In the thick of life....Indulging the I: 2009

Thursday, November 26, 2009

To be or not to be an entrepreneur

If you have read through some of my archives, you will know that I am very keen to become self-employed. Now whether that will make me an entrepreneur or just a freelancer does not matter. The very thought of the freedom associated with self-employment and the responsibilities and risks attached to it gives me a rush. As it does jitters. The reason I decided to test the waters, so to speak, volunteering with HeadStart, a nonprofit supporting the entrepreneur ecosystem, organizing Startup Saturdays in Bangalore, before taking the plunge. The last six months working with the SSB gang has been wonderful and fantastically educational. Of my own capabilities, nature, attitude, and a whole lot of other things that won’t be interesting to anyone else other than me. And before I start writing my autobiography, let me get to the point which is the theme of this month’s Startup Saturday “To be or not to be an entrepreneur”. To say that this SSB saw a high number of participants would be an understatement. It was the highest ever. Makes me feel proud to be part of the team that organized it. God, there I go again, writing my biography. The self-interest does creep in between the lines, doesn’t it? But hey, isn’t that what blogs are for? Argh, stop. Before you become more philosophical. That was for me btw. Goodness, I have two writing personalities? STOP.

To continue with SSB November, here’s what we wrote in our mailers and event introduction – “Many aspiring entrepreneurs are still stuck and not able to take the Plunge…. This month’s SSB will have a session on whether or not to be an entrepreneur by a three-time startup expert….”Perfect for me and others who have been loitering around in the lobby and twiddling our thumbs. The only problem was that it clashed with my daughter’s first ever fancy dress day at her playschool. Mommy or Boss? Which comes first? Father! Roped the guy in to make sure daughter’s dress up doesn’t suffer and went ahead with enlightened self-interest. Mommy will not miss this month’s Startup Saturday at any cost. So attend I did and came away with lot of notes. Not sure about that enlightenment. I still feel like loitering around. But that’s beside the point as always.

Just to ensure that those notes don’t go wasted, I sat and put in almost an entire half a day at office trying to write a very interesting, very educational, very enlightening post on the session for the HeadStart blog. It turned out like an essay that my final year college self would have written. But then I loved my college self. So here’s an excerpt of what she, I mean me, lets just say we wrote.

“Chaos and uncertainty – two things you must learn to live with if you want to be an entrepreneur” – started Surya, our presenter for the expert talk this Startup Saturday. One of the most awaited sessions, November’s Startup Saturday saw the highest number of participants in the history of SS Bangalore. Over 170 people assembled at the IIMB auditorium on this brisk Saturday morning eagerly waiting for some insights on entrepreneurship. While the event started with a series of the regular lightning pitches the audience waited eagerly for the key attraction of the day, the expert talk and discussion on “To be or not to be an Entrepreneur.”

“You have an idea or a maybe even a lot of them. But you don’t know where to start. You are confused.” continued Surya, adding “Then you can assume you are in the right place… you are fit to be an entrepreneur.” A huge collective sigh of relief spread through the audience. You could almost hear them thinking “thank god, am not alone.”

Dot. Dot. Dot.

The session concluded with Surya’s last slide which resonated with all of us long after the Saturday. It simply stated thus:

“Don’t be disappointed if the world refuses to help you out. Remember what Einstein said – I am thankful to all those that said No. It’s because of them that I did it myself.”

Yes.

Read the complete write up here. And SAY NO to me please.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Finally there!

My own domain...finally there! And that shall break my long silence, yes?

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

My first Gollu

Monday, September 14, 2009

Twestival India - A lot of attention from the media

Thanks to the Media industry for showering Twestival India with a whole lot of love and attention this time. For posterity’s sake, let me pull it all together in one place here. Most of these are pre-event features except for Times of India. There is still a lot of scope for detailed analysis of the Twestival scene at India – if anyone is interested, let me know.

We have also been covered by TV, primarily by the two channels TV9 and CNN IBN Network 18. We did speak with NDTV but I don’t think they covered any of the events live when they happened in the six cities between 10-13 Sep. We’ve recorded the TV9 telecast – will try to get @dhempe to put that on YouTube.

Meanwhile, enjoy the attention our friends have given us here:

Mainstream:
“This time, Twestival will be going local” DNA Bangalore – 25 August 2009
“Tweeting for a cause” LiveMint – 26 August 2009
“Tweet Dreams” TimeOut Bengaluru – 04 Sep 2009
“Twestival comes to Mumbai” Hindustan Times Mumbai – 4 Sep 2009
“Charity 2.0” Outlook Money – 09 Sep 2009
“Working for a cause the micro way” Times of India Chennai – 09 Sep 2009
“Local 'twestival' to be held at Bandra” DNA Mumbai – 09 Sep 2009
“An offline Twitter affair, for a cause” Times of India Bangalore – 10 Sep 2009
“Have fun at Twestival, but do volunteer” DNA Bangalore – 11 Sep 2009
“Tweeting for a social cause” The New Indian Express Chennai – 11 Sep 2009
“Party for a cause” The New Indian Express Bangalore – 12 Sep 2009
“Twestival Time” Indian Express – 12 Sep 2009
“Partying for a cause” The Hindu – 12 Sep 2009
“Bangalore Twitter users raise money for charity” Times of India Bangalore – 13 Sep 2009

Others/syndicated news:
“Twestival Time” Yahoo India News – 12 Sep 2009
“Twestival: 'Party for a Cause' this Saturday” MSN India – 10 Sep 2009
“TATA DOCOMO Sponsors Mumbai's Twitter Festival” India PR Wire – 10 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's 'Twitters' to help underprivileged children” Indian eNews – 11 Sep 2009
“Twestival (Twitter festival) Bangalore offers help to underprivileged children” Weeks Update – 11 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's 'Twitters' to help less privileged kids” Silicon India – 11 Sep 2009
“Twestival and Dream: A Dream arrange cultural show!” Duniya Live Bangalore – 12 Sep 2009
“Bangalore's IT hub to use 'Twitters' to help underprivileged kids” MyNews.in – 12 Sep 2009
“IT Hub Bangalore organizes Tweet Party for charity” UB News – 13 Sep 2009
"Bangalore Twitters rally to help needy children" Gulfnews.com - 11 Sep 2009

TV:
"Tweeting for a good cause" CNN IBN - 15 Sep 2009

I will be keeping this post updated as and when some news gets published on Twestival India. But if you come across any other feature or coverage that I've missed, do let me know and I will get this updated.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Indian Non-profits on Twitter

Updated 29 Oct 2009

When I came across the list of Indian Brands & Businesses on Twitter by Santosh Maharshi , I found it very impressive. It was just the thing I was searching for when I was looking to connect with potential sponsors quickly for a fund-raising event. After some time , I got thinking. Won’t it be nice if we can similar lists for other things as well besides Brands and Businesses in India? For instance, a list of non-profits in India on Twitter?

