My Dear Mahesh,

It feels almost impossible to write these words. To speak of you in the past tense, when every part of me wants to believe I’ll see your familiar smile walking through that door any moment now.

You were so much more than a colleague to me — you were my brother, my trusted confidant, my co-dreamer, my partner in building something that mattered. You were the calm voice when things were stormy. The gentle nudge when I needed reminding of what really matters. The humor and laughter when the days were too heavy.

You never looked at this work as just work. For you, it was a calling — to serve, to protect, to show up fully for the people who placed their trust in us. To every MFD you touched, you were more than just a support. You were their shield, their guide, their friend. To every client you spoke for and planned for, you were a silent guardian — making sure their dreams were safeguarded, their families secured.

I’ve lost count of the times people told me how Mahesh made things easier, simpler, kinder. How he stayed up late, worked weekends, travelled at odd hours — never once complaining, always showing up with that calm presence that made people feel, “I’m not alone in this.”

Manjunathji from Bengaluru told all of us, with tears in his eyes, about that day he visited our office with his wife and daughter. How when he was about to call a cab to the airport, you quietly asked him, “How will you go?” And when he said, “By taxi,” you didn’t just nod and go back to your desk. You went down — even though you were in pain yourself, unable to walk properly — you brought your car around, called him, and insisted on dropping him to the airport yourself.

This might sound like a small thing to someone else. But it was everything. It was you — thinking of others, putting them first, quietly doing what needed to be done. Even when your own body was hurting.

Dandekarji from Pune told me — about the time he sat across from you wondering, “I’ve done well for myself … what more is there?” And how when he asked you what else is there as a client, you didn’t sell him a product or quote a number. You gave him an answer that stunned him and his wife into silence. An answer about peace of mind, about what it means to really protect what you’ve built. His wife said, “He is an amazing person.” He told me, “I now use Mahesh’s words with my clients — so they too can live with the same peace of mind.”

There are countless such stories. The quiet moments no one writes on a CV. The invisible kindness that changed someone’s day, someone’s mind, someone’s life.

You left behind no unfinished work, Mahesh. Only unfinished conversations. Unfinished dreams of what more we could do together. But even those dreams carry your fingerprints now — your way of showing us how to be better, kinder, braver.

Mahesh, you gave this firm — and me — a gift that can never be measured in words or numbers. You gave us your unwavering support. You gave us your goodness. You gave us your heart. And you made all of us better just by being here.

I wish I could tell you this to your face one more time — how proud I am of you. How grateful I am for every moment. How terribly I will miss you standing beside me as we dream up new ways to care for our people.

I promise you this — your legacy will live on in every family we protect, in every MFD we empower, in every act of quiet goodness this team will carry forward in your name.

Rest well, my dear friend. You did more in your short time here than most can dream of in a lifetime.

I love you. I will miss you terribly. And I will carry you with me, always.

Your friend and brother forever,

Amar