“The best things in life aren’t things”
Hello everyone. My name is Pavan Naraparaju. My wife, Sailaja Koti, is a proud member of the Awesome RiceTec Family and I am truly honored to have had firsthand experience of RiceTec’s greatness.
Hurricane Harvey hit Houston area at the end of August and I was stuck in North Dakota unable to decide if this was ‘yet another, hyped-up weather news’ or a real threat that my family needs me. Some instinct pushed me reach Houston just in time before the airports shut down and I was able to be with my family during the evacuation, and the horrible events that unfolded shortly after. I was worried about safety of my family if I weren’t able to make it to Houston before the hurricane hits the city.
I have seen several tragedies in life and my 29 year career in oil and gas industry including deaths, injuries and destruction. But, this was by far the worst and now I know how devastating this can be for families. Only positive thing at that time was that we were all together and safe. With all my experience in life, I was not sure where to start and what to do or how to prioritize things.
That is when RiceTec Family came in and rescued us from the chaos and put us back on right track in no time. We witnessed the top quality positive attitude, exceptional leadership, extreme hardworking nature, outstanding compassion and suddenly things brightened up. I don’t want to name anyone in particular because it was a true test of teamwork and each one of the RiceTec Angels worked like a well-oiled machine and literally and figuratively rescued us from the chaos. Young and old worked with the same enthusiasm and energy levels throughout their presence in my house, which was beyond amazing.
In fact, RiceTec’s help came much before the actual problem started by way of a warning to ‘get out of Sugar Land ASAP’ even before the City/County officials issued notices and guidance didn’t stop till we reached Austin to safety. RiceTec helped us throughout the ordeal and has been helping to-date in continued support.
I understood that even if I didn’t make it to Houston in time, RiceTec would have taken care of my family and ensured that they would be safe and comfortable. I know of some of RiceTec’s employees whose own homes flooded but they were helping others in need. I have not seen such unselfish approach towards helping fellow human beings ever in my life.
I now realize why RiceTec is such a great company to work for and why my wife is so passionate about her work at all times. I believe it’s built into the blood and culture of RiceTec to be great service oriented leaders. I know firsthand that those that didn’t come to my home were helping some other families, whether they are in anyway related to RiceTec or not.
I was motivated for life because of the sincere service mindedness that the wonderful team of RiceTec showed during the most troublesome period after Harvey’s flooding. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone from RiceTec, several Church Groups, Firefighters, Police Officers, and Volunteers. Without your help, we wouldn’t have been able to be back to normal (almost) and move back into our home so quickly.
All I can say is that I accumulated unrepayable debt in terms of gratitude and don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to thank RiceTec. God Bless you all.