The venue for the launch of my book, ‘Copy Right and Left : Understanding Creative Commons‘ has been decided. It’s at the Henry Maudslay Hall in Anna University, Chennai.
There are a couple of reasons why I chose Anna University.
1) This is a university that I have been teaching in for over 10 years. There is a special bond that I’ve created.
2) Two of the three researchers who worked on the book, Sushmitha and Preethi, are from this University. What better way to commemorate their work than in front of their peers!
3) Since I know many of the professors and faculty, it becomes so much more easier for me to organize things. Sometimes paperwork and red-tapism can be irksome but not when you know the right people! 
4) The University has a very rich heritage and history. I’m particularly fond of places that has left a deep legacy. For example, the very hall where the book is getting launched is named after Henry Maudslay, the celebrated tool maker born in 1781 !!
5) It’s economical. That’s the advantage of an educational institution. A similar facility would have costed ten times more.
6) The subject of Creative Commons is directly applicable to the students of Media Sciences department. Since the event takes place within campus, it makes it easier for the students to attend the book launch and the informative panel discussion that follows. It will be a power-packed one hour, a worthy replacement for a class-room teaching.
The date for the book launch is July 20th, between 9:45 am and 11 am. I hereby cordially invite you to the book launch function. For your convenience, here are some pictures of both the university and the Henry Maudslay hall so that its easy for you to recognize the place.
As you enter the campus from the main gate, this is the impressive and imposing building that you’ll see. At this junction, you take a left and keep going straight.
The greenery along the way.
This is the venue. The Henry Maudslay hall. Its right next to the Mechanical Department. When you want directions, just ask for the ‘Mechanical Dept’. You are more likely to get an answer than if you asked for the Henry Maudslay Hall. BTW, I love that tree in front of the hall.
A closer look at the entrance of the hall. I couldn’t take the inside pics as the hall was closed on that day.
The map. Not sure if it makes sense to you. Getting here is very simple. Enter the campus. Head straight to the main building. Then turn left and keep going until you reach the hall. Its quite simple. Call me at 98415 97744 if you need help.
Hoping you see you at the launch on July 20 at 9:45am.
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Fresh on http://Kiruba.TV is a podcast with Seiji Hamanishi, the man responsible for the Camera division at Canon India.
I met up with Seiji San at Canon India’s Headquarters in Gurgoan. Like a good Japanese man, he was extremely punctual and didn’t make me wait. He had requested for the questions and a briefing document on the interview well in advance… a sure sign that he is taking this interview seriously.
We had a 45 minute meeting of which the podcast interview lasted 20 minutes. Usually I try to keep my podcasts short but Seiji San was enthusiastically conversational. Have split the podcasts into two halves to maintain brevity. Do listen in. Seiji San has a heavy Japanese accent and some of you may find it difficult to follow the conversation fully. I’m working on transcribing the audio and will have the transcript put online soon.
Here’s a short brief about Seiji San.
Seji Hamanishi is the Assistant Director, ICP division of Canon India Pvt. Ltd. He has come on board the management team of Canon India after a successful stint at Canon Inc and Canon USA.
With 24 years in the company, Seji Hamanishi has a rich experience across divisions and has worked with Canon Inc. for Laser beam printers, Inkjet printers and Imaging products. He has also been widely regarded for his contribution to Canon USA and Amsterdam in his previous assignments.
Mr. Hamanishi is a photography enthusiast himself and is passionate about cameras.
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In my mind, I was clear how I wanted the windows to be for the farmhouse that we are constructing. They have to be French windows. At Least 10 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Lots of them. I love airy room with a view of the greenery. And the windows have to be as close to those seen in British vintage cottages.
It greatly helps to have a vision of what you need so that you can translate that to the carpenters. But I hit upon a challenge dealing with carpenters in villagers. They are brilliant and hardworking but they quite don’t understand the vision, no matter how much you articulate.
Then I found the easy solution to the problem. Photos. Just show the photo of an existing window and they are super quick to latch on to the idea.
I hit upon a big luck when I stopped at Hotel Mamalla near Mahabalipuram on our way to Pondicherry. The hotel had the exact design of the window I had wanted. Lunch can wait. I whipped out my mobile phone and shot lots of pictures.
Its amazing how this window was the exact design that I had in mind!
Notice how the grills camouflage behind the wooden frames. So, when seen from the outside, you never get to see the iron grills. Brilliant.
Perumal, the carpenter and Saravanan, the grill maker, quickly understood the need. What they did next was simple yet brilliant. They brought with them white chalks and began to recreate the design on the floor of our home. No CAD/CAM software, No architecture degrees. They were brilliant in their simplicity and practicality. Seen below are both of them at work.
On the left is Perumal (Carpenter) and on the right is Saravanan (Grill Maker).
