18 Oct 2008, that was the day I landed in this beautiful garden city  Bangalore as a 25 year old full with enthusiasm and energy to make it big. Now, three years hence, I can say it is exactly the same state I found myself in. Buzzing with energy, pumping in 14-16 hour days and excited about a lot of ideas sprouting in my head. Now I won’t say that it has been all rosy in these last three years, as there was a brief period of being lost, where I hardly was able to put in 6 hours a day, and I was either angry, frustrated, irritated or just tired all day along. But I am glad that this phase happened, and gladder that it is over now

SaleRaja – The Joy and Pains of Entrepreneurship

The first year in Bangalore was full of experiencing what entrepreneurship is all about. There were good days, and there were not so good days. Technical discussions, night long marathon coding sessions, sales calls, and a lot of manual and boring repetitive tasks used to fill up my day. The Bangalore weather was the perfect catalyst for all this. Going to events, meeting… Read the rest

This was to be my longest ride till date. The best I did before was a 768 km ride in 48 hours, and this one was meant to be 1300 km spanning over 4 days. We were going to pass through national highways, forests, ghats and were also going to do some off roading along the way. I was sick of doing many single day and two day rides and wanted to do a longer ride, so this was my chance and I lapped it up.

We left Bangalore on Friday at 8 AM expecting it would be a long day considering we planned to cover more than 500 km and reach Dandeli by nightfall. We started well but were soon delayed by nagging problems with one of the bikes. Though this meant we lost a lot of time, it also ensured proper rest for all of us. We managed to reach Hubli, which is around 430 km from Bangalore only after sunset and it has also started raining by that time. We headed towards Dandeli which was another 100km of riding through not so good roads but were again stopped in the ranks by a flat tire. After… Read the rest

Last Sunday (24 Jul) we had our first meeting of everyone who volunteered to join our team in Bangalore. Till now, we have been working on developing the website and asking people to join. We already had discussions with a few NGOs / fights and this meeting was the starting point for our on-the-ground operations in Bangalore. I was absolutely delighted to see 10 people turning up and contributing with their ideas, opinions and suggestions for Pick a Fight.

What was amazing to see was the enthusiasm among everyone as each of us shared about the volunteering they have already done. Ayush recalled several activities he has been a part of while being associated with his company. Pavithra told us about a few NGOs she had visited. She also told us about her ‘India Innoventor‘ project which she is very keen to start. Rinkesh mentioned about a place where he went with Ayush once for volunteering. Others shared their experiences too. It was wonderful to hear about all these experiences.

We shared about the fights/causes we already have on-board with Pick A Fight. Anupama spoke about an orphanage cum school which she visited and interacted with recently. She spoke… Read the rest

18 July 2011. Yes, that’s today. It marks six years of my professional career. In a nutshell, ever since joining InfoEdge at their Noida office six years back, I have been programming to create websites. But it has been a lot more than that. I have made some amazing friends during these six years with whom I have shared some unforgettable moments, learned a lot about coding, business and life from the people I have interacted with and situations I faced. A lot have changed since that hot and sweaty day of 18 Jul 2005 (which I still remember very vividly).

If I look back and try to recap the last six years, I can break them down into six very specific sections / phases / periods which can be associated with some really significant events in my career. Read below to know about these six phases -

First Steps – July 2005 to July 2006

The first year of my professional life was as good as it gets. I did a lot of hard work in office, and made some really good friends. Everyday during these times was so much fun and unforgettable. The leg-pulling, late night parties,… Read the rest

If you have to pick the top 10, or even the top 5 cricketing moments in India’s cricket history, you can not miss the 10 wicket haul by Anil Kumble. His 10 for 74 in the second innings at Delhi vs Pakistan remains only the second instance of a bowler taking all 10 wickets in an innings. And boy he deserves it, for I have not seen a harder trier on the cricket field. And perhaps, he was won India the most test matches by any individual player. One important fact which many people miss is that he took those 10 wickets in one spell of 21.3 overs, conceding only 49 runs in the process.

It was a chilly February morning (8th Feb, 1999) and I remember watching the match on TV with my family members. At first when he started picking wickets and his deliveries started to zip and sizzle out of every crack at the Ferozshah Kotla, it was no surprise. But when he took his 7th wicket, I remember I jumped up and exclaimed, “Abe saari lega kya?” (Will he take all?) After all, I was a 15 year old back then, and didn’t even knew that someone has already taken 10 wickets once in history…. Read the rest

Recently when I was reading the book “Banker to the Poor” by Muhammad Yunus , the famous Bangladeshi professor, banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006, I came across this text which I have quoted verbatim below. You can buy the book at Flipkart or Amazon .

“Everyday I drove through the village of Jobra which stood between the highway and the campus. I saw barren fields next to the campus. I asked my colleague Professor Latifee the reason for not cultivating this land for a winter crop. He made some guesses for he knew the village well. I proposed that both of us go to the village and talk to the people. We did and soon found the answer.

There was no water for irrigation.

I thought we should do something about it. It was a shame to let the land around the university campus remain barren. If a university is a repository of the world’s knowledge, then some of this knowledge must spill over into the neighborhood and demonstrate that it is indeed useful knowledge. A university should not be an island where academics attain higher and higher levels of knowledge without sharing any of this knowledge with its neighbors.”

And how accurately… Read the rest

It was a sight to see,
And a moment to experience!
Just a walk, nothing fancy,
When people walked out of conscience!!

Flagged off by a freedom fighter,
We took a route embedded in history!
400 awake citizens walked together,
On a day which was hot and sunny!!

The heat was no match to our will,
For we were united against corruption!
We marched for the Jan Lokpal Bill,
And demanded it for the whole nation!!

There were people across cultures,
Students & professionals, young and old!
Seeking punishment for the vultures,
A new age dawns, this is the threshold!!

Four hours and eleven kilometers,
Posters, slogans and the flying tricolor!
The knife of the money launderers,
Will not be allowed to go any deeper!!

Many joined us on the way,
Knowing the end is far, but in range!
Our country you will not betray,
We walk in peace, but for change!!

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For all those who can recall their history lessons in school, Dandi March was a 24 day, 240 mile (390 km) march to produce salt without paying the tax. It is also known as Salt Satyagraha, led by Gandhi from his Sabarmati Ashram to the sea coast near Dandi. Dandi March was a very important part of the Indian Independence Movement. It was a non-violent protest against the British monopoly of salt in India, and it triggered the Civil Disobedience Movement later. It was done from 12 March to April 6, 1930.

Now, 81 years have passed as I write this today on 11 March 2011. We have been independent for over 63 years now, and economically independent for 20 years (since the 1991 economic reforms). But we are still not free socially. We are still not the India that Gandhiji dreamt of. An India without poverty and hunger, an India where everybody has equal opportunity to lead the kind of lives they want. We are still not free from corruption, which is one of the most menacing problems India faces in the 21st century. The Adarsh Society scam, Commonwealth Games scam and the… Read the rest