Push It Back!

A lot of times we feel stuck at some point in the start-up and then it comes; it seems like we are being pushed by the entire world, but the point is that the world has always remained like that. Really! It has always been like that... It always pushes down the losers. It always had! Don't you remember pushing down the people that you considered losers? That's how it works. And to add to that, people keep pushing more people towards the losers' side who are at the boundary. It sounds like 'Not me story', but trust me we all go through this point of worthlessness someday or the other. When pushed down or aside by all over, the best chance to survive is when you push back, and when you push back hard. It's all in our brains and some people can play mind games really well.

So, how do we know when we are being pushed down or pushed aside? When we start noticing that the work is getting stuck at some point and no calls are being replied even when you try the most, or when negative thoughts are thrown at you when you need them least (though this is like challenging the idea of a critique, but who cares for a critique who pushes you towards the valley of death). Isn't life complex enough to add the words of a critique when it's least needed? When people start coming out with negative thoughts and stories to make you feel like a loser, or when they make you feel that you were so much better before – trust me, it's a mind game or a mental trap. So, when we know that we are being vulnerable for mental traps, how to push it back?

First of all, we all need the right mentors in life and most of us have them as someone, but not having that in life makes you vulnerable for a slicing, and that's the worst when you are at the low. So first thing is to identify a good mentor, a big brother, close friend someone who can hear you out, learn your perspective and then add to your ideas in a constructive way. Secondly, loosen the grip a little and sound positive to even the worst of critiques since it would take them by surprise too, like one of my friend says their life is too pathetic already; you just need to show them a mirror. Anyways, third is to sit with your team and set realistic time lines and identify key bottlenecks, and start keeping track of the bottlenecks. Last but not the least, get your finances right, since no start-up is successful unless people trust you.

Before I close this one I wish all of you happy hunting in the mad world before you get hunted,  but it's worth fighting back the world as you are... your attitude reflects it all – push it back!

It's not Rocket Science, Trust me!

I wrote a blog post back in 2007 (blog post) where I discussed what's the right time to dive in for a start-up, and to tell you the truth very frankly - no one would have this answer. I didn't have the answer when I was happy with my job and I don't have the answer when I am working with my start-up. You can hear 1000 stories, feel motivated and jump for it - I won't call you stupid, in fact I would help you with whatever you lack and praise you for whatever you have good. On the other hand, you can take 30 years building the perfect ship to sail, and yet you can't board it - I won't call you stupid, I would help you find that courage.

You can look out for the best teammates in the world and yet you can fail - that's the fact of the world that you need to live with everyday, but it's the battle that matters and not the outcome, and yeah fighting with the best knights cuts down the odds of failure. On the other hand, you might have no idea at all when you start and yet you can be the role model of tomorrow. So what is it that differentiates one guy from another, or let's say one start-up from other. What is the golden rule that differentiates the two sides?

People name it as team, idea, market, investors etc., while these all are pillars of a successful enterprise, but are these all? Wait, we haven't yet mentioned passion, drive, intensity, enthusiasm and all other qualities, but are these all? Is this a must to have list or good to have list, since some people say passion comes with idea and market or let's say money, and some say idea and team are secondary, all you need is passion. I don't know the order and I don't want to discuss it, since this list is endless. Did I write leadership, focus, companionship, vision - oh my god! this list is actually endless. :)

Let me put my answer in my simple language for you. I don't claim that I am a genius or Mr. Right of this topic, but this is what I believe, and it works for me, than remembering the endless list (often used by successful entrepreneurs to put their success in words). I rarely write philosophical blogs these days, since it's hard to prove them or quantify them. If you don't find my answer helpful, I apologize in advance.

I believe that we are guided by a power, actually a belief, something that we don't have control over,something way too powerful to be put in a list . I think what differentiates a successful entrepreneur is the power of believing the power of trust. We just need to trust the higher cause ,of the organization, trust the leader, trust our instincts and that's trust, which actually brings in enthusiasm, focus, drive and intensity in the workforce. In fact, that's trust which pushes us to create the best products for our clients., a trust we don't want to break It's the trust and belief of the leaders of the company that drives the course of the company. The power of believing and trust helps in creating a bonding between people, ideas, problems and solutions. Investors, customers, employees are all humans and they all need to trust you to make you successful. For others to trust you, you need to trust yourself and your thoughts, your instincts. Rest all will fall in place.Trust me!

One more thought before I close this blog post, I think there is nothing to win or lose in the world, there is an awesome journey that goes on forever. If you love being part of the cruise, be part of it, love it, enjoy it, live it, else  simply jump off. There are thousand others awesome things worth doing than being an entrepreneur who doesn't love what he/she does.. Would love your comments on this one, really, because I trust that feedback works :)

A little later dude!

Funny it may sound, but I got inspired to write this blog post while talking to a friend about start-ups, and I realized that its perception seems to work as an oasis in people's life. Well lately, I started noticing that while discussing ideas and dreams, or say being philosophical, people share their dream of doing something on their own terms or having their own company where they can work on a problem as they choose and add to some thing as they please. There seems a different tone to the discussion (almost always) like a very different note in music, a talk coming right from the roots, a dream that comes right from the heart - thirst of an intellectual. It almost sounds like an assurance coming from within that I want to work on a problem as I please and I would work on it some day. Most of these talks end with the tag line - "Some day but not today... a little later dude!"

I used the word oasis in the last paragraph, since it does the same task of keeping the thirst of entrepreneurship alive amongst potential entrepreneurs and encourages them to keep moving towards it. Only difference being that it exists for real, but remains an oasis for >95% of us. All of us want to reach it but are stuck with lots of problems, questions and confusions. It's not important when we start or how we start, it's important that we know we want to start some day, even if it means we know - "A little later dude!"

We learn lot of lessons along the paths of our lives and become better prepared to fulfill our dreams in future. Well it might not be the right time for some of us to start the journey but it always help to ensure that we collect the right stones along the path.

• Remain in touch with start-ups and entrepreneurs to understand the problems they face every day and to appreciate the start-up life better
  
• Save money for the dependents and rainy days, as start-up life is full of surprises
  
• Start noticing market trends by tracking new ideas and businesses to understand the future market better
• Last but not the least - make good friends who would help you cruise the start-up life

But whatever happens, never ever give up on the thought of reaching oasis, even if it means to have a cup of coffee and say - "A little later dude"

3 Symptoms of Successful Entrepreneurs

by Chrys Bader

Since I moved to the Valley after graduating from YCombinator (YC) Summer '08, I've spent over a year observing startups in multiple stages. Some are well funded, some are brand new, some have just raised funding, and some are just an idea. I've noticed several trends that define entrepreneurs who are destined to succeed as well as several leading indicators of a startup's failure.

