In Loving Memory of Meher Roy Chowdhury - 1988-2025

Transcript

Hello everyone. Thank you for coming up on to the remembrance meeting for May. As I consider him as my best friend. Unfortunately, he breathed his last on 22nd of June this year. He was in New York in the Montifur hospitals. um to to give you information um he was I mean he was a great visionary he's an entrepreneur was an entrepreneur uh born in April 1988 he was in IAT Delhi as a my batchmate um in

between 2005 and 2010 uh then from 2010 onwards he went on to take an employment at Noartis during which he traveled uh quite a lot including going to Basil and going to Germany. Eventually he got he was very interested in cryptocurrencies right from the beginning in 2008 or 2009 or 10 somewhere around that time he bought his first bitcoin from whatever money he had and uh he continued to build on that in uh the information he always had.

Eventually he settled in Basil and once he settled down in Basil he in 2021 he was diagnosed with T- cell acute leukemia which in short it's called T A L. He had a brief treatment chemotherapy period which he bravely fought and he was in remission for 3 years until his uh relapse of his leukemia occurred in 2024 early 2024. Uh uh yes and then uh later in 2024 he had a bone marrow transplant after which the after effects of bone marrow transplant uh started to kick in in uh February

2025 from which he basically never got up. He he from there on his his his mental faculties got started to get affected and eventually he he he was uh bedridden in late May at which time he was transported from Basel to New York u to to to be admitted in the hospital where uh he was in ICU for a long time and after which at a slight sign of recovery he was moved into ward but other complications occurred and eventually he

he passed on 22nd of June that's about it so in the uh next 45 50 minutes that follow we I would invite all of you to take turns and speak anything and everything about mahu Good. There are quite a few speakers. We can limit those eulogies for one minute. Some of you have also sent in written eulogies which have been documented and all of those will be shared with the family. This session itself is also being recorded.

This will also be shared with with the family. So I just uh request you to read your mind and uh you know the this uh the the speakers as you can see on the left of your screen that will be the speaking order. I will not be speaking in between but you can continue one after the other. So after me purely speaks then Apur then Abbe then summer then Punal may Ankit this is this is Ankit Agarwal and then Ankit Kanser and Shri and then Sanjay and then from there Sebastian and Brian will take over uh before we start before I read a

little uh eulogy from my on my behalf I would like you to observe half a minute of silence and pray gets um soul resting about half a minute. Okay. Um I could not pen down my own

words. So my dad has written a mology which stands for me as well. and he has he he doesn't speak English very well. So he has written that in Hindi. So I'm going to excer than a minute. I'm going to read it out there. Okay. Man,ch.

Fore speech. Thank you Julie.

>> Uh thank you VA that was and and thank you uncle that was very well written. Um I'm going to keep it short and I want to focus on three qualities of Ronnie as I called him. I am his younger sister for those who don't know me. Uh I called him Ronnie and um I'm going to focus on three qualities of Mah uh or Ronnie that stood out for me. The first is that he was uncommonly kind to all of us. We know that. But even to animals, I remember when we were kids.

He found this small bird that had fallen down from the branch of a tree, possibly from the mother's nest. Um and and was severely injured. He picked the bird up, brought him brought it home. Uh we built a small nest for it. We tried to feed it puffed rice. Um uh but we could not save it. And then and then and then and then and then and then and then and then and then and then and then finally we buried it in in the backyard. Um and he was so deeply upset by this and and and just by his action I was I was so taken aback that now especially now that I think of it he was a teen teenage boy at that point to care so

deeply for another living being was exceptional. The second thing that I want to keep in mind about him always is how he thought yes he was he was a visionary but even the perspective he brought to people around him was was truly exceptional. For example we were visiting the Loura to see of course one of the paintings we wanted to see was the Mona Lisa and he had taken us and me to see it. I have a photo of him pointing at it and laughing at it and saying that, you know, if aliens visited the planet Earth, I doubt they're going to recognize this as humanity's greatest

creation. The thing is, I was feeling the same looking at the painting. I I'm sorry for all the art enthusiasts, but just the way he put it was so exceptional. I still remember it. And every day there was a new idea striking in his mind, something new to do. Let's start a crypto hedge fund today. Let's do that tomorrow. I mean, the greatest idea I ever have in a day is let's make butter popcorn today. So, it was exceptional the kind of things he thought. And finally was his humor. I was trying to when I was trying to reflect on what I want to speak, it's not like I could remember any specific joke but it's just that he he he had in

many situations he uh he had such um he would bring such situational humor and he would start first he would start laughing there would be surprise and shock that he's finding it so funny and that laugh would take he would just build build and become like a reach crescendo and you could not help but be swept along with it. Uh I I I saw that his batch mates from IIT were discussing him roling ro for those who don't know rolling on the floor laughing although I didn't see that uh but there there was a different kind of laughter that he had with me and I'm going to miss it deeply. Um I want to

end just by expressing gratitude that um I I was lucky to have him as my brother. Uh and the last thing I want to say is I want to quote the greatest philosopher of the millennials that is Albus Dumbledore and say to the wellorganized man mind to the well organized mind death is but the next great adventure and I really hope Ronnie enjoys this adventure.

Thank you. Um, thanks Julie. I'll take over. Yeah. Hi everyone. I'm I'm AU. I'm still It's still difficult processing this, but I would love to say a few words about May. Uh, Meer is my closest childhood friend. He was more like a brother to me than anything else. And I've known him since we were kids in school. He was a he was a really good person, very friendly, very genuine and he had this childlike intellectual curiosity and he was he was smart. He was really really smart and he was really good at

communicating and making difficult concepts seem simple and he was he was good at so many things. He was a real gem of a person. I'm I'm happy to have known him. It's been a fantastic journey from right from school where we we studied together and we used to we used to just pick up a 50 question question paper and just solve it over phone over hours and then we went to Kota and different IITs and then and various various adventures over the years there's so many so many stories I remember early 2010s we were both in Germany and we used to make up every we used to meet up every weekend and then just take his car and just set out somewhere right we just pointed on the map oh we want to go over here how far away is it kilometers doesn't matter. we

are on the road in a couple of hours and just uh it was lots lots of crazy stories there which I can't really share on this forum but we had a we had a great time and then he was in Switzerland and US and back I was in different countries but we kept in touch and we met at least twice a year and some really really great memories over the years and one thing that I really really loved was that we used to have really deep and varied intellectual conversations about anything and everything about science, finance, tech, biology, crypto, etc. We could talk about anything for for hours and and the discussions were always with with Mayor it was always discussions from a scientific first principles approach and

and it was it would really be a great conversation and I'm I'm honestly going to miss really miss those sessions. And then 2021 after the pandemic I was in Bombay and had came to visit me Feb 21 and he just recovered from a bout of COVID a couple months ago and was he was feeling down. We talked about how it could be long co and that he was facing lingering symptoms and he was going to move again to Basil in a in a couple of weeks and I was like yeah just go there get a full checkup and we'll know more.

And then he moved to Basil. We talked a couple of weeks after that and he said he was feeling very low energy and tired all the time and then he said he'll go to the hospital tomorrow and we'll see if it's long co he did and it was his birthday a few days later I remember clearly I woke up that morning uh I was going to call him to wish him and I saw my phone and he'd already sent me a message saying it's not long co it's blood cancer and I was like what the and called him up it was a it was a big shock, but I could see he was ready to fight, right? He said, "Sorry." He said, "Let's talk more often. It'll give me strength." And I was like, "Of course." And I spoke to

him every day for the first few months of chemo. Sometimes for a couple of hours when he had energy, sometimes only for 5 10 minutes when the when the chemos was really heavy. And then he recovered and he went into remission. And I was so happy. And then things were going well. I wasn't worried at all. I think 2023 was a really good year. I uh remember us going on hikes and there was this time we were in the in the mountains on a Swiss on a hiking trail near Inilakin and I clearly remember that we were just going up a hill and I'm panting and waiting to catch my breath and then who's a who's a recovered cancer patient he's up ahead

100 meters ahead of me and just walking like it's nothing, right? I was like this guy is fighting so hard to overcome and prevail in this battle I've never seen so much someone fight so much and his his zest for life and his desire to make it was so strong it was that gave me a lot of hope and then 24 was tough he relapsed a few months in underwent a very difficult bone marrow transplant I visited him him after that and he was like I'm bored being cooped up in the hospital. Let's go for a drive. And like, yeah, let's go. And then we just went for a drive. And it was it was it was great. And I was hopeful. And this year was really hard.

