My 12 HEROES of the year that stood out !

If I have to describe the year 2020 in a word - I will call it UNEXPECTED.

While it's been a roller coaster emotionally and physically - one sentiment that clearly stood out is of Gratitude.

I am thankful to so many people whose contributions in my life I have not very accurately measured earlier. Taking this opportunity to thank a few key people in my life.

So - here it goes.

THANK YOU - Papa for teaching me to look at life with a positive lens, ALWAYS. I am so happy that both my kids Agastya & Aura have spent most of this year with their Dadu next to them. They played, learnt, laughed and were completely shielded from the year’s challenges because of you.

THANK YOU - Mummy for your Care & Kaadha. You cooked some of the best chicken, mutton & prawns I have ever had.

THANK YOU - Anu. I wonder how you have been able to manage home, work, kids & our finances so incredibly well for so many years. I am not half as organised, hardworking, long sighted or patient as you are. Marrying you was the single most and the finest decisions of my life.

THANK YOU - Technology Team. I am so proud of what my technology TEAM has been able to accomplish over this year. In March - April with the lockdown overnight, most clients completely banked on the MobCast platform to help engage and communicate with their employees. Our product usage drastically increased to 400 - 500% of normal usage. We were absolutely not prepared for it and stumbled. Systems went down, customers were angry, infra costs went up 5X - I panicked but my team was calm. The way my tech team has delivered projects on time and overcame scaling obstacles is miraculous. 

THANK YOU - Business Team. It was possibly the worst year for anyone to be in a Sales/ Customer Service role. Low sentiments, uncertainty, layoffs and frozen/cut budgets does not really make up for a good sales recipe. We had a tectonic shift in our strategy - the team moved from being Sales oriented to Support oriented. The team went out of their way to assist customers - Day/Night/Weekdays/Weekends without any exception. Our now target-less business folks were given the responsibility to help as many companies leverage our platform upskill and keep their employees motivated. The results were astonishing. We had the best Sales year ever in our history. 

THANK YOU - Customers. Friendship isn’t about whom you have known the longest, it's about who came and never left your side. My customers are without a doubt my true friends. It must be good karma that we have been blessed with such honest, encouraging & progressive customers. Yes - there were aggressive timelines, hard negotiations, delayed payments but with all of this there was a sense of support & oneness all along. This year has brought us closer to our customers like never before and I am honoured at the many opportunities to be able to speak & exchange ideas and concerns with each and every one of them multiple times. It's because of your support we are proud of the fact that we are one of the few organisations that can proudly say that “We fired ZERO staff or reduced ZERO salaries or had ZERO day delay in paying our employees” during the lockdown period.

THANK YOU - Dr Dua / Dr Sharma / (Countless Youtube Videos by Medical Practitioners) - I was detected COVID 19 at the beginning of October. First few days I had major anxiety and spoke to my doctor for hours, called everyone who suffered and went through countless hours of youtube educational videos. 

Luckily for me - I was mostly asymptomatic & escaped it without any issues or medication. Made me realise the value of keeping fit. 

Like every new-year I do take a resolution to keep fit and exercise but unlike every year - this time I will stick to it.

THANK YOU - Partners (Network Science / Cloudify /  Wadhwani Foundation) - Entrepreneurship can sometimes be a lonely journey. On the way you meet some magical folks who help you and push you to be your best version. This year I had the fortunate opportunity to partner with a few such organisations and many such people who have been instrumental in keeping the spirits high and focus sharp.

THANK YOU - Friends for being there with me always, sharing our celebrations and the circle of life. I am lucky to have you guys.

THANK YOU - Our maids/helpers (Kavita/ Jotsna/ Aakash). While doing the jhadu/ pocha/ cooking I realised the amount of efforts you put in to make sure we live comfortably. I felt completely paralysed without you guys around. One of the joyous moments for me this year was when society allowed you back in our homes. Your contributions are vital.

THANK YOU - Family. After a very very long time, I got to spend two months with my brother and his family. The two months got the necessary spice in our otherwise monotonous routine. We had so much fun celebrating - Diwali, Anniversary, Birthday, Trips, Dinners, Shopping. 

We also had a new cute little addition (my niece Aaavya) to the family. 

& last but not the least

THANK YOU - To my little AGASTYA & AURA for being my cheerleaders. You bring the purest form of love and happiness in my life. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing you hug me in the morning, play and laugh, fight and cry, kiss you good night. You complete me.

2020 has been a challenging year for most of us but it's built strong character in each one of us. 

I am going to end by wishing all of you - a healthy, colourful, tasty, beautiful, aromatic, melodious 2021!

Hakuna Matata,

Ashwin Roy Choudhary.