When Steve Jobs passed away earlier this month, something inside me broke. I am the same person who finds it difficult adjusting to a serious environment during conferences or funerals. Yet I was affected by SJ’s departure. Yes, I had a bet that I would some day sit across the table and do business with him, Arpit motivated me to shoot for it and the man himself inspires the entrepreneur in me. That day won’t come in this lifetime and that bet didn’t even cross my mind, it was a distant dream. More like an illusion to keep me hungry.

I am not even a longtime Apple user, I bought my Mac last year and never used an iPod other than the clip shaped shuffle in recent times. Unlike many, my connection to Jobs wasn’t because of the products he sold. During the end of my retail days, I made lots of cash on iPhones and iPods as they picked pace in India. I made a iPhone site (just as a hobby) for a friend and that became serious and somehow made money as well, but my attachment to SJ isn’t for the money I made trading products or news about his inventions.

The one time when Jobs made a real impact to me (and he still continues to) was when I first came across his Stanford commencement speech. It shook me, it touched that 15 yr old kid hungry for business on the streets of Crawford market. It gave me the courage to do so much more, break out of the shell and see the world. I have a long long way to go, but the journey is so much more powerful. Every time I listen to his words, it comes out even stronger. Be it not being burdened by others thinking or doing what you love to do. In a short speech he left behind a world of wisdom. Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks back, on a fine Sunday afternoon I was seen tweeting about help required around Goregaon / Malad (Mumbai) to take a fraudulent Auto-rickshaw driver to a nearby Police Station. I had promised to share more details on my blog and here we go!

Yesterday Mumbai saw a flash strike by auto rickshaw drivers which apparently wasn’t called by their union. Newspapers are reporting hundreds of rigged auto meters lying at workshops as auto-walas panic to get them ‘un-tampered’ given the recent RTO drive against them. As my friend Sandeep RTs above … Only in India you can dare to go on a strike, justifying an act of cheating.

What happened that Sunday was a simple story. I took an auto from Andheri highway to Goregaon Oberoi Mall. The auto driver wasn’t in uniform and while that was least of my concern, as we reached the destination (Oberoi Mall, Goregaon) I realised he was trying to overcharge me. The meter reading was 4.80 and the auto-driver asked me for Rs 64.

I happened to knew the formula for calculating the auto-fare after the recent change in tariffs (Thanks M4Mum/Raxit). So when the auto rickshaw driver asked mr for Rs 64, I got a little suspicious and casually hit the calculator on my mobile. For the ones who want to note, the formula is x13 -2 (multiply the meter reading by 13 and subract 2 from the total.)

The calculation in my case came to 60.4 and not 64. A small difference. I confronted the auto wala and he showed me a fare card. It was certainly a fake one, for fares above Rs 80 his tariff card showed amounts higher by Rs 10 or more. I told him that he is cheating & he suggested me to forget the 4 rupee difference as a loan and asked me to go. Yes, WTF.

I took the fare card and told him to take me towards the mall on the opposite side, where there were quite a few police vans given it was near about independence day. The auto-wala realized that I am not going to relent and Read the rest of this entry »

You already know that I didn’t have much to do during my London stay, but hey, I did go around the museums in town including the Tower Of London. TOL is a historic castle that houses a good number of ancient artifacts, war time stuff and some weird stuff like the ‘accounts book’ pictured below.

I also went hands-on (well almost, just a glass separating us) with the Kohinoor Diamond. Given the hype that diamond is, I spent a few mins trying to get a good view of it, walking wrong way on the moving belt that gives you a glimpse and moves you out of sight. But looking back at the Tower of London visit, the Kohinoor Diamond is not the thing that runs on my mind, it is the Lance pictured below. May be I am not a jewelry person…

Its been a few months and I am almost losing track of what is what, so here is the Tower of London in pictures:

Remember seeing these in Age of empires series, only here in real life

Real and Serious Guard At The Tower Of London

I don’t even remember which building this is, but there are many there. The hot chocolate coffee at the cafeteria inside the Tower Of London is Yummy! Read the rest of this entry »

