Rewind 2023: 10 famous Indians we lost this year

India lost several of her illustrious children during the year 2023. Let us have a look at some of the most prominent of these inspiring personalities.

MS Swaminathan

The Green Revolution had transformed Indian agriculture in the 1970s. From a ship-to-mouth nation dependent on regular imports of food grains for survival, India gradually became a net exporter of agricultural produce.

One of the chief architects of this trasformation was MS Swaminathan.

Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan was an Indian agronomic, agricultural scientist, plant geneticist, administrator, and humanitarian who lived from August 7, 1925, to September 28, 2023. One of the global leaders of the green revolution was Swaminathan. Because of his leadership and contribution to the introduction and advancement of high-yielding wheat and rice varieties, he has been dubbed the chief architect[a] of the green revolution in India.

Initiating a mass movement with farmers and other scientists and supported by state policy, Swaminathan and Norman Borlaug’s cooperative scientific endeavours prevented certain famine-like conditions in India and Pakistan in the 1960s. The inaugural World Food Prize, one of the highest awards in agriculture, was given to him in 1987 in part because of his leadership as director general of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. He is referred to as “the Father of Economic Ecology” by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Raghavan Iyer

American chef and author Raghavan Ramachandran Iyer was born in India and lived from April 21, 1961, to March 31, 2023. Many Americans were first introduced to Indian cuisine through his cookbooks and culinary guides, starting with Betty Crocker’s Indian Home culinary in 2001. He attracted attention for being approachable and controversy for defying convention by embracing straightforward components such as curry powder.

The year 1961 saw the birth of Iyer in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. He was raised in Bombay.In order to pursue a degree in hospitality at Southwest Minnesota State University, he relocated to the United States in 1982. Later, he transferred to Michigan State University.

He found employment in the industry utilising his experience as a French teacher, and he eventually went on to become a chef and cookbook author. Betty Crocker’s Indian Home Cooking, his debut book, was released in 2001 and served as an introduction to Indian cooking for Americans who had little prior knowledge of the cuisine.

As stated in the New York Times, Betty Crocker “has by some estimations taught more Americans how to cook Indian food than anyone else.” Her book was the first of many well-known cookbooks on the topic. Indian Curries: The Basics and Beyond, his video series, earned him a James Beard Foundation Award in 2016. The Revival Foods Project: Global Comforts That Heal was a crowdsourced business venture that was his last significant undertaking.

Balkrishna Doshi

Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi OAL (born 26 August 1927 and died 24 January 2023) was a significant figure in Indian architecture and is well-known for having advanced the country’s architectural discourse. He was a pioneer of brutalist and modernist architecture in India, having trained under Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.

His notable projects include the Aranya Low Cost Housing development in Indore, which won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, FLAME University, IIM Bangalore, IIM Udaipur, NIFT Delhi, Amdavad ni Gufa, and CEPT University.

He was the first architect from India to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2018.In addition, he received the Royal Institute of British Columbia, the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan, and the Padma Vibhushan.

Sharad Yadav

Sharad Yadav, a 75-year-old veteran socialist activist and former Union Minister, passed away on January 12. Yadav, a founding member of the Janata Dal United, the party in power in Bihar, left the party in 2017 when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar allied himself with the BJP. Later, in May 2018, Yadav launched the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), which merged with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad Yadav in March 2022.

On July 1, 1947, Yadav was born into a farming family in Akhmau village, located in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. He had become victorious in Jabalpur’s maiden Lok Sabha election in 1974. He has been elected twice to the Rajya Sabha and seven times to the Lok Sabha.

Satish Kaushik

On March 9 in Gurgaon, actor and director Satish Kaushik fell unexpectedly from a heart attack. His age was sixty-six. Among many others, he is well-known for his comedic performances as “Pappu Pager” in “Deewana Mastana” and “Calendar” in “Mr. India.” Additionally, Kaushik excelled in roles in other films, like “Ram Lakhan” and “Saajan Chale Sasural.”

His first major hits were “Hum Aapke Dil Me Rehte Hain” and “Tere Sang,” among many others. He also directed Sridevi in the disasters “Roop Ki Rani, Choron Ka Raja” and “Prem.”

Salim Durani

Salim Durani, an ex-cricketer for India, departed from this life on April 2 at the age of 88. The cricketer, who was born in Kabul, was well-known for his slow left-arm orthodox and his ability to hit as a batter. He took 75 wickets in 29 Test matches, including three five-wicket hauls. The famous cricket player made his Bollywood debut in the 1973 film Charitra, costarring with the actress Praveen Babi.

Bishan Singh Bedi

At the age of 77, cricket icon Bishan Singh Bedi, a former captain of the Indian team, departed from this life on October 23.

Bedi played 67 Test matches for India during his successful career, which lasted from 1967 to 1979. His outstanding performances left a lasting impression. He amassed 266 wickets in all with his slow, orthodox left-arm spin bowling.

Sylvester daCunha

The guy behind the famous Amul Girl ‘utterly butterly’ campaign, advertising legend Sylvester daCunha, passed away in Mumbai on 21 June. DaCunha, who has been connected to Amul since the 1960s, was a crucial member of the company’s advertising team. Additionally, he is credited with developing the idea of basing advertising on current affairs.

Parkash Singh Badal

Parkash Singh Badal, the founder of Shiromani Akali Dal, departed this life on April 25 at the age of 95. Badal was born on December 8, 1927, in the town of Abul Khurana in Punjab. He has been involved in Indian politics for more than 50 years. He held the position of Punjab’s Chief Minister five times.

At the age of 29, Badal was the youngest member of the Punjab Assembly when he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1957.

Oommen Chandy

On July 18, Oommen Chandy, a prominent member of the Congress party and a former Keralan chief minister, passed away in Bengaluru. Kerala Chief Minister Chandy served in that capacity twice, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. At the age of 27, he won the state assembly elections in 1970, marking the beginning of his political career. He then won 11 straight polls.

Apart from his term as the Chief Minister, Chandy was the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly four times and a minister four times in different administrations.