Of piyush and his humility, not Piyush the genius

This Friday, as you get this issue, Piyush Pandey will receive the Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Advertising Agencies Association of India.

I've spent the last fortnight talking to at least 50 people who have worked closely with Piyush.

Some are with O&M, many are not.

They've been amazing conversations.

Some of the conversation features in the supplement that we have created on the occasion-which all Campaign India readers will receive with the next issue.

If I look for a common thread in all the conversation I've had, one word jumps out:humility.

I was struck by the number of people-especially those who have worked with Piyush in the past, But no longer work with him-who spend considerable time illustrating Piyush's humility.

Each has an example of how Piyush ensures that all those who work on campaign are given due credit, and of how Piyush shrugs off his own involvement. 

I, too, have many such examples that I could tell you about.

One of them stands out.

I visited Piyush at his office at Kamla Mills a few weeks before the first New Delhi Hutch half marathon. After Piyush and I finished a coffee and a cigarette (you were legally allowed to smoke in offices those days), he took me to the conference room for a sneak preview of the TVC O&M had created.

The TVC, as all of us know, was outstanding and simple, and I congratulated Piyush.

Immediately, he shurgged off my congratulations, telling me that film, and proceeded,