6 AM Pacific

Trip to IIM Ahmedabad

Last weekend I made a trip to my alma mater – IIM Ahmedabad. Prof. Arvind Sahay who teaches Marketing and is the Chairman of the PGP X program, invited all the entrepreneurs from my batch (and his). Ten entrepreneurs from PGP 89 came to campus and participated in various classes, panel discussions and presentations. It was great fun. With hugely successful entrepreneurs like Sanjeev Bikhchandani (naukri.com), R. Subramanian (Subhikhsa) and Rahul Bhasin (Barings Pvt. Equity) in the class, the students got a massive dose of ‘from the horse’s mouth’. More »

The difference between KBC and a lottery

“Kaun Banega Crorepati” (KBC), India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” is watched by between 15 and 20 million Indians. In parts it is great entertainment. But a part of it is pretty darned close to a lottery.
More »

Another Ladoo for my Ladla

This trip, for some reason, I have been noticing a lot more obesity in India. From the just overweight to the can’t-get-out-of-their-airline-seat-themselves obese. Sedentary lifestyles have something to do with this, of course, but I sense that there is another major factor at work here - an Indian mother’s love. More »

Mumbai Taxis

I am in India on a 2 week trip.

On the ride from the airport to Malad, I get to understand why the Mumbai taxis are the way they are, from my driver. For those of us who have had their bones rattled in a Mumbai taxi, this will tell you why. It won’t hurt less when your head bangs into the roof of the cab, but at least you can nod wisely because you know who to blame. More »

Water, No Ice

Indians are known to waiters in restaurants as the “Water, No Ice” people. Most Indians that I know don’t like to order a drink at lunch since the water is free. And no one likes their water with ice cubes in it. Call it racial profiling, if you like, but the Indian position on how they like their water makes sense to me. Given that our ancestral state in the African savannah did not involve any water with ice cubes in restaurants, I suspect that our genes did not prepare us for this daily assault from ice and ice cold water.

On March 1, my wife, Vidya Pradhan and her friend Rohini Mohan started an “online magazine” for Bay Area Indians. More »

Your Ancestors Were African

One of my enduring interests has been evolutionary biology. It is a fascinating subject. Much of the credit for that goes to Richard Dawkins who is perhaps the best known writer on the subject, for making it so approachable. His book Selfish Gene, is a must read for anyone who wants to begin exploring this exciting subject. His latest book is God Delusion. As you can imagine, evolutionary biology and organized religion don’t get along.
More »

Annoyed Reader

Annoyed posted a comment that needed a response. The response got big (and important) enough to be posted to the blog.

Annoyed’s well argued point is that if you want to have a well regarded blog (who doesn’t?) you have to respond to comments with greater frequency. I do realize that. Without responding to comments enough, one can’t create the watering-hole-of-like-minded-people kind of community around the blog. My responses are spotty (although up from none in the first 6 months!). Should I be responding to comments more?

Here’s the rub - responding to comments takes time. And comments can come in anytime during the week, not just the weekend, which is when I typically write. I run a startup - that’s my job and passion (blogging is just a passion). I travel a lot. Over the week I simply cannot guarantee a service level on comment response. I think it is best not to set that expectation.

That’s my side of it. But Annoyed’s comment raises a more interesting point. Can you be a serious blogger if you don’t respond to comments adequately? Maybe not, but I think there are no rules on this one. Seth Godin writes a very popular and well-regarded (not always the same thing) blog. He doesn’t allow any comments on the blog. Period. His explanation is here. TechCrunch has an interesting post and discussion on whether a blog must have comments. The sense I get is that there are no rules, just guidelines.

I typically post just once a week, not twice or thrice a week, which seems to be the guideline for an active blog. I often post long article-length posts (again not recommended). And I respond to comments infrequently. I have made my choices and I am cool with it. And I think as long as I am consistent with my ’service levels’ my readers are cool with it too.

A Higher Intelligence

Last week was down time. Vacationed in San Antonio with the family. Quite a nice family destination with a little bit of everything thrown in.

At the San Antonio SeaWorld observed a most amazing thing. At the Dolphin Cove, visitors were allowed to interact directly with a set of bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins were within pettable distance and some people were petting them. But the dolphins seemed less interested in ‘affection’ and more in ‘play’. They would stop near you and stick themselves out of the water, like in the photo above or splash water on some people.

The guy next to me decided that he’d like a closer encounter. When a dolphin stood up in the water, much as the dolphin above is doing, he reached and tickled him under the chin (or snout). The dolphin took it for a few seconds and then suddenly feinted a bite with his snout. The man pulled his arm back like lightning. Upon which, the dolphin started tittering. I have no other word to describe what it was doing. Snout open, it was basically having a good laugh!

I consider humour a sign of intelligence. At that moment, that dolphin’s IQ was higher than a few humourless human beings that most of us have the misfortune of knowing.

For more on dolphin intelligence click here and here.

Of Mice and Men

Researchers at the University of Virginia have studied the effects of jet lag on mice and the news is not good for us flatworld types. We may be looking at prematurely flat-lining, so be sure to write your wills.
More »

My Government School

I grew up in a small town called Hisar in Haryana. My father was a Professor at Haryana Agricultural University and I did most of my schooling at Campus School. As the name suggests, the school was meant for the children of University staff.

I left Hisar after my 10th boards. On trips back to Hisar to see family I would drop in for a chat with my school teachers. Then my family left Hisar and I never went back until recently the internet brought some of my old school mates together. On this trip to India I went back to Hisar and to Campus School after more than 20 years. It was quite a trip down memory lane. More »