“Abu” Chotu used to call me, that is Granddad; and this is “Ammamma” – that is Grandmother. When Chotu was born, 4th May 1999, Ammamma lifted him up; the first one who took care of this little hero; the grand hero - Chotu. I cant believe; we cant believe, that this boy is no more with us; absolutely I cant believe that he is no more with us. Excellent boy. Apart from his intelligence that has been described, he doesn’t have any ego at all. He can move around with anyone, perfectly, with no egos and in Hyderabad, where we live, he used to be a computer wizard. When Sid was 9—10 year old boy, people used to call him – “Hey Sid, how about repairing this computer?”. He used to go to anybody’s house and help them set up their computer. Such an intelligent boy. I would like to share as he has grown up; I don’t know I think his dad has to describe. He has established a company, called Aura. After his graduation from Georgetown University, he was interviewed by his colleague. Apart from the technology, he gave a small message to the friends of Georgetown University, in this interview, which we will play now. 


Can you imagine this handsome boy is no more with us ? Can you imagine ? I have to learn from him. Now, as he has established the company, Aura, a small presentation, rather a brochure was made by Sid and I request Arpitha to summarize and say a few words. 


 Arpitha’s words – I was going to say some of the words that Sid wrote about his company and it’s just an example of how passionate he was and how inspired he was. He said, “He’d become captivated by the thought of capturing a moment for what it was; not what we want it to be but to capture the emotion and energy of the moment and to capture it’s Aura”. His company hoped to allow people to take moments and experience them in ways that they never did before, using voice and emotion recognition software to create dynamic art, to capture the emotional depth of the experience you embark on. And he had a quote on his company’s website which said. “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” 


Can you ever imagine that this boy is no more with us ? A bright, intelligent, extraordinary brilliance. We are going to miss him now. We are going to miss him. I don’t know. Among the four, that is, Sid, Viggi, Arpitha and Ankitha, they were the four pillars of the cot; one leg is gone now. I hope these three will be able to manage and go ahead in life. I pray to God - May the soul rest in peace. 

First and foremost, I want to thank everybody for coming for the celebration of my brother. I am Vignesh; a lot of you know me as Viggi, but a lot of you also know me as “Mini Sid”. I don’t know where this nickname came from. Maybe it’s the ravishing good looks we both share or the fact that my face was able to be used to unlock his phone for FaceID….it actually worked. But the reason, I was called “Mini Sid”, is because, everytime I would meet someone, I would my best to be exactly like him. – whether that’s his very contagious laugh or just using words that I genuinely don’t know the meaning of, I’d try and copy everything he did. But no matter how many habits or hobbies that I tried to pick up, as you can imagine, I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t be like him. 


My brother, among countless things, was my protector. He was my ally, and he was my warrior; but he was also my caretaker. He was my helping hand and in my mind, he was the perfect older brother. 


Every year, my brother and I tried to make one trip; just the two of us or with some other people, and we’d do something fun. And next year we planned to go skiing in Japan in just over a month. And every trip was filled with laughter, adventure and experiences, I don’t have the words to describe. Last year, my brother and I went to Austria and we went skiing with a few friends. After hours of skiing, my brother and I were on our last run down from the mountain and I saw him when I was at the base of the mountain, slowly make his way down the slope; until it wasn’t slow anymore. The next thing I knew, he was three inches from my face and he crashed right into me. As we both fell on the snow, we looked at each other, as we barely got up, and spent the next 5 minutes just laughing and rolling on the snow; that’s all it was. We didn’t say anything to each other. All we did was just laugh. 


Laughter was only one of the few things that my brother brought to everybody. He brought love, wittiness, style, intelligence, charm, just to name a few. One of the most extraordinary feats and characteristics of my brother was his ability to bring people together and even though he isn’t trying right now, he has brought everyone who loved him together, to celebrate his life. I don’t think I ever told my brother, how lucky I was to have him as my older brother. But I know today, he is listening; and will forever be my protector; forever be my guardian angel.


From the petty competitiveness, to the life changing experiences that he brought me and lessons that he imparted on me, he was able to show the world and show me how to navigate it. Even though, he isn’t  here physically to make fun of me, or hold it over that he is slightly taller than me, I know he will always look down on me, he will always look down on my mom, he will always look down on my dad and he will look down on everyone here. 


I started my life wanting to be just like my brother. My first words, mispronouncing “Anna”, to give him his name “Anni”; and I will continue my life striving in every aspect to be just like him. My brave, loyal, goofy brother, I love you with every part of myself and one day, I’ll see you at the top of Mount Fuji, ready for the adventure of a lifetime. 

