Print industry bids adieu to Bhikhubhai B Gandhi aka Bapu
Bhikhubhai Bhaskar Gandhi, alias Bapu Gandhi as the industry knows him, passed away due to a cardiac arrest on 27 May 2021. He is survived by his wife Bharati. He is mourned by his daughter Dimple and son Ankit (both married) and their families.
01 Jun 2021 | 1844 Views | By PrintWeek Team
Gandhi hailed from Billimora, a small town in South Gujarat. He completed his schooling in June 1973 and went to Mumbai to do a three year diploma in offset printing from the Government Institute of Printing Technology. He successfully completed the course – the best available then in India – and immediately was recruited for a supervisor role in Unique Photo Offset Services, a processing unit in Mumbai.
His methodical and perfectionist approach coupled with his "never say no" attitude made him "Mr Dependable" for his clients. He was a one-point-contact at Unique for printers and ad agency professionals. He had the skill to get the work done from his staff by motivating and guiding them. His dedication and attitude of managing a highly volatile and dynamic business, where demand and supply were always a challenge, made him the best in the industry.
After exiting Unique, he shifted to another pre-press unit in Mumbai – Comart Lithographers. In a short span, he became the backbone of Comart operations. He worked shoulder to shoulder with the Poonawala family and was mainly responsible for the growth of Comart during his tenure.
From there, Gandhi started taking up new challenges. He joined Printania to set up a processing unit and was successful in that project. His technical knowledge, cool way of working under pressure and his command over figure work was instrumental in establishing the unit.
After streamlining the department in a few years, he decided to change his role. Because of his foresight and study about the industry he took over marketing of Printania and was greatly successful in establishing Printania's presence in many pharma and FMCG clients. He helped them all at any time of the day. Everyone was eager to hear the positive answer "Yes, don't worry" from him. He treated everyone like his family and even discussed their problems as his personal and tried solving them.
The Mumbai printing industry mourns Gandhi’s death.
Fred Poonawala, chairman, Comart
Sad to hear the demise of my friend Gandhi, Bapu as we fondly called him.
I have known him for years. We have worked shoulder to shoulder at Comart and he was largely responsible for the success of our company. His never-say-no, his negotiation skills, his demeanour and positive attitude combined with hard work made him what he was.
His dedication and attitude of managing a very highly volatile and dynamic business where demand and supply were always a challenge made him the best in the industry. I have rarely seen or never remember seeing him lose control of a situation.
He was a proud father of two exceptional children and was a dedicated husband. Bichoo was a people’s person with a fantastic memory and all his friends loved him forever.
I shall never forget the man. I shall never forget what he did for me. I believe he was one of the greats in our industry. We will all miss him.
May his soul rest in peace.