Checking out from OYO!

My first startup stint at OYO in numbers - 57 months, 8 roles (7 cumulative), 50+ team members across roles, geographies and expertise areas, opportunity to connect and know 100+ amazingly strong, admirable leaders who brought wealth of experience across spectrum of organizations, hundreds of unthinkable and unimaginable initiatives brought to life, thousands of interactions with conflicts, smiles and passion all rolled in one, millions of memorable heartwarming moments and dull, boring days - Zero.

Today, as on my last working day with OYO, I fondly recall my five odd years which have given me the privilege of establishing friendships, fantastic working relationships, resolute strength in face of adversity and privilege to witness brilliant problem solving across functions / verticals / levels with the infectious can-do attitude. The past few days have been extremely overwhelming with farewell messages and gifts pouring in from friends at OYO, friends who are out of OYO but still connected? – I have a lump in my throat even recalling the kind of affection that you all have showered.

I will be eternally grateful to -

1. The Leadership -? Ritesh Agarwal for being the leader beyond his years! The eye for detail while keeping another eye on the larger objective has been a treat to witness and be in awe of ! Thank you for allowing me to be part of this journey and I leave indebted and a much wiser version of myself. Dinesh Ramamurthi - I will always be indebted for your faith in me to put me in roles which weren't my forte. Thank you for your leadership, your endorsement, your push, your humour, your candor. Gautam Swaroop , a Business leader who is a man of action, sharply focused on the end objective and a leader who helped cut the clutter to reach the desired decision and outcome within the right timelines! Ankit Tandon for the rigour that you bring to every project - being willing to stretch yourself on any occasion to help the team deliver. Rakesh Prusti , the man who spins magic with law and makes however difficult the problem, come down to the most innovative solutions. Kavikrut . , the leader who means words in the exact way they have to be understood and always available just a message away. Rohit Kapoor for being the leader who supported me in my role transition from Region to Corporate steering me to learn the tricks of the trade. Shreerang Godbole for being the friend and partner that I could rely on for any support needed.?@Abhishek Gupta for your humour, your empathy and your strategic bent of mind.
2. My HR team, a team who delivered results after results and took my push in their stride. I have loved you, scolded you, protected you, thrown my tantrums at you!? Thank you for accepting me as your leader and helping me become a better version of myself as I added achievements as feathers and failures as learnings to our experiences. I will miss all of you and I really hope we get to work together sometime again. Special shout out to Subir Sarkar , Rachita Behl , Ishan Gupta , Rachit Gupta Shivam Agarwal Kriti Gera Manali Shukla Ananta Gaur Tarun Kumar Argha Narayan De Arnab Ghosh Rajdeep Das for being the closest in the journey who I could confide in and have fun with while pulling off seemingly impossible tasks. A lot of love to other members too who I was fortunate enough to spend stints with - Swikriti Bhura Partha Sarathy Roy Samrat Banerjee Kankana Brohmo Chayan Chatterjee Anjana Kuilya Anwesha Bose @Mohar Roy @Pragya Pranab Bora Shobhita Pant Prashasti Pandey @Sushmita Swarup Kumar Mohanty Pratap Das VISHAL SINHA Akshay Khade Anuj Mishra Amitesh Tiwari Rahul Sachdeva Abhayjyot Singh Grover Nandini Poddar Nina Sharon Scott Aastha Sharma Paayal Shiwanekar Ramani Thakore Rakesh Kumar Manisha Sharma Sohini Roy KARTIKEYAN KASHYAP Shefali Gupta Abhilasha Singh
3. My Business leaders who relied on me, supported me and helped me become a Business Partner in the best way possible. It was always a two-way street and I have deep gratitude towards each of you for being the amazing partner that you have been. Yatish Jain for having hired me, partnered with me and made OYO extremely special for me. Aarti Sharma Richa Poddar Kaushik Saraf Nitin Gupta Manish Kumar Amit Prakash Abhishek Agarwal Bishan Behari Mukherjee Mashuk Choudhury Parvesh Kumar Rahul Jain (RIP), Pranjal Sharma Kulwinder Singh Dhingra Sandipan Basu Mallick - all making the East experience immemorable. Jagnoor Singh for being the friend cum business leader cum mentor who would know my mood by one “hello” and always help me with practical tips on approaching work and situations. Abhinav Ankur for the HR cum business guide for me. Varun Jain and Sonal Sinha for being partners-in-crime and comrades in distress. The five days of togetherness with Aditya Prakash Sharma Nishant B. Nikhil Heda Pankhuri Sakhuja Puneet Yadav Vineet Widhani Gautam and Sonal - its a beautiful journey that we will remember for decades and share an unspoken bond on its account forever - thank you for being the leaders I had so much fun working with. Subhankar Choudhary Reema Aggarwal Rachna Khanna MBA, PMP? Jay Vekaria Prakhar Megotia Anuj Ladha @Venkat Hardik Thakkar Bhuwan Bhashkar @Amanpreet - albeit the less time we spent together, thank you for your faith in me and working with me and the team in all our endeavours. ?
4. The HR Peers and leaders who kept me close to the function and made the journey such a fun one! You guys are the bunch who are always just a ping away and we can pick on our stories from right where we left them. Thank you so much for your friendship and your camaraderie. Geetika Mehta Aashay Manake Avisekh Agarwal Divya Mohan Ashish Banga Ritika Puri Nidhi Sand Aditya Goyal Siddharth Chatterjee Sneha Kotecha Ankit Wanchoo Geetika Hans and Abhijeet Singh .
5. My non-Business - Finance, Legal and GPMO friends - we were the wind beneath the wings of the business and I knew that I just needed to reach out to make things happen with you. Its quite a fortune to have other functions as partners who? Sumita Dhanjal Rakesh Kumar Nitin Jain @Aman Kumar Gaurav Khandelwal Anshuman K Singh Ankit Dixit Ritika Pal Vimal Chawla @Deepak Malik @Charu Digvishesh Pahwa Rohit Maroo Anurag Pareek Kriti Shukla and of course the revered Siddharth dasgupta. ?
6. The external partners who made our teams look good. Risheka Dhhawan Abhishek Poddar @Neelu Sehgal @Anindita for your support in delivering solutions and Savithri Rao Rhea D'Souza for transforming us! ?
7. Lastly, to my husband Saurabh Chaudhuri , my kids Sarah and Shaurya, family and friends who cheered along as I anchored my role at OYO and are standing by me as I make a new leap.

Will end this long note with what my father always says, ‘We meet to part and we part to meet’. Since life is short and careers are long, I hope we will cross paths soon and meet to remember our days together with the same warmth and nostalgia that I feel today as I pen this down.

I can just simply say, I am blessed! Thank you for the bottom of my heart.