Background:
Parag Desai, 49, was the fourth-generation member of the Desai family, the promoters of Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers Limited (popularly known as the Wagh Bakri brand). The Gujarati brand Wagh Bakri, where “Wagh” means tiger and “Bakri” means goat, was founded by Desai’s great-grandfather, Narandas Desai. According to the Wagh Bakri Tea Group, Parag was the Executive Director of the firm and spearheaded the group’s tea evaluation, purchase, operations, and HR departments.
Desai did his MBA from Long Island University, Brooklyn, USA, and played a key role as a successful entrepreneur who brought the turnover of the group to an enormous Rs 2000 crore and over 50 million kg of tea distribution at present from a mere less than Rs 100 crore firm in 1995. He is now survived by his wife, Vidisha Desai, and daughter, Prisha Desai.
Source: Moneycontrol
The incident:
October 15, 2023, caught the Wagh Bakri Tea Group terror-struck when its Executive Director Parag Desai met with a hapless accident with the bovines and stray animals of his neighborhood on his morning walk near Iscon Abli Road, a developing residential area located in the Western Part of Ahmedabad close to his residence. Sources state that Desai suffered a severe head injury following a fall to escape from the stray animals as a fight or flight response. Desai was brought unconscious and unresponsive to Shalby Hospital’s ER, a private medical facility in Ahmedabad’s Prahladnagar neighborhood, which made this clear in a press release. Desai subsequently underwent a CT scan, which showed that he had a bilateral frontal contusion and an acute subdural hematoma. Desai was then shifted to Zydus Hospital on the request of his relatives, despite Shalby Hospital’s concern to keep him under observation for 72 hours. He immediately went through a surgical procedure and then was on a ventilator for seven days, when he ultimately succumbed to multiple health complications and passed away late on Sunday, October 22, 2023.
Source: Business Today
Media Reaction:
The media provided its sincere condolences from the Desai family and the Wagh Bakri group, including Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil, who wrote on X, a social media platform, “Very sad news coming in. Parag Desai, director and owner of Wagh Bakri Tea, passed away. He had a brain hemorrhage following a fall. May his soul rest in peace. My condolences to the entire Wagh Bakri family across India.” Some posts on social media platforms have incited anger against canines, especially street dogs, following Desai’s death. However, animal rights activists are pushing back in an attempt to control the rage.
However, as a series of canine-human conflicts flood the Indian internet this year, everyone is approaching a common consensus to take action to reduce the country’s massive stray dog population.
Source: X.com
