Veteran cricketer Arun Lal fondly remembered his “dearest good friend” Piyush Pandey, the legendary promoting govt who handed away on Friday on the age of 70.
Chatting with ABP Information, Lal recalled the deep bond they shared since their faculty days, describing Pandey as “like a brother.”
“He and I had been inseparable… like brothers, households, associates. We lived collectively, shared rooms, took the identical job in the identical firm, and performed cricket collectively. I relied on him loads; he was one of many dearest associates I ever had,” Lal mentioned with emotion.
‘A Proficient Cricketer Who Selected a Totally different Pitch’
Earlier than changing into an icon within the promoting world, Pandey was a proficient cricketer who represented Rajasthan within the Ranji Trophy. Lal recalled their days at St. Stephen’s Faculty, the place Pandey performed a pivotal function in serving to the workforce win 5 consecutive inter-college championships.
“The ultimate match was at all times between St. Stephen’s and Hindu Faculty. Hindu had gamers who went on to play Ranji cricket, however we beat them 5 years in a row, and Piyush was instrumental in each victory. He was our wicketkeeper-batsman and scored runs in each remaining,” Lal reminisced.
Nonetheless, Lal mentioned Pandey’s profession took a unique course after he moved to Mumbai to pursue a profession in promoting.
“His life was somewhat unsure, so he moved to Bombay and joined promoting; that is when cricket took a backseat,” Lal added.
A Artistic Visionary Who Outlined Indian Promoting
Pandey went on to develop into one in every of India’s most celebrated advert males, credited with crafting among the nation’s most iconic campaigns for manufacturers like Fevicol, Cadbury, and Asian Paints.
He additionally performed a key function in shaping the communication technique for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 election marketing campaign.
In 2016, he was conferred with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, for his contribution to promoting and artistic communication.
Born in Jaipur, Pandey had been related to Ogilvy for many years and was serving in an advisory capability in recent times after stepping again from an energetic function. He lived together with his spouse in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park neighbourhood.
His final rites can be carried out on the Shivaji Park crematorium at 10:30 am on Saturday, confirmed his sister, actor Ila Arun.