Successful entrepreneurs are relentless in their pursuits

I can't count how many times I've been taken aback by an entrepreneur's dedication to solving a problem, reaching a milestone, or achieving something everyone thought impossible. A good entrepreneur will baffle you with their relentless dedication in pursuit of a goal. I've been amazed by the number of times I've heard an entrepreneur make a claim that I thought was ridiculous, risky, or undoable, and then watch them accomplish it. It's inspiring. It has changed me from an entrepreneur who would only set the bar only as high as I could rationalize to an entrepreneur who is willing to chase the impossible.

Successful entrepreneurs move in packs

Successful entrepreneurs are like wolves. They survive in packs. Since graduating YC S08, several of our fellow YC startups have remained in touch while others have drifted and either died or disappeared. We're very close with the founders from our YC batch, and we share things with each other in the utmost confidence, which is not something most startup founders can do. It's almost like group therapy. Having a trust circle is an invaluable resource in the Valley's competitive battlefield.

The startups that are still alive are the ones who remained in touch. We've fundraised together. We've introduced each other to potential investors and deals. We've vouched for each other. We've constantly been exposed to each other's triumphs and defeats.  We've inspired each other's products. At least one feature you see in every remaining YC S08 product was inspired by another YC S08 founder.

If we ever feel a member of our pack lagging behind or straying in the wrong direction, we do what we can to get them back on track.  We've seen too many entrepreneurs fall to the wayside, and it hurts us to see them go.  And when they go, they usually remove themselves slowly and fade into the fog of war. In the words of Paul Graham, startups don't die "loudly and heroically... mostly they crawl off somewhere and die". And like wolves, they die alone.

Successful entrepreneurs crave knowledge and are eager to share it

An entrepreneur who is not starry eyed and dreaming is an entrepreneur that will fail.

Almost every time I meet with a successful entrepreneur, I see that spark in their eyes. Maybe they just had a vision or just read a great blog post.  Maybe they just solved a problem or they just learned about a new product.  Whatever it is, they are excited to talk about it.  Entrepreneurs are always searching for knowledge, and they can't wait to share it with you. You'll find that this is reflected in their products.

This passion for knowledge is what makes a pack of entrepreneurs so unstoppable. It's essentially a collective cognitive force that is determined to take over the world.  Some of the bigger packs are referred to as "mafias" in the Valley, e.g. the YC Mafia, Paypal Mafia, XG Mafia (ex-Googlers), etc.

To sum it all up, successful entrepreneurs live in a distorted reality that they create for themselves. They have a vision that they pursue like food during a famine. Satisfaction is rare and never immediate. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to live in a world that doesn't exist yet: the world that you want to create.

Hunt for Jokers

Joker is considered as a wild card in the arena of gambling and is often used to complete a sequence of cards filling the 'required' gap. Role played by a joker, in the game of cards, resembles a lot with the role played by perfect startup employees. Most startups don't have huge pockets and hence can't afford the perfect employee for all the roles. Instead what they hunt for and prefer is a parallel figure of 'Joker' in the real world. Joker can prove to be a real bargain for limited startup funds and, in a long run, can prove to be a real asset to the company. How else do you expect a startup to compete agianst giants sitting out there in the market?

Real problem that exists with jokers, is their scarcity added with their career expectations and hence, finding a joker with a long term perspective, is the most difficult problem for a startup. Once you get hold of some jokers then other cards start making sense and hence over all chances of winning increase by multiple folds.

Surviving is succeeding

Even the business tycoons get confused about the next steps at times. No one is an exception, even Yahoo and Microsoft have seen bad times (seeing bad times) and the basic tactic of winning in  long run is surviving the tough times - keeping your nostrils out of the water. Nothing is perfectly defined or nothing wins on day one, even though I believe in the philosophy - "Every battle is won before it's ever fought", but dialogues look good in movies and when said by Gordon Geeko. Being practical, every one remains scared of losing.

Darr Sabko lagta hai... Gala sabka sukhta hai, and if one considers himself winner on day one, then he is slowly turning into a sleeping giant like GM or Microsoft. You can't stop giving the extra effort - 100+20% and that's the extra push, which keeps you ahead in business, backed by a good strategy. Every company is tested at times and most of the companies collapse one day or the other. The trick to survive longer is to survive the tough times.

During tough times, smart companies keep themselves busy, either in R&D or in Sales and Marketing efforts... Doing the work is definitely better than not doing it..

Happy surviving the tough times....

How to Ask for Help — Without Looking Stupid

by Jodi Glickman Brown

You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for and get the help you need is inexcusable, especially when the stakes are high. Asking for help in the workplace is a good thing. In fact, asking for help the right way can show how smart you are: it demonstrates that you've got good judgment and shows that you know what you know and what you don't know. Moreover, getting help up front saves endless time, energy and resources on the back end.

1. Start your question with what you know. Do your homework first. Get enough background information to put your issue or problem in context. Give the other person an idea of what you've completed to date or what you know already and then proceed to explain what's outstanding, where or how you're struggling, or what you need help with.
2. Then, state the direction you want to take and ask for feedback, thoughts or clarification. Form an opinion on what you think the answer should be. Don't just ask, "How should I reach out to the brokers?" Instead propose a course of action and get your boss's feedback: "I'm thinking of sending out a mass email to the brokers but I'm not sure if that's the most effective format...what do you think of that approach?"
3. If you don't know the direction to take, ask for tangible guidance. Instead of asking "What should I do?" ask specifically for the tools you'll need to make that decision yourself, such as a recent example of a similar analysis or a template for a given task. Or, ask for a referral to someone who has worked on a similar initiative or project in the past.

In the vast majority of cases, you'll get a lot further in your career by asking the tough, smart questions.

Read the complete story at:

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/11/asking_for_help_the_smart_way.html

Official Google Blog: Investing in a mobile future with AdMob

Official Google Blog: Investing in a mobile future with AdMob
On November 9, 2009 Google announced an agreement to acquire AdMob, a mobile display ad technology provider, for $750 million. This acquisition will enhance Google's existing expertise and technology in mobile advertising, while also giving advertisers and publishers more choice in this growing new area.

