December at iAccelerator, IIMA

   “Who is Anu Vaidyanathan?” I asked. “You don’t know who she is!!?” exclaimed Senthil, co-founder of FRILP (one of the start-ups at iAccelerator, the incubation program at IIMA). Then he told me who the lady was and of her diverse accomplishments: both in physical- an Indian triathlete who is the first and only Asian to compete in Ultraman (placed 6^th)- and academic endeavors - has a PhD in a record setting time of 26 months. And this is how December kick started at iAccelerator- Anu Vaidyanathan conducted a session on Intellectual Property. The session was well appreciated by the start-ups as they had not given much thought to IP. It revealed quite astonishing facts; for instance, Microsoft made $30 million on the Windows phone; whereas they made $150 million on Android Licenses- by intelligently manoeuvring IP . Her concluding words to the quite apprehensive founders were, “Don’t get overwhelmed- It’s YOUR spin on the idea which will make the delta difference which is enough in the IP space.”

Anu Vaidyanathan- founder of Pat N Marks

   The very next day there was a workshop on User Experience Design (UX) by Benjamin Mailian. It was quite an interactive workshop where Ben was prodding the participants and making them see their product in a whole new light. The cliché, “PUT YOURSELF IN THE USERS' SHOES!” was actually felt and the start-ups acknowledged the importance of ‘User Perspective’ at the end of it.
   The UX workshop made the start-ups revisit their design decisions. For team Nukkad, it was quite an eye-opener because they realized that what once seemed very obvious to them was not quite apparent to the end-users. The photography-centred startup, FOCALOID, realized that their most important feature of uploading pictures could not be easily spotted on the home screen. Thus some of the start-ups, with the help of Sandeep Nandi- Visual Designer from NID who is associated with iAccelerator, started re-working on their designs.

                               Ben with the boys!




   The month went on with some start-ups burning the midnight oil in office- for instance; the FRILP team would work in shifts, on days staying up till dawn. Since the entire team is from Chennai, they were quite excited about superstar Rajnikant’s birthday which was on 12.12.12! A couple of days prior to it, one of the team members came up with the thought of making a website to wish the superstar and the entire FRILP room resonated with the idea (I know because I was staying with a couple of FRILP team members). They were so pepped up about it, that they walked into the office at 12:15 am on 11.12.12 and in a matter of 5 hours they completed designing the site, coding it and even deploying it! The enthusiasm was in the air the next morning and I was amazed when I saw their work:

Kudos to the FRILP team!

   The week after that saw the likes of Rohit Nair and Aakrut, who had come to meet the budding entrepreneurs and also seek out a possibility of investment. Rohit was an exuberant personality- he gelled well with almost everyone that he met and added some value to their product. He had a one-on-one conversation with all the start-ups regarding their product and later also shared his entrepreneurial journey with them (He was the founder of QuizWorks and Quizzing.in and currently he’s the COO at Contests2Win). It was quite a brilliant session for all the start-ups; in fact it so turned out that members of team Nukkad and Rohit were batch-mates. On this realization, he took them for lunch and they spoke about the undergraduate days at University Visvesvariya College of Engineering.
   The start-ups were still a bit unsure of their User Interface and that’s where Mr. Jonah and Ms. Subalekha came in. These were two young UX consultants who had started their new company a couple of years back, called Paper Equator. I was quite curious by this name and asked them what it meant. Subalekha replied saying, “When someone gets an idea, he normally jots it down on paper. We ensure that the idea is transformed from the paper and reaches everywhere (Equator).” Quite a creative name, indeed!Jonah and Subalekha held 1.5 hr sessions with all the start-ups and the best part about it was that the session would address a specific problem that they face and eventually solve it within the time-frame. This session - known as UX Flare – was quite productive for all the start-ups as it left them with something tangible which they could implement.
   As the demo day draws nearer, the intensity of work at iAccelerator keeps increasing. Christmas or a public holiday for the Gujarat elections is as good as any working Monday. Time/Day no longer seems to be an entity at iAccelerator. And you have to hand it to these guys for the attitude; for it is this very attitude that gives life to everything that we see around us. As the famous quote hangs at one of the doors at INSEAD,

“The whole world would’ve been an idea, if not for implementation."

Philosophy of Immanuel Kant

"I say that man, and in general every rational being exists as an end in itself, not merely as a means for arbitrary use by this or that will."

                                                                        - Immanuel Kant.

