Social networking has been around since sometime now. There’s much content around. There’s a lot of sharing, caring, love and what not. What was missing still, as I said it before, was the real understanding of the ‘Human Behavior’ by the social network. I am not referring to the real Artificial Intelligence, that might also happen one day, but social networking has a real face to it. Its more human really than technology.
Interestingly facebook, recently did couple of interesting changes in the UI and especially how they are evolving their brand pages. The entire concept of brand pages is essentially to provide an online space for brands to reach out and engage its target audience OR as I believe, targeting is the second level, first its about attracting just the available audience.
Look below your fan page likes
Recently facebook added something interesting below your fan page likes ‘number’. They added something called the People Talking About! This number essentially represents the number of people who are talking about your brand (mentioning you in comments, liking updates) etc. in a week. As an obviously logical extension to the thought, the more the number of people talking, the more is your brand reaching out to the relevant target audience.
Word of mouth
Now don’t feel as if I am traversing to a whole new topic. Interestingly what I feel is, there is a lot that facebook is doing to model the real world online. I find this very interesting. For me, since I have known social networks, I have always said, a successful social network is the one, which can understand the human behavior well and model it. And facebook is doing just that.
The number of people discussing your brand on facebook, is now visible to you, which is pretty much like the word of mouth which is one of the strongest ways of brand marketing in the real ‘offline’ world.
Social Network and the Human Behavior
I strongly believe, the future of social networking and hence the success of a global super social network really will revolve around the fact as to how well would the network understand the basic human nature and behavior and then model the various products and services around the same.
Make the platform effortless to engage with.
Statistics will always matter to businesses and Insights always help
One of the strongest advances which facebook has made in the last few days are to strengthen their “page” insights. Any brand which can intelligently gather data points and make worthwhile inferences from them, can leverage the free insights to better their understanding of the customer they are engaging with, online.
These are interesting times and such small yet powerful productized services from social networking platforms will surely change the game for everyone around.
A life well worth living is the one, when the world stands up and remembers you when you are not really around in your physical essence. I dedicate this post to Steve Jobs, as we all knew him. The greatest innovator, who saw the iPhone, before the world cold say multi touch. Who knew his customers, he knew the nerve and he did create a dent in the universe.
I have always been a services guy in my career, but my fascination for products, to be precise, productized services, really began with Steve’s presentations. You are a hero Steve and you will always be. May God Bless you with all happiness, rest and peace and more innovations in heaven’s above
I am pretty excited about this post, writing this, after completing India’s Largest Entrepreneurial Event, TiEcon Delhi 2011 just the last night. It was one helluva of an effort. Not herculian, but nothing less. I must thank each and everyone who put in sleepless nights and endless days. Also appreciation for each one of you who saw value, registered for the event and came in with all the excitement. There sure was entrepreneurial energy all around.
After a successful event in many ways, I am sharing my learning’s and experiences which I believe are crucial for any entrepreneur in every stage of the business.
Pre-TiEcon. Especially for someone like me who has been in the Internet space, getting into the ‘doing a mega event’ mode was new. But that’s the fun. Learning something new every day of life.
Planning with a clear direction is critical
It was all about planning and planning with details while keeping the key objective in mind all the time. Losing focus was never in question. When you are sitting with some interesting industry leaders who have defined success in their domains, to plan out an event, well, you seldom can afford to lose focus. The entire TiE team was involved in the process and so the shape emerged of TiEcon Delhi 2011 – Entrepreneurship – Transforming India.
Let me tell you this, once the title was set, never again was a moment when anyone diverted form it. From planning sessions to approaching speakers, the broad vision for the event was always in mind.
Execution is the key: before that comes Ownership
Everyone says execution is the key. But ownership is everything. Everyone in the initial TiEcon steering committee took charge of a role, which added value to the event overall. And yes collectively everyone delivered. There always were challenges in terms of schedules, times and the rest, but when the leadership is focused it all came together.
And let me emphasize on the leadership bit. TiE Delhi – NCR has Geetika Dayal, leading the charge and she ensured at all times that everything is put in perspective and the focus does not gets lost. The ownership was defined and was evaluated at all times.
