It has been three years at MapmyIndia (www.mapmyindia.com) and it has been one helluva ride. Have helped the company enter the GPS navigation marketplace, involved in large mapping surveys, starting vehicle tracking and other related enterprise services, last but not the least, the kids are loving it.
I am all well settled in Bombay (again Mumbai for old timers), trying to learn Marathi (something I should have picked up when I was much younger), and have started enjoying the small pleasures of life in the neighborhood.
The little one has turned 5 and now debates about cricket with me, and the baby girl is growing up to be one cute brat (she loves to cry for everything, as she knows it works). Wife is working hard and is pushing for a new venture with her friend, called Treasure Books (www.treasurebooks.in), a quaint bookshop and activity center for small kids in Khar area (near Fab India off Linking Road). Hence all in all, life is hectic and fun.
I just went to Crawford market and checked out some interesting shops, which is something one should explore on a nice working day away from the headaches of office (btw suggestion to all, get rid of the blackberry and you will find life is more meaningful and interesting), check mails once a day or something like that.
Anyways, have to get back to some work, enjoy the posts, adios.
Shiva
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Bombay Monsoons
Well here I am sitting on the computer on a lazy sunday afternoon. Had gone for a movie (Ice Age 3) with the kids, it was a pretty good movie, kids loved it. It is gently raining outside and after a long time I am really enjoying the day without any committments, no emails, no phone calls, no parties etc. Life should be like this.
So what all have I been up to, for starters, went and saw the complete Entourage Seasons (not sure how many of you have seen it), it comes on HBO and is really good. Have re-started listening to ColdPlay, i.e. getting new music and am reading Dale Carnegie / Warren Buffett / Nandan Nilekani.
Over the past 3 months, I have again involved myself into the Mapmyindia GPS navigators sales and have been actively pushing the sales of our new products along with my colleagues, I can actually see the market coming around and it is nice to see the hardwork paying off. Things I had done 2 years ago is now paying off and we are actually in market making mode.
Outside of sales, I am going to start core engineering i.e. learn how to work and repair cars, have also started programming (coding) for the kicks of it. Over-all in a sweet spot of life.
This past weekend, I went to Pune and loved the city, it is small and kinda sweet, unlike the big bad metropolitan Bombay/Mumbai where I live. Family is doing well. Kids have started soccer, dancing, chess etc.
More till later,
Namaste,
Shiva
So what all have I been up to, for starters, went and saw the complete Entourage Seasons (not sure how many of you have seen it), it comes on HBO and is really good. Have re-started listening to ColdPlay, i.e. getting new music and am reading Dale Carnegie / Warren Buffett / Nandan Nilekani.
Over the past 3 months, I have again involved myself into the Mapmyindia GPS navigators sales and have been actively pushing the sales of our new products along with my colleagues, I can actually see the market coming around and it is nice to see the hardwork paying off. Things I had done 2 years ago is now paying off and we are actually in market making mode.
Outside of sales, I am going to start core engineering i.e. learn how to work and repair cars, have also started programming (coding) for the kicks of it. Over-all in a sweet spot of life.
This past weekend, I went to Pune and loved the city, it is small and kinda sweet, unlike the big bad metropolitan Bombay/Mumbai where I live. Family is doing well. Kids have started soccer, dancing, chess etc.
More till later,
Namaste,
Shiva
Sunday, May 31, 2009
So I have moved again, this time to the eastern and new up coming area of Mumbai. Hopefully this will be a move where I will stay here for a while, but then never say never. This place reminds me of our place in Newport Pavonia, Jersey City, where used to live on the 22nd floor for a year. This place is similar only i get to see Nava Sheva port instead of downtown Manhattan. This area is fairly under developed part of Bombay and right now I am in the process of finding different places from where I can order food (have found Indian Chinese and Mughalai).
Kids are growing up really so fast and time flies. The older one is 4.5 years and the younger one is 2.5 years. The boy has taught himself how to watch movies on the DVD (still do not have cable at this house) and is good at arts and crafts. He enjoys to paint. The little one follows her brother and wants to everything that big bro does.
On the professional front, MapmyIndia is doing well, we have moved into a new office in Delhi and are quite growing. Have raised another round of funding from existing investors and Qualcomm Ventures. Work is interesting and over the past 2 odd years, have learned quite a bit how to sell in India. It is an artwork. My personal professional network has become quite significant as maps are licensed to folks from all walks of life.
Exercise and gym etc are all history and have given up on that, so putting on tonnes of weight. Dont see that changing in the near future. Travelling has reduced but it will resume next month, when the rains hit Bombay.
More later,
Adious,
Shiva
Kids are growing up really so fast and time flies. The older one is 4.5 years and the younger one is 2.5 years. The boy has taught himself how to watch movies on the DVD (still do not have cable at this house) and is good at arts and crafts. He enjoys to paint. The little one follows her brother and wants to everything that big bro does.
On the professional front, MapmyIndia is doing well, we have moved into a new office in Delhi and are quite growing. Have raised another round of funding from existing investors and Qualcomm Ventures. Work is interesting and over the past 2 odd years, have learned quite a bit how to sell in India. It is an artwork. My personal professional network has become quite significant as maps are licensed to folks from all walks of life.