The above line is the essence of Kant's philosophy. He completely denounces the ideology of the orthodox philosopher which states that:
"Man is an apathetic being and is destined to pain and suffering."
Kant thinks that this is a derisible view of the mater and thinks of man as a respectable being because Reason is the premise that governs humans which is the most important thing which separates us from animals.

KANT'S THREE CONTRASTS:

1)      MOTIVE:

           Kant says that when a man decides to pursue a certain course of action, it is not the end product that is of importance, but the motive behind the action. Thus a good result not borne out of a good intention is questionable. I'm a bit confused as to how exactly Kant has defined GOOD in this context. But as I come to understand it, it means that the motive should be governed by DUTY, rather than Inclination. Unlike an idiosyncratic inclination, a dutiful motive is governed by respecting the individuality of human beings and humanity in general.

2)      DETERMINATION OF WILL:

            The second contrast that Kant draws pertains to the will of a human. He claims that the will of a man should be AUTONOMOUS, i.e., he should have a free will and shouldn't be bound by the whims and fancies of other humans. This provides room for development and enrichment of the individuality of the person. Thus, the individuality of people is respected and other people are not used as a MEANS, but rather viewed as AN END IN ITSELF.

3)      IMPERATIVE:

            Kant divides them into two categories- Hypothetical and Categorical.Something that relies on the validity of something else, i.e., it is indirectly DEPENDENT, is a hypothetical imperative. I would like to quote Kant's definition of a categorical imperative:

"But suppose, however, there were something whose existence has in itself an absolute value... an end in itself...then in it, and in it alone, would there be ground of a possible categorical imperative." 

This was basically my understanding of the KANT philosophy. However, I must mention that its implications still elude me.

Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to one more point. You will notice that the eminent Kant uses the phrase "man is an end in itself" on a number of occasions. What does this exactly mean?

Remember that reason is our premise and I will leave you to ponder over the following line, which is my interpretation of the phrase-

When every action of man is based on consistent and logical thinking and every decision he makes adheres to the only absolute- REASON, then such a man is said to be an end in himself.

PS: I have tried to elucidate the philosophy to the best of my understanding. Any discrepancies are highly regretted.

The SONY Reader

21st February 2012

     Today I should like to write about my SONY Reader and the response I get from people.
The Reader!! What can I say!? It is such an aesthetic and svelte product that I wish I knew a few more adjectives related to beauty to truly describe how classy it looks! :)

Classy, isn't it? ;)

     However, the first reaction I get from most of the people is what makes this article an irony.
This is the first statement they utter, without understanding how it works or what actually it is:
"Dude, you would've gotten a Reliance Tab by chipping in 5 grand more.", "Why didn't you go in for the Galaxy Tab??"
And I am left speechless. Believe you me, I've got such replies 'n' number of times now and I don't even feel like justifying anymore.
I guess the saying is but true, 

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." 

     Okay, considering how highly I regard the opinions of these people, I have made an effort to be a bit more humble and polite (and definitely much more subtle :D ) through the remainder of this article. In fact, I have tried to understand their perspective and the reason they want to see a "Galaxy Tab" in my hands!

To elucidate this matter, I have coined this term:

PRODUCT-SPECIFIC UTILITY

I know everyone would be able to understand what these 3 words mean, but lets take an example to make it crystal clear:
      A couple of years ago when I wanted to buy a new phone, I had even considered the fact that the particular model had a front camera attached- thus enabling video calls. Today if I go to think about it, it was a foolish decision to even think about the front camera. Because, even if you need video calls for a meeting or an interview, you have a laptop and Skype! Also nowhere in the near future video calls were gonna become any cheaper than normal calls. So, basically the extra functionality of the front camera - though a minor factor- contributed towards my decision.

What I'm trying to convey by this example is that you can broadly classify consumers into two kinds:

• People who are very particular about the main feature of the product (the reason they want the product) They do not compromise on the most important - the basic - functionality of the product.
  
• The other kind of people want as many ADD-ONS that they can get with their money's worth. It is the 'EXTRA' features of the product that draws their attention. They do not mind compromising a bit on the basic feature, as long as they get the additional features.

Please note that I'm not criticizing either of the consumers. In my opinion, it depends on the product more than anything else. For instance in today's date one does not buy a phone ONLY for calling purposes.

     Now, let us talk about the Reader. The flagship feature which sets it apart is E-ink technology, which makes the text appear as if you're reading from a real book! Also the device is not back-lit --- the thing which makes the tablets in the world run --- thus avoiding the glare and the strain on one's eyes, which would not have been he case with the Galaxy Tab! Ultimately my main reason for buying it was to have a good READING experience and believe you me, the Reader is the only product which comes as close to an actual book as you can imagine!