That is how the design of the window looks like. The window that you see on the left is just quarter of the full window. Add four of them and you’ll get the full window sized at 10 feet by 4 feet. Massive one. And there are two of them on either sides. On the front, we have two 6 feet by 3 feet windows and a similar one on the back. So a small 20×20 room has 7 large windows. And that’s not counting the two airy ventilators and the large door.
My Dad jokingly said we are actually constructing windows and adding walls to fill the gaps!!
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I first started teaching as a visiting faculty at College of Engineering, Guindy at Anna University in 2001. That stint still continues. Today, the University approached me to conduct a 4 month course on ‘Entrepreneurship and Media Management‘ for the final year students of M.Sc Electronic Media from the Department of Media Studies.
It’s the longest engagement that I had committed to the University. Never before have I taken a course for 4 months. Most of my previous engagements were guest lectures, the longest lasting a week.
At first, I hesitated. It was too heavy a commitment. Teaching, never is and never will be, a good paying proposition. At best, its a distraction from my professional work. Something that’s best avoided.
But then, I have an emotional connection with Dept of Media Studies. I have been associated with them for 10 years and stuck a strong rapport with the professors and faculty. Some of the faculty members right now are my old students. Besides, the smartest students from the class every year intern at my place and it has been a very mutual relationship. I had to give back to the department in my own way and what better way than sharing your knowledge.
I said yes. But on the condition that I will invite experts who I feel are the best in the field to join with me in teaching. This is not something that other teachers do. But I was clear. Only professionals in a particular area should teach a particular subject. The university accepted my proposal. So, as I proceed to teach in the next 16 weeks, I will look up for professionals and interested folks who enjoy teaching to invite to the university.
Take a look at the course outline below. If any of these falls in your area of expertise and interest, please let me know. We should certainly talk.
ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE
Entrepreneurship concept
Entrepreneurship as career
Personality Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneur
Knowledge and Skills required as an Entrepreneur.
ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT
Business Environment
Role of Family and Society
Entrepreneurship Development Training
Other Support Organizational Services
Centre and State Government Industrial Policies and Regulations
International Business
Proposal Writing
How to raise funding.
BUSINESS PLAN PREPARATION
Feasibility Study
Budgeting
Project Profile Preparation
Evaluation Criteria
MEDIA INDUSTRY
Starting a ..
Newspaper/Magazine/Online Journal
FM Radio
Community Radio
TV Channels
Production House
Setting up Studios
Professional Photographer
Cinematographer
Cinema Pre-production
Production, Publicity and Distribution
ADVERTISING and ANIMATION
Advertising Agency
Idea Concept
Media Planning
Identifying the problem
Target Audience
Visual and Copy
Timing and Duration
Post-Testing
INS Accreditation
Intellectual Property Rights
As you can see, there are many areas that are far beyond my capability level. There are many who are professionals in these areas and it really makes sense for the students to learn from the right professional.
The problem with the current study system is that the academic staff with almost zero work experience teach these subjects. You can’t blame them either. That’s the way the system exists. Here is where I see us contributing the most. We can make a difference by identifying the right professional for the right subject and connect them with the students. I truly want to make this count.
The course starts from July 1st week. Every Tuesday Afternoons from 1:30 pm to 4:30pm. A guest lecture can last anywhere from half hour to 3 hours. Quite flexible.
So, if you love teaching and if any of these areas are your passion, I would love to connect up. Am available at 098415 97744 and Kiruba(@)Kiruba.com
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Here’s a short video walk-through of the farm that’s adjoining ours in Rettani village. The main focus of the video though is a well that’s so awesomely huge.
This well is over a century old and a decade ago, it was renovated at a substantial cost. In comparison, the well in our farm is much smaller and is in a very bad state. A few months ago, a portion of the wall collapsed. The rest of the wall is in danger of crashing unless some urgent repair work is done to save it. One of my dream is to make our well in as good a shape as our neighbor’s. That’s going to require serious investment. Have added it to the (wish)list of things to do !
The good thing though is that both the wells ( mine and the neighbour’s) are endowed with amazing replenishing property. Even if you draw out every single drop of water from the wells, they refill themselves overnight! Villagers tell me that there’s an underground nullah (water passage) and the wells fall right in its passage.
Here are some pictures. And oh, incase you missed it, watch the video embedded above.
Look at the sheer circumference of the well. That’s huge.
A closer look at the side of the wall. Look at the neatly aligned bricks. There is no cement used. This is to create intentional gaps between the bricks for water to seep in. This well is over 150 feet deep. You can imagine how much of water this well holds.
There’s a smaller well right next to the bigger one. I’m told that this is for easier access to the water and makes it easier to pump it out.
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Email:Kiruba @ Kiruba.com
Phone :+91-44-42733619
Mobile : 98415 97744
Snail Mail :(Home)
Virugambakkam,
Chennai, INDIA
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