• The deal will bring new innovation and competition to mobile advertising, and will lead to more effective tools for creating, serving, and analyzing emerging mobile ads formats.
• This deal will benefit developers, publishers, and advertisers by improving the performance of mobile advertising, and will provide users with more free or low-cost mobile apps.
• The mobile advertising space will remain highly competitive, with more than a dozen mobile ad networks. The deal is similar to mobile advertising acquisitions that AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo have made in the past two years.

Mobile advertising is a rapidly growing and competitive space, and Google and AdMob are currently specializing in different areas. Though Google offers many forms of mobile advertising, its focus to date has been on mobile search ads, while AdMob's focus has been mobile display ads and in-application ads.

How to Make Money with Free

by Nathan Hangen

We live in a world of free. If you’re trying to make money, especially online, you might think that would make things difficult.

Every day, someone releases a new eBook, video, or podcast that not only contains tremendous value, but gives away many of the “tricks of the trade” that we used to have to pay for.

You’d think that the paid content business would be shrinking in the face of all this free information, but it keeps getting stronger. How can that be?

For instance, there are a lot of free materials that teach people how to set up a Wordpress blog or to use Twitter effectively. A quick search on YouTube will provide you with hundreds of videos that can teach you to do almost anything you want to know.

Yet, there are still people making plenty of cash selling products explaining how to do any and all of those things.

How do they do it?

Building relationships

People buy from those that they know and trust.

Sure, there are people in the yellow highlighter brigade who can sell ice to an Eskimo, but it isn’t easy to do. (And you may not even want to.)

Most of us can’t write the ultimate sales letter. We also can’t afford to hire a $20,000 copywriter. So how do we do it? We build relationships.

When you establish a “winning difference” or USP, you can start attracting the people who really dig what you do.

If your stuff is good, I guarantee you can find at least one evangelist to recruit others to come check you out. They’ll spread the word for you, which attracts more evangelists, and means that you will have ever more people stopping by.

Nurture relationships with your readers and evangelists and your small army will continue to grow.

The benefit of free

 

Content marketing is all about giving away some of your best stuff for free. Not just your “pretty good” content, but content that will improve and add value to the lives of your readers.

As they learn more, their game will improve and they’ll keep coming around for more. And they’ll want to reciprocate by either buying your paid products or spreading your message.

Most people won’t buy from you unless you’ve proven to them that you know what you’re talking about. Great content is one of the best ways you can do that. When you give content away for free, you earn trust and anchor your business in the mind of that reader. If they use your stuff, and it works, they’ll keep coming back for more.

They’ll pay for souvenirs

I first heard this idea from Seth Godin when he gave a speech about book marketing, but the concept applies to nearly every online business.

He said that people buy souvenirs, not products. In the music industry, Nine Inch Nails does this by selling collector’s editions of their albums. In the blogging industry, we can do it by selling a physical version of a product, limiting quantities of digital products, or by publishing a book.

If your blog creates a great experience, think about what kind of souvenirs you could offer that would let them hold onto that experience.

They'll pay for access

Particularly if you've used your blog to build your reputation and authority, you can also sell different levels of access to you.

The people who truly love what you do want other ways to access your knowledge. Your raving fans will start by picking up every digital product you offer. From there, many will want more exclusive access, such as a consulting service, a mentoring or coaching program, or a monthly membership with exclusive access to you.

If you empower people to do what they most want to do, they’ll want to buy something in order to feel closer to you. (And, of course, it goes without saying that you’ll deliver value that’s in line with the prices you’re charging.)

JB Glossinger does a great job of this with his Coach Cast. Brian and Sonia do it with Teaching Sells.

You’d have to sell thousands of eBooks to make a living as a blogger, but it might take only a few hundred premium members to do the same job.

Free samples have been part of marketing and selling since long before the Internet. Give great value and follow a few proven models, and you’ll discover not only does “free” not hurt you, it can actually be a great boost for your online business.

About the Author: Nathan Hangen writes about web entrepreneurship at NathanHangen.com, and about how to use social media to fuel your brand at Making It Social. Follow him on Twitter @nhangen.

Everyone is clueless

This post is copied from Seth Godin's blog

The problem with "everyone" is that in order to reach everyone or teach everyone or sell to everyone, you need to so water down what you've got you end up with almost nothing.

Everyone doesn't go to the chiropractor, everyone doesn't give to charity, everyone has never been to Starbucks. Everyone, in fact, lives a decade behind the times and needs hundreds of impressions and lots of direct experience before they realize something is going on.

You don't want everyone. You want the right someone.

Someone who cares about what you do. Someone who will make a contribution that matters. Someone who will spread the word.

As soon as you start focusing on finding the right someone, things get better, fast. That's because you can ignore everyone and settle in and focus on the people you actually want.

Here's a video that David sent over. I am thrilled at how much this guy loves his job, and I'm inspired by his story of how he turned down Pepsi as a vendor. He turned them down. But everyone wants Pepsi! Exactly. Once he decided he wanted someone, not everyone, his life got a lot better.

Is MNS on the verge of being banned?

There are few politicians in the country who simply don't understand the basic concepts of macro economics like brand image of the country in international arena or happiness index of the society, because what they care about is their 1 lakh votes. This is the current state of MNS, a local political party in Maharashtra, India.

Rediff quotes - "The 13 Members of Legislative Assembly of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Monday, 9th Nov 2009, created a ruckus in the Maharashtra assembly, after Samajwadi party MLA Abu Asim Azmi started to take his oath in Hindi, in spite of their demand that all legislators take the pledge in Marathi.As soon as Azmi began taking the oath in Hindi, the 13 member-strong MNS contingent rushed towards Azmi, snatching the mike away from the podium"

Today's shameful act by MNS MLAs has not only shown disrepect to the Marathi / Indian culture but to the law and order of the country. The way our leaders of MNS behaved today in the parliament made us feel ashamed in front of the entire world but I think we should not lose hope from our country's law and order. I hope there would be strict actions taken against these MLAs and the political party. This poses a follow-up debate - Is MNS on the verge of being banned?

Raj has threatened the legislative assembly saying, "If any MLA does not take the oath in Marathi, the House will see what happens,". Is this acceptable in any economy where law and order exists. Are these guys Indian Talibans?

Some views from people I know and which I found intriguing:

• MNS should be banned by Supreme Court and if not then PMO or President, else I will go and start shooting these street gundas
• If action isn't taken against Raj Thackeray and MNS then we will never feel like a democracy again. If action isn't taken on this incident then how can we ever feel like the law exists
• I love this city and we all do so how does it matter if we say Bombay or Mumbai
• This is a cosmopolitan place and we should all be able to live peacefully together

We would love to hear your views on this shameful act of MNS...