    Finally I must take this opportunity to thank the person because of which I proudly hold the Reader in my hand. Thank you Maitri Ramaiya!

Karmali platform, Goa

              
Pervades these lands is a silence, eerie and stark;
The continuous hymn of the cicadas being the only thing I can hark.

And then, from out of nowhere, hits us the gong of the rail engine;
Spreading through the lands akin to a forest fire.

Without the slightest realization the glorious train moves on,
Symbolic of the sheer ignorance and indifference of our kind- as we continue our advance march, little do we pay attention to how we  transmute the natural order of things.....

Gracias, Leo Messi.

            “Messi! Messi! Messsiiiiii! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!!!!!”
   Yes folks, that’s what the commentators have gotten accustomed to shouting these days and we all know the reason why! Lionel Andrés Messi has been that exceptional phenomenon, the likes of which the football fraternity has never witnessed before. The elegance with which he controls the ball; the agility with which he moves; the surreal flair with which he dribbles; the impeccable finesse in his finishes; makes him a spectacle to marvel at! Josep Guardiola quotes: “Messi is the only player in the world who runs faster with the ball than without it!”

   But did you know that his father, Jorge Messi, was a factory steel worker and his mother, Celia Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner. And of course you must know about the hormonal deficiency that he had in his childhood. No? You don’t? Well, I’m not surprised. Here’s a short narrative of the legend’s childhood…

   At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge. He then moved on to  Newell's Old Boys, which became part of a local youth powerhouse that lost only one match in the next four years and came to be locally known as "The Machine of '87." The boy did wonders with the ball. However, after a brief period of time, his parents realised that he wasn't growing as much as his peers around him. And at the tender age of 11 Messi was diagnosed with growth hormonal deficiency. Apparently the hormones which are responsible for growth were asleep in his body. There was a cure; although very painful and highly expensive. It wasn’t long before the family ran out of funds—they had gone to Spain for the treatment and were being battered by the exorbitant cost of the treatment. However, destiny had transpired something else for the little boy…

   The scouts of FC Barcelona had received rumours about a genius footballer from Argentina. They got in touch with Messi’s father and arranged a two-week selection session for the boy. But you know what happened? In a matter of seconds of watching him play, Charly Rexach, the club's sporting director, made up his mind and wanted to sign him! And there you have the story of the famous paper napkin on which they signed a contract!

However, this popular story isn’t the thing I’m getting at—it’s his journey that has inspired me. For 8 years the boy had to take injections as part of his treatment. He used to thrust the injections into his thighs day in and day out along with his rigorous training at the club. The pain he experienced was excruciating; yet he persevered with the solidity of a diamond. Imagine putting a needle into your legs and then running for miles and miles on end, day in-day out! And doing this for 8 years of your life?! Such is the unrelenting passion and love for the game that drives this wonder boy.

  The sheer magnitude of what he has overcome to become what he is today is in itself awe-inspiring. Once this momentous realization begins to dawn, you can only genuflect at the altar of The Greatest Footballer Of All Time and say, “Gracias, Leo Messi."

THE UNCC EXPERIENCE

The Young Changemakers Conclave held by the UNIC (United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan) was a brilliant event!! When I had sent the cheque of 400 bucks a month back, little did I know that the speeches of some of these eminent individuals would be of so profound a nature, that it would get me thinking of WHY am I doing what I am doing and WHAT do I actually want to do. Some of them not only highlighted the work they had done in life, but also shed light on WHY they had done so and what was the motivation behind it. This was what made the speeches really classy and awe inspiring. I have tried to enlist the key points of all the speeches below and also my thoughts on the same:

1. Shaheen Mistri (Teach for India President):
   This woman has been working for the cause relentlessly for the last 20 years. She is the founder of the organisation. In her speech, she gave 3 instances which exemplified the highest degree of giving. In one of them a boy at the age of 16 gave up his life to ensure that his grandfather didn’t have to go back to work again. He was suffering from an illness. The grandfather had given him 14000 rupees and told him to get himself treated in a private hospital. But he saved the money and went to a government hospital. Thereby, walking to his grave... The other important thing she said was about the WHY. She said that we need to forget about the WHAT, WHEN, HOW and focus on the WHY! If you are doing something WHY are you doing it? What is your prime motivator? What is it that keeps you awake at night? If you can answer these questions honestly the HOWS and WHENS will fall into place. If you ask me, it is like the CAUSE and EFFECT principle. If you totally believe in your cause, then you will find a way to implement it and ultimately effect a change.
   
