"I heard about it today. It is awfully sad... Who can imagine someone like him ending his life in such a tragic way," said Mamata Shankar, Bengali actress, who featured in Anthony Bourdain's 2006 TV series No Reservations (India: Kolkata/Bombay). She recollects, "At the time, I was shooting in Kolkata for a serial called Tithir Atithi. He had come over to our set...

"He was a happy Frenchman, consumed by food. We ate together that afternoon and he surprised me with his knowledge of Bengali food. He was a khaddo rashik (gourmand). I told him about my father (Uday Shankar) and uncle (Pandit Ravi Shankar). He was familiar with their work. I was surprised how much he knew about my family." She added, "I have never forgotten that afternoon... Of course, we never crossed paths after that, but men like him are difficult to come by."