Archit Shrivastava

The MBA underworld - MBAhack.com

2011-07-03T01:19:00.003+05:30

Guys i am very happy to share the good news that finally after so many days of delay the website http://mbahack.com is up and running. About an year back when I was sitting with Kiran and Krishna and struggling to find right resources at right time to keep pace with hectic MBA life, I got this idea to build a website so that at least the following batches need not go through the same trauma :-/ The idea was so intimidating that Krishna instantly told me to book the domain name and luckily I found mbahack.com available.

I discussed the same idea with two of best friends (Noor and Gautam) who also keep poking there entrepreneurial souls. I knew they will definitely be in and so we 3 started discussing and building the website in our not-so-free free-time :P

here is the brief about the site:

MBAHACK.com is the only survival guide for few of the world's toughest MBA programs. Website is one of its kind which focuses on providing all the necessary resources you may require in your MBA program.
MBAHACK gives competitive edge to its users by providing a platform to its users to share their solutions, resources, key learning and experiences. Thus enabling students to truly harness Peer learning and global diversity to transform them into competent global manager.

I hope you ppl will like and support the site by contributing :) thanks

An ad Idea

2011-05-03T16:53:00.002+05:30

*this is written in hindi english mix as i was planning to post it on FB

Kindly visualize the story to get the feel

Ek middle class family ki subah ka sceen (dadaji aram kursi pe bethe paper padh rahe hein, wife parathe bana rahi he aur husband tayyar ho raha hai. Husband ka mobile bajta hai (husband ki mnc me job karta hai). Wo late hota rehta he to speaker pe dal deta he aur tie theek karne lagta hai. Udhar door bell bajti he wife darwaja kholti hai. Dekhti hai ki raddi wala hota hai. Usko gate pe hi rukne ka bol ke wo raddi (newspapers, purani magazines etc) lene chali jatai hai.

Uske client ka phone hota he, husband jaldi jaldi me ghar se nikal rha hota hai par jaese hi pata padta hai ki US se client ka call hai wo saham jata hai aur wahin gate ke pass rakhe sofe pe baith jata hai. Idhar pass hi me uski wife raddi wale ko raddi tulwati rehti he. Client husband se poochta hai..”tell me what do u think will be impact of recent japan catastrophy on India”. Husband ke tote udd jate hein. Wo stammer karne lagta hai. Client ko kuch samajh nahi ata. Wo hello hello bolta hai. Itne me neeche raddi wala (aged person) farrate daar angrezi me US client ka jawab deta hai “falana falana dheemka dheemka” US client ko lagta hai husband ne hi jawab diya, client bolta he “good ,I am glad that we are doing business with you” aur phone rakh deta hai.

Ghar me bethe sab logon ke hosh udd jate hein- husband bar bar phone ko aur raddi wale ko dekhta hai, wife husband ko aur raddiwale ko dekhti he aur dadaji apni kan ki machine and raddi wale ko dekhte hein. Fir husband raddi wale se muah aur hath ke ishare se poochta he “ ki kaese”. To raadi wala conscious ho jata he aur ishara karta he neeche taraju me rakhi purani “business magazine” magazine ki taraf.

Break in story and focus on magazine ( business magazine ki tag line and some line solid awazz wala insaan bolta hai)

Back to sceen //adami sari raddhi wapas utha leta hai, aur phone pe kisi kisi ko usme se kuch kuch padh ke sunane lagta hai. Raddhi wale to raddhi nahi milti to wo gali deta hua wahan se nikal jata hai.

so what say??? hows the ad?

Photography workshop for students of Y! Parikrama School.

2011-05-02T11:21:00.002+05:30

Recently I conducted a Photography workshop for students of Y! Parikrama School.

school wall painted by students

I along with Madan, Shakira and Abhinav (all Yahoos) visited Yahoo! Parikrama School last Friday. During our visit apart from conducting the workshop we also got a chance to meet the principal madam. She is a very energetic and charismatic lady. She explained us the way they are running the school and the kind of fantastic result they are getting. The school helps to identify and groom the talent in the students. They keep on conducting acting, music, sports, painting etc. workshops and trainings for their students and even support them to participate in state/national level events. They are trying to build a school in which a child will always happily look forward to go to.It actually reminded me of the school ‘Amir Khan’ build in ‘3 idiots’.

a budding photographer

After little chit chat it was time to get started with my workshop. They escorted me and Madan to the A/V room where students were already sitting and waiting for us. They greeted us – “Good Morning Anna” and I was reminded that I am in Karnataka :P and so we began. I gave them basic information about the history and evolution of Photography, different types of cameras, how to compose a photo and showed them few of the photographs i took to help them understand better. I wanted this workshop to be entertaining for them so after presentation we decided to take them to a nearby park and let them handle the camera. To make it more interesting we announced a competition for them. As we had 3 cameras with us we divided them in 3 groups of 10 and asked them to click 10 photos each member. The group with the best pics will win.

