Bangalore Conundrum

I really sense Bangalore is a fascinating place to be.I came to Bangalore 5 months ago when I joined Wipro.I had never been to Bangalore before and used to imagine the place as a city of software companies,Dosa, IIM and Kannada People.Off course my thinking was right but Bangalore is more than these four things.

Bangalore is city of hope and dream for thousand and thousand of people. People who come here with a twinkle in their eye to find their destiny,People who come to feed their family sitting in some small town and villages,People who have money to expand their business and want to give a try to the fifth metropolis of India, People from all around the world some one who is here because his parent company in abroad is developing a software and someone who is afraid of working abroad anymore and wants to be a part of the growing economy(Rain makers) .In summary Bangalore is the place to be.

One of my friend who is preoccupied with the Bombay says that you remove four thing from Bangalore and Bangalore is nothing.Four things are : MG Road,Brigade Road,Forum Mall and Electronic city.
Perhaps yes but have he ever tried to think what is so special about all these places;Its the people.People having money to spend on unnecessary and trifle things(thanks to IT industry),People who are taking these people on ride- the shopkeepers and the Mall Owners,People who are taking Fortune companies to a ride-Software giants.Bangalore is lot more than an expensive and overrated silicon junction.
Bangalore is the place of thousand of entrepreneur who started their venture leaving big MNCs and realizing that its better to setup your own identity than being a tool for the MNCs.Bangalore is the place for lacks of construction workers , labours,drivers,nanny and plumbers who flock all the way from Remote areas of India to make their livelihood. Bangalore is the city of AutoRikshaw and Cab drivers who will ask you 1.5 times in the daytime to drop you on crowded places and dont forget the Software companies cab drivers they might come 1 hour late to pick you up but will ensure that you reach destination on time.(I don't know why Vijay Malya is looking outside for his F1 team)

I will add more on this article when I will get time its time for my Cab...I am too just a part of the unknown,nescient IT crowd.... lets accept it.

Go Kiss the world

I read a very famous quote when I was reading Alchemist "Some time you dont choose your destiny, destiny choose you" My hats off Mr. Paulo Coelho you are genius....I can relate to that because currently I am no more overpowering my destiniy but I am just saying let it go Neeraj.....recently I read a book Go Kiss the world by Subrato Bagchi....He is cofounder of Mindtree Consulting...I love his writing style very lucid, straightforward and motivating...Its sort of a autobiography about him but I will not put it in to that category because book mentions the life lessons and it does not force you to read about an IT stalwart. It binds you with your life that how ordinary peole can also do wonder in the world...In the book he mention about his child life that how as a child form a modest family he has to do a lot of sacrifice in education ,comfort and the life style but ultimately at the end of the day it is the destiny that will guide you and not you or any near and dear...From a graduate in political science who was aspiring to become a civil service officer (Being a clerk somewhere in Orisa) to a management trainee in DCM(Delhi cloth mills) where he had to fight lot of internal politics and then ten years in Wipro where he becomes the Head of the R&D department...his job shift to Lucent that he counted as his biggest mistake to construction of one of the most admired company in India Mindtree...It was not Mr. Subrato Bagchi who was in command of his career it was destiny that was doing things, things that led him to creation of Mindtree...Had he not believe in the destiny and tried to do things by his will he had never succeeded in his life and probably retired as the Head Panda Babu happily....But it was the destiny that did the magic and took him all the way to Delhi and later valley ....I always used to think about this guy as the some one hot shot who just gave some calls to its colleague and some big investors and just setup the company...but when I first read about the story of Mindtree in their website I was mesmerize the next thing I did was I ordered the book from Indiaplaza and started reading it....I will assure you that it is a worth reading for anyone who believes in the power of destiny....May be Bagchi sahab will not be willing to except that it was all destiny because he never mentioned the word destiny in the whole book but I am sure he also understands that what he wanted to convey....May be sometime I can meet him personally and convey my personal regards....

