Marketing by Morons

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Kushagra

I’ve been frustrated for a very long time with Vodafone Services. If their pathetic network and slow data services were not a reason enough to hate them, they started giving two promotional calls everyday offering some really dumb stuff. This is despite me opting out of promotional offers.

The funniest part is when they send me SMS saying: “Hi, I am Rhea from Hyderabad and I want to be your friend. SMS Chat at Rupee 3/SMS.” How ridiculous is this? To top this they started sending me SMS on how I can improve my skin tone. As a proud brown man, this came to me as a racist attack.

Now comes this scary part, a guy calls me and says “Hello Sir, I’ve a great offer from Vodafone. For only 400 INR/ month you can chat with as many girls as you want” I laughed my ass off an ddied laughing, my phone dropped and I only regained consciousness and came back to life after a good 10 minutes. Though scary and funny, this conversation made by day.

My rendezvous with phone doesn’t end here and I am sure I’ll be bombarded with such offers day after day. The real question is do I as a consumer have a choice? I did ask them to opt me out of such dumb promotion services but I guess my request didn’t register in their records — or they chose to ignore it. I think I’ll try reminding them once again and if I get further promotional messages/ calls, I might consider to sue them.

Popularity: 74% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Management Gyaan

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Kushagra

I participated in a contest at my school. It was a simple game: define management in 1 sentence. My answer which won the first prize was:

Management is all about taking the right decisions and ensuring that they continue to be right.

I really don’t care how good or bad this definition is. This is something I coined and I am proud of it. Copyrighted :P

Popularity: 27% [?]

Posted in Gyaan | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Steve Jobs and iPad

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Kushagra

I logged in to view the webcast of iPad launch not because I was super enthu about the product. It was Steve Jobs that I really wanted to see. The classic Dylan music started playing and I was quite sure that Steve Job is going to host the product launch today. Later when ‘Like a rolling stone…’ was about to end I saw the legend walking on the stage in his class blue denim and black tee.

Steve is back!

I was thrilled. There are couple of business leaders who’ve influenced me a lot. Steve Jobs is one of them. For a moment, if I keep aside all the great products has Apple has launched in the past couple of decades, I think Steve would have still contributed very significantly in making our life better — probably not so much but he would have — In his own small, humble way.

I think perhaps one of the biggest qualities of Steve is to fight back. And this is something which I admire the most about him.

He lost millions of dollars worth of business to Microsoft in early 80s when Bill and Steve fought the legendary OS war. He kept working and making the products at Apple better. He encouraged the other Steve to join him and ‘change the world’ and not sell sodas. Later in the decade he was fired from Apple, the very company he founded. He had nothing left but public humiliation. He fought back and created multiple world class companies — only to be bought by Apple and get him reinstated as CEO again. He was diagnosed with cancer. He fought and is alive and kicking.

When I saw Steve Jobs earlier today, I saw a pale, thin man who seemed tired after fighting many battles. But, the moment he started speaking about iPad and addresses the crowd — I witnessed the same passion, the same zest, and shiny eyes that I remembered from the last time I saw him. He is here to stay — He made it clear that he may be weak in body but not in spirit and he is going to spend more years at Apple taking care of the business as usual.

Steve, Welcome back!

Now talking of iPad, I think it is the most useless device ever created by Apple. I do not expect a BIGGER iPhone from Apple which they are so wisely trying to push into middle of a phone and a laptop. Ridiculous!

I think iPad is more of a glorified kindle and nothing else. At 499$ it is priced right but I don’t think that it is revolutionary. At the end of the day it as a tablet PC.  So let’s not talk about it, I am disappointed. I was expecting something jaw dropping which I didn’t get.

Such is the irony of high expectations, even Jobs has to work his ass off to please someone like me who is probably gonna give business worth 5000$ in his entire life to Apple. But what the heck, consumer is king.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Leave a comment

Light and Fit

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Kushagra

I had been using a pretty heavy theme on my blog for a very long time and some of my friends have been complaining that my weblog takes a long time to load.

So, like a good ol’ Product Specialist will do — build user-centric product, I actioned their feedback and made my blog lighter by putting up this simple and neat looking theme by Zack. The pages now load fast, you read my random thoughts, and go tweet, fb, or orkut.

Keep coming!

Popularity: 15% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The classic ‘Sena’ song

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Kushagra

Udhav Thackrey announced that they will not allow Australian cricketers to play on mumbai soil as it is anti-Indian. He went on to say that this decision has been taken by Bala Saheb in direct response to racist attack on Indians living in Australia.

For one, I don’t think there is a more racist political party then Sena and its offspring MNS who can’t think beyond Marathi manoos agenda. For two, they have done nothing for the state they think belongs to ‘them only.’ For three, goonism is not a solution.