1st price winner

We spent about an hour in the park, sun was scorching but still the children were not ready to leave as they were really enjoying their time over there. Finally we took cameras from them to make them leave and come back to school. While coming back a boy asked me to visit them again, listening to which another boy asked to come daily :P


Principal Madam & Yahoo team

After reaching back, along with the teachers we all saw their clicks. By that time Shakira and Abhinav also joined us as they were done with their workshops (painting and astronomy). I was continuously appreciating good clicks and also giving tips as how it could have been better. We did a public poll in the end and decided the winner. Before leaving Principal Madam gave each one of us a greeting made by students and appreciated our efforts J

It was time to leave now as it was already past 1 and we all have to attend 2^nd half of the office. So we left with a feeling of completion and hoping to come back and do more for the children

Visit to Bannerghatta National Park

2011-04-24T11:05:00.002+05:30

On the lazy Sunday morning I along with my friends –Aditya, Shiva and Vipul, left IIM Bangalore campus to check out Bannerghatta National Park. Before starting we googled for directions and reviews and it really helped. We now knew that we need to catch bus no. 365 that will directly drop us at park’s gate.We reached there around 11 a.m. but by that time queue had already taken shape of the largest reptile :P It would have easily taken 1-2 hrs had we also lined up. I did some “Jugaad” :P and we got the tickets of grand safari in minutes. Now we have to wait for the forest bus which came in about 15 min.

Grand Safari
I was praying that there should not be any children or girls in our bus because they cannot keep quite even for an hour. But as it was Sunday so I guess God was also sleepy by that time. Finally we started for a 16km safari. Bannerghatta National park is divided into fenced zone and roads covering every part of zone. So citing is almost sure. In around 15minutes bus reached in dense forest area and we started spotting animals. Spotted dear, Sambar, Ducks were among the first few. I took out my camera and figured that I did the biggest blunder of the day. I forgot the batteries at my place…ahhh. Luckily I had an extra set in my bag but it was not fully charged.

joint family

Other few minutes passed and we entered the ‘Bear zone’. What we saw there was breath taking –a sloth bear was charging towards the bus. It came very close to bus and even stood up and tried to peek in as if he came to see us. Later we saw few more sloth bears. Next was the ‘Lion zone’. Soon a cat crossed our way and it was a big one – lioness. We keep tracking her and soon discovered there complete family. This was the time my batteries died and I was left with my 2MP mobile camera.

White Tigers

Last in the list was ‘Tiger zone’ which I found very small in area. We saw 2 rare white tigers. Other tigers were in their cage. I found it a bit odd to keep tigers in such condition in a national park. I would rather call that place hybrid of zoo and national park. After that we returned and bus dropped us at ‘Butterfly Park’

Butterfly Park

The park was full of variety of flowery plants to attract butterflies. It also had a green house like zone which was very beautiful and full of butterflies. It also has a small man made waterfall and a pool full of fish. They have also put boards to help you in identify the butterfly. There was also a movie show on butterflies but it was in ‘Kannada’ so of no use to us.

By this time we were hungry and finished roaming so we went to a hill view restaurant over there and had some snacks and after getting blessings from ‘Lord Ganesha’ we headed back to IIM B.
________________________________________
Visitor’s guide:
Overall rating: 3/5
How to get there: bus no. 365, G4 goes directly to park
Safari fee: 180/person
Best time: before 10 am to avoid the queue, any season as the area is enclosed so does not matter.

Shivsamudram Trek and waterfalls

2011-04-17T12:26:00.007+05:30

It was my 2^nd free weekend in Bangalore and I along with 3 other friends Aditya, Vipul and Satyam, decided to go to Majestic Shivasamudram Waterfalls. While deciding the place I asked many bangalorians about whether it is the right time to go there as it was midsummer. Most of them either said no or said they don’t know. Oh what the heck, finally we decided to go ahead with the plan. We hired a cab and reached there at around 12 in the noon. It was a sunny day and at the first site the place looked only OK as neither the valley nor the fall was visible.

Trek

We had to leave the vehicle and walk for around 1 km to reach the end of valley. As none of us was familiar with the place and route we decided to explore. We went on hoping the rocks and started to enjoy our trek downwards to the fall. I took out my camera and started capturing some scenic beauty around the place. I was left behind by my friends as I was busy clicking. Soon they came back I asked “what happened”. They said there is a big snake there and we have to find some other way. I asked them to show me the snake but none of them were ready to go back that side :P

While getting down we crossed many small streams of water which made the trek even more exciting and risky (stones were really slippery). Many times we were at the edge of valley and really cautious while crossing.

While we almost made our way to fall there was a big problem waiting for us. We hit a dead end – it was a straight steep fall of 10 meter. We were able to see the people on the ground. As asked them as if there is any way to get down there and they said no we have to climb back and go round the valley to get to stairs. We were shocked as in there were stairs too? No one told us..crap. We were about give up when we saw a tree root going down to the ground. It was a thick root and could be used as a rope. Finally we decided to go down by the root. That was the most thrilling moment of the trip. Thank god we all made it to ground safely.

Waterfalls

The view of waterfall from ground was breathtaking. Later we figured that we trekked down along the ‘Gaganchukki falls’ and finally were near the ‘Barachukki falls’. The fall was hard to resist and soon all 4 of us were dipping in the water. We swam, dived and spent around an hour in water and got out only when hunger struck us.

While we were getting ready we saw small round bamboo boats called ‘theppas’ in kannada. We decided to give it a try too and it turned out to be a good decision. Boat took us very near to a neighboring fall and when we were just below the fall boatwala started roatating boat like a wheal. Except the initial few seconds of panic it was fun.

