The year 2011 has not been a happy year - in early January (Jan 3, to be precise) we lost our friend Atul Maheshwari, the soft-spoken giant, media owner and man behind Amar Ujala. In October, Gurushankar of Jagran passed away and the morning of November 4 last week had a gloomy start to the day as the news of Amitava Guha’s demise spread. Goldie-da, as Guha was fondly called, lost the battle with cancer, which he had been fighting for almost two years. He will be remembered as a man with a benevolent, golden and kind heart.
Goldie-da was someone who understood media, communication, advertising and brands extremely well. He belonged to the original generation of media marketers who knew editorial products and the editorial DNA of media and respected the content and editorial. He was always full of life, and had immense zest for food, travel and music.
Goldie-da’s genuine, varied and deep interest in people and various facets of life made him who he was. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Goldie-da had no enemies. He was loved and adored by all he came in contact with; his affable nature and charm always made you feel good whenever you interacted with him. Goldie-da’s network of friends in the industry always got him news insights, information and genuine developments ahead of everyone. And having worked on the editorial side, brand side and sales side, Goldie-da too knew the media business well and probably better than everyone. I remember how I would sit with him to get gyan on our industry.
When we started exchange4media, Goldieda was always there, sharing a new theory or an innovative idea that he was excited about. He would definitely be amongst the 10 special people I have met in the last 11 years of e4m, who introduced me to new concepts, ideas, and people and acted as a sounding board for what we were doing. I will always remember how he would say “Chal Saale” and Sushmaji, his secretary. His goodness and knowledge would extend to his editorial colleagues, who would implement his ideas.
Goldie-da was a trainer par excellence and over the last 18 months, had started discussing how to do more and more of training to educate, train and prepare the new generation of ad and marketing professionals.
Goldie-da was working as AVP – Media Marketing, International Business at HT Media Group at the time of his demise. He had a long stint in the media industry. On his LinkedIn page, he listed his strengths as “identifying consumer trends and creating profitable print products, re-engineering current products and training of media professionals. Interested in consultancy projects especially with new entrants or existing players seeking to increase market penetration.”
Earlier, Goldie-da, an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, New Delhi, had joined The Times of India as Marketing Services Manager in September, 1986. It was the time when publishing businesses were undergoing a transformation. Goldie-da created a comprehensive database for ad sales as well as developed strong strategies. In subsequent roles as an Ad Manager, he repositioned a vernacular daily -- Navbharat Times -- to compete with English dailies. Also, as Brand Manager of The Economic Times, he contributed to the creation of relevant sub-brands. He joined HT Media Ltd. in April 2007 as Assistant Vice-President-Media Marketing and was driving the newspaper to growth until his demise.
All through his work tenure, Goldie-da was undoubtedly one of the most well known and respected ad sales professionals in the print industry. There is hardly an advertiser or agency person who does not know him or has not dealt with him in some form or the other.
He was great in concept selling and even better at putting himself in the clients’ shoes and offering solutions. Very few professionals in the media business can cut across different sectors of the market and deliver outstanding sales results like him.
The entire media and advertising industry has lost a mentor, friend and a thinker. There has been an outpouring of grief by his friends and colleagues in the media and advertising industry. Joy Chakraborthy wrote on Facebook:
“He was a very nice and positive person… may his soul RIP.” Bhuvanesh Khanna wrote: “Good friend, had beaten cancer in mid-2000... pity, such a pity... RIP buddy, good old colleague.” Raj K Pathak wrote: “Sad news indeed. May his soul rest in peace.” Ranjan Bakshi wrote: “Sad when a contemporary leaves for his heavenly abode. May his soul RIP and may God give his immediate family the strength to deal with the loss.”
Goldie-da was not only a marketing inspiration; his social activities always made people look up to him. He played table tennis and actively participated in teaching the English language to underprivileged students from rural areas. He even organised rock concerts for them. May God give his wife and daughter strength to bear the loss.