So here's the list of tweeting non-profits/NGOs/volunteer organizations/initiatives that I could find (Thanks to Maya and others for their contribution to this list):

The short url you can use to refer to this post is http://bit.ly/IndianNP.

The TweepML quick reference list that will enable you to follow all of them or a selective few is here.

I will be updating this list frequently through the Twitter List feature here. May not on this blo though. So for the latest updated version, please check my Twitter Indian nonprofit list.

For now, am keeping the definition pretty simple - any organization that works for a social benefit without profit as their main motive. And there's very little/minimal due diligence that I do before adding them to this list - just relying on what their website/tweet says - but I realize that as this list grows, that will have to change. Obviously, we wouldn't want anybody to get a free ride in the name of non-profit. Mulling on that...

Meanwhile, iIf you would like to add any other non-profit to the above list or remove inappropriate ones, tweet me on @adropofwisdom or leave a comment below and I will update the list!

Lets make a difference, one step at a time.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Making one difference at a time

When I got a chance to become the regional coordinator for India for Twestival, I had no clue how much I will enjoy taking on this role. But the past few weeks of running with the Twestival organizing in India (and sometime back for Middle East and Bangladesh too) has been nothing short of amazing. It has been absolutely satisfying and makes me feel like I am making some difference to this world. Loving it. Got to thank @amanda and @dhempe.

Meanwhile, here's some of the press that Twestival India has received:
DNA
Outlook Money
LiveMint
Hindustan Times
TimeOut Bengaluru

Twestival in India will be happening at Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad. Each of them are supporting a different cause. Check their blogs for more details. If you are in any of these cities, make sure you participate. Let's make one difference at a time.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Some pictures from Masinagudi/Bandipur

Saturday, August 15, 2009

God's secret garden, Masinagudi!

If God had a secret garden, its name would surely be Masinagudi? Lush and green doesn’t even begin to cover when one describes this beautiful piece of land which has so far managed to keep the greedy hands of human civilization under its control. Nestled between the famous tourist town of Ooty and the more well-known sanctuary of Bandipur, Masingagudi is the commonly referred name of both the little town, the cluster of small villages, and the forest areas nearby, starting past the Tamilnadu-Karnataka border on this side of the Blue Mountains. The dense forests and the lush green expanses of plains of the Mudumalai, the ancient mountain ranges of the west, also called Nilgiris (Blue Mountains), reveal a little of themselves in this pitstop before their wilderness becomes more difficult for man to access.

I first visited Masinagudi two years back on a quick weekend getaway and immediately became hooked. The place seemed to be right out of the scenes of the Jungle Book, and other stories of wild animals and forests that have always captured my imagination since childhood. And to think that this is right at my backyard, heavens! I decided, later, that I must do my pilgrimage on this road to Ooty, every year whenever possible. Whenever possible happened two years later and there we were at Masinagudi last Saturday herding a group of youngsters on what I would like to call the ‘wilderness appreciation workshop’ that we like to frequent often as we can, city bred as all of us are.

Most Websites say the best season to visit this place is October till June but believe me, August is just blissful. There is not as much tourist population as there may be at other times of the year, and the rain gods are just about taking a break after a heavy performance washing duty of the mountains. Our animal friends are more relaxed and less wary of the sight of the two legged beasts, and the self-educated naturalists in the form of forest guides are far more down to earth in their charges too. All in all, we couldn’t have visited at a better time.

We were supposed to stay at this place called Green Resorts (more like a Lodge as we found out later) but a chance overstay by one of the guests ensured we were out of place. Our friendly naturalist, Karthick, who had helped us with the booking, became quiet remorse and decided to compensate by taking us to a less-famous, and thereby better, accommodation a little father inside the forest from the town of Masinagudi, called Wild Breeze. The moment we saw Wild Breeze, we were all captivated.

More than a resort, Wild Breeze looked like a set of mini homes with its own private gardens, mountains, and animal friends. “You can see hundreds of spotted deers right at our backyard at night,” went Mr. Hari Nair, the easy going manager of the place, adding “Why only last week we saw wild dogs hunt a deer down!” Woaw! Wow! We are not going anywhere else even if you were to chase us down on elephants, I thought and we settled down for the next 24 hours, each of its minute filled with hopes of seeing those wild dogs return! But as it happened, elephants did do their chase, wild elephants in case you think otherwise, and chase they did the manager. More on that in a little while.

So after checking in at one in the afternoon, we began planning our POA for the next one day by discussing with our Naturalist. Karthick reeled off the activity options like well memorized items off a food menu complete with cost details:

Jeep Safari in the night = Rs.800 per jeep, each jeep six people
Camp fire with fun and frolic = Rs.300 for fire, fun and food extra depending on how many bottles
Early morning illegal trek inside the forest=Rs.200 per person (reducible up to Rs.150) per hour for however many hours you wish to trek
Visit to bath at the Moyyar (Singara) river of the parts=Rs.400 for to and fro jeep charges to the bathing site
Another safari if you wish=same as before
And of course the hugely crowded government organized Van Safaris at both Mudumalai forest reserve and Bandipur; Mudumailai at Rs.35 and Bandipur at Rs.90 (not sure of this cost)

One can also do a night stay inside the forest but it is not advised in addition to being illegal!

We decided to take our chances with the government safari at Mudumalai first, much to the disgust of Karthick, who couldn’t help but boast about his sightings of Leopard and Tiger just the previous week when he had taken another tourist group. Cynical as I was (remember I had visited this place two years back? Our guide then (they hadn’t yet started calling themselves naturalist then) made a big fool of us by pointing to some trees saying he spotted a panther just that morning sitting on those trees!), I knew at least the government safari is sure to show you some animals, if not Tigers and Leopards (nocturnal animals they are so no chance there!), but elephants and bisons surely. And spotted them we did in the safari along with deers, peacocks, Nilgiri Langurs, and other monkeys. But the worst part of the government offered safari is the wait at the ticket office – considering that this was supposed to be off season, we had to wait over two hours for our turn! But well, you can’t miss it.