Vipassana :

I have recently joined Wipro Technologies as a new joinee of MBA batch 08 from Symbiois, Pune. You must know that people call B Schools in India educational resorts. You have very less to do and lot of time to enjoy with your friends but there is something that was very much compulsory in the first year induction for all the junta and that was Vipassana. We used to call it the unnecessary burden on poor souls like us. Vipassana is one of most ancient meditation techniques. It was rediscovered 2500 years ago by Lord Buddha. The word Vipassana means seeing things as they really are. It is the process of self - purification by self - observation. One begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind. With a sharpened awareness one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness. Sounds quite heavy stuff isn’t. Anyways we used to attend it because it was mandatory and there was a rumor going around in the campus that it may carry marks also. I think waking up in the morning at 5 AM was the biggest painstaking task for us and it becomes Herculean when you have to sleep late at night after giving finishing touch to the next day’s presentations or after coming from a late night party

First day when we went to attend Vipassana (The Research being done on us) at 6 AM we were totally clueless what it is. A lady was sitting on stage and there were mattress spreaded all around the place. Aha! Mattress… That was the first thing which splashed in our mind; let’s go and sleep, but the lady was ogling us and she could see our tired eyes and unwillingness to do something which was forced on us.

The lady first starts with a very warm welcome and empathy towards us and says “Vipassana It is a technique that will eradicate suffering. It is a meditation; art of living that one can use to make positive contributions to society and to oneself too, to their mind and soul. It is a method of mental purification which allows one to face life's tensions and problems with calm mind and in a balanced way. Vipassana meditation aims at the highest spiritual goals of total liberation and full enlightenment; its all about to strengthen your soul and provide a way to achieve success while having calm in all aspects, its purpose is never simply to cure physical disease.” She spoke for few minutes in her magical voice. It was looking that someone is speaking from the background. It was really an inspiring speech but I could not make a lot from it.
After that motivated speech we started with some breathing exercises (I can still don’t remember all the names) and suddenly we all started feeling refresh. Believe me friends it was just like some one has hit the F5 button of my body ; she also asked to perform some ‘Surya Namskar’ with enchanting of Omm and it was a revitalizing. The moment I started enchanting I realized that it helps in clearing throat but it was my illusion as she was telling that it helps in sucking up the positive energy from outside and to keep the whole body and mind healthy. Every one was mesmerized and enchanted with the effect and 20 minutes had already passed and it was the time for a break but not a tea break it was time for Shavaasan. In Shavaasan you just need to relax your body and mind. I was not sure about my mind but I suddenly went in to deep sleep so deep that my friend had to wake me up. After 5 minute she asked us to wakeup and leave the room with maintaining silence. By the way I had nothing to speak at that time I was feeling the positive energy in my body and mind from inside and I was not in the mood wasting it talking with someone. From the next day I regularly used to attend the session not because from the fear of marks but because of the reward that it was offering to me. A perfect catharsis for body mind and soul. I will suggest all the readers to at least give it a try you may not be able to start doing it by yourself but there are number of Yoga Shivirs, Yoga experts and Practitioners who teach it. Its simple and it works. Although some people say that it is not the real Vipassana because actual Vipassana (That Monk used to practice) is very hard to practice. I will suggest that there is nothing wrong with this hybrid version and every one can go for it. I do it regularly and I feel very good

The Pain of being an MBA

Very soon I am going to finish My MBA। Undoubtedly I can say that I feel the difference inside me but the feeling of being an MBA also creates an ache in my mind. Everyone start expecting a lot from you. Parents who were continuously pouring the cash in to your bank account suddenly start realising here goes my Fixed deposit॥now this is the time for some Bonus .... a long long time...Faculties who were trying to teach you from your first class that you need to learn a lot in these two years still mourn that you haven't learn anything . Friends who were perennially copying your assignments and projects and getting an A grade suddenly stop talking to you because you don't have anything else to serve now. Your so called girlfriend realise that now this is the time to end this temporary agreement and take some big decision. offcourse its not about me its about that Cool, rich and smart guy working in some Big MNC and withdrawing fat cheque. Your prospected employer believes that you have already learned everything in the womb and you will start running the moment he cuts the umbilical cord..This pain is bearable but what about the Pain that resides in your mind after completion of your MBA...Does it really worth doing an MBA ?I will surely discuss about this also in my next blog.

