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.

The day news of SJ’s death broke, like millions of others I played that video for myself one more time. And his words hit me harder than ever. It is so difficult and yet so easy to follow your heart. I wouldn’t express myself on twitter or fb as I would do in person, why? Because then I would be a soft target for a long time when it would come to my profession as an editor. Heck, I don’t care anymore … I won’t be  killing my own voice.

Something occurred to me today and yet it was nothing new. Rumors suggest that SJ was working for Apple right until his death. That may not be entirely true, but as a matter of fact we know that he resigned from Apple only 6 weeks before his demise. During his Stanford speech Jobs spoke about loving your work, to keep looking for it and measuring life like it was your last day. That’s good to hear during a graduation speech, but you know now that that man meant it. He did it. He demonstrated it to us.

We so happily talk about loving our work. Even show it off. But how deep is that? Asking myself a simple question ‘if these are the final few days of my life what would I be doing?’ is enough to give clarity in any situation. Would I be writing? Retailing? Hosting a Startup Weekend / Saturday? Conspiring the next BCM with Sengupta? Or spending time with long lost friends and family. The answer is for me, but as a CEO, co-founder, employee, freelancer… Whoever you are. Would you be working until the day of your death to make something happen? Do you love the work you are doing?

Also read: Had completely forgotten that I had penned similar thoughts back in 2008. This one might be a relevant read as well “Do What You Love“

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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 snatched the fake fare card from me. He agreed to go on the opposite side but insisted on holding the rate card with him. I had to choose, either hold on to the tariff card or protect the iPad in my hand.

I allowed him to hold the tariff card, but remained seated in the auto. As he took a U-turn towards the mall, he hit the right lane and went towards the highway, ignoring all instructions to stop at the mall. I panicked and called a Murtaza (a young entrepreneur) who was going to meet me at the mall. He was holding on to the rate card  until we crossed the mall but it had disappeared by the time we reached the highway. I quizzed and he told me its in his pocket.

Luckily I found a traffic constable at the highway right where we stopped and shouted for him to help. As the constable took stock of things, suddenly two original rate cards came out of the auto-walas pocket and the story changed to me not having enough money to pay him. I couldn’t believe that such inauthenticity is happening right in front of me. I called in my friend Murtaza to the highway and asked him and a friend accompanying him to look for the rate card that he might have thrown on the road near the mall. While I argued with the auto-wala, Murtaza and his friend returned 10 mins later with the fake rate card in their hands. Bingo, we had the proof now and we were 3 vs 1.

The auto-wala still remained arrogant and denied the charge. We insisted the constable to take him to the police station and were surprised when he just took his license and gave it to us, asking us to take him to the Police Station ourselves (the auto wala was expected to drive us down.) A couple of mins later the constable suggested that we leave him as he will get f****d at the police station. He even made the auto-wala apologize. I insisted on booking him.

We three took a seat inside the auto and asked him to head towards the police station. He moved a little ahead on the highway and started pleading us to leave him. Offered to take no money for the ride from Andheri and a little later even offered to pay Rs 200 to us. We told him in no unclear terms that we are all headed to the police station. He didn’t comply, took a U-turn on the highway and tried to drop us at Oberoi Mall.

Luckily we again ran into a couple of cops (this time not the traffic ones) and asked them for help. They gave the auto-driver some good gaalis, questioned him about the missing uniform and handed his badge to us (his license was already with us.) He asked us to be firm and take him to the Police station. And there we go again. The auto-wala tried his best on the way asking for forgiveness, stopped a couple of times, but it took a little polite gyaan that ‘the more he wastes our time, the more he will suffer’ for us to reach the police station.

At the police station one of the cops just asked us to drop him there, leave my contact details and go away. No report, no paper work, nothing! We knew nothing about the regulations. They said he would be fined. We insisted on knowing what action they are taking and after spending some 20 mins at the police station, we left. Last we saw was the fact that he had been taken inside and they were in process of charging him. We were told that he would be made to wait there for several hours and it makes no sense for us to wait there. Guess we had enough for the day already …

The total incident lasted little over an hour, was intense and I was scared on multiple occasions.  If it was so much effort to just take a certainly corrupt auto rickshaw driver to Police Station, I wonder what happens in bigger cases. God bless the system.

Special thanks to Murtaza and his friend (guess Gaurav) for the support.

Things happened in a hurry and this is the only photo I could manage to click in between the chaos. After we reached the police station, I was out of time to click any more.

As always, most commenting on the post is on FB. You can see it here

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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!