All said, I think it is pretty cool to have a pro-India agenda, hire a couple of dumb wanna be powerful goons, and go on issuing warnings. It is a pretty potent political power-play — reason why Shiv Sena and MNS still have support.

The age that I live in is all about selling a cause — it may or may not directly benefit the masses. It is about mobilizing the masses for it. KCR did it successfully for Telangana, like Sena did it in Maharastra.

Not letting Aussies play is one such objective-less cause which doesn’t serve any purpose but getting some eyeballs back on Sena which suffered some major setbacks in recent assembly polls.

The question remains for how long can India as a country afford to have political parties with non-result oriented agendas?

Popularity: 14% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Self Reflection

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Kushagra

All of a sudden I had this need to do a self-reflection exercise. I prioritize product launches at Google for a living, I felt that I need to prioritize what I want from my life: A house, a fancy car, world tour, do a start-up, earn more money, spend time with family or what.

I guess I don’t have an answer and like a greedy capitalist I think I want all of it. The honest truth is, one can’t have it all — at some stage of life you need to decide what you really want more — you need to define your ambitions and then go about it.

I guess I’ll spend the next 15-20 days thinking about it.

One thing for sure, my top priority remains to spend time with my family and friends for they matter the most to me. That said, I can do with a little more money I guess :) Ya — money always comes to spoil good ol’ thoughts ::P

Popularity: 9% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged | 1 Comment

To little too much

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Kushagra

I’ve been online for a very long now and am still now done. First, I was working knocking off important Action Items and ensuring that everything is in place for this weeks work. Then, I was writing, chatting with friends, and catching up on news. Later, I was reading about technology and trends and wondering how can I potentially start a company in the next 5 years and probably be 1% of what Larry and Sergey are — my heros, my employer. Then I started reading about my other hero — Bill Gates. I read his project plan at Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and how he is using his wealth to ensure that some diseases can be eradicated and our planet can become a tad bit more cleaner.

I think the difference between me being online and offline doesn’t exist anymore. I am online 24/7. Either on my laptop, or on my BlackBerry — I’ve a strong need to feel connected. I desire to be on top of everything be it at work or news or twitter updates.

I think I’ve too little time and too much to do.

This compulsive behavior to be on top of things is kinda getting onto me now. I am always thinking about what that guy did, what he did, what you did, and how I can do it better — it is funny and scary both. Ofcourse, this is all in good spirit. I’ll rather share my ideas then tell you that you suck at it. No negativity but a constant urge to improve things, processes and products.

I was never this competitive and on my toes. I think being a Product Specialist at Google has gotten onto me — the other day I told my wife that if she cooks a curry in a certain way she can be more efficient and save ~10% energy and 20% of her time.

HOW RIDICULOUS IS THIS? VERYYYYYY

She ofcourse was not pleased!

Another compulsive behavior of yours truly was observed when a girl at work asked me for directions. This lady asked me a simple question how do I go to Hyderabad Central from office. Instead of giving her directions which are pretty easy. I typed maps.google.com in my browser and gave her directions from point A to point B. After I was done proving that I am a smart ass who knows how to use Google Maps — I realized all I should have told her is to go the parking lot and ask her cab driver to take her to Central. Probably told her which Cab# she should have taken.

Taking a U-turn from my stupidity – and bragging about my so called business plan — I think there is so much data on the internet and I often see people at work, outside struggling to makes sense out of it. Could setting up a ComScore like company which analyses simple web patterns or search, facebook, tweets etc to predict trends and churn out meaningful data be a good idea. What kind of reports/ trends will interest people. Maybe — knowing how may of their friends like to watch Prison Break — or maybe, amongst my friends who is the most popular one online.

I don’t know how will I monetize this data — but the idea sure looks interesting and promising. Maybe, by sharing it some other guy who reads my blog will take it and start a business. But, in this online world Kushagra’s Theory of Probabilistic Smart Ideas says that “If you are thinking of starting a business online and have a killer idea, rest assured that 100 other people will have same/ similar ideas in different parts of the world”

Based on this theory — I don’t give a damn if you read my idea and start a business because technically 100 others have already started something like this :P  That said, I think in days to come I will start analyzing more and more data and probably put up some small tools and reports for all 10 of you who read my blog :)

Enough said, I think I should start working on this $1000 potential idea of mine :)

Popularity: 8% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Solemnly Swear I Am Up To No Good!

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Kushagra

My ignorant muggle friends often ask me — what the hell your status message means. I return a smile, and ask them to figure it out. Days later they come and are super excited after they have nailed down the mystery of my favorite map on planet and my favorite book.

