It is dinner time at businessman Sunder Mani’s handsome home, a condominium unit filled with sturdy wooden furniture, paintings, and exquisitely carved sculptures of sleeping Buddha and the Hindu gods.
After a long wait, the maid brings out the plates and the food: Salsa sauce, tortilla, ham, and cream; ingredients for Burrito, a quintessentially Mexican dish.
Dining with his family is a daily affair.
Joining Sunder (read our interview from one year back), 47, at the dinner table is his wife Soina, his daughter Aashila, 16, and son Ashwal, 14. As they eat, sauce dripping from Burrito to plate, they chat about the day’s proceedings. The family joins in this same ritual everyday.
Sunder, a permanent resident from India, is the founder and chief executive of I-Flapp Technologies. His main product is the I-Mapp, a piece of software that allows users to work on any computer – as if it is theirs. His business is starting to take off; he is in the midst of finalising sales in over twenty countries, which keeps him very busy.
“Just yesterday, I worked throughout the whole night, going to bed at 7am,” he says. Despite putting in 15 to 16 hours of work a day, like all overworked entrepreneurs do, he commits frequently to spending quality time with his family.
At the dining table, his phone rings. He stands up and takes a call from a client, heading out to the balcony and out of sight.
For them, having daddy start a business at age 41 was daunting. He had to give up a five-figure salary job in the IT industry which paid the bills. “I was very nervous, and very scared,” says wife Soina, when her husband sought her permission to start the new venture.
He would never have to face this dilemma if he wanted to start a business fresh out of university or early in his career.
This painting of wine bottles is a gift from daughter Aashila to Sunder.
Taking home minimum pay, his family had to make sacrifices. They took the public transport more often, and organised less social events. The kids did not have sophisticated birthday parties. Instead, they had simple family dinners.
Sometimes, living a more frugal lifestyle wasn’t easy on daughter Aashila. “My friends had so many toys, but not me. I was rebellious then, so I was upset,” she says, talking like an adult. Despite the minor grouses, his wife and kids rallied behind him.
More at stake, but well-equipped for success
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