TATA TiE Stree Shakti (TSS) Workshop and Awards on 12 December

The TATA TiE Stree Shakti (TSS) Workshop and Awards will be held on 12 Dec ‘09 at Trident Bandra Kurla. It is a forum for women entrepreneurs to create trust-based partnerships through active networking. The objective of TSS is to create a platform of belonging for women entrepreneurs.

Enterprising Indians, Women Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs, Homemakers wanting to start their own business and Anybody who wishes to support and encourage women entrepreneurs in their network can attned this event.

Speakers are Shikha Sharma (Axis Bank),  Neelam Dhawan (HP) – (to be confirmed),  Dr. Mirai Chatterjee (SEWA) - (to be confirmed),  Vinita Bali (Britannia),  Rama Bijapurkar,  Sanjay Jha (Head of Dale Carnegie),  Dr.Anjali Mukherjee,  Veena Deepak,  Devita Saraf (to be confirmed).

20 of the Best Resources to Get Your Startup Off the Ground

 1. The Entrepreneur.com Startup Kits: Entrepreneur Magazine’s website has a gem for entrepreneurs: startup kits. There are kits for everything from starting a restaurant to a consulting firm, complete with articles, guides, marketing tips, and more.
2. eHow’s Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Collaborative knowledge resource website eHow has hundreds of thousands of great articles, including a strong set of guides and resources for how to open a business, how to incorporate, raising money, and bookkeeping.
3. About.com Starting a Business Hub: Another resource you should not miss is About.com’s Entrepreneurs Hub. They’ve curated some of their best content for starting a business, including checklists, a small business startup kit, and detailed articles on naming and calculating the cost of your startup.
4. Library of Congress’s Entrepreneur’s Reference Guide: Yes, the U.S. Library of Congress has an entrepreneur’s reference guide, while it’s dated (1999), it also lists a lot of great books that are updated yearly. It covers practically every topic related to starting a small business.

Click on the link below to read more --

 20 of the Best Resources to Get Your Startup Off the Ground

Rediff Losses Widen Even As It Invests In ‘Improving Customer Experience’

This article was originally posted in contentSutra

Nasdaq-listed Rediff.com (NSDQ: REDF) India Ltd today said net loss for the quarter ended 30 September widened by 84% to $2.61 million, from $0.41 million during the corresponding quarter last fiscal. 

Total revenues dropped 43% year-on-year to $4.19 million. Revenues from India Online dropped 45% y-o-y to $3.08 million.

	2Q 2009	2Q 2008
Earnings Per ADS	-$0.089	-$0.014
Net Income	-$2.61 million	-$0.42 million
Revenue	$4.19 million	$7.32 million

“As we had said in our last earnings call, we have taken a number of steps to improve the customer experience on our site, including the removal of ads from our home page, reduction of intrusive and non-contextual ads on other pages, as a result of which we expected a reduction in our revenue in the upcoming quarters. Accordingly, we saw a decline in revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 by 16% over the previous quarter and by 43% over the corresponding quarter in the previous year in US Dollar terms. However, we believe that these user–experience-improvement initiatives have started to show results and have helped us restore the growth in our user base, as measured by ComScore (NSDQ: SCOR) Media Metrix,” Rediff chairman and CEO Ajit Balakrishnan said in a statement.

Balakrishnan said the company will continue this strategy and invest in product development and brand building at the rate of $1-1.5 million in the next few quarters.

'No Google from 1 Billion' syndrome

Million Dollar Idea - Most of the would-be entrepreneurs in India wait for it to take the plunge in the wild start-up world. I have talked to many passionate individuals to verify this assumption and found it only partially true. Other reasons mentioned by most of them was a lack of great team and a missing ecosystem where entrepreneurship is supported.
Though I partially agree that a decent idea is some thing worth waiting for, but am not sure whether it necessarily needs to be a starting point. It can come with healthy discussions with the people you consider your core team. Great team is not some thing that we are born with. It can follow once you decide to take the plunge and start talking to people about your dreams -there are many people like us living around sharing the same vision.
Other reason which pulls the thought of entrepreneurship down - the current Indian ecosystem, is something that I found alarming since we need support from the industry veterans to change that. Everything said in newspapers seem like a marketing gimmick; we know the hard facts that the ecosystem to nurture entrepreneurs still don't exist in the country. There are VC/PE firms to infuse money in the start-up world but there are hardly any Angel investors/seed investors.
I had a chat with a VC some time back and his logic was that it's easy for us to invest 10 million dollars 5 times than 1 million dollars 50 times since it saves energy in hunting down the potential companies and later managing them. My immediate question was who needs 10 million dollars as a seed fund and he said "that's why we are not a seed fund" :)
Interesting, I guess management of time and energy of the VC firm is determining who needs to be funded today and at what stage. I am not saying that phase B or C funding is not required et al. All I am trying to mention here is that we need to nurture talent right from the start to make a Google come out of India. The very fact that most of the start-ups in India look out for $100k to $500k seed fund is because, in India, it's huge money and is good enough for a service company to sustain in the initial phase, but since the fund managers are interested in giving more money, they neglect these applications considering them trash or 'good but not interested' category.
We are missing the Indianized version of VCs - local money lenders or sahukars, who understand the Indian mentality and who could help in evolving talent right from the start. Narayan Murthy has taken a nice step in this direction though I am not sure about his targeted token amount.
We hope to see some Indianized VCs in the coming times who would help in cultivating the talent in more Indianized way. I hope we would get an answer to the 'No-Google from 1 Billion' syndrome, provided we get the right ecosystem.

42 ‘harassed’, many in jail for seeking information under RTI in Bihar

42 ‘harassed’, many in jail for seeking information under RTI in Bihar

I blogged this article of Indian Express mainly because of two reasons, one that it is an attempt to highlight the current state of law and order in Bihar, and other that it paints skewed or only half image of the story. The heading of the blog itself is misleading since it mentions that people are being harassed which is correct but I guess this is the first time in the history of Bihar when the government is trying to bring in transparency in the system; CM has set up a call center for RTI applicants. 

I am thankful to the journalist of this article 'Santosh Singh' who brought this issue in lime light, but a misleading heading can lead to biased opinion about current state of law and order in Bihar. We know that its not the best in the country but it is definitely improving and there are some NGOs and independent bodies who are contributing to the state. We should boost up their morale by praising their efforts, and not highlighting the terror or harassment, which is true for states like WB, UP or Delhi also.

