Super Affiliate Marketing Blog

It is with great sadness and deep regret that I write this entry about my friend Jai Rajkumar. Many of you may not have known him, but he was a dear friend of mine and a great affiliate manager at Azoogle. I say this because I learned yesterday that he had passed away over the holiday weekend. After hearing the news, I was in complete shock. At first I couldn’t believe it, and figured I’d start my Monday as usual with an IM or call to Jai to chat about what we did over the weekend, how our hockey teams were doing, and then on to business as usual, but this was going to be the first Monday for the rest of my days in which it would never happen again.

Usually I have no trouble writing up a storm on something that’s on my mind, but this topic is not just a topic, it’s a farewell to my good friend Jai. I am still in shock about it, and can’t get over the fact that he really is gone. Jai was honestly one of those stand up guys. The ones that would volunteer to help you out even if it meant cutting into his time. He was always there for me, and I am glad to have been there for him. I’ve only known Jai for four months, but we built up a strong friendship from the start, and it feels like four years now instead.

I must say, even with all the sadness I feel from his passing, I want to focus on the good times we had. Jai had a great sense of humor and an even better taste in music. We shared a lot of common goals in life, aside for becoming wealthy and prosperous, we both wanted to become active in starting a family someday and being apart of our children’s lives as much as we could. You can always tell a strong, smart, and well respected man by the way he treats his friends and the family values he had growing up and ones he speaks about for the future and for me, Jai was every bit of that. An overall strong guy. Very well liked, very much respected within our business and someone you could always talk to just for the hell of it. We had our good times with very few bad, but he always came to me with great ideas and solutions on how I could better my business and self. I respect someone that can speak about what’s on his mind, and that’s one of the main things I always liked about Jai.

To the family of Jai Rajkumar-

Jai was a dear friend of mine, and I have never heard anyone speak a single bad thing about him. He had a spark about his personality which made him instantly well liked by everyone who met him. I can’t even to imagine the grief you are suffering over his loss, but I want you all to know that he made a big difference in my life, during his life, and now afterwards. I will miss him for years to come, and will never forget the friendship I was able to share with him. I thank you for raising such a great guy, you did a great job, and you should be proud of him, what he accomplished in life, and what he may have had for the future. I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting you, but it is said that a young son is only a mere reflection of his parents, so I hope to someday see you and tell you in person, how much I liked Jai, and how sorry I feel for the loss of him within your family. It’s times like these where we need to focus on the celebration of his life, and try our hardest not to focus on why or what we could have done differently, because let’s face it, if Jai were still alive right now, he would want us to remember the good over the bad. That’s the way I knew him, and I thank him for all I’ve learned and the times we spent together. I truly mean this, he was a great guy, and I will never forget him.

The following is short list of business related items as my last words to Jai.

From a business perspective I will miss…

…Our constant flow of innovative ideas for the future.

…How you poke fun at me for dropping out of Columbia.

…Introducing you to all of the right people to further increase your portfolio of whales.

…Bouncing project ideas off you for your always honest and sometimes critical opinions and advice.

The following is more of a personal note, as last words to Jai so that I can seek closure over his loss.

Jai my friend, I will miss…

…Speaking with you every Monday morning.

…Discussing business dreams, goals, and aspirations.

…Plans to go to Europe in the spring time for the big trance festival.

…Plans to quit smoking cigarettes with you in fall 2007.

…Bothering you about the Toronto Maple Leafs losing to the New Jersey Devils.

…Our long chats about changing the world and the industries we are so passionate about.

…Introducing you to new trance DJ’s and songs.

…Arguing about food preferences.

…Comparing our religions and wondering why we can’t all just get along.

…Joking around with you.

…Your Saturday night text messages of “Jon, where the hell are you already?!”

…Our debates on politics, religion, people in general, and how many kids are too many kids to have.

…Learning from you.

And most of all, out of everything else… Hanging out with my friend Jai Rajkumar.

Jai… You will be forever missed, by me, my company, by Brandon, and everyone else who had the great pleasure to meet you and see what a great guy you were. Thanks for being there for us, and with that said, we will never forget you old man.

Jai Rajkumar

A Canadian, a sports fan, a business fan, a music fan.

A heart of gold and a personality that no one will ever replace.

A brother, a cousin, a son, a grandson, a friend.

1979 – 2006

Rest in peace my friend, you will be forever missed by all who had the great pleasure of knowing you.

We are planning an industry wide memorial for Jai Rajkumar, who was a great friend to us all. I’m collecting short notes from friends in the industry, clients, anyone who knew Jai, so email me if you want your note to appear in the memorial. If you have a photo of you and Jai, or just of Jai alone that you’d like to submit for the slideshow memorial project, please email me at navyseals AT gmail.com. We will present it to his family to show what an impact their son made on our industry before and after this horrible loss.