May 13, 2008

Cerebrate, the Event.

How do you encapsulate a dream close to your heart? How do you put three months of planning and preparations into words? How do you convey the three wonderful days you spent with some really bright folks? It's always been a challenge. Words never seem to do justice describing things that I'm absolutely passionate about.

One such incident is Cerebrate. Almost a month after the event is over, here I am putting some of my thoughts together.

Cerebrate has been an idea two years in the making. Ever since I learnt about FooCamp and the fantastic people who gather together every year, I have always earned for such an event. Then I come across this fantastic event called TED, and my grouse and longing only grew bigger.

There's no way I would either be invited to such an event as FooCamp or would I be able to afford the exorbitant fees of a TED. I also wondered why don't such events ever happen in India. That's when I decided that instead of waiting and wishing that someone does it, let's roll up our sleeves and get it done ourselves. That's how the event came to be.

So, what is Cerebrate? In simple terms, it's getting the very best minds from different fields together for three days of togetherness, ideating and sharing knowledge. These are folks from Law, Movies, Technology, Theatre, Sports, Management, Photography, Medicine, Journalism, Music.... The only connecting factor amongst the lot is the excellence. These are folks who are driven and have achieved in their own chosen fields.

I'd like to encourage you guys to take a look at the key people who we invited for the first edition of Cerebrate. The event took place at the beautiful Club Mahindra Resort on Varca Beach. Club Mahindra have bought into the idea and have been generously helpful in supporting the event for the long term.

Here's a quick picture log of the event.


The cap


Cerebrate in progress.


Eliciting a point.


The main essence has been the sharing of experiences and learning from one another.


Everyone engrossed in Sudhir's bazooka of a camera. Learning the tricks of wildlife photography.


More togetherness.


Casual hallway conversations.


The outdoors ideation session.


That's the view from one of the rooms. Fabulous pool.


One of the rooms.


Panoramic view of the ground


The Dune Shack on the Beach where we had our dinner.


View of the reception


Group snap before departure

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May 06, 2008

The Chepauk Cricket Stadium Grouse

Last week, I had the chance to watch the T20 match between the Chennai Super Kings vs the Delhi Daredevils. I was only half interested in the game (mainly because we were losing) and so spent the other half noticing around things of interest.

Disaster Waiting to Happen: The MAC stadium, the biggest cricket stadium in Chennai, is also the WORST stadium when it comes to safety. There are no emergency exits. All the exits have a swirl gate which means only one person can get out at a time. The bamboo barricades makes it even worse. It took me 25 minutes just to come out of the stadium. I had to inch forward in a long dusty queue. Felt like I was in a Tirupathi Tirumala Devastanam queue.

If an emergency evacuation had to happen, there's bound to be deaths by the thousands as more people will die out of stampede and congestion. It's the most ill-prepared stadium and I guess the authorities will only change after a disaster happens.

Crowded cafeteria: Ok, my grouse continues. The cafeteria area is quite pathetic. Overcrowded and heavily under-managed. First, the give out a rule that outside food should not be allowed inside the stadium. Second, there's only a 10 minute break between the innings. Third, very very few food counters. The result: A maddening rush and flying tempers. The powers that be did not realize that the 9:30 pm break is right at dinner time and they should have food counters that offers food. Biscuits, Cadbuyrs chocolates and Cashewnuts are fine but they aren't dinner food. Pathetic organizing.

No Mexico in Chennai: Chennai crowd may be the most knowledgeable cricket crowd in India but they don't know what a mexican wave. There was a group of people who would start the wave and it would quickly die out as the folks in the next stand wouldn't take it up. It took about 20 tries after which the waves caught on. But by then, the chennai team was losing and the crowd quickly lost interest.

Indian Flags: The vendors have not wisened up to the concept of IPL. The bulk of them were selling Indian flags and there were hardly any buyers. You can't blame them. All the international matches so far have been against different countries and there's a reason for showing your partriotism. I guess it'll take a while before they realize that its time to change. But these guys are quick to adapt and I won't be surprised that by the next tournament, there's be yellow coloured bandanas, flags and Tshirts.