If you love something, go and claim it now
If you ever wished for something, go get it now
If you every had a dream, go achieve it now

Love Doesn’t Wait, Time Flows. All it leaves behind is faded memories. Act now or repent later

… I write this as I realise that my most precious collection of Palm Treo 650s were thrown away in scrap because I didn’t follow up. No notification, no consideration to the value it held for me The cracked display, scratched body that came after repeated falls from the bike, 000s of old messages from college and a truck load of emotional value, thrown away? Why? Because I was too busy to keep inquiring about it? I can argue that I did my best to get it back, followed up for the first few months, but somewhere in between I lost track… If I loved it, I wouldn’t have lost it, perhaps I didn’t love it enough. Love doesn’t wait, it flows Read the rest of this entry »

This strikes me when I meet a friend in Pune, whom I haven’t seen for a little over 6 months. While both of us are based in Mumbai, plans to meet or head out for a movie rarely works out. But fast forward to Pune, where I would spend a day or two in 3 months and she would spend 4 days a month visiting her home, its so much easier to catchup for us when these dates overlap and both of us are in Pune! Weird and we sure laughed at it.

<rant> But then we sure can’t ignore the fact that its the hour and half or two hours of travel to and fro that comes in our way here. And for me a little more than the time involved, its the poor conditioned auto-rickshaws (if you at all find one) or the super uncomfortable Fiat Taxis that kills the enthusiasm of going out of the suburbs.

Screenshot of a chat with a Mumbai Friend:

I am perhaps one of the most irregular members of the Kala Ghoda Gelato Tweetup where a few good friends catchup on the first of every month. More than taking a train from Andheri to Churchgate for the tweetup, its the worry of getting a auto ride to Andher stn is my issue.

I am often surprised when my friend from Bangalore (Kesava) visits Mumbai and plans his meetings something like this: a) Breakfast at Belapur, b) Lunch at Dadar, c) Post lunch meeting at my office in Jogeshwari and then d) a evening trip to Thane before meeting us for dinner back @ Andheri.

A tourist like him can manage that, but for me the everyday wait of over 20 mins just to get an autorickshaw to office, is sure frustrating and super unproductive. One reason why I might well settle out of Mumbai (may be not far but in Pune), would be the serious headache traveling here is.

Would a car + driver make things easy? Perhaps. But then $$ Q it is! I am doing a little calclulations and while the results are yet to come, I have a feeling that after the recent auto fare price hike in Mumbai, a car+driver might be more affordable for me.

Auto drivers have admitted to me that they make more than Rs 1000 on an average day (if they own the auto) or Rs 500+ if they rent an rickshaw (all thanks to the obnoxious price hike).Do I have a problem with that? No! But then I expect to get good service. A ride to my destination without begging to autos. Autos that are properly conditioned (ever noticed how badly they maintain them? shockups? pollution?). </rant>

If I am to sum up. Chat, SMSes and emails are only this good. Annkur loves to meet friends offline. And I would do my best to do that. Starts with taking sundays off work and meeting you : )

I have taken roughly 12 flights in the last two years and the only, I repeat the only final criteria to pick a flight has been the price. Anything more than a Rs 100 above / less the mark, I would chose the other! So be it Go Air, Indigo or Kingfisher. If you are the cheapest, I fly you. However this changed and changed for good after my last flight with one of the low cost airlines. I tweeted when boarding that that flight that it would be my last flight with this airline, why? Well there was nothing particularly broken on their part, its just that by design their system doesn’t work for me anymore.

The rush on the faces of the staff, the loud whispers of money being exchanged to buy food, the ignorant ground staff (who can’t even ensure that a Que. is maintained) and the failure to give even a glass of water without charging. Perhaps the last one would have been a good reason, but that wasn’t really the cause. Yes I went thirsty on a flight back from Delhi, for I had no cash but cards – But that isn’t what made me pay a premium.

As I type this, I am off to Kolkata, seated on a window seat onboard an early morning flight. After seeing the sunrise, its the mild heat on my right ear, that is pleasing me. Even as that same heat irritates a co-passenger asking me to close one of the windows, I am enjoying it. I can calmly put my head into the system and type out a few articles in the hour that I have in hand and its so much more peaceful. I can see the onboard crew’s eye for detail.

