BANGALORE/MUMBAI: Ranjan Das, CEO and MD of SAP for the Indian subcontinent region, died after a massive cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday. It is learnt that he collapsed at his home in Raheja Bay, Bandra, after returning from the building's in-house gym on Wednesday morning. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital.

The funeral will be held on Thursday afternoon. The 42-year-old Das was the youngest CEO of a multinational corporation in the country.

Geraldine McBride, president, SAP Asia Pacific Japan said, "SAP is deeply saddened by the news that our colleague Ranjan Das, president, SAP India, passed away suddenly on Wednesday. This comes as a great shock to all of us within the SAP family and is felt most profoundly by every one of us. We will be sharing more information once we have had the opportunity to further understand the family's wishes."

Das emphasised hard work, integrity and a sense of curiosity. "Ranjan was a health freak. He ate right, jogged and worked out daily. He had no bad habits like drinking or smoking. He was very ambitious, and always believed that four hours of sleep were enough for him to be fit and fresh. He was a bundle of energy. He even ran the Chennai marathon a couple of months ago. His demise is such a shock to all who knew him," said a source who knew him closely.

Das led all the market-facing functions for SAP on the Indian subcontinent. He was also responsible for crafting the enterprise application major's go-to-market strategy, driving customer satisfaction and managing the profit and loss for all revenue-generating functions including software sales, consulting, support and education.

Before joining SAP India in July 2007, he worked with InterSystems Corporation, Kenan Systems and Oracle Corporation in the US, and also founded a company of his own, Patkai Networks, in Silicon Valley.

Das grew up in Guwahati and moved to Indore to join Daly College on a government scholarship. After class 12, he received a full scholarship to study at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and engineering, and also studied creative writing and film alongside.

He later got his MBA from Harvard Business School. He also attended an executive education program at INSEAD in France. But his interests extended far beyond work--he was a football fan, loved writing short stories and essays, and was even planning to make a movie in association with a film-maker friend.

Das's father, who worked for the government of Assam, passed away a few years ago. His mother lives in Guwahati. He also has two younger siblings. He is survived by his wife Roopa, who is a feature writer with Verve Magazine, and two children aged two and 10.

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