EJJI THE CONGENITAL SYBARITE

Ejji K. Umamahesh is 20 years "young" with an added 43 years of experience. He is proud to have lived every minute of his life on his own terms.

Ejji had his early education in the streets of Madras, with compulsory attendance at The Woodlands Drive-In Restaurant on all working days between 1 and 2 pm (since Stella Maris and other women’s' colleges had a lunch break at the same time!), and at the Madras Marina on all weekends from 6 to 9pm, (where bird watching was free in an age without discotheques and pubs). He went for higher education to Brigade Road, Bangalore, where he learnt the near impossible art of opening beer bottles with motorbike keys. His poor father, who kept paying fees in The Good Shepherd Convent, Madras Christian College High School and Loyola College, Madras, made all this education possible.

Ejji, as he is popularly known, started life as a toilet-cleaning supervisor in Safire Theatre, Madras. Along with this, his part time job was cleaning the roads in the Boat Club Area every day, and pulling a handcart to collect and dispose off the garbage from all the houses. In 1970, he went on to form Ejji Maintenance Contracts, the first building cleaning service company in India. In 1971, he founded Ejji Domestic Services, a company, which employed electricians, plumbers, carpenters, motor, pump, and bore well mechanics offering services on call, again the first of its kind in India. He quit business life at the peak of his career in 1991 because he wanted to earn his living only for 20 working years.

Since 1991 Ejji lives his life doing exactly what he wants and when he wants. After that, his calling listed his occupation as "Rat Race Runner (Retd.)". Now in 2011, having enjoyed retired life for many years, his calling card lists his occupation as “Congenital Sybarite”.

Ejji is an “omnivore”. He eats and drinks anything under the sun. Exotic food is his specialty. Ejji is a collector of vintage cars. He loves fast cars and was a speed car racer in his younger days. He has participated in the 1st India-Asean Car Rally 2004 from India to Indonesia, driving 8000 plus km. through 9 countries. In January 2007, he was the only Indian Team on the Budapest-Bamako Car Rally, a Trans-Europe and Trans-Africa rally from Hungary, through Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali. He has also traveled to Timbuktu so that if anyone tells him "Get lost to Timbuktu", he can safely reply, "I've already been there!" Read more about these rallies in their individual pages on this site. He visits rare and little known places in India and around the world to eat, drive and experience the place. His drives have included the entire Himalayan Region, countries in the southern part of Africa including off road in the Kalahari Desert, among many other interesting places. He is responsible for introducing "The Indian Autorichshaw Challenge" events in India.

Since March 2011, Ejji has been invited to work as The Assistant Secretary of the Meeting for the Indian Formula One Grand Prix. He was trained in the management of Formula One Races at various venues and is proud to have been associated with this historic event.

Ejji was one of the privileged few who were on Katchal Islands, (check an atlas to find it out!), at midnight on 31st. December 1999 to witness "The Millennium Sunrise". Ejji has a private library with rare books, films and music of every genre.

Ejji married Shyamala in 1975 at a non-religious function at a total expense of Rs60-00! He is an ardent advocate of such unostentatious weddings. Needless to say Ejji has no religion, is an atheist and an agnostic. They have two daughters Rasika (born 1976) and Sarika (born 1978), who call their parents by first name.

Ejji has made a Living Will that he should not be resuscitated or be put on artificial respirators in case of terminal illness. Ejji has donated all parts of his body that can be transplanted to deserving persons on his death, and the remaining parts of the body will be used for dissection and study in the nearest Medical College. Since harvesting of organs could be legally done only from brain dead persons, Ejji fought this case in various courts of law for 7 years before the judgment was given in his favor, making him the first Indian to have bequeathed his body for transplantation of organs even when alive. Details of case and articles on body donation can be found in page titled "Ejji's Clippings & Cuttings" in this site. Ejji has already written his obituary notice that will be published in newspapers on his death.

