A tea taster, philanthropist and one who deeply loved Indian music. This is how those who knew him describe Piyush Desai, Chairman of Ahmedabad-based Wagh Bakri Tea Group, who passed away on September 15 at the age of 86.Narandas Desai, Piyush’s grandfather, began with a tea estate on a 500-acre plot in Durban in 1892 and returned to India in 1919 with a ‘certificate’ from Mahatma Gandhi, who was also in South Africa at the time. In Ahmedabad, Narandas founded the Gujarat Tea Depot and launched the Wagh Bakri brand with its iconic logo showing a tiger and a goat drinking from the same cup.Sources close to Piyush Desai say he “was everything the brand stood for and did not believe in communal discrimination”. The brand markets itself on the belief that “tea can dissolve differences’.Bhushan Punani, General Secretary of the Blind People’s Association (BPA), a voluntary organisation based in Ahmedabad, remembers how he first met Desai. “In 1984, Piyushbhai and his brothers came to IIM-Ahmedabad (located opposite BPA) and realised it was closed with no one to guide them. So, they walked across to BPA and met our then general secretary and gave the largest donation from any single individual—Rs 1.51 lakh—at the time.”He also recalls Desai’s other philanthropic contributions. Following the 2001 earthquake in Kutch, Desai donated Rs 15 lakh to BPA, which was helping rehabilitate victims who sustained physical disabilities due to the quake.His latest contribution, Punani says, was the donation of 200 smart glasses four years ago for visually challenged BPA members to help them access reading and study materials. Desai served as BPA President from 2014 to 2020, and later invited Punani, an IIM-A alumnus, to join the Wagh Bakri board. Punani is now an additional director in the company.When riots broke out in Gujarat in 2002 following the train burning in Godhra, Desai’s was the only critical voice among corporate leaders in the state that spoke out. He also took the lead in organising relief and rehabilitation for those affected by the riots. A close associate who chooses to remain anonymous tells the paper: “Piyushbhai could not see anyone in distress, his heart would go out to them and he would extend his help. He did not believe in communalism; Hindus and Muslims were one for him.”Story continues below this adDesai also remained closely associated with Gujarat Vidyapith when Narayan Desai (son of Gandhi’s secretary Mahadev Desai), was its chancellor. “He was also a member of its committee,” says the source.He was also the Vice President of Sadvichar Parivar, another Ahmedabad-based NGO, in 2012-2014 and donated Rs 31 lakh for a hostel for physically challenged people in Uvarsad, Gandhinagar, says PK Laheri, former Gujarat Chief Secretary and Managing Trustee of the organisation.Associated with tea trade for six decades, the company grew during Piyushbhai’s tenure and now boasts a presence in more than 66 countries and multiple states in India. The company, estimated to be worth Rs 2000 crore, has nearly 9% share in the country’s tea market.Full report on https://indianexpress.com