Hello Sudheendraji,
I am yet to know the exact reason. I believe he had suffered with cancer a few years ago (which was not spoken about much) but recovered. Maybe there were some complications this time around. I have not been active off late and so interactions with him had been few and far in between. I think he was among the more regular people to post on this group so there will be further silence.
He was a strong part of the civic activism landscape and it will feel difficult to acknowledge his absence for a while though most of civic activism has anyways been falling apart in the past few years. The coast was very dear to him and he (all of us) had been on the loosing end on that front.
While on the coast I am reminded of one of the more memorable of last interactions with him in the last few years.
https://youtu.be/DmR1_vnWQNI
In 2017 we were on a panel discussion to discuss Amitav Ghoshs book where I think I was harsh over all on the support more for journalists and writers and less for activists who actually work on the issues nuts and bolts.
Regards,
Rishi