Excerpts from article: 

In Bihar, often a time, information officials harass RTI applicants by filing false cases against them. The Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) has now recommended that all these officials be placed under suspension. 

BHRC member Justice Rajendra Prasad wrote to the state government on October 29 directing it to “look into the complaints of harassment of RTI applicants by lodging false criminal cases against them by, or at the instance of, state public information officers”.

The allegations, Justice Prasad wrote, constituted “a serious violation of the human rights of the people of Bihar in general, and the existing and potential seekers of information under the RTI Act, 2005, in particular”.

All information officials “to whom such (RTI) applications were given” should be “immediately suspended” and “departmental proceedings (should) be initiated against... (them) within four weeks of receipt of a copy of this order”, Justice Prasad recommended.

“...All criminal cases filed against RTI applicants (should) be dropped wherever such cases have been initiated after the date on which such applicants or their family members gave applications under the RTI Act”. 

The Commission has asked the government to send “a report of the actions taken... within six weeks from receipt of copy of this order”, failing which it would be “constrained to invoke provisions of Section 18 (b) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993”.

Section 18 of the Act deals with “steps after inquiry”, and includes provisions such as approaching the high courts or the Supreme Court.

The officials under the BHRC scanner range from the District Magistrate, Muzaffarpur (who was in charge in 2006) to sub-divisional police officers, circle officers and block development officers, down to officers-in-charge of police stations.

The Commission acted on a complaint by Bihar Right to Information, a voluntary group devoted to taking RTI to the people since 2007. Group coordinator Parveen Amanullah told The Indian Express: “We wrote to the CM thrice, took up the matter during his janta darbars, but there were follow-ups in only two cases.”

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has won accolades from the central government and other agencies for setting up the country’s first RTI call centre — a pioneering concept that has been replicated subsequently.

 

Is it a cake walk?

Often times, people look at my smiling face and ask me whether I am enjoying this new life. I am not sure about the answer though as I am not through the tough days yet, but ya I have heard lot of success stories where people justify that they thoroughly enjoyed the journey. All said and done, I doubt whether anyone loves this state of uncertainty in the startup life when it is happening.
Obviously! when I am through this, I would justify that there was a lot of uncertainty and I would love to dive in that life again, but to answer the question from my experience so far - No, it's not a cake walk till now and I am not perfectly happy to live in this state. I, like many other entrepreneurs, clarify lot of my doubts using my faith and commitment. So, if you are waiting for my answer that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride then I can answer only when I am through it, but if you ask me whether it's a cake walk, I would say.. nice joke buddy!

'Being an entrepreneur makes you a better person'

This post was originally posted on rediff 

Professor Nandini Vaidyanathan, an alumni of Delhi [ Images ] School of Economics, has spent 20 years in the corporate sector, working in a cross-section of industries -- security, media, pharmaceuticals, gas, office automation, equity market and animation -- all over the world.

She has been teaching entrepreneurship in premier business schools in India (IIMB), US (Princeton), Singapore (NUS) and UK (LSE) for the last four years. In 2008 alone, she taught over 2,300 students around the world.

She has been working in India, Afghanistan and the Sub-Saharan Africa. She is a mentor with New Ventures India, a joint initiative between World Resources Institute, Washington, CII Godrej [ Get Quote ] green building, Hyderabad and MentorPartners, an on-line enterprise support and mentoring platform for entrepreneurs.

She is also the mentor-promoter of a company called Startups that mentors young entrepreneurs.

Startups is actively involved with micro finance institutions in facilitating business models that transcend poverty lines and loan recovery.

She was in Hyderabad to speak at the TiE-ISB Connect 2009 on Incubation Centres and Mentors at the 'Start Up Your Venture' workshop. Soon after her speech, she was surrounded by young entrepreneurs for advice.

She took some time off from the young future entrepreneurs to speak to rediff.com.

You have spoken to many entrepreneurs all over the world. Is there any difference in the way Indians approach an idea?

I see two big differences. Entrepreneurs in India are more intelligent and better educated. That is the positive difference. But the negative difference is that there is no ecosystem in India that encourages them to be entrepreneurs.

In other parts of the world, when you say you want to be an entrepreneur, nobody raises an eyebrow. In India, if you say you have done your engineering and want to be an entrepreneur, the first thing parents ask is 'Have you gone mad? Why do you want to do that?'

Everybody will tell you that the opportunity cost of becoming an entrepreneur is very high and after you finish your MBA, you are offered fancy salaries and why would you want to give up that? I had a student in IIM Bangalore who told me, 'Ma'am, I have an offer of Rs 26 lakh (Rs 2.6 million). If I become an entrepreneur, I may not make Rs 26 lakh in my lifetime'!

This is the case with educated people. What about the not-so-educated people who start various businesses in their little space?

I work with women in the micro-enterprise space in India, Addis Ababa, Rwanda, Kabul, etc. Kabul is very difficult for women entrepreneurs.

Are these people bigger risk-takers?

They don't look at it as risk-taking. For them there is no other option to come out of poverty and build a meaningful quality life. So, they see entrepreneurship as the only option for a better life. This is how it should be.

I feel this should be the attitude of all. I was saying the same thing to some youngsters who said, 'We are engineers, how do we go about as entrepreneurs?' I said, first, you don't go for placement, be an entrepreneur. That is the only way you do it.

How does being an entrepreneur enhance the quality of life of an individual?

If you are an employee, it will take about ten years to learn all the aspects of business. If you are entrepreneur, you pretty much learn it in one year.

The downside of it is that you get grey hair faster when you are an entrepreneur! The upside is, the learning compression is phenomenal. And that makes you a better person. If you are working for somebody, you may be a marketing person or a finance person or a technology person but if you are an entrepreneur, you are all rolled into one.

The kind of exposure across functions and the ability to think on your feet, the ability to take risks, the ability to visualise tomorrow, the ability to plan for tomorrow -- I think those are skill sets you are able to acquire literally overnight. It's a hard knock. I am not saying it is easy. But you do it the hard way and you learn them at the end of it. That makes you a better person.

How should an entrepreneur look at becoming an entrepreneur -- as a wealth creator or creating something more for society?

Primarily, the motive of an entrepreneur should be creating meaning in life, enhancing the quality of life around him. It is not about making money. He wants to be an entrepreneur because he wants to create meaning for other people and himself. He is creating a better quality of life, the way it can be done.