Sid was the cousin boss. The big brother, the one who called the shots, the director, visionary, and editor for every cousin production we made- ‘the shows’ He was the person we could go to who would have the answers. 

From Anki’s perspective Sid always saw her to her fullest potential. Whether it was letting her be the executive chef while he supported her behind the scenes or being the cheerleader for all of her goals. He inspired her to strive for her dream job in New York. He always had an idea and a plan to support the people he loved.

Sid and I were the two older siblings. Viggi and Anki looked up to us, but he was the oldest and I looked up to him. He was the most adventurous, the most eloquent, the most generous. He was the one who spearheaded our helicopter trip to a glacier in Alaska; He was the first one down the zipline, and the one who advocated for us whenever the four of us wanted to do anything together. When I saw him two weeks ago, he spoke about his job, and his life in New York, and his family with so much passion and affection. I’ve learned so much from him about how to live a life filled with love and fulfillment and I will continue to learn so much more from him, from his life and from his aura and I love him so much.

I never imagined I’d have to make this speech before you did. 

Sid, you were sensational 
You weren’t just meant to be great. You were made to be like no one else ever was before. 
Even through our tears, you twinkle. 

We began in that empty room in Bari, under loud vents with dusty residue, of a school built and put on Google Maps just yesterday. 

You were magnetic. 
Within hours, the four of us pledged the rest of our lives – From pacts to hide the body to our 75% rule. I guess for life was true. I just thought we’d have more time. 

You were legendary. 
You wanted to live it up, and live it up you did. You were a trailblazer – we dreamed more for you than we did for ourselves. You were our shield – thank you for your loyalty, and your strength you shared with us. 

You were an adventurer – from tales of Xiamen to chugging and exploring on a Changshu bus, to appertivos on a Tuscany tower. 
With you, we could do everything 

You were a born filmmaker 
Under your direction, we’d recreate crazy scenes in different cities. With you, we never felt lost. You’d ensure we’d always be the same. 

In Amsterdam, you spoke about how living like a local everywhere you’d go made you crave a home. For many of us, home was where you were. 

You would do the most for the ones you loved; your love was so detailed. There was the time, with help from a closest, you lit fireworks for a girl. The time you left your friend a flower and a first drink cap dated with your names. The time you wined and dined another for a night to show her what it meant to be treated right. You were so thoughtful. 
With you, we felt safe. 

You were the best storyteller. 
A night out, narrated in your voice was like watching a motion picture. As we listened, we became vivid voyagers. 

You were the one we’d talk to for hours.
Serendipitous fourteen hour flights from San Francisco to Shanghai getting to know a dear one. Dawn talks by the Bund with your best friend, showing him the Golden Gate Bridge. 

From flight to familiar, conversations with you flew the same route. Your cadences and gestures; You’d always feel so close. 

You were a connector who loved to merge your worlds, threaded by love and respect. You’d introduce us to each other by the things about us you loved most. In a way, that’d make us stand taller. You were our glue. 

You never saw yourself as an artist, but you were. 
Remember that day at Washington Square Park ? Hundreds of New Yorkers had painted joy, fear, sorrow, anger and surprise on those canvases; 
You painted New York city, you painted us. 

As big as you were, thank you for loving the small ways we are. 
You loved us for our deep and our dumb, our carefree and pure. 
I hope you knew the best you sought in us was because of you. 

You saw and were everyday magic
I loved that about you. How you’d get giddy when telling a story. How you’d overuse thw word “basically” 
How you’d stare into space and smile for reasons you didn’t know. 
How you’d laugh after. Every particle of you glittered. 

You were so human, so beautiful. You believed to the day; you lived life to fullest. You fully embraced your life for the up and down journey it was. 

Sid, I never imagined a world without you. We had so many more dreams to make real. We were always supposed to be this way. 

I would have known you ten years this time next year. For our squad reunion you were going to “send it”. 
Without you ? How ? Where to ? What do we even do ?

Where you can’t find reason, find poetry. 

May the Sid-shaped holes in our hearts never fade – may they transform our terrains. May your legacy etch love and light into our landscapes. 

You dreamed large and lived larger. We will remember you this way. 

We lay you to rest here in New York City where the first snow of the year fell for you on Tuesday. You wanted your tomnstone to say “My life was a movie”. It certainly was. I hope it’s your favorite one to watch from above. 

Take this love with you, and we will, yours. 

I had the privilege of knowing Sid for 3 years at Georgetown and in NYC. First we were roommates at Copley, and later on P street, with Taymor, at a house we grew to love. Our relationship was the product of sheer fate, as some of you might know. I was a transfer student who moved to Copley; I moved into his space. And Sid’s embrace of this new person in his life is emblematic of who he was; someone open to new ideas, experiences, and people.