For coming up we took stairs and realized it would not have been that much fun if we have taken the stairs for coming down as well. After reaching up we ate a lot of Mangoes as it was the only thing available for Mango people like us. They were so appetizing that Aditya and Vipul gone mad and ate at least 1kg each. It was then a 3 hr drive back to Bangalore with stop at ‘Punjabi Dhaba’ in between.

Pic: red line: the trek path, blue line: stairs

Find more photos here

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My Findings:

Overall rating: 4.5/5 (a must visit place)

How to get there: 130 km from Bangalore so better take a cab.

Best time to visit: depends if you only want to see the falls, go after monsoon (july-aug) but if you want to trek and take a dip in waterfalls, I will suggest go b/w nov-feb.

Photoshop cs5: Top 5 features

2011-02-11T22:48:00.001+05:30

I realized lot of my friends are interested in photography and design. So I thought it might a good idea to post some of the useful Photoshop tutorials available over internet. In this series here is the first video showcasing the power of Photoshop cs5. Top 5 features

Printable Photo calendar 2011

2011-01-31T17:15:00.000+05:30

I know it is a bit late to publish a calendar now but as it is said its better to be late then never. So here is the link for an easily printable photo calendar 2011 with few of my selected photographs, marked Indian holidays and plenty of notes space. hope you all find it useful.

thanks to Krishna for suggesting this.
let me know what you all think of this :)

http://www.4shared.com/file/NaEJr0o9/Photocalendar.html

How to decide Vision and Mission Statements for your company

2011-01-11T20:11:00.001+05:30

Parameters which should be kept in mind while making Vision and Mission statements for your company:

Clarity: A Vision statement should be clear in the terms what company wants to achieve and what are the goals it has set for itself

2) Motivation: Vision statement must be motivating for the associates working for the company. they should always feel proud and get propelled to work every time they read it

3) Ethical: vision statement should also portray that company will always follow ethical practices in order to achieve the goal

4) Comprehensible: A vision statement should be easily understandable for all the stack holders (vendors, clients, employees and society). For the same reason it should not use any jargon, industry specific terminologies or complex sentence structures

5) Sync with business: company’s vision statement should be in sync with the kind of business it does. For making a flashy vision statement company should not depart from the sole reason of its existence

6) Guiding Star: A company’s vision should always provide guidance to its employees in situation of dilemma.

Let’s take a company and analyze its Vision statements

Company name: Mahindra Satyam

Vision Statement: To be the world’s most valued information, communications and technology (ICT) company

My Rating for company’s Vision Statement (on scale of 10): 6

Analysis: company is clear in the vision statement in the terms what it wants to achieve but statement lacks the ways through which it is planning to achieve the same. In order to reach the top company may adopt unethical practices which eventually it did. Also vision statement here only talks about the ultimate target where it wants to be but does not talk about the thinks it would like to achieve in the pathway like delighting customers, associates and society.

There are very few MNC which will score high this way. Do the same kind of analysis for the organization you have worked/working for and post your company and ratings.

Mystery of dead birds falling from sky

2011-01-05T22:14:00.002+05:30

First of all a happy national bird day to all the bird lovers. As I was surfing web, checking photos and reading the articles about the day a shocking piece of news grabbed my attention. It was about the dead birds falling from sky in Arkansas and Louisiana, NA. Now when I searched deep in this matter I found similar incident took place in other countries too like Brazil and Japan. Though all the govt. and local agencies have given different reasons and theories for the massive deaths but none of them is sure about what has actually happened.

It all started on the very 1^st day of 2011 in Arkansas where an estimated 5,000 red-winged blackbirds dropped dead from the sky. In the small town of Beebe in central Arkansas, scientists said celebratory fireworks on New Year’s Eve likely sent thousands of discombobulated blackbirds into such a tizzy that they crashed into homes, cars and each other before plummeting to their deaths. "The blackbirds were flying at rooftop level instead of treetop level" to avoid explosions above, said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

But there are certain facts which still needs explanation, like why only one particular species out of 9800, why only this time I mean people celebrate the new year with crackers every year, why only in particular locations, whether trauma was caused by something hitting them in the air or by hitting the ground.

While reading, I found one interesting theory relating all these events to changes in earth’s magnetic field. You can read it here. http://www.naturesmell.com/blackbirds-dropping-from-the-sky-dead-and-not-just-in-arkansas/

Next incident took yesterday, 3 days after the 1^st one in Louisiana. The same species, same deadly event and this time the number was around 500. Surprisingly this time there were no indications of physical trauma in the samples of dead birds like the last time. Brazil and Japan have also reported high number of bird deaths. According to some Japanese reports likely reason of these deaths can be bird-flue.

The birds were the second mass wildlife death in Arkansas in recent days. Last week, about 83,000 dead and dying drum fish washed up along a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River.

The reason is unknown but the consequences are real and disturbing. Whatever may be the reason may it be fireworks or disturbance in earth’s magnetic field, one thing is for sure –it is because of us. It is the ugly preview of the what the future is about to unfold if we do not stop our ecosystem disturbing activities

Next generation email and messenger system

2010-11-23T13:14:00.002+05:30

Given the pace of technological revolution I don’t see bandwidth or mobility be of any problem in the future. So what should be the features of email and messenger services 10 years down the line.

