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
Thursday, January 29, 2009
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
Monday, June 11, 2007
Productivity and India
Howdy!! So now that I have been working in India for the better part of 5 odd months, what are my learnings -
1. Do not believe anything anyone promises to you, be it a CEO of a big company or be it a maid in the house, majority of the folks just point blank lie.
2. Double check everything, so if someone gives you something, you have to ensure it is upto the mark, as to what you have paid for or what you have instructed
3. Persistance pays off big time.
4. Everything is emotional, people only work hard for you if you have an emotional bonding, professionalism does not exist. Nor do financial rewards or penalties make any difference to anyone.
Been trying to get the folks in my team to work, but no one seems to be interested, now I know why most of the outsourcing projects go down the drain, i.e. there is no single leader who can inspire the trooops.
So what is the point I am making, well there is some special way that makes people tick in India, which is very different than the western world, something that companies like TATA, Reliance have figured out, hence they thrive in the environment, for the regular company, it is finding out the secret receipe, that will take them to heights.
Been travelling alot (nothing unusual about that), Delhi was HOTTTTT.. around 47 degrees celcius, ie is around 120 F, felt the skin will peal off. Bangalore is pleasant.
Some of my sales efforts are paying off, still evangalizing about maps in India, will keep pushing, wish me luck and hope that I can figure out the secret sauce that makes us Indians tick.
Cheers,
Shiva
1. Do not believe anything anyone promises to you, be it a CEO of a big company or be it a maid in the house, majority of the folks just point blank lie.
2. Double check everything, so if someone gives you something, you have to ensure it is upto the mark, as to what you have paid for or what you have instructed
3. Persistance pays off big time.
4. Everything is emotional, people only work hard for you if you have an emotional bonding, professionalism does not exist. Nor do financial rewards or penalties make any difference to anyone.
Been trying to get the folks in my team to work, but no one seems to be interested, now I know why most of the outsourcing projects go down the drain, i.e. there is no single leader who can inspire the trooops.
So what is the point I am making, well there is some special way that makes people tick in India, which is very different than the western world, something that companies like TATA, Reliance have figured out, hence they thrive in the environment, for the regular company, it is finding out the secret receipe, that will take them to heights.
Been travelling alot (nothing unusual about that), Delhi was HOTTTTT.. around 47 degrees celcius, ie is around 120 F, felt the skin will peal off. Bangalore is pleasant.
Some of my sales efforts are paying off, still evangalizing about maps in India, will keep pushing, wish me luck and hope that I can figure out the secret sauce that makes us Indians tick.
Cheers,
Shiva
Friday, May 11, 2007
Office in Bangalore
Howdy All,
My apologies for not writing in such a long time, but been both lazy and busy. I have finally gotten my own office in Bangalore. This location is around 2KM from the airport and 3 minutes WALKING from my apartment, so the commute is very pleasant and fun.
It is interesting to start your own office, went and got furniture (still havent received all the pieces), got a drinking water filter, computer, printers, UPS, phone etc. I am still missing the blinds and curtains. Hey I even have a cleaning lady that comes every other day to cleanup the place.
So now that I have this office, what have I been upto? Have made a gzillion sales calls for Mapmyindia, trying to sell Location Based Services (LBS), have hired a office manager+data entry operator+plus finance dealings (all in one). Have also hired around 10 folks that will be doing field data collection to enhance my maps.
The family is happy that I am out of their way and now have my own place to work, the son starts laughing whenever I tell him I am going to 'ooffiicce'. He finds it funny that Papa has to go to office. Made a bunch of trips to Bombay/Mumbai on work. Commuting has become dirt cheap, you can get walk up tickets for a 1.5 hour flight for $50 bucks.
I have actually started to like Bangalore, even though the traffic sucks and things are slow, but as a city, everyone has a startup culture. Weather is much better than most of India (that does not mean it is great). Now I know why this city is home to Infosys, Wipro, Dell, IBM, Intel, and a host of major IT companies.
Plus points in the last month - Learning how difficult it is to sell without a big brand name behind you. Meeting people from all walks of life from the office boy to the CEO of banks. Patience. Good South indian food.
Minus points in last month - Still have not figured out all the localities of Bangalore. Missing Kebabs and Punjabi Food.
Planning a trip to Goa, shall keep you posted on the same.
Till I resurface.
Cheers,
Shiva
My apologies for not writing in such a long time, but been both lazy and busy. I have finally gotten my own office in Bangalore. This location is around 2KM from the airport and 3 minutes WALKING from my apartment, so the commute is very pleasant and fun.
