Entries Tagged 'Experiences' ↓

This Valentine’s Day marked the first decade of the Magnet brand! Ritesh, Murphy and I started MagNet as India’s first electronic magazine in February 1998. We launched with a special Valentine’s issue, and even had an ecards sections on the debut website.

The name MagNet meant “Magazine on the Net” - Mag + Net. The name stuck, and the ezine too! We had a big fan following and large subscriber base. Those were the early days of Internet in India. We wrote on technology, interesting websites, interviewed tech celebrities, and even had fun sections on the ezine and the accompanying website.

MagNet ezine, and the other ezines we launched, ran till 2001. MagNet WebPublishing Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated in May 1999 to support MagNet ezine and do other commercial activities. Part of the team joined the company.

It was completion of a decade, we decided to meet up! Ritesh, Murphy, Sujeet and I met yesterday evening and caught up! Kapil couldn’t join, and Vaishali is in Australia right now. But we had fun!

Ritesh and Murphy continue to lead Indsoft, their hosting and technology company. They have diversified in a lot of other areas - recruitment to hotel and are having a good time. Sujeet is in the US, working on security. Sujeet is a tech genius and finds immense satisfaction hunting down crackers! I continue to lead Magnet, now as Chairman and Chief Mentor of the organization. Kapil is a brand manager in Mudra now, doing what he loves the most - marketing, strategy and creativity. Vaishali is in Australia now, building rich internet apps with Flash and Flex! Not to forget Bhavin, he generously gave us webspace for free, and is now minting money running Indialinks.

(L to R: Ritesh, Sujeet, Murphy, Nirav)

I took some screenshots of the MagNet website and the stuff we did. Have posted them in the Gallery.

We had a great time making the magazine and running the MagNet Interactive website. I believe those were the founding years that shaped our philosophies and principles. Gave us a solid ground in technology and customer service too!

Thanks to all the contributors to MagNet too - all authors, all readers, all tech guys and all critics!

There are numerous stories of the time! If you were a subscriber, or knew MagNet from then, I invite you to share your experiences!

I felt like a child who got his favorite candy, picking up my delegate registration for foss.in this morning! I was the first one in the queue and very excited!

Landed early morning in Bangalore. There was a slight drizzle and the temperature was lower than the usual Mumbai mornings. After passing the auto rickshaw fellows near the airport, negotiated with one fellow down the road and got into the rickshaw. Once I was on, he started asking for more money - above the fare in the meter. Now if you know me, I can’t stand this. If someone gave a word, I expect him to deliver on that. Or at least communicate they can’t - in time. Time to change the vendor, uhh? Took another rickshaw and got on.

Oh.. the chilly morning breeze of Bangalore… I loved it. I saw all those familiar roads, landmarks and turns. Memories of last few years of coming to foss.in came back! All the great people, great talks, great parties and the pure excitement of being part of something big.

Shivering inside the rickshaw, I started thinking why do I come to foss.in? Year after year?

Do I come because I am a speaker? Do I come to meet these wonderful organizers who I’ll meet probably only at this place? Do I come to take a break from work and have fun? Do I come to make new friends?

I come here for all of that. But what really drives me to keep everything aside and come here is the vision of the event and the organizers. This is something that is shaping FOSS contribution from India. This is something that educates and converts wannabe hackers into FOSS contributors. And adding one bit to that grand vision and doing my part is what keeps me calling!

And did I tell you how thrilled I was to be the first delegate to register today? I’ve always walked in easily through the speaker registration desk, and not being a speaker this time, I was expecting to stand in long queue before I could get in. On the way to the hotel in the rickshaw, I changed my mind and landed up directly at the venue.

At 8 in the morning, I didn’t expect much of a gathering at the venue. While I was reading a few more pages from Power of Intention, I realized I could be the first person to register today! And I was excited like a child! Being the first, at an event I love. I started the queue at 8.20 and was the first one. And that was a great feeling!

I am set for the next three days I think!

What do you think?

Ok, I knew choice has a cost. And also that we’ve got too many choices these days. But this was a very interesting video about the Paradox of Choice from Barry Schwartz at TED.

I showed this video in our Monthly Review Meetings today, and was present to the plethora of choices you and I have everyday. Was thinking about the choices I have in making the bedroom furniture. Bed, Wardrobe, Dresser, Flooring, Color, Accessories - and so many choices in all of them. It’s like 20 years ago, you either took a Godrej iron cupboard or got simple shelves and shutters done using wood. Today, I reviewed designs from Ikea catalog and various other online sources, I checked with 4 carpenters, saw more furniture catalogs before coming up with a design. And I still want to get things perfected.

Expectations have increased. Satisfaction has decreased.

It was much better, back when it was worse!

Less is more. The secret to happiness according to Barry are low expectations!

Watch the video!

I saw the latest Shahrukh Khan movie Chak De India last Friday. I really enjoyed the whole movie - the story was simple, characters full of personality, there was humor, defeat, victory and  the game of hockey! Watching the movie, I kept thinking about how it relates to leadership and management in today’s times.

Here are a few points:

• Nothing is better for you than your biggest failure
• If you have the talent, passion and commitment, you can make underdogs win
• Unless pushed to limits, your team will not perform at its best
• People always want easy things, and it is difficult to overcome cynicism
• Be strict and straight with your team. You don’t have to always be nice with them
• In short, be ruthlessly compassionate!
• Strategy is important - know the team members individual strengths and weaknesses
• There is no alternate to hard work, not even smart work!
• If you are after a cause big enough, you will always have people to support you
• Follow your heart!

I am sure there are many more meanings! What did you find?

There were seven bomb blasts in Mumbai suburban rail system yesterday. About 140 are dead and many more injured.

One of my uncles had a small injury in hand, but he is safe. Thankfully, there are no other mishaps and families, friends and colleagues are fine.

I was shaken to see the pictures and read the stories about the tragedy. I think when something bad happens to near and dear ones, that is the time when we realize the impact on others’ lives. It was terrifying to imagine bodies flying out of the train compartment and a river of blood.

I had called up many other people yesterday and they are safe. Everyone in office and their families are ok. Uttam (one of the new Magneteer)’s brother was in the next compartment where the blast happened in Borivali. He came to office and was describing how it was.

I pray for peace in the world and for the souls that drifted.