Lesson #2 hence is that there has to be ownership across the board, but there must be a strongly defined leadership which puts everything in place and ensures that focus is never lost. Hence the overall ownership always must be maintained.
Plan A might change when you least expect it: you must have a plan B, C, D
The plans you make WILL change. They will. Period. At TiEcon, speakers plans changed, we had to make last minute changes, but again there always were strong networks placed before, to ensure that if we are faced with a contingency, we do deliver. Hence planning for a situation before it occurs is always the right thing. You always must have back-up plans which will deliver.
When you have to reach on time, you will get traffic jams: you must know alternate ways to still reach on time
A night before TiEcon, the entire TiE Delhi – NCR team was at office and we were to leave for the Taj and just then, as a sudden change in plans, I had to leave to the printer’s office to get some stuff picked up. I also had to pick up my stuff from home and then reach Taj in all of 1.5 hours flat. I sat quietly for a few minutes and marked my way.
Though when I reached near Apollo, Sarita Vihar, the route which I had to take to reach to the printer’s office was jammed and this is at 11:15 in the night. Now since I knew of the situation beforehand, a quick decision had to be made. I had 2 choices: either to call up office and ask someone to pick up the stuff OR I find another way out.
These are moments when Google maps don’t work and only what you know of the area, works. I remembered, many years back my school bus used to take us from behind the Kalindi Kunj area, through Jamia University and suddenly struck a whole new way. And wallah, I was at the printer’s office in about 20 minutes.
Keep everyone informed, that’s what technology is meant for: this will enhance your decision making
While all of this was happening, me and the entire team was constantly on call and we knew exactly where who was and what who was doing, such that if someone had to pitch in with extra support, we could. And we did.
Let the master play the game, be a support system to him, that helps, don’t try and be everything
Nitin, from the TiE Delhi – NCR team is a logistics champion and we all say that with all the confidence. We ensured that while he is setting up the stalls, registration profiles etc. at 4:30 AM, we were there to help in quick decision making.
Right before that, I was quickly roped in by Manish to ensure that we ‘sex up’ the session presentations a bit, which were a little bland before. Since I can quickly work on content, change designs around, I spent about 2 hours in a quiet Taj room and got the work done, while knowing that Manish, Digbijoy and Shivam are taking care of the badges downstairs.
Teamwork: you must know the nerves
Since each one of us knew exactly, what the other was working on, we knew what was happening and what needed urgent attention. The team had full confidence in each other and the ownership was un-questionable.
Teams are not just you, they are many like you and you have to ensure you engage them enough. Talking of the team, obviously a small TiE Delhi – NCR team could not have pulled off such a large event by themselves. We were happy to have some real action oriented college students and professionals who volunteered with us and Shivam from our team took the charge of directing them the right way and yes we got much support .
Shivam incidentally has joined TiE a few months back and did a great job of getting the younger chaps together to deliver what was intended.
Its important to take feedback and act quickly, you must know just the right buttons to hit, when time is critical
One of our key networking features of TiEcon was: TiE Connect, which many people used, but not all could use it the right way. Couple of delegates approached me and the team, to help them find people who connected with them to set meetings. Some of them we were able to get together by quickly working out the TiE database and thanks to Goutam from TiE team, 2 of our delegates were much thankful to the quick TiE team, which helped them meet an interesting investor.
When it pains, it pains, its a part of what you set out to achieve!
I remember my colleague, Manish’s words, ‘this Taj bed is so soft that I feel as if, I am drowning in it’ and its not a joke. With your heels paining badly, when you are utter tired after much work, a 5 minute of a rest on a comfortable cushion feels as if the cushion is calling you in its arms.
The TiE team went on working through-out the 2 days, while ensuring that we were present at every corner of the space where people needed us.
People support you, if you are there for them!
At several events before, I have heard that delegates don’t appreciate if their badges are not in order etc. well, this happens in every large format event, hic-ups are a part of life, aint’ they, but the lesson learnt by being at the registration desk almost throughout all major moments during the 2 days was, if you are polite in your way of handling the query and get results fast, the delegate won’t mind co-operating along, while you create other opportunities for him.
I remember a statement by Aditya Ghosh of Indigo Airlines here: we studied our customers and learnt that the customer might want to talk of the skirt length of the air hostess, but what he finally pays for is the comfort, safety, service and on-time performance.