Exercise and gym etc are all history and have given up on that, so putting on tonnes of weight. Dont see that changing in the near future. Travelling has reduced but it will resume next month, when the rains hit Bombay.
More later,
Adious,
Shiva
Thursday, January 29, 2009
2 years hence
It has been 2 years since I moved back to India and it has been a journey, have shifted houses, cities, office locations but it has been well worth it. As someone says life is a journey.
MapmyIndia, where I spend most of my waking hours is growing by leaps and bounds and in general the atmosphere around mapping/gps/navigation etc is doing extremely well. Marketplace is coming around.
Kids have grown up, the little boy has started speaking Bambiya Hindi - local flavour of bombay-hindi, little girl goes a quaint playschool in Mumbai and adjusting well.
This past new years we went to Matheran (a little hill station near bombay around 2 hour drive), where you have to drive upto a point and then leave your car ( you need to go horse back or walk), no cars allowed into the town (one of a kind in India). Kids had a ball of a time, and it is so dirt cheap (the entire trip cost only Rs5,000/- around 100USD) for a family of 4 four with a baby sitter (eating/loding etc all), nothing can be cheaper than that.
This past weekend we went to Sariska, a tiger forest reserve near Alwar (Rajasthan - 3 hour drive from Delhi). It was a great reserver but all the tigers have been killed, some months ago, government introduced 2 tigers hoping to rejuvenate the population. This was my first experience to a national park in India, and I must say it is really cool, should do more of these.
On a personal basis I have put on lots of weight and have become really lazy, as there are servants and helpers for all sorts of things and one does not have to even lift a finger (bed tea is served on a daily basis and i have not ironed my clothes in 2 years). Yes India is irritating at times, specially traffic (it SUCKS!!), if someone has to live in India, his/her commute time should be not more than 20 minutes. All in all, it is fun and I look forward to travelling more around India, now that my kids are a little bigger.
Namaste till next time,
Shiva
MapmyIndia, where I spend most of my waking hours is growing by leaps and bounds and in general the atmosphere around mapping/gps/navigation etc is doing extremely well. Marketplace is coming around.
Kids have grown up, the little boy has started speaking Bambiya Hindi - local flavour of bombay-hindi, little girl goes a quaint playschool in Mumbai and adjusting well.
This past new years we went to Matheran (a little hill station near bombay around 2 hour drive), where you have to drive upto a point and then leave your car ( you need to go horse back or walk), no cars allowed into the town (one of a kind in India). Kids had a ball of a time, and it is so dirt cheap (the entire trip cost only Rs5,000/- around 100USD) for a family of 4 four with a baby sitter (eating/loding etc all), nothing can be cheaper than that.
This past weekend we went to Sariska, a tiger forest reserve near Alwar (Rajasthan - 3 hour drive from Delhi). It was a great reserver but all the tigers have been killed, some months ago, government introduced 2 tigers hoping to rejuvenate the population. This was my first experience to a national park in India, and I must say it is really cool, should do more of these.
On a personal basis I have put on lots of weight and have become really lazy, as there are servants and helpers for all sorts of things and one does not have to even lift a finger (bed tea is served on a daily basis and i have not ironed my clothes in 2 years). Yes India is irritating at times, specially traffic (it SUCKS!!), if someone has to live in India, his/her commute time should be not more than 20 minutes. All in all, it is fun and I look forward to travelling more around India, now that my kids are a little bigger.
Namaste till next time,
Shiva
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Terrorism and Living in India
So what is new, I have been lazy about writing. This past few weeks have been quite eventful for India, where a small bunch of people held the area of South Bombay (Mumbai) hostage. It was a sad event and most of the news channels carried the event live on TV for 3 days (non-stop).
Well, we do not have events at this level, but in the recent past, Naxals have killed many policeman in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. There has been brutal violence in Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir/North East continues to see some sort of bombing, violence all the time. So what changed this time??
The attacks came on Rich people in one of the most coveted neighborhoods in India. I happen to part of this society and most of my friends and families are shell shocked. How could this happen?? Well wake up folks, it happens all the time, only for the 1st time it happened in your back yard. Television channels loved it as their TRP were falling and this really helped them boost viewerships.
You cannot imagine but the kind of advertising that went on through the broadcasts, heck I even got SMS from insurance companies to buy insurance when the hostage crises was going on. Another interesting thing, was that when all ended, many of the policemen on duty, picked up valuables from the dead (diamonds, earnings, watches etc). Again nothing new, happens all the time in J&K.
So what did I learn from this event, be careful and you never know when you might land up (wrong place at the wrong time). As Narshimha Rao used to say - "This too shall pass", I am sure it will if the upcoming cricket matches between India and England becomes interesting. The current Chief Minister (Leader of the state), lost his job for no fault of his, this event could have happened in any state of India, but his political detractors lost no time in getting him removed.
Indian's specially educated ones have to start voting in large numbers to swing elections (only 3% votes makes the difference between losing and winning). I urge folks who read my blog, to visit http://www.jaagore.com/main.php (Jaagore - A great initiative), to register. Please go out and vote and find the right leaders who can get India out of the mess.
Jai Hind and Jai India.
