For two years in a row, the month of September has turned out to be a black month for me. In a span of last two years, I lost two good friends. In September 2023, I lost Deepangshu Dev Sarmah. He was the Founding Editor of Mobility Outlook, a B2B auto news portal. He was in his forties.
On September 13, 2024, I got the horrifying news from my erstwhile colleague Avishek Banerjee that Sushant Balsekar is no more. Sushant and I had worked together at Autocar India magazine, he in the Mumbai office and I, in the Delhi office. He was only 46. At the time of his passing away, he was Head, Corporate Communications with Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV).
Sushant spent most of his professional years as a PR professional. He had a short stint in auto journalism, after which he joined various PR agencies of repute before joining an auto company as its PR Head. He had over two decades of experience as a journalist, PR consultant, Corporate Communication expert and an expert in the field of brand and marketing communications.
He worked in the Corporate Communication departments of Nissan, Datsun, Ford India, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (later Stellantis) and DICV. I think it was his captivating smile and the twinkle in his eyes that attracted him to me. He was not a complicated guy at all. Very affable, Sushant loved his drinks and his smoke. We met occasionally. When he was working as a Dedicated Communications Consultant to General Motors India, he had invited me to lecture the senior management of GM India. I did not charge him a dime, the only favour I asked him was to have me picked up from home and dropped back after visiting the GM India office in Gurugram (then Gurgaon).
A few years later, he repaid me for this kind gesture when he was heading the Corporate Communications at Jeep India. For my anniversary issue of Motown India magazine, he ensured that I got a good advertisement spread from the company. Those were tough days for me and I can never forget Sushant’s support. The following year, he could not support me again for the anniversary edition of Motown India because funds had dried up and his budget had been drastically slashed by the company. He was ever so apologetic. But I knew very well that my friend had tried his best to procure an advertisement for my magazine.
In the meantime, I had pressed the pause button on my professional career, having spent more than 12 years as Founding Editor of Motown India print magazine. I needed to stay out of automotive journalism to keep my sanity intact. I lost touch with Sushant but I knew he was doing well at DICV. The news of his demise came as a big shock to me. Like Deepangshu, Sushant too was young. Both of them liked each other a lot. I shall miss both of them. Both were gentle, both were very cordial in their approach. It’s been more than a month since Sushant has passed away.
I know I am a month late in writing Sushant’s obituary. I can attribute this delay to the chores that confront me every day of my life. But Sushant, you have always been there in my heart. A few days back, industrialist Ratan Tata passed away. I guess the heavens are now full of gems, some old, some young. While the world can vouch for Mr Tata, I can vouch for my two friends. They were indeed gems in every sense!