I've seen how much sorrow and suffering the whole family has been through. I can't imagine what Kiran has gone through, but she's been really, really strong through this and has fought so hard. Puli, his parents, Kiran Zumin, I hope God gives you peace as well. I'm I'm really glad there were so many so many good friends and people who helped out in this. Really thankful to Prana for all he did. Brian, Retesh, Summer and so many others who were there throughout this journey. U it's it's been a really eventful journey but really happy and sad moments. I'm I'm glad I met Mah and I'm glad that we became friends. I'm always always going to cherish that moment.

I hope he's in peace. At least I'm glad he's not in pain anymore. And who knows, we might meet again some other day or some other place. And I cross for that. Yeah. Thanks. That's that's it for me. You are on Okay, I'll try again. So, Summer, can you take on next?

>> Sure. Hey, everyone. Uh so I actually knew Mahair from IIT uh days and you know I would just like to tell you all about uh how I met him first time because I I'll never forget it. So I had a friend uh who was Maher's very good friend uh Teddy. He told me, you know, let's go. We'll meet uh the smartest person I know, right? And uh and honestly, like just meeting him for 5 minutes, you know, even though like we didn't really talk anything profound, but you could just see that, you know, this guy is is

just very different and you know, there are smart people and then there are smart, very sorted people, right? So clear-headed. have not met many clear-headed people as much as him. You know, every single time I spoke to him, I learned something new. Even though we were not super close in IIT, you know, I had different interests, he was always like super, you know, involved in many different things, but uh you know, every single time I spoke to him, I learned something new. I found out what Bitcoin was from him, right?

like probably most of the people here. And then you know one time he told me like you know bro this new app called signal it is real encryption. I found out what encryption was you know every time I would talk to him I would go back and watch a documentary which many times he would send me to watch and and you know kind of just see okay this is what I was talking about. There are very few people like that you know where you learn so much from.

And uh when when he got this uh you know diagnosis you know he just told me and I said okay you know I just want to meet you and you know the way he was dealing with this you know I went to a doctor just just randomly to a doctor to meet him meet with him and the doctor told me that he's the most you know knowledgeable patient she has ever had. And and you know, it's like that guy was always like that. Every single thing was always, you know, just exceptional.

So, you know, so pretty much like, you know, my interaction with him has always been like that. Just before his bone marrow transplant, he said that, you know, I think I'm going to make it. And uh you know I'm I've done everything planned every every slight detail and I was really hoping that you know if anybody can survive this terrible disease he can the way he was doing it you know he was exercising every day he was just you know doing everything by the book I would say and the way he

spent time with Zubin I honestly told him once that you know bro like one of the things I really admired is how good a father he was. how he taught Zubin every small little thing, you know, how to solve a Rubik cube, you know, he would do it himself. And you know, even though like we all love our kids, but very few are as involved as he was as a parent. And uh yeah, I I hope he finds peace.

You know, who knows? His uh cryo thing might just work and might get back. And uh I hope the family finds strength to deal with this terrible time. I hope uh everybody takes care and yeah you guys Kiran you have to be strong for Zubin for yourself for every all the parents you have I hope uh he rests in peace. Thanks everyone.

N >> yeah uh so this is a a tough time for me as well actually was I remember him as one of the first persons that I met in IT was I think our orientation or something uh I remember his role number was 14 I was 13 and he was just standing me with all his hair like upwards like it used to happen And he was he was one of the smartest person that I've ever met in my life.

Was not only I mean when he's normal when he's talking weird things as well he will I mean I still remember one day I told him that I'm very phobic to lizards and he convinced me for almost 10 15 minutes that it's very possible that human beings evolved from lizard and all those kind of things. We will start to look at chemical formula of different things that and how they behave within the brain like for alcohol what all equations are going on and all those kind of things. Uh although the last time I met him was back in 2012 but we stayed in touch after that as well.

Uh it was four years ago when uh I came to know that he has been diagnosed with leukemia. So I had a I called him. He was in the hospital and it was all very positive. He had his plans that that this particular treatment will keep me. One of the things that he told me is that this is going to be with me for my for all of my life that cancer is my enemy and I have to fight it and he has his plan set that for two and a half years this particular treatment will work then afterwards there will be some other treatment and so he had his plan set for the next 10 years and then he was very optimistic that something or the other will come uh some new research some new science will come and then uh he will have further

treatments on that although during this journey I had uh sometimes noticed that he was in between thought of maybe giving up or something but again I told him that dude this is something that you got is very rare and believe that uh because you have got it so it's possible that you will you will come out of it uh whatever the last time I had a chat with him was a small chat over WhatsApp on February and he was saying that everything looks good. I mean he has c certain certain side effects and then in May Ret called me all about this and it it actually I was thinking that maybe

he's getting better but it came as a shock for me. Uh I know this is a tough time for the family as well for Julie for Kiran Zubin so uh for his parents as well and for us as well. So may he finds these wherever he is. Yeah, he's a pseudo Bengali. That was his mail ID that I remember. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Hello everyone. My name is May. Yes. No mah since since IIT days we have a lot of commonalities uh both being you know finance

fine arts club rep to saki to general secretary of college and then uh in 2013 when I landed in Basil uh joined what and I saw in the very first week in campus and I was so happy to see him you know that I know someone uh in this new country and since then you know uh it has started uh and I remember like first time when I asked Richa that you know uh we'll meet my head before that I have told like you know how smart this guy is because he was always talking about crypto and and he was a genius like I don't know you know how it's going to be it's very difficult you know how to talk to such a smart guy but that was Mah right he he knows how to talk to anyone and with a genuine curiosity a

genuine interest that you will feel like that you know you want to talk to this guy forever ever, right? It's like uh he has this genuine interest in you, you know, he will not not fake it. He really wants to learn from anyone, everyone and with such a curiosity. And I think his curiosity really inspired, I think, each one of us, at least me, you know, it's curious nature to just live life, you know, full of excitement every day to to go out and explore something new today and just just, you know, the wonders of science and everything.

So it's been uh yeah and to be honest it's so difficult to still sink in because I have been you know here with him for last four years he will go into the treatment and we will not see each other you know for a few months and then you know he will be back and then we will again start to meet start to meet often and this time also somewhere I am hoping that you know it's the case that he will come back you know and then we will see each other again. Yeah, it's difficult but I think uh he is he is purest of the soul that I probably know and uh as they say you know the pure soul it's very easy for them to find the peace. So he I'm sure

will have peace wherever he is is uh yeah he he is as pure as you as you've come to be honest you know just just full of you know yeah like everything without any judgment to see everything with you know no filter and uh yeah this is how he was I think he he inspired me uh a lot uh we talked about a lot of things I seen him being v vulnerable. I have seen him always questioning about whether I'm going to, you know, survive this for long. Uh after leukemia hit him, I have we have blamed luck together a lot like without any like and and still today like you

know without any any any flaw of his you know he got this like nothing uh in his lifestyle that could have said that yeah this could this this could come to you. So it's it's it's unfortunate. Uh but I I yeah I think for all of us let's just be inspired by the life that he lived. Let's uh bring all the positivity that he left uh in our life and inspire others to live the way he lived in a life full of curiosity, a life full of positivity and uh and make this world a better place. And uh so this is what I take from his life on this planet and I ask

all of us to just take that and and inspire others. Thank you. So Ab is back. Ab would you like to go now? >> Sure. Um first off um Kiran Puri uh Uncle Aunte and especially Zubin I'm very very sorry for your loss. U he was my friend but he was you know a lot more to you guys.

I'm going to miss my friend. I mean Ronnie Ronnie and I grew up together. We were always competing together and you know we met each other on many countries, many continents also. Um and I feel I feel a great sense of loss you know because we we talked about all these things. We we I went to see him twice.

