Taare Zameen Par

Today is Cybage’s Silver Jubilee Anniversary.  It has been a remarkable voyage that has left tens of thousands of footprints on the sands of time.  Yet, strangely, it feels as if the voyagers never left home!  How is that possible?  Well, here is how the story goes…

Dream.  A wanderer arrived at the dwelling of a sage on the outskirts of a big desert.  “O Sage,” the wanderer probed, “I am a seeker of the heaven.  Please guide me toward my goal.”  It was twilight hour; the stars were just beginning to shine.  The sage instructed, “See that Orion constellation in the eastern part of the sky?  Travel through the night in that direction.  And as the day breaks, you will find your heaven.”  The seeker immediately set out.  He followed the direction of the constellation with head tilted up—marveling at the Milky Way while making mental notes of star positions. 

Elsewhere, a quarter century ago, a tiny startup began its own exploration with eyes up in the sky—an IP-led grand idea that it believed would revolutionize how users browsed the World Wide Web.  Even during that early hour of the Internet era, the skies were packed with star constellations of dotcom unicorns.  Each constellation aspiring to own the heavens—big brands raising billion-dollar funds, IPOs, mergers, acquisitions, etc.  Little Cybage watched all of it with dreamy eyes, with no original identity, yet aspiring to be one of the heavenly stars the entire planet would admire.

Lost.  Closer to the wee hours, as the stars began to fade, the seeker realized something had gone amiss.  The sun was rising from a different direction than the one he was headed to.  As the planet rotated, the group of stars he had been following had gradually shifted.  Other than the Polar Star on the horizon, the entire map of the sky had transformed.  As the day broke, the seeker found himself surrounded by endless sand dunes.  The sordid place was a far cry from the heaven he was seeking.  The seeker staggered listlessly in the desert heat.  The water in his flask had run out and he was alarmingly dehydrated. 

It didn’t take long before Little Cybage realized that chasing stars was an expedition in an illusion.  The face of the Internet was rapidly changing—the old stars were fading away and getting replaced by new ones.  Its grand idea had no takers—the tiny startup was confused and lost with no one to seek directions from.  When even the big and mighty were getting trampled who was to think about Little Cybage’s whimpering.  It’s existence overnight was reduced to feel like a “candle in the wind, never knowing who to cling to when the rain set in.”  It was cold and shivery with the sun still refusing to rise from any direction.

Hope.  Moments before collapsing, the seeker came across a deserted hut.  Inside, he discovered a water pump with a piping that ran into the ground.  He tried to pump the water, but the handle of the pump barely moved.  He could feel the friction against the piping beneath the ground.  As he was about to give up, he noticed a corked bottle of water lying nearby.  Excited, he rushed to gulp the water but stopped short when he spotted a note stuck to the bottle—”Drain this water around the piping, it will loosen the sand that has crept in and the pump will operate again.” 

Surrounded by vast nothingness with demoted ambitions, Little Cybage started soliciting suitors to buyout the product of its dreams at a liquidated valuation.  The desperate act was to salvage whatever it could before pulling down the shutters.  This was followed by the countless days of travel leading into 10-minute meetings.  Rest of the time were spent in straining eyes through the thick fog until one day, Little Cybage finally caught a glimpse of tiny ray of hope.  With the growing maturity of the Internet, the sparks of offshore software services had started glimmering.

Success.  The seeker was in a dilemma—whether to quench his thirst with the bottled water or take the risk of pouring it down the piping hoping it would start the water pump.  He picked the risky option.  Fortunately, as the note promised, the pump cranked up.  He proceeded to satiate his thirst with fresh water and silently thanked the faceless angel who had left the water bottle with instructions.  Moved by the gesture of an unknown co-traveler, he refilled the water into the bottle and stuck back the note.  Exhausted with the night-long travel, he decided to rest there. 

Little Cybage had two options:  a) Play safe till the product was liquidated or b) Take the risk of using the product as a branding tool in the hope of capturing services business.  Then something beautiful transpired.  The first-generation employees emboldened Little Cybage.  They selflessly put on hold the pursuit of their own overseas dreams and gifted their company some precious time for transitioning into services business.  Their conviction was reinforced by early customers who took a leap of faith in a provider gasping for survival.  And that’s how Little Cybage took its first breath.