Regards,
Shiva
PS: Folks thinking about returning to India, now is a good time as US/European economy is on the verge of tanking and shutting shop. India is still hiring.
Well, we do not have events at this level, but in the recent past, Naxals have killed many policeman in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. There has been brutal violence in Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir/North East continues to see some sort of bombing, violence all the time. So what changed this time??
The attacks came on Rich people in one of the most coveted neighborhoods in India. I happen to part of this society and most of my friends and families are shell shocked. How could this happen?? Well wake up folks, it happens all the time, only for the 1st time it happened in your back yard. Television channels loved it as their TRP were falling and this really helped them boost viewerships.
You cannot imagine but the kind of advertising that went on through the broadcasts, heck I even got SMS from insurance companies to buy insurance when the hostage crises was going on. Another interesting thing, was that when all ended, many of the policemen on duty, picked up valuables from the dead (diamonds, earnings, watches etc). Again nothing new, happens all the time in J&K.
So what did I learn from this event, be careful and you never know when you might land up (wrong place at the wrong time). As Narshimha Rao used to say - "This too shall pass", I am sure it will if the upcoming cricket matches between India and England becomes interesting. The current Chief Minister (Leader of the state), lost his job for no fault of his, this event could have happened in any state of India, but his political detractors lost no time in getting him removed.
Indian's specially educated ones have to start voting in large numbers to swing elections (only 3% votes makes the difference between losing and winning). I urge folks who read my blog, to visit http://www.jaagore.com/main.php (Jaagore - A great initiative), to register. Please go out and vote and find the right leaders who can get India out of the mess.
Jai Hind and Jai India.
Regards,
Shiva
PS: Folks thinking about returning to India, now is a good time as US/European economy is on the verge of tanking and shutting shop. India is still hiring.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Blogging on a highway
It is around 7 AM on a monday morning and I am on the way to Pune for a meeting with some really smart folks that run engineering services for a large automotive giant. On the way I am using my GPS Navigator and it is giving me the directions as to how to get there.
I am truly enjoying the ride, the driver is driving the vehicle at over 120KMph, which is a good feeling, because in bombay, most of the time you do not cross 20Kmph. Heck I dont think my cars 5th gear has been engaged in a many
months :)
Well getting driven is much better than driving, specially with so many trucks etc on the way, remind me of driving in Detroit Metropolitan area, when you had to drive on your own avoid heavy automotive traffic on crappy roads.
This is much better, plus I get to enjoy the scenary of the fresh green vegetation, rains just about finishing in India. Sometimes I think going out to visit a place via a car instead of flying is more fun and more interesting as
it gives you so much to see.
I am planning to visit the far east in detail and try to get to meet many more folks from the automotive, telecom and entertaiment industry (audio) for my navigation products. I am in touch with many but it does not hurt to meet more of them. I always enjoy meeting people from all walks of life.
On the personal front, the little baby girl of mine is becoming big and smarter, she is able to put on her shoes all by herself and when we are going out, she brings my shoes to me stating that I should get my lazy self going.
The son takes on after me, as he wants his 1 year old sister to help him get ready. He too has become smart and is learning all sorts of useful and useless things at school. Wifey is ploughing away hard at banking, (the world in her part is kinda of falling apart with many US banks going under). I think it is tough to convince people to put in money into things that most people do not understand. Investment banking is more about education than anything else (come to think of it, most investors do not really understand very many industries outside of banking, even if they do understand that).
Lots is happening in India from security issues to banking issues, but on my end life pretty much remains the same and as usual I am still trying to find my place in the system.
till next time.
Shiva
I am truly enjoying the ride, the driver is driving the vehicle at over 120KMph, which is a good feeling, because in bombay, most of the time you do not cross 20Kmph. Heck I dont think my cars 5th gear has been engaged in a many
months :)
Well getting driven is much better than driving, specially with so many trucks etc on the way, remind me of driving in Detroit Metropolitan area, when you had to drive on your own avoid heavy automotive traffic on crappy roads.
This is much better, plus I get to enjoy the scenary of the fresh green vegetation, rains just about finishing in India. Sometimes I think going out to visit a place via a car instead of flying is more fun and more interesting as
it gives you so much to see.
I am planning to visit the far east in detail and try to get to meet many more folks from the automotive, telecom and entertaiment industry (audio) for my navigation products. I am in touch with many but it does not hurt to meet more of them. I always enjoy meeting people from all walks of life.
On the personal front, the little baby girl of mine is becoming big and smarter, she is able to put on her shoes all by herself and when we are going out, she brings my shoes to me stating that I should get my lazy self going.
The son takes on after me, as he wants his 1 year old sister to help him get ready. He too has become smart and is learning all sorts of useful and useless things at school. Wifey is ploughing away hard at banking, (the world in her part is kinda of falling apart with many US banks going under). I think it is tough to convince people to put in money into things that most people do not understand. Investment banking is more about education than anything else (come to think of it, most investors do not really understand very many industries outside of banking, even if they do understand that).
Lots is happening in India from security issues to banking issues, but on my end life pretty much remains the same and as usual I am still trying to find my place in the system.
till next time.