The TiE team went ahead and provided just that, starting from registration desk to the respective halls where the sessions were on and it all went smooth!
Innovation and keeping the Cost Low is the key!
Just a few days back Jeff from Amazon said some very exciting words about how to innovate while creating world class products and still keeping the costs low. TiE Delhi – NCR did something very exciting which created much value for the delegates. We leveraged the power of social networking (especially fb and twitter) to announce special bidding rounds every-day, which helped us create buzz in the environment and helped many entrepreneurs and young start-ups who were finding it hard to pay the required amount for attending TiEcon Delhi 2011, get the passes at a far lesser cost.
It helped us market by reducing our cost and pass on the benefit to the entrepreneurial community, for which we are passionately committed.
You must know your customer, Period.
You must know your customer. Paridhi, Digbijoy and Amit from the TiE team collated all available information about the delegates. This really helped the whole team ensure that we provide as much as possible, a WOW experience to everyone on the spot.
But where does the Superman in the title go?
Well, it was about being Supermen when it mattered the most. The moment was captured and handled well and ON TIME. Yes there sure were small hic-ups, but yes we learnt and the fantastic feedback we are getting from all quarters of the ecosystem is great!
Look forward to seeing you all more actively engaged while creating many new opportunities.
If you wish to know more about TiE Delhi and be a partner in growth, visit the website and call us at : 0120 – 4066500
This blog post is not about marketing, its not even about New Media, which I write on, but this is about life. I have been lucky enough to see the evolution of a trend which is great, but has many in-built flaws.
If you really give it a minute of your time and think, then you will see a particular trend in everything in this world. The things we go through, what we do, its all a trend. Everything in this world has its own good and attached with it its own bad (or not so good) however you want to put it.
Lets talk about Independence
I am proud to be the citizen of one of world’s largest and strongest democracies, where people sacrificed their lives many years back to give us freedom. I can see dreams and do what I want to today because I have been bestowed with the freedom to do this. But over a period of time, I have strongly felt that whatever comes to us easily in life, we start taking its presence in our life by default. The appreciable value of the same thing goes down!
Women and Independence
Before I write this, I must confess there is a lot I have learnt from the leading ladies in my life, my Mother, Sister, Wife and Many of my female friends. There’s a certain way of life for them. Anyway, now let me share a picture and this is not a myopic view of things, so hold before you react.
My Mother (just like you’rs) went through much in life, she saw phases when she lived her life and raised us up with almost no means. Obviously my Sister and I were brought up well. My Sister belongs to the generation which has values from her Mother but is changing and evolving with the times. My Wife pretty much belongs to my Sister’s times.
What’s common though in all the three ladies?
Well, they have all been raised up and been ‘looking for’ a certain kind of a feeling called ‘Independence’. For my Mother, Independence lets say is about having enough means to build a strong happy family. For my Sister, lets say to ensure while she is a working woman, she is project managing her home. For my Wife its pretty much the same perspective.
My Mother raised my Sister, telling her stories about what all she has faced and hence made her daughter strong enough to face the world. My Wife’s mother did the same. But what is changing now is, these stories along with the times we are living in are becoming inspiration for the birth of a small ‘Rebel’ inside the heart of the otherwise sane human.
I earn my own money, I am Independent!
I have heard so many women today speak of this and I am sure many of you would agree, that I want to earn my own. A girl in college says I don’t want to be dependent on my parents and a Girl getting married says, I don’t want to be dependent on my Husband.
Hold for a second and think, its the same girl who is growing up and one day will have her own family and will tech her daughter/ son one day that I had to go through so much in my times, I will make you guys strong enough to ensure you don’t.
Does money really makes you independent in life? Well, yes it might buy you many things, but Independence, well, probably not. And mind you, it also does not buys you confidence. It only buys you things.
I have my own life, my own decisions: I am the 21st Century Woman!
Agreed. And everyone has the right to live a good happy life. But in this whole ‘want’ of living your ‘own’ life and taking your ‘own’ decisions, you are being ‘reduced to only you’. I take many workshops for college students and corporate(s), I have seen the shift in the thought process. Education must have made us go getters and more enlightened, somehow I feel its making us more like rats in a race.
