You will google, the way you never thought…

Be it meaning, information, places, maps, etc, we google it. “Google” has become synonymous with “search” on the internet. A fantastic company founded by Sergey M. Brin and Lawrence E. Page. It is now hard to imagine world without google. Gone are the days when I use to issue 10s of books from library, photo coping few of them and taking long notes, to complete school assignments. Today, we google it! But things doesnt look encouraging for google, going forward.

It all started in 1980s. Apple computers introduced Macintosh, the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface. He naively discussed the operating system with Bill Gates. And as matter of fact and in the words of Steve Jobs, “…And since Windows just copied the Mac…” It was the brain child of Jobs but Bill Gates successfully copied and marketed it with Microsoft label, making huge fortune. But still Apple is far more superior when it comes to performance, processing, experience. From Hollywood to Bollywood, film making, processing, high digital stuff, etc would not have been possible, had it not been Apple. It is the “Rolls Royce” of IT industry. Steve Jobs made a mistake of sharing knowledge. He was betrayed and Microsoft became far bigger company than Apple.

History repeats itself. Steve Jobs is betrayed again.

Apple and Google are pioneers in their ambit of offerings. One has proved marvels in computer, operating system, music and phone industry while other is leader in search engine. Their path never crossed. Their mission was to limit Bill Gates and Microsoft till PC and do not dominate the online and phone business. Steve Jobs committed same mistake again. He invited Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, to join Apples Inc’s board. They worked together to ensure that iPhone has Google as default search engine. Google quietly built Andriod, an operating system for smart phones. Launched it on phones with HTC and Motorola, directly competing with Mac OS. Then it introduced the Nexus One, its flagship phone designed in close collaboration with HTC, which carried some of the designs and features like the patented multi-touch feature of iPhone. Google has challenged Apple Inc, by copying the very own features of iPhone. Schmidt did what Bill Gates did, two decades ago.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: I trust Steve Jobs, you will google, the way you never thought. Whenever this man has been challenged, the world has been blessed with out of box, state of the art, industry changer product. Be it ipod, iphone, itunes, ipad or the App music store. This guy will introduce an application, I am not limiting the scope by saying a search engine, an application that will change the way we search. I cannot think what it will be like but it will surely see Google scratching its head.

Dropouts are better than the finishers, aren’t they?

When you see the list of dropouts who made it to the top, you feel, oh really, isn’t the list impressive. Henry Ford –Ford Motors, Bill Gates-Microsoft, Larry Ellison-Oracle, Sheldon Adelson-Las Vegas Sands Corp, Larry Page-Google, Kirk Kerkorian-Tracinda, Michael Dell-Dell, Paul Allen-Microsoft, David Geffen-Geffen Records, Steve Jobs-Apple, Richard Branson-Virgin, Subhash Chandra-Zee TV, Jerry Yang-Yahoo, Mark Zuckerberg-Facebook, etc. It’s a long and a very impressive list. Almost every company is leader in its industry. An interesting fact, the age of people when they dropped out is between 12 to 21 and on an average it is 17 years. And the average age when they reached the pinnacle, is 32 years. When you are really young, new and naïve, hit it hard. That doesn’t mean you cannot do if you are grown up now. Just that you have more responsibilities now.

So what makes them so special? In my opinion, they were already graduates. They dropped out from the college indicating that they were capable enough to sail through in this dynamic world. They are beyond a degree, books and class rooms. They gave finest institutions to the world. They knew what they wanted to do. They knew where their heart was. They had courage to follow their guts. They had the capacity to risk their life. You don’t get chance to get into Stanford and Harvard schools every day. Yet they did what they did. Had they completed their designed courses and colleges, they would have been working in some company with a lot lower salary, lot lower satisfaction and killing their creativity and belief without feeding it enough.

Steve Jobs, among the most influential, biggest industry trend setter, dropped out because he didn’t find value in the class rooms. Schools should not be meant to train or discipline minds, it should encourage pushing limits of mind, exploring and traveling uncharted territory. Life should be made disciplined, not mind. A disciplined mind would always think lot of times before venturing into a risky preposition, resulting mostly in postponing the idea.

There are people who have dropped out but do not figure out in the list. I guess they really needed degrees to make it big, if at all they wanted to. They lacked in passion and vision. They lacked in energy and belief. People who are trained and made it to big, well they were supposed to. They were trained to make it big. People who are trained and yet to make big, well they need to do things differently now. They need to do things the way they never did, to achieve what they never have.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: Listen to your heart and do what you want. Don’t get bogged down because of society. At the same time be realistic. If you know that you are not a Steve Jobs, nor you have an idea, nor you have any clue what you want in life, follow the herd. Be in majority. Complete your degrees, make your parents proud and be satisfied, otherwise take risk and do what you want to do!

School Days!!!