Scoreboard Laggards: Both the electronic and the analog scoreboards do not show the required run rate. They do not show the number of balls a batsman has faced. They don't show the number of balls bowled in an over. The boards are still stuck in the Test era.

The Wind-Shadow Area: If you are booking a ticket at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk, make sure to book your ticket in one of the four stands E,F,G,H. Why? Because that's where the sea wind blows into. Book any other stand and get prepared to sweat profusely.

Thankfully, I was in the F stand, and I could see the folks in the opposite stands of the stadium fan themselves crazy trying to keep themselves cool. Even at night, without any wind, it can get quite sultry and uncomfortable. Interestingly, the folks who paid the highest for the Pavilion Terrace seating, suffered the worst.

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April 29, 2008

The Veiled Marketing Tactic

I got an email from the organizers of The Great Developer Summit saying that they are giving away 100 free tickets for the event. It's on first come first served basis. All they needed was the name, email and phone.

It wouldn't hurt, I figured and so I went ahead and filled in the details. I must've done that less than a minute after I received the mailer. Not that, I had much hopes of getting in. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I got a call from them saying that I might not have made the top 100. I shrugged my shoulders and carried on with my life.

Today, I receive another email from them confirming that I hadn't made it but they are willing to give me an entry at the discounted cost of Rs.3599. The original cost, apparently, is Rs.5999.

And then, it stuck me. Gosh! It's a sales tactic. And I fell for it.

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April 21, 2008

Meeting Ray Ozzie and a Dream Team of Tech CEOs

Tomorrow, the Diya hall at Hotel Leela Palace, Bangalore will have the highest concentration of Intelligence and wealth per square inch. Thankfully, the Law of Averages in the form of my presence, will ensure that it's brought down by half!

A select panel of 10 CEOs have been invited by NASSCOM for an exclusive round table with Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect. Or better known as the man who took Bill Gates' place when he retired.

The invitees are:

1. Sharad Sharma, CEO Yahoo! R&D who is also the Session Chair & Moderator.

2. Ramalinga Raju, Founder & Chairman, Satyam Computers

3. Biren Ghosh, CEO Kahani World Inc.

4. Ashish Gupta, CoFounder and Managing Partner, Helion VC

5. Rajiv Mody, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Sasken Communications

6. Anand Deshpande, Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Technologies

7. Kiruba Shankar, Blogger, Columnist, CEO, Business Blogging, Founder, F5ive Tech.

8. Mohan C M, Chief Scientist, IBM India

9. Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman and Managing Director, Microsoft India

10. Ram Narayanan, Vice President, Yahoo! R & D

The discussion is going to be on the topic, 'Is the Rise of SaaS an Opportunity for India?' To me, the coincidence couldn't have been any higher. Exactly the day before I got the invite (which was two weeks ago), I had scheduled 'SaaS' as the subject for my column in Business Standard for next week. I'll just advance it now. I shouldn't have any problem getting the best quotes!

Being a blogger, I'm the natural choice for being the guy who documents the meeting discussion. With such brilliant minds around, I'm going to be one busy 'note taker'.

The round-table with Ray brings up my memories of a similar meeting with Kevin Turner, the COO of Microsoft. It took place almost exactly one year ago.

One of the big reason why I'm eagerly looking forward to the meeting is because I'll get to meet 8 of the 10 people for the first time. The only people who I've met before are Sharad and Ravi Venkatesan. It's always interesting connecing up with new people who have accomplished a lot in their life. (which has been the motivating factor for me to start Cerebrate.)

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April 20, 2008

One of My Favorite Videos...

If you've ever been a cyclist, this video will strike a chord with you. Read on, after you watch the video. Yeah, count carefully.



Awesome video and it definitely stuck a chord with me. I've been cycling to work for the better part of the last 8 years, averaging about 20 kms a day. While riding in the city is overall safe, I've encountered some real close shaves that I'd count myself lucky to be alive to write this post. Most accidents to cyclists occur because they aren't important enough to be 'visible'. The video above hits it bang on.

Highway cycling turns cyclists into accident magnets. That's why, we always bring along a car that tails the cyclists. Without the car, cyclists are a shoo-in.

It's my request to all of us to show a bit more concern for pedestrians, runners and cyclists. You'll be rewarded with lots of gratitude.

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