They aren’t busy in their heads thinking about the sale of sandwiches, peanuts and water bottles, but turning on reading lights for passengers reading a newspaper before the lights are dimmed for take off. They aren’t busy preparing for the safety demonstrations (it plays as a video), but giving the extra helping hand to get all the luggage bags settled. Yes the passengers by all means are rude, before you even reach their seats, they would pickup a couple of bottles from your tray and all you would do is smile and offer them a juice along.

For some reason, this gives me a space to be calm and enjoy the takeoff which would normally have me scared (yes, I am terrified during take offs, landings are better). IMO with less than 3 hours of sleep last night, this is a well deserved peace of mind that I have bought. Yes I paid a premium, but I am happy. I find it worth the added cost.

Note: Yes, I can’t afford the couple of grands extra every-time I fly, but whenever I see the difference in my hitting range, I would go for it.

Note 2: Its sure a pain to fly early early morning. And more than getting the entire day in hand when arriving at the destination, its the sunrise from 10000 mts up in the air that has started to attract me.

Recommended read: Anaggh’s – Indian Airlines Post! Inspired me to write this.

And there goes another year, on other occasions I would have spoken at length about the year that passed and my plans for the year ahead. But that cheer and enthusiasm is perhaps long dead. 2010, I can say nothing but the same as I did for 2009. ‘Annkur loves you, but as much as I love you, I believe love is superstition. And that’s the only thing that can help me get over you.’

On bed rest this new year with plans for CES action in Vegas and a long vacation thereafter doomed, all the wishes and super conversations on twitter / fb made my day. Love you all who kept in touch this new year and made my day special.

That warm as a hug trademark birthday wish from Harish or the rockstar title that Kunal gives for Nischay’s work, these moments are a cheer for lifetime. Thank you

I plan to share my travel tales right from the action in Agra to adventure in US up next! No much gyaan bit left to disperse, sorry.

Ps: whoever said Health is wealth was probably right, make that absolutely!

There are times I wish this was an anonymous blog. There is so much I want to share and yet I fear its too early to share. Today happens to be a day when I decide to unfold a little of past. A little of me. My about page speaks less of who I am and though its meant to be so, here is a little something that I feel necessary to share. Read the rest of this entry »

Traveling alone to the US and exploring things wasn’t exactly my POA for this trip but then that’s how it happened. Tired of exploring NYC  and to take back atleast something more to tell friends about USA (except for the Atlantic City Casinos) … I started out for Niagara Falls. While I am informed that the US end isn’t the best place to see the falls from, it didn’t matter to begin with. I went in with the feeling thats its ‘just another water fall’ and came back with a heavenly experience.

So what was it like? I didn’t carry a camera with me on this trip and even if I did … any of my photographs would have been anything but injustice to the beauty of nature. You got to see it and feel it in person.

Some of the best pictures I ever clicked are in my eyes! And to such life stopping moments I add the second one in July. Way too human to describe the first one, even the Niagara Falls is yet to sink in as a reality for me. This day in life I have seen a rainbow that reappears every second with mist flying in the air and with that a heavenly experience of clouds forming right in front of my eyes (yes seriously!).

2010 is here and after a good year and a half of blogging on Annkur.com; I have slowed down. The frequency of posts have fallen and now I can so much relate to @thakkar speaking about “his 6 dead blogs” at Blog Camp Mumbai around a year back. While blogging still remains a integral part of my day to day work (at OnlyGizmos) the reason Annkur.com was created, was to share what I like, what I feel and not just gadgets and technology.

I am wondering what I should do to get back those wonderful thoughts that made some really memorable posts here. Any suggestions?

One of the ideas I might explore is to integrate a photo blog here; but the writings for now are rare

Btw the post is titled office office, as I have just got started with a new office routine. Though not the first office for me, but a first with a good 5 member team and a hectic 12 hour office schedule almost everyday. And yes, I am loving it! Leaving you with a few pictures below: Read the rest of this entry »