Entries Tagged 'Updates' ↓
September 19th, 2008 — Personal, Updates
Outlook is one of the most respected magazines of India. Their Mumbai supplement (Mumbai City Limits) has a cover story about Young Turks in the September 2008 issue. The story is all about young entrepreneurs who started their ventures even before graduating.
The story features:
- Suveer Bajaj, 20. Runs a brand building firm - Foxy Moron
- Samyak Chakrabarty, 19. Runs three communications firms.
- Radhika Mehta, 22. Runs a cafe and event management firm.
- Shawn Lewis, 21. Runs a theme wall-painting firm.
- Arun Kale, 22. Runs an online radio and magazine.
- Vidit Chitroda, 21. Runs a production house.
- Aditya Malkani, 18. Runs a youth magazine.
Congratulations to all these young entreprenuers. I am the guy who’s featured as “Been There - Doing That” in the story, and I know the hardwork needed to venture on your own!
Here’s my interview from this cover story.
Been There, Doing That
Nirav Mehta [28]
Chairman of Magnet Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
On winning a national competition as an SYJC student, Nirav Mehta got to visit Bill Gates and peek into the Microsoft headquarters. “I was always a computer geek. But that experience was a turning point,” he feels. And as a 19-year-old SYBCom student, in early 1998, he launched India’s first electronic magazine, or e-zine: Magnet (’Mag’ for magazine and ‘net’ for internet), a feat marked in the Limca Book of Records. The online magazine included everything from reviews of good websites to celebrity interviews and a humour section.
Its success soon found an investor. And about a year later, Magnet Technologies Pvt Ltd was born. At that time, this global tech company, providing web solutions, was one of the few to use software like Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP in the Indian market. Despite professional demands, Mehta went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in software technology. And a decade after the launch, he now heads a 100-strong team, with offices in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
“I remember rushing to office after college, and the daily struggle to balance both - I couldn’t wait to graduate!” he recalls. “I was in a hurry to establish myself. And I know it’s the same feeling that echoes within student-entrepreneurs today. It’s the drive to do it before someone else does; especially when you have unconventional idea. Besides, when you start early, you can afford to risk everything - maybe even fail a couple of times - before you get it right.”
Mehta feels Mumbai’s intense competitive spirit is a shaping force. “Many youngsters around you are also up to something. It’s an accepted scenario. It eggs you on to get productive. The media coverage of success stories is another instigating factor, urging the question, why not me?” The city’s educational institutions and corporate houses also support such moves. “Our professors at business and technical schools have always encouraged students to venture into the market, even helping them fine-tune their products. Mainstream colleges may not be as focused but, yes, even my college teachers at Narsee Monjee were very encouraging when I started out,” he says.
And with corporate clients, the city’s famed professionalism sees competence override any prejudice over age. “Many corporate firms here let your work speak for you, especially as this is such a technology hub,” he believes. “In fact, I may actually trust somebody younger for new ideas in technology, rather than older people with set notions.”
Thank you Ornella for capturing my ideas in beautiful words!
August 6th, 2008 — GNU/Linux, Updates
Congratulations Kartik for becoming a Debian Developer! You make me proud! It’s been a long journey. You have stayed on course despite all the odds. Congratulations!
Thanks for the graphic Kunal 
July 16th, 2008 — Mobile, Updates, Writing and Speaking
Go, the inflight magazine of AirTran Airways carries an introductory article on Mobile Web. The author Lee Gimpel contacted me for inputs a while ago and I was glad to help. Clearly, mobile web is huge, and there is good amount of buzz around it these days. But like Amy Mischler of dotMobi said, it’s important to set your expectations and realize that you’re at the beginning of something that can really differentiate yourself.
Have you tried something on the mobile web yet? Did you read my book on it?
July 9th, 2008 — Technology, Updates, Writing and Speaking
A while ago, I got an email from Sean, about a journal he has started about search engine marketing. I checked out what it was about and learned this:
SEMJ.org is the first printed journal dedicated to the advancement of search marketing through peer reviewed articles. The goal of the journal is to help professionals in the industry share and demonstrate their expertise. We are different than a magazine in that we encourage the submission of articles and research papers by experts in the industry. Similar to a scientific journal, we review articles submitted by industry professionals and our editors decide if the article will be published in our journal.
That’s a very good concept. The search engine / online marketing industry is booming and it needs validated information and learning tools.
And I accepted Sean’s invitation to become a senior editor!
The first print edition is going to have a lot of interesting papers.
If you are in online marketing or SEM, check out the journal. You can also share your knowledge by becoming an author.
June 21st, 2008 — Personal, Updates
We were thinking about a vacation for time. There were two options - a naturopathy retreat or an adventure trip! The nature’s call won this time and we will be going to Nisargopachar Ashram in Uruli Kanchan (near Pune, Maharashtra, sometimes referred to as urlikanchan) tomorrow morning.
My sister returned from a week’s stay yesterday. Dad is still there, and I and Nikita will join tomorrow. Neha just loved the fresh air, the massages and the peace of the place. Hearing her experience, I think it’s going to be a good break for me too! Hopefully I won’t work too much there!
The place is unique. Famous for its mud baths, strict diets, cleanliness and the heritage of Mahatma Gandhi. Here are some more descriptions and experiences found around the web.
The Nisargopachar ashram is just one of the many indigenous health centers that dot the countryside. A late-century term for it would be ‘health farm’, but unlike its newer cousins, it remains a vestige of a more spartan life with its bare walls, crude flooring and minimal furniture. Founded in 1946 by Mahatma Gandhi-himself a fanatic believer in naturopathy-the Nisargopachar Ashram has kept alive the tradition of simple living and high thinking for more than five decades. More recently, it has given succor to stressed-out urbanites with problems ranging from obesity, arthritis and asthma, to heart diseases and diabetes.
- Outlook Money
Naturopathy believes not only in irradiating the symptoms and treating them but to kill diseases from its roots. For this purpose diet, patience and exercise also is important. The ashram in designed taken into consideration all these factors.
- Aarogya.com
I will writer more once I return!