"...playing hide and seek, hiding just behind those trees... the very ground were I use to do mass drill in my white half pants early morning in chilling winters... there I was exactly there, playing cricket with my exam pads and ball made of stone, handkerchief tied with rubber band... the flag hosting pole... celebrated 10 years completion of school, 15 years ago, on the very ground... the class room, the benches... 6th A, 8th A, 10th A... my class rooms... the lobby... hahah... I use to make this lobby worth-a-walk by standing outside for not doing homework... the very classroom where I had my first ever crush... she was my maths teacher 7th standard... where biology classes were very interesting and history always brought lot of sleep... forgetting notebooks because homework was not done, every month new homework notebook without finishing the previous one... remarks in dairy for not bringing roti-sabji in tiffin, standing on bench for unpolished shoes...fighting with friends every minute...promising to be there for lifetime... speaking in English was considered as showoff... where 5:30pm bell to go home was most awaited thing... Cycling so fast to beat all the two wheelers and even four wheelers..."

This holi, when I went to my hometown, I visited my school. Reached there an hour before the day was to start...visited all the classes and the lobby with my best and school friend...was there after almost 10 years... sat on the bench of class 6th section 'A'...middle row, second bench, corner seat...close to girl's seat on the next row... the blackboard...the tiffin basket holder...everything same... Prayer started at 11 o'clock and then 15th Adyaya of Geeta and the national anthem...

Teachers were the same, I must say most of them... met after 10 years but never realized...chatted long and short...saw one of the exam papers bundle lying on the table...reminded me of the "total" we use to do of all the exam papers again and again, hoping the .5 mark will make a difference, writing everyone's marks at the back of the "rough copy"...tracking the topper... hoping to score high in next exam... promising dad... but never studying... after all there was always more than studies in life...

School days are the best days of anyone's life. You are ignorant. You are a kid. You are unaware. You are childish. Your heart is pure. Your character is gold. You don't have any responsibility...except for passing the exams... every other thing was taken care by parents... BEST DAYS!!!

The dancing elephant needs support for some more time!

The global recession which started hitting countries from Oct 2008, was a blessing in disguise for the Indian corporates. The world started looking India from different angle. The traditionally conservative banking system was appreciated world over. The regulators shared limelight like never before. It was difficult time but, it brought a lifetime opportunity for Indian behemoths. They became more cautious. They started cutting on cost, deferring capital expenditure, realigning their business and consolidating their operations.

The Indian government provided stimulus package in installments. Rate cuts, plan -unplan expenditure of $60Bn, cut in central VAT, incentives to export industries, refund of service tax paid by exporters to foreign agents, Incentives for loans on housing, Limits under the credit guarantee scheme for small enterprises doubled, Export duty on iron ore fines eliminated, Export duty on lumps for steel industry reduced to five percent.

Largely speaking, Indian economy was never hit by recession. We never neeeded a stimulus package of any sort. But the aggressive move by the government ensured that the interest of SMEs is maintained. The exporters are not hurt significantly due to falling demand and delay in payments. Withdrawal of funds by FII also created a credit crunch situation. India clocked a growth of 6%-7% in the midst of adversity around the world. This was possible due to strong and growing rural demand. The consumer spending has been increasing on month-on-month basis.

No doubt the booster hasnt come for free. The fiscal deficit is close to 12% of GDP. Rate cuts and incentives to boost growth has resulted in inflation. Government has to play a balancing act between maintaining growth and containing the inflation. But, if the stimulus package is rolled back now, it would create a recession like situation in India. Infrastructure projects worth billions are underway. They need extended incentives. Large projects might get delayed and cause cost overruns. Various sectors are still in consolidation phase. The results declared are volatile. Industries are yet to experience stability.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: The dancing elephant needs stimulus support till 2nd quarter of the FY2010-11. We are targetting a growth of 8%+ now. So if roll back is done in phased manner, we will have our average growth of 6.5% without hurting any industry. Untimely removal of ladder might enforce few to fall.

Riding on time machine!

After some heavy posts, here is a lighter one...

I had a bitter fight yesterday with very close friend of mine. Who's mistake? I guess nobody to blame. What will happen next? After every night there come beautiful sun rays, same way, we will be rocking, again! Why I am sharing this? To ponder on something that did stike while I was in the middle of fight.

As the heated conversation was going on, I suddenly remembered that in the morning only I read that "There could be a clash today. Stay away from arguments." But still I just carried on to hit a dead end, me standing alone. So, do I read such things everyday? And does this incident make me believer of what is published? To begin with, I dont believe in the fortunes published. Infact, I dont follow anything that is written in newspapers. Anything that is in the public eye, is to make the public blind about the truth. Though I do try to read between the lines. Lot of spaces! which makes more sense to me than words. The spaces tell the complete story and express the unsaid meaning.

