I don’t cry often. Never in public. So, it completely surprised me when I broke down in the middle of my talk at the launch function of my book ‘Copy Right and Left‘ two weeks ago. Right in front of a packed audience. For a full 20 seconds (which felt a lot, lot longer, trust me !!).
It was an outpouring of relief. Authoring a book had been on my bucketlist for as long as I remember. I have tried many times and failed in as many times! Wrting a book is a long, arduous, tiresome, sometimes lonely journey. To cross the finish line and to see your baby come to the world is an amazing feeling. I just proved a point to myself. Guess, I got overwhelmed.
So good was the entire experience, I couldn’t wait to get started on another arduous, long journey! :) Especially, if its on a subject that is very close to my heart : Couchsurfing.
The book is titled, ‘COUCH : How a Simple Furniture is Helping World Travelers Save Money and Build Lifelong Friendships.” Read more about the book at http://Kiruba.com/couch
I remember the first time I couchsurfed. It was in Kuala Lumpur in May 2008. I stayed with a very friendly young Chinese guy, who was extremely hospitable. Two days earlier, I stayed in a plus 5 star hotel, courtesy of a large corporate who had invited me to speak at their conference. The stay at the 5 star hotel was luxurious but I enjoyed the couchsurfing experience more. I realized that it was the genuine hospitality, the kindness of the human heart and the opportunity to experience the local life is what couchsurfing so much more endearing. After my first experience, I was hooked. I knew this was my calling.
Since then, I have traveled to many countries which included USA, UK, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Croatia and South Africa. In each of these countries, I had wonderful experiences staying with the locals. Each of the experience had been memorable.
Being a guest can only be surpassed with the joy of playing host. Me and my family have had the privilege of hosting travelers from France, Belgium. Japan. Australia, Malaysia and other countries.
I have since been a big evangelist to the concept of couchsurfing. I have been encouraging my friends to open their doors open to strangers and to experience the joy that I have felt. This book is an extension of that.
I genuinely felt happy with the book project, the sort of exuberance that a kid has while waiting to watch a KungFu Panda movie. I actually woke up at 3:50 am when subconciously the idea of the title came up. I fell in love with it and immediately started to work on the outline of the book.
To me, this book is an escapism. Just like how people take a coffee break or smoke break to break the monotony, I take out time to write this book.
This book has practical advice from my own experience and from experienced couchsurfers around the world. We already have some awesome people on the Advisory Panel.
I have always enjoyed doing collaborative projects and in the same spirit, this book is being authored in an open, transparent manner. The book is written on a Wiki. You are welcome to contribute to the book. You are free to chip in and edit the book as you feel is right. Every person who contributes to the book gets mention both in the ‘Contributors’ section of the website and in the book.
Couchsurfing reaffirms my faith that people are good hearted. couchsurfing has taught me many life lessons and this book is my way of saying ‘Thank you’!
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A recent news episode caught my attention. More so because of the new book project that I’m working on.
A lady rented out her apartment to another person using the site AirBnB, a site that helps home owners rent out an extra room or the entire house to a guest who is willing to pay. So, look at this as a commercial version of Couchsurfing.com.
Problem erupted when the house owner returned to find her house completely ransacked. She blogged about it and this started an avalanche of bad press for AirBnB, a company that has raised $120 million in funding at over a billion dollar valuation.
A quick look at the news about the news reveals that almost every news item points its accusing finger at AirBnB.
Here’s my take on this. AirBnB is a platform that connects hosts with guests. Its as much a responsibility of the host to do background check on the guest before letting out her home.
I feel that AirBnB is getting a raw deal here because they are a funded company. And there is money involved in the entire process. I know a few incidents that have happened at CouchSurfing.com and The Hospitality Network. I don’t see such a huge outcry against these sites because these sites are free and they work on trust. Hence, people have much lower expectations.But when you pay money to stay at somebody’s house like in AirBnB, you go in with certain expectations and anything that falls below will tick off people.
I mean, if a marriage happens via Shaadi.com or BharathMatrimony.com and the marriage sours up, would you blame the site? If you bought an item after watching a TV commercial and you are unhappy with the product, would you blame the TV channel? These are just mediums. You need to do your round of research, ask for recommendations, do background checks before you take the decision. Blaming the platform is stupid. You know whats even more stupider? Its creating a huge mountain from a molehill of a story.
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I have been hunting for good videos that explains what Couchsurfing is all about. I feel good documentaries do a better job that me trying to explain it. So I spent time on YouTube and fished out four good videos that I found interesting. Here they are.
Here’s a short but nice TV documentary on Couchsurfing. Molly’s special report “Couch Surfing” won her 1st place for Feature News in 2008 for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Pacific Northwest Excellence in Journalism competition.
A nice 10 minute documentary on Couchsurfing.
A bunch of couchsurfers tell what the concept means to them.
Casey Fenton, the founder of CouchSurfing.com, talks about the incident that motivated him to start this website.
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Am glad to announce that my book on Creative Commons titled ‘Copy Right and Left‘ will be launched on July 20th. You can learn more about the book here http://www.CopyRightandLeft.org .
