We lost Rajiv Ji on 10th May. His body lost the battle with Covid. I had the pleasure of working with Rajiv Ji for over 9 years. He joined us in 2012 when we were tired of the part-time accountant. He came from Dialnet – a company that then was struggling to meet the payroll. Rajiv Ji came in with an understanding of business, compliance, finances and made sure that we won’t flounder. He was the reason why our numbers were clean, why our books rarely had bad debt and why we became profitable. He contributed in his own way – pushing to keep a tab on costs, helping everyone in the team to save taxes, making sure that we never missed payroll. But this is not why I and the 59 other people who worked with him would miss him. 

Rajiv ji used to enter the office with his old leather bag and a lunch box. The bag unlike most of us did not have a laptop. For the longest time, he worked on a desktop. It was only when Covid hit last year did he move to a laptop. He would walk in with his usual good morning, hello, and hi’s to everyone on the way to his corner desk. Always carried a pleasant smile and a firm handshake. When spoken to privately, he would open up about his insecurities – his son’s education, college, future, how his investments are panning out, how and when would he retire and what does retirement even mean. One of his pet peeves was me not filing for reimbursement, people not declaring their investments, people not submitting their bills. He would quietly send out reminders on email and give them a piece of his mind when they would show up on his desk with frivolous requests. Just like my father. Given his background, middle class upbringing, struggle to maintain balance in life and commitment to deliver 100% – made him an unusual fit for the company. He was the cofounder we had for 9 years. He worked relentlessly – with our partners, vendors, customers, lawyers, CAs and made sure we were on the right side. He was someone we could trust with. Our most trusted advisor is no more with us. The fact that we couldn’t make it to his cremation makes the realisation more difficult – that he won’t be there next time around to guide us. This is the good bye message. Rajiv Ji – We will miss you, your guidance and your smiling face around us. 

May your soul rest in peace. 

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