   
   
   
2. Sehul Seth (Counselage CEO – Consultancy firm):
    This guy totally killed it! He was so sardonic and satirical in his talk! Impressive! This is how he started, 
   “CHANGE??? Who needs change? Why people are putting their statues and other animal statues everywhere! Why, only yesterday a man was arrested for making a cartoon! Who needs change???”
   There was more. But unfortunately this is how much I remember. For people who didn’t get it, both comments allude to Mamata Banerjee, CM West Bengal. This way of talking about Change actually made an impact and made us ponder on the preposterous things that are happening around us.
   
   
   
   
3. Shaina (Fashion Designer and Social Activist):
   She gave an instance in which she gathered some 10-12 teenagers and revamped the paediatric wards of government hospitals. She was persisting on the permissions issue. How it is so difficult to get permission from the government even if yours is a noble cause. She also put across a point that you don’t need to join an Activist group if you want to make a change. Just get 5-6 individuals who believe in your cause and get a movement going.
   
   
   
   
4. Taufiq Quereshi (Lyricist and Classical Singer):
    He narrated an incident about his renowned brother, Zakir Hussain . They had gone overseas to perform at various places. The norm was that his brother used to start the performance and he used to provide the background effects later in the song. They did this for around 16 performances and it was routine now. At the start of the 17th concert, Mr. Zakir Hussain pushed him forward and told him to start the performance. He was totally taken by surprise but didn’t have much of a choice, did he? So Taufiq Quereshi started playing his music. The enthusiastic response of the crowd really got him going and he delivered a spectacular concert. He was really grateful to Mr. Zakir Hussain whom he considers his Godfather. He said that he had the knack of realising potential (not only his case, there were others too) and giving them an encouraging boost at the right time.
   
   
   
   
5. Arnab Goswami (Senior Editor-in-Chief, Times Now)
    His speech by far, was the classiest! He spoke about the meretriciousness and shallowness of the people in power. He spoke about the battle he had to endure just to REPORT; just to remain true to his work. I would like to narrate both the incidents he mentioned:-
    In some secluded village in India, people were starving. There were some mango seeds dumped in the vicinity. So, they crushed the rotten mango seeds and made a puree out of them and consumed it. This resulted in the death of 25 villagers. When Arnab was out to cover the story he found it authentic. So he went for the Lok Sabha session to deliberate on the issue. In the session, one of the MPs passed a snide comment saying,
   “Tum reporters ka yahi problem hai. Itni badi aabadi me 20 log mar jaate hain aur tum log issue bana dete ho!”
    This is the kind of insensitivity-- or sensitivity, shall we say? --the leaders of the nation have towards the lives of their people. What more can be said... 
   
   
   The second incident revolves around the prime minister of the nation. During the phase of the scams (2G, 3G, CWG) the prime minister called a press conference to apparently answer the hundreds of questions which had cast a cloud of doubt over the minds of people in the credibility of his government. Mr. Goswami was amongst the 14 selected journalists who were selected for the press conference to be held in Delhi. The kinds of questions asked by some of the 13 editors were ridiculous to say the least! One of the questions was, “What do you think of Sachin Tendulkar’s batting, Mr. PM?” How the answer to this question unravels the mystery of the embezzlements happening in the nation still eludes me. On the contrary, Mr. Goswami was criticized when he got into a specific question regarding one of the scams. Nevertheless, Mr. Goswami put his question across the table awaiting a proper response. However, the Prime Minister of India, in response spoke about the various aspects of democracy that need to be worked upon! And he evaded the topic (not in a subtle way, I must say!). Way to go Mr. Prime Minister!!! 
   Mr. Goswami was despondent at the condition of the News Industry. He said that the day journalists start giving up their independent opinions it will be the end of the Industry. He also said that some of the news people in Delhi, if you ask them to bend they will crawl. Tragic, isn’t it?
   
   
   
   
6. Niladri Kumar (Sitar player)
    His speech was very touching, you know. I didn’t know it was so difficult to play the Sitar. When he travels by train, people ask him questions about his instrument and his profession. I would like to highlight one of his typical conversations:
   Q1] Ye cheez kya hai (referring to his instrument) aur aap kya karte ho? When he answers this question, this is the question which follows,
   Q2] Music toh theek hai, magar aap kaam kya karte ho?
   Q3] Isme kaam chal jaata hai?
    Basically, the point he was trying to make that Classical musical, which is so much tougher than Western and all the more beautiful is barely listened to and appreciated. One short piece of a guitar becomes famous overnight. Whereas, 20 thousand such pieces are played during a 2 hour Classical session.
   