We opted out of the private night jeep safari that Karthick offered, again because of our lessons from two years before. Back then, our guides fooled us by showing tamed elephants (of the Mudumalai forest office), and passed them off as wild tuskers grazing inside the village! Our guides then also took us to this old temple inside the forest and stalled the jeep for ten minutes in front of it saying Tigers visit the temple often! Though it was totally romantic (don’t ask me why! My husband dozed off half way in the safari then but I found it all oh so totally romantic to be wide awake and seeing nature at her best at night – voyeur I know!) and adventurous, we did not spot a single animal except for those wild tuskers! So we decided to stay back at Wild Breeze instead and catch up on horror stories this time round.

What do they say about Murphy’s law? What do they say? I would have beaten myself with ten broomsticks in the minutes that followed when Karthick returned from the night safari of another gang that stayed in the next cottage and proudly announced, “Ma’m you missed it! We saw a Leopard and another gang with my friend guide saw a Tiger! Ask the guests if you don’t believe me!” The guests with him nodded and off they went chatting excitedly about their luck. I turned to stare at my husband hoping to burn a hole right through his cynical mind (I conveniently forgot about my own acquiesce to his opinion!) because he was the one who first suggested opting out of the night safari. When I think of that stupid decision, I still feel like kicking myself. So animal spotting or not, this night safari is a must if you are in Masinagudi. Like I said, it is really romantic, adventurous and one of a kind experience.

The night bought in some much needed excitement later when we heard the manger come running from the gates. Apparently, he was going to the town to bring back something when in the dark his bike suddenly illuminated three elephants standing right in his way. He dropped his bike and ran back from the path like crazy which is when we saw him. After waiting out sometime, one of us took our car to the site and the manager got back his bike. There are wild elephants roaming abouts, don’t go wandering outside the gates was his advice before we retired for the night.

Oh, I almost forgot about those hundreds of deers in the backyard. Yes, there was truth to Hari Nair’s words. In fact, there were more than hundreds of deers behind the resort that night though we could see only their eyes (when we turned on our torch beams). I guess they all come near the resort at night to sleep – it might offer them a safer place than the rest of the forest, near as it is to light and human habitation, and thus far from the predators of the night which generally avoid the human trails.

We slept reluctantly that night, sorry to step inside the four walls of the room, away from the blanket of stars and wilderness.

Wait for more pictures - and the next day's events! I will put them up later!

Updated to add: By popular demand (hehehe!), here's the number of Wild Breeze - 097517-64310 - the manager's name is Sri Hari.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Oh dear, this is one messed up world!

We all live in a governed world. There are no exceptions. Even the most uncivilized tribes in the world have rules and customs, and a patriarch or matriarch to follow. Modern man, obviously, is even more encumbered. By standards, expectations, administrations, customs, conventions, dictates, traditions, and all the other nouns that stand for the very antonym of a free society. In other words, simply stated, Man today is not free. He lives in a world filled with rules, regulations, norms; self-imposed at times but to most part imposed by others in the name of governance. Of course, the logic is “Government is necessary to the existence of civilized society.” And that exactly, my dear, that exactly is my peeve. What’s wrong with primitiveness? What’s harmful in being uncivilized? Why are these two immediately tagged as harmful and dangerous? Can’t an uncivilized world manage to live on its own? This world must be messed up in the head to think otherwise.

Let’s park that line of thought for a moment and move to another flea that is biting my head. I was in this conference the other day when someone asked me what I do. Instead of sticking to plain old truth, I decided to test future waters and slickly replied, “I am an independent consultant.” What do you think was the reaction? Mad cow disease. Yes, I am not exaggerating! The person who asked me that question suddenly seemed to have contracted an illness that has so far only been associated with a mad being, or perhaps someone who mistakenly inhaled nitrous oxide. He laughed like an idiot. And so did the others who were surrounding us, listening in shamelessly on what was supposed to be a private conversation. “You mean you are unemployed? Ha, ha, ha, am I clever or am I clever? Ha, ha, ha, that is what people who got laid off recently call themselves! So tell me what you actually do?” was the reply after entertaining me with three long minutes of non-stop mouth noises. Now you know why I called him an idiot. He simply could not comprehend the fact that someone could actually work for themselves, that some people do no mind being outside the walls of a corporate organization, that some people can be self-employed.

That got me thinking. One thing led to another, and soon I was ranting inside my own mind, not too dissimilar to that idiot (that illness must have been contagious or something). Do I like the rules you need to follow inside a corporate structure? Do I like the donkey (ahem!) licking patrons of bosses and super bosses? Do I like the false cheerfulness and dishonest opinions? Do I like the self-propagation by getting subordinates to do your work? Do I like living someone else’s dream? No sir, no. If there was a quiz on what is your second primary motivation to become an entrepreneur, I would definitely select option D. The option D being “being your own boss”. Being self-employed. Being Self-governed. Ya, sad quiz that will be giving three choices under one option but hey I am the kind to create such quizzes.

So, when one gets disenchanted with the magic world of being employed by somebody else, much less being employed in a huge conglomerate where the dream of the founder himself is no more, one can easily disengage. Despite the mass prevalence of idiots infected with mad cow disease, there is still hope for self-employment, still hope for entrepreneurs. All that I would need to do is convince the ruling lords that I don’t need them anymore for my survival and march out of the campus. As easy as that. Of course, you shouldn’t forget to return the dog tag, considered most sacred, also called employee identity card.

If only it was as easy to walk out of the modern civilized society. (Lost? Scroll up to the first paragraph. Sigh! short memory span is not so good…)

So if I want to be self-governed, don’t care for an elected representative, don’t care for a chief of tribe, don’t care for the head of the family, and don’t even care for a dominant mate, where the heck can I go in this world? Is there a place like that in this Earth where I can just be? I don’t need your protection, I don’t need your violence, and I don’t need you civilization, period.

I am so devastated to realize that there is absolutely, absolutely, not a single place on this Earth where I can be a self-governed being living in a place filled only with self-governed beings.

This world is indeed messed up big time.

And they are talking about privatizing the jungles. I wish my karmic cycle of birth and rebirth ends before civilization becomes even more civilized.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Lightning speed update

Sorry, I have been away longer than I intended. It’s just that some things have been keeping me away from mainstream life and it seems like am just floating around in this huge soap bubble reflecting multi-colored lights all around. Before I drown in any more words, a lightning quick summary of what I wanted to say.