It is interesting to start your own office, went and got furniture (still havent received all the pieces), got a drinking water filter, computer, printers, UPS, phone etc. I am still missing the blinds and curtains. Hey I even have a cleaning lady that comes every other day to cleanup the place.
So now that I have this office, what have I been upto? Have made a gzillion sales calls for Mapmyindia, trying to sell Location Based Services (LBS), have hired a office manager+data entry operator+plus finance dealings (all in one). Have also hired around 10 folks that will be doing field data collection to enhance my maps.
The family is happy that I am out of their way and now have my own place to work, the son starts laughing whenever I tell him I am going to 'ooffiicce'. He finds it funny that Papa has to go to office. Made a bunch of trips to Bombay/Mumbai on work. Commuting has become dirt cheap, you can get walk up tickets for a 1.5 hour flight for $50 bucks.
I have actually started to like Bangalore, even though the traffic sucks and things are slow, but as a city, everyone has a startup culture. Weather is much better than most of India (that does not mean it is great). Now I know why this city is home to Infosys, Wipro, Dell, IBM, Intel, and a host of major IT companies.
Plus points in the last month - Learning how difficult it is to sell without a big brand name behind you. Meeting people from all walks of life from the office boy to the CEO of banks. Patience. Good South indian food.
Minus points in last month - Still have not figured out all the localities of Bangalore. Missing Kebabs and Punjabi Food.
Planning a trip to Goa, shall keep you posted on the same.
Till I resurface.
Cheers,
Shiva
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
So where do I stand?
Been over two months since I ve moved back from the US. Getting used to the Indian day to day life. So much has happened, finally got myself a new car, known as the Chevy Aveo - Red in color, reason being, my son and I both love red, wifey is not too concerned with the color of the car. We have moved into our rented apartment in bangalore, which is quite near the airport literally walking distance. Have also gotten a driver and a local maid, who will help out (hey what is the point of living in India if one has to drive by him/herself)?
The son is growing up, and is learning the local languages, sounds quite cute since he is speaking 3-4 languages now and they are all jumbled up, tough to explain it out. The little baby daughter is now 4 months old and she is holding onto things, still amazes me as to how much little babies learn and pick up new things.
So what else is happening in my life, i have finally been approved for a credit card (too a freaking 6 weeks), now keeping my fingers crossed that i ll get my first card. Learning the new industry of mapping, which helps me understand mapmyindia.com, working on branding these days, quite a difficult task since it involves so many channels. Getting to spend some quality time with parents, as have not had the chance to spend so much time with them in the past 14 years. Had a chance to fly one of the low cost Indian carrier (Go-Air), was pleasantly surprised with the service. It seems lots of folks who work in the IT industry in Bangalore, fly up and down (delhi-Bangalore) each weekend on their own expense, mostly young folks around 24-25 types.
Was a bit disappointed last week (like other Indians) as India got their butt kicked out of the cricket world cup. Folks in different parts of the country were burning the effigies of the sportspersons - lol, Indians take their cricket (gentleman's game) quite seriously. Will be opening up my office in Bangalore next week, looking forward to that, will be a completely new experience as I wil have to procure everythign from chairs-table, to internet connection, telephones, resources etc. Dauting but will be fun. Of course shall keep you posted. So Namaste till the next blog (dont know when that will happen).
Sayo Nara
Shiva
The son is growing up, and is learning the local languages, sounds quite cute since he is speaking 3-4 languages now and they are all jumbled up, tough to explain it out. The little baby daughter is now 4 months old and she is holding onto things, still amazes me as to how much little babies learn and pick up new things.
So what else is happening in my life, i have finally been approved for a credit card (too a freaking 6 weeks), now keeping my fingers crossed that i ll get my first card. Learning the new industry of mapping, which helps me understand mapmyindia.com, working on branding these days, quite a difficult task since it involves so many channels. Getting to spend some quality time with parents, as have not had the chance to spend so much time with them in the past 14 years. Had a chance to fly one of the low cost Indian carrier (Go-Air), was pleasantly surprised with the service. It seems lots of folks who work in the IT industry in Bangalore, fly up and down (delhi-Bangalore) each weekend on their own expense, mostly young folks around 24-25 types.
Was a bit disappointed last week (like other Indians) as India got their butt kicked out of the cricket world cup. Folks in different parts of the country were burning the effigies of the sportspersons - lol, Indians take their cricket (gentleman's game) quite seriously. Will be opening up my office in Bangalore next week, looking forward to that, will be a completely new experience as I wil have to procure everythign from chairs-table, to internet connection, telephones, resources etc. Dauting but will be fun. Of course shall keep you posted. So Namaste till the next blog (dont know when that will happen).
Sayo Nara
Shiva
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