Ejji has acted for The Madras Players and other theatre groups, in many English plays. He has done a music video for a European record label, and recently a public service film on “Diabetes”. Ejji did a cameo role in Mani Ratnam’s Tamil movie Aayudha Ezhuthu. He has done a major role in Santosh Sivan’s movie Navarasa (Tamil, sub-titled in English), an off-beat film which won the Indian National Film Award for the “Best Tamil Feature Film - 2005”. Navarasa has been a huge success especially in foreign film festivals. Ejji did a small but important role in a Hollywood English movie directed Santosh Sivan, called "Before the Rains", premiered in the Toronto Film Festival in September 2007. This movie has become a major hit in all foreign markets. He has acted in a couple of other films, details of which or on this site under "Ejji's Films". All these activities were done without any remuneration, but purely for the love of doing it. Ejji has photographed and video graphed very strange incidents, festivals, customs, life and times all over the world. He has also searched for, traced and interviewed the descendants of many erstwhile royal families of the old kingdoms in India, Sri Lanka and Burma. Some of them have become Ejji’s good friends. These were done as a hobby and not for commercial purposes.

Ejji has been a member of Rotary International, Round Table India, 41 Clubs of India, The Free Masons Lodge, Madras Motor Sports Club, and nearly all the elite Social Clubs in Madras and other places. But Ejji has never held an office in any organization, never stood for or voted in elections in any Club, never collected advertisements for souvenirs and donations, never sold tickets for charity or other collection drives.

Most people think Ejji is eccentric. But according to Ejji, he is only different from others, since to him normal is boring. His philosophy in life, “LIVE! DON’T EXIST!”