Especially in India, where we are all ‘bechara’s’. Somehow I feel we have been fighters (not in the literal sense), but we have many fights in our lives. The whole thing is, we are trying to ‘prove ourselves right’ all the time, by getting over the whole scene of ‘boss life mei bahut fight hai’. From a railway station to a college form line, there’s fight in every sense of the word.
http://www.ambuuncle.com/images/indian_women.jpg
And one day we get married!
While we are growing up through all these fights of life, one day we get married and the whole thing of raising up a successful family dawns upon us. Now lets re-visit, what I said in the starting of this post. When a girl gets married, the same mother will give her lessons of life, her friends will give her some. But what’s happening in India, as I see it, today is, what a professor of mine at college told me: “Paritosh, chances are that the woman you will marry tomorrow might have multiple relationships in her life before and she must have learnt from all of them, for you life is not the same as what I had”.
And I agreed to him and accepted the fact with just a line from my side, I said whether a woman OR a man, I don’t see much differences other than physical. What I would really want is to see women in this world really creating a beautiful world (because I strongly believe, men are a little lacking in this). The only rider I have for women is, have fun ladies, but do take care of the future, which is changing for all of us.
I hear so many people talking of how the world is changing and I instantly get reminded of a line I heard from a gentleman many years back who said, in Bhagwad Gita, Bhagwan Shri Krishna has predicted that generations will go down because the raisers (women) are changing.
Do I have issues with women leading the game?
NO! Ask my current boss/ colleague Geetika, she is a wonderful person to work with (not because she is my boss). Entrepreneurs don’t have this thing of buttering and all, we are straight talkers and so am I. I love the fact that women lead the game, infact I would love to see women creating a whole compassionate environment in the corporate jungle. But not at the cost of creating a future in the name of a feeling called Independence. Remember Money in the short term is NOT independence.
But I do have issues seeing the future!
What we do will come back to us within this lifetime, I strongly believe in this as well. And hence the next generations. More sharp, more intelligent (great), but into drugs, cigarette buts in schools, liquor is a fashion statement. And I am not saying this is all due to women, it is NOT. Men are as much responsible. But Ladies, you always say it and its true, you guys can create a far better world and a great happy future.
Maintain your relationships, whatever it takes
Ensure that whatever it takes, build strong relationships, because a broken relationship in your early days is an experience which you will at some stage share it with your kids, your daughters who will be raising a world of their own tomorrow!
I just wanted to share this on this Saturday, because this is one thought which disturb me personally, this is one thing I am seeing building around me and I will be the happiest to see folks roaming around happily with each other, creating a future of this country, which is truly BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL
Now I know almost each one of you seeing this post must have seen either on hoardings or on YouTube or on television the strange advertisement wherein a Bikini clad babe (nothing hot about her) emerges out of the water and suddenly what pops is a message about JK Cement.
For those who haven’t yet seen this one and haven’t had another ounce of blood added to their system by laughing out loud, here’s the ad:
The first question which comes to my mind upon seeing this advert is : why the hell did they do this and who approved of this. Call the agency head, they need to learn a lesson or two. Anyway, all said and done, who handles the marketing for JK Cements, who actually approved of this ad. Did he/ she (I doubt if it was a She) think that a bikini clad woman will sell their cement.
I mean let me talk from personal experience. The place where I stay, about a year and a half back we got a new construction done from scratch. And obviously it was not all in the hands of the builder, I did my strong research. Went ahead knowing about many different Cements and which ones give what and finally in my list of the top 2, JK cements was not event there, infact in my list of top 4 there was nothing. A Cement is not just about strength, its about many other things. The composition matters.
So coming back to the point, this advert with freaking bill boards all over Delhi and to top it all, on the Delhi- Jaipur highway, with this woman a little darkened (did her skin tanned while being in the sun on the billboard?) makes no sense to me.
Advertising surely can be dumb, look at TATA Docomo’s advert’s with Ranbir Kapoor, if it sounds intelligent to you, well, then there’s a sense of dumbness in you!
Well, to end this one on a very confused note, well, I did not like either the babe, the Bikini was cheap and to talk about the cement, well, please read the post again!