Home.  After sunset, the seeker set out again.  Except, this time he didn’t follow the star constellations.  Instead, he built his navigation around the Polar Star in the horizon and made his way back to where he had come from, only to find the smiling sage waiting for him!  He folded his hands in deep gratitude for his expedition of discovery—“The heavens are not up in the astral bodies of sky, instead they reside in human bonds on earth.” 

Little Cybage realized that it is not necessary for spectacular journeys to draw inspiration from the zillion stars up in the sky.  Because sometimes a meaningful journey is one that goes down to the roots.  All it needs is eyes on the terrain and the willingness to connect to the polar stars – each lone star represents a real person.  For generosity of human spirit and fairness in dealings quench an organization’s soul. This is based on the thought “What one gives is what one takes!”

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Happily Ever After.  The above beliefs have nurtured Cybage’s identity for two and a half decades as generations of employees and customers have kept bringing their “Life to Work”.  Together, these steady stars have coached a brick-and-mortar company to listen to the rhythmic sounds of heartbeats, and in the process have given HER a breathing identity.  And for that, today on her milestone 25th birthday she stands with humility and pride in front of all her co-travelers with hands folded in gratitude—

“Thank you for gifting me glimpses of heaven and for decorating my life as Taare Zameen Par!” 

 



Spirit, Purpose, Original

46 Comments

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  1. What an inspiring story. Despite all the odds, Cybage has always emerged stronger than ever. Congratulations to ‘Cybage’ and all ‘Cybagians’!

  2. Its amazing to realize the importance of small things that matters to our life.
    Everything is so perfectly put in place.

    Hoping cybage keeps on growing every day 🙂

    Thank you for giving us an amazing platform.

  3. Congratulations to Cybage for Silver Jubilee Anniversary !!!

  4. Each lone person represent a real star here, collectively all of them make a Galaxy with strong bonding for lifetime, wishing all the best for next 25 years, and looking forward to be part of Galaxy with golden jubilee.

  5. Too happy to read your beautiful description of the entire journey and proud to be a part of it for 14 years.

  6. love the way you described this…It gives immense energy to move forward.I really feel proud to be associated with this great organization.

  7. I am Ex-Cybagian and never seen such enthusiastic team and people around like what I experiance in cybage.

  8. Congratulations Arun, Ritu & the Cybage team. Im sure the “Happily ever after” is changin to higher gears. I look forward to wishing the Captain/Seeker/Pilot and the crew at Cybage’s Golden celebration, A success saga that can become a best seller.

  9. Congratulations to every Cybaginas !! Its always been like a Happy Family !!

  10. I was part of Cybage during 2004. I still remember going to 5 storied building at vimanagar , it as very good work environment, teams are good, great leaders… good luck….

  11. Congratulations Arun and entire management team on Silver Jubliee Anniversary and my best wishes (•‿•)

  12. Congratulations on Silver Jubilee Anniversary And my Best wishes.

  13. Congratulations and Best Wishes on Silver Jubilee of Cybage.!! Your story is a great inspiration to all aspiring entrepreneurs to cast their mark in sand.!! God Bless you and Cybage with More and More Successes.!!

  14. Feels great to be part of this journey and celebrate milestone. Thanks you Cybage and Cybagians!!!

  15. Congratulations on Silver Jubilee Anniversary and my Best wishes to all Cybagians !!!!

  16. Congratulations Arun, and to all of us in Cybage on this wonderful journey and an important milestone ! It has been an honor to be a small part of this great journey……

  17. Inspiring & motivating as always!
    Congratulations on silver jubilee anniversary & best wishes always.

  18. Many Many congratulations keep going

  19. Congratulations and Keep it up.

  20. Congratulations to you and all Cybagians on Cybage’s 25 th Birthday./Anniversary.
    Arun..you are yourself a star..guiding and inspiring others around you ..so you were bound to Shine Bright..
    True example of someone who follows his dreams and makes it come true..
    And moreso ..your down to earth attitude and Gratitude makes you even more Special.
    Stay blessed always 🙏
    Wishing Cybage many more Successful and Fulfilling years ahead..

