Niranjan Nicholas Rajaratnam was born in Mumbai, India on April 4, 1962. Nicknamed “Nicky” as a child, he was energetic and irresistibly drawn to mischief: he loved teasing his sisters, occasionally stole road signs to hide in his room, and once swam the sewage-filled Cooum River on a dare, emerging triumphant and steeped in its stench.

He attended the Lawrence School, Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, and the Coimbatore Institute of Technology, making close lifelong friends at each. After graduating college, he briefly trained with the Indian Army’s Paratrooper Corps before deciding to continue his education in the United States. After failing the university entrance exam twice in his hometown of Chennai, he moved in with his sister in Mumbai to study and take it again, betting that the national record-keeping system wasn’t robust enough to track an illegal third attempt from a different city. He was correct.

He enrolled in a Master’s program in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan in 1985. A year in, he caught the eye of a Korean undergraduate named Jina - she noticed the orange jacket he wore confidently, a hand-me-down from a friend’s sister, and his laugh, always the loudest in the college cafeteria. He thought she was beautiful, and made the first move over winter break by following her to the piano practice room and asking her to play him a Christmas carol. Weeks later, he sang “Lady in Red” to her while they slow-danced in her dorm room, and she knew she was in love.

Niranjan moved to Boston after he graduated in 1987, picking up part-time work as a YMCA security guard and Budget rental car agent while sending out hundreds of fruitless job applications. For the rest of his life, he would keep the 425 rejection letters he received during this period as a reminder of his own rebellious and unshakable optimism.

Jina joined him after her own graduation a few months later, and on January 18, 1989 they were wed in the basement of a local Chinese restaurant, with their parents and a few close friends in attendance. Later that year, Jina received a job offer from IBM in California. They moved to the Silicon Valley, where they would settle for good.

At the time of the move, Niranjan had no programming knowledge, but somehow convinced an interviewer that he could learn C on the job. His first boss nicknamed him “Ninja” for his surprise ability to “kill it.” From there he continued to teach himself how to code, eventually starting his own software development agency in 1994. At its peak, Creatus employed over 200 people, many of whom were sponsored immigrants from abroad who then settled in the United States. He continued to run Creatus until its sale in 2018.

Outside of work, Niranjan devoted time in service to God and his church community. He was a pillar of Pathway Bible Church, where he would crack dad jokes while sharing weekly announcements and inviting people to stay for donuts after service. He was active in youth ministry and a leader in both church small groups and his local Bible Study Fellowship. For some years, he also participated in a weekly breakfast for the unhoused population of San Jose, passing out invitations downtown on Saturdays and spending Sunday morning cooking, serving food, and sitting with guests to hear their stories while they ate.

He never lost his childhood energy. He played basketball often, pulled his kids out of bed at 5:30am to swim laps at the YMCA during summer vacations, and picked up mountain biking in his last decade. In 2018, he and his biking group summited Maui’s Haleakala (72 mi, 10K elevation).

He loved trying new things, and would never back down from a challenge. When his youngest daughter brought home a two-wheel skateboard, he was the first to learn how to ride it. And when he decided to learn how to play the clarinet at age 50, he practiced faithfully until he could make recognizable music.

He was fascinated by the world and all its inhabitants. He would whoop and cheer while watching nature documentaries, sometimes jumping out of his seat during particularly tense moments. He read the news daily, and would always have a story to tell at the dinner table about current events or local drama.

He was generous to a fault, giving freely of his time and resources to those he loved. Once when he returned from a trip to India, Jina was dismayed to learn that he had given her wedding gift to him, a watch, to a dear friend who had casually complimented it.

He was a hilarious dancer, all swinging arms and boundless enthusiasm. And the loud, free laugh that caught Jina’s attention in their youth remained his signature.

Throughout his life he stayed close to his extended family, making frequent visits to India and calling his mother every week for over 35 years. He delighted in his Whatsapp group chats with friends from his school years, and would spend up to an hour every day chuckling over their inside jokes and memes. He loved his sisters and brother dearly, and cheered them and their families on in all their endeavors.

Niranjan was an active and loving father, and raised three children who adored him. He was both the calm support amidst fits of teenage petulance and the comic relief from the stresses of school and work. He believed in them unfailingly, and was always there when they needed him.

At the time of his 2020 diagnosis with glioblastoma, doctors estimated he had two years to live. His trademark stubbornness kept him going well beyond that. Undeterred by two brain surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, he continued his work as a program manager at Apple and used his vacation time to hike the Grand Canyon, ride his motorcycle ~350 miles from Chennai to Ooty with his siblings in tow, and visit each of his children in Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City. He refused to make a bucket list, saying that he had lived his life exactly the way he had wanted, and insisted on savoring the time he had left in “thin slices.”

Niranjan passed peacefully at home on July 11, 2024. He is survived by his wife Jina, his children Leah, Matthew and Anna, and his siblings Sujatha, Sonali and Deepak, along with a number of loving and grieving extended family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in Niranjan’s memory to Doctors without Borders or any charity of your choice.

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