The roundup of the Lightning Pitches session that I helped organize this July Startup Saturday is up over here. Read and let me know how you like it.

Meanwhile, I found Rang De, and I must say I just love the idea/concept. Will soon become a social investor myself.

Stay tuned.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

High Fashion Therapy in Chennai

Whenever I go to the good old city, a visit to its fashion hub is the most important item on my agenda. The good old city that I mention here is the very traditional, very snobbish, very cultured, very mammi-ish, very dear, very beautiful Chennai. And the fashion hub is none other than the affordable (now that's an oxymoron, affordable high fashion!) line up of vendors at Pondy Bazaar in the center of the city, T Nagar. Especially hub for the latest and greatest in accessories, the kinds that you deck up your plain little (or big) ears with, and decorate your swan-like neck (or double chins) with, and embellish your sleek (or Schwarzenegger-ish) arms with, and for many more such innovative furnishings for your body.

I contracted the love for accessories from my sister, once known as a high fashionista throughout her college. The ailment once it catches you never leaves you, forever spoiling you for other lower afflictions such as the usual ones for gold and real diamonds. After all, how can dull bombs compete with the bright and artificial, not to mention affordable, stones of Pondy Bazaar? So thus began the long courtship, all its keepsakes treasured carefully in velvet boxes, Tupperwares, and laundry bags. Every six months, I take them out, sort them into neat little bundles, tag them appropriately, and put them back in the folders they belong, messed up as they are by busy hands on busier mornings. The process is very therapeutic, giving almost the exact same pleasure one gets while visiting the high street.

On my last visit to this sacred center, I decided to pay a little more attention to details and not just get drunk into a religious stupor of earrings, earrings, and more earrings. I wanted to see if I could use all that I was forced to learn during my MBA. For instance, in this street where every second vendor sells the same stuff, how do they differentiate themselves? Does it matter who you buy from? Is there any difference in quality at all from one seller to another? Do these guys love their job selling earrings, necklaces, bindis, tattoos, and clips? What kind of profits do they take home? Does their girlfriends, wives, and moms buy from them or go to their competitors elsewhere? Do they allow pretty maidens to have their way and shoplift a few items, with a good long view at their bosoms payment enough? I wanted to talk to a few vendors and find these out and more.

But all I managed to do was take some photos. I couldn't overcome my compelling and addictive habits. But it was very therapeutic though. Very.

Here are some of those photos, to give you a sneak view to High Fashion in Chennai.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Salesman Extraordinaire

At first glance, Mr. Lalit of Parkview shop at Chennamakare appears to be just like any of the thousand merchants trying to make a living selling things. His shop, exactly opposite a park, specialises in selling children's toys, cycles, and other gift articles. Other than that, nothing else seems to set it apart from the others lining the street save for the colorful display of tricycles standing outside the shop doors. Having seen it many times on the way home, it had firmly registered itself on my mind as a possible option for buying kid-related stuff. So when my daughter's birthday came by, Parkview shop was what naturally came to our mind. We entered the shop with just one objective in mind - buy our baby something special as a gift to mark this milestone in her life and ours.

Lalit is a 55+ year old gentleman, the sole in charge of Parkview - there were no other assistants around the premises. When we told him of our intention to buy something special, his first question was "what is your budget." Now that's not a typical question you would expect from a shopkeeper. Contrarily, they try to avoid knowing your budget so that they get a chance to tempt you with all the high-priced goodies. With this kind of unfounded warning (in this case) in my mind, I hesitantly told him Rs.300 - 400. Lalit was matter of fact in his reply: "OK, here are the things you can buy in that money.... this, this, this and that..." I was not impressed with this, this, this and that. It must have showed on my face. His next question was "who is this for? neighbour's kid?" "No, our own!" shot out my husband. "Ha! sir! You should have told me. Why are u trying to stick to 300-400 then?"

In the next twenty minutes or so, out came Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire. He also seemed to be the very incarnation of patience, most tolerant of our indecision and changing choices every other minute. When I made him take a heavy weight rocking horse from the top shelf, with the least intention to buy it but just to see it from close quarters, he didn't seem to mind at all. He was full of advices - mentioning both merits and demerits of everything he showed us. We finally narrowed down the entire shop to three items - a car like cycle, a tent house, and a swing seat. But I wanted to get just two of them though the hubby was loudly tending towards all three. Ha, surely Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire will cease the opportunity to press all the three things on us? No! Instead, do you know what he did?

He rode the cycle for us!! Yes! A 55+ aged man, sitting on a low cycle car, steering the vehicle around the shop, demonstrating the value the piece would bring to us - an utter joy to watch indeed! We were embarrassed just watching him - he was the exact opposite. In fact, he insisted my husband to try it for himself. "You might riding this cycle more than your kid, I tell you" he grinned. Need I tell you if we brought it?

When it came to the time of billing, being the plastic people, I asked him breezily - "you do accept cards?" "Yes, but you will be charged the 2% extra charges... is it debit or credit?" he questioned. "Oh, debit but that's OK... i don't mind the charges!" Lalit was aghast! "If it is debit card, why do you want to waste that money? there is an ATM nearby, go on... you can save 40 rs with which you can buy a big chocolate for your daughter! Meanwhile, I will have your cycle and tent ready all wrapped and ready to carry home"

We took us a good ten minutes to the nearby ATM. But we were impressed. With the salesman that Mr.Lalit is, with his patience, with his honesty, with his amazing selling skills.

Naturally, when we came back, I was curious to know more about him and his business. He was delighted to share his story. He had always been a business man - a BA, LLB graduate from the 1960's - dealing mainly with wholesales consumer items but more recently has opened a retail kid's store because of his love for children. When I asked him what he would advice young businessmen who are just staring out, he was very emphatic on three points.

Never take credit - never ever give them either
Do not employ people to work if you don't really need the extra hands
Treat your business as you would your body - take utmost care of it, give it enough attention, and do it all yourself - the dirty as well as not-so-dirty tasks. Your business will definitely reward you with a healthy living.

And of course, you got to be a salesman extraordinaire!

Treat your business as you would your body!

