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Veteran Indian-American journalist and political lobbyist, Narayan D Keshavan, died Thursday night in New York
City.
According to initial reports, Keshavan, 53, was returning from an interview with Lou Dobbs for CNN, when he collapsed. Police and paramedics rushed him to the nearest hospital, St Vincents, where he died around 8 pm.
"Keshavan (or Kesh as many people called him) was executive director of the Indian American Forum for Political Education and a long-time player in Indo-US relations - with unique access at the highest levels of the US and Indian governments," said Professor Sree Sreenivasan of Columbia University in an email announcing the death.
"Despite leaving journalism (something I teased him about), he remained a journalist at heart. He was involved with the South Asian Journalists Association or SAJA from its earliest days 10 years ago. He moved comfortably between his worlds in DC (where he lived), NYC and Delhi.
"Last night, he went on the Lou Dobbs show to vigorously defend the business outsourcing that's getting a lot of attention. His humor, his love for India and America and his political smarts are all obvious throughout the interview," said Sreenivasan.
US Rep Gary Ackerman (D-NY) on Friday released the following statement on the death of Narayan D Keshavan, his former staff member while he was co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.
"We're shocked and grieving over the loss of a dear friend and colleague. Keshavan was loved, admired and respected by all with whom he worked and he lent his enormous talents and abilities to always bettering the bilateral relationship between his mother country and the land he adopted.
He embodied and brought together the best of an ancient culture in the world's largest democracy with the modest culture of the world's oldest democracy. He will sorely be missed."
With inputs from George Joseph