How much value efloraofindia has created ?:
This question has been raised in my mind for a long, time and again.
My guess comes to around 1000 crore in terms of Rupees. It may be much much larger in terms of Dollars say $1000 Cr., if we were in the USA.
This is taking into account the value of time so many of us have spent here as well as the enterprise value.
There are valuers, who put value to a brand or an enterprise etc., but I do not know how they calculate it.
We have benefited not only from the best of minds in the field of taxonomy but also from the best of talent in diverse fields. Passion has been the running theme in all these years. And we have a great team and trust among us.
Our brand is so strong that it may be really difficult for anybody to replicate it and do things the way we are doing.
And we always feel at any point of time that it is just like a beginning.
Though this value is not for earning money in the future, but for the provision of value to the society.
Zomato which has been running in losses of around 2500 cr. on a turnover of around Rs. 2500 Cr. in the last year, has been valued at 1 lakh cr.
My guess is only 1/100th of this for efloraofindia and we are not running into losses but are so happy to offer services free of cost to the society.
The satisfaction we got when we looked back at eflora and efloraofindia site, is matchless and worth several 100 crores.
No doubt about it, Santhan ji
Thanks Garg ji for sharing this perspective.
The best part of efloraofindia is no one has any risk of loss at any time. Instead, it is always profit or benefit. Not to mention the immense benefit that the flora community reaps. Self satisfaction is at its height, just as much we pursue our other passions.
Well said, Dinesh ji
the passion , satisfaction, noble sacrifice (in sharing their collections) and above non-commercial mind of the group is above all physical/commercial values.makes efi supreme. It is the true spirit of our Nationality.
Yes, true, Lalithamba ji.
I think I am trying to be lousy by assigning so much value.
I request others to pl. come up with their views as it was just a thought.
I would love to hear from others.
Yes Agree with Garg Ji
This platform has satisfied the hunger for research of so many people like me. While being in a College, we are not allowed to have research students. Also due to 4-5 Period workload daily does not allow us to do much in taxonomy research. So people like me are occasional researchers. Many eminent personalities like Dinesh Valke ji, who are not from Botany background and many others also practising taxonomy as per their convenience and availability of time. Without such a platform our efforts may have gone unnoticed. From the last 6-7 years, I have been getting 3-4 calls every week related to the availability, status or identity of many plants. Our many pictures are getting space in internationally recognised papers/journals. Even some people are using pics without permission or photo credit. Many new species have been recognised due to this group. All this happened due to such a beautiful platform Created by Garg Ji. Although I am not getting time to post nowadays due to my busy schedule, I am very hopeful to retain my old pace soon.
Thanks a lot, Balkar ji
I agree with Dr.Balkar singh Ji,
Interesting discussion! The efloraofindia group provides opportunities and training to many budding botanists, and makes a unique platform to interact with fellow members from different fields, across different walks of life and different parts of the world. It enables otherwise impractical collaborations between the common man and subject experts and engages everyone interested in plants and promotes their skills in exploration, photography and identification. The group has brought together total strangers with a common interest – plants. In addition to bringing out many novelties such as new species discoveries and new distributional records, the eFI database supports numerous research publications and adds to the existing knowledge on Indian plants. Although the net worth of the existing database can be measured in terms of monetary value, the scholarly value of eFI’s contributions to science and community and the dedication and collective efforts of its members are, in my opinion, beyond any monetary valuations.
Thanks a lot, Vijayasankar ji.
Very well said.
I feel this legacy should be continued for a very very long time to come, with the efforts of both the old and new members, aged and young members, experts and laymen members, Indian and international members and so on and so on.
People, common man and experts, get a wonderful opportunity to see and learn new taxa from anywhere.
Proud of being a part of eflora of India.
Well said, Giby ji.
With all salutes to eFI, the monetary estimation of this Herculean task seems unworkable. The hours, minutes and moments spent in recording the pics, uploading them, invoking discussions and searching the databases, before reaching to conclusions have all been invaluable.
The complete saga of starting, uprising and establishment (which is almost here, now) of this treasure of authentic information cannot be equated in wealth.
The skeleton of raw data, poured in by the esteemed contributors from practically every part of our country, is properly decorated with flesh and blood in the form of endless efforts by Garg Ji, and all the active members (no naming required), that too without much financial involvement. On the contrary, if we imagine the creation of such a database without selfless collaborations, the amount projected by Garg Ji does not look like any exaggeration.
I am happy to be a part of this family, since 2010-11. At present, I do not find myself in a position to contribute actively, but quite hopefully, I may be able to invest some time in keeping myself a part of this progression. However, I feel content that amidst ups and downs of life, I was never completely detached from the forum.