Yes this is an old age accounts book, no wonder I hate accounts

Trading in the Indian sub-continent, the East India Company had the opportunity to acquire examples of finest Indian workmanship. Helmet and Dagger. Dagger: The blade is decorated with Hindu religious scenes. This side shows Krishna playing a flute! – From the Tower Of London

When arms and ammunition are on display, how can one miss long rifles

And yes this comes froms the 90s, a somewhat modern one between the old antiques at the Tower Of London

Guns and fancy guns at the Tower of london. The lighting was just too bad for a clear picture, apologies

A fancy rifle along side the super antique collection of rare weapons. This one is a german make (German Heast Collection) from 1580! believe me, photo does no justice to this

And last but not the least, straight out of hollywood studios, a real lance!

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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

Update: here they are, the last time I saw them before handing them for repairs

Update 2: Hey wait a second… I loved my Treo’s enough!  An hour after this incident, the shopkeeper calls back to tell me he has found them. YAY. Rushing to get them back. Thanks for bearing my rants on FB/Twitter for this.

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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 : )

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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.

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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!

http://annkur.com/?p=839 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.

Its not a secret that I started working right out of school at the age of 15 and that partly explains my bonding and feeling for young entrepreneurs (heck, any one who is starting up). When I started as a school kid selling stuff over Baazee (now eBay), there was a good offline connect to it. I had to source the good from the local market, market them online, get the orders and then pack and ship it out myself. I can be certain that I have learnt more being a eBay Power Seller than what I learnt in 5 years of college. Interacting with 000s of online shoppers across India, across different states, speaking different accents, I feel I have also been a mini call center marketer myself. While my LinkedIn profile proudly claims that its passion that drives me and the love for gadgets / technology / silicon chips that pushed me to do things right from retail to media, it really didn’t start that way. It developed over time. The single most influential driver for me to startup was Money. Yes Money. I wanted more money to spend than I would have ever got as pocket money and I wanted to buy small luxuries for myself that I couldn’t have afforded without earning it myself. Add to that a little of love for gizmos that excited me. My journey begins…

Walking down the lanes of Manish market and dealing with the most ‘badnam‘ dealers in Mumbai is a tough training for a 16 yr old kid (in 2003). I always thought that I was lucky to get started with a relation in this market, but then I could see the roots of this in my upbringing. I was brought up in a somewhat pampered environment but at the same time with a lot of discipline (don’t mistake that for organized, I am more messy than an average hostel kid at IIT). Honesty was drilled into me, but then when a 15 year old starts business, you know money pulls you the other way? I see so many people around me start with business today and it at times hurt me to see the kind of manipulation or shortcut they take. I don’t really blame them for that, I have seen hints of these in me, and may be I got lucky with the right people teaching me the right things at the right time. It isn’t hard to stick to values when in business, its just that the other path looks so much easier.

I remember attending a talk by some CXO of Shoppers Stop at Raheja college during my 1st yr of BMS. This is where I picked up a great learning. Something that remains with me still. He spoke about ‘having real feeling for your customer, being there to serve them’. And after that day, perhaps the innocent, little kid in me was clear on what business he wants to do. How he wants to be at business…

Some of my best teachers / friends / inspiration have been people whom I got close to while selling them some thing. I might be a poor business guy when it comes to profit making. Some say I do business to make loss, but when it comes to winning a customer, I rate myself A+. Here my friends I want to highlight the power of true feelings and honesty. At my work I have to deal with a number of dealers, retailers, service providers, institutes and students. I meet all of them with a similar clean approach. This might not always give me a deal that I want, but what it gives me is two very crucial things a) people who value you as an individual b) a silent confidence in your dealings that cannot be challenged.

The path I am encouraging you to walk may not always be easy friends. You got to be unreasonable at times. Last year out of the blue  I received a hate mail from someone who had transacted with me back in 2005. According to him I had cheated him back then  (he hadn’t received the product he ordered) and I could see his emails written to me when I was 18 … they were some of the finest abuses someone has every sent me.  (A mild version of those below.) I had chosen to discontinue a dialogue with him back then, but he came back 4 yrs later and this is the best I could do for him. Send him a digital camera to make up for his loss. The response I receive at the end of it, is something that drives priceless energy into me.

I might not yet be a 100%, but I am still hurt to see young ones around me with this ‘quick money’ thinking. I can smell it in young business men very often. Its not that I want to prove you wrong, its not that I hate you, its just that I feel you are meant to do big things. Create huge empires and make a real difference and all this maintaining your values. The value of being a human, one to another! How about getting into a business conversation next time with an aim to give a honest 100%? Working to meet the needs of the one you serve before you serve yourself?

Also see: My Wish

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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!).

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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:

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