Vikram Kirloskar, Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd and one of the stalwarts of India's automotive industry passed away on Tuesday at the age of 64. According to media reports, he was rushed to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru after collapsing due to a heart attack.
Toyota Motors India confirmed his death in a statement. “We are extremely saddened to inform the untimely demise of Mr Vikram S. Kirloskar, Vice Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor on 29th November 2022. At this time of grief, we request everyone to pray that his soul rests in peace. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Last respect can be paid at Hebbal Crematorium, Bengaluru, on 30th November 2022 at 1 pm,” the company posted on Twitter.
Vikram Kirloskar was a fourth-generation member of the Kirloskar Group which started in 1888. The group manufactures pumps, engines and compressors, among others.
The businessman is survived by his wife Geetanjali and daughter Manasi.
A month after his death, Geetanjali wrote a moving eulogy for her husband that was shared by a Twitter user. Titled 'Celebrating Loss', the beautiful note expressed how the initial days after Vikram’s death were filled with “grief" for her and their family. “Every simple routine activity brought back memories. I decided a week afterwards that I will resume work and take charge of life. But it’s the hardest thing to do."
“I have stopped mourning for my husband. I don’t want to remember him with grief and negativity. Else, he will frown from the heavens above. Yes, there is deep pain, but this is one loss that can be soothed with celebration," read her eulogy at the end.
Who is Geetanjali Kirloskar?
Vikram and Geetanjali started dating when she was 18 and he was 24. “A mutual friend had thrown a party. He had invited both of us…Vikram was from MIT; sober, intelligent and six years older. I was impressed by his charming style,” Geetanjali told Hello Magazine in an interview while reminiscing about their first meeting.
The couple got married after months of dating. Despite different temperaments, they had what they described as a rock-solid marriage. “We enjoy travelling, eating out and drinking wine together,” Vikram told in the same interview.
The couple has a daughter, Manasi. She’s an Executive Director with Kirloskar Systems and recently joined the board of Toyota Motors. She is married into a prominent business family in India, Neville Tata, son of Noel Tata. She recently had a son, Jeh.
Geetanjali had been involved with Pratibha, an advertising agency of the Kirloskar Group; Lintertainment, which focused on marketing and promotion of Hindi movies; Life’s Like That, a TV show on Times Now; and Quadrant, a joint venture with the IPG Worldwide Group Quadrant. In a major career shift, she also forayed into the healthcare and hospital business and held the position of the Chairperson of Sakra World Hospital, the first 300-bed tertiary care multi-speciality hospital in a joint venture with Japanese hospital chain Secom and Toyota Tsusho Ltd. at Bangalore. However, the Kirloskar group sold their Sakra stake in 2016.
In 2021, she was appointed to helm the corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee of the Karnataka Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education Department.
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