At first glance, Mr. Lalit of Parkview shop at Chennamakare appears to be just like any of the thousand merchants trying to make a living selling things. His shop, exactly opposite a park, specialises in selling children's toys, cycles, and other gift articles. Other than that, nothing else seems to set it apart from the others lining the street save for the colorful display of tricycles standing outside the shop doors. Having seen it many times on the way home, it had firmly registered itself on my mind as a possible option for buying kid-related stuff. So when my daughter's birthday came by, Parkview shop was what naturally came to our mind. We entered the shop with just one objective in mind - buy our baby something special as a gift to mark this milestone in her life and ours.

Lalit is a 55+ year old gentleman, the sole in charge of Parkview - there were no other assistants around the premises. When we told him of our intention to buy something special, his first question was "what is your budget." Now that's not a typical question you would expect from a shopkeeper. Contrarily, they try to avoid knowing your budget so that they get a chance to tempt you with all the high-priced goodies. With this kind of unfounded warning (in this case) in my mind, I hesitantly told him Rs.300 - 400. Lalit was matter of fact in his reply: "OK, here are the things you can buy in that money.... this, this, this and that..." I was not impressed with this, this, this and that. It must have showed on my face. His next question was "who is this for? neighbour's kid?" "No, our own!" shot out my husband. "Ha! sir! You should have told me. Why are u trying to stick to 300-400 then?"

In the next twenty minutes or so, out came Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire. He also seemed to be the very incarnation of patience, most tolerant of our indecision and changing choices every other minute. When I made him take a heavy weight rocking horse from the top shelf, with the least intention to buy it but just to see it from close quarters, he didn't seem to mind at all. He was full of advices - mentioning both merits and demerits of everything he showed us. We finally narrowed down the entire shop to three items - a car like cycle, a tent house, and a swing seat. But I wanted to get just two of them though the hubby was loudly tending towards all three. Ha, surely Mr.Sales executive extraordinaire will cease the opportunity to press all the three things on us? No! Instead, do you know what he did?

He rode the cycle for us!! Yes! A 55+ aged man, sitting on a low cycle car, steering the vehicle around the shop, demonstrating the value the piece would bring to us - an utter joy to watch indeed! We were embarrassed just watching him - he was the exact opposite. In fact, he insisted my husband to try it for himself. "You might riding this cycle more than your kid, I tell you" he grinned. Need I tell you if we brought it?

When it came to the time of billing, being the plastic people, I asked him breezily - "you do accept cards?" "Yes, but you will be charged the 2% extra charges... is it debit or credit?" he questioned. "Oh, debit but that's OK... i don't mind the charges!" Lalit was aghast! "If it is debit card, why do you want to waste that money? there is an ATM nearby, go on... you can save 40 rs with which you can buy a big chocolate for your daughter! Meanwhile, I will have your cycle and tent ready all wrapped and ready to carry home"

We took us a good ten minutes to the nearby ATM. But we were impressed. With the salesman that Mr.Lalit is, with his patience, with his honesty, with his amazing sales skills.

Naturally, when we came back, I was curious to know more about him and his business. He was delighted to share his story. He had always been a business man - a BA, LLB graduate from the 1960's - dealing mainly with wholesales consumer items but had more recently opened a retail kid's store because of his love for children. When I asked him what he would advice young businessmen who are just staring out, he was very emphatic on three points.

Never take credit - never ever give them either
Do not employ people to work if you don't really need the extra hands
Treat your business as you would your body - take utmost care of it, give it enough attention, and do it all yourself - the dirty as well as not-so-dirty tasks. Your business will definitely reward you with a healthy living.

The last point stuck me as very true, especially if you are in a startup stage. You got to get your hands dirty. What do you think?

Monday, June 15, 2009

The June Edition of Startup Saturday Bangalore

To say that it was a full house at the Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition would be an understatement. The hall was filled to capacity. This was my first time attending this forum but I was not disappointed. The event turned out to be amazingly organized and informative.

The focus of this month was "e-Commerce and Internet businesses." Four companies in the online business presented their cases, business models, value proposition, and where they dream to take their business forward. A common thread between all these guys is their focus on consumers - all of them were primarily targeted at the B2C market - not surprising considering the huge potential of the Indian Internet population. At the end of these presentations was a small talk by Rajeev Goswami of Shore Consulting on "Marketing for Startups."

First to kick off the demo was Abhishek Kumar of eveningflavours.com. The business is simple - provide the consumers a place to locate restaurants according to their preferences and book a table if they wish. On the other side, tie up with restaurants, bars, pubs, etc. and offer them technology and marketing solutions; and bring them online visibility. The idea is not new. A poll at the end of the presentation saw an equal raise of hands for both options of "Do you think this business will succeed or fail?"

Next to take the stage was the exuberant and highly energetic founder of LetsOlla.com - Aashish Solanki. He is also the founder of NetBrahma, a design production company based in Bangalore - he also happens to be a co-founder of HeadStart.in, I heard. This young man was literally oozing energy all over the stage - his passion for his business was so clearly evident. An important trait VCs and investors look for I am sure. Moving on to his business, LetsOlla is a concept of online facilitated bartering, lending, sharing or give away of products/services. Though the idea is age-old, the execution and medium is what makes it fresh. Not to forget the beautiful minimalistic design of the product that we got to witness during the quick demo. I am not sure if I was impressed with LetsOlla but I sure was smitten by NetBrahma.

These two demos were followed by lightening presentations by AIOBazaar and WebDhaba. Lightening meaning quick ten minutes walk through of the business model. AIOBazaar (standing for All in One) is into online ordering of food items - groceries in general. AIOBazaar has tied up with various food marts including the big players like FoodWorld, Reliance, etc. - you get to shop online at the convenience of your home - and shop for items from multiple stores - and get them delivered at your doorstep. There are clearly other players in the market who are doing the exact same thing. Whether the business will sustain is a question only time can answer.

WebDhaba is again an online food ordering business - food from restaurants. Complete with menu and price details online, the value proposition of the business seems to be exactly that. Order what you want - at the price point you prefer (comparing restaurants)- and take your time while doing it. They are doing good business in Mangalore but are yet to attack the Bangalore market fully. The founder was wise enough to acknowledge that alliances and partnership with other companies in similar line might what make the difference to his business.

Rajeev Goswami is a 50+ old gentleman. He has held senior leadership positions at companies like IBM and CA. Right now, he is the CEO of Shore Consulting, a advisory company for Startups who are just reaching the operation stage. Their focus clearly is on offering marketing expertise to the startups. Like Aashish Solanki, Rajeev was a high voltage man too. The crowd was buzzing with excitement. A separate post on his presentation will follow.