Shiva
Monday, August 25, 2008
The month of August 2008
This has been a very slow month, with intermittent rains and broken roads. Heck I have barely traveled this month. India is burning in Inflation. We did great (better than before) in games, Cricket team is relegated to no where (did not watch even one match - even papers did not cover the matches in Detail), bomb blasts in various place, but on the personal front life has been slow.
I have made it a point to spend more time with family and better manage my time. I try and come home a bit early and am working from home from 10:30 to 12:30 in the night, catching up on mails etc. This is a good time as the kids are sleeping and there is no one to disturb. One thing that I still am not doing is going to the gym. Just have no enthusiasm for the same.
MapmyIndia (http://www.mapmyindia.com) is going good, we have made much progress in the enterprise world and are getting tonnes of traffic on our website. More and more people are becoming aware of the products that we have to offer. As long as we keen enhancing the products, we will keep growing in good numbers. Over-all the last 1.75 years have been rewarding, could have better managed the time, but then you move as the slowest person in your chain.
Little one is talking sentences now, the boy is learning marathi and has is keen to convince me that Bombay has gone and Mumbai has come and we should speak Marathi, which is not really a bad thing. The more the languages he learns the better. He was asking me what is Mandarin and how to understand the Olympics speeches??
We recently pest controlled our house and killed lots of cockroaches (yuck), the maid is very happy and she things her mission is accomplished (she had found the pest control folks). We have fired one of the drivers and it seems the other one is going the same way. Drivers are just so irritating in India even if you pay them high wages, they just cannot stick, not sure what to do about it.
At this point we are seeking our own place to move into (enough of renting been doing that for 3 years now). Wifey is gone beserk on the furniture and other items, I am like this too shall pass and we will get used to dirty walls :)
Anyways I am a bit tired and now think it is time to get some sleep. shall keep posting, in the meanwhile if anyone is in Bandra in Mumbai, they should try out Kakori kabab in the area, it is one of a kind and melts in your mouth.
thx,
Shiva
I have made it a point to spend more time with family and better manage my time. I try and come home a bit early and am working from home from 10:30 to 12:30 in the night, catching up on mails etc. This is a good time as the kids are sleeping and there is no one to disturb. One thing that I still am not doing is going to the gym. Just have no enthusiasm for the same.
MapmyIndia (http://www.mapmyindia.com) is going good, we have made much progress in the enterprise world and are getting tonnes of traffic on our website. More and more people are becoming aware of the products that we have to offer. As long as we keen enhancing the products, we will keep growing in good numbers. Over-all the last 1.75 years have been rewarding, could have better managed the time, but then you move as the slowest person in your chain.
Little one is talking sentences now, the boy is learning marathi and has is keen to convince me that Bombay has gone and Mumbai has come and we should speak Marathi, which is not really a bad thing. The more the languages he learns the better. He was asking me what is Mandarin and how to understand the Olympics speeches??
We recently pest controlled our house and killed lots of cockroaches (yuck), the maid is very happy and she things her mission is accomplished (she had found the pest control folks). We have fired one of the drivers and it seems the other one is going the same way. Drivers are just so irritating in India even if you pay them high wages, they just cannot stick, not sure what to do about it.
At this point we are seeking our own place to move into (enough of renting been doing that for 3 years now). Wifey is gone beserk on the furniture and other items, I am like this too shall pass and we will get used to dirty walls :)
Anyways I am a bit tired and now think it is time to get some sleep. shall keep posting, in the meanwhile if anyone is in Bandra in Mumbai, they should try out Kakori kabab in the area, it is one of a kind and melts in your mouth.
thx,
Shiva
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Long time no write
It has been a long summer and we are now into the monsoons, which are really nice and intereting and sometimes scary in Mumbai. Well so here I am in Mumbai or Bombay enjoying the rains and my work.
Recently I had a chance to travel to two unique countries Turkey and Singapore, both very different and are on two opposite poles of the spectrum. Turkey is a mix between Christianity and Islam and is literally sitting on the cusp of change, there are places where is it forbidden to wear the hijab (burkha). People smoke, drink in the open, it is a somewhat Islamic country with European winds. Compare this to Singapore, which is almost like a utopian country. I had heard much about Singapore but you have not understood the place till you see it. It is like Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA except instead of it being a neighborhood, it is the entire country that has been sanitized. Perfect parks, perfect buildings, cheap food, expensive cars. Just about perfect, heck even the grass across the entire island is cut at teh same height. Traffic from point A to point B is teh same each day and take the same time each day. I have never seen anything like this and dont believe I will ever again.
I am enjoying Mumbai, have been trying out new eating joints. Love to work in this city, since the days are long and people are overall nice, it is good to interact with local bombayites/mumbaikars.
Kids are doing well, love to get wet. More till them.
Cheers,
Shiva
Recently I had a chance to travel to two unique countries Turkey and Singapore, both very different and are on two opposite poles of the spectrum. Turkey is a mix between Christianity and Islam and is literally sitting on the cusp of change, there are places where is it forbidden to wear the hijab (burkha). People smoke, drink in the open, it is a somewhat Islamic country with European winds. Compare this to Singapore, which is almost like a utopian country. I had heard much about Singapore but you have not understood the place till you see it. It is like Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA except instead of it being a neighborhood, it is the entire country that has been sanitized. Perfect parks, perfect buildings, cheap food, expensive cars. Just about perfect, heck even the grass across the entire island is cut at teh same height. Traffic from point A to point B is teh same each day and take the same time each day. I have never seen anything like this and dont believe I will ever again.
I am enjoying Mumbai, have been trying out new eating joints. Love to work in this city, since the days are long and people are overall nice, it is good to interact with local bombayites/mumbaikars.
Kids are doing well, love to get wet. More till them.
Cheers,
Shiva
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
April - The Coming Heat
April is here and we are on the way into summer. Bombay gets really hot and humid (more so humid) in the summer months, where one sweats by just walking out of the house. Most people crib about it and find it annoying, but give me the sweat anytime and anyday over the harsh heat of places like Delhi and the harsh winter of places like Detroit.
So what is new and exciting in my life? Hmm nothing really much, only that the son has joined a proper school and is going there for a few weeks now and it is really an experience to see your children go to school early morning, small little kids crying, wailing at the school gates. It is an experience, which all parents go through and is difficult to explain. I had a recent chance to drive around Mumbai and visit the Manori beaches, gosh I loved it, so close to Mumbai but still such beauty, and the only reason these beaches are saved is because there is no bridge on the bay from the Mumbai side to Manori, heck great Indian infrastructure is actually being put to use.
Recently have gotten a new DVD player, the old one conked out (happens to those that do not research electronics before buying it), waiting to watch my Godfather collection on the same, time permitting.
Else life is easy and good, and interesting. MapmyIndia is doing well, and has in the last year become a brand. Our GPS products have become awesome (in a few years), it will supercede most western products (if telecom sector is an indicator).
That is all. Cheers till then.
Adios,
Shiva
So what is new and exciting in my life? Hmm nothing really much, only that the son has joined a proper school and is going there for a few weeks now and it is really an experience to see your children go to school early morning, small little kids crying, wailing at the school gates. It is an experience, which all parents go through and is difficult to explain. I had a recent chance to drive around Mumbai and visit the Manori beaches, gosh I loved it, so close to Mumbai but still such beauty, and the only reason these beaches are saved is because there is no bridge on the bay from the Mumbai side to Manori, heck great Indian infrastructure is actually being put to use.
Recently have gotten a new DVD player, the old one conked out (happens to those that do not research electronics before buying it), waiting to watch my Godfather collection on the same, time permitting.
Else life is easy and good, and interesting. MapmyIndia is doing well, and has in the last year become a brand. Our GPS products have become awesome (in a few years), it will supercede most western products (if telecom sector is an indicator).
That is all. Cheers till then.
Adios,
Shiva
Saturday, March 8, 2008
March Madness
Hi All,
Been a while since I have posted. I have not written any blogs for over 3 months. So it kind of feels good to be back to writing. We have now settled in Mumbai and have adjusted to the hectic pace of life, leaving at 9ish in the mornign and coming back at 9ish in the night. Kids have also adjusted and overall a bit of shanti (still have some outstanding items but those can wait).
I have finally started living like a true Indian businessman, who is seeking to position his company in the competative landscape. We have made much progress on the MapmyIndia front, by launching a pretty cool GPS navigator for all India, setting up a distribution network, selling via auto channels and retail stores. If nothing else, MapmyIndia is becoming a brand to reckon with. I tried the American way by being nice to everyone and being good and understanding, but in India, if you are not pushing, abusive and extremely demanding no one listens to you. You need to micromanage and in general people around you love that. They enjoy micro management.
So now i have two cars and two drivers, and they both suck, regularly trying to dupe you, so the best solution is to scream and shout and they all fall in line. Sad but that is the way India functions. People like to be treated badly and then only they produce. I think a bit of that applies to me as well :)
My friend in the US recently had a baby girl, it felt nice, as we are close and it was his first born, I have 2 friends standing still to get married and both are paranoid about the same, God bless them and hopefully they get married.
Overall otherwise, my sister and family have also moved back to India. I sometimes miss the US specially the toys for kids and ease of shopping (pain to shop in India), but other than that I am all set here in Bombay. Trying to expand the business and see if we can initiate something new (like mobile services with GPS mapping, etc). Let us see how that goes. Keep reading and hopefully I can post more regularly.
Btw, keep following the stock market, it has becoming really interesting and volatile, you can make lots of money on the volatility trading!!
Namaste till then.
Shiva
Been a while since I have posted. I have not written any blogs for over 3 months. So it kind of feels good to be back to writing. We have now settled in Mumbai and have adjusted to the hectic pace of life, leaving at 9ish in the mornign and coming back at 9ish in the night. Kids have also adjusted and overall a bit of shanti (still have some outstanding items but those can wait).
I have finally started living like a true Indian businessman, who is seeking to position his company in the competative landscape. We have made much progress on the MapmyIndia front, by launching a pretty cool GPS navigator for all India, setting up a distribution network, selling via auto channels and retail stores. If nothing else, MapmyIndia is becoming a brand to reckon with. I tried the American way by being nice to everyone and being good and understanding, but in India, if you are not pushing, abusive and extremely demanding no one listens to you. You need to micromanage and in general people around you love that. They enjoy micro management.
