Remembering Ravi

Ravindranath (Ravi) Ponnapureddy, Head, Sustainable Transportation at WRI India, breathed his last on May 31, 2021 after a long and valiant fight against COVID-19.

Born on January 16, 1978 in a small village in India, Ravi moved to USA in 2000, to fulfil his dreams and aspirations. He earned his Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and called Louisiana his home away from home for 18 years.

Ravi moved back to India in 2020 with the dream of establishing a technical school, for underprivileged children, that would introduce novel methods for teaching vocational abilities. However, during his brief stint in India, he contracted the COVID-19 virus and eventually succumbed to post-COVID lung failure and other secondary infections.

Ravi was an accomplished transport planning professional with a deep and abiding passion for justice and equity. Ravi was especially keen to apply his global learnings to improve public transport in underserved Indian cities. A leader and a team player, Ravi enjoyed mentoring young professionals and was greatly admired by all who worked with him across his career span.

Ravi loved his family dearly and was a great motivator to everyone around him. He approached life with a smile and lead by example with his calm demeanour - coaching his children and his colleagues to “stay strong and be cool.” Ravi loved life - he played a variety of sports, was a community organizer and most of all a favourite of children. He always knew how to grab their attention and used fun moments as teachable opportunities.

We are deeply saddened by his untimely demise that’s a massive loss to his friends, his colleagues and the transport community as a whole. Our prayers and wishes are with his wife Sujatha and his two young daughters.

The Annual Dialogue on Public Transport Planning is a small step to honour Ravi's memory and continue building on his legacy of improving public transport.