   
   
   
7. Masaba Gupta (Fashion Designer)
    She basically spoke about how fashion is as much about art as about business. I mean you cannot just think about making an artistically aesthetic product. Ultimately it has to sell. She also spoke about the changing trend of making fashion accessible to the common man.
   
   
   
   
8. Sanjay Nirupam (He looked like a politician and spoke like one)
    Beating around the bush was what his speech was all about. It was the usual sad diplomatic talk lacking any firm basis. He repeated the point that the youth should vote and also get into politics around 7-8 times in his speech. In fact he also publicized about his party when he wasn’t supposed to. He realized later and he abruptly changed the topic, but it was too late. The audience had already exchanged bewildered looks.
   This might sound rude but it is only the truth: The scene was a paradox… A person was talking you into politics and if you carefully listened to his speech, you would definitely say to yourself, “This is the reason I DON’T want to get into Politics!”.
   
   
   However, the highlight of his speech was the joke he tried to crack. It wasn’t spontaneous. He had prepared it in advance it seemed. He said that Politics can’t be taught (Don’t worry, this is not the joke). He then locked eyes with the respectable Leander Paes and uttered, “It is not like tennis!” Oh my goodness! That was an embarrassing scene for everyone in the crowd I guess! On top of that he started laughing man! My first reaction to the girl beside me was, “Did he just do that?!!”
   
   
   
   
9. Nitin Paranjpe (CEO, Hindustan Unilever)
    Outstanding speech man! Learnt the most out of it! He spoke about the essential qualities that are required in a leader. 
   He started with IQ (Intelligence Quotient). He said that a decent level of IQ is necessary to ensure that the person analyses and understands the case at hand. But only having a high IQ is not in the least sufficient. One needs to understand PEOPLE at the base of it. An understanding of how people think and what exactly they want is very important. EQ (Emotional Quotient) is the way to express how much you understand people. So now if you think about it, a good IQ and EQ should be sufficient, right?
    This is where he took me by surprise. He said that there have been many cases where people with an impeccable IQ and an outstanding EQ have failed and it has resulted not only in the downfall of the company but also a reduction in the economy of the nation. I couldn’t think what else could possibly be required??
    He replied saying that the JUDGEMENT to take decisions is what even the most experienced people still find it difficult. It is the Acumen --this word is really classy (the ability to take quick decisions and to make good judgements) -- that counts. This is so true man! And lastly I would like to conclude with one of his lines, 
   “The test of a good leader is humility in success and courage in failure.” 
   And our own Mr. Paranjpe exemplifies humility in success (I wouldn’t call Mr. Nitin “our own”, would I?! :D).
   
   
10. Leander Paes (Needs no intro)
     Honestly, I didn’t expect much from him. But I was in for a complete shocker, because his was the most awe-inspiring speech!
     I must say that he was the most down to earth guy (being the most successful I must say) amongst the other speakers. You know there was humility in his voice. He narrated his life story. His main sport was football (he still thinks he’s better at football than tennis). He was exceptionally good. I’m not saying this because I’ve seen him play but he was selected by the Barcelona Team at the age of 12 to come to Spain and be a part of their team. However, there was one catch. He had to get himself a Spanish passport and become a citizen of Spain (They wanted him to play for Spain when he turned 19! Ya dude, he was that good!!!). But this was unacceptable to him. At the tender age of 12 he said no to the offer. He is proud to be an Indian and he wanted to play for the country. Then he eventually found his vocation with tennis and at the age of 16 he was convinced that he wants to take up Tennis as a profession. Don’t think he was a natural at the sport. He slogged his ass out to become even competent at it. On the contrary, he used to be defeated by many players when he started his career. It is only through relentless hours of practice that he’s achieved the pinnacle of success in the sport.
    
    

I have given an account of 10 speeches. I’ve covered all the major ones. There were 9 more (2-3 were noteworthy) but it is too much of an effort to write further with such precision and finesse (I think that I need a lesson in humility from “our own” Mr. Paranjpe :D). But on a serious note, it is important to understand what is common to the success of all these speakers. What is that thing which is their prime motivator? It is the belief in their cause that was the driving force. They truly believed in their WHYs! So this might sound like a cliché but I would like to end with asking you to think about what is it that really motivates you? If you are able to answer this simple question, believe me you, you shall find your true vocation…