It’s been a week since Piyush Pandey’s passing, yet for many in the world of advertising, it still feels unreal. His words continue to inspire, his laughter still echoes in countless memories, and that unmistakable moustache remains vivid in everyone’s mind.
Ogilvy India hosted a heartfelt gathering to celebrate the man who shaped the very soul of Indian advertising, Piyush Pandey, a legend who truly needs no introduction.
Among those who spoke was Bharat Puri, CEO of Pidilite Industries, whose association with Piyush spanned nearly four decades. His tribute wasn’t just a eulogy; it was a deeply personal recollection of a friend, collaborator, and creative partner whose spirit defined the very idea of authenticity in advertising.
“It’s still sinking in,” Puri began, his voice heavy with emotion. “These lifelike photographs bring back so many memories. Piyush worked unbroken for 38 years across every brand at Pidilite. I just think it’s wonderful. He once wrote me a lovely poem that said, Where you go, I come there. We were connected in some cosmic way.”
Puri distilled his memories of Piyush into three words: authentic, connected, and partner.
“The Piyush I met as Hindi Copy Chief in 1986, and the Piyush I met a few months ago, were the same,” he said. “He had won every creative accolade possible, but remained the same person. Comfortable in who he was.”
He recounted a moment during the London Olympics that perfectly captured that simplicity. Amid an elegant luncheon hosted by Cadbury, complete with white-gloved servers and multi-course meals, Piyush had leaned over and whispered:
“Let’s go fast.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“We’ll eat dal-bhindi somewhere. I don’t know what these people are feeding us.”
“That,” Puri said with a smile, “was Piyush authentic to the core.”
The second word, connectedness, reflected how deeply Piyush touched people’s lives.
“I’ve received condolence messages from people who barely interacted with him, but each said they felt like Piyush was their good friend. That was his magic; it didn’t matter if it was my driver or the Company’s Chairman, Piyush was the same warm, generous, giving person.”
And then there was partner, perhaps the word most synonymous with Piyush’s way of working.
“In the days of landlines, if my phone rang at 7 a.m., my wife would say, Piyush ka call hai. Once he called at 7 and said, ‘Partner, listen to this idea.’ Within a weekend, that ‘Mera Wala Blue’ ad was shot and ready. That was his passion.”
Puri also recalled how Piyush stood by him during one of Cadbury’s toughest times, the famous worms crisis.
“Every day, the media had something new. And every second day, Piyush would call Partner, What happened now? He even convinced Mr. Bachchan to be the brand ambassador, telling him, You won’t just model, you’ll stand for the brand.”
In Puri’s words, the Pandey brothers were Pidilite’s best product managers, “because by the time they approved something, it was already world-class,” he mentioned
He ended with quiet poignancy: “The best tribute to him is to celebrate him. He had a large family beyond his real one. You couldn’t spend ten minutes with Piyush without him mentioning his loved ones. Friend, somewhere up there, you’re telling ideas to people. Down here, we’re missing you.”
