What Bobby Sista did for women’s voices will never be forgotten

He was the first person to turn me down, professionally, in a long line of professional turndowns across my career but he tried making up for it for decades. That’s what made Bobby so special. It never mattered how junior or inconsequential you were he treated you with respect and integrity.

Sista’s advertising turned me down in 1979 because they felt I was not cut out for advertising. Many years later when I told Bobby the story of my first professional rejection by Sista’s he laughed and said I was lucky they turned me down because I learnt much more working with Ossie D’ Souza at Adplan. Self-deprecation was one of Bobby Sista’s most endearing traits.

He was much more than an advertising man. He was the original philanthropist the man who practised giving back before it became fashionable. Bobby was always looking for areas where he could contribute his special skills, his ability and his network. He was one of those rare advertising people who had lived a full life in advertising and then moved on of his own volition to live a full life in philanthropy.

When he set up Population First in 2002 it was not yet fashionable to work in the social sector. Bobby was deeply committed to ensuring Indians were sensitised to gender biases and issues that we took for granted. Patriarchy, misogyny and male chauvinism were personally offensive to him. His view of the world was one of equality and respect between the sexes. He lived the talk.

The Laadli media gender awards were just a small public aspect of what was a lifelong private battle fought by Bobby and his team. He was deeply committed to women’s issues and gave of himself and his resources generously. He managed to gather a luminary of stars to support his passion. Each one of them attracted to his generous and loving spirit and his selfless commitment to the cause.

Bobby always wore white, crisp, classic but classless. Bobby would be ever ready with a laugh and a hug but he was an intensely private man. It was difficult to understand the man behind the purpose. He had subsumed himself into the cause. It was almost as if he wanted to present just one dimension to the world. One all consuming dimension. I don’t know much about Bobby’s family and who he leaves behind, but I do know he leaves behind a rich legacy of having ensured that women were given the respect they deserved by the media that covered their stories. He kept chipping away at the problem, year after year, award by award, fuelling a change in the narrative across the media.

What Bobby Sista did for women’s voices will never be forgotten by this one and her sisters.

You live on Dear Bobby, that’s why not just I but hundreds and thousands like me love you.