The Month That Was

With India having the largest youth population in the world, it is not just important but crucial to be concerned about issues that affect the youth of the country today.  And education or rather the lack of it is perhaps the most critical one of such issues. We at MakeMyTrip believe that nurturing children today and helping them gain knowledge and education will lead to a better and brighter future. And we are doing our bit through MakeMyTrip’s corporate mentoring program with Udayan Care, which runs homes for orphaned, abandoned and abused children. This month, employees who have volunteered to mentor children, spent time with children between the age group of 5 to 17 years at their home on MG road and discussed their career interests, future goals, further studies and part time jobs. The evening ended with what we do best – eat and have a super fun time!

Trippers with Kids of Udayan Care

At MakeMyTrip, it’s not just work but a whole lot of play too because we all know that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! And there could be no one better to endorse this theory than our very own CEO, Mr. Deep Kalra, who, along with our CPO Mr. Amit Somani joined other Table Tennis champs of the office for an exciting ping-pong tournament. Not only was this a chance for all the TT aficionados to showcase their talents but also pure fun and entertainment for the spectators. The battleground was the 4^th floor cafeteria and the champions’ weapon of choice, the paddle. And what were they all competing for? Pride, honour? Naah...to be the TT champ of champs at MakeMyTrip! Watch this space for the results and more details on the tournament.

And from Table Tennis, it’s now onto Cricket. This month, as the nation is gripped by the IPL 5 fever, so is everyone at MakeMyTrip! ‘We’ decided to run a cricket quiz or ‘Cric Quiz’ with IPL tickets up for grabs. From IPL trivia to ‘green’ initiatives to face painting; a loWinners of IPL Quizt happened in the name of IPL and more than 100 tickets were given away in prizes! The face painting competition took place on April 26^th and after much fun, coloured hands and faces, some 300 plus votes and a massive counting task, we finally got our winners. The winning team oola la la la le o-ed their way to the top, bagging couple tickets to Jhumroo at the Kingdom of Dreams. Other two teams, which also received Jhumroo tickets, shared the runners-up position. Kudos to all the face painters!

Winners of Face Painting competition

Is there is any such award for ‘The Most Happening Workplace’? Well, if there is, guess who’s going to be the most deserving candidate? No prizes for guessing eh!

The month of April in particular has been quite an eventful one. From Table Tennis to IPL fever to social initiatives; no single day has been the same at MakeMyTrip.

MakeMyTrip's Android Application

After our spree of fresh products like Inspire, Chrome App, and a new Hotels section, MakeMyTrip’s Android App hit the Android Play Store after a pre-launch showcase at the recent NASSCOM Tech Conference in Noida.

If you own an Android phone or plan to buy one soon, your travel and outings are going to be much more exciting and convenient than before. The MakeMyTrip Android App will amaze you with its features, technology innovations and remarkable interface. Using the App, you can book domestic flights, compare fares, manage your trip itinerary, check flight schedules and even find interesting places to eat on your trips! Some of our key innovations that you will love are:

• Search, compare and book your flights: The App gives you latest fares of all available flights anytime, anywhere! Compare them and choose the best one, as you’d do on a desktop.
• Automatic Location Detection: Tracking your GPS location, the App auto-fills the airport nearest to your location.   
• Zero Typing Traveller Information: Just enter your details for the first time and we’ll remember them forever.
• Bulletproof Mobile Payment Security: You can pay through Credit Card, Debit Card or Net Banking on your mobile. We have one of the safest mobile payment gateways and support all major banks.
• Lightning Fast Mobile Flight Search: Break the convention! Searching, booking and paying on this Android App are as fast and smooth as on a desktop.
• Location Based Recommendations: Wherever you are, the App tells you the places serving your favourite cuisine, or where to get a cuppa coffee.
• Real Time Flight Schedules: Check the status of a flight, whether you are going to fly or receive someone at the airport.

With our Android App, we’ve completely re-imagined how flight bookings should work for mobile devices. Starting with superfast flight search to helping you narrow down on your flight choices with minimum fuss to facilitating a fully safe and secure payment mechanism, our journey from whiteboard to launch represents phenomenal Engineering and Design accomplishments.

Try our Android App and enter a world of smart travel. Tell us what you think and don’t forget to rate us on Google Play!

Home ScreenFlight Status ScreenPlaces to Eat Screen

MakeMyTrip Enables ‘Social’ Travel in India with Tripalong

Travel becomes fun as you enjoy the journey, and not just the destination!

