Freshworks CEO finds inspiration in Rajinikanth as firm lists on Nasdaq

On Wednesday, Freshworks was listed on Nasdaq, an American stock exchange based in New York. On this momentous day for the firm, Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham quoted a famous Rajnikanth dialogue to summarise the journey of his company thus far. Freshworks is the first Indian SaaS startup to have been listed on Nasdaq.

Mathrubootham is a known super-fan of the Indian superstar. His firm had earlier made headlines for giving leaves to employees upon the release of Rajnikanth's films. Mathrubootham, who hails from Trichy, had grown up watching Rajnikanth's films.

Celebrating his firm's achievement, Mathrubootham wrote on Twitter, "Today is a dream come true for me - from humble beginnings in #Trichy to ringing the bell at @Nasdaq for the FreshWorks IPO. Thank you to our employees, customers, partners, and investors for believing in this dream. #Freshworks #IPO #NASDAQ (sic)."

In an interview with Moneycontrol, Mathrubootham summed up the journey of Freshworks by quoting a Rajinikanth dialogue. Being an ardent fan of the superstar, Mathrubootham had the quote perfectly memorised. He quoted the opening lines of Rajinikanth's introduction song from his superhit film, Padayappa.

Mathrubootham said, "Singa nadai potu sigarathil yeru. Sigarathai Adainthal vaanathil eru". This roughly tranlates to "Take a lion's walk and climb the peak. Once you reach the peak, aim and reach the sky."

The Freshworks CEO then explained the lyrics and their significance. "I see this as a peak that we have scaled. Most people when they reach the peak, they climb down. But, what Rajinik says is sigarathai adainthaal vaanathil eru. So, now it is our moment to climb the sky," he said.

Padayappa is considered to be one of Rajnikanth's most iconic films. Released in 1999, the film was directed by KS Ravikumar. The song Mathrubootham quoted the lyrics from is called En Per Padaiyappa and it was composed by AR Rahman. The lyrics were written by Vairamuthu, is sung by late SP Balasubramanian.

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