felt the loss… though…

…I cry alone.