In fact, I was uh I was making a trip to Europe uh this year also just a just you know a few weeks ago and I'd asked if I could go see Maher but I then I realized that he's in New York but um Maher uh you know extremely optimistic, extremely bright uh and he told me once that uh you know when we were children that uh that he wanted to be friends with me because I called him boring.

Um I can be an like that. Uh so I but uh but he was very interested and intrigued by that and uh oh god I have plenty of stories with him. uh you know once we were in Nepal and and uh I was hiking uh we were hiking this place called uh Nantang National Park together and uh by the way guys I have a bunch of photos I will share with you know and during that hike u I was with this girl I was seeing and you know she wanted to run up the mountain and I wanted to enjoy the journey up And uh I told him

that I agreed with him that you know life is about the journey and the quality uh of the time we spent and not about the quantity. Um then I I spoke to him in 24 when I met him when he was doing well you know he he told me that uh that listen you know I'm doing this one last time I'm fighting this and uh I'm doing it because and that that was when he was getting ready for his BMT that uh he says that I have to do it for for Zuben. uh I know that my family will be okay. I know Kiran will be okay,

but I'm doing this for Zubie. And uh I told him, listen, dude, whatever it is, however life plays out, um I'll be there for you guys. And uh yeah, um he knew he knew that this is he knew exactly, you know. So we we had this talk about um dying and he was not really afraid of dying. He was he was afraid of of leaving his son without a father figure and and and you know Kiran also and u yeah he knew that you know all of our time is limited everybody dies come on

that's you know we cannot escape that reality and I told him that you know it's it's inevitable it doesn't matter if we live long or short. It is something that is a reality and it is uh something that you know we all have to face and it's about how we face it. And uh that time I remember he told me that you know I've lived a good life. I've done the right things. I've been a net positive. And I said you don't even have to ask yourself that question that whether you've been a net positive or not. You are loved and you are appreciated and

you know um I feel really I feel happy in one sense that his suffering finished because trust me he suffered a lot. He was such a brave face and he he never let it be shown but this this is not easy. It ravages you completely inside out. And you know, kudos to Kiran for for being an absolute trooper over there. And also, Zubie, um, your your father was one of the strongest people I know.

And, you know, he wanted to be there for you all all the time. I'm not going to go into more detail but uh yeah I'll I'll speak to the family separately but thank you so much for organizing this and you know I'm sure uh we'll see again once sometime you know we have many birds still to go so hopefully one day we we cross paths yeah thank Ankit.

>> Hi. Yes, I'm here. Uh, I just am at the airport. Can I go later? >> Okay. Okay. >> There will be a lot of background noise. Maybe another give me another 15 minutes maybe. >> Okay, we'll see. Okay, so Ankit Conal can go next please. Ankit Consul and Shi. >> Yeah. Yeah. Hi everyone. Um so yeah I mean I came to know Mahar also in Delhi uh back in 2010.

um when he of all the people was you know running the rendevu uh and I was a mere activity head being two years junior to him. Um fast forward four years uh very similar to Mayang when I landed in Basil joining Noatis I I was very happy to see Maher here and we actually met um for lunch in office canteen and while we were waiting in the queue for food um for pasta uh Mah Maher casually introduced me to the world of crypto by demonstrating that he can actually send me some ripples while the pasta is being cooked.

So, so that was Maher and um I don't think I have ever returned those ripples to him by the way. So, um Maher was of course an incredible storyteller. Uh he would he would start a story with a precise date in history and bring some context like he would say back in 1900x the first internal combustion was engine was invented that converted chemical energy into mechanical energy and and so on. So that's how he would just lure you in. And saying that Maher was smart is probably an understatement like he would have to you know lose some some IQ points to be classified smart. Uh but but yeah he would also he was he would

also make you feel smart. So when you talking to him no question was stupid. He would listen to you, he would engage with you and um I mean yeah he was really like a truly brilliant mind um true engineer uh who saw how things work and an innovator. Um I mean above all he was a really good friend u always reachable and there for us. Uh he came u he had just recovered from his chemo. He was still undergoing chemo and he came to visit us uh when we had a son was born. Um and I mean uh last year only recently I wanted I just called him up. I wanted to discuss with him about career options and anything

and he said let me just come over. So he just drove over to my place immediately and we just jammed it out over a few beers. So that was the kind of guy he was. He was always there for you always reachable always willing to listen. Um we will we will miss Maher. Um I hope he's in peace. And um of course u Shi and I are here for you Kiran and Zuben for whatever you need. Thank you for organizing this ret. >> Hi dear friends. Um as we gather here

today to remember and honor mayor I would like to briefly share how he came across to me as a remarkable colleague a brilliant engineer and above all a great person I'm Sanjay de based out of Basil and have known me here since he joined Noatis at my manufacturing site in Gujarat as a young engineer along with Kiran he was one of the clearly among the brightest curious probing and always thinking outside of box in hindsight I have admit I actually used to give mihare projects that I myself had no clue how to handle.

May had this unique way of tackling challenges often diving deep into subjects where he was not a subject matter expert bringing out ideas how to resolve. I once faced a difficult situation under pressure for making an investment because these European uh agencies you know they were following up for uh uh providing us a solution on a thermal energy storage and phase change material and I wasn't really convinced of that technology by then and there came May into the conference room he put up such questions to these guys they had simply no answers to to

and and that's that's how we we as an organization I think we took the right decision that was mayor sharp unafraid always pushing the boundaries mayor also had an entrepreneural spirit that couldn't be contained I still remember him telling me in basal in one of the dura pujas Sanjas I want to do something different something big and he eventually did in 2013 long before most of us had heard of Bitcoin. He was explaining us you know when we were you know looking stupid trying to understand what he's talking about Ethereum platform and eventually went on to co-ound his own company in that domain.

But what truly sets Maher apart I feel was his warmth through his captivating conversation. he could engage my 80 year 80 plus mother in Bengali at sodi buja last time we we met in February there uh creating that spark in my daughter you know speaking in Hindi inspiring my son-in-law speaking in duted with people and he felt his mark not just in his word but in our hearts may you will stay in our memories forever as a cherishment an extraordinary human being.

Rest in peace my friend. Thank you. >> Okay, one uh last is Sachidan and Swami and then Brian takes over. Swami, >> hello. >> Hello. >> Yes, you can be heard. You can be heard. Hello. Can you hear me? Yeah. >> Yeah, you can be heard. Yeah. >> Yeah.

So, mayor was always a good junior to me at IIT. So, I may be the probably the one who was not from the class, not from the hostel but uh I met him in my hostel and then I met him multiple time always a cool and encouraging guy. So whenever I was starting my journey as a startup, he always say to me a one line swami says you will make it and you will make it. I had a multiple time interaction with him when I was traveling to Europe. I always go to meet either it's like tough for the easy time. Mayor was always like wow you always have something to do new and uh I can connect the story from the

hostel days because he did marvelous thing at IIT Delhi and that is like rendevu which connected lots of us and he was a leader there. uh called me and told that Swami sir it happened and I was that time in Russia and I say he was always my hero and he is always my hero. I went to parents, I met them, I met Julie, I met almost like the every family member. But I'm going to to miss to uh Mah, but he's always alive in the like wishes with me. He's always alive. One important part I I noticed with Maher, we we are talking what he was saying all the time. But you

have a very good gesture with hands. He always talk with hands and he will always make you feel the part of the conversation deeply wherever he he was with us. I always say m you are always with me. You are always with us. I'm so happy to hear your sound in my ear and all your encouragement. D Right.

