Ricoh India’s national business manager, GVSR Raju died of a massive heart attack at about 8 a.m. in the morning on 2 July 2016 in Bengaluru. The news comes as a complete shock for the Indian printing industry as Raju was extremely active and still in his forties. Raju leaves behind his wife and a young son.
Sambit Mishra, chief operating officer – production printing at Ricoh India, while speaking to Indian Printer & Publisher said, “Raju was not only a colleague but a very good friend for the last 16 years since we both worked in Xerox. It is a tremendous loss for the print industry. May his soul rest in peace and may God give his family the strength to recover from their great loss.”
In a career spanning over two decades, Raju worked for Thomson Press, Xerox, Infoprint and HP India before joining Ricoh in May 2016 just before drupa 2016. We met Raju at the Ricoh stand at drupa where he shared his usual objectivity and optimism about the Indian print industry. Raju was hopeful about the growth prospects of the industry and waslooking forward to a successful financial year with solid results for Ricoh India. Rest in peace GVSR Raju.
Naresh Khanna adds – There has been a huge outpouring of shock and grief over Raju’s premature death just after drupa. There are a few people in the industry that I can honestly call friends and Raju, as unassuming as ever, humble and optimistic as ever, was one of them. Although we met infrequently, there was an instant rapport and Isuspect from what I have been reading in the last few days, that this was not just with me but with many in the print industry.
My last conversation with him in person was while sitting in an airport for a delayed flight. He was always more honest about technology than most salesman and with me he shared some of his unusual business ideas and career choices. My heart goes out to his young family and if needed, it is important for the industry to take some real interest in their future.