I think Google Latitude is closest to Marauder’s Map but it sure is not that fun to use — someday, somebody will make it fun to use as well. I can only imagine when in days to come technology will enable us to exactly pin point where a certain person his located on the data received from the cell-phone in his pocket — if he chooses to share that is — To me that will my biggest fantasy come alive.

Even before I’ve heard of Google Latitude, I had discussed this idea of tracking a person’s movement on map using cell phone signals, which ofcourse attributes to Marauder’s Map, with some friends. We were sold on it and wanted to write a app based on Maps API which can simulate this. But ofcourse, then came Latitude which we all now use — really cool huh — how a fantasy become a reality.

We’re now planning to write a script which will make the UI look more interesting. Some ideas are that friends should be represented by a GIF of some animal, the map should actually look like ‘The map from medieval ages,’ the dot should actually be a shoe, a paw or something cooler.

With the power of Google’s cloud and infrastructure, I think it is virtually possible for anyone out there to create a new app or use one of Google’s API to write something interesting. What I love the post is that Google lets you run your app on their infrastructure using App Engine “https://appengine.google.com/”

So if you’ve an idea which you think can be translated into an application — all you need to do is either learn some coding skills yourself, or talk to your eng friend who can write it for you — or talk to me. Most important thing is how cool is your idea and you pursue it to ensure it sees light of the day.

Get started!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Many hours of work

Posted on October 28, 2009 by Kushagra

How many people actually love what they do? I am not sure.

But, what I can tell you for sure is. I absolutely love my job. I went to office at around 9:15 AM yesterday, came back at 9:20 PM, and started working again from 10 PM, and continued to work till 5:00 AM. Despite the fact that I got no sleep, I am so bloody charged up to go to work and start knocking off project after project.

The reason is not that I get paid a a lot, I don’t. The reason simple. I love what I do — it is not work for me. It is my way of having fun.

Last week, I got to work on a project where I had to challenge myself to the core and design a product strategy which can help streamline efforts of many heads. This week, I am working on a project which if successful will have a big impact on the entire region across geographies. The best part is:  I am learning new things on the job.

I learn new things everyday: new ways to solve a problem, new ways to think about a particular situation, new ways to address issues, new ways to establish communication channels, and just when I think I am getting good at this stuff — there is something new that comes up :)

It is not that I always work so much. I get a fare share of break too. I take usually take a leave on Friday to enjoy a long weekend drive, and cherish my other passions (travel, photography, and tasting local cuisines.) Sometimes, I end up going to office late but as long as the work is getting done. All is good!

Life doesn’t get any better. I hope that I always stay as passionate about my work as I am today and hopefully always get interesting things to do and new problems to solve.

Chalo, gotta go to work and play :)

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Discovering Myself

Posted on October 26, 2009 by Kushagra

Recently, I did a 2678 kilometer long roadtrip — by far the longest trip I’ve ever taken, and also the longest trip in terms of duration — 10 days. On an average I drove about 260 kilometers everyday. In the last 2 days of my trip my legs were paining, I was feeling a bit drained out and because of the recent floods in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the roads were washed out which made driving even more challenging — but in the end it was all worth it.

I was not much of a traveler at college, or even at school. Though, my mom and dad ensured that I see some part of India every 4th year of my life. Maybe because they had a financial reason behind it. They wanted to claim their LTC (Long Travel Concession) which Government of India gives to all its employees and can be claimed once in every 4 years. All said, it was fun traveling with family in cosy AC 2-tier coaches, and staying in 3-star hotels/ resorts and drinking ‘Coca Cola’ and ‘Limca’ :)

Since childhood, I was always into was photography, I loved to click pictures — not of my family members but of nature, somebody interesting, someone who strikes out, animals who do interesting things, birds when they fly.

I remember I cried for an hour and made my dad buy me a Nikon camera when I was 9 years old. It was 1300 INR — a basic point and shoot, film based camera. It was my dream machine for the next 4-5 years . My 233 MHz, 64 MB RAM computer became my dream machine when I was 14.

I clicked numerous pictures and made my mom and dad pay for film roles, and print development cost. If they didn’t agree — I will cry and and then they will agree, For the last time, like my mom used to say — but there was never a last time :)

Then I went to college, everything changed. The first year was the most difficult year for me, I had so much to prove after my pathetic performance in Class XII. I wanted to make a point and I invested all my time to study and learn Maths, Statistics, Business Management and what not — a sheer waste of time. The next two years flew quickly while I was busy sipping chai and eating Samosa at canteen, going out with girls, learning how to drink whiskey, late night parties and other important things that life has to offer when you are young and wild. Though I ended up being the university topper (my shameless act of self promotion in this post) but I don’t think I learned a lot. I joined Google post college.

After I joined Google, for the first time in my life I had long-term financial freedom, not like a freelance website designer which paid you for a while and you are broke again. Though, the job didn’t pay much but life was comfortable and I could save a little, I could do what I wanted to do without taking permissions from anyone.

