The news of Narayan Shankar’s demise on the morning of April 24, 2026, in London left his contemporaries numb. His absence from the recent Reunions of the IIMA PGP batch of 1968 had conveyed that he was not in the pink of health. Yet it was difficult to accept that the inevitable had happened.
Shankar was born some 80 years ago into a family with journalistic connections. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, he entered the portals of IIMA in July 1966 as one of 83 students of the third batch of the Post Graduate Programme.
His professional career started with the Godrej Group. His next stint was with Hindustan Lever. In both organisations, he worked closely with a senior manager. That gave him a peep into strategic thinking, which his peers were exposed to much later in life. Shankar’s grasp of economics and current affairs and command of the English language were tapped by heads of both organisations in the course of their involvement in trade and industry associations. Yet another opportunity early in life.
To explore greener pastures, he moved on to overseas assignments. He had a long and illustrious career with the Comcraft Group. He held many positions in the Group that took him across the globe. He had a long tenure in Russia, along with a stint in Nigeria. He made a mark for himself in the Materials Function, as it was then known, and rose to head a global organisation handling purchases for their Companies located across the world. He ended his professional career with the Comcraft Group and settled down in London.
As we recall our association with Shankar, one factor stands out – his INDOMITABLE will. It was this quality that helped him overcome a handicap that he faced. His stammering – an impediment at the point of delivery would mask the magnificent thought process that preceded it. Right up to the first year at IIMA, he managed to come out with flying colours despite this disadvantage. Between the first and second years, he underwent therapy that helped him completely overcome the failing. His success in later years, in India and overseas, was in no small measure due to the delivery matching the mastery of the topic at hand. In the recent past, there was no trace of it at all.
It was also this spirit that prompted him to face life with a very positive outlook despite his physical disabilities. He was keen on catching up with his batchmates and was the driving force behind our batch’s Goa Reunion in 2015. Eager to be a part of subsequent gatherings, he carried out an endurance test – a flight to Dubai to assess if he could withstand the strain of a long flight from London to India. The results, regrettably, were not encouraging.
One of his little-known passions was music and, in particular, classical Carnatic music. He had a collection of the renderings of musicians of old, dating back to the nineteen forties and fifties. He had, in fact, shared a few of these with the Batch WhatsApp and email groups.
We offer our condolences to his wife, Radhi, and their son and daughter. The IIMA PGP batch of 1968, in particular, and the entire IIMA alumni community will miss one of their BRIGHT stars.