Of all the things in the world, money makes everything go round and round. And well, in today’s times, when everything around you is growing, so is the inflation, when the top chart-buster song of the year is: mehngaai dayan khaaye jaat hai, you obviously need to ensure that you manage your money well.
Managing Money
Now, in my life, I have my parents, my wife, my grandma, everyone has their own view of how to manage money. And interestingly when I hear of their views, I feel like wow, how have we as humans evolved overtime to reach to where we are and how was our parent’s time and their tryst with earning money and building things from bottoms up and what times do we live in, when we have increasing buying power in our hands and we are growing!
The Challenge With Managing Money:
The biggest challenge which I see and have encountered with managing money is to keep a constant track of it while I am constantly on the move. Let me confess, life has become so upwardly mobile that today I check about my health as well, on my mobile devices. As we are growing to the next level of growth, we are getting dependent on technology to simplify our lives.
Thank God, My bank is in My Pocket!
YES! I am not kidding and neither have I lost it and sure I haven’t yet gotten a free debit card with unlimited cash to spend. What I do have is, I am a customer with the Standard Chartered bank, since the past couple of years. While I have been banking with them, overtime, I realized that in my tenure with them, I have rarely gone to the branch. The online banking is so fast and quick, that it serves me everything and in no time.
Sure, I had my own doubts in terms of being a “private bank” and how will it survive the Indian shores, but as their campaign says, here for good, I believe it now.
A Fresh Breeze of Mobility
Recently I got to know that SCB has launched a mobile banking platform across all possible devices and platforms which we know of today called: Breeze! I mean from iPhone to Nokia to whatever you can imagine, its there! So effectively speaking, now I have the bank in my pocket wherever I go, whatever I be doing. Its simple.
Why am I so happy about it that it occupies a space on my blog, well, because I realize how easy will it now be for me to access my bank without any hassles.
How does it look like?
As I always do, a sneak peek into the whole new world of easy, fast and on the move banking in your pocket!
And obviously I expect my bank to give this to me at no extra cost, so have they. The app is free for download on any mobile device you use.
Happy breezing, I am personally satisfied that SCB understands, as we grow ahead and move faster, technology has to make our lives simpler and not complex. Good to be your customer guys, keep up the great work!
A note for all those reading my blog, NO, I am not obsessed with deals and discounts but YES, I am onto my quest for really learning as to how are these companies making it so big. What are their business models and what’s really happening at the back-end?
My latest post on how I got through the Amity Synergy Card which offered these fantastic discounts was liked by many people and I also got some requests to probe in further. I hence made up my mind to go ahead and meet the team behind the idea and how they are executing it.
My Experience: Count by Count
While I met the super energized team behind the Amity Synergy Card, my first impression was a fantastic mix of Youth, Experience and a free minded and open to innovation investor. So as I went ahead understanding their strategic thought and how it all happened, I found it very interesting to know the story behind how it all started.
Good to know that this is not a card which initiated as an influence from many others in this domain
They started in-house and did a proof of concept at Amity University, which obviously is a behemoth. Its in one word huge. The proof of concept was to look at how Amity students use the card and to understand the audience. And wallah, the results were astounding. Students loved the concept.
What’s the proof? Well, the 82,200 fans on facebook page is enough proof, aint it?
Hmmm, so I asked the team about how did they think about taking it further?
In one tone, everyone answered, we were sure its going to work out and we rolled the Amity Synergy Discounts card as a B2B offering. Though we are also stepping to the B2C domain. Interesting to note this.
B2B, B2C and Now its B2E!!
There are many things which companies today do to ensure that their employees are motivated and that they perform their level best at all times. Various companies have different sets of incentivized structures which keep the employees engaged and motivated to perform. The Synergy Discount card makes a lot of sense here. If you reward an employee telling him, that almost whatever he purchases from now on, will be discounted, obviously he will be happy. You are a smart organisation if you are helping your employees save money when everything around seems to be only rising up in price.
Interestingly Synergy Discounts card has some very interesting examples of how its Co-branded with various medium sized companies and how it has worked out very well for them, the companies and the employees.
