Remembering Raghavan: Lessons in life, diplomacy

Obituaries and tributes focus on what ‘we learn through the lives of others.

- Vikram Doraiswami

A consummate professional, he let his work speak for him, and it always spoke volumes.

(MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS)

They are, in short, our means of making sense of loss, and celebrating those whose journeys touch our own.

This tribute to ambassador PS Raghavan is, in part, the usual celebration of the life and work of a fine man, a truly legendary diplomat, and his many unsung contributions to India. But it is also a tribute not only to the enormous amount I learned about both work and life from him, but also — sadly, from his personal example — his deeply painful final days. In short, from the way he prepared calmly, rationally for his untimely end, Raghavan saheb also taught me how to face death. And so, I am truly beholden to him for literally a lifetime's lessons.

First, to his life. It would be an arrogance to suggest just how outstanding my erstwhile senior colleague was as a diplomat, strategic analyst, and an incisive observer of the world. But it bears repeating that his analysis was always accurate because it was based on unemotional logic, and therefore, it was always precise and clinical. And it was excellent because it was grounded in meticulous and thorough research. Most of all, it was brilliant because it was always scrupulously honest, as he himself was, intellectually and otherwise. And that made him doubly rare.