So now i have two cars and two drivers, and they both suck, regularly trying to dupe you, so the best solution is to scream and shout and they all fall in line. Sad but that is the way India functions. People like to be treated badly and then only they produce. I think a bit of that applies to me as well :)
My friend in the US recently had a baby girl, it felt nice, as we are close and it was his first born, I have 2 friends standing still to get married and both are paranoid about the same, God bless them and hopefully they get married.
Overall otherwise, my sister and family have also moved back to India. I sometimes miss the US specially the toys for kids and ease of shopping (pain to shop in India), but other than that I am all set here in Bombay. Trying to expand the business and see if we can initiate something new (like mobile services with GPS mapping, etc). Let us see how that goes. Keep reading and hopefully I can post more regularly.
Btw, keep following the stock market, it has becoming really interesting and volatile, you can make lots of money on the volatility trading!!
Namaste till then.
Shiva
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Return to Mumbai (Bombay)
So I have finally moved to Mumbai. It used to be called Bombay when I lived here over 13 years ago. Well, where do I start from. Traffic sucks and takes a lot of time from your daily worklife, meaning you start your day early and come home late.
Now Mumbai is a mini-India, whereas you find people from all walks of life, all regions, languages, cultures, class in the city. So it is like re-entering India, repeating the same experience like when I came back to India early this year.
We have gotten a place in an area called Bandra, it rocks and the locality is the most happening in Mumbai, lots of great eating joints, very lively and Bandra-Khar is the center of the metropolitan area. All in all not much has changed in the 13 years, property prices are still very high, schools are tough to get admission into, all the corporate houses still exist though some have moved their headquarters, Borivalli is not considered a far off suburb, trains are more packed then ever, but overall feel of the city is the same, only traffic has become much worse.
People are very professional (compared to rest of India), and most of the work is point to point. Now on the personal front outside of my observations about one of the largest Metropolitans in the world.
The son refuses to believe he is in Mumbai, and wants to return "home" to Bangalore. The little girl refuses to crawl, more so in Mumbai because there are no people who can take her 'Godhi'. Wifey has started using the local trains (something even I am scared off), and swears by it when commuting to work. Still opening boxes, kind feels weird goign from a luxury apartment to a small place in Mumbai (still large by local standards). Hey did I mention, we have started selling our MapmyIndia Navigator Feel free to pick up one.
More till next month. Btw I am linking to this search engine such that hopefully this message of my blog goes to more and more folks. Blog Search Engine
Cheers,
Shiva
Now Mumbai is a mini-India, whereas you find people from all walks of life, all regions, languages, cultures, class in the city. So it is like re-entering India, repeating the same experience like when I came back to India early this year.
We have gotten a place in an area called Bandra, it rocks and the locality is the most happening in Mumbai, lots of great eating joints, very lively and Bandra-Khar is the center of the metropolitan area. All in all not much has changed in the 13 years, property prices are still very high, schools are tough to get admission into, all the corporate houses still exist though some have moved their headquarters, Borivalli is not considered a far off suburb, trains are more packed then ever, but overall feel of the city is the same, only traffic has become much worse.
People are very professional (compared to rest of India), and most of the work is point to point. Now on the personal front outside of my observations about one of the largest Metropolitans in the world.
The son refuses to believe he is in Mumbai, and wants to return "home" to Bangalore. The little girl refuses to crawl, more so in Mumbai because there are no people who can take her 'Godhi'. Wifey has started using the local trains (something even I am scared off), and swears by it when commuting to work. Still opening boxes, kind feels weird goign from a luxury apartment to a small place in Mumbai (still large by local standards). Hey did I mention, we have started selling our MapmyIndia Navigator Feel free to pick up one.
More till next month. Btw I am linking to this search engine such that hopefully this message of my blog goes to more and more folks. Blog Search Engine
Cheers,
Shiva
Monday, October 29, 2007
Move to Bombay - Mumbai
So after spending 8 months in Bangalore, the technology hub of India, we are moving to Mumbai formerly known as Bombay. Everyone is asking the question -- WHY?? Well the simplest answer is travel, over the past 2 months, I have been continuously traveling to Mumbai for work, and if I were locally present in the city, then I am sure it would be easier to meet clients and develop my GPS navigation system.
On the home front, the little boy has hurt his toe, and hence refuses to walk, even though nothing wrong with him. He wants to fly to all the places i.e. me or wifey have to pick him up and put him from place to place, it is cute and irritating both.
The Stock market in India is booming, defies all the logic, and does not make sense. Same goes for the real estate market, is this the great boom before the bust, only time will tell. It might also happen that the market goes to 25K BSE-Sensex, but hopefully that does not happen.
What else, baby girl is speaking a few words, and it is really fun to communicate with her in the baby way. Other than that, looking forward to a winter break, as am really exhausted with daily negotiations. Will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Shiva
On the home front, the little boy has hurt his toe, and hence refuses to walk, even though nothing wrong with him. He wants to fly to all the places i.e. me or wifey have to pick him up and put him from place to place, it is cute and irritating both.
The Stock market in India is booming, defies all the logic, and does not make sense. Same goes for the real estate market, is this the great boom before the bust, only time will tell. It might also happen that the market goes to 25K BSE-Sensex, but hopefully that does not happen.
