Yesterday, I said a final farewell to an old friend who inspired me to believe that a productive life need not end with retirement. We had shared many conversations together. On two occasions, I stayed in his management institution, XIME. Our last meeting was over lunch in his office. I enjoyed the home-cooked hot meal, Kerala style, his wife sent through his driver for the two of us.

Prof. Joe Philip had an illustrious career as the Academic Dean of XLRI Institute of Management, Jamshedpur; the Director of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore; MD of the Oberoi Group; and, upon his retirement (at 55), founded Xavier Institute of Management Excellence (XIME), Bangalore’s top ten management institute with branches in Kochi and Chennai.

A humble man, strict, and disciplined. A few days before his death (at 90), Pope Leo XIV conferred the title of Chevalier on him.

Goodbye, friend, for teaching through your life, we must keep giving while we have breath in the nosel