>> Hi everyone. Um, so I I met my hair in um 2014 or 15 and um he was getting interested in crypto and then he became a co-host of epicenter and we hosted many podcasts together and it was a huge pleasure. He had an he was an incredible podcast host. He had so much curiosity and ability to explain things uh in these wild analogies even the most complex topics. So I think a lot of

people loved um listening to him and he had the you know I think epicenter at this point is the longest running crypto podcast. So many many people kind of learned about crypto through that and he had a big impact and uh personally I just uh had a huge admiration for him and uh we became good friends and then we started uh course one together and uh we made a decision at the end of 2017 uh in Mexico and uh you know there was different reasons for starting the company but for me one of the biggest ones was I was really excited to work with Mahair

and uh and you know I think if I think of the all the history of course one we made many bad decisions and we and but I think I mean when it comes to good decisions the decision to do it together with Mahair is you know was by far the the biggest one and the best one. I loved working with him. Um he was just uh incredibly brilliant, incredibly visionary, someone who be able to research any topic and have um you know very original ideas and think about things from first principles

and um and running company was very very easy. We never had an argument in all those years like we would be able to resolve anything uh very easily and um and yeah so I I think he was also someone who was very good at having you know I felt he always believed in me very deeply and that was enormously valuable and and I always believed in him so deeply when he sometimes question himself or I would question myself then I think that relationship we have was it was just

enormously valuable. Uh I think he showed that same kind of you know determination and optimism and ability to research when it came to fighting his cancer. You know, I think the lengths he went to uh was incredible uh and also the length Kiran went to uh to support him was uh was incredible. It was really like no stone left unturned and and you know in the end even when the doctors in Basil had given up, right? He was transported to New York and you know kept trying whatever they

could be until until there was nothing left to try. Uh I think you know the other things that stands out to me is just he had this incredible warmth and kindness and I think everyone loved him from Swan and so many I mean it's the amazing thing even here in this call know so many people uh consider him a close friend so that's was uh so beautiful um you know I think that optimism uh believe in technology and progress, you know, is definitely one of his

strongest characteristics. So, I'm personally very excited that he also chose this bio preservation path and uh I hope I hope he's right about that and and I know he researched it deeply and and and he had very very good judgment on you know judging where the future was going. So, I hope he's going to be right. And, you know, I'm definitely going to want to follow it closely that and see if there's anything I can do to help make that come a reality.

Maybe the other thing uh I want to mention and I've enjoyed tremendously is, you know, also spending time with Kiran and then with Zuben. I think Zuben is a just an amazing child and I think he's inherited a lot of the charact the best characteristics of Mahair. He's incredibly warm and and and loving and um I think everyone who knows him just uh loves this kid and and he also has his intelligence and and endless curiosity. So, uh I'm sure he's going to uh live an amazing life and accomplish a lot of

great things like his father did. And uh and uh one funny thing was uh we had a call together a few days ago with Kieran and Dubin and uh he said he was ready to uh to help run course one now and uh step up and uh he was he was prepared to to go. He's ready. So uh that was uh you know very beautiful. So yeah, I'm incredibly grateful for all the time I could spend with Mahair. Um, I've learned so much from him and grew so much from working with him and I will miss him dearly

and thanks so much for organizing this. I think maybe Sebastian, do you want to go? >> Yeah. Hi. Can everyone hear me? >> Yes, we hear you. >> Okay. Hey. Um, I mean the uh the outpour of love here has just been uh very inspiring and um you know Mahara was the kindest and most humble person I've ever known. And I think when you look at the crypto world

he was truly one of a kind. the you know it's a space that's often um driven by ego and his humility and his kindness were really a breath of fresh air uh in on this backdrop he was attentive he was thoughtful he was a great listener and as many people have said here you know he wasn't he he was never judgmental I think someone earlier said that he made you feel smart and I definitely felt that with my hair I think He truly embodied the type of person that we should strive to become and he was inspiring.

He had an incredible curiosity. He loved to share his thirst for knowledge over the years of hosting Epicenter. You know, he became known for his ability to break down complex topics into really simple stories and analogies. It was kind of his trademark move and he became known for it and guests would, you know, point it out and listeners would point it out. It was really quite incredible and I learned a lot from him this way and uh someone I forget whom but once asked where he got this from and and he said that he learned his that skill from his father and so uh after you know recently I I met I met Mr. Roy Chowry and and I can see why that's true.

Um I even watched Mahair do this with my own father. So on the morning after my wedding, Mahara and my dad were sitting together at the table next to mine and Mahara was explaining the differences between proof of work and proof of stake to him. And I've never seen my dad so locked into a conversation about crypto. At least I I've never been able to spark that level of interest in him. And afterwards, my dad was like, you know, I think I really understand this now. Thanks. Like that was really clear. And he was quite impressed with my hair. And you know, only Mayer was able to get through to him because he knew how to speak to people in a way that resonated with them.

Um, it's been said here many times, but Mayor loved life and he had so many interests and, you know, he had a passion for blockchains, but he also was deeply interested in life extension, life, medical sciences. And I remember speaking with him when he learned about his leukemia. And he told me that his goal from now on was to extend his life as long as he possibly could given the circumstances he was in. And he saw in that a great challenge and one that would stimulate his intellect and he he he wrote about his treatment. I encourage people to go and read his medium.

And he he never gave up on recovery. And even in the most difficult moments, he never gave into negativity. He never complained. And uh he was a gentle person. And Apur I think I think you said it right. He was a fighter. The last face toface conversation that we had was in January. We were visiting them in Basil and he was recovering from the transplant. We're sitting on the balcony. You know, it's a beautiful sunny day. They were like just laying back shooting the And uh he said he wanted to, you know, he was ready to travel. He was ready to sink his teeth into life again. And he wanted to learn how to inline skate. And I said, you know, mayor, these scars on my knees didn't appear from nowhere because I I I robbladed most of my most my teens. And

you know, I told him about all the unfortunate injuries that I'd occur in incurred over the years. And you know, I promised to teach him when he was fully recovered. And we had a great laugh about it. And uh yeah, Mahair had a great laugh and he loved I I he loved to laugh and I loved to see him cracking up. Um where you were tell talking earlier about it and like I was laughing. I just like thinking about Mahair cracking up and he had a very particular sense of humor and he could even laugh as at his own expense which I think is a great quality.

So this this memory it brings up one of the last moments um that I had with him and it was in April when we we learned that he was incapacitated. He was hospitalized went to Basil and doctors gave him a permission to come home for the Saturday and we helped put him in a wheelchair and into a medical taxi. Because he was so weak, we needed to bring home a commode chair. These are the types of wheeled toilets you see in the hospital. The taxi was too small, so I offered to take the chair on the tram and to their house, which is just like a short walk away.

And later, I'm I'm walking down one of Basel's main roads, lugging a wheelchair toilet, and it had been such an emotional few days. And I I couldn't help but think just how funny this was that I was lugging a wheelchair toilet in downtown Basel and I stopped and I I took a selfie with the chair and and I sent it to Mayer and I said, "You're going to laugh when you see this because I knew that he would find it hilarious." And uh and I chuckled and and I imagined him recovered and us laughing together about it.

I can hear him laughing and and even I knew that even you know, he would still be able to have a sense of humor about the situation even though he was living the most difficult time of his life. Mer loved his family. He loved Zuben so much. And some of my fondest memories with the Roy were simply watching them together. In 2023, we visited them in Basil. This was uh in between his cancer treatments. And Zuben had been binge watching black hole videos all weekend.

Mayor took him on his lap and I actually have video of this. I'll share it with anyone who wants to see it. And um Zuben, he was about four and a half and he was asking questions about singularities and event horizons. And Mahair was explaining that nothing can leave a black hole except for something called Hawking radiation. And Zuben, he looked at him and he said, "Papa, how does that work?" And Mahair grabbed a pen and paper and they moved over to the table and Mahair was drawing circles and Zuben was following along and drawing his own lines and he said something like, you know, if you fell into a black hole that would be really bad and her hair said, yeah, that would be really bad. And it was really beautiful to watch. And and when when Hawking radiation came up again, Zuben looked a

little confused. And that's when Mahair realized that, you know, he has a son who's incredibly smart for his for his age, but uh maybe Hawking radiation was pushing it a little too far. And he said, "Okay, Zuben, in two years, I'll teach you about Hawking radiation." And and that was about two years ago. And I think I speak for all of the people who spoke here today will always be there for Zuben to teach him about Hawking radiation.

and to help guide him however he needs us and to remember what an incredible person his father was. Mayor spirit lives through Zuben, through Kieran, through all of us who will carry his voice forward, reminding us to remain truthful, to be kind, and to embrace life and all of its infinite curiosities. Thank you. All collars.

