‘A professional with a strong human side’

Ironically, I first got to know Ravi when he had set up OTCEI and we were setting up NSE. Then, our engagement was not the happiest because OTCEI was having difficulty in early days and we were their ‘competitors’.

Ironically, I first got to know Ravi when he had set up OTCEI and we were setting up NSE. Then, our engagement was not the happiest because OTCEI was having difficulty in early days and we were their ‘competitors’. But that time not only created our collegial relationship but friendship and deep respect for one another as professionals.

HT Image

It is only later that I realised that how much ahead of his times he was to have established OTCEI then, as it was an initiative and an experiment. It was because of this perhaps that it failed.

What I recall most of his personality is that he had a very strong sense of right and wrong and a very clear line that he was always able to draw over what could be done and what could not be done.

He was a very sharp professional and he had a clear sense of connect between macro and micro — and there are very few who can do that.

The other facet that comes to my mind is that have was a very people-oriented person. He would often push me to work on my social skills. He said that you have to invest on the social side of life. That did not come naturally to me but he would always push me.

In Ravi, I will miss both the personal and the professional. I think he had enormous contribution to make over the next 10 years and both the financial sector and I will miss him terribly.

(The author is managing director and CEO, National Stock Exchange)