He was an inspiring, effective and high performing leader. In his people he saw not resources, but people with minds, hearts and aspirations whose quality of life he tried to enrich. Like most Zoroastrians he was a humanitarian, but like the Tata family a great one. Parsees also possess a great sense of humour and Russi Modi too relished a good prank. It mattered little if the joke was at someone else's expense or his own.
One day in the early 1980s he had his secretary go through the Kolkata telephone directory and invite as many of the Mr. P.K. Chakraborthys as was possible to attend a lavish dinner party to be hosted by Mr. Modi.
Chakraborthy is a very common Bengali name and PK is also the most common initials. Each of the P.K. Chakraborthy's invited felt it a great honour to be the personal guest of the charismatic, powerful and immensely wealthy Mr. Rusi Modi.
It was a hilarious and confusing affair as people kept introducing themselves and heard the echo, "Hello, I am P.K. Chakraborthy". It had to be because all the 530 guests were named Mr. P.K. Chakraborthy
One of the signs of a strong and genuine personality is their sense of humour. They are confident with themselves and others and therefore usually full of fun and positive energy, which simply bubbles out of them. Mr. Russi Modi was one such great personality.
Today is the anniversary of his passing on from this world, but people like Mr. Russi Modi can never be forgotten.
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