It was at Google that I really started to discover myself.

At Google, you meet 100s of people from different walks of life. They all have something unique, something which stands out, and the best part is they talk a lot — most of us do. (Disclaimer: I am not referring to Gossips, though they do happen as well)

I had many interesting conversation at work with my colleagues — not related to work that is. I had a chance to talk about music, politics, history, languages, art, movies, education, literature, travel, photography, crosswords, religion, and what not. I was thrilled — I didn’t know a crap about all these things. History, Movies maybe a little but everything else I had barely scratched the surface.

Googlers talk with passion, and you can feel how excited they are about the subject that interest them. All of a sudden, I found educating myself. After every interesting conversation I used to go back to my desk and research on it — learn more about a particular topic by Googling it.

I think this is by far the best thing about working at Google. Sub-consciously you become self aware, you develop new interests, or revive old hobbies.

I remember I was particularly impressed by folks who used to tell me about their travel experiences, share their photographs, and tell me about the history, art, culture and people of the place that they had visited. I had never heard of Hampi before, I didn’t knew how amazing Europe is, not even in my wildest dream I had though that Africa can be such an interesting continent. I was convinced that if I do not travel, I will never learn and I will never know what I want to do with my life in the long-term.

I decided to travel — travel a lot — travel whenever I can.

With travel, I revived my lost passion for photography. I saved and bought a basic digital camera Kodak M833 which gave decent quality output. I wanted more so I upgraded to a DSLR and a couple of lenses soon.

After traveling to about 23 locations in the last 2.5 years I can assure you that if you do not travel — you will never know how beautiful this world is. Moreover, you will never discover yourself if you do not travel.

In all my travels, I try to meet as many local folks as possible and learn more about their city, their country, their food (my other passion) and click as many pictures as possible.

  • While at US, I heard the most amazing success stories which are not just inspirational but legendary. I learned about the city of San Francisco — which I absolutely love now, for its super duper people – the best in the world. Everyone seem to be so relaxed. Great Mexican food as well.
  • I was scared standing at Time Square and seeing thousand of people just walk past you — no friendly smile, just a mad race against time.
  • I enjoyed Seattle — cruising in the lake, going on a ship to see whales for the first time in my life. Though, I wish it rained it little less there.
  • Las Vegas is out of this world — Crazy city. I can’t think of any other world.
  • Amsterdam is glorious. I think it has so much of history behind it that I will happily take a job there and keep learning about it and enjoying the beautiful landscaping and European grandeur for many years.
  • Singapore is just picture perfect. Clean. Vibrant. Asian. It is the gateway to Asia. I loved the city.

Now coming back to India, I think I am very lucky to be born here. There is so much to do. So many places to travel. So many ancient texts, and wisdom to learn from. So many cuisines to taste, and so many people (pun intended) to meet.

What I love the most about India is it chaos. I can only imagine what reaction my friends from west must have when they land in India for the first time. India sure is chaotic, but that is the beauty of it. Amongst all the chaos, loudness, and noise we still manage to live :)

In terms of travel and clicking photos — India sure is the best place on earth. From bustling metros of Delhi, and Mumbai to rural life of Andhra, to royalty of Rajasthan, to colors to Punjab, to majestic Kolkata, to chilled out Goa, to hills of Sikkim, to passion of Chennai — you name it, you got it. In my travels so far, I’ve learned a great deal about life in general, food, tradition, challenges of common Indian. I’ve clicked some of it and have started publishing it on my photo blog (http://www.kushagras.com.)

While I sole purpose of my travels is to learn as much as I can and experience new things in life. I found a worthwhile outcome from them. I think I am beginning to consciously realize that I can help resolve some of these challenges that I witnessed while I travel. I try to write to various District Magistrates, NGOs and inform them about what is working well and what is not, and where there is a possibility to implementing a better policy. So far, I’ve not been successful at it, apart from NGOs, I’ve not got a single response from the government. This is my challenge. How to ensure that government looks into these often overlooked areas.

Overall my travels and clicks have helped discover myself — I now know what I want in life.

  • I know that in the near term, I want to travel as much as possible in India and other Asian countries.
  • I know that I’ve a relaxing hobby – Click pictures
  • I know that I want to live in different countries and learn about them
  • I know that I want to get an International work experience
  • I know I want to make recommendations to improve the life in general to the authorities who can make a difference
  • I know that I want to visit all the places on earth possible before I die
  • I know that how lucky I am to have a family and education
  • I know that how much I underestimate myself
  • I know now how to strech myself at work or otherwise
  • I know that there is so much still to learn

I know that this is a never ending journey, but I am glad that I’ve taken this road.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Posted in Random Thoughts, Travelogue | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment