Everyday fun.

Mail from Contact Us form on the website:

Name: ********

Email ID: ********.y2k@gmail.com

Telephone: 92********

Message: i want like yatra.com website given details to me as soon as possible.....

Reply sent:

Dear Mr ****,

Thank you for contacting Envigo.

To build  a website as specified by you the design development charges except that for all flight related booking paths will be Rs. *****.

For more details you can contact me on the numbers mentioned below.

We would prefer to communicate with you on your official email id.

Thanks & regards

Next email from ***hotel@gmail.com

Dear Sir Madam

i want full details for Quotation to me...

Reply sent:

Dear Mr Naidu,

As company policy we do not communicate on personal email ids please write to us from your official id and we shall get back with the details.

Thanks & regards

It gets funnier after this. But I will behave like an adult and shut up.

Baba 1922 - 2011

My Baba passed away peacefully on 29 April 2011. He was 89. He had been married for 68 years. He will be missed by his family, which includes his wife, 3 sons, 1 daughter, 12 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
He was a simple man, not a man of big words and grand plans, but a man of simple thoughts and careful action. He was born in Mastichak (Saran dist, Bihar). After he got married and had a daughter, he moved to Chapra, a town which is close by. He left Mastichak because he wanted to ensure the his daughter got a good education. He had four more kids - he was able to educate them well. In Chapra, he built a house. His sons and younger daughter were married off from that house. He retired as deputy Postmaster, Chapra.
He was a man of habit and was a very punctual person. He was straightforward in his dealings. He wanted everyone to keep in touch with him through letters.  He used to write letters full of instructions, questions and news to his family, including me. In his letters to me, he would admonish me for not writing to him, fill me up on news from the entire family and ask me to write back to him quickly. Reading his letters also meant turning the blue piece of paper around a few times, as he would write on all possible surfaces of the letter if he needed to. With his letters, he was able to keep himself informed about his family, which were present far and wide - California, New York, South Carolina, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Darbhanga. This was just his direct family - I am sure he had a good idea about a lot of cousins and acquaintances which do not make the list above. 
When he used to come to Delhi, he used to take a bus and go to Chandi Chowk. This he did till he was about 76-77 years of age. He would have a list of things to get for Chapra but would also ask my mother if she needed anything.
He was a dedicated husband, to the point of being irritating to my grandmother. He would take constant care of her - constant really means constant. He would give her her medicines 4 times a day, check on her food and make sure she eats enough vegetables and fruits every day.
He was an amateur homeopath and read up books and kept medicines. I used to pretend to fall down and would promptly get Arnica 100 from him. He also always kept a Hajmola bottle and gave me 2 tablets (never more) every time I asked for it.
As he grew older, he became more careful about his health and that of his wife. He never ate any food which had not been freshly prepared. He would feel very cold and wrap himself up in a bundle of warm clothes at about 20degrees centigrade. On being asked why, he would remind us of his age.
He used to like eating meat (chicken, fish, mutton) but turned vegetarian a few years ago. When he was young, he used to cook his meat himself as his wife was vegetarian and would not cook meat for him.
I had not realised that I would miss him the way I do sometimes. I wish I had spent more time with him when I had the opportunity.

the end of everything

There is a lot of literature on topics around death - the afterlife, moksh, rebirth and of course, the Geeta.
So, I am not even going to try and examine the philosophical angle here.
However, there are some things which I want to record for later.
First off, I think that I miss Baba more now than ever before. I think about him much more than earlier. I miss him. I think that even at home, we talk about him more.
Next, you need to be very careful about what you say to your loved ones. It is very easy to be mean to them. Once a person goes away, what you have said to them can never be undone.
Parents are special. They will always care for you - no matter what.
Three days after he passed, there was a function at my uncle's house to remember him. All of my father's brothers and cousins showed up and stood shoulder to shoulder. I realised the power of family. I had never thought of it like that.

Watching time zip by

Just under a third of the new year is up and here I am still getting used to the idea that we are in 2011 - pausing for a second while writing the date and so on. Things are going on fast - Envigo is growing, Sugandh and I have been busy working and busy planning for a few trips we are going to do this year.
We just got back from a quick trip to Dalhousie. The place was nice - I am sure there are prettier hill stations. What was nice about the place was that there were such few people, few cars, a very slow pace of living - all of which were a welcome change from everything around us.

Gurgaon is just the opposite. More people, many more cars - everyone is in a hurry. We were stuck in a traffic jam yesterday in Gurgaon, which happens only because people do not obey traffic lights. As the pileup becomes larger, you have 4-5 lanes of cars facing each other. I was walking down lane number 5 (2 more than what fits on the right side of the road) and was asking people to get back to their side of the road. The blue-collar folks - taxi drivers, drivers etc were all smiling sheepishly, knowing exactly what they were doing was wrong and acknowledging it. The car owners - the businessmen and the executives - all made excuses. Some of the gems were - 'I wasnt sure whether this was a one-way or not', 'I am lost, I dont know where I am'. It is sad to note how the education does not increase civic sense.

So Envigo is growing. We need to be very careful and take decisive steps - I think very soon we will be at the place where we can either get into a trajectory which will take us close to 100 mark in 2 years from now. If we fumble, we might be stuck where we are. There are good signals from customers and from employees. As always, macro factors are in Envigo's favour.
 

birthday number 3

Envigo turns 3 today. I am not sure if we are doing better or worse than expected, but only because there was not much of a plan, which I had to beat. I am sure I need to start planning - Planning and tracking are important.

I learnt this at ebookers. The results speak for themselves. Before that, ebookers was famous only for the wrong reasons - for lack of corporate governance, for buying something for $70mn and selling it back for $15mn, for being sold at 3x of fair valuation and so on.
Post-Orbitz, we started having daily meetings in which MTD and YTD numbers were compared to plan.
It was a very simple thing to do - it seemed magical because I was seeing it done for the first time. ebookers is now one of the fastest growing OTAs and is profitable to boot.

Even at Envigo, we need to plan better and anticipate business better. I am still under the table there - fixing computers, working with accounts. I need to be out in the field a bit more.

A lot of twists and turns are happening elsewhere. I hope and pray for the best for my parents, my sister and my wife.

Papa's birthday

My surprise party score is now tied at 2 all. 4 parties attempted in which in two, the target remained in the dark till the very end. Papa was an easy target - completely clueless till the end to all the deception that was going on.
There are some snaps, but before that, I am attaching a video which was made by K and S on this occasion. 

Generally.

It is a beautiful day here in Gurgaon - a slight winter chill, bright sun and nothing to do. It could have almost made me want to look forward to the shopping expedition planned for later in the day, but maybe not. 

I need to figure out the other movie which was there with Masoom on its audio tape. 

Snow snow everywhere....

All my friends and relatives who have visited us this year from the US/UK have tales of heavy snow. Given that the grass is always greener elsewhere, I would like one week every year in India when things would S-T-O-P. No work, no travel - no movement. Just sit at home and eat and drink and try to think about the year gone by.

The wife has made an excellent collection of photos of the year gone by - she wants to get them printed - the debate is ongoing. Eventually we will run out of space. We already have I think, without even printing those pictures. This is an excellent example of the 'hindu rate of growth way of thinking'. An American would probably say - whoa we need a damned room in the house only for them photos... lets go get some wood. My middle class brain says no. Practicality has ruled my life, especially if I have to impose it on someone else.

2010 went by in a flash. It was a simple year - work, home, movies, travel but simple.

2011 has started off with Yoga and a determined effort to work harder. Interesting times ahead!