What else, baby girl is speaking a few words, and it is really fun to communicate with her in the baby way. Other than that, looking forward to a winter break, as am really exhausted with daily negotiations. Will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Shiva
Monday, September 17, 2007
Current Status
Hi All,
Interestingly enough bunch of people are reading my blogs, people outside my immediate friend circle. Thanks for taking time and reading my postings. So what is new ?
GPS Navigation - MapmyIndia Our GPS Navigation system covering the entire country is now available on sale, with detailed maps for around 20 odd cities and high level data for around 100 odd cities with villages, towns etc. That is on the professional front. Have learned quite a bit about map making and i got to tell you, it is bloody difficult, time consuming, tedious, but the end result is fun as you can build location based services (LBS) on the same.
On the Personal front, I have totally integrated into the indian society, living in the US now seems like a distant place, heck I am not able to even correlate to the US after spending most of my 20's in the US. I have started driving again (driver has become erratic), I have learned the major road network of BLR.
Son has finally started speaking in Hindi, he speaks cool hindi, with words of Maghi/bojpuri also mixed into the same. Baby Girl is on the way to turn 1, and now cries when you leave her alone.
Hey also i have changed my maid one more time, the last one hit a jackpot, as her mom died and left her lots of jewellery, so she quit work, this is the 4th maid in 6 months, open to advise on how to get long lasting maids (even after I pay her quite a bit). The son has learned that if you cry things come your way, so when he wants to play, all he has to do is 'WAAAAAAAAAA' and ohh-yes, he gets what he wants. His aunt (based in bbay) has been telling me, ignore his crying, but it is irritating, son knows this fact. His new thing is that he wants 100 ruppeees because 'I want to buy something'.
I used to think what is the use of mobile phone repair shop, but I recently found out that little baby daughters can eat a mobile phone, short circuit the connections and then give it to mommy/daddy, who need mobile phone repair shops. So dont give phones to babies, it is bad for everyone.
No travel plans on the future, want to visit Ooty or Kodai,but not sure i ll have the time.
Ohhh, i forgot, I recently went into the kitchen and made a bowl of rice after 9 months (dont miss that factor), dont like cleaning and cooking, do not really miss that part from the US :)
Chalo keep posting, let me know if you want me to cover anythign special from my prespective.
Cheers,
Shiva
Interestingly enough bunch of people are reading my blogs, people outside my immediate friend circle. Thanks for taking time and reading my postings. So what is new ?
GPS Navigation - MapmyIndia Our GPS Navigation system covering the entire country is now available on sale, with detailed maps for around 20 odd cities and high level data for around 100 odd cities with villages, towns etc. That is on the professional front. Have learned quite a bit about map making and i got to tell you, it is bloody difficult, time consuming, tedious, but the end result is fun as you can build location based services (LBS) on the same.
On the Personal front, I have totally integrated into the indian society, living in the US now seems like a distant place, heck I am not able to even correlate to the US after spending most of my 20's in the US. I have started driving again (driver has become erratic), I have learned the major road network of BLR.
Son has finally started speaking in Hindi, he speaks cool hindi, with words of Maghi/bojpuri also mixed into the same. Baby Girl is on the way to turn 1, and now cries when you leave her alone.
Hey also i have changed my maid one more time, the last one hit a jackpot, as her mom died and left her lots of jewellery, so she quit work, this is the 4th maid in 6 months, open to advise on how to get long lasting maids (even after I pay her quite a bit). The son has learned that if you cry things come your way, so when he wants to play, all he has to do is 'WAAAAAAAAAA' and ohh-yes, he gets what he wants. His aunt (based in bbay) has been telling me, ignore his crying, but it is irritating, son knows this fact. His new thing is that he wants 100 ruppeees because 'I want to buy something'.
I used to think what is the use of mobile phone repair shop, but I recently found out that little baby daughters can eat a mobile phone, short circuit the connections and then give it to mommy/daddy, who need mobile phone repair shops. So dont give phones to babies, it is bad for everyone.
No travel plans on the future, want to visit Ooty or Kodai,but not sure i ll have the time.
Ohhh, i forgot, I recently went into the kitchen and made a bowl of rice after 9 months (dont miss that factor), dont like cleaning and cooking, do not really miss that part from the US :)
Chalo keep posting, let me know if you want me to cover anythign special from my prespective.
Cheers,
Shiva
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Been Raining and it is lovely
Bangalore and India in general has been seeing lots of rain (ask people in the state of Bihar, where 20 million are homeless), but as for Bangalore, the rain has kept the weather really cool and pleasant. I did not know but BLR is at an elevation of 2000 ft, hence the great weather.
Life cannot be better, my little one is now 9 months old and we are both sitting together and writing this blog. She loves to coo and is picking up new words daily. Btw I come home for lunch and get to spend a good 45 minutes each afternoon with her (one of the perks of having an office 3 minutes away in the next building). The son has also grown and has learned how to fight, is picking up interesting kannada words of which we have no clue. He says something, smiles and then runs away, and as usual we have no idea. Wifey job is comign along great, she has settled into the grove.
So what about myself, well I am heads down working on improving our maps. Our new Mapmyindia website has been launched. It has great driving directions which is landmark based. The quality of the maps has improved exponentially.