Paul, are you there? All call us. I saw him online. Maybe we can just go by the order the people. So uh I I was suggesting Brian that I mean maybe Kiran and Baba could speak for a minute uh to convey the gratitude of thanks and then they can uh

hang around and uh we can other other people who just paste it in chat can take by in the order received. Is that okay? Sounds fair. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Of course. Baba or Kiran would you like to speak now? So uh hello everyone this is Kiran Kiran you >> uh >> are you able to hear me? Yeah. Okay. Uh first of all I want to thank everyone who has come here.

Poor mayor as all of you have said and pointed out to his to the great person he was. I I I feel honored that I was able to spend so many years with him and build so many memories. We have Zubin that I will have I I have to take care of now. It is not going to be easy without me. He's irreplaceable.

But I will try my best. Thank you. Baba, you want to speak? Purely is Baba Ra >> I actually don't know should be I actually >> I saw him online maybe he's having technical issues >> yeah okay let me let me try and reach him >> in the >> I think maybe he's having difficulty on me I'll just speak >> let me unmute him

>> yeah Yes. Yeah. >> Hello. >> Yes. Baba, you can speak now. >> Yeah. So, I first of all thank all of you for saying such kind words. You are really worthy friends and he was very lucky to have such good friends who loved him so much and who cared for him so much. Now I have uh a request.

It is this that after this I I am going to plan to make a collage of his photographs depicting his short life like you you have also done but two two periods I need your help. One is that during the host life I know he was doing lot of painting and was very and then organu had

created lot of concern in him. I am very aware of that but it was fin photographs pictures of Randu organization and also finally is convocation uh convo in all these convocation days and reanddevu both of us were there But we do not have very good photographs because my earlier phone was it was spoiled.

So I need your help I friends help to get this stuff. Me was very exceptional as you rightly said and he had the art of being silent and smiling. I will give one example. When he was young, we are uh we observed a ritual of birth that is a brahminical ritual. I mean very quietly quietly accepted all the various restrictions

like shaving head and all that which goes with that ritual Indian ritual. I I could sense from his face that he is not very convinced but he never protested. He never protested. Then he was really a front runner thinking. I remember that uh I have been a temple grower. I have been going to different temples worship and all that stuff.

He told me when he was in standard 11 that Baba you go to so many places to see arti and puja but in future you will not need to go you would be able to see all that and remember this was when he was only at the 11th standard that is in 2004 I mean I got completely surprised that what is he talking broadband was just coming just coming can correct me I think just coming

>> then I mean he could foresee what where broadband will lead us to so this is what mayor was and he had he was a man of great conviction I know I had taken him to IIT counseling. Knowing success of IT industry, I encouraged him to take something like electrical engineering and stuff like that.

He did not contest but biotechnology because biotechnology will have great future in the days to come. He did not argue but he tried to quietly convince me though I was not very sure what he I mean whether biotechnology sunrise has come or not come but then he enrolled himself in biotechnology and lo and behold when this cancer hit him he was planning to make his own cart team where Europe and America is he is grappling how to make carti for T A L.

He was he was explaining to me he was he explained to Monte Fury Einstein director also how carti can be made for his type of cancer that was amazing that was me. So yes, he wanted more success but it was not to be. >> Hello. Uh I am Mahar's mother here.

Am I audible? >> Yes, you are. >> Am I? >> Yes, you are. >> So this is he called me mama and I called him Ronnie Mahair. Um how this name Maher came. I wanted to share uh the history how we named him Maher. See he he we had prayed to goddess uh Ambai. We stay in Gujarat. So we had been to the Ambaji temple and we had uh prayed to the goddess. Uh actually my auntin-law also was there with me that

day and she prayed that I get a uh son because he would be uh um he would be a torchbearer for the Roy Chri clan and uh within a short time uh I conceived and this boy was born and why we made him named him Maher is because he was the Abama's gift to me. Maherta Maher Maki Maherta.

So that is how that name came. This is not a Bengali name and uh actually my husband was doing numerology in those days and uh it coincidentally this name uh struck and I worked for State Bank of India and in my uh Surat branch there was a pari gentleman called Maher Vaia a very largehearted gentleman and he taught me how to do uh bank advances.

I was so impressed by this gentleman. He was much older to me in age. But in those days also I got this idea that uh if I have a son I will call him Maher. And then it so happened that he was Abama's Maher to us. By numerology also this name clicked and it is not a Bengali name. So every time we went home to Kolkata people asked about his name and we said Mah. So everybody has rebuked me saying what kind of a name have you put have you selected? What is this name? And I have repeatedly

explained why I have I had named him Maher and my uh family back home in Kolkata was never happy with me. This point I discussed with my husband whether we were right in naming him Mahair. So my husband said yes let him be Maher. This way he will be able to face the world um with he will be able to face the world with a maybe it could be a drawback not being not being given a Bengali name. So he will be able to face the world with conviction and he will be able to convince people that Mahair was the right name for him.

So that's even till today if anybody if a Bengali community person asks me why have you named him Maher and this is not a Bengali name I still tell them this same story and that actually I think had given him lot of courage to face the world and I being a working mother I had very heavy duties with state bank of India that actually gave him more chances to interact with people because he was left home with my domestic staff.

So uh he developed very good friendship with his sister because both of them were always left alone at home. So both of them developed very good friendship and bondage. They are more close to each other each other than they are to me. I was a career oriented lady though I had two children but the circumstances that developed in life led Maher to open out more into the world and his friends were more dominant on his emotions rather than his parents. He took us to Paris.

He put us in a hotel and then he looked went out with his friends and we were in a new place. I was feeling so uneasy. Where has Mahair gone? And uh I called him up. He said, "Yes, yes, I'm coming. I'm talking with so and so friend. I'm talking with so and so friend." He did not come back till 1:00 in the night. You can all imagine what what fear I had in my mind. And I could not sleep because I was in a new place and he had just gone out and he wouldn't come back on time. Finally, he came back. even in Singapore he was just growing up and he just said I want to go out and I want to see the place on my own. I forbid him

from doing that but he not did not listen to me and he went out and he negotiated the world on his own. So that is how he developed that kind of confidence and willpower to interact with people and he was very fond of uh having lot of friends but at the same time he took care of his parents. One incident uh which happened at our dining table is when three of us my husband me and Maher were sitting for our dinner.

He has said thank you. Most of us don't thank our parents. Even I have not thanked my parents till the last day. I had grudge against my mother. But me somehow developed this feeling that he must say thank you and he told both of us that you have groomed me up well and today I'm very confident of negotiating the world and be on my own. I am prepared for the world. you don't have to bother about me. So that was my son in he he had he he was a very curious person as many of you have said that he used to study in senavier school Gandhinagar and it so happened that one

day it rained a lot. It rained so heavily that all the streets were full of water and I sitting at home was feeling uncomfortable. How would he come home? So I took my car, I drove to the school. All the parents were there hurriedly taking their children home and you know uh and there was a commotion in the school but my son was standing very quietly at the cycle stand and he was observing a crow.

So I was quite perplexed. I went to him and I said, "Ronnie, aren't you worried how you will go home with everybody leaving the school and you are here all alone in the cycle stand and just observing a crow?" He said, "No, mama. I was just watching the crow. Somebody would have taken me home. That I was never worried about." So that curiosity which most of you have talked about that was ingrained in in him since his childhood. So even I was taken aback at how he reacted to that rainy day incident in school and that actually grew in him and he got

that confidence to negotiate the world on his own terms. He went to IIT, he went to Rajna school. Even this morning three of his classmates from Rajna school have come and met me. They have not met me for years but today they came to meet me because of me and I told them better you help me overcome this vacuum in my life you please give me this emotional support do visit me so that I overcome this vacuum in my life and and I'm sure they will come and today having heard all of you and I just wanted to share a little things from the >> from the from his childhood which many

of you did not know. So therefore I took the chance to talk to you all and I must say thank you I must say thank you to for listening to me. Thank you. Yeah, you start [Music] a big tragic thing. >> Ankit Ankit Aaral can go and then so now requesting Baba and Kiran if you want to hang around and then we can continue as long as people can talk. If people want to drop out, they can be free to do so.

