Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan shared a heart-warming post on LinkedIn on the occasion of Mother’s Day about his mother’s (Bhama Narasimhan) influence on his life. Narasimhan shared that his mother’s passing left a big void in his life, but added that her influence lives on to inspire him every day.
The 56-year-old executive, in a blog post, shared that his mother instilled faith in him for all religions despite being a Hindu. “She said choose any path, there’s many that lead to God. No place for hate. Only space for love and kindness,” he wrote, adding that “mother was the lighthouse” for him.
In his note titled “My Mother: I am who I am and where I am because of her and our family,” Narasimhan said that despite all kinds of health issues, his mother lived life to the fullest and taught to look at the bright side.
Further sharing that despite losing two children and her husband by the age of 48, he added that his mother remained the backbone of their family. She dedicated her life to children, working as a kindergarten teacher for many years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the mother-son lived together and created sweet memories. “I ran a company and cleaned the house. She made me meals, and we played Rummicube together and watched Indian TV serials.”
Narasimhan, who was previously the CCO of PepsiCo, also highlighted the bond that his wife and mother shared. “She loved my wife like the daughter she once had. My wife gave so much over 27 years to take care of her right to the end,” he wrote.
The CEO of Starbucks also mentioned that he learnt the meaning of “living a life of duty” from his mother. The Pune-born executive recalled, “She moved in to live with us in 1997 and never left our side, helping us raise two amazing kids. She stood by them through thick and thin- like she did for me- walking the streets of Bombay to the various scholarship houses to collect the money they said they’d give me while I studied in Philadelphia. Our difficult financial situation did not stop her from asking me to go to study- and she watched as I sold my car and one of the three paintings my father left me to take a bet and go to America.”
He concluded his blog by saying that “mothers do incredible things,” and that it was his first Mother’s Day without her.