Lost a good friend, the best boss, technology guru, ideal of a man.
He has thousands of followers, fans and friends. His life was full of people and technology, everybody has something to say about him. These are some of the many memories, of how I knew him.
The day I joined Geodesic Ltd, I logged in to Mundu to ping Atul Chitnis. Just to let him know that I am his bigggg fan. He was cool, had a few words with me. I so wanted to work with Atul, and an year after working in Geodesic, I got that opportunity. I started working with the Geodesic IT team. That was when I met him personally in the team meetings. He was no different on the Foss.in platform, and in our team meeting. Same enthusiasm, same passion for the technology, no discrimination in his colleagues. I am getting more impressed by knowing him more.. personally!
Those early days, he just knew my name, saw me just once in a team meeting, but he was checking my regular emails. During a meeting, heated arguments, he fought for me, he fought to give me justice, with some people in office. He taught me how to stand strong. He taught me be a team player.
I was in bangalore for a couple of days, working on some critical issues and Atul pinged me. He was not working with Geodesic that time. He invited me his home for dinner. I was feeling so grateful. Such an extraordinary man, still remember me? and want me to visit his home for dinner. I was more than happy to accept his offer. We had lots of talks, he showed me his home, his music room, his gadgets, his dogs, his new home, his new lawn and trees, his sound systems. I had amazing dinner that night, with Atul and his family, Shubha and Anjali, aka Geetanjali. I was in heaven. I was so grateful. He taught me to keep feet on ground no matter how high you can fly. That day, he also planted a thought in me, to quit liquor.
I used to ping Atul, every time I achieve something in my technical life. He always had time to listen to my small things, he used to encourage me, support me and showed me the right way to go ahead. He was my mentor.
Thank you Atul, for being Atul Chitnis.