A self described globalist, Sid grew up a true citizen of the world, something I always looked at; I always admired that. This was evident when traveling with him internationally, which I was lucky enough to do, on a few occasions. He not only knew every country in the world, he knew every city in the world and he knew every airport in the world, if you wanted to go somewhere. He knows the Milan airport is closer than the other one, so he made sure he let me know that MXP was a lot further away than the other one. He also had this infatuation with United because he got the points. Some of you might remember, if you had flown with Sid, it’s an Emirates flight for half the group and it’s Sid on the United flight, getting the points. We loved him. We still do.  This constant motion helped mold Sid into someone who grew to appreciate different cultures and walks of life.

Sid was a big thinker, who had the intellect to convert his dreams into reality. As we spoke about earlier, his tech company Aura, the convergence of his interests in tech and art, and was an example of this impressive quality, that you don’t always find in people with big dreams. He spent his Georgetown years connecting deeply with those around him, and living his life to the fullest, as I got to experience and many others did as well. 


Sid also possessed introspection and wisdom, emphasizing the establishment, as we saw earlier, of "pillars of stability" in his life via small habits and routines, exemplified by his immaculate room. I would have thought he had gone to boarding school at a military academy looking at that room. I guess it was UWC Day. I would always go upstairs and see his room and come back down and see my room and feel really bad about myself and I’m competitive. So, I’d start cleaning my room. He also meditated each day and this is not something he shared with everybody but it’s stuff that he kept to himself and valued a lot. My friendship with Sid evolved through many experiences, from that first Copley interaction to our graduation to a Friendsgiving last week, where we were all together, forming the bedrock of my connection. In turn, Sid emerged as a pillar in my life - a figure that I admired, respected, and cherished.

Sid, I will miss you so much. Thank you. 

When I first met Sid, five years ago, I could never have fathomed the depth of love and friendship that would blossom between us. Since we first met, Sid has been my sanctuary, my safe place and the source of much of my happiness. The moment I saw him for the first time,  I fell in love with his aura, his calm disposition, his incredible wit and intellect and  his beautiful bright eyes. He was always brimming with charisma. 

Throughout the course of our friendship, Sid became the strongest link on the chain of my life abroad. He was my home and he made me realize that home is a notion that transcends the physical. 

He blessed me and our friends our Georgetown with vivid emotions, he nurtured our souls, and deepened our spirits. He would be tender and loving when I needed support, but firm and assertive when I needed guidance. 

I have never met a more honorable man than Sid. When Sid made a promise, that promise would transpire. He never lied. He took responsibility for his actions. He was generous, forgiving and kind. He was never fast to anger, always patient, composed and in control. 
In his life, full of strength, integrity and understanding, Sid undoubtedly would have made an extraordinary father. 

He had big dreams and a moral compass to guide him as he pursued them. Sid had revolutionary ideas. He had the rare ability to bring people together in pursuit of his ideas, and the discipline to lead and execute them. He was just excellent. I know he would have changed the world. 

Sid, your voice will never fade in my memory. I am grateful for you. I love you with all my heart. 

“Dude, do you know where ICC room 141 is ?” 
“No, I’m still trying to figure that out.” 

Together, Sid and I continued our pursuit, navigating the maze of Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, searching for our Art History lesson and hoping to not be tardy on the first day of Fall classes. 

This was my very first interaction with Sid; a story he loved to tell. Little did I know that in many ways, it would be the birth of the most important and meaningful friendship of my life. 

As a friend, Sid was reliable. He was there for all of us, when we needed him most, supporting his loved ones with grace and effortlessness. 

As an individual, Sid was unique. He had a creative spirit and saw the world through a gentle and beautiful lens unlike anyone that I have met. His beauty matched with his ambition and discipline made him a total force to be reckoned with. He was going to make the world a better place, of that I am sure. 

Yet in many ways, he already has. Sid will be with us now more than ever. And his memory will always push us all to pursue excellence while keeping in mind the most important things in life: family, friendship, kindness and love. 

Sid, I love you so much. I promise I will never forget you. 

And I want to make a quick side note; I forgot a bit of this and it has to do with Sid’s pursuit of academia. I was always, quite frankly flabbergasted by his intellectual prowess and would often times come to see him on the top floor studying International Political Economy, a class that flabbergasted me;  and again, it was this discipline combined with the creative spirit that gave him the innate ability I think, to change the world for the better. 

My name is Derek Hu. I’ve been a friend of the Sundaram family for almost 2 decades, which has given me the opportunity to see Sid grow up from his childhood days. Over the years, my family and I have spent special times together with Archana, Mahesh, Sid and his brother Vignesh. 

