Today, we are all celebrating the life of Piyush Pandey. Watching his ads, his interviews, and reading all the beautiful stories about him and how he changed the entire advertising industry in India. But did you know that he also made Sri Lanka ad crazy?

In cricket, if someone tried to be too smart, we would say, 'Do you think you’re (Sir Donald) Bradman?"
And in advertising, the question would always be 'Are you Piyush Pandey?'

We have always been known as the island obsessed with Bollywood and cricket, but he was the legend behind why so many Lankans fell in love with advertising. He made us believe that being local speaking in a language everyone understands truly matters.

An industry that once belonged only to the English-speaking crowd in Colombo opened its doors to Sinhala and Tamil speaking boys and girls from across the country.

Yes, we are all living and working in his industry.

Piyush Pandey was my father’s age, I can honestly say he felt like the father of advertising to me. I always dreamt of meeting him, talking to him, and taking a picture with him one day.

In 2015, when I attended Cannes Lions, I was lucky to be in his masterclass. He changed my life with his first few lines, when he said he was a Ranji Trophy cricketer who turned to advertising and started out in account management. As an ex-cricketer from Sri Lanka, those words hit me deep. I still remember tearing up during the session and later speaking to him for about an hour about cricket, Sri Lanka, politics, and advertising.

Out of all the sessions I’ve ever attended, Piyush Pandey’s will always be the one I remember as the most life-changing, the most personal, the most special.

Today, we haven’t just lost a legend we have lost the man who made an island of 22 million believe in themselves and be proud of our language. 'Well Played, Captain.'

The author is integration director, Wondrlab India.