Everyone can see that many plants discussed here turned out to be novelties later on. No doubt, efloraofindia is on the firm footing now, and we can boast of its achievements.
Thanks for reading this..!!
Wah!!! So well expressed, Nidhan ji.
We have no doubt that we will have so many Kasaju’s, Singh’s, Kumar’s, Valke’s, Raman’s, Manoj’s ….. in future times to come.
Well Said Nidhan Ji, the monetary estimation of this Herculean task seems unworkable. From the date of conceptualisation and inception and till today, eFI has generated hure data bank. Along with hardcore botanists, this group have persons from almost all the field ( engineers, doctors, IT professioinals, etc etc..) and almost each one has contributed in some way or other to make sure that the small sapling grows to become a huge tree. So many new publications we had seen where eFI had played a key role. Interaction in this group gives immense satisfaction and provides fuel to move on and to explore…
Thanks Garg Ji and my friends from eFI. It’s a wonderful journey…
Presently I am not able to contribute much due to some personal issues at home front, but it gives a great energy boost whenever I interact with the group members.
And who can forget our great Plant hunters, who have risked their life to take photographs where a common man will shudder!!!
Thank you for letting me stay here.
Thanks a lot, Pankaj ji.
You said so much within so few words.
You have been an inspiration to so many of us here like many others.
And the beauty of this group is that I have yet to talk to ‘The Pitamah of efloraofindia’ leave alone to Pankaj ji and many others.
Thank you for sending me a copy of the “poetry” created by all of you. Yes, eFI is an epic and we, the individual members, all have our own roles to play. It is indeed an honour to be a part of it.
I am still missing views from our master craftmen, Singh ji and Rawat ji.
And from other stalwarts like Santhosh ji and Mayur ji
Perhaps none of us ever thought about money when we joined this group and continue to work for it with utmost passion and time at our disposal, It is because of this that our group has reached this stage, that if you Google search any plant name (from India or other parts of World, thanks Aarti ji and other friends) it invariably leads to an efloraofindia entry. This by itself is a greater credit to all contributors than any monetary assessment. The greatest satisfaction that I get is that major contribution to the group has come from the passion and commitment of our non-botanist friends Garg ji, Prashant ji, Dinesh ji, Saroj ji and Aarti ji, to name a few. All this would not have been possible without Garg ji leading from the front.
You always remains our inspiration.
Idea behind the post was that we know that is an extra ordinary great team effort. And if we ever, by chance, try to measure it in monetary terms, it will be beyond anybody’s comprehension.
Indeed our efi site cannot be assessed in terms of money. Several information pertaining to Indian flora are vested with us and is not readily available elsewhere. We also helping researchers and students laboriously and to other lay people alike without any return. How can we value the smile of our beloved ones in terms of money. Likewise our database and the treasure trove of information cannot be judged. Our team is our strength and the bonding is our future.
Wonderfully said, Santhosh ji
The term ‘brand value’ is a business term which I hardly understand. And this was probably never thought of by any of the member here in efloraofindia. Everyone is attached with selfless spirit here. In fact “लोग आते ही गए और कारवां बनता गया “. But the carvan are formed only when people joining it have firm faith in the leader of carvan. No need to say such faith is firmly rooted in all members here in efloraofindia. Thanks to the able leaders of this group.
Proud to be a brick of this building called efloraofindia.Thanks
Rawat ji, very beautifully written and speaking for all members of the team.
Always mesmerising.
Garg Ji, no amount can compensate for the efforts put in by you and all the contributors. Your valuation of efloraofindia appears to be correct in terms of monetary value. You are devoting your days and nights to this database as a dynamic leader. Dr. Singh Sir, Dr. Rawat Ji, Dr. Pankaj Ji, Dr. Balkar Singh Ji, Dr. Nidhan Singh Ji, Dinesh Ji, Aarti madam, and many others have been working since the beginning of this group project. Saroj Ji, though joined late, reached number 3 in terms of posts within a very short period. Every photograph clicked by the contributors has its own story as well. All of us also spend thousands in addition to the precious time for clicking rare plants. I remember, when I ventured out in search of a specific plant, and in the end, no results. I have wandered for so many days in search of Skimmia anquetilia and Habenaria intermedia. The same is the story of other plant lovers as well. If this is also taken into consideration, your valuation is near to perfect. Every one of us is associated selflessly with this academic project and contributing in his/her own way. I am proud to be associated with efloraofindia, which I always mention during my lectures. I have learned a lot from this group. Once I had asked Dr. Singh Sir, how to become a good taxonomist? especially when one’s research training is in other disciplines (as my Ph.D. was in stress biology of crop plants). He gave a simple mantra, “start loving and observing plants”.
Thanks, Anil ji.