Personally, I feel like I am one of his Uncle’s, also an Older Brother, close friend and luckily we even became colleagues. As an ‘uncle’ we shared a lot of family moments, he would come to my home in New York for meals, and to spend time with my wife and daughters and he’d tell us about his trips, and vacations with his family and grandparents. He would not only share about his fantastic life around the world, but as we love food, he would speak volumes about the home cooked meals he had from his grandparents and Archana; you could really feel how happy he was to grow up in this family, full of love.

Speaking from the role, maybe as an older brother and close friend, Sid shared unique stories with me and you know when you speak to him, he always opened his heart and mind. We’d discuss our opinions about his love for music, art, culture, sometimes the girlfriends in his life, I treasured getting to know him deeply as a young boy, teenager and a mature man and found myself always learning from a very thoughtful person and even more than a few times living vicariously through Sid.

In the more recent few years, we worked together. I must say that we’ve always been been impressed  by his talent, fast learning, responsibility, creativity and team work. He is the only person I have known that went from an intern to becoming an important pillar in our company. He is the kind of a strong backboned person who always gave straightforward feedback and we all strongly believe that Sid had a bright future ahead.  In fact, he has already moved our team and business towards a brighter future, his influence has imprinted a lasting impression into how we have been and will grow into the future.

One of the most precious examples from Sid that has been truly inspiring, was how he communicates and influences all kinds of people, especially my teenage daughters. Learning from this young man with patience and maturity beyond his years how he could inspire and connect with these tough teenagers, even if he did know them their first 100 days a babies.  Sid was an elder brother caring about how they were doing, advising them on schools, and how to think positively as an older brother would do. Truly my family has been so fortunate to have him in their lives.

I want to finish with an imagery that I thought made sense of Sid’s spirit: Have you ever lit a match stick and followed the process of how it lights to become a bright flame? There is a period, right after you strike the match head, where it kind of explodes with this intensity, the flames shooting out and it evens comes with an impressive sound. Sid was just in this stage, his life and spirit was this intense brilliant and beautiful explosion of heat and light that affected and impressed everyone he encountered. I actually found this out quite some time ago. I remember very clearly when I lived in Shanghai, there was this 16 years old high school kid, coming to Shanghai by himself and I met Sid for dinner on the Bund. During the dinner, I asked him what he wanted to do later in his life, and he told me that he enjoyed the projects at school that involved social impact and caring for the betterment of others. Sid, though you are gone way too early, you have achieved your goal, you’ve made us all better in so many ways. It’s so difficult to see such an impressive flame be extinguished right before you had the chance to become your brightest light. You are forever in our hearts.

Thank you all for coming this evening for this memorial service for our darling son Sid. Today, we have people who have traveled far and wide to be here – all the way from Australia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, India, Paris, London and all over the United States. We thank you for your support and solidarity at this time as our family is enveloped in insurmountable grief. Some of you who are here, knew Sid extremely well. Some of you never met him but heard about him. Some of you heard about him just this past week after his passing. One would wonder, how long can a tribute for a person, who was 24 years old, possibly be. Let me tell you, it can be many years long because it was Sid and he loved life and really lived it. On that note, let me not spend those many years, but some time to tell all of you something about Sid and hopefully even those of you who knew him well, would learn something new about our son. 

From the day he was born, Sid touched and changed many lives. He became the purpose for my parents to continue to live because they had experienced tragedy, just before he was born. So, from the very beginning and all through his life, he brought people and families together and gave them purpose.  He did this effortlessly, every time, all the time, in the very short time he was with us. We would often be complemented about how well brought up he was and we would always wonder why we are being showered with complements and what role we had played, in Sid becoming what he was. For us, it was a mystery, as to where he got the great qualities that he possessed. We wished we had his qualities. Qualities that were developed based on a strong value system that he believed in – having freedom of thought and action; being a fountain of knowledge; accepting people as they are; trusting. being trustworthy and loyal; and most importantly having empathy and care for his family, friends and loved ones.  

Sid was an extraordinary individual and our pride. 

Sid adapted quickly to the changing environments around him as a child as we moved around the world as a family – from Hong Kong to Australia to the United States and China. He left home at the tender age of 16 to finish high school. As he went through his education, he was academically strong and attended premier institutions like the United World College and Georgetown University. He built knowledge, learning and developing a broad set of skills very quickly. At times, as a student, he was a non conformist. He made us proud with his achievements. 

