With much sadness, so many of us woke up to the news that Vikram Kirloskar, vice-chairperson of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, had passed away late Tuesday. As I reminisce on the nearly 40 years I have known him, I can unequivocally say that he had such a rare and deep understanding and passion for automotive manufacturing that it would make Toyota, which pioneered the Toyota Way, proud. Many of us know Vikram as the man who brought the iconic Japanese carmaker Toyota to India. But few know the back story and hard work that went into creating a system of manufacturing that was everything Toyota could have hoped for and then some more because it was perfectly calibrated for manufacturing in India.