Whig’s family, colleagues remember him

“It is an irreplaceable loss for the entire family. He was a sensitive, humble and down-to-earth person, always willing to extend a helping hand. His death has left behind an eternal void in the family,” said a family member of the 47-year-old Britannica Chief Operating Officer (COO) Vineet Whig who jumped to death from the 19th floor of his society building in Gurgaon’s DLF Phase-III on Sunday morning.

Extremely detailed and people-oriented, very methodical in his approach, and a true mentor with excellent management skills — this is how Whig’s colleagues remember him now. “He was someone who was calm and poised even in the most critical times. This loss is unbearable. We don’t know what could have led to do this?” said Whig’s friend who worked with him as an instructional writer at iDiscoveri Education Private Limited where he worked as the vice-president in 2008.

Whig’s success story started in 1992, when he worked as a General Manager in NIIT for 14 years before becoming the Associate Vice-President in Wipro in 2006. He then worked with iDiscoveri Education as the vice-president before moving to Pearson VUE as Head of Operations- Asia Pacific in the year 2008. Whig again moved to NIIT for 3 years in 2011 before finally moving to Encyclopedia Britannica in August 2014—first as an advisor and then COO—in April 2015.

However, for Vinny—as Whig was dearly called, the journey ended too soon and for reasons none of us would ever know, said a family member. Whig’s suicide note, found in his pocket narrated some kind of a battle he was fighting with himself. “Main bohot Kamzor padh gaya tha. I do not have the will to deal with the situation of my life. I have been depressed with things in my life, for which I would not blame anyone. I would not like to blame anyone for this extreme step,” read the suicide note. Whig was cremated in Gurgaon by his family and friends on Sunday evening.

“Since the deceased has not accused anyone for his suicide, no case has been registered against anyone. The immediate investigation under Section 174 of the CrPc was done on the day of the suicide. Also, nothing concrete was found in the CCTV footage recovered from the building in which he was living with his family,” said Sudeep Kumar, SHO, DLF phase-II police station.