As a professional, he had a mind of his own and vision for what he wanted to create in the world. He did not want to be on the conventional professional path. He always told us “I don’t want to travel down the beaten path”.  He was an innovator and a disruptor and wanted to change the world. He dreamt big and thought clearly. He was a gifted and natural leader. 

An early entrepreneur, Sid started Aura Digital when he was a Junior in College. He had a vision for the intersection of the worlds of digital art and blockchain technology and started to realize it. In the world of Education Technology, during his stint at Eduworks, he worked on efforts for the company to leapfrog and make major transitions such as moving from services to products. In the world of cryptocurrency, where he spent a very short period of time, he was well liked and respected for his knowledge and currency, in this rapidly changing field. Customers and Partners wanted to work with him. Employers wanted to hire him. He made people around him smarter. With each of these accomplishments he made us proud. 

Sid brought joy to us and everyone around us and him. 

He was very grateful and thankful to have the good fortunes and opportunity that he had – a good education, a stable and nice family, a worldly upbringing. He developed a world view; considered himself a global citizen and developed a regard and respect for people from all walks of life, all over the world. He never stopped telling us how thankful he was for having Archana and me as parents and how he was grateful for how we had set him up for success; and whilst we may have done some things right, most of that credit goes to his own drive to achieve success. He loved life and enjoyed the joys life gave him. He had an incredible spirit of travel and adventure and experienced every nook and corner of the world. He was in Africa to teach English to students in Zambia and see the Victoria Falls; while also visiting several cities in Europe - in France, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Albania. He planned and came on vacations with us to several parts of the world which included Costa Rica, Norway and Sicily. He travelled far and wide with his brother to Machu Pichu and the Austrian Alps to have great times and ensure his brother had the time of his life. He had a great sense of style and fashion; great taste as he capitalized on his great looks and charmed young women. Someone told me yesterday – “everyone had a crush on Sid.” He lived life to the fullest. Sid was incredibly witty and very funny. He made us laugh with his narratives and anecdotes. He often told us “Girls don’t like me because I’m good looking; they like me because I’m funny” – so much for modesty. 

Now, let me tell you about his relationship with Archana – his mom. He loved his mom and had one of the best relationships a son could possibly have with his mother. “Oh Mom – you’re so cool; you’re so cute” – was always heard in the hallways of our homes. “Oh Dad – mom understands these issues so much better and is able to provide the right advice and guidance; you don’t seem to get it at all.”  And while I once got a really nice jacket to help me with the weather in the Bay Area, there was never an instance where he traveled or visited us, without a nice gift for his mom. He always knew what his mom would like – a sweater, aromatic candles, stylistic clothing. And when he visited us last in Austria in October and found that his mom had not used the gift that he gave her when he saw her on the previous occasion, he rushed to get her a pair of AirPods and said “I know you will use these, and when you wear them, everyday on your walks, you will always remember me”. His mom meant the world to him. And to Archana, Sid was her first born and her children will always be the world. 

For me personally, he was my go to guy – if I wanted to know about something or learn something, I would call Sid. If I wanted to get guidance and counsel on a decision, I would call Sid and count on his wisdom. If I wanted a recommendation on a movie, a TV show or a music artist, I would call Sid. Even if it was a small thing, like writing a document or creating a nice image, I would call Sid. If there was a serious situation in the family, where we could not handle things ourselves, we called Sid and he would be there – any day, all day, all the time – by our side - with his sound advice and counsel.  He was our pillar of strength and energy. 

Sid was everything we could have wished for in a son. 

But now he is not here for me and I wonder what I would do without him. I wonder what Vignesh, Archana and the rest of the family would do as they counted on Sid to look after them. I  wonder what all of his mates, who looked up to him and sought his counsel and company would do. I guess we all have to – as Sid would say – “figure it out”. But he leaves behind an unfillable void. 

Let me end with something for all of the young men and women, who are gathered in this room, to think about. Sid achieved so many things in his very short time on earth – academically, socially and professionally. Most people, and I am speaking from experience – a very large percentage of people - would not get there in three times that time. So, on that theme I quote from “The Psalm of Life” – “Lives of great men all remind us. We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time” 

So, if any of you are looking for how to be a good grand child, a good child, a good sibling, a good friend and a trusted business associate,
take a leaf out of Sid’s incredible life, and you have a good shot of achieving those goals. 

Once again, I cannot thank all of you enough for being with us at this time. 
I will end with one last request for all of you – and this is a request that Sid would have had “Be there for Viggi –my bro” 

Thank you. 

We now invite you for the viewing of our Sid. Those of you who would like to do so, you could place a flower as an offering, a tribute. Please pray for his soul to have everlasting peace. 






FAMILY
FRIENDS
EDUCATORS