EJJI'S BUSINESS LOGO The "E with a Crown" symbol, the logo of my business has its origin in a peculiar way. I had no money to have an artwork done or hire a designer when I was thinking of starting my business. I designed the logo in the same style as Dasaprakash Hotel's logo, which was a "D with a crown". I am proud to say that the "E with a Crown" became a well-recognized logo. Here's the story. The first company I started was EJJI MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS in 1970, which did contract cleaning services for large establishments. I had the privilege of working for some of the best names in Indian and International Businesses and organizations. Of course, I owe everything to Mr. Hiralal Veecumsee Shah, the owner of The Safire Theatre Complex, and his son Mr. Yashwant Veecumsee, in Madras City. This building, in that age without malls and coffee shops was 'THE' place to hang around or be seen in. The complex could be called the first multiplex in India. Mr. H.V.Shah was a man with a vision and who saw the opportunities for growth in ambience and business. His eldest son, Mr. Yashwant Veecumsee, who was responsible for getting his father to give me my first job as a “toilet cleaning supervisor” in the theater complex, ably assisted him. Mr. Shah could be seen standing at every possible place at different times of the day, checking everything and giving instructions. One day, Mr. H.V.Shah called me and told me that he had seen contract cleaning service work do well in other countries and asked me if I could take on the cleaning staff and supervise them, for which he would give me an over-ridding commission in addition to the salaries for the staff and myself along with any allied expenses I incurred. The trial went well, and soon EJJI MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS; my first business venture was formed. My first contract was with the “Safire Theater Complex”. In no time, word spread about this company of mine maintaining The Safire Theatre Complex that I soon found myself with many contracts. The important employers who contracted my company were The American Consulate, Bank of America, Macneill & Magor, Best & Crompton, Greaves Cotton, UNICEF, The British Council, Philips, Siemens, SPIC, Metal Box, The Madras Race Club, Hindustan Motors, National Insurance Company, Vummidiar Shopping Centre, KCP Ltd., Sundaram Finance, Thomas Cooks, Kilburns, and many others.Mr. H.V.Shah once called me and asked me if I could find a plumber, an electrician and a carpenter, so that whenever a repair or a job had to be carried out, he could ask me to handle it, and pay me the actual expenses and supervision charges. I did this. Soon I had people asking me if the same technicians could come and attend to jobs and repairs at their homes and offices. So was born EJJI DOMESTIC SERVICES in 1971. The company employed electricians, plumbers, carpenters, pump/motor/water heater/ bore well mechanics. Anyone in and around Chennai and suburbs could call our office and the technician would visit them to have the job done. There was no membership, contract, or annual charges for using the service. This turned out to be a bigger hit than the cleaning services company. Starting from technicians traveling by buses and hired cycles in 1971, (I had no money to buy even a cycle), with basic and minimal tools, we grew to a state-of-the-art company soon with all technicians on mopeds/motor bikes and the most sophisticated tools, analyzers and repair equipment. Just one factor made this company a thumping success and money spinner- PUNCTUALITY. This then was a rarity, as it still is in India, perhaps a shade better now. Artisans and technicians operated by the calendar, but we made appointments and kept them up by the stopwatch. The company was at one point of time servicing more than 12000 homes and offices in this city when it was Madras before it became Chennai. The concept was copied, but never duplicated. Of course, imitation is the best sign of success and flattery. Many companies started doing the same business but closed in less than a wink. The Government of Tamilnadu started a similar company with "House Service Booths" and like all governmental ventures died an expected death, sadly still in its infancy. Right from day one in my business, I planned to work earning money for 20 years and no more. So, when it was 19 years since inception of business, I sent off letters to all my principal employers in Ejji Maintenance Contracts, that I was closing the company on the 365th day from that date. Many thought it a joke. Some called me for a serous discussion. I was offered more money to continue the contracts, but I stood steadfast and refused. I had decided that since there was no contract with any client in Ejji Domestic Services, I would close that company too. Around 1986, BHAMINI SHANKAR, then age 23, joined me as the Chief Executive of my businesses. When I decided to close the businesses, she offered to run Ejji Domestic Services, while we both agreed that Ejji Maintenance Contracts could be closed, which by then was at its peak employing nearly 300 persons. So I finally quit business life on 31st July 1991. That day I changed my profession in my calling card to "Rat Race Runner (Retd.)" Bhamini was Managing Partner of Ejji Domestic Services from that day till 31st October 2005, when she also decided that she has had a working life of nearly 20 years, and closed Ejji Domestic Services. This company was then at the peak of its operation, and when we sent mails to all our clients informing them of the closure, the phones rang all the time dissuading us from doing so. But Bhamini and I stood firm. We wanted to come out of the taxing regimen of running the business, though there was much money in it. Bhamini also felt that she was experiencing a burnout, having had all engines at full speed in her brain, 18 hours of the day for nearly 20 years. I do not blame the clients. I do not claim we were the best in the trade, but I can vouch for few things in our business life. We kept up punctuality 100%. We never took or gave a kick-back/commission for any job. We never inflated material supply bills, as is the norm around the world. We did not sub-contract any work, but carried out the business using only our own employees. We did not deal (or even communicate or talk), with any middle person in an establishment, be it a home or an office but dealt only with the final decision maker. We conducted the entire business on our own terms. We never allowed room for any bargaining. “If you can’t afford us, there any many others who can help you”, was our standard statement to bargaining clients. Lastly, we never canvassed business from any friend or contact; neither did we use the professional services of any friend or contact without paying for it. After closing Ejji Domestic Services, Bhamini became "Rat Race Runner (Retd.)", while I changed my vocation to "Congenital Sybarite". So ended my business life, when people were asking, "Why have they closed?” instead of waiting for a day when they might have asked, "Why have they not closed?" The most important reason for coming out of "earning life” was my total satisfaction in having run an honest business, (Yes! I did make good money.), I did not believe in earning only to show others how many cars or houses I own, my wants were very limited and most importantly, I never took a loan from any person, bank or institution for my business or personal life. Never!! I wanted to enjoy life to the hilt. As someone has said “The richest person in the world is one who can get up whenever he wants, go to sleep whenever he wants, and in between do exactly what he wants.” By that analysis I am a very, very rich man!It is incredible that from clearing garbage in the Boat Club Area in 1969 to running two businesses on my own terms and closing them when I wanted to, I have enjoyed myself thoroughly. Given half a chance, I would do it all over again. One line describes my life and business – “Life and business were enjoyed in full throttle on the fast lane- and luck was on my side!”

Click (or cut and paste on browser) to see Ejji's files, photographs and listen to Ejji's music selection: http://www.mediafire.com/ejji

and

http://picasaweb.google.com/ejjiumamahesh