For Start-ups and SMEs its Makes Most Sense
The Card according to me makes much sense for start-ups and SMEs. Whether you are a services or a products business. Interesting discounts on everyday products that you buy obviously makes for a great return on human capital happiness investment.
How Can You Order This Card for Your Company?
You can actually send an Email directly to Abhishek Pandey at: apandey2@amity.edu and the rest gets taken care of.
Drop in your experiences and comments about the Synergy card and any other interesting ideas you might have of usage for the Synergy Cards team. I’d be happy to forward it to them!
Though I personally don’t freak out in shopping malls daily, but obviously things change after marriage you know (kidding). In the recent times I have been going through this strange phenomena which is written large on many faces, which is, do you have a deal? Almost every market that you visit in Delhi, you can find every other person negotiating with the shopkeeper and asking for a discount. Now that’s obvious human nature.
Hmmm, great so we are talking discounts here!
Yes we are. But I have a thought to share, while I am sure you all must be seeing these deal sites pop-up from every nook and corner of the globe citing great exciting deals from your city, there is not much value. Tell me how many people would really be looking at a great value from getting a tattoo on some part of their precious body at a discount. Interestingly I know the statistic, there are many. The super excited youth of India.
But can’t we put in some real value driven sense in discounts?
When I say value driven, let me put my case forward. I represent the emerging youth of India who have a newly found buying power with them. I am someone who works hard and harder to achieve an aspirational level for me and my family. Obviously the aspirations keep touching new levels with time. Now for me, I really am not wanting a deal for a tattoo OR a 5% discount on a coffee mug. Neither am I looking at a dine out extra happy hours or a beer free!
What I want is to make my life happy and easy!
I am married and hence have a family to take care of and I am a consumer who is a target audience for many brands out there. So why don’t these deal sites understand that I need to see value in their deals and that just by 2 SMS’s each day on my cell phone, I won’t make a buy decision?!
The Game Changer is here: What I’v experienced in the last week!
The Game Changer is here. Last week I went for a fun night of bowling at The Great India Place Mall at Noida with couple of pals. Interestingly what I saw was a register where people were writing something down with a Golden color card in their hands and they straight away got very interesting discount on their games.
The Magic of Discount: the Revelation!
What was revealed about the card was that it came from the stable of one of India’s largest business clans. Its the Amity Synergy Card. Dwelling further, I was amazed to see what was present online! The Synergy card (which I was not really much aware about initially) has more than 61 cities Pan India covered. Go to their website and you will see what I mean and why I just got eexcited enough to mention the brand on this blog!
Did I Order a Card for Myself?
Yes I did. And yes I did not take it just like that. I went ahead and used the card and wallah. In the past 7 purchases that I have done, I have already gotten my value of the card for which I bought it for back. Hence my ROI in terms of getting back the investment I made has been received.
Has the Team Been Good at After Sales?
Obviously before writing this blog, I did my diligence and tried contacting the Synergy Discounts and Coupons team through their site and wallah they did respond back in time.
What’s So Unique, Why Did I Not Write About GroupOn India’s Office?
Why I did not write about GroupOn or any other discount scheme is because the discounts which Synergy offers me is logical. I know the places I generally go to in India and they are all there. The biggest USP being, that Synergy is the only card which has discounts on rooms in almost every major hospital in India. Not happy about it, but lately I have had to roam around Delhi hospitals for a close relative, and I know how quickly cash gets burnt when you step into an Apollo Hospital. A 10- 15% discount on rooms spells a saving of close to about INR 2500 for 2 days!!
How do I Get this Card?
Since I like sharing on this blog, only what I really feel excited about what I experience in my life, I think the Synergy card makes much sense with the value driven deals. I got it online simply through this link: http://synergydiscounts.com/GetSynergyCard.aspx
Have fun getting deals and saving more and for all those married men, guys here’s your thing, to keep your woman happy!!
Last night I went to South Ex, a upscale shopping destination in South Delhi. Though I am not a shopping enthusiast by even the farthest of the accounts, but being married changes the game as they say
For all those who have ever been to this market, there are two ways to cross that busy road, either risk your life (like many people do) and dodge the traffic as if you are NEO from The Matrix OR be a little sound in your brains and use the underpass. I respect life a little more than being a daredevil and hence took the underpass.