Let us start with analyzing what all we have now..text, audio and even video (as video resumes have already picked up). So I think it is now time to add feelings and Intelligence to computers and mobiles.

Imagine you are chatting with your girlfriend and your system automatically adopts according to mood. It starts paying slow romantic music, turn the screen pink and start popping heart shapes from every corner of screen or if you are on mobile your mobile becomes cold adding the sensational effect.

All this will happen automatically without bothering you. Let’s take another scenario – imagine your mom or boss yelling at you and mobile starts vibrating and becomes a bit hot,your computer screen turns red or automatically changes themes and wallpaper to suit the context

You might be thinking how can it be possible. I say it will and sooner then what you are expecting. Based on certain parameters like the text, voice modulation and pressure in the key strokes a mood and context recognition system can be developed. For example if you are typing or saying “I love you” or “I miss you” or some romantic stuff then it will know that you are talking to your GF and react accordingly. Similarly if you are talking in low voice i.e. your lower decibel waves than normal then it may recognize that you are in sad mood.

Guys what else you think should be the features of next generation mail and messenger systems?

Or which can be the parameters (as few suggested above) to make the feeling system work?

Local Language Products

2010-11-17T02:35:00.001+05:30

Finished writing a 2 page business plan in 2 hours (constraint). I am writing this post because i found the case interesting and smoking. so thought of posting my plan here to get a feedback on how i did and how it can be improved.

case was about local language products. Internet users in India are only 10% of the total population as compare to 40% of that of China. The main reason is lack of regional content on net.

I am using X in place of original company name to avoid complexity

javascript:void(0)

Motivational factors for entrepreneurship

2010-08-20T00:19:00.001+05:30

General perception towards entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is generally considered an uncertain and difficult carrier path. One has to face problems and frustration associated with new business development. There is also a misconception that a large number of entrepreneurial ventures fail within few years. A study carried out by Kirchhoff in 1994 shows that only 18% of the small firms surveyed reported loss to creditors.

Research: Motivational Theories and factors for entrepreneurship

Herron and Sapienza (1992, p. 49) stated, “Because motivation plays an important part in the creation of new organizations, theories of organizational creation that fail to address this notion are incomplete”.

A lot of research has been done in this field to identify the basic motivational factors for entrepreneurs and identify the common traits in them McClelland in 1961 argued that a high need for achievement was a personality trait common to entrepreneurs. In spite of the plethora of research it is still difficult to say what actually motivates entrepreneurs as they are highly idiosyncratic and innovative.

The motivational theories for entrepreneurship can be divided into two categories 1. Content theories: search for the specific things within individuals that initiate, direct, sustain, and stop behavior. 2. Process theories explain how behavior is initiated, directed, sustained, and stopped. Gilad and Levine in 1986 proposed two different theories- Push theory and Pull theory. The “push” theory says persons are forced to opt the way of entrepreneur as there is no other way left for them. External factors such as job dissatisfaction/loss, incapable of switching the job, low salary, or inflexible and boring work. On the other hand The “pull” theory suggests that individuals are attracted towards entrepreneurial activities because of the high independence, prosperity and self-sufficiency attached to it. A research done by Keeble et al., 1992; Orhan and Scott, 2001 indicates that pull factors are more prevalent than push factors.

Often decision between a career of self employment or working for others is taken considering the three factors shown below in the diagram

Research of Gerry Segal, Dan Borgia and Jerry Schoenfeld

In a research done by Gerry Segal, Dan Borgia and Jerry Schoenfeld, they found that risk taking capabilities has direct correlation with individuals engagement in entrepreneurial activities. Even though the individual have interest in self employment and might posses the self confidence to carry that but if the risk appetite is absent then there is high probability that he or she will keep on postponing the start. They concluded that there are five outcomes emphasized as criteria in the decision between self-employment or being employed by others: income potential; financial security; independence; need for achievement; and escape from corporate bureaucracy.

Measures to promote entrepreneurship

Educators and policy makers should highlight the advantages of taking moderate, calculated risks to get ahead. Examples of the rewards that can result from risking an entrepreneurial endeavor abound. Many of our most successful executives, including Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and many others achieved their success by taking the risk of launching their own ventures.

Disclaimer : Article is Based on the research paper “The motivation to become an entrepreneur” by Gerry Segal, Dan Borgia and Jerry Schoenfeld

Wolf-Moon

2010-03-01T01:47:00.001+05:30

Wolf-Moon, originally uploaded by Archit Shrivastava.

Colors of Sky

2010-02-22T12:10:00.001+05:30

Colors of Sky, originally uploaded by Archit Shrivastava.

Half Moon

2010-02-22T12:09:00.001+05:30

Half Moon, originally uploaded by Archit Shrivastava.

Rays of hope 2

2010-01-27T17:12:00.002+05:30

Rays of hope 2, originally uploaded by Archit Shrivastava.

They are the rays of hope, let them come,
if not all, at least some

Rays of Hope

2010-01-22T02:02:00.001+05:30

rays of hope, originally uploaded by Archit Shrivastava.

Albino Peacock

2010-01-22T01:38:00.001+05:30

dancing white peacock, originally uploaded by Archit Shrivastava.