Recently we (family, the son, daughter, wifey and baby sitter) went to visit a waterfall near Bangalore called Sivasamundra. It is quite famous in the south. The location is on the way to Mysore (west of bangalore). I had heard quite a bit about the roads from BLR to Mysore but was disappointed. Bombay Pune highway, on which I had travelled 7 years back was better than the BLR Mysore highway. Roads in the south, specially Bangalore have a long way to go (from what I hear Bihar is getting better roads, no kidding).
My office is humming, got a great bunch of folks working, who i think practically work atleast 16 hours a day plus half day sunday. So you can imagine the output we are generating. Great bunch (has taken me a while to get this group of people).
I have put on lots of weight (one of the negatives of living in India), lots of great food, maybe one of these days I ll hit the gym. Still to try out the pubs in Bangalore (literally no time), will write a special blog about the same.
Chalo, enjoy the new Mapmyindia, get to learn about new places. Adios till then.
Shiva
Life cannot be better, my little one is now 9 months old and we are both sitting together and writing this blog. She loves to coo and is picking up new words daily. Btw I come home for lunch and get to spend a good 45 minutes each afternoon with her (one of the perks of having an office 3 minutes away in the next building). The son has also grown and has learned how to fight, is picking up interesting kannada words of which we have no clue. He says something, smiles and then runs away, and as usual we have no idea. Wifey job is comign along great, she has settled into the grove.
So what about myself, well I am heads down working on improving our maps. Our new Mapmyindia website has been launched. It has great driving directions which is landmark based. The quality of the maps has improved exponentially.
Recently we (family, the son, daughter, wifey and baby sitter) went to visit a waterfall near Bangalore called Sivasamundra. It is quite famous in the south. The location is on the way to Mysore (west of bangalore). I had heard quite a bit about the roads from BLR to Mysore but was disappointed. Bombay Pune highway, on which I had travelled 7 years back was better than the BLR Mysore highway. Roads in the south, specially Bangalore have a long way to go (from what I hear Bihar is getting better roads, no kidding).
My office is humming, got a great bunch of folks working, who i think practically work atleast 16 hours a day plus half day sunday. So you can imagine the output we are generating. Great bunch (has taken me a while to get this group of people).
I have put on lots of weight (one of the negatives of living in India), lots of great food, maybe one of these days I ll hit the gym. Still to try out the pubs in Bangalore (literally no time), will write a special blog about the same.
Chalo, enjoy the new Mapmyindia, get to learn about new places. Adios till then.
Shiva
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Mid year review
Been about 6 months that I have been working in India, have had the opportunity to meet various VP's, CEO/COO etc over this time frame. Office in Bangalore is working, map collection and enhancement is going great. Mapmyindia is going to get a new avatar. Now focus is on Navigation Device, which is working. Heck I am even using it to go places.
What are my learnings for the last 6 months -
1. Do not believe anything you hear unless until you physically verify the same.
2. Way too many employees grand mothers have died, specially when they go for other interviews.
3. Kids adjust to new environments faster than you can imagine and they pick up new languages very fast (Heck the little boy is speaking Kannada words) :)
4. Weather rocks in Bangalore, cooler than almost all cities in India, do not need fan or air conditionining, like the Bay area.
5. Sales cycles are long but it does come around, persistance pays.
6. India needs MANY more movie theaters.
7. Most of the folks are many times more tech savvy than the US.
8. Electricity comes and goes :)
So now that I am all set, and functioning, I am going to focus on opening new offices in Bombay, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Chennai. Hopefully some of these will open up by mid of next year, (bombay for sure).
Building a travel guide, planning on visiting Mysore this weekend, so looking forward to that. Have learned to manage churn in employees and staff (11 people have quit out of 20), 2 maids have quit, 2 drivers have quit, but heck now I do not get stressed out, as I have figured out how to replace one with the next (Great Learning). Ask for advise, if you so desire. India is a hard place to do business but there is truck loads of money to go around, only have to figure out how to collect the same.
Cheers,
Shiva
What are my learnings for the last 6 months -
1. Do not believe anything you hear unless until you physically verify the same.
2. Way too many employees grand mothers have died, specially when they go for other interviews.
3. Kids adjust to new environments faster than you can imagine and they pick up new languages very fast (Heck the little boy is speaking Kannada words) :)
4. Weather rocks in Bangalore, cooler than almost all cities in India, do not need fan or air conditionining, like the Bay area.
5. Sales cycles are long but it does come around, persistance pays.
6. India needs MANY more movie theaters.
7. Most of the folks are many times more tech savvy than the US.
8. Electricity comes and goes :)
So now that I am all set, and functioning, I am going to focus on opening new offices in Bombay, Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Chennai. Hopefully some of these will open up by mid of next year, (bombay for sure).
Building a travel guide, planning on visiting Mysore this weekend, so looking forward to that. Have learned to manage churn in employees and staff (11 people have quit out of 20), 2 maids have quit, 2 drivers have quit, but heck now I do not get stressed out, as I have figured out how to replace one with the next (Great Learning). Ask for advise, if you so desire. India is a hard place to do business but there is truck loads of money to go around, only have to figure out how to collect the same.
Cheers,
Shiva
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