Coffee Day Group’s Human Resources team is meeting today, to put in place a detailed HR plan for its employees, many of who have broken down in despair after their founder VG Siddhartha who went missing on Monday night was found dead on Wednesday morning.

“Employees who were in a state of shocked disbelief on hearing that Siddhartha was missing, broke down after the body was found. Many of them are inconsolable as they have worked closely with Siddhartha and cannot imagine a workplace without him. One of the things we are considering is to put up counselling desks for our employees because the best tribute to our founder is to continue working with the same passion as before” a senior executive from the Coffee Day Group told BusinessLine. While a few Cafe Coffee Day stores shut down to mourn their founder’s loss, it was business as usual for rest of the stores pan India.

Meanwhile entrepreneurs, corporates, restaurants and even the Mumbai Congress paid tribute to Siddhartha in their own unique styles. Sampath J M, one of the co-founders of Kshema Technologies which was acquired by MphasiS in 2004, fed 150 destitutes in Coimbatore as a way of showing his gratitude for Siddhartha’s contribution in his professional life.

“We were looking for investors to fuel our next phase of growth and an Indian investor who had committed to investing $1.5 million in Kshema withdrew last minute as they were not familiar with the domain we operated in. I took the idea to Siddhartha’s firm Sivan Securities. After asking us why we needed the money, he invested half a million dollars in Kshema in 1997 and made $21 million from his investment when MphasiS acquired Kshema for $40 million” Sampath recalls.

IDC (Idli Dosa Coffee) Kitchen served complimentary coffee at its Koramangala and Gandhinagar outlets in Bengaluru yesterday between 4pm - 6pm in memory of “Coffee King Siddhartha.” A banner outside the outlet read “Each sip will remind us of you.” The top management of Apollo Hospitals has instructed its 28,000 employees to visit Cafe Coffee Day outlets pan India to have a cup of coffee in tribute to its founder who is no more. Even the Mumbai Congress organised a “coffee break” for hundreds of activists in Mumbai’s Cafe Coffee Day stores, led by former Mumbai Congress President, Sanjay Nirupam.

A Facebook post by Tejaswini Thirtha, who works for a tech firm in Mumbai best sums up what Cafe Coffee Day means to most people. “Dates, make ups, break ups, catch ups, welcome parties, farewell parties, bachelor parties, first salary treats, me times, us times, biz deals, team meetings, interviews, intimate chats....Cafe Coffee Day was the Central Perk for many a friends group, especially in Bengaluru. It’s ironic that the man who made CCD the perfect setting for so many of our lives’ memories, couldn’t find a friend, a quiet corner in his cafe and a warm cup of cappuccino to help find a solution to his problems. RIP VG Siddhartha” reads her post.

Director quits

Coffee Day Enterprises has said that its independent director on the board, Sulakshana Raghavan has resigned from her job.

In a notification to the BSE, Coffee Day said Raghavan has resigned citing personal reasons. She has confirmed that there are no further reasons for her resignation, the notice said. Raghavan is the managing director of international brand consulting and design company, Landor India. Raghavan has worked with Landor’s international offices in San Francisco, New York and London.

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