Flaura

2009-12-08T00:11:00.001+05:30

Instead of taking flower in the middle i tried taking it in the bottom right corner so that it make a perfect wallpaper

Water Pearl

2009-12-08T00:02:00.001+05:30

2009-10-24T00:38:00.002+05:30

Marketing executives in television work with a relatively stable advertising medium. In many ways, the television ads aired today are similar to those aired two decades ago. Most television ads still feature actors, still run 30 or 60 seconds, and still show a product. However, the differing dynamics of the Internet pose unique challenges to advertisers, forcing them to adapt their practices and techniques on a regular basis.

In the early days of Internet marketing, online advertisers employed banner and pop-up ads to attract customers. These techniques reached large audiences, generated many sales leads, and came at a low cost. However, a small number of Internet users began to consider these advertising techniques intrusive and annoying. Yet because marketing strategies relying heavily on banners and pop-ups produced results, companies invested growing amounts of money into purchasing these ad types in hopes of capturing market share in the burgeoning online economy. As consumers became more sophisticated, frustration with these online advertising techniques grew. Independent programmers began to develop tools that blocked banner and pop-up ads. The popularity of these tools exploded when the search engine Google, at the time an increasingly popular website fighting to solidify its place on the Internet with giants Microsoft and Yahoo, offered free software enabling users to block pop-up ads. The backlash against banner ads grew as new web browsers provided users the ability to block image-based ads such as banner ads. Although banner and pop-up ads still exist, they are far less prominent than during the early days of the Internet.

A major development in online marketing came with the introduction of pay-per-click ads. Unlike banner or pop-up ads, which originally required companies to pay every time a website visitor saw an ad, pay-per-click ads allowed companies to pay only when an interested potential customer clicked on an ad. More importantly, however, these ads circumvented the pop-up and banner blockers. As a result of these advantages and the incredible growth in the use of search engines, which provide excellent venues for pay-per-click advertising, companies began turning to pay-per-click marketing in droves. However, as with the banner and pop-up ads that preceded them, pay-per-click ads came with their drawbacks. When companies began pouring billions of dollars into this emerging medium, online advertising specialists started to notice the presence of what would later be called click fraud: representatives of a company with no interest in the product advertised by a competitor click on the competitor's ads simply to increase the marketing cost of the competitor. Click fraud grew so rapidly that marketers sought to diversify their online positions away from pay-per-click marketing through new mediums.

Although pay-per-click advertising remains a common and effective advertising tool, marketers adapted yet again to the changing dynamics of the Internet by adopting new techniques such as pay-per-performance advertising, search engine optimization, and affiliate marketing. As the pace of the Internet's evolution increases, it seems all the more likely that advertising successfully on the Internet will require a strategy that shuns constancy and embraces change

Online Identity: A Risky Business

2009-10-20T23:03:00.000+05:30

Although websites such as Facebook and MySpace experienced exponential growth during the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, some users remain oblivious to the fact that the information they post online can come back to haunt them. First, employers can monitor employees who maintain a blog, photo diary, or website. Employers can look for controversial employee opinions, sensitive information disclosures, or wildly inappropriate conduct. For example, a North Carolina newspaper fired one of its features writers after she created a blog on which she anonymously wrote about the idiosyncrasies of her job and coworkers.

The second unintended use of information from social networking websites is employers who check on prospective employees. A June 11, 2006 New York Times article reported that many companies recruiting on college campuses use search engines and social networking websites such as MySpace, Xanga, and Facebook to conduct background checks. Although the use of MySpace or Google to scrutinize a student’s background is somewhat unsettling to many undergraduates, the Times noted that the utilization of Facebook is especially shocking to students who believe that Facebook is limited to current students and recent alumni.

Corporate recruiters and prospective employers are not the only people interested in college students’ lives. The third unintended use of social networking websites is college administrators who monitor the Internet—especially Facebook—for student misconduct. For example, a college in Boston’s Back Bay expelled its student Government Association President for joining a Facebook group highly critical of a campus police sergeant. In addition, fifteen students at a state university in North Carolina faced charges in court for underage drinking because of photos that appeared on Facebook.

Although more users of websites such as Facebook are becoming aware of the potential pitfalls of online identities, many regular users still fail to take three basic security precautions. First, only make your information available to a specific list of individuals whom you approve. Second, regularly search for potentially harmful information about yourself that may have been posted by mistake or by a disgruntled former associate. Third, never post blatantly offensive material under your name or on your page as, despite the best precautions, this material will likely make its way to the wider world. By taking these simple steps, members of the digital world can realize the many benefits of e-community without experiencing some of the damaging unintended consequences

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

2009-08-24T23:00:00.004+05:30

Water V2.0

2009-07-08T21:29:00.007+05:30

As the Monsoon is getting delayed, the water problem is again raising in India.In some cities people are still fighting for even drops of water. This is not the first time we are facing such scenario, it is a pathetic story of every other year. here I tried to find out why? Because in summer when there is scarcity of water everyone thinks twice before wasting a drop of water but as soon as monsoon arrives we forget the tragic past months and start wasting water again. Here the pity is we waste most when we can conserve best. Water recharging systems are good solutions for water conservation. Inspite of several discount schemes by Govt. (like 5% off on Property tax for the first year) the recharging systems are not popular among the masses because of the initial costs involved in setting up the system.

