Daijiworld.com Decennial Celebrations
A Decade Old, and Still Miles to Go...
Jan 12, 2011 (Actual date : Jan 14, 2011)
Dear esteemed readers, advertisers, sponsors, contributors, and most importantly our dedicated staff, freelancers and our team members from around the world.....No word can adequatley express my gratitude, but I know that I will remember every one of you in my life.
Walter Nandalike
Editor-in-chief
Daijiworld.com
This is perhaps one of the most emotional moments in my life. When you reach a milestone, the satisfaction you get is enormous. Same is the feeling here at daijiworld camp, as joy, gratitude and pride fill the hearts of each and every member of daijiworld.com team.
When we started this small website way back in the year 2001 on January 14 on the auspious day of Makara Sankrati, perhaps no one imagined that we would be grabbing the attention of millions of people worldwide. We had no goals, no dreams and no deadlines then. But everything has a destiny of its own, and as the saying goes, 'follow your passion, success will follow you' - perhaps this was the mantra that worked.
Without going into details, with a single word straight from the heart, I would like to thank you, dear readers, without whom I would not have been able to reach here. Our advertisers, sponsors, contributors, and most importantly our dedicated staff, freelancers and our team members from around the world have, with their immense support and unflinching committment, made Daijiworld the pioneer in the coastal media map.
No word can adequatley express my gratitude, but I know that I will remember every one of them in my life.
Ten is not a big number. We have just begun our journey, and there is a mountain to conquer. Over the past ten years there have been huge challenges, and we have tackled at least a few of them successfully, if not all. We have tried our best not to hurt anyone, however, at times we have not been able to make everyone happy. We have been at the receiving end of criticism, abuse and even threat especially during challenging times like the coverage of church attacks, pub attack and communal disturbances, yet we have marched on bravely, taking both rants and raves in our stride because our sole intention was to side with the truth with unbiased reporting, and not to hurt or offend anyone.
At this moment, I personally offer sincere apologies to those could not tolerate us for whatever reason, those who felt we were biased and those who might have been unintentionally hurt by us. But I would still like to reiterate that it has never been our intention to disappoint anybody.
Dear friends, please continue to be with us, and keep up your faith and trust in us. We are coming up in a big way to reach you more professionally. You have seen drastic changes in us over the last ten years, and now it is upto us to meet new challenges. We have tried our best to keep pace with technology, and that's how today we are able to bring you live streaming from Mangalore and other places. In the days to come you will witness more innovations from our team.
Lastly and importantly, though people give me credit for this milestone, I am not ready to accept it. Right from day one, I have been fortunate to have people with me who with their dedication, committment and sound sense of duty have brought Daijiworld to this level. Incidentally, most of those who were with me along the way have become an integral part of Daijiworld in one way or the other. To name a few, Melvyn Rodrigues has taken charge of Daijiworld as Director Operations, Hemacharya is Editor-in-chief of Daijiworld Weekly, Dayan D'Souza, becomes director of Daijiworld Publications Pvt Ltd, Stan Ageira is at the helm of affairs in the Gulf countries with our new company Daijiworld Middle East FZE, Michael Castelino is Director of Daijiworld Publication Pvt Ltd and Kishore Gonsalves is our Udupi franchise owner. Of the management level many have become our exclusive team members too.
Looking back, we have the satisfaction of achieving the following:
- We have generated about Rs 3 crore through appeals published in the website to help the needy in the last 10 years, which has benefited hundreds of families to pick up the threads of their lives.
- Our reports and news stories have created massive impact both in India and abroad.
- Daijiworld.com has been the source of information, photographs and videos to newspapers, news agencies and television channels from all over the world, such as during the pub attack, attack on places of worship and during the unfortunate plane crash tragedy in Mangalore.
- We now have around 2.50 lac visitors on an average every day.
- Received about 55 awards in a decade including the IIPP Star of the Year 2009, Rachana Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009, Sandesha Media Education Award and Pingara Rajyostsava Award.
- Live webcasting of important events like Konkani Niranthari, Wilfy Remimbus' funeral, Gulf Voice of Mangalore, World Konkani Cultural Convention, Hindu Samajotsva, and many others.
- Opened franchise office in Udupi in July, 2008 under the management of Kishoo Barkur.
- Forayed into print journalism in 2009 with Daijiworld Weekly which is steadily growing step by step, under the baton of editor Hemacharya,
- Started official marking in UAE by registering 'Daijiworld Middle East FZE' under the able leadership of Stan Ageira Mulky, which will represent Daijiworld in Gulf countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait
- Launching of the website on mobile (www.m.daijiworld.com) wherein news and information can be quickly accessed on cell phones.
- Launching 'Daijiworld Tower' - own premises of Daijiworld group offices along with a residential complex, near Airport Road, Bondel, Mangalore. Rohan Monteiro of Property Real Estate and Director of Daijiworld Media will iniate the project. The official launch is expected around the third week of this month.
It has been an eventful journey so far, and the future promises to bring more surprises, ups and downs and challenges. We have had our share of kudos and brickbats, and through it all we have moved forward with strong determination, keeping up with the tradition of true, value-based journalistic spirit. We have come a long way since 2001, but there are a million miles still to go.
And we owe it all to you, dear readers, who are our best critics and our staunch pillars of support. Thank you once again for being there.
On the special occasion of decennial celebration, a meaningful ceremony has been organised in Mumbai. We thank Daijiworld's Mumbai bureau chief, Rons Bantwal, and C J Baptist, who is the managing director of Falcon offshore Services, who has played a key role as our main support in hosting the Mumbai event.