But we'll keep the meeting running until until the parents are and Kiran is still still there in the meeting. >> Okay. >> Yes. Um hi Andy. Um I think the name was very aptly uh named. I completely support that and I think uh he was God's gift not only to you but to all of us who got a fortune to know him meet him. He was full of positivity and joy which he spread into our lives and he inspired us as well.

We first met during the physics Olympiad camp when we were just a bunch of kids trying to make sense of the universe. Even then, he stood apart. Not just because he was brilliant, which he absolutely was, but because of his presence. He had this rare calmness, a quiet strength that made you feel steadier just by being near him. like aunt demonstrated like spoke about is a few incidents from his childhood.

This sense and um feeling of calmness around him that this sense deepened when we became wingmates at IIT. It always felt that he embodied inner peace. He carried an undeterred smile in the toughest of times. He understood life deeply and he lived fervently. I admired that deeply about him. He was filled with ideas and more often the ones that were that would go beyond my comprehension.

I recall simply being amazed by him in every interaction. He tried to explain he explained the whole crypto world to me many times and in the conversations I would understand it and then later I would get totally confused. He would in his explanations he would simplify the toughest of the things very well. There's something original something quitely profound about the way he thought. Just being around may have made you want to grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually as well. You could talk to him about any any subject matter under the roof under the under the sun.

Maher wasn't someone who needed to speak loudly or often when he spoke. U when he spoke it mattered. When he listened it was with attention and empathy. He just didn't think deeply. He felt deeply too. And those of us lucky enough to know him even for a season were changed by that. I last saw Maher and Kiran sometime in 2017 18. It was one of those evening that seemed simple at the time, full of warmth and fun conversation. Looking back, it feels precious.

It's like time gifted us a moment we didn't know would be the last. Losing him is hard. It feels deeply personal. His decision to be cryogenically preserved is a bold. The way he lived his life, it the decision shows clarity, courage, and hope for the future. Hopefully, we'll get to see him again one day and listen to him cracking witty jokes, laughing just like you always did.

Until then, I pray his soul rest in peace and light. Thank you. [Music] Call Paul. Are you able to do it now? Call us. Yes. Can you >> We can hear you. Go on.

>> Okay. Thank you so much. Um it's been incredibly moving listening to everyone. Um and Mayor Roy for me was someone who fused vision with realism. Um he saw the next paradigm while holding our hands in in this one. Um and he he was a very early friend that I made. Um there are very few people who were were working in crypto and also had

a deep understanding of biotech. Um I I think this was 2018 2019. Um, and he was one of the people that in the way that he worked and guided like gave the gentlest push to birth um a whole ecosystem that we now have today with this decentral which is decentralized science.

Uh yeah, and I the meant that we could not outrun uh kind of yeah the the cancer that took him. We were actually We we actually looked at numerous ways with them to to fund research around that around that space. And uh it's this whole

memory of him really really deepens the the conviction that others should not need to go through that same experience. Um so we'll definitely dedicate more research and funding into into making sure of that. Um and I think this the his paint warned that illness similarly like inflation um or a sudden shift in monetary policy can upend life overnight.

Um I firmly believe in the kind of the the principles of the pasta and it reminds us that every breath is impermanent and this wisdom asks us to meet that truth with clear sight and compassion. Uh and that's I think something that may yeah me would have imbued me with um so I'm forever grateful for his guidance

and and just having the chance to to meet him as a friend. Um he he inspired so many people in the uh in in the early crypto space. Uh and then specifically he inspired me to start a whole ecosystem that is dedicated to decentralizing biotech research. Um, yeah.

And it's been it's been incredible hearing all of your stories and and being deeply connected with the culture that birth Mayor that made him who he was and his work, his his his inspiration. his mind will forever um improve and grow society.

Thank you so much. >> Thank you Paul Tushar. >> Hey guys uh I was a friend of mir back from old IIT days. uh we were both very anti-conformist in our own ways and so over the years we had some really weird and beautiful discussions. I want to share the top three learnings I took from Maher. Uh so one one discussion we were having 20 year olds talking about US election in 2008 sitting in the mess and I tell may our discussion is nice but you know you finished your dal how will you eat your rice and me like yeah let's continue talking and he ate rice

uh plain and simple and one day we were driving down the road and Maher and I were engaged in a discussion we had to take a right turn me was driving he missed it we came back he missed it again we came back he missed it again and all this while our conversation was going. The one thing I learned from him when you talk with anyone you give them time because that is one thing you would have noticed he would always do when you talk with anyone you give them time. The second thing that not uh I don't know all of us are in awe of Mahair for something or the other but what we might not all know that Mahair was equally in awe of each and every one

of us. If you ask him what is it about Kiran, he'll tell you one line. This is what I like. Ret this is Brian this is this is and it's like one snap of a finger and one single line and and all the people who have come over here you ask them like swami said something swami this is the thing was equally in awe of each and every one of us. So the lesson I took from him, no matter how great you think you are, you better well be in awe of everyone around you. And that was a really great lesson I took from her.

The third interesting thing I took off, so like I said, Maher and I, we went down in very trippy conversations, very weird conversations. So one fine day, he had just driven over to New York and it was just me alone. 11:00 in the night, my family was asleep and me and I were talking. I said, "My this is the model of my life. I think this is the model of life. This is what life is. And Mahair is like hm no I don't if there is a controller then life is a simulation. I said what does that mean? So the Mahar's word not mine. Right? So me like if there's a controller he's basically created some chemicals and mixed and made some qualities. He's put those qualities in the world and the job of these qualities are to expand and see their maximum potential. So you are a

set of quality. I am a set of quality. X is a set of quality and the job is to attain a maximum potential because that is what the controller has given the task to you and that is this is me's model I was like weird but the lesson I took out here is no matter how long you know your life is or uh just maximize your potential and if you look back that is exactly how may lived his life that just I wanted to share you these three learnings is something you know I'll keep with my heart. You talk to anyone, you give them time, you be in awe of everyone around you, and then however long you exist, you should just be maximizing your potential.

Yeah, I'm going to miss him. He's a great guy. That's it. That's it. Mukit Malik, Deepak, and Nuni in that in that order please. >> Hey guys. Hi. So, Mahair and I we connected in 2014. Our touch point was crypto and over the next decade we engaged on multiple crypto projects.

What I didn't see back then but I see it now that while we were interacting on work we were making some rich personal memories over like amazing walk and talks over different cities and in those walks I had the privilege to experience the depth of his thought process his attention to detail and all the insights he brought. He also became a mentor for a lot of my work and life decisions. like over this decade I've gone to him like 16 17 times probably saying you know like mahar what do you think what do you think about this this situation and in that process

he tremendously impacted my life's trajectory what I do where I live he's been a true mentor in that sense and it has been a true privilege me when I visited him in Basil in 2021 one there is one statement he shared he said Ankit I must have done something good in my life that I'm fortunate enough to have such a great life partner and business partner in these tough times I do think about that statement a lot because I feel the journey of life can be tough but the real wealth is in the people you

surround yourself with and in that sense Meher was truly wealthy and he provided true wealth to everyone who was around him. He's he's always believed in positive sum games. I learned the idea of positive sum games from him and I've tried to follow that since then and I feel he lives through all the positive sum games that he has created across us building so many connections across us. He left me a video message in March. That is our last interaction. He said interesting s something new has happened and we are going to have fun.

That is a striking quality sheer optimism. He also had this uncanny ability to make predictions in the future. They would seem vivid in foresight but all have come true in hindsight and it is in the spirit of his optimism and future gazing I want to leave with an optimistic picture. I have this strong belief that you know with advances in biosciences cryopreservation me will be back. This is I know this is a time to grieve our separation I would say for some time but I feel he'll be back he'll be watching us this video analyzing it with his

unique sense of humor and you know like just having a laugh because if there's one person I trust to have the last laugh it is Maher again Maher it is a true privilege it is a true honor I address you in the present tense because I know we'll be talking again. I'm I'm so I'm I've learned I've I've started believing in your prediction ability that I believe we'll be talking again, Mary, for sure. That's it. Thank Thanks everyone. Yeah.