New Delhi, April 17, 2012: MakeMyTrip, India’s leading Travel Company, announced the launch of Tripalong, a revolutionary social application developed exclusively for travellers. Tripalong integrates with your favourite social networks and maps your travel itinerary to help connect with friends while travelling. Users enter the details of their flights on Tripalong and are notified if they are ‘intersecting’ with members from their social network (who are also Tripalong members). Once users share their flight (L-R) Keyur Joshi, Ramesh Srivats, Purab Kohli & Manish Kalradetails they can catch up with their friends who may be on the same flight, at the airport and even in the city they are visiting.  Users can also make new friends on Tripalong based on their profiles and interests. The application was unveiled at a press briefing in Delhi today by Purab Kohli, actor and an avid traveler. The app has been conceptualized and developed in association with TenTenTen Digital Products, a company that helps brands reach out to today's connected customer by creating large, social apps that become brand properties.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Keyur Joshi, COO & Co-Founder, MakeMyTrip, said, “MakeMyTrip has always led from the front, using technology and innovation to deliver more power and choices to the traveler. We are extremely delighted to introduce Tripalong to India. Keyur JoshiThis is a social application that will enhance the ‘fun’ quotient of your travel experiences.  A unique platform to engage with old friends and meet new people, Tripalong extends our brand promise of creating Memories Unlimited!”

Mr. Ramesh Srivats, MD & CEO of TenTenTen Digital Products, added, "Social networks are more than just new "media". They have changed the very way in which people interact with each other. So there's no point in using them as yet another channel to pump brand messages. In fact, in this world, brands are built by actions, not words. Tripalong helps MakeMyTrip do just this. It's useful and cool. And leverages the customer's own networks to make his or her travel a lot more fun. And the fun has just started. We have lots of features that will be added to Tripalong as we go along, to make it even more powerful and even more useful."

Tripalong is extremely simple and easy to use. The application allows users to register on www.Tripalong.in. The user can link their Tripalong account with their LinkedIn and / or Facebook accounts which will provide access to their friends already on Tripalong. Upon adding flight schedule (date of travel and route), the application auto-prompts the user for Airline detail and departure time. It then shares details of friends registered on Tripalong who may be travelling on the same flight, or be at the same airport with opportunity to ‘intersect’. Friends can then choose to connect offline and check-in together to get a seat next to each other or meet at the airport. Tripalong also updates users on friends who are in the same city as they are travelling to – it’s like a helpful assistant that facilitates interactions on the go. In addition, whenever a user adds flight details, he/she is also able to see other registered Tripalong members on the same flight, along with their brief profiles. The user can then choose to send an invite to connect with any of them. Once the invite is accepted, users can plan their interaction off-line or via e-mail. Tripalong also enables users to notify members in their social network of their itinerary. Members can share flight details on Tripalong irrespective of where they have purchased their ticket from - although MakeMyTrip flight purchases can be directly synchronized with the app.

MakeMyTrip is sensitive to traveler-information protection and no other user-related data is exchanged with Tripalong members who are not authorized by the user. The privacy settings and networks/groups are auto-imported from Facebook/LinkedIn – thus only other Tripalong Members and the friends/social connections who the user wants to connect with, are privy to their travel information. 

How to use Tripalong – it is a few simple steps!

1)      Open Tripalong.in and Click on “Sign UP NOW”.

2)      You can click on fConnect to connect through Facebook, or your MakeMyTrip account, or even create a new account on Tripalong.

3)      Upon logging in, you can link your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts with Tripalong and also directly import information pertaining to flights booked through MakeMyTrip.

4)      Enter and save the key details of your profile - mandatory fields are ‘Name’, ‘Email ID’ and ‘City of origin’.

5)      Once you add a flight on Tripalong, you can select the origin, destination and date following which you will be able to choose the airline and time of departure from the drop-down menu.

6)      Upon adding a flight, you will be able to see other “Trip Pals” on the flight.

7)      You can then choose to connect with old friends or other Trip Pals based on profile and common interests.

Please Note:

• Tripalong works best with Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox 8 and Above, IE 8 and above
• When logging into the app through Facebook, if you click on “Allow” to post on your behalf, the message that you have joined Tripalong and the Flights you wish to share will be posted on your wall –  you can change the privacy setting regarding access to view your wall-post any time through Facebook privacy settings

Trippers' Offsite: Rafting in Rishikesh

After months of strenuous discussions, debates, burning midnight oil and countless mugs of coffee and slices of Pizza, MakeMyTrip recently launched its new hotel booking website. The successful launch of the new site was just the moment to celebrate. After half a dozen mails and some phone calls, the team was off to Rishikesh. Here’s what followed!

The six hour road trip was the best part for many. Besides the games, jokes and acts, the main reason was the Bus itself: A luxurious Mercedes Bus. The second delight of the trip was our accommodation. Latitude 30° North Ganga was a place that delighted us with adventure and adrenaline instead of rejuvenating spa or usual sycophantic hospitality. The hotel promoted and provided adventure sports to the guests. Kayaking, Rafting, Mountain Biking, Trekking, Hiking and Wall Climbing were on the menu! The multifaceted staff impressed us more with their strength and skill of various adventure sports than with their corny hospitality. Without much ado, let me talk about the rafting experience, which was new for everyone but five of us!