नीरज वर्मा

6 Things GURUJI.COM need to consider

I was recently going through Indian search engine Guruji.com and found out that 6 most important aspects where they need to work.

1. An Improve content filtering mechanism that will block porn content coming to the search engine results.. You can check it by typing 'porn','sex','teen' .etc. A lot of inappropriate contents will be sown in the results.

2 Inclusion of foreign results.. Guruji proclaim itself as an Indian search engine but number of results coming on the serach results are foreign. Type the word 'Instant Loan' and see that the topmost result coming is a US Site and not and indian one.

3. Similarity with google : Gruji wants to make its own space so they will have to follow their own presentation pattern and not borrow it from google. Although Indian people are quite comfortable with the google style of searching and presentation because its fast and accurate Guruji can make some changes in the presentation interface and make it more attractive and easy to use.I hope they are listening.

4. Robust revenue model: I cant see a dedicated section for the advertiser anywhere mentioned I think any average Indian advertiser who would want to advertise will expect a very easy to find and operate place in the Guruji.com . Guruji has not even mentioned that how they are going to charge their advertiser. they might have a section somewhere hidden and I missed it so does lot of other potential advertisers.

5. Why only follow the Crawling and indexing model and not the Business directory pattern at the same place that can also be searched. It only needs a link to share a business directory. Sulekha.com is making tons by just providing details of the locality.

6 Suggest me something : I need suggestion when it comes to typo mistake or not finding what I am searching for.. suggest me similar things like another restaurant or cinema hall nearby.

I will suggest some more points very soon comments are welcome..

BLOG BLOG BLOG

Blogging is changing its face and becoming more mature over the period of time. It was my first time that I attended a workshop completely dedicated to blogging. Although it was the part of the curriculum as well as carried marks too but it was really fun attending it. Workshop facilitator Mr. Parag Shah who himself is an avid blogger made a lot of interesting points. One particular thing that drew my attention was monetizing the blog. When I started blogging the first thought in my mind was that can we really make money through blogging ?I read lot of self proclaimed book on secret adsense tips and did number of changes on my blog to monetize it but in the process what I could not remember was that people come to your blog because they want to read something interesting and not because they want to click on the pesky google adsense links..and it make sense because I also do the same when I go to someone's else blog..

I know that making money from blog is possible and numerous people are making it but because my focus of blogging is off course not monetizing but to change the world I will stop putting efforts in optimizing my blog for adsense and start providing something more meaningful....

The Last Trimester

Life becomes quite easier when things start happenings in your way.But sometime that easier life start creating obstacles.Everything looked so tough last year. Those Painstaking Lectures are once again back and this time I feel like just running away. Once again understanding the concept of Finance (I call it once again because hopefully we have already done it in our first trimester) and then again having boring lectures are now unbearable.

Sometimes I feel myself into My first trimester when we used to wake up early in the morning and just run for the classes Yes we are again having classes from early morning 10-5 PM. Although I am waking up early in the morning in these days but the reason is different. I am trying to loose some weight so that I can become what I used to be earlier.
Motivation plays a very important role in everything you do. Sometimes it come internally from yours some time from an external experience. Most fascinating thing about the motivation is that you overpass your motivator and that becomes a real surprise. I guess the story is becoming a real complicated may be I ll try to explain you in my next blog..

Back from Hibernation

Hello everyone,

After a long term now I am back from Hibernation and now I have decided that I will regularly write. I know it becomes frustrating visiting a blog and not finding any thing new in it.
so this are the updates from my life till now...

Got placed in Wipro as a solution designer(Presales) Offer letter yet to be received so I am not an official Wiproite yet.

Had a totally liqoufree 31st December this year and did not visit my home town even get time to to do so.

I am still thinking about a great business plan booked some domain name but i am not sure about starting yet and please dont ask me because even I am not having any foolproof idea about it.

It is related to pharmaceuticals market, Ipods, Gambling lot of ideas.

Rest in the next blog

Neeraj