New Delhi, March 24 -- I was his collaborator in three of his successful initiatives and a few of his unsuccessful ventures. But to me, Capuchin friar Fr Xavier Vadekekkara was, first, a friend who knew I would understand his half-articulated dream and cooperate wholeheartedly in bringing it to fruition.

The simple man who brought me my family's first Christmas cake every year and seldom waited to have a cup of coffee, also went back with a pledge of my support for the Indian Currents, in which I took a paternal pride, in the publishing project known as Media House, and in Jyoti Printers, the industrial unit in Noida. He trusted me with the initial management of these in their incubation periods and has now made me feel at home in all t...