Mangaluru: Ananth Ganapathi Pai, Executive Director of Bharath Beedi Works Private Limited, Mangaluru died due to a massive cardiac arrest late on Saturday night in Indore. The 46-year-old was instrumental in donating 10 ECG machines to the Karkala region last October as part of the company’s CSR activity.
It is learnt that Pai was in Indore to attend a business conference and passed away in his hotel room at night.
He is survived by his wife Suma Ananth Pai, daughter Anvitha, younger brother Anand G Pai and two sisters, Roopa V Nayak and Rekha D Kini.
His body will be brought to Mangaluru by flight on Monday, July 15 morning. The body will be kept for public viewing and paying of last respects at 12 noon later that day, at the Bharath Beedi Works head office in Kadri.
Bharath Beedi Works, founded by his grandfather Manjunath Pai, has diversified into various fields. The Bharath group of companies include Bharath Beedi Works Pvt Ltd, Bharath Exports, Bharath Builders, Bharath Printers & Alaknanda Printers, Bharath Auto Cars, Bharath Mall, and Book Mark. The Bharath group also runs two educational institutions and a cultural centre in Karkala.
Biography:
Ananth Ganapathi Pai was born on April 6, 1973 as the eldest son of former chairman and managing director B. Ganapathi Pai and Geetha Pai. He did his primary education at Chinmaya Primary School, secondary schooling at Canara High School Main, pre-university studies at St. Aloysius College, Mangaluru. Subsequently, he pursued BBM at SDM College of Business Management, Mangaluru and acquired an MBA degree from the Mangalore University specializing in International Marketing. He had also undergone a certificate programme in Entrepreneurship at Said Business School, Oxford University, UK.
He started his career in Bharath Group of Companies in 1994. He was presently serving as the Executive Director heading marketing and finance departments of Bharath Group which comprises various group companies like Bharath Beedi Works Pvt. Ltd., Bharath Auto Cars Pvt. Ltd. (Dealers for Maruti Suzuki cars), Alakananda Printers Pvt. Ltd. (Bharath Bookmark chain of bookshops), Bharath Printers and Karkala Investments Pvt. Ltd. He was the Director of Bharath Builders and Cineplex Pvt. Ltd (Bharath Big Cinemas multiplex).
He was an exceptionally gifted financial expert and took a keen interest in the stock market. He guided the growth of the group companies with vision and foresight. He was in charge of Strategic Planning and Diversification of the Group, and also handled the investment portfolio. Bharath Builders was his brainchild and he has the credit of pioneering the first modern shopping mall of Mangaluru, namely Bharath Mall at Bejai. It was also one of the first malls to be established in entire South India in 2006.
Ananth Pai was much loved for his soft-spoken and gentle personality. He was a good communicator and orator. He had most recently delivered a prestigious presentation during the Oxford Business and Poverty Conference organized by the University of Oxford at the Sheldonian Theatre on May 29, 2019. He spoke on how prosperity paradox can be used in India as a model to create good jobs for poor rural women.
Social Responsibility and Leadership:
Ananth Pai had inherited a generous and philanthropic streak and involved himself in charitable, social and cultural spheres. He was a trustee of B. Manjunath Pai Cultural Foundation and Manjunath Damodar Pai Charitable Trust. He was also the Vice President of Sri Bhuvanendra College Trust, Karkala and served as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the college. He was Vice President of Chinmaya High School, Mangaluru. He played an active role in the organising committee during the Jeernodhara (renovation) of Sri Venkatramana Temple, Karkala. He had served as the Honorary Secretary of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mangaluru.
Special Interests:
During his school days, Ananth Pai was a passionate Boy Scout and was a recipient of prestigious President’s Scout Award for 1989-90from His Excellency Shri R. Venkataraman, President of India. He was good at debating and quiz too. He was an active NSS volunteer in his college days and was elected President of Student Union of SDM College of Management.
Ananth Pai was a passionate hobby radio enthusiast. He was a licenced HAM Radio operator (with call sign VU2PAI) and had earlier served as the President of Mangalore Amateur Radio Club and Member of Governing Council of the Amateur Radio Society of India. He diligently took part in all national and international HAM Radio events and had links with other HAM enthusiasts across the world. He had won the CQ Worldwide Ham Radio Contest for many years during the last 10 years.
He was a Group Study Exchange (GSE) Scholar and through Rotary International had gone as a Goodwill Ambassador to Connecticut and Massachusetts in the United States of America.
He was an avid collector and boasted of one of the largest collection of stamps, coins and currency notes in this region. His other hobbies include Indian and Western music, auto rallying, trekking and travel. He had attended workshops in disaster management, equity analysis and research.
