A heartfelt tribute - V G Siddhartha

People say to donate blood, donate food, donate eyes or organs and every such campaign starts with a rhetoric – “….” donation is greatest among mankind.

I have grown up in a family –  where boys have fixed path in life – work ass of to clear JEE and study in best colleges in country, get a job in MNC (name should be identifiable by everyone), marry , two LIC policies, two kids , a 3 bhk, weekly restaurant visit, half yearly trip. This path is so strongly laid that some times I feel, if our roads are also so strongly laid.

Now what do you call people who donate the path – safe path? Maybe they give up all these with a sole goal to create jobs? This breed of people are called entrepreneurs.

A country like India adored IKEA when it opened a store with 700 crores and creating a meek 1000 jobs. But we have let go - a one-man army kind of person – who’s goal is not 100X returns for VC but to create thousands of jobs.

We need people like you who can find happiness in watching a relished customer’s face through the mist of the coffee. To an entire new generation of entrepreneurs who defy aging parents ka ‘settlement' criteria, who can gracefully ignore ‘CTC kithna ?’ aunties, who window shop to save for their baby( start-up), who are in never ending dilemma to ask their spouse for ‘6 more months’, who go hungry, who cover up their ‘older’ look due to stress with a smile – for these kind of people, you are an inspiration. The red on your logo, for us, will continue to induce hunger to create more jobs.

The buzz of every coffee machine you shipped will be a winning uproar to the ears of budding entrepreneurs like me. You might not have won a war by killing terrorists. But you killed hunger – by far more dangerous than terrorism. Hence you are more than a martyr.

You aren’t a hero for me. You’re a modern sage who can give up anything. Though I am deeply saddened with your demise, you are a person who came on this world played your part, realised that the show is over and embraced the biggest fear of mankind ‘death’ – with dignity.

To thousands of dumb and deaf, you showed a dignified life.

To thousands of freelancers, your shops were a stop which made them unstoppable.

To thousands of couples, your coffee sealed the love forever

Salute to you from a budding entrepreneur

You will live on in every machine buzz, every bean to be grounded, every relish coffee lovers experience and every table on which deals will be made and every glance of mine at CCD stores ??

Rest in Peace . V G Siddhartha