Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu has called for stricter safety measures in adventure sports after the death of a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu. Jeyesh Ram, the son of Mr Vembu’s close friends, died in a paragliding accident in Kullu, Manali, on Friday.

“Way too many accidents happen with sickening regulatory there, and I am deeply saddened Jeyesh became the latest statistic,” Mr Vembu, who attended the funeral, shared in a post on X. “Much stronger regulatory oversight required here,” he added.

Yesterday I had the very sad duty to attend the funeral of Jeyesh Ram, 27 year old son of my dear friend Cibi Anand and Priya. He lost his life in a para-gliding accident in Kulu, Himachal Pradesh last Friday.

Way too many accidents happen with sickening regulatory there and I… pic.twitter.com/dZsmE0hW5M

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) January 19, 2025

Jeyesh Ram, a resident of Vigneshwara Nagar in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, was on a tandem flight when his paraglider collided mid-air with another. The paraglider collapsed, causing a fatal fall. Mr Ram was declared dead on arrival at a hospital, and the pilot, Ashwani Kumar, sustained severe injuries and was referred to PGIMER, Chandigarh, for treatment.

Mr Ram was the founder of Tools Hub, a fast-growing hardware retail store franchise backed by Zoho, Mr Vembu said. Remembering the young entrepreneur, he described him as “a dashing young man, very kind to his employees and all those around him. He had the world ahead of him.”

Mr Vembu also talked about Mr Ram’s adventurous spirit. “He was a risk taker. So am I, but even at his age, I would do a risk analysis and would have declined paragliding in Kullu as too accident-prone,” he wrote. The 57-year-old warned other young people to “avoid bad risks like this.”

Preliminary investigations revealed the pilot attempted a 360-degree swirl, causing the collision. While the other glider managed to stabilise, Mr Ram’s collapsed, resulting in the fall. “The victim’s family has been informed about the incident,” said Vikas Shukla, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Kullu, in a statement to The Indian Express. A magisterial probe has been ordered.

Sridhar Vembu urged regulators to take a “good look at this”, saying, “I hope his death does not go in vain.”

Seven paragliders, including foreigners, have died in Himachal Pradesh in the past 18 months. Paragliding at Gadsa was banned in January 2023 for safety issues but reopened a month later.

Zoho Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Vembu reacted to FIITJEE’s latest advertisement which drew heavy criticism for its unethical tactics. The print ad used a student’s image to suggest declining performance after leaving their institute. It further stooped to fear-mongering by associating a competitor with student suicides and using inflammatory language like “evil.” Mr Vembu reposted the ad and said that the country needs to get out of the “ultra-competitive exam pressure” on students and young adults. He added that his company has “pledged to not even consider academic credentials” as an employer.

“India has to get out of this ultra-competitive exam pressure on children and young adults. This is one area where I would *not* learn from East Asia but instead learn from Finland which has a superb state-funded educational system that serves every child without such competitive insanity,” Mr Vembu wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

India has to get out of this ultra-competitive exam pressure on children and young adults. This is one area where I would *not* learn from East Asia but instead learn from Finland which has a superb state-funded educational system that serves every child without such competitive… https://t.co/AjdkIl0Nmt

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) March 17, 2024

The Zoho Chief slammed the competitive exam culture and said that pressure at a young age “destroys talent and creates zombified adults.” He added, “It is the rat race to extinction. Intense competition is for companies serving a market and for sports, not for children in education.”

He continued, “As an employer, we have pledged to not even consider academic credentials. We are also investing in educational alternatives that are inspired by Finland.”

Since being shared, the post has amassed over two lakh views and three thousand likes. Several people also took to the comments section to share their views on the same.

“Another important thing to learn from Finland is the medium of instruction. Most schools teach in Finnish language. Mother tongue based education has played a key role in their education success,” said a user.

Another user wrote, “We need more such voices!”

“Amongst all the things that need a revamp, Indian educational system tops the list,” remarked a user.

A user mentioned, “All this is due to the fact that most of our parents before social media age didn’t have vision beyond government exams or competitive exams. But as we grow old and become parents people will surely get more options to explore.”

“We should be fostering creativity, resilience, and removing the ‘do or die exams’ culture! Success is a marathon, and pursuing it with joy is doable!” expressed a person.