The best part of the day turned out to be the last five minutes when the forum was opened upto the audience for a quick introduction of entrepreneurs/startups in the crowd (to facilitate the networking session that was to follow). Though people were initially hesitant to get up and identify themselves as an entrepreneur (there's always that hesitation I noticed!), soon they got going and we heard an eclectic mix of business services, products and consultancy pitches. For instance, the mention of an online saree shop caused mild amusement to ripple through the audience.

Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition wrapped up around 2 PM after a round of networking for which I didn't stay back.

Lessons? High energy, motivation, passion, and solid business idea are some of the requirements that startups MUST meet. And I must start attending this event regularly.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Startup Saturday Bangalore June Edition

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Why should you work for startups?

Complete autonomy (which translates to more responsibility obviously)
Better visibility - with managers, big bosses, and customers
Opportunity to get involved in diverse opportunities - organizing fun events, "b*tch about my colleagues" projects, etc., etc. without fearing management action
Faster growth
Closer friendships and relationships (ahem!) with colleagues
You can watch TV in the recreation room from 1 till 4 in the evening and get away with it .
No Internet restrictions
Laugh at a senior in meetings till you are red in the face and all you may get in return is an indulgent smile
People believe they are owners of their work assignments - They care
Call for meetings when you are bored; you are sure to get 100% attendance :)
Friendly IT and HR staff
Colleagues are more willing to cover for you
You know what the person sitting in the next cubicle is doing; sometimes even what the office boy is doing
Oh, how can I forget? The security and the office boys are so nice and they are out to please you if only you show them a little courtesy - say Good Morning and smile at them everyday - in other words, treat them as anyone else in the company
Get called Madam (or Sir!) - Oh, I just love that!
People trust you not to steal company sensitive data and become an overnight millionaire selling it in ebay
Most importantly, you have time for your personal life. Whether it is blogging, Twitting, just browsing the net, reading, writing or falling in Love

And now the negative side of it

Lower salary (maybe)
Lesser perks and benefits
You can't boast about being employed at "Top 10", "Fortune 10", "Blah 10", or such!
People blink when you tell them I work at DFG small company
You may have to put in longer hours at times - since you own what you do
You are down in the dumps one day and the entire world knows it (thats also a nice thing, isn't it?)
A S S licking is rampant (Ha! I can't believe I can be so crass but hey that's the fact and I couldn't find any better phrase to say it the way it is)
Collective employee morale (Somebody bitches about Anybody and the next day all the friends of Somebody in office hate Anybody!)
There's no one to pass on the low level jobs like formatting or cleanup. You got to do it yourself. Sometimes, it gets passed on to you but there's no way you can pass it on to anyone else. But in big companies, there are technical writers to do that kind of stuff :)
God save you if some office Romeo takes a fancy to you. Apart from getting teased mercilessly, you have to constantly ensure you don't end up being alone in the lift or corridor with the Romeo. Or if you get into a tiff with a colleague. Being a small office set up, life can turn pretty nasty.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Bangalore Photography Workshops - No dearth of choices!

I wanted to give the hubby something different for a birthday gift this year. For how long can one surprise the man with mobile phones, watches, electronic stuff… and cards? You will agree that it is a daunting task to come up with innovative gift ideas year after year, especially for men (while for women it is the easiest thing - there are so many choices. Now whether the woman will actually like your choice is another matter!). So there I was, wracking my brain a good one month before his birthday searching for bright ideas, when I remembered how he always claims to be a better photographer than me. Voila! My gift idea reared up and stared me in the face.

Why not actually make him better at the art than me? And while at that, learn the tricks of the trade without paying for it (by threatening the man with dire consequences if he doesn’t remember and repeat word for word what he heard at the workshop). Send him to a photography workshop!

The next obvious step was of course to search for such workshops in and around the city. And man, I tell you that’s when I got oh so totally floored. In the last three years while I was sleeping, the photographers in the city seem to have made photography workshops the “in” thing to do. A simple search in Google turns up so many results and choices. And it becomes really difficult to sort the chaff from the wheat. That’s when I decided to make the list below for easy comparison. Exactly like the comparison list I made for buying my two pathetic cameras (in retrospect! But they were the best choices at that time!!).

Being the good samaritan that I am, and to have something to fill the “achievements” space in membership forms, let me share my list of Bangalore based Photography workshops and their details. Before you proceed further, read the disclaimer at the bottom once. And twice. If you still find any of the information listed here to be untrue for this timestamp, just email me. I will get it corrected as soon as I can.

Name	Conducted by	Next/Last scheduled	Where	How much	Duration	More details
Photography workshop	Amoghavarsha	Next one on 13th and 14th June	Usually in a nature camp called Forest trails at Bannerghatta Reserve Forest but this time inside the city	Rs.3500 (inside the city)	2 days	Here
Photography workshop	Kalyan Varma	Next one on 13th and 14th June; Usually conducted every month	Usually in a hotel	Rs.4000	2 days	Here
The Contrarian Photo Workshop	Mahesh Shantaram	Next one on July 11th and 12th	Photographer's house at Murugeshpalya	Rs.3500	2 days	Here
Elephas Photography Workshop	Sudhir Shivram (Elephas)	Last one was on May 23rd and 24th	Usually in a hotel	Rs.3850	2 days	Here
Weekend Workshops in Basics In Still Photography	Bangalore School of Arts and Photography (Anand Sharan)	No information on the last workshop this year; Is not very regular I think	Studio at Koramangala	Rs.4500	Spread over 5 days - roughly 4 hours each day	Here
Introduction to Photography and Camera	Active Canvas	Last one on June 6th, 7th & 13th	Active Canvas, Jayanagar	Rs.750	3 days - 3 hours each day	Here
Photography on the Move	getoff ur ass (Hellmuth Conz)	No information on the last workshop this year	Field	Not revealed	Maybe 2 days	Here
Theme-based photography workshop	Canon/National Institute of Creative Communication (NICC)	Last one was on May 23rd	Canon Image Lounge on Brigade Road	Rs.1000	1 day	Phone: 65337001, 65337002

Some of these photographers also conduct out of town workshop like the interesting Agumbe Rainforest Photography expedition by Amoghavarsha and Anamalai Tiger Reserve/Valaparai Photographic Expedition by Kalyan Varma. There are also more technically focused workshops like the digital Photography workshop by Sudhir Shivaram. And I heard from a friend that Jayanth Sharma of Wildlifetimes.com also conducts workshops – but sadly his Website is down so I don’t have any details. Here is another one I came across very recently i.e. today! – I saw it in the Timeout Bengaluru Magazine - An Online Photography workshop by Mahesh Bhat. Online workshop, isn’t that cool? I am sure there might be more folks offering workshops but these are the reliable ones I know of. If you have heard of any other workshop you want me to include here just leave a comment or email me.