The unintended consequence of that is wealth creation and wealth distribution, but that can't be the primary motive. Having said that, I don't mean he does it for charity; not at all. Every entrepreneur, every enterprise has to have wealth creation in the agenda. He can't keep making losses for the rest of his life because he can't sustain it. But that is an unintended consequence.

The primary reason why you become an entrepreneur is because you want to create meaning and you want to leave a footprint! That is the only way you can do it.

You said 'they leave a footprint'. In the last few years, can you name a few entrepreneurs who have impressed you?

There are many. In the last three years, I worked with over 300 entrepreneurs. Each one of them is unique. To me, every one of them is a hero. They are doing something phenomenally out there.

What will you tell those young people out there who have a desire to be entrepreneurs?

Go ahead and be an entrepreneur! Don't keep saying, 'I want to be an entrepreneur' and 'One day I will be one'. There is no 'some day'; just go out and chase your dreams!

Theory of Moment of Perception Shift

This blog is written and owned by Saurabh Gupta

This theory states that "the day you move from the supplier side of the value chain in the world to the needy side, you see people (friends, well wishers) approaching you dropping drastically in number and there comes a moment in life when your perception of yourself is challenged from within. While most people surrender to this moment of perception shift admitting that they can't live in this aloof arena, there remains some who evolve with a golden glow, with their characters grown multi fold. This moment of perception shift can either make or break you in life - it all depends on your understanding of the existence of this moment and how well you can handle it. People that stand by you during this time are the people that would be with you forever."

Few example for correlation of existence of this moment:

• The day you lose your job, the number of people calling you drop drastically. Suddenly no one in the world is bothered about you and you meet the moment of perception shift questioning everything about yourself.
• The day you are caught by cops for some thing wrong, boom! people gone and you meet the moment. 
• The day you are bankrupt, boom!
• The day you move to the startup life, boom!

I have a strange feeling from the day I started working on my start-up. Earlier, people had a different way of discussing stuff but now the equation seems skewed. I can clearly see the theory being applicable in my life and hence I am better prepared for it. I don't think that we can really change.. I truly believe that attitude matters in life and just screw it, don't give a damn to the suckers.. Let's see the world truly believing in who we are!

Startup Life - My Dos and Don'ts

This blog is written and owned by Saurabh Gupta


Its been quite a ride since I decided to work full time with WKI Solutions in May 2009. I was working with ZS Associates before that and had to make a decision between settled NYC life in near future or struggler's life in start-up and I chose the later one (since you are reading the blog you must know the reason why). Few things that I have learned from my experience and I hope would help people jumping from a well settled job life to startup life:

• Do check out the team potential - Team is every thing for a successful venture and you can only fight limited battles in life, hence validating team strength is a must 
• Do some primary research about the idea - It's not cool at all to re-invent the wheel, hence it's worth checking out the market for the idea
• Do continue focusing on social-networking - It's friends & family who help you during the tough times, hence social circle helps a lot in making you succeed in start-up world
• Don't over-heat yourself - Things in the outer world have a tendency to run at a slower than expected pace, so over-heating is not an option for start-ups
• Don't plan a lot - Nothing rolls out the way they are planned initially, so don't get demoralized by feedbacks and changes. Remember "Rome was not built in a day"

And here's an insider tip:

• Financial planning for some extra time - Things around have a hidden tendency to test you when you jump in for a start-up, so keep some extra bucks in bank for these rough patches

These are some of my dos and don'ts that might help you make the move. I have moved to Mumbai and would love to catch up for any help. Thanks for your time and feedback.

The Importance of Company Branding | Franchise Money Maker

The Importance of Company Branding - This article is written and owned by Alan Gillies
A Company Brand is a definitive way of communicating to your customers who you are and what you represent. It is specifically designed to help people immediately identify your company. It may be the logo, tag-line, slogan - or any similar thing. Brand is equally important for both major corporations and small companies. However, the path taken by these two examples is very different, primarily owing to the financial constraints experienced by the smaller organizations.

We generally associate brands with large companies, but keep in mind, a carpenter posting up small pieces of paper showing how and where someone can contact him is also a branding method. So, we can clearly see that branding is not a privilege reserved for the large scale organizations, because even businesses operating at a very small scale can easily start building a brand. However, you should be cautious about choosing an identity too quickly, and when really considering a prospective logo seriously - test it out, and make it familiar with as many people as possible prior to investing any substantial amount of money into it.

Also, hiring a professional to help you with the branding process will usually be a smart move. For instance, building a website and blog or participating in various local business events are all very effective options which can greatly help you with your branding process. So, building a brand is just as much a realisable possibility for small businesses as it is for their big business counterparts.

Though market penetration is often taken as a synonym for effective branding, it should be understood that the number of people who know a brand by sight is just one aspect to be considered when weighing up whether or not you’ve got a really good company brand.

Associations with the people we regularly deal with as part of our business directly contribute to the building of our brand. We all have in our neighbourhood a family business which has been running since - we can’t even remember, and it hasn’t only survived, but thrived. This is possible because of the long lasting interactions which have been developed in their communities. So, a business such as this example is no less exceptional than a large-scale counterpart in terms of truly successful branding.

To conclude, building a brand is not about trying to make every person on this planet know your logo by sight, but bringing to perfection every possible business related act, right from the way you take an order to the packaging of a box. These things may need some changes, specifically in the way in which your organization operates - but once done, your business will take off in leaps and bounds towards a branding success. Small businesses need to break the mould relating to the concept of branding, and make use of every advantage to the fullest. The myth that “building a brand requires lots of money” and the idea that “large scale market penetration is synonymous with branding” are notions which need to be overcome if an up-and-coming branding success is to be achieved.

Greed is good

DSCN0703
Originally uploaded by nuts_shaan

Often times, we start our journeys of start-ups with huge ambitions and targets but we meet lots of hurdles over the course of time which tone down the plans. All I would say is that we need to remain focused on our end goals and rest all falls in place sooner or later.

A picture can quantify the thought very simply. What do you want to achieve in life? A tower like this in India. This needs to be clear in mind and the picture should remain intact at all times so that focus is not lost. Often times, Greed triggers a change in mindset and focus keeps the end-goal intact.