Minutes after assembling at Shivpuri, we were briefed by our rafter, Kan Singh on instructions ranging from rowing to rescuing. This being my first rafting experience, the thrill and anxiety were soaring higher every minute. With a T-Grip oar, a helmet, a life jacket and prayers, we began rafting. There were instructions like forward, backward, left forward-right back, right forward-left black and get down; testing presence of mind and team work of workforce from India’s third Great Place To Work!

For those unaware, rafting is navigating through a river (usually downstream) with an inflated raft, some oars and a group of scared amateurs with a Kan Singh! After every three to five minutes of smooth oaring the raftRafting in progress, came a rocky and turbulent point in the river, called ‘rapid’. In what seemed an attempt to identify better with this fear, all the rapids had names. From Grade 1 (read milder) rapids like Good Morning and Investment, there were Grade 4 (read gut wrenching) rapids like Roller Coaster, Double Trouble and The Wall. The key to survival was manoeuvring, collaboration, coordination and leadership of Kan Singh! Isn’t running a raft so similar to running a company, I wondered as I jumped off the raft to swim for a while in the river.

After 2 hour, 26 kms and over 12 rapids, the raft was pulled at the bank and half of us were moaning with aching arms, yet the adrenaline levels were at their zenith. The rafting was organised by AquaTerra Adventures and I must say the guys know their business quite well!

In this 48 hours trip, we trippers also went for mountain biking and forest trekking which was arranged in tandem by AquaTerra and Latitude 30° North Ganga. The lunch in forest after the hour-long trek was delicious and rewarding.

On our way back, we discovered that rafting experiTrekking in the hillsence eclipsed the fun of playing games by the fire, swimming, enjoying beer by the pool or devouring delicious food. Some of us were already planning to lose weight and improve fitness levels for another adventure holiday. Rafting in Rishikesh perhaps tickled the adventure bone in most of us. For good, I guess.

Town Hall Meeting-March 2012

The bi-annual Town Hall Meet (THM) of MakeMyTrip came back this nineteenth; bigger, better and louder! Like always, this THM turned out to be grander than the last one in August 2011. Instead of hunters and animals like last time, this time Trippers were in Retro and old school attires. The polka clothes, hairdos, white pants, bell bottoms and wide frames were dotted across the venue, the indo-baroque hall in Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon.

MMT’s own band (Gaurav Sajjanhar, Ojas Patil and Siddharth Dehl) kick-started the THM with some foot-tapping numbers from Kailash Kher to Elvis Presley. Next, MMT’s own Rapper E-Raize (Ekesh Tewari) rocked the stage with another singer (Tilak Prakash), as the duo wittily reprised the song Maeri from Euphoria.

Showstoppers- Rapper and Singer DThen our Founders Deep, Keyur and Rajesh spoke in their unique and captivating styles. Analogy between business & cricket, a story called 'My car doesn't like Vanilla ice-cream’ and exciting business figures aren’t something you hear every other day, do you? The sound health of the company, the recent partnerships across the world, the upcoming incentives for the employees and the importance of their happiness were on the agendas of L-Team members. For the first time in a THM, we had some very special guests, the family members of MMT employees.

Every THM, a reputed industry figure comes as a speaker and interacts with trippers on just about everything. The speaker this time was a dear friend of Deep, Mr. Shailesh Rao - Vice President International Operations at Twitter. Shailesh has worked as MD - Google India - and Director - Local Search - at Google’s headquarters. This young and candid (he donned a yellow retro wig!) leader mesmerised trippers with his simple fundamentals on following your passions, loving what you do and his stories at Google.Mr. Shailesh Rao interacting with Trippers

Hey wait, the best is yet to come. And that is performances by the new joiners.  Like each time, the new trippers rocked the stage with some awesome plays and comic acts. Alternate versions of characters like jury of Roadies, Siddhu Paaji, Basanti and Veeru came alive on stage, leaving a rib-tickled audience. In what seemed a duel between comedy and entertainment, some delighting dance sequences and a Tabla session also enthralled everyone in the hall. This was followed by a brown bag session where Deep and Purva (our new HR Head) answered questions on performance management, appraisals, strategic partnerships and another upcoming offsite.

THM is also a platform to acknowledge and award the best performing trippers, which we fondly know as ‘Star Performers’. Apart from the big batch of achievers, this time there was a special award category: Awards for employees working for a) FIVE and b) TEN years with MakeMyTrip. That wasn’t really unfathomable for a 12 year young dotcom that listed on NASDAQ and ranked amongst top 3 in Great Places To Work survey, twice!

Star Performers with their TrophiesThe glamorous red-carpet show ended perfectly with free food for trippers in the famed Culture Gully of Kingdom of Dreams. We devoured Lucknowi kebabs, Hyderabadi biryani, Goan curry, Mumbai vada-paos, Amritsari kulchey, and delicacies from every Indian state. With the unspent money in our cards, we indulged in some retail therapy.

An account of this THM will be incomplete without applauding our HR team for their flawless planning and execution of the event. The most exciting part of the THM is that it comes back!