2013 - a busy year, and promise of a more busy 2014!
Another year has gone by and 2013 was indeed a busy year for me - both at home and professionally.
I did surprise my wife with flowers (that someone else had bought) - its the first time in 22 years of marriage that I actually gave her flowers, so I'm making progress!
Unlike other years, this year did not involve a family visit to the US. But we all did manage to get together for a terrific, 2-week holiday in Europe. It was truly a one of a kind vacation - assembling all 14 and a half members of the clan in Paris and going around most of northern France, Netherlands & the UK felt terrific - we have to thank the weather gods for co-operating and making it an exceptional holiday. I have to thank my two wonderful nieces Pooja & Geetanjali for arranging this one-of-a-kind family vacation. It was great to see my nephew Sunny now a strapping young lad who's doing his PhD in Economics at the Goethe Institut in Frankfurt - here's wishing him all the best. Was amazing to have my mom, families of her 3 children and their children's families in one place!
My niece closed out the year by giving birth to her second child - a bonnie boy who is still nameless - but is doted to no end by his elder sister, the princess Reya.
My son did well in school in his 10th grade and we truly had a great time together in Europe and the UK. He turned 17 in December - wow - what a milestone! Celebrated the only way he knows.
Our annual Deepavali/Diwali party - the street party in Palm Meadows - has gone from strength to strength. More than 100 people attended this year making it an awesome event - we're truly blessed to have so many friends to share the festivities with.
In sport, Kallis' and Sachin's retirements seem like highlights - as I write this blog, we're all praying that Schumacher will recover from his horrific accident. It was sad to see Paul Walker, Farookh Sheikh and several other notables not make it to the new year.
I've tried to be a bit more regular with Yoga - and when I am, its definitely having a positive effect on my health. As I hit 50 in 2014, I hope to be more regular. A few weddings in the family made for opportunities to meet and greet and have good times with all.
My Rotary Club gave us reason for new found excitement - this year the Midnight Marathon fundraiser went to a completely new level.
I had the privilege of meeting the one and only Shri Milkha Singh, who became our brand ambassador and we had an amazing experience with State Bank of India as our new title sponsor. Its amazing what can be done when one thinks big.
I also had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Vijay Amritraj at a fundraiser in Silicon Valley - lovely to meet him too!
I'm sure there are a lot more exciting events that happened and a lot more things that went wrong and many more people to thank for things that went right. On a sombre note, my father-in-law's health hasn't headed in the right direction and its been a cause of concern. Let's hope for the best in 2014.
I still haven't bought that new car I thought I was going to buy at the start of the year - after buying cars every 2-3 years for as long as I lived in the US, its kind of strange that I have a 8 year old Toyota Innova as our only set of wheels - but I guess its age catching up with me. Soon I hope to have something new and fun.
Professionally, we saw some interesting developments across a variety of dimensions. A lot of progress and some pivots among the various startups I've been fathering with a dynamic set of entrepreneurs.
ZipDial has now really proven that the missed-call to action model can indeed become mainstream for brands to engage with consumers. What was hitherto a niche concept is today being accepted by brands, political parties and most importantly consumers as a preferred option. The company has launched its services in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and will soon be in several other geographies
Ezetap, on a similar note, has also been establishing itself steadily in India as the leader in Mobile POS solutions. The year started with the launch with Citibank and a few leading merchants and over the course of the year the company has also gone live with State Bank of INdia, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, DCB and is piloting in several other geographies. It also became the first (and only) company in the world to have a sub-$50 EMV Chip & PIN certified device - feels proud to say "Made in India" on the device.
SmartOwner, one of our newer companies has also made steady progress and is coming along nicely.
AngelPrime is working on a few more new and exciting investments - we're seeing an awesome collection of entrepreneurs and deals - and 2014 has a lot of excitement in store.
I got to speak at the Money2020 conference in Vegas - was amazing to see the professional manner in which events are arranged in the US. I also must thank all my colleagues from the Payments industry who showed up at the Nasscom Product Conclave this year and supported me in spreading the word on Payments products.
Uber's arrival in Bangalore has helped improve the quality of service of the cab industry - so that's a good thing. Flipkart has formally entered the Payment Gateway space. However its not clear that any new entity in India has truly broken out in 2013 - makes us wonder if there is something wrong in India or if it just takes a marathon effort to build companies! Redbus' exit was the one point of happiness for the industry - we sure need more of the same.
It probably also a year i started relying more on Twitter for anything important and less on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Here's to wishing all of you the very best in 2014 - and hope to meet many of you in the new year.