Rediff article on Indian political atmosphere

Professor Dipankar Gupta

Do you believe Mayawati is not winning because she is getting votes of her caste?
Are Dalits not voting en masse for the Bahujan Samaj Party? Are Indian elections not won essentially with help of caste-based voting? Not at all, says Professor Dipankar Gupta, who has devoted substantive energy and time in understanding class and caste in India. He is a scholar of political sociology at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
His book Interrogating Caste; Understanding Hierarchy and Difference in Indian Society is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand India.
After Mayawati won the UP assembly election in 2007, Professor Gupta and Yogesh Kumar conducted the study of her historic win. That study appeared under the title When the Caste Calculus Fails.
While analysing the BSP's victory in the UP assembly elections they said it has been incorrectly explained in terms of caste. Mayawati did use caste, but only as a metaphor to build innovative grassroots alliances.
Professor Gupta's latest book The Caged Phoenix: Can India Fly? among other issues, examines why India's phenomenal growth story has not been translated into development.
In March, just before the election campaign commenced, Professor Gupta spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt at his home in Vasant Vihar in New Delhi about current politics and the elections.

How do you describe today's voter? What is he thinking?

Like in the past, today's voters are also segregated. There is a big movement from the villages to the cities, much more than we would like to believe. There are a number of people who live in the villages, but do not work there anymore. At one level there is more urban consciousness than we used to have earlier. But the fact of the matter is that on the delivery front, our governments have not done a good job.
I am talking of simple things like education, health, energy and transport without which ordinary people cannot live. We have not been able to provide for that.
Governments have come and gone, but they have not provided a health budget of 3 percent of GDP and an education budget of 5 percent of GDP as promised. There is no audit of delivery. There is an unspent budget in most departments.
I think today's voters should be paying attention to delivery. Unfortunately, voters are not yet interested in the fact that unless the poor are better off, the rich will not be really rich. For the middle class to get rich or for the upper class to have a certain lifestyle on an enduring basis you cannot have or afford the poor at the bottom of the heap. They also have to come up.
Unfortunately, that is not happening. There is a blockage over there. They are slipping through by coming to cities, coming to urban centres. They are not coming with skills. They are not expanding their skills.
A man who comes to the city aged 21 lives up to 60 at the same level with which he came. I wish young voters today will look at these issues. But, I don't know how far they are.

How do you look at young voters's political beliefs? How do they perceive the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress?

There are young voters everywhere. But what is it in our politics that actually helps the young? To help the young you have to help them in speedy development, in terms of jobs and in terms of an outlook towards life which should help her/him have public honesty.
Politics should help young people to think about the larger welfare of society.
Just putting up young people in politics doesn't help. Even young people can think like old people.

Can we say young people will relate more to Rahul Gandhi than L K Advani?

No, I don't think so. A young face may not have young issues. As far as I see the issues raised by the BJP or the Congress doesn't have specifically anything for the young.
The young could identify with Barack Obama because he promised transparency and honesty which the young wanted to see. He had transparency; he talked of accountability, so the young appreciated it.

Mr Advani has said he will bring development through IT. He has promised to give computers for Rs 10,000.

People are unable to buy even a lamp, why talk about computers? People do not take these promises as promises. You should be able to think about a way to change the system and make it more dynamic.
We don't have leaders who have the exuberance and swing on their side to identify with young voters.

There are leaders like Jayalalithaa and Mayawati who have a magical sway over voters. How do you explain that?

They come and go... come and go. They don't expand their vision beyond their region. The seats Mayawati won in 2002, she lost many of them in 2007. The places she won were not always dominated by the scheduled castes.
In India to arrange for 5 lakh (500,000) people is not a problem. You arrange for lunch and you arrange for trucks, then even I can get you 5 lakh people.
The issue is not their hold on the people. The issue should be what kind of government they are offering to the people.
We can only vote for leaders who are available in the political marketplace. Those people who have money, are corrupt and violent. This is the entry price for politics.

What do we do?

I don't know. I can say only two things. Each one of us should be as professional as possible in our personal lives. I am saying professional... not saying be moral, be holy.
If you are a professor, be a good professor. If you are a journalist, then be a good professional journalist. Live up to the job description as a professional. That would help the country a lot.
Second, we should have a very good audit of deliverables. Many people join politics not because they are corrupt; they join politics because they want to be corrupt. I don't care how bad the man is or I don't care how much he drinks at night. As long as he behaves professionally in public and he delivers what he has promised, he is fine.

What is the major change you have seen in the last five years?

I see certain awareness of developmental projects. The anti-incumbency factor is not always working and I see it as a positive sign. Earlier, they were voting out somebody and people came to power by default.
There is a greater awareness about politicians, how they are performing on the ground. Let us see if this trend lasts for two, three elections.

Do you find India changing in some big way?

I don't think we are doing anything extraordinarily different. Our exports are hit. Foreign money has been withdrawn and taken out of India. Our internal market is also not very strong. Our workforce is highly unskilled. These things don't change between two elections.
Also, remember voting in an election doesn't represent anyone's political views.
Very often someone votes for the BJP, but doesn't think like the BJP. Many times a person votes for the Congress, but when girls are attacked in pubs for drinking, they say, "bada achcha hua (good it happened)."
To think that voting means everything is wrong. Voting means a small thing. It's a good bazaar. It's a small thing with respect to our commitment to the process.

Do you think in the last five years the United Progressive Alliance has taken India further?

No, there is no change. In fact, some of the changes that I was hoping for from Mayawati have not come through. Like, I thought she will put more emphasis on training skills for the poor. I am not talking of scheduled castes. Mayawati won in UP because of the poor in all castes. I am waiting to see deliverables to the poor by her.

How do you look at her leadership?

I think with the power base that she has, she could have risen above caste. She gave an indication that she might. But as far as I can see she has not been able to.
She called the bluff of the OBCs (Other Backward Classes). This is something she successfully did. OBCs were basically positioned on the Mandal Commission report. I thought if she could apply brakes there, then it would have a cascading effect in other parts of the country that will see that the OBCs are really a paper tiger.
So far, that has not happened. I wanted to see how she handles the OBC reservation issue. She said she will give reservations to the poor. Let us see.

How do you see Rahul Gandhi as a political force?

He has yet to become a political force. He has all the support, backing and positioning. As of now, he is not a political force. I think so far they don't have a specific agenda.
What you are saying will only enthuse people. What you are doing will create an appeal. See, young people in villages want a job in the cities. What are you doing about that?

Is Narendra Modi doing that?

