RG
Rahul Gaitonde passed away unexpectedly on 12th October 2023. This has shattered all of us.
RG had empathy. Perhaps too much of it!
Recounting an old instance.. RG often gifted his friends books and bookmarks. I received this Neal Stephenson essay as a gift around the beginning of our friendship circa 2010. This essay spoke to me deeply. With exceptional empathy, RG had figured out the effect it might have on me.
Some books gifted to me by RG just this year
RG introduced me to David Foster Wallace through a book seemingly about tennis. This was a backdoor hack to get me to read this masterpiece
As our friendship thickened, soon our conversations felt like adventures. We exchanged ideas freely and explored unfamiliar terrain as we grew together. Tech, Sci Fi, Movies, Philosophy, Productivity, Physics, Pop culture were our frequent playgrounds.
His unique wit, play of words, gentle nudges, puns, irony, digressions, historical references and perspectives made these adventures unique, rich experiences.
We hit it off singing too. He knew his way around Bollywood songs and also sang in perfect "sur". Always fastidious abt. getting the lyrics right. Careful not to invoke Anand Bakshi, Gulzar or Shailender's collective wraths.
RG even cared about his Uber passenger ratings. A bundle of contradictions, he was mild, with impeccable manners, opinionated, non conformist, irreverent and contrarian all at the same time
RG wrote with the skills of a Pulitzer winning journalist. If necessary, he would sketch like a professional cartoonist to explain something he had in mind on his ipad. In fact watching him work his ipad was like witnessing some magic show. He was ambidextrous. He could write upside down as well. Anything to explain better or to add clarity, RG would readily elucidate with infectious enthusiasm. Some of the product specs he has written or ppts he has crafted are the best and the most detailed I've ever seen.
RG's oldest public writings go as far back as 2002. This was before gmail, facebook and twitter. When he was just age 20. Available here, you can catch a glimpse of RG's astonishing range, idealism and integrity.
Apart from these blogs, RG maintained copious personal journals. He thought deeply about productivity and self organization. He could conjure up personal references, anecdotes and pictures nonchalantly during conversations. He could retrieve information from his enormous digital archives or from his eidetic memory at will. Any of his daily coffee time rants or slants could easily give some of today's podcasters a run for their money.
Over time, I thought RG and I made a formidable pair. I've often fantasized the two of us as being tech's "Salim Javed". We would effortlessly grok each other having collaborated on various projects over almost 15 years. Oftentimes, we would arrive at similar conclusions independently. We would even semi-jokingly wish each other on Teacher's day!
With Satyen 1st from right, GG 1st from left and Team Cube. With Rekha, Natash, Atif and Satya
After killing zombies with Atif and me
The Mensch and the Renaissance man he was, the intricacies of Web 3 was right up RG's multi-disciplinary alley. We were so excited about founding FNDX. We were on to something very elegant and were convinced we were just a blockbuster away.
Alas that blockbuster may never come to be
Interacting with his grieving family and friends, reading poignant notes in various groups, it's clear that I am not the only one feeling this way. RG will live on, inside us, through our adventures.
Like the String Theory book gift, RG using his empathy, has hacked all of us by engineering a backdoor portal to immortality!