Gone too soon... RIP Anup Upadhyaya

I woke up this Saturday morning to the insistent buzz of messages on my phone. I got up and saw numerous text and WhatsApp messages - Anup had passed away earlier that day.

I can still see him - his compact frame, high forehead and swept back hair, an irrepessible smile and leonine grace. Anup had preceded me by seven years at Infosys and in the early 2000's, I only knew him by his reputation. A Delivery leader who had proved himself as a giant killer on multiple deals. He'd been everywhere - California, Chicago, Amsterdam and run some of our largest and most significant relationships before returning to a senior delivery management role in India.

We got to working closely together in 2012 when he joined the Financial Services practise as our Delivery Head. Two specific incidents stand out for me. The first was a road trip that we did together in late 2013. I had just taken responsibility for our FS business and Anup suggested that we visit our India Development centers to give the teams a perspective on our priorities and get their feedback. We travelled together to Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Chandigarh over a crazy week. You could see how the team adored him. You would marvel at how articulate he was at detailing the finer nuances of our business plan. And after hours, he was so much fun as he regaled us with his anecdotes and his mimicry. These were not new stories - I'd heard them dozens of times. Each story, polished like a fine gem but I would laugh, almost on cue. You could not help yourself as you saw his body shaking with laugher and his eyes sparkling with amusement.

The second memory is from the time, Anup was heading our BPM business and a pursuit had gone awry and a deal was lost. I remember Anup walking up to the Executive floor with a calm smile on his lips - he would not push the blame down to his team. He would not throw a junior colleague under the bus - he took responsibility as the business head and was respected for it. This sense of responsibility and ownership is what made him such a great leader.

At the end, ambition, achievement and all the trappings of a corporate life fall away. Only the way, you have conducted yourself and the kindness that you have shown survive. This is why Anup's memory will live on in the hundreds of people he mentored, trained and worked with.