I have seen people reading so called predictions religiously everyday in newspapers. That is the first thing they do! And on top of it, they do postpone their already set plans if that is not advisable according to the newspaper! What crap! Its your life, you decide, you do. The world is divided into twelve zodiac signs and predictions are made that only these things will happen everyday. I am not doubting on Zodiac sign's sanctity or existence, it evolved out of some science. But following blindly what some Baba says every morning on television is far from my understanding. All the channels and not to forget NEWS channels also are in the forefront. When newspapers can do that, why not news channels!

In the race are all mobile service providers, email providers, Facebook with Dhongibaba! I liked the name though, very apt. Dhongibaba!

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: If predicting future was so simple and easy task, we would not have been doing lot of things, that we do otherwise! Future is in the present. If we indulge in looking at whats going to happen in future, we will miss the present and it will also make us believe to make changes in the past!

"Attack the leaders"

Why do you see Amitabh Bachchan being attacked again and again by politicians? Why MNS drags him is meaningless issues? Why SRK is attacked on his IPL selection statement which wasnt contradictory to patriotism? And at the same time, why SRK has accused ShivSena of dirty politics? Why only Indians are attacked in Australia? Why at the global level US, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq are found attacking India and Indian leaders again and again?

Earlier it was between Khans now it is between AB and SRK, Chetan Bhagat and 3 idiots, only Tiger woods over infidelity, Mukesh Ambani over KG basin, Tatas over Singur, Steve Jobs over iPad, n number of cases in every walk of life. If you ask Shivsena, MNS, BJP, RSS some other acronyms, "What are you fighting for?" I bet, they wont have an answer! They just want to attack anybody who has visibility and can help them in their pursuit.

In the marketing parlance it is called "Attack the leader." It is one of the easiest way to take your words to the world. Any leader in his industry/ segment is dominant. He decides the pace, direction and sets the rules and trends. When you attack a leader, you are elevating yourself close to that leader's position, temporarily. The world gives you ear. And in a subtle way your work is done. When Mamata Banerjee created issue with Tatas over Singur land, she knew, it is not worth fighting against the business behemoth. But she got the coverage, she was heard. She retracted from her stance later, is a different story. The movie My Name is Khan cannot get a better marketing than what it has got! Look at Sarkar, Gangajal or some other movies. If you look around yourself, you will find either people have mastered or are trying to master the art of attacking the leaders.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: When ever you find any leader getting attacked, understand the motto. Hmmm, that means if I want to get famous, I should attack some political or business figure or ideology. Hahaha... Its not a child's play. When a leader retracts, you need to be fully loaded because 100% of the times, the attacker is at fault. For you guys, if you look at everything from "attack the leader" angle, you will always find it applicable!

Be careful, you might land in trouble!

I have been on orkut since 2004, own blog since 2007, on linkedin since 2008, On facebook since 2009 and on twitter since 2009. Things have changed drastically from the orkut days to the now twitter days. I joined orkut purely out of excitment. I really didnt know what it was. What profile meant, how to use scrap book, etc. Things like album, photo comments, tagging evolved with time. I primarily used orkut to increase my friends count, write testimonials and get more testimonials! Human beings! They want to hear good about themselves everytime, all the time.

Now things have drastically changed. People express themselves more often. The status messages and tweets are the in thing. "What's on your mind?" is new phenomenon! I doubt if people actually write whats on their mind when they are writing it. It is more to suit and appeal and make a statement within the community.

The point of focus here is the headline "Inappropriate messages on social sites could get you arrested, fired, or even divorced." The statement immediately caught my attention and I rather decided not to publish my post which was on the gundagiri happening in politics and precisely Maharashtra politics. Valentine's day is around the corner and yes politicians are all charging up, to express their love towards Archies and Hallmark outlets, the CCDs, the shopping malls and innocent couples.

India’s IT Act, notified in October 2009, make status messages and Tweets admissible as electronic evidence and the onus of the posts on these accounts now rests solely on users, say cyber lawyers. Most users are blissfully ignorant that whatever they write in public domain can be produced as a proof of copy. A printout or screen shot is all that is required. Hmmm, I need to be more politically correct now.

A Gurgaon IT profesional was arrested in 2008 for posting an obscene message against Congress president Sonia Gandhi on his Orkut account. UK-based Divorce-online said in Dec09 20% of all its divorce petitions contain references to Facebook status messages. Now I dont want to make a political statement by commenting on the message on Sonia Gandhi, but how do you justify it.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: On one hand, you say that it is a democratic country and there is "freedom of speech". And this freedom is extensively used by our politicians openly in the media and their newspapers but when comman man tries to use it, he is suppressed. Agreed that you should avoid provoking statements but the right to express should not be suppressed. You almost made me ignore my post from posting which was on politics. Any takers?