Creative Commons has been an area of deep interest for me and I totally love the concept and the spirit behind it. It was a satisfying experience putting together the book. More importantly, this book was an excuse for me to push myself to understand the subject better.
I have always been a fan of small, short books that are easy to read. This book will follow the path and will aim to explain Creative Commons in a fun, easy-to-digest, casual manner.
The entire contents of the book is available online for everyone to read. In-fact, the entire book is written openly on a Wiki. While we were working on the book we would publish each chapter as and when it was finished. I wanted to make sure that I used the most transparent and most collaborative method to write this book.
The book will also come out as a dead-wood version and will be available for purchase at Rs.99. This is more to cover the printing and distribution cost.
So, how did this book come about? Oh, its a long story. Got the time? 
It was in late 2002 that I had first heard of the term creative commons. Honestly, it hadn’t captured my attention until the middle of 2003, when over a million licensed were issued. That was when I sat up to take notice. I started to read more about it in detail and took a strong liking to it’s concept of promoting creativity through sharing.
I was highly impresses with Lawrence Lessig, the founder of Creative Commons and how just by his sheer conviction was able to make CC into a very respectable organisation. It was the meeting with him and Joi Ito (who later succeeded Lessig as CEO and is now the Director of MIT Media Lab) at iCommons Summits in 2007 at Dubrovnik, Croatia and in 2008 at Sapporo, Japan that made a lasting impression on me.
Much to my dismay though, a lot of us in India were ignorant about Creative Commons (CC) and it’s advantages. I felt it would be useful to have an easy to read book that explains CC with relevant examples. This was a 4 year wish that finally materialised with this attempt now.
I wanted to walk the talk and use the very concept of Creative Commons in the book writing process. I’ve generously used many of the contributions from people who have shared their experience and knowledge under the CC license themselves. Many of the contents of the book are taken from the Creative Commons website itself, particularly encouraged by the staff at Creative Commons headquarters. We have duly credited everyone whose work has been used in this book.
The book itself is licensed under the most liberal creative commons license. This means that anyone is free to use this book and build on top of it. Anyone can freely distribute it or even use it commercially if they wish (with no obligation to share the revenues).
Its at this time that I should really appreciate the hard work and dedication of 3 of my research colleagues, Watson Solomon, Sushmitha and Preethi. Thank you fellas.
The preparations for the July 20 launch have begun. Will update you with more information on that soon. Meanwhile, please mark your calendars. It would be awesome if you can join in body (preferably!) or spirit!
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‘Personal Branding Tweet’ is my 3rd book that I’m working on. The book delves on nuggets of valuable information to effectively brand and market oneself.
The book is a Tweet Book. What is it? Simply, the book contains 140 tweets. Each tweet, as everyone knows, is within 140 characters. Each of these tweets contains a useful tip, insightful thought or an interesting quote. All pertaining to the subject of personal branding. Some from very successful folks, that I look upto.
OH, what can be said in 140 characters, you ask? You’d be amazed.
The reason why I’m sold on Tweet Books is because of its ease with which information is consumed. Let me draw an analogy. When we listen to a lecture or talk and take notes, we never write down the entire talk. We only jot down the most important points. Reading them will set your thoughts flowing as your mind begins to expand on them. The Tweet book does exactly that.
My previous book, ‘Crowdsourcing Tweet’ was a fabulous experience. I have just completed the book and is in the editing stage. It will hit the stands in the next few months. For a tweet book, I took a really long time to finish it (would you believe 8 months!!) but having finished it, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As soon as I finished with it, I could not wait to get started with my next book.
I asked myself which are the subjects that I’m truly passionate about. About a few, the one that got me immediately excited was Personal Branding. I’ve been looking at people I admire and been noticing what makes them start apart. I figured it would be a good way to put together the learning. The book also has generous insights from some very successful people and people who professionally advise on branding.
Now, I’d like to take it further by involving you.
As some of you who may know me well, I’m a big believer in the wisdom of the crowds. I strongly believe that the collective wisdom of many is higher than just what I would know. That’s why I invite you to join in. I’d love to hear your ideas and tips on Personal Branding. The good ones will get added to the book and will credit you in the book.
There are many ways you can share your thoughts on Personal Branding for the book.
1) You can email your tweets to Kiruba@Kiruba.com
2) You can leave them in the comments below
3) You can blog about it and pass along the link
4) You can tweet it and pass along the link.
When you do send across the tweets, I would want the following.
a) Your name
b) A 140 bio about yourself
c) Link to your blog, twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc.
Alternatively, if you would like to be anonymous (for whatever reason) do mention that and will respect it.
The book is an inspiration from Rajesh Setty, my mentor and a close friend. He has made an amazing impact on my life and really woken up the writer in me.
The book would be published by Happy About, a California based publishing house run by the awesome Mitchell Levy, who I had the good fortune to meet during my visit to Silicon Valley.
Credit for this book should also go to Radhika, the hard working research assistant who is passionate about New Media and entrepreneurship. She did a lot of heavy lifting on this project. Credit also goes to Murugesan for doing the prototype of the book cover design which follows the book series.
So, would you like to join in the project? I sure hope you do. Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers.
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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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