  21. Inspiring 🙏congratulations and best wishes on the milestone achieved

  22. Congratulations to entire Cybage team!!!

  23. Inspiring, Congratulations to all of you for Cybage’s Silver Jubilee Anniversary, Long and prosperus years ahead, my hopes we celebrate the Golden Jubilee as well. Keep up the good work!!! Congrats to all.

  24. Happy Birthday and congratulations on your Silver Jubilee!! And wishing you many more.

    It has been an absolute pleasure working with the many “stars” that make up Cybage.

  25. Wow….Heartiest Congratulations to Arun and Ritu as for the creation of CYBAGE and bringing it up like Taare Zameen Par. Just like you we also feel proud being a friend to the creator of CYBAGE, feel so attached with your work for humanity.
    Words are not enough to express the feeling but again blessings from the bottom of our heart and will pray for CYBAGE to keep shining And achieve more milestones!!!

  26. Congrats sir ! Feel proud to be contributing as one of the smallest notes in the rhythm of HER heart beats.

  27. And there must be a celebratory champagne supernova somewhere in the galaxy today to applaud and honor this shining star system on earth called Cybage! Congratulations and silver jubilee jubilations! 🍾🎉🎈

  28. Heartiest Congratulations to Cybage on completing its silver Jubilee milestone with great achievements. Look forward to celebrating the golden Jubilee too. Cheers!

  29. Congratulations Arun and the entire CYBAGE family on such a significant milestone!! Wishing you’ll the best for continued success!!

  30. Congratulations for remarkable journey and wish all the very best for future. Happy and grateful for your digital pass product at short notice for the service of people’ during lockdown. It served more than 1.5 lakh needy persons and have handled more than 8 lakhs requests. Product from Cybage has helped police in enhancing trust of common man in systems. Thank you once again.

  31. Congratulations Ritu and Arun,on this special and successful journey of Cybage .
    Wishing you many more years of unparallel success!!! Kudos to you.
    You truly deserve an applause for All your Hard work and unconditional dedication!!
    Keep going my friend.

  32. wow…25 years… congratulations CyberAge !!! I can still hear that modem sound from Clover Cascade 🙂

  33. Many congratulations to Arun and Team Cybage! Proud to have been a part of Cybage for more than a decade long duration – professional journey with Cybage has given too many great learnings, happy memories and wonderful friends for lifetime! Happy 25th and kudos to Cybage!

  34. Congratulations for Silver Jubilee and thanks for sharing wonderful video with us.
    It means a lot for us.

  35. Great story and looking forward to the continual success of Cybage!

  36. Congratulations to Cybage for Silver Jubilee Anniversary !!!

  37. Congratulations to Cybage for Silver Jubilee Anniversary !!!

  38. Many many congratulation, All the best to Cybage for next milestones…

  39. Congratulations to you and entire Cybage team. Wishing you more celebrations like this in future, long way to go. Kudos!

  40. Congrats to the whole Cybage team !! Enjoy this moment and all the best for the upcoming milestones.

  41. Congratulations Arun and Cybage for 25 years great journey and best wishes for next years!!!!

  42. Congratulations! What an inspiring journey… Appreciate the great partnership we have had.

  43. Congrats Team Cybage on the excellent journey and wishing you all more success. Happy to be partnering with Cybage and thoroughly enjoying the Journey. Good Going 🙂

  44. Congratulations Arun and to everyone of us here at Cybage! It is indeed an inspiring journey! Looking forward to many such milestones!

  45. Wow…. Congratulations to every Cybagian. This is certainty a proud moment. I still remembered how I started my Cybage journey from independent bunglow in Kalyani Nagar to new big building ( was biggest at that time). It was glorious and unforgettable time I spent in Cybage and will always cherish the memories. Honoured to be part of Cybage.
    Bestest luck for the future.

  46. Fabulous journey and success story! Congratulations to all! Thank you for being such excellent partners, I say to you with folded hands :).

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Taare Zameen Par - Arun Nathani Blog