30/01/2023
ജയൻ വിടപറയുമ്പോൾ......
Our beloved Jayan is no more with us, but his legacy lives on through his unique imprint he left on those around him.
Jayan G P was a brilliant student of the 1987-90 batch of Computer Engineering at Govt. Polytechnic College Pala, who went on to become an extremely talented software engineer.
Jayan Greenhouse Pylo was born on April 28, 1972, to Sri. Pylo and Smt. Aniekutty, a couple in Kannankara village near Thanneermukkom in Cherthalai Taluk, Alappuzha District.
He started his career with Keltron as an apprentice. Jayan along with Biju S K, a 1989-92 batch alumnus of GPC Pala, and Sreekumar A, an alumnus of GPC Kalamasserry, were identified by Pradeep Kumar as computer engineers with exceptional technical talent and problem-solving skills. Keltron was the best public sector organization in India in Electronics during 1990s and Pradeep Kumar was an award-winning senior engineer who had tremendous experience in high-tech projects of Hitachi Japan. Pradeep's involvement led to Jayan and his friends moving to NeST (now QuEST) at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, and later Jayan moved to NTT Japan. Another GPC Pala alumnus Biju S is also joined NeST in a short span of time. Biju S was a close friend and diploma project partner of Jayan, and together they developed a compiler using the C programming language during their studies at GPC Pala. It was these four intelligent brains who made diploma holders acceptable to IT companies based in Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram.
To complete the story, I must mention Jayan's brief professional experience before joining NeST and after his time at Keltron. He was hired by Mr. Theodore, a former Keltron engineer, for his new company, Softvision, located in Vytila, Ernakulam. Jayan's first task at Softvision was to create a print spooler as an extension for Microsoft DOS. A few small enterprises in Kerala purchased the print spooler as it enabled them to use their computers with printing jobs in the background. Now, it is a standard feature in all operating systems. Months later, in the summer of 1994, Jayan was offered the opportunity to work on an Indo-Canadian project in collaboration with Sreerama Polytechnic College in Valappad. During this period, he taught advanced programming subjects and his enthusiasm inspired some talented diploma students, including Veenus, Biju C S, and Basil, who would later become his colleagues in Japan.
According to his close associates, Jayan was a computer engineer with a strong foundation in mathematics and electronics. His schoolmate and neighbor, Joshymon, still recalls his radio wave experiments during school days. Veenus remembers his computer graphics and geometry skills when he first spoke about a Keltron-Hitachi project that was more optimized than AutoCAD of those days. When he joined Japanese Telecom, he was known for his cryptography skills. Interestingly, Jayan took a brave U-turn to focus on economics and investment banking. He became a certified Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from an American institute and joined Lehman Brothers, which was the largest bank in the world at the time. He was a prominent algorithmic expert at Lehman Brothers, where his trading algorithms written in C++ continue to be used in international markets to handle millions of dollars among various investors. With his background as an economist and his in-depth knowledge of mathematics and engineering, he was known as a analytical thinker among his colleagues, capable of providing precise analysis on a wide range of socio-political and financial issues, from demonetization to the attention surrounding the RRR movie.
Jayan met and fell in love with Miho Kawaguchi in Japan and they got married in 2000. Later, he relocated with his family to Singapore, where he continued to excel in his career at Squarepoint Capital and make a positive impact on those around him.
As a junior student of Jayan in college, I had the opportunity to interact with him frequently. As I was a student activist, he often discussed current sociopolitical issues with me. At the same time, he also helped some of my classmates with their studies. I should also acknowledge our teachers at GPC Pala at the time, Sri. Mathukutty sir, Sri. Panickar Sir, and Sri. Raveendaran Pillai sir, along with other instructors, for inspiring him to overcome all the infrastructure challenges faced in the college. He was unique to each person who interacted with him, adapting his approach to their individual interests.
Jayan was a person who left an indelible mark on everyone he interacted with. He was an innovative thinker who had a remarkable ability to explain complex concepts in simple terms. He was known for his intelligence and his kind and humble nature.
Despite his success, Jayan remained humble and was a dedicated husband and father to his family. He maintained close contact with his sister Jisha, niece, and nephew throughout his time living abroad. His daughter, Sonia, is pursuing a master's degree in Tokyo, and his son, Roy, has recently completed his high school education in Singapore. Jayan had plans to move to London with his family and further his son's education there.
Jayan had a unique personality and a deep love for thought-provoking movies. He developed this passion during his school and college days. In a conversation with Sreekumar and Veenus last month, Jayan thanked director Aravindan for his brilliant movies in the Malayalam language. He admired P. Padmarajan for his short stories, screenplays, and films, as well as actor Kamal Haasan for his versatile acting. His favorite movies included Tarkovsky's "Mirror," "Solaris," and "Stalker," as well as Yasujiro Ozu's "Late Spring," "Early Summer," and "Tokyo Story”. He was an ardent fan of Malayalam playback singer P Madhuri. He used to sing her song written by M D Rajendran and composed by Devarajan master, “Himasaila saikatha bhoomiyil…” from the movie “Salini Ente Koottukari”, during casual meetings with close friends. By explaining the unique meaning of its last stanza, which is written below, he would say that solitude is the most intolerant situation that one has to go through.
“കാലം ഘനീഭൂതമായ്നില്ക്കുമക്കര
കാണാക്കയങ്ങളിലൂടെ
എങ്ങോട്ടുപോയി ഞാന് എന്റെ സ്മൃതികളേ
നിങ്ങള് വരില്ലയോ കൂടെ
നിങ്ങള്വരില്ലയോ കൂടെ?"
As mentioned earlier he had brilliant and strong viewpoints in economics, sociopolitical, and cultural arenas, and possessed a high level of spirituality, although he was not particularly enthusiastic about religious rituals.
Jayan's passing on January 20th, 2023, has left a void in the hearts of all who knew him. He lived a meaningful life that touched the lives of many, and his legacy will live on through the memories he created. His untimely death was a shock to everyone, but he will always be remembered as a brilliant and kind person who positively influenced those around him.
Jayan's last rites were held at St. James Church Paloothara, near Thanneermukom, Alappuzha District, on January 28th, 2023, and he was cremated thereafter. His wife and children will take a part of his ashes to Tokyo, where they will live, and the rest will remain in the family sepulcher along with his ancestors. His classmates from GPC Pala, such as Biju U M, Johnson, and Saji G S, as well as his colleagues Biju S K, Veenus, Sreekumar A, Biju C S, Sreekumar K P, Pamitha, Shaffi, Joshymon and Sunil Krishnan (GPC Pala Alumnus 1993-1996), and many others, including his first mentor, Pradeep Kumar, at NeST, all with heavy hearts attended the last rites.
I was fortunate to have connected with a few of his friends and neighbors and got to know more in detail about him. He may have left this world, but the memories he created will remain, and he will always be remembered and missed by those who knew him. My dear friend Jayan, you will always be the proud star of Pala Govt. Polytechnic. May our beloved Jayan rest in peace.
- Pratheep Kumar P
Head of Department
(Computer Engineering)
Govt Polytechnic College Pala,