A blind man hit me from the back
Not that it was his purpose, but a young man might be in his late twenties hit me from the back and the moment I turned around I noticed his white stick. What struck me at that time was life in the purest of its essence. Not that I have not seen blind people before, I have had close encounters in life with such amazingly gifted people (I will soon share how they are amazingly gifted).
He was talking on the mobile phone when I held him and merely told him that he has stairs in front of him and the other obstructions and this chap showed me a skill which was something that I expected but was not prepared for. He walked around as fast as I did (along with me) and when it came to climbing the steps, he used hit white stick in a manner which struck me. He let it loose in his right hand and started bumping it against the steps, which made a sound and let him know what’s next!
We came out of the subway and I asked him where he wanted to go and I guided him to that street along the road side.
Story ends: and a new begins
While we were going from one shop to another to see clothes and what not, the one thought which was constantly playing on my mind was, how swift was the man who was using nothing but sound to reach to where he wanted to. But let me give one more perspective to it which I felt strongly for later, its not just about the sound, its also about faith which he was keeping in that moment on me and my judgement. Not for a moment did he show any signs of nervousness, neither did his confidence shook for a second. Infact when I asked bhaiyya kahan jaana hai aapko (brother, where do you want to go), he answered, mujhe agle waale cut se mudna hai aur bahur aage tak chalna hai (I need to turn on the next cut and there’s a long way to go).
The game changer
In life there are so many moments when we feel so dejected, so disheartened, when life feels as if there is nothing more to it. When for the smallest of the issues which can be solved quickly we act our own way, thinking that we are RIGHT and create deadlocks.
These are the times I feel, the ‘we’ who are so blessed in life, take many things for granted. We are not grateful for life, for many things in life. And all of this results into something which eventually makes us go down the drain. We lose our ownership.
We lose our ownership
While we go through life, we lose our ownership. In the jobs we do, do we really own our work (exceptions are always around the corner), do we really thank the employer for everything they are giving to us. And not just that, slowly in our process of keeping ourselves and what we think of, always right, we start making it: my way or the highway, which sounds good in a song, but when it comes to life, there are many more songs which get affected with your tune.
Eg: the organization you work in, if you don’t perform well, though you might be at a very small position, some way or the other, the organization is affected. There are negative ripple effects. And hence your under/Non-performance affects those around you. This way you are not respecting other’s lives, while taking your’s for granted anyway.
Learn from the blind
I learnt many lessons of life last night in just those 5 minutes of my time with the blind man. And hence I share with you, there are people who cannot see the beauty of what this world beholds. If you are someone who respects this, rise up and create new opportunities for many others and you will by default be raised to a whole new level in life, far ahead and faster of many of your pack.
I need to hear to be alive
That’s the blind man. Coz if he does not trains himself to hear the sound of the click of his white stick, while hearing all the other sounds of the world, he will not be able to live through life. When he can train his brain to do this, can we not train ours to achieve much more? I honestly believe, each one of us is an amazing potential powerhouse, just that a few realize it and work towards it.
While I am writing these lines, I have a hard feeling in my own heart, but a strong promise as well, which I have been keeping with myself since I did my start-up, that I will rise up to create many opportunities for folks around, they might be family, friends, No-one at all or everyone.
The TECHSPARKS is back and so with a bang. the Delhi round-table is round the corner on 7th of May 2011. Though it needs no introduction, if you want to know more about #tsparks click here.
Delhi sure is going to witness a flurry of entrepreneurial activity on he 7th of May 2011. And why would it not happen, when, you have some real exciting names in the industry spanning the mobile to the venture capitalists joining the discussion.
I would have loved to present a sneak-peek into the action, alas it all got announced a while back by YourStory. But still to give you a little knock on your door for the action which you can expect at the event, the exciting speakers on board the Delhi edition are:
Well, if you are still wanting some more, here you go with a fantastic video introduction to the TechSparks 2011:
"We thought we understood social media marketing and seo optimization fairly ok but after our one on one session realized many of the fundamental mistakes we were making plus learnt many new tools. Overall an investment I would recommend every entreprenuer to make"
- Nidhi, Founder CEO, Pinnacle Works