What are you saying!
In Gujarat, 93 percent of the labour is still in the informal sector. The numbers of skilled labour in Gujarat has not gone up in the last 20 years. The ratio of main and marginal workers remains the same.
Gujarat's progress from 1980 to 2007 is the same. The biggest jump Gujarat made was between 1960 to 1980. It is not that Gujarat is a miracle state.
Modi has done very well because he has been able to use Gujarat's advantages and he has made some advances. People thought he may not be able to make it because he was just the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh type. But he has been able to do a good bit of management.
He has not lost the advantage. He has capitalised on what Gujarat gave him. He has kept Gujarat's image in more or less the same advantageous position as it was earlier. He has done something else that is very interesting.
After the riots, because of the attacks on Gujarat from outside when people said the government is anti-Muslim, Modi turned it around and said they are attacking Gujaratis, so they are attacking me. This is something that Gujaratis fell for. He showed himself as a reluctant secessionist.
'I don't want to be against the country or the government but they are against us. They are putting us down,' was his message. This is what Jyoti Basu also did in West Bengal. That is what made Bengalis protective of Jyoti Basu. He gave the impression that from 1965-1966 onwards the Centre was treating Bengal like a stepson. This is the same thing that Modi has done.

Do you think one day Modi will become a pan-Indian leader?

Not on current form. He doesn't have it in him. He doesn't appear a pan-India leader at all. People of the country won't vote for him. He won't get the 11 percent (Muslim) vote straight. You take that 11 percent out, then you can imagine it is a very tough job.
What does Modi have to offer? Why should I vote for him? He may be trying, going around and talking to people. He may be playing down the anti-Muslim part.
In the Gujarat 2008 exhibition he gave a special kiosk to the Memons, but the hurt of the 2002 riots will not go.

Do you think Sonia Gandhi is now completely Indianised?

When Sonia Gandhi first came into politics I saw an Italian who has come to Indian politics. Over the years, maybe the way she has conducted herself, maybe due to her linguistic skill, I am not sure, but now I don't see her so much as a foreigner.
Now, I see her as a politician with whom sometimes I agree with, sometimes I don't.
The foreigner thing doesn't bug me anymore. It used to bug me when she started off.
Maybe she is very public, she speaks Hindi, whatever it may be, but that foreign element is no longer distracting.

So, if at all she becomes prime minister of India, will she be accepted, more or less?

I am not sure. I think, right now there is no leader in the country who has a pan-India presence, which is why Manmohan Singh is the best bet.

You are doing some research on the voting patterns of Muslims. In Indian elections, we always talk about the Muslim vote bank.

The Muslim votebank does not work. Fatwas don't work. You can still talk about the Muslim factor in a certain fashion, but the caste factor you cannot talk about at all.
There is no constituency -- I repeat -- no constituency in the country where a caste on their own numbers can win an election!
I have done the study, I know. In western UP, which is called Jatland, where there is a concentration of Jats, we saw that the Jat factor alone is not enough.
In Muzzaffarnagar, do you know how many Jats are there? Only 8 percent. In Madhepura, only 18 percent. The Marathas are 34 percent in Maharashtra, but they are divided from amongst the Maoists to the Shiv Sena.
No constituency in India can be won on caste. It is empirically and logically impossible. If you are a diehard casteist, I challenge you to vote in a village anywhere above the gram sabha level only on caste basis. You cannot, it is nonsense. I have written about it.
There is no winning formula. If there was a formula, do you think politicians would lose? Would they face anti-incumbency? Would they run pillar to post to win an election if caste votes were just enough?
Nobody wants to work for the poor and for the people. Still, you want a ticket. So what you say to your party is that I have got my caste people with me, some argue for other castes. You may get a ticket on the basis of caste, but not the vote.
Since journalists hang around politicians, they think caste is everything.
Mayawati's victory has been incorrectly explained in terms of caste. Nothing works in Indian elections. It is different things every election.
In the last UP assembly election, the level of lawlessness changed the mood and poor OBCs were fed up with rich OBCs. Mayawati is not winning on the basis of her 18 percent caste votes. My study proves otherwise. She has lost in places where the scheduled castes are dominant. I did a study in 2007 in Maharashtra, UP and Bihar.
We are not casteist. It is not possible. There are 15 castes in my constituency, how can I vote on caste grounds?
The Muslim factor may still work, but the caste factor doesn't work. But here too if a Muslim leader has not done the job, they shift to a new leader and he or she may not be a Muslim.
Number two, fatwas do not work.
My study includes all the elections after 1990.
Mayawati did use caste, but only as a metaphor to build innovative grassroots alliances. Her victory demonstrated that the concerns of other communities mattered as much as those of the Dalits.
There is no simple correlation between caste and outcome. The electorates are too large and the social interests too diverse for any simplistic caste calculations to hold. Caste is an important factor, but only one of many.
To explain everything in terms of caste robs voters of their secular credentials. Caste cannot logically vote as a block.
Are we becoming modern enough when we go to vote? Are we still voting out of fear or always driven by some emotion, as many BJP leaders claim? Is there any fundamental change in voters?
Basically, people are bad. What makes them good is the law. They think on caste grounds, on regional, family and on kinship grounds. These are a natural tendency. Not just Indians, across the globe, people I have looked at all talk in the same way.
What makes people good is the citizenship. This factor does not work easily. It is always under threat because this natural human tendency to see things in terms of caste, race, ethnicity, language and religion.
What we do is that we make culture as an expansive variable as if it is nature. We keep hearing... Bengalis are naturally like this, Punjabis are just like that, Blacks are like this. This is the way we think.
That is why democracy is always under threat in every society. To make democracy stand the most important thing is to make sure nobody breaks the law. I don't care if someone is racist, but he cannot practice it. That is what democracy means.

My question is: Are we changing? Are voters changing?

So far? No. Give me two elections more, I will let you know.

Are you hopeful about India?

Not yet. Look at the composition of the work force, look at agriculture and industry.
Only three million people work in IT and ITES. That's all. Only 2 percent of Indian household own cars. That's all! What are we talking about? We don't see the entire picture at all.
We are very good at denial. We don't see things we don't want to see. That's why we react to Slumdog (Millionaire). We don't want to see poverty, so, no poverty! But that's not true. We haven't done anything. I am not hopeful.
In fact, as I get older, I am getting more angrier because I find things are getting worse than better. Some parts are getting richer and richer. But I want India to be developed.
Why do people have to go to private hospitals and spend money? Why can't they go to government hospitals? The last big government hospital in New Delhi was AIIMS. Around that there are hundreds of private hospitals. If a person has an illness he worries about money first.
How can you say India is doing well? How can you say that? I am very angry with India.