Dr Abraham Varghese, engineer, researcher, and business leader, will be remembered for his gentle humour and his fund of knowledge gleaned from years of voracious reading. He had returned to India after his studies in England which had led to a PhD in management. He rose to leadership level positions in Brooke Bond and Rallis. He and Dr (Mrs.) Mariamma Varghese were a perfect couple. My wife Usha and I enjoyed their company and hospitality over the years. My regret is that I did not get adequate opportunity to talk to him about a common interest of ours – operations research, particularly optimization. I knew of his pioneering research in this field, but did not want to talk shop over dinner!
Dr Abraham Varghese was a popular speaker in academic circles, and a supporter of worthy causes. He and Mrs. Varghese had a large circle of friends in Mumbai. They had moved to Bangalore roughly at the same time Usha and I had. We had left behind many of our friends in Mumbai, and so, were happy to discover that the Varghese family had moved to Bangalore too! The only problem was on an occasion when I telephoned to discuss a seminar with Mrs. Varghese and he picked up the phone. I said clumsily, “Can I speak to Dr Varghese?” His ready response was “Which one?” The number of PhDs in that house doubled again whenever their two sons, Vivek and Mathew, were in town!
We will always remember Dr Abraham Varghese; he had enriched our lives with his knowledge, wit and wisdom!
S. Ramani
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