Bhaskar Majumdar, who passed away on September 24, 2026, has left behind a 25-year career spanning corporate communications, public relations, reputation management, digital and CSR.
But in the tributes, the emphasis was strikingly less on designations and more on relationships. He touched so many lives with his warmth and an innate capability to connect with his peers with his amiable character.
For a generation of communications professionals, Majumdar was the person who answered the phone, shared a contact, offered a view, opened a door, introduced a younger colleague to the right people or simply made time for a conversation.
That personal quality has emerged as perhaps the strongest thread running through the industry’s recollections of him.
Himani Rautela, Communication Head at Redington, described him as a mentor, guide and friend who played a significant role in shaping her career. She recalled joining the communications industry straight out of college and having Majumdar as her first boss, learning from him how to navigate the profession, build relationships and establish her own space. She also remembered how he continued to celebrate her professional milestones long after their formal working relationship had ended.
For Rautela, that was characteristic of Majumdar: he did not merely guide people; he celebrated them.
Vishwas Dass, Account Director at Seraphim Communications, recalled a similarly open-door relationship. Majumdar, he said, did not require appointments or formalities. His home was open to colleagues and younger professionals, and his guidance came less through lectures than through listening, encouragement and the confidence he placed in others.
That ability to make people feel valued also comes through in the recollections of Ranjini Chalam, Head of Corporate Communications and CSR at Indus Towers, who remembered him as a friend, colleague and elder brother, and as someone who was consistently available to people around him.
Sonal Singh, Head of Communications at Jindal Stainless, remembered his willingness to help. Whether she needed a contact, a reference or a suggestion, she said, Majumdar responded. Prerna Dalakoti, Account Director at PR Professionals, recalled an energetic and giving senior professional whose enthusiasm for the industry was infectious.
For Dr Sarvesh Tiwari, it was Majumdar’s warmth, humility and respect for people that stood out. He remembered a man whose smile, simplicity and readiness to help made people feel at ease, irrespective of their seniority or familiarity.
A similar quality emerges from Bhavna Imran, Comms Lead – South Asia at Corteva Agriscience, who remembered him as an inclusive and generous industry peer, someone whose camaraderie extended beyond formal professional interactions.
For Shariff D Ragnekar, the defining quality was Majumdar’s curiosity and openness. He recalled conversations in which Majumdar sought to understand LGBTQIA+ experiences, approaching the subject with sensitivity and a genuine desire to learn. It was, Ragnekar suggested, representative of a broader quality in Majumdar: an ability to listen without approaching every interaction with a predetermined answer.
That openness was also central to the recollection of Firdosh Khan, an independent consultant and former colleague at Adfactors PR. Khan remembered Majumdar’s kindness during a difficult period when his mother was undergoing surgery, describing his support as something offered without hesitation.
Aman Dhall, Founder of CommsCredible, similarly remembered a professional who celebrated good work, encouraged new ideas and helped make the communications industry feel like a community.
For many, however, Majumdar’s contribution went beyond individual acts of mentorship. He was also an active participant in the evolution of the communications profession itself.
He was also a familiar presence in industry forums, juries and educational institutions, and mentored and taught at institutions.
Yet one of his most enduring contributions may have been created outside the formal structures of the PR industry.
In December 2023, Majumdar and Mrinall Dey co-founded CommsAdda, drawing on the Bengali tradition of adda (informal conversation and exchange) to create a space where communications professionals could meet without the constraints of formal agendas.
Dey, Founder of Brevanta Communications, had known Majumdar professionally since 2008, but said their friendship deepened from around 2019. Their conversations about communications, media, people and life eventually led to the idea of creating a community where professionals could exchange views, disagree openly, learn from each other and simply enjoy being part of the same fraternity.
Dey described the loss not simply as the departure of a professional colleague but of a friend and fellow co-originator of CommsAdda.
Anup Sharma, PR & Strategic Communications Advisor and Co-founder of Quivora Advisory, knew Majumdar for more than two and a half decades, including their time together at Vaishnavi Corporate Communications. His tribute captures another dimension of the CommsAdda spirit: Majumdar’s love of people, food and conversation and his instinctive ability to bring people together.
Atul Raja Wadhwani, Global Marketing Leader and Brand Strategist, remembered him as an industry peer whose intellect prompted reflection but whose generosity made the person behind the professional reputation equally memorable. For Wadhwani, Majumdar’s willingness to share an idea, offer guidance or help someone find their way was as important as his professional insight.
Vineet Handa of Kaizzen had known Majumdar from the beginning of his PR career. He recalled having him on his team at CMCG in 2001, before their professional relationship developed into friendship. Handa described Majumdar as a thorough professional and a strong believer in the power of communication and PR, saying that he made a meaningful contribution to the industry.
The breadth of these recollections explains why the reaction to Majumdar’s death has extended well beyond the organisations where he worked.
The tributes suggest that his most enduring role was perhaps simpler: he was a connector.
He connected younger PR pros with opportunities, colleagues with contacts, communicators with each other, and professionals with a sense of community. That combination (professional conviction without professional distance) appears repeatedly in the memories being shared across the communications fraternity.
Majumdar’s career reflected the evolution of Indian corporate communications itself: from traditional media relations towards reputation management, stakeholder engagement, digital communication, CSR and integrated corporate narratives.
But his legacy may ultimately be measured less by the organisations on his CV than by the people who say they became better professionals because he took the time to help them.
The communications industry has lost an experienced practitioner at 54. It has also lost one of the people who helped make the profession feel less like a network of competing organisations and more like a community of people who knew, supported and looked out for one another.