>> Hi guys. >> Yeah. >> Hi guys. This is uh deeper while I went to university with Mahel from 2005 to 2009. And during those four years, I had actually never spoken to him. All I knew that Maher was the president of our cultural society and that was a big honor. uh it is one of the hardest position that you can get during those four years in the university and generally speaking 99 people out of 100 people would have to be politically motivated to be able to reach the

position of a general secretary in the university. However, Mayhem was such a gem of a guy that he was actually the general sec secretary not because of diplomacy, not because of any any political inclinations but all because of his capability. It was all out of consensus that everyone believed that if someone deserves to be the general secretary or the president, it needs to be Mahel. And that was the kind of aura that was the kind of kindness that he had on people all around him which is why people would

put across the boundaries aside and would come together to make him as the general secretary. Soon after in 2012, coincidentally me and my family shifted to Zurich and we knew Kiran for a long period of time and Kiran introduced us to Maher and for the next three years we were together in Switzerland and would meet Maher and Kiran a lot over the weekends and during this three years we would actually uh get very close to Maher. So much so that that we would do a lot of philosophical discussions around uh Hinduism, spirituality which was the topic of my

interest and uh he would try to teach me on crypto uh which he tried really hard uh unfortunately I could not get bits and pieces of that due to lack of my intellectual capabilities. Uh but that bond that started in Switzerland stayed with us for a long period of time. I still remember when I became a father. Uh he and Kiran were the first one to visit us in the hospital in Zurig and and probably he was the first one outside the the parents to actually hold my daughter in his hand and the kind of sparkle that he had in his eyes. you know that it is

coming from his heart and the kindness that he was showering right from day one was something spectacular. And then when we shifted out of Switzerland both Kiran and Maher visited us in Singapore in 2015 uh in Mumbai in 2017 and then in New Delhi in 2019. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to meet them after 2019. But there there are few things that I would definitely like to share. Before intermittent fasting became cool, he actually was following that intermittent fasting and he would convince me to do 20 hours of fasting every single day back in 2011 2012 before keto became cool. He was giving

all the the knowledge around the nutrition, the sciences and everything. And when I decided to leave my job at Uni Liber to start my Aayurveda venture, he was probably the first one to wish me luck because he truly believed in the power of ancient wisdom, yoga and Ayurveda. I think I would like to just end it up with a with a famous uh quote that it is in Hindi language. Uh some of the people will be able to understand for others I'll translate it as well.

There's a famous dialogue from a movie that it essentially means that uh life should be strong may not be long and and I understand Maher has left us at an early age but at the same time he has left with such strong memories such strong signs and such strong impact on everyone that that's what each one of us aspired to achieve in our lives. I really wish Meahir that he rest in peace and and I really wish strength to all his loved ones to cope up with this loss.

Thank you so much for uh having uh having us part of a small part of May's life. Thank you. Go on. Yeah. >> Hi. Can you You guys can hear me, right? Yep. So, I feel like an imposer here. Um because I have met I I have not had any recent interaction with Maher and Kiran.

But I whatever interaction I had with him was so strong that I had to come here and >> a lot of what I wanted to say you guys have said it already right he gave it um he when he talked to you you felt that there's this one person who's listening so intelligent but yet he never made you feel stupid in like I had very um like small interactions with him during uh IT Delhi, right? Not any big one where you're

having a beer or I wish that could have been the case but one especially might resonate with some of my IT Delhi colleagues here. He was the uh fine arts uh um like guy right in the second whatever that was the representative right so there was this I was the QC rep for Kash and I'm like in a event and after all that he comes he's representing Shiva and I'm like after the event and everything just trying to understand of course a lot of the questions you can't answer and I was like so why are you here and

he said he was just curious he's there out of curiosity you know I mean it's not that oh Shiva couldn't get a team in place in time that Omah had to represent he's just there out of curiosity and I'm like okay and I'm like okay so are you feeling a bit weird that you couldn't really answer anything or like how and then meh said a few things to me right I like I can almost repeat them sentence to sentence. But he said some things to me that were that gave me so much perspective. He's like so what like you know these bunch of guys are asking the

questions that they have made and if you're not able to answer them that's not that's not um measure of how I would feel about myself or feel good or bad. Now all of us perhaps right now after 20 years can say some things like that to our younger selves right that hey don't when you're trying to find yourself in college with the peer pressure with all those things don't make anybody make you feel small or bad but Mayor said that then and he it's yeah it was just eyeopening uh that kind of self asssurance,

self-confidence, that inner peace that he knew what he wanted that almost like nothing surprised me when he became a general secretary when so many people like Deepak said were working not out of pulu but really behind him that quality of leadership or visionary was just truly wonderful. I I want to say that it's going to be really hard, right? I can't even imagine to to Kiran and to his son.

Um stay strong and uh to many of my IT Delhi folks that are around. I think we know when we lose somebody really precious. So you guys hang in there too. And uh yeah, let's try to be there for people. That's it. Um um I'm that's that that was it for me. I think Mona has dropped out. So Young >> Hi everyone.

I I used to work with Sahara many years ago. So back in 2011 about 14 years ago. So we were hired by Novadus as the training in the training program. So we are like uh like at our early 20ies. We freshly graduated from the college and we spend a rotation together in in Germany Marble. So we had a lot of fun together.

So I remember sometimes we we we drive a few hours to a different city from Germany. Then later on in 2021, I had a um a companywide rotation in the wireless side in in India and I met Mahair again in New Delhi. We spent a good time in in New Delhi and he helped organize organize my trip. He helped me organize my trip to Pimah.

We spent great time in the dirt. We rent shops. We go to restaurant. We even at the same hotel room. So I the memory I have about him is he's he's so young, he's passionate, curious about everything, so brilliant and caring for people. We didn't have a lot of interactions afterwards because the the life the career drifted us apart. I moved back to China. stayed in in Europe.

But those memories back in 14 years still stays in my mind all the time. I was so shocked to see the loss of him few days back on LinkedIn. So I I just I just could not believe that at my first glance and Yeah, I cannot imagine the the pain he went through for himself and the pain he went through with the family with Kan. I also know Kan from my mother's days.

So I I I I I miss him a lot. I wish you Kiran Zubin will will carry his love. I believe Mahair become like a star like they're watching. He's watching from the sky for his loved ones and someday someday the world unite will see each other in a different universe. So by the way, Mahair and I had a conversations. So he talked with me. He planned to to visit China, but for some reason he cancelled

his trip. I in my mind I was planning for trip with him. And talking about his curiosity, right? He's very curious with what like the what the life looks like, what the economy economy would look like in China. I was planning a trip to to to rent a car and we drive to different places with him, but unfortunately we didn't have that chance. So I want to say my sincere sorry for Mahair's loss and I wish your family um Iran and your your kid stays well keep strong his love and move on and

thank you thank you for the organizers. Mean >> um hi uh thank you. Um so basically uh we met Mah and Kiran in uh Rockville, Maryland. Uh uh we live in used to live in uh around that area as well. Um I've known her since uh we were in together. Uh we I was in 1A and he was in 1B, but uh we never really got to interact until the seventh grade. But uh I was there for maybe about an year and then uh I moved over uh uh to us. Um but uh we met uh we caught up with Mahar and

Kiran in uh Rockville. Um and basically as everybody has said, Mahar was most the most curious soul I've known. and uh he would ask me about uh aerospace and even couldn't let me ask me questions that would question my beliefs as well. Um one of the things that I still follow that me had told me uh was uh showering with cold water. I do that every day every morning. He he has he had told me about uh like you know hey intermittent fasting he had started intermittent fasting and uh showering in cold water and um to Mahair's point I feel so much energetic I I feel so it's a for it's a different kind of feeling so just his curious mind

his scientific mind as everybody has mentioned it it was at a different level that I don't think anybody can achieve um and um uh I also remember one time when we went to um uh Kiran's uh baby shower in Rockville. It was um they waited for us like like we were we were moving that day and they waited for us. >> So that that was uh >> so I I I very clearly remembered that that was the day we just moved in. We were living like an hour away and Kieran actually called from her baby shower that we are waiting for you to cut the cake.