Here I thought of a simple process - effective and much cheaper than water recharging systems. I am naming this as Water V2.0 as we will be using the used water again in this method. What I propose is to simply install a switch in bathroom which can toggle between the two water outlets. The water outlets will eventually open in with and without soap water storage tanks respectively. That’s it. The setup is complete. The major change what we are doing here is instead of letting the used water go into drainage we are storing that in tanks. The Diagram below will help you visualize the concept.

Now after this small installation all you need to do is just toggle the switch while bathing. Once when you start pouring water on yourself and second before you start applying soap while bathing so that we can store with and without soap water separately.

The soap water can be used for:
• Flushing toilets.
• First wash of the floors/vehicles.

Without soap water can be used for:
• Watering the plants
• Final wash of floor/vehicles.

By now you must be thinking –How much effective will this whole system be? Let me put some numbers on the chart to measure that. The below table is avg. water requirement on an adult for the routine activities.

This gives an estimate of around 24,041 liters of yearly water requirement per person. Let’s say we will use only without soap water again. Still we have 5425 liters of water to reuse which can fulfill our total need of watering plants, washing vehicles, washing floors and flushing toilets and still leave us with 400 liters of reusable water. Let me remind you here till now we have only used without soap water, we still have 5425 liters of soap water, which can be filtered and used for above purposes.

Around 30% of water required yearly can be saved this way and can be used when it is actually needed. So what say guys, I am for sure going to have this in my home. Even planning to file a patent for this ;)

Water Droplets

2009-06-30T21:57:00.000+05:30

Its raining over here in Pune and I am playing clicking game in the rain. Trying to capture the beauty of water droplets on leaves.

Markets moves or Analysts drive

2009-06-18T18:05:00.000+05:30

Buy Satyam MktPrz: 77 Target: 100 - JP Morgan
Buy Zee News MktPrz: 45 Target: 66 - Sharekhan
Sell Ambuja Cement MktPrz: 98 Target: 86 - Angel Broking

Such flashing tips can be easily seen on any business channel. In fact on screens TV channels have reserved permanent slots for them. Daily Brokers will flood your mobile inbox by sms and mails of trading calls. Are these tips actually worthy and trustful?

Such tips steer the volatility in the markets. Thousands of people trust these tips and buy and sell according to it. Tips very uses the main driving factor of sharer market i.e. rumors. For example say a run a broking company with a large customer database. I send them a tip buy share X @ Rs. 100 and sell @ Rs. 150 without any technical analysis. This message reaches millions of people in seconds thanks to information technology. Now say out of million half a million takes this call seriously. They think Research Analysts are saying to buy at this prize means this share will not fall beyond this prize and purchase the share. A lot of money has been put into the market on that share at that prize. Since information of buying and selling of every second is visible to all a sudden positive reaction comes from the market. People think yes the tip was true and the remaining people also start investing in that share and the value keep increasing.

Similar but opposite pattern took place as the share reaches the target assigned by analyst. People start selling that stock, believing that it will not grow beyond that. Heavy profit booking turns the market sentiments negative and bears come into play. As a result share value again declines from the target.
This is how brokerage firms and analysts keep on riding the waves of market sentiments and keep earning the profit irrespective of the ups and down of the market.

They are analysts not prophets so they can see the future. No share in the market is bond to follow supports and resistances, as the future moving trend will not be a mirror image of the past trend. This is the reason why half the times there tips and predictions go waste. But still it is better to follow tips as you will be in sync with the market after all they are the ultimate dictators of the financial jungle.

Work from Home

2009-06-01T18:05:00.000+05:30

Global economy has seen a sharp decline in recent pass. Companies as a protective measure are trying to cut cost from every possible corner."Work from Home" is one such solution. Initially people may feel left out and without supervision but gradually they will feel more comfortable. This will also let them manage their personal and professional goals. Therefore it will finally result into more valued and stronger bond between employee and employer.

Work from Home policy has many benefits first and foremost important is for the company and that is reduced cost per associate work space, electricity and system. Companies will save a lot of money in each of them since expenses for one work station per month may vary from 5,000 to 20,000 in a big corporate.

It will also save time and cost to commute to Associates. Though it is said that one should mix his personal and professional life but flexi hours do this in an effective manner. For example take a case of working women who is pregnant or taking care of a new born. Absence of Flexi hour will leave them no option but to take either sabbatical, long leave or resigning from the job. Now with functional work from home they can very well manage home and work with better efficiency.

Associates will feel more valued and relaxed as they are given liberty to work according to their mood. This feeling in them also gives birth to sincerity and responsibility. Hence they will be more productive once trusted. It will also reduce the attrition rate which is also an ill increasing practice by employees now days.
Since it is giving space to professionals it is proving an effective way of reducing cost and improving performance. Hence policies like Work from home and Flexi-hour are gaining popularity in corporate houses. Definitely it has more advantages over traditional office timings.

Image credit: abcnews.com

Who are you

2009-05-29T11:57:00.001+05:30

I know my authority and I am no one to mention,
But since you are bothering me, so I need to question,

Who are you?

