Storyboard18 | Former Storyboard editor Anant Rangaswami passes away

Senior journalist Anant Rangaswami passed away on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (File photo)

Anant Rangaswami, senior journalist and advertising industry professional, passed away on Tuesday morning. Condolences started pouring in from industry executives who remember him as a straightforward, inquisitive and a deep-thinking individual who contributed immensely towards the media and advertising fraternity. Rangaswami was well-recognised in the media and advertising fraternity. In his over two-decade-long career, he held roles at multiple media organizations and also worked with an advertising agency. He was most recently serving as the editor of Melt, an advertising and marketing magazine and portal.

Advertising old-hand and chairman, RK SWAMY HANSA Group, Srinivasan K. Swamy, remembers Rangaswami as someone who would indulge in healthy and intellectual debates.

“Anant is believed to be an argumentative person holding his own views on a variety of things. But my experience with him is quite different. He is open to other views and logic, and while on some occasions we may agree to disagree, on many he moved closer to my point of view. It has always been a pleasure to engage in such intellectual debates with him, because you always come out richer after,” he shared.

Ramakrishna Desiraju, or Ramki, the founder of Cartwheel Creative Consultancy, told Storyboard18, “Anant didn't suffer fools, bad advertising, and paneer gladly. He thought deeply about things that mattered to him, and never hesitated to share his ideas the moment he had them, lest they get lost. Hey Ramki, I think there should be a book on the corporate heroes of the government and public sector... nobody knows their stories'. Or 'Listen, I have a thought. Why do people trust banks? Because they have buildings. So, why don't you do a campaign based on the physical branches of Kotak?' Or 'Why don't you read your stories aloud and put them out in audio format?'"

Ramki says that he will miss his fake stats, paneer rants, and Totos updates on Twitter. “We met rarely. But his ideas, ramblings, nostalgia, counsel, fulminations, and epiphanies were just one sudden phone call away. He'd just say his piece, and end with 'think about it... bye.' Bye, Anant,” he shared.

Swapan Seth, founder, Ackerman, quotes Pablo Neruda while remembering Rangaswami. “We must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence. All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence, in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance and sing our sorrowful song -- but in this dance or in this song there are fulfilled the most ancient rites of our conscience in the awareness of being human and of believing in a common destiny.”

"Passing through life and passing on in life are the duties we must perform for destiny. Anant, passed through and on with his characteristic calm. When much of his body left him, what apparently did not leave him was his smile, I am told. I missed his call a few weeks ago when I was up in the hills. Last week, I got several calls from his number. Each time, I picked up the call, there was silence on the other end. We did not speak. But all that Anant did and stood for, always spoke to me. Rumi once said, “Somewhere beyond right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there.” And I will , Anant. Safe travels," he said.

Senior ad executives and industry professionals also took to the micro-blogging platform to pay their respects.

“Heartbreaking to hear of the passing of Anant Rangaswami. A wonderful person, adman (TBWA) journalist (former editor of Campaign India & CNBC TV18’s Storyboard) and a man who always stood up for the causes he believed in. May he rest in eternal peace,” wrote Lloyd Mathias, angel investor and business strategist,”

Heartbreaking to hear of the passing of @AnantRangaswami. A wonderful person, adman (TBWA) journalist (former editor of Campaign India & CNBC TV18’s Storyboard) and a man who always stood up for the causes he believed in. May he rest in eternal peace. pic.twitter.com/DdJeNrDHQR

— Lloyd Mathias (@LloydMathias) May 24, 2022

“Very sad news to start the day. Rest in peace Anant Rangaswami. Straight-talking. Never exaggerating. Always ready to help. What can I say? The person up there needs you more. Travel well my dear friend,” said senior ad man and founder of Shift Axis, Dhunji Wadia.

Very sad news to start the day. Rest in peace @AnantRangaswami . Straight-talking. Never exaggerating. Always ready to help. What can I say? The person up there needs you more. Travel well my dear friend. — Dhunji S. Wadia (@dhunji) May 24, 2022

The young talent of the ad fraternity also shared their memories of Rangaswami and how generous he was when it came to mentoring and guidance.

Gautam Reghunath, co-founder and CEO, Talented and former CEO of Webchutney, remembers Rangaswami as one of a kind and Indian advertising’s voice - a timeless bridge between how it was done in our line our work and where it’s heading.

"He called a spade a spade and a bad ad a bad ad. And boy, did we have plenty of bad ads. It was so tough to impress him and I loved him for it. But at the same time, Anant was also such a generous human being. Generous with his time, his wisdom, his counsel, his influence and unselectively generous with everyone. He lifted us plenty and also made sure he brought us back to the ground in equal measure right after. I'll miss his early morning calls with his random brain waves or how he liked to phrase them, “I have a provocation for you”. 7 am is no time for provocations, Anant! But how I’m going to miss them and you so very much, dear friend!," he noted.

Karthik Nagarajan, chief content officer, Wavemaker India, remembers Rangaswami as 'The provocateur'. Rangaswami, says Nagarajan, had very little time for small talk. By the time you were mid-sentence to his ‘how are you doing?’, he would have already moved on to the crux of why he called. "Anant’s was a world where there was too little time for the never-ending stream of amazing ideas and thoughts in his head. And he shared them with the circle of friends that he trusted intellectually. Every conversation with him was a provocation - an intellectual, creative, humane provocation. But behind that provocation was a beautiful mind that loved and cared about you and the world he inhabited alongside you. Which is why it was always a phone call - never a message or an email. He cared about advertising and what it stood for culturally in society. Which is why, in a sea of reporting, he was the lone opinion maker. In a way, he was the family doctor of our industry and without him around to tell us, we will struggle to understand what ails us and why we are who we are. We now have to piece together the larger pictures he had, by remembering the conversations - the phone calls, the WPP Stream breakfasts, the meetings at Toto’s…and do it all with moist eyes and without the scent of his smoke and his vibrant, hopeful smile for company."

Rangaswami led many advertising related media outlets. He was the editor of the advertising, media and marketing show Storyboard on CNBC-TV18. Previously, he was founding editor of Campaign India and senior editor at Firstpost.com. He has also worked with companies including STAR TV, Sony’s SET and BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He also served as vice president at TBWA India. Rangaswami also authored two books: Watching from the Sidelines and The Elephants in the Room: The Future of Advertising in India.