So which workshop did I send my husband to finally, you askth? Wait and Watch. I will hear his experience and maybe blog about it!

Disclaimer: All the information here is collected from the websites, blogs, and forum/groups of the photographers/organizing companies. I did not take the effort to get any of it verified by emailing them. So this information is applicable only for this particular timestamp. The photographers/organizers might update their site any minute and revise the offerings or its price – for which obviously I can’t be held responsible. Did I say this is time stamped? I don’t lie so rest assured this is information you can rely on and of course, I am not associated with any of them. No marketing gimmick, this one.

Protospace Bangalore – Good for Entrepreneurs who are just about starting out

I chanced upon Protospace Bangalore via Twitter. It is such a lovely idea to create a shared infrastructure for independent professionals to work in. Kudos to the guys who thought it up.

The concept seems very simple – you are a professional who works alone, or maybe you are a freelancer who works at home, or perhaps you are an entrepreneur who is still incubating. Why should you spend unnecessarily in renting out an entire office space or apartment for yourself or just a small team? With the economy being the way it is (duh!), it makes so much more sense to work in a shared space and share all the associated costs that comes with it, doesn’t it? Or for people like me who are or want to be independent professionals, and for whom working from home is not an option (for reasons like discipline, discipline and then discipline) it is a great idea to operate out of a formal workspace such as this and yet have some control over your environment.

I have come across other forms of this concept before at the HeadStart discussion forums and other blogs. But those were more like vacant seats in an office which the resident companies were trying to get occupied and share the costs for them. But Protospace is a novel idea where ALL the residents of the workspace operate in a similar fashion. I don’t think more than half the residents will belong to the same company or group. And that’s what makes the idea look so attractive to me. There’s so many opportunities for interactions, inspirations, and synergies for the eventual residents of the workspace who will be from varied fields. And what’s more, they are even proposing shared facilities like coffee machine and library!

Sounds perfect to me.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

SiliconIndia Startup City

It was well worth attending the SiliconIndia Startup City event at the Nimhans Convention Center in Bangalore today. The morning sessions turned out to be very interesting. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder CEO of Naukri.com, spoke about how he happened on the idea of a job site and what kept him going. His advice to the startups, which he called "Wisdom in Hindsight", were very clear: Know your customers, Solve an unsolved problem, be an early mover, be frugal with your cost, don't get into a business just for making money, and finally and most importantly Persistence.

When Ajit Balakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of Rediff.com, walked in on the stage, the crowd was visibly excited. Rediff, after all, is our very own home-grown portal standing shoulder to shoulder with the big guys (as is naukri of course). Rediff, as you all may know is part of the main business Rediffusion which is a media company. It was apparently started out by Ajit just to see what the Internet can accomplish but later become an integral part of his business. Today, Rediff.com is headed towards mobile and is continously thinking of innovative ways to keep up with technology and customer needs. While Ajit told the crowd about this exciting journey and responsibility of being an Indian portal, his advice to the startups was only one: periodic re-invention.

The rest of the three morning sessions were presentation by the event sponsors - Amazon on their Web Services, Sun on their Startup Essentials, and Nokia on its ForumNokia. All of them highlighted how they can help the startup community (Amazon with their cost-effective cloud solutions, Sun with their support for open source products, and Nokia through opening their OVI for mobile developers).

The event ended with a keynote session by Sanjay Nayak of Tejas Networks. Sanjay turned out to be best and most inspiring speaker of the day. He shared his thoughts about the opportunities in the Indian ecospace, especially for a product company.

The afternoon sessions were parallel tracks of presentations by startups to VCs. I did not stay back for these though the line up of startups in each of the tracks were pretty interesting. Maybe next year, I will be presenting like one of them. Let's see.

Overall, not a bad investment in time.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Visit to the Startup City

For the first time, I took myself seriously and attended the SiliconIndia Startup City event at the Nimhans Convention Center in Bangalore today. The morning sessions turned out to be very interesting. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder CEO of Naukri.com, spoke about how he happened on the idea of a job site and what kept him going. His advice to the startups, which he called "Wisdom in Hindsight", were very clear: Know your customers, Solve an unsolved problem, be an early mover, be frugal with your cost, don't get into a business just for making money, and finally and most importantly Persistence.

When Ajit Balakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of Rediff.com, walked in on the stage, the crowd was visibly excited. Rediff, after all, is our very own home-grown portal standing shoulder to shoulder with the big guys (as is naukri of course). Rediff, as you all may know is an offshoot of the main business Rediffusion which is a media company. It was apparently started out by Ajit just to see what the Internet can accomplish but later become an integral part of his business. Today, Rediff.com is headed towards mobile and is continously thinking of innovative ways to keep up with technology and customer needs. While Ajit told the crowd about this exciting journey and responsibility of being an Indian portal, his advice to the startups was only one: periodic re-invention.

The rest of the three morning sessions were presentation by the event sponsors - Amazon on their Web Services, Sun on their Startup Essentials, and Nokia on its ForumNokia. All of them highlighted how they can help the startup community (Amazon with their cost-effective cloud solutions, Sun with their support for open source products, and Nokia through opening their OVI for mobile developers).

The event ended with a keynote session by Sanjay Nayak of Tejas Networks. Sanjay turned out to be best and most inspiring speaker of the day. He shared his thoughts about the opportunities in the Indian ecospace, especially for a product company.

The afternoon sessions were parallel tracks of presentations by startups to VCs. I did not stay back for these though the line up of startups in each of the tracks were pretty interesting. Maybe next year, I will be presenting like one of them. Ha, ha, ha. Let's see.

Overall, not a bad investment in time. I wish I had attended the previous event organized by SiliconIndia on Women entrepreneurs. Seeing how nice this one turned out, I'm sure that one would have been nice too.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Protospace Bangalore – What a lovely idea!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Manifesting my desire...