When I do well, you praise me, u praise me very much,
But actually I realize there was no need of that as such,
You tried hard to amalgam in my pack, to be my friend and mate,
Suddenly you took a step back, when I run out of fate,

When everyone doubted me, everything was going wrong,
When I needed someone on my side, to hold me and feel strong,
You were there, but hiding,
When I was dying & fighting,

I fell down, was shattered and loosing the game,
My eyes were constantly searching for you, but you were nowhere in the frame,
My paranoia breaks and truth was bitter,
All that was a glittering become glimmer,

I gathered remaining strength & learn,
Bad time was fainting and also the marks of burn,
I started rising again, was stronger and doing well,
I was conscious and careful and nowhere to fail,
Suddenly you came out of blue,
I asked gain ‘who are you’

You remained silent & calm,
Welcoming me with open arm,
From where you come, I had no clue,
Still I am standing& asking ‘who are you’.

Indian Television V2.0

2009-05-26T11:53:00.000+05:30

Suddenly I started noticing a paradigm shift in Indian silver screen. It seems whole television industry has unanimously decided to move on from usual ‘saas bahu’ serials. Just one year back if you notice Ekta Kapoor s’ serials were toping the TRP. Whether it was ‘KYUKI SAAS BHI KABHI BAHU THI’ or ‘KAHANI GHAR GHAR KI’ they had enchanted audience with their twist and turns. Well I am not sure whether people actually wanted to see those kinds of serials or where bound to do that because of the drought of the good and sensible programs.

Now every TV channel is reviving itself. In the program guide you will find completely new list of TV serials. These new serials are not only been liked by the janta but also spread social awareness. You talk about “UTARAN” (TV Serial on channel COLORS which shows the life, ambitions, problems & emotions of poors), “BALIKA VADHU” (Serial which highlights negativities of child marriage), “NA ANA IS DESH LAADO” (Serial which focuses on women empowerment).

The new era of Indian television does not only focus on awakening conscience but also provides pure entertainment. The increased popularity of reality shows (to name a few BIG BOSS & SARKAR KI DUNIYA) and competitions (talent (DANCE INDIA DANCE, INDIAN IDOL, VOICE OF INDIA, COMEDY CHAMPIONS are few such serials) is well noticed. These programs not only entertain you but also become launch pad for untapped young Indian talent.

It seems family drama, suspense & violence is losing grip and reality, Humor, social subjects and completely new story line is the new mantra of success in this constantly changing and still evolving Indian television industry

Ads aided victory

2009-05-22T20:47:00.000+05:30

From the first day when ad campaigns of Congress and BJP aired, I was able to sense simplicity & positivity in Congress ads. Why am I writing today about this is because my thoughts got supported by the masses says the survey conducted by IMRB. It conducted a survey between four ads Congs-“jai Ho”, “kadam” and BJPs’-“Bhay Ho”, “Dishayein”. Congress ads were liked more by 74% of the target audience while the BJP ads were liked by 54% (TOI, 21 May). They say it’s the ‘AAM ADMI’ approach of congress which created the magic; I say there is something in addition to this. The biggest disadvantage of BJPs campaigning what I saw was their keen desire to put down the current Gov. they kept on focusing on what this government has not done instead of showing what they can do. They kept on focusing Manmohan Singh as week minister and congress as indecisive government. I don’t want to comment on the ground realities but one thing what they left unseen was- they were filling their ads with an essence of abhorrence and negativity. On top it they used pure and typical HINDI for their ads, which is a good thing, but the irony is that maximum people doesn’t feel comfortable to connect themselves to the purest form of Hindi, which is disgusting but truth.

On the other side ads of Congress created hope of better tomorrow, secular nation and women empowerment. They focused on keeping their ads simple still direct touching to AAM ADMIs heart. This election result is perfect example of how much ads can influence ones decision. I am not giving complete credit of congress victory to their ad campaigns but still they played a vital role.

Either Vote or shut up

2009-05-05T13:06:00.000+05:30

As the assembly elections are on the roll you would have encountered n number of articles on the importance of voting and usual ignored them considering it unwanted “GYAN” from constitutional pundits. I wonder sometimes if you all know the importance of voting then why the avg. voting figure never crossed 50%. We are very good in pointing out the negligence from our local MP. We all like to whine about the political instability in India. We all like crib about the fact that max. ticket getters are from criminal background. We all are good in one more thing and that is to blame “SYSTEM” for all this.

Have you ever thought what this System is? Who created it? And where were you when all this happened? Who stopped you from raising your voices against it?

I know that this is not the first time you are asked to find answers of these questions. I know one more thing about you, you know what - that this will not change anything. This election or any election of coming centaury -because it’s imbibed in your nature just to express intangible concerns about each and every happening of this world but not to step out of your comfort zone to do something about it. What all you want is to be untouched, unanswerable and at same time to expect that whatever wrong is happening to others should not happen to you, all other entities of this world should function properly.

Here I am neither complaining of your idiosyncratic behavior nor requesting you to vote and solve all you problems. Everybody here is fed up of your neverending complaints. What I am trying to say is ---JUST SHUTUP. If you don’t have time to even cast a vote then you don’t have Wright to complain. Live the life whatever is offered to you by the selected one and die. It is your destiny, either change it or accept it.

Unforgettable Chennai

2009-04-30T18:03:00.003+05:30

Finally, After so many unsuccessful trials I got transferred to Pune. From starting I wanted to be in Pune as most of my friends were there and because of one more personal reason :) (yes u are getting it right).