Kiran and Mahar they are one of the kindest souls we have ever known even though my interactions are very limited we uh lately didn't talk much but during the time of Rockwell we had met quite a few times and Bitcoin I never knew like what Bitcoin was I never knew what intermittent fasting was and I was really looking like an idiot when me was talking about all those stuff. And then then I went back home and researched everything and and he was really a god-gifted individual as auntie rightly mentioned. He was like um he was really mahair like not like very few

people have the IQ of his level and we're like very far apart in intellectual level in the level of humbleness and everything. Um, Kieran and her family, we are very sorry. We you you guys have fought a very >> strong and long battle. >> Just know that we are here for you. We're just one call away. Let us know if you need anything. And lots of love to Zubin.

>> Lots of love to Zubin. And you take care. Go on. >> Yeah. Vunam the site. Um I have known since last 22 years almost since consult time right and what sets him apart from others was his curiosity. They were smart people around he was one of them but he was curious as

well. He was eager to learn. Right? Then during bun times we used to have some discussions not very long ones at that time but I used to remember some of the discussions. Then as Baba said um during counseling I was also there we were trying to convince him to take branch which was more suitable for his J rank but he had that conviction that no he really wanted to take biotech and so he did right. Um yeah be during

that time we again met during physics of arts where we used to have all the discussions from like for me paradox and all I I even didn't knew about a lot of these stuffs which me used to tell then again back in I Delhi um we used to meet ever so often We met a lot during first year, a bit during second year, less uh during some years but then again more and we used to have lot of discussions.

I still remember the time when this great depression was happening. Um like the depression of 2018 uh 2008 and Mayor told me you know if you have money you should invest in Ford because if because when it comes to the car companies in US whatever happens if everybody survives then all sport shares will go up. if GM and Chrysler goes bankrupt, Ford will still survive.

I don't know what the conversation was, but he was so convinced that we should invest in shares of food and he was he was right in that we didn't invest in four shares at that time, but he was really uh correct about that. Then we lost after I we lost touch for some time then again got in touch. we met in Paris, Switzerland and every time like I've seen him grow as a person becoming more confident uh but retaining the qualities of curiosity um intelligence um storytelling he was a great storyteller he uh his ability to distill

complex topics into simple uh to understand um like he he had this power to you know make you understand complex topics with ease right I then when I was starting I didn't know whether I can do it or not and he convinced me to do it he was the first investor in my company he was more convinced in me starting my company then I was in myself at that time. Uh he kept helping me all that time,

keep giving me guidance. He introduced me to great people like Sebastian, Brian. Um he kept helping me. For him it's like other people tend to keep secrets for them. if they get to know about something uh great they would keep it as a secret right mayor was like he would tell it to everybody he's like you know life is not a zero sum game right and uh and he have been a great friend throughout and when he got diagnosed with

with leukemia Yeah, he messaged me that we should talk more often. And I was such an idiot. I went into a guilt guilt zone of, you know, letting everybody down, letting him down that I would message him, but I didn't had the courage to pick up the phone and call him. Right. and and obviously we then we started uh talking again after some time. But but I wish I had just picked up the call and called him

regularly at that time. And and you wouldn't understand this at that time. But now I'm filled with even bigger guilt than than at that time of you know letting someone like me down you know because I was an idiot. I I wish uh strength to kill them and to move.

>> Hello. Um, >> yeah, I'm I'm deeply sorry for your loss and I don't think any words um can act as a condolence or even a bomb, but I will still make an attempt. Mayer I met him in 2021 early 2021 before he got diagnosed and in just few short years he has had many a lifetimes worth of impact on me.

I met him in early 2021 and I'll talk about you know three of his chief qualities that all of us have spoken about on kindness. I met him in early 2021. He got diagnosed then he went through tough treatments. In November, I was visiting him in Basil and I had a flight to catch the next day and I needed this COVID QR certificate that the Swiss authorities were, you know, not giving to me and I was finding it hard to communicate because they were

speaking Swiss German. And Meher found out about this over a text message. And you know what he did? He came walking from his house to this place which was probably a kilometer or more away. He didn't take a cab because his condition prevented him from taking public transport. And there I see in the middle of this gray street with clouds everywhere. this chaping walking towards me in a mask and blue gloves and straight away jumping to the window and talking in fluent German and getting the case sorted out and I felt like oh I just know him for a few months and he's

willing to you know risk a lot for this minor conversation and boy I was surprised at how much of kindness is going to flow from him towards not just me But other people in the company that I worked at, in fact, in our company, there was this we we have retreats, we have gatherings where all of the employees get together. And there was this one time when even the partners were invited. And Meher being Maher, he had, you know, whenever he had an idea, his eyes would light up. You know, everybody knows that expression when he has a smile and his eyes are lit up. and he's going here around meeting the

partners of Korus one employees and talking to them about how can I get you involved in a coding hackathon in our company. He was making sure everybody felt part part of the team and you don't see this kindness this kindness doesn't exist a lot. Um he's very curious all of us have talked about it. so curious. In fact, the last thing I expected to find at his home was a book of recipes and he chatted with me at length about some of these recipes. I did not know when I was getting into a crypto company that oh I would be chatting about you know recipes across

the world and he did you know did justice to all the knowledge he could acquire. In fact, in the early days, it used to bug me, almost irritate me that hey, when I talk to him about something that he didn't know about, the next time I talk to him, he knows about it more than I do. He somehow had the ability to gather knowledge faster than everyone else. And you know, the last few years have also been tough for me personally because my father went through renal diialysis. his kidneys stopped working and he passed away.

During all that time, of all the people, Maher understood this disease well. He was the probably the only person outside of doctors that could talk to me and truly understand my father's troubles and mine and you know he empathized with me. In fact, my work meetings with him felt like therapy. like I felt like I want I was looking forward to talk to him because I felt like yeah I I can talk to him about my life. I don't think such people are born such people are just you know we are lucky to have come across him and the proof the proof that he's you know unique is the

fact that there are so many people who are immensely immensely uh impacted by him positively and I do think I agree with a lot of you that he is right about cryopreservation he has gone run into this long dark night, but he will emerge victorious. I extend all of my support to you, Kiran, to Zuben, to the family. We are here.

Just call us. We are here. I will end by saying a share which is an udu couplet and apologize because I don't think I can translate it will overcome this long dark Right. I'm very grateful to to all of you who

are who are here and who have blessed us with your friendship who have helped us in the difficult times and who have given us so many good memories. I admit that I have never been of a very social person. But through Mahair, I made so many connections and so many friends that have helped us that are reaching out to me and that are going to be there. And I'm going to count on all of your support as I navigate through this journey.

I'm scared to be honest. I don't know what life has in store, but I will try my best. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Uh we can now log off. Just say a prayer.

Thank you. I just want to also um say that because you guys here you guys are seeing the the people in here in this in this zoom but throughout this entire session there's been over 350 people watching uh on the live stream there's been about 300 people throughout the whole session and it's just like it's a it's it's a real testament to the impact that mayor had um that uh so many so many people would want to be here for his memorial. So I just

wanted to share that. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> One thing so a lot of people have actually sent these uh eologies in the chat. So if you could maybe compile that and share with people. >> I I have been copy pasting them in a word document. So and previously email I have received a lot of written eulogies from uh people over my email. So I will definitely compile puli is helping me in uh compiling all of that. So once I have everything in a correct format text cleaned up and we will compile and it will the copy will go to Baba and Kir.

>> Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. If Mahair is right, if Mahair is right and he um he will emerge from this. I for the last week I've been like obsessed with the idea that we need to find a way to communicate this with him for the future. I' I've been obsessed with this idea of like how do we how do we share this this this call these eulogies letters that we may want to write to him you know in private or in public uh h

how do we share that with him in a way that you know we are 100% certain that he will get them um and uh yeah write it on I guess that's the answer. But um but you know, I'd like to have some fail safes. Um but I you know, I talked to my wife about this and we we've had conversations about it and you know, she she recommended oral tra oral tradition that seems to have worked, you know, for a lot of for a lot of centuries. Maybe writing it on Shane is one way. Um but yeah, if anybody's interested in um in talking more about this and uh building up a little doing a little

project together, please reach out. >> Okay, thank you everyone. >> Take care. >> Thanks everyone.