I've been busy manifesting my desire. Of being a writer. Which I am already. So correction. Of being a published writer. Let me hit the pedal when the Juipter is still conjuncting Neptune. And while Mars aspects both Jupiter and Neptune. It's time the desire saw light. Stay with me. Wish me luck.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Publishing in my own domain

Finally, I'm done transferring my blog to my own domain. To think that it took me about seven years to do this! Ha!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Beggary is not a bad thing

There are many kinds of beggars on Indian streets. The children, the size negative women with malnourished kids clinging to their hips, the physically deformed or wounded, the bisexuals and eunuchs, the odd drunk fellows, and the really old thathas and ajjis. They are most noticeable at traffic signals. The moment vehicles come to a stop, they swarm them extending their arms asking for a rupee or more.

The kids are smart – they usually beseech the person saying they are hungry. The women are even more clever and say the kids clinging to their hips are hungry and they need the money to buy milk. The physically deformed or wounded don’t say anything – they just stand there before you wearing a tortured expression hoping you will become horrified enough to give them a few coins so that they move away from you quickly. The bisexuals and eunuchs plain demand the money. The drunken fellows are the least respectable in this entire lot and just earn a disdainful glance from most motorists. The thathas and hajis usually don’t target signals due to their failing bodies. They are usually seen only near temples and parks.

I have heard many stories regarding all these kind of people. The children are part of a bigger operation, like the one in SlumDog Millionaire (Hindi Movie). The women are plain lazy gypsies and the kids are not even theirs. Or worse yet, they have kids just so that they can beg on the streets and use them as props. Or they use the money they get in the name of milk to buy themselves alcohol. The wounded keep their wounds fresh and bloody just so that it will elicit more sympathy; they never let them heal completely. The deformed are not really deformed – they are usually deliberately inflicted (either by themselves or someone else), or again they are part of a beggary racket (like the one in Naan Kadavul (Tamil Movie)) or they are just pretending. The bisexuals will harass you if it happens to be a lonely signal and god forbid if you are a man. And so on and so forth. I don’t know not how true or false any of these “stories” are. And I call them that because I have never really verified any of them to be beyond that personally. What I do know is that, even if they are not true, they can be true.

While I was watching Naan Kadavul, I cried and cried. Almost the entire movie. I do not know what affected me so much about it. Many people, including my friends, called the movie too gross and ugly for their liking. If they were affected at all, they were only revolted. For me, it was the opposite. I was so drawn in towards what was happening on the screen that it was like I was one of the deformed beggars. I could almost feel their pain physically – sitting in the air conditioned Inox. Maybe I was a beggar in my previous life. I am not being flippant. And then there was SlumDog Millionaire, in which though I didn’t feel as strong emotions as I did with Naan Kadavul, it was still strong enough to affect me. These are the only two recent movies with a big enough beggary concept that I remember watching.

Few years ago, I remember having this argument with a friend on whether one should give any money to the beggars. I don’t remember which side I was on. I remember though that we decided not to. By giving them money we are only encouraging them to beg further. Whereas they should be working their asses off to earn their daily bread and not have it easy begging people. Beggary is bad for India and the entire economy. And so on and so forth. That was our logic. Oh, what high chairs we were on. Following that, I stopped giving them (I don’t know when I began!) any money. But at times, I did get off from the high chair, especially when the women came around with their kids.

In the last few years or so, I stopped buying into that logic. That beggary is bad for the economy. That people should not beg. That people should work for their living. But that did not necessarily translate into me giving beggars money when I saw them. It totally depended on my mood. There was this particular thatha though, who I clearly remember, who always managed to get me to be more charitable. In fact, he still hangs around in the same place. We used to go to this benne dosa breakfast joint where he was a regular. And I always always gave him something. I am particularly susceptible when I am eating and a beggar comes along. And for some mysterious reason, I felt an affinity to this thatha. I even contemplated giving him a new blanket that was lying unused at home.

Sometime back, I rethought about this whole beggary thing. And I found myself a theory.

Rewind many many many years back. Million years back. Before civilization happened. Land, water, and the air were free for anybody to use as they wished. There were no fences to land, fertile or barren. Fruits and veggies hung in the trees without price tags. Any animal or human could pick them and eat them. All you need to do is do a little stretch *work* to get it. No one laid claim to anything. It was a free place. Not surprisingly, there was no beggary.

Do you realize what I am getting at? Beggary can only be a byproduct of civilization and man’s greed and habit to lay claim on things. Being that the case, when resources started becoming limited only a few could play successfully at the game. While most tried hard to lay stake, a few stayed true to their nature and sought out things for free. Like they had done before. Like it was supposed to be. From nature at first. And later from others. Their only mistake is not *working* for it.

Why is this wrong? Aren’t the resources of this earth to be shared equally with all its inhabitants? How can you call the money in your pocket as your own? Like any other resource, isn’t that to be shared too?

So maybe it is a big racket. So maybe the money you give goes straight to the bar cash box. Or maybe it dissuades even the ones who want to *work* for their living showing them an easy way out. But that, THAT, should not stop you from giving. And please, rid yourself of the foolish ego that makes you ask “how will the money I give be spent.” It simply is not in your right to do that. Like how your company does not question how you spend the salary they give you. Far-fetched? So be it. But true.

Are you asking – don’t you care what happens to these beggars? Don’t you want to give them a more sustainable means of livelihood? A more respectable(?) one? Yes, sure. Most definitely. But only if that beggar is FORCED to beg. If he or she is doing it out of his own free choice, then by all means I will encourage beggary and not preach to him to find work.

The other day, my father told us what I think he read in the Bhagavad Gita. That one should do Dharma (charity) to free himself of his previous karmas. Those who are beggars today are people who forgot to do dharma in their previous lives. So whenever one comes across an opportunity to give, he should do so freely. Only if he gives will he receive.

And then there is this book called Stars Signs by Linda Goodman that I cherish. One of the things it talks about is a way to create wealth or rather a way to attract money. Money, like all things in universe, is guided by the law of action and reaction. What goes around comes around. Simple. Linda is very clear in saying that only if you spend, you will get the money back – no point hoarding it.

So whichever way you look at it, emotional, spiritual, logical, or otherwise, I can only conclude that beggary is not bad. Not bad at all.

So the next time I come across a beggar and probably the many more times to come, I will part with a bit of what’s in my purse or buy him or her something to eat. If it is the former, I will not worry where that money goes but will definitely murmur a prayer hoping it is not funding amoral activities. What’s the definition of amoral, you ask? That’s for another blog post!

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