But when my RM finally told me about my transfer, instead of instant happiness I was filled with mixed feelings of joy and fear. Fear of loosing everything at mattered to me for past 2 years. I found that really strange. I mean one thing for which you were craving for last 2 years and when you got it then you should be the happiest man on earth, but this was not my case. What was stopping me from celebrating my transfer was the bond which I developed with Chennai and the people over there. I lived peak 2 years of my youth & career in Chennai. I learned and met a lot of amazing people. Let me tell you about few of the interesting ones in chronological order whom I will never forget. First I met VC (Venkatesh Chandrashekar my RM, as he was the person who dragged me in this dept. ). He is a youth symbol who is about to touch his fifties (sounds oxymoron but true). He is passionate about building schools (visit www.schoolsforindia.org ) and a cycling freak. He has even organized International Cycle Race twice in Chennai.

Than I met Sridhar (Sridhar Lakshmanan), an IIM-A graduate whom you can call a mini encyclopedia. We became good friends because of some common hobbies (nature exploration and photography). By looking at him I always get energized to follow my own dreams. He was doing well in his job but wanted to pursue his hobby as carrier and so he is doing now. He started his own company www.ecologin.org and is one of the coolest person I have ever met. One of many lessons which I learned from him is “if you want to be an entrepreneur then just be one, without indulging yourself in calculating profit”. I know this may not seem right piece of advice of some but its true. He is like my elder brother now, just wanted to thanks him for everything. Get married soon and don’t forget to invite me.

Now enough about instigating personalities, Its time for me to introduce you to “EBALE INDORIES” (meaning freaky Indories) my group. It includes Gautam, Noor, Siddhu and me. As clear by name we all are from Indore. Apart from that we share few more common traits like we are bonded labors of the same company and bonded by each others company . We have done tons of masti together, spent all weekends together, countless photo shoots at each and every corner of Chennai, created envy between chefs of 5 star hotels by our gastronomic activities, tried to give run for food to Salman and Hritik by hours of workouts in Gym (though no result yet ). I never realized how fast time is flying in their company. I will miss them most.

But as Aditi (friend of mine) use to say – Good Bye is only to give you the opportunity to re-unite.

So Hoping to see these guys soon and re-live the memories.

Till then take care and N-joy.

Celebrity Social Responsibility

2009-04-04T23:10:00.002+05:30

As Unckle Benn says Great power comes with great responsibilities. In a country like India where cinema is closely associated with peoples’ life and has greater impact on their minds, I think responsibilities of cine stars increases a lot and I don’t think our cine stars realize this fact.

For example when Health minister pointed out Shahrukh for smoking in public, he had not given the kind of response that was expected from him. Minister was right as many of his fans followed him smoking stylishly. I know as an individual he was allowed to smoke at that time (smoking is banned now at public places) but he should have realized the impact of message what he was sending indirectly to his fans.

If you are an unknown face in crowd than u are free to follow your heart but if you are a public figure than u should start listening to your mind also. As Your each action will be an example for others to follow.

Personally speaking still I am unable to see the kind of movement required by celebs for improving our social ecosystem. They have the fan following, they have media following, they have connections in Gov. and they have money. I cant see any obstacle, if they really want to do something for society then it won’t be a thorny way.

The main problem is most of the Celebs are doing social services just to stay in limelight and get there due piece of media attention.

Tree plantation at Tsunami rehabilitation center

2009-04-01T00:23:00.001+05:30

Tuesday morning, as I opened my mailbox I saw a mail with the subject: GO GREEN. Because of my natural curiosity I opened it, it was a call for people to help in planting trees in a near by community center. As a Satyam foundation and SocialBond Volunteer I and my friends reached there. It was only 10 minutes walk away from office. First thing we saw was a huge gate saying “Annai fathima child welfare centre”.

As we entered we saw lots of energetic children running here and there and looking enthusiastically towards us.

We were around 10 peoples from our company. First we spotted the suitable places all around the campus for plantation and then we selected the plants according to the place. We divided ourselves in 3 teams to speed up the work. Finally we started the digging. I was clearly able to see more quickness and enthu in children from most of us.

They were helping us in digging, watering the plants and then safeguarding them by making a brick boundary around them. My team Noor, Aditi and me we planted 4 trees of gulmohar and a rose plant. After finishing the task we tried to interact with children and came to know about there routine and life. Head master over there told us that even in the absence of good teachers and resources children are doing really well. 1 boy over came 2nd in Tamil Nadu state board exam. This reminded me of the saying “where there is a will there is a way”. I noticed an old age home inside the campus but didn’t notice any movement in there.

May be I will visit that place again and find out more about it. Ok leave it for now and let me tell you further. We finished our plantation and gathered in the corridor for group photo and distributing chocolates to kids.

When we were leaving the two kids who were in our group were shouting “chalo ok bye”. We replied, waved and moved on ….

Earth Hour-2009

2009-03-03T00:25:00.000+05:30

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007,[1] and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.

An estimated 50 to 100 million people around the world switched off their lights for Earth Hour in 2008, and global landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Rome’s Colosseum, the Coke billboard in Times Square and Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai, darkened for one hour. In 2009, millions of people from all walks of life will join together for Earth Hour and show the world that it’s possible to take action on global warming.

Join the Earth Hour 2009, turn off your lights at 8.30pm Saturday 28 March and sign-up at earthhour.org.