Reverse Exodus

India is getting expensive!

In the Indian Silicon valleys, the traffic is getting crazy, real-estate prices have sky-rocketed and developers available have as much technical expertise as the business managers.

I think this is a good indication. Keep your money ready to buy some stock and real-estate when all this crashes >:)

"You don't have to be a 'Computer idiot' if you don't want to be"

I saw this line in a reply to a question, on a forum. The person who asked the question had mentioned that, he had some silly doubts because he was a "Computer Idiot" (must have meant "Computer illiterate").

It is valid for all developers. Very few read a software/hardware related book, or try some new software, at least once every month. Some have not read a book since they got their Computer Science degree!

They have the option to become a "manager" and take pride in the fact that they don't know technical stuff.

          OR

They don't have to remain... um... ignorant, if they don't want to.

Profit-sharing with Customers

My next venture is going to be an online service (nobody uses the word "dot-com company" anymore :) ). I am still at the prototyping phase but I am also preparing the business plan and the road-map.

One of the thoughts I had was that, I could offer the customers more than just the service. Like many other online services, the success of the service depends on building a critical mass quickly. In fact, it could be a failure if the customer base is not big enough for anyone to derive much value out of it. So in short, the customers who believe in my service during the inception, plays a decisive role in its success. Does that mean that they deserve something more?

Would it be proper if you share some part of the profits with these customers. It could vary depending on their participation and activity.

But would this is considered as an introductory offer OR construed as bribe?!

Does it make sense to set apart a percentage of shares for the customers, the dividends of which would be divided among the customers, at least as services on the website. This also means that if you could drive the service with income from sources other than the subscription, the extra money would fund the subscription charges for the customers, essentially making it a totally free service.

I am sure someone must have tried it already and there may be a reason why we don't hear about this a lot nowadays.

Just a thought. I have not analysed it much yet. I am not even sure of its legal implications.

"Born Again" vs Born again Christians

Since this is my blog, I can write anything I feel. What I am about to explain is about a small but active group of people I have met. They are ruining the reputation (whatever little is left) of a lot of Christians. Something made me remember all this yesterday.

I proclaimed myself as a born again Christian, during a retreat for the youth, in our church. At various other times everyone in my family has done it too. I belong to a very old traditional Christian family that believes that you become a true Christian when you are born again (accept Christ as your saviour and proclaim it) AND follow the life of a Christian.

But then we met a new breed of "Born Again Christians". They are a new age group of elitists like SOME Pentecostals. The rule is that their tithes (one-tenth of your earnings), loyalty, etc., should always remain within the group.

If they have some tough times, it is God's *test*. But if others have tough times, it is God's *punishment*.

If they falter that is due to *human imperfections* that will be forgiven. But if others falter, it is *Satan's influence* that will be punished.

If they prosper it is God's *blessing*. But if others prosper it is *"the rise before the big fall"*.

If someone among them has a problem, they will all pray for a solution. But if others have a problem, they will pray, if you agree to join them


This is a group of people who are in the "cult" for reasons other than siprituality. I am sure there are many genuine people in the same group who are unaware of all this. Eventually most of them would find out and leave the group.

I have seen so many "Born Again"/Pentecostals who do not practice anything in their life other than ritualistic prayers. I hate such double standards. I believe that one's life should be one's best testimony, that attracts other people to Christ; not threats of eternal doom and immediate punishment.

Mathew 25:45 - "And he will answer, 'I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."

I am not saying that I am a saint myself nor am I using others' bad lives as an excuse. It is just that I have seen hundreds of people who live rotten so-called-Christian lives. Preachers, pastors, etc., used to frequent my house from my Grandfather's times and still do. I have seen many good Christians as well but it is sad to see so many hypocrites. I think, the idea behind not having a idol to worship is to avoid the possibility of the idol becoming the God. Now we have a situation where the ritual (prayers) becomes the religion.

Recently my mother said that she would like to her daughter-in-law to be a born again Christian. I quickly educated her about what that means now-a-days. I can't even use the word "Born again" anymore, in the old sense.

It would great to see anyone who leads a born again Christian life in private and let others see the fruits of your blessings.

There would be an aura of peace and happiness around them.

They would feel love and compassion to everyone.
They would not have to publicize that they are born again Christians.

New Year in New York

2005 was a happening year and it ended with us being thrown out of a club in Manhattan. They say, "You have not partied enough till you drop are thrown out". Thankfully that was not the highlight of the evening. I had a great time inspite of being the only single guy in the group. I hope every one else did too.

My friends had planned a get together in New York/ New Jersey for the New Year's Eve.

Mahesh & Anu and Sangeeth & Pooja played the hosts. Bijoy & Saru flew in from Denver, Krishnakumar (Kinnan) & Deepti flew in from Indianapolis, Ganesh & Archana flew in from Boston, and I flew in from Houston.

I had some more friends in New Jersey whom I could not meet like Sukesh, Shabeen, Vinu and Vinod V. K.
Joseph Koshy (Maju) & Loveena flew in from Chicago. Eventhough he was not with us for the get together I was able to meet him on the 1st.

If the guys from the west coast could make it, it would have been a bigger get together.

I flew in on the 29th and met Kinnan & Deepti at Mahesh's place the next day. Their flight was delayed and the airlines lost Deepti's luggage. Hence she had to do some shopping. Anu and Deepti went out for shopping while we settled for some "appetizers" and nostalgic memories. We talked to some friends over the phone, exchanged some "old stories" that were unknown so far and had a great time. I have some videos of the same. Bijoy and Ganesh were supposed to drive down from Boston earlier that day but, the story is that Ganesh avoided him with some shrewd tactics and sent him to New York on a bus (not even Greyhound) and hence got delayed. However Ganesh drove to New York with his wife the very next day! ;)

Later that evening we went to Sangeeth's place where we met Sangeeth & Pooja and Bijoy & Saru. Boy! everyone is into body building/sculpting. I looked lanky and impoverished compared to them! There were huge/bulk muscle builders, lean muscle builders and then no-muscle builder(me)!!

They made fun of my camcorder and its jewel-box. So I left it in the car; a decision I regretted later because of the events that followed.

We had decided to go out to a club (instead of some casinos as we had decided earlier) and Sangeeth took us to a street in West Village. He wasn't sure if we would like his choice and hence walked us along the street checking out a few clubs. We walked back a bit and finally decided on "1849".

Krishna suggested that we all start with a couple of rounds of Tequila and then beer to get into the mood quickly. It was amusing to see the ladies gulp down the shots. But overall I think it did have its effect and we started dancing after a short while. I was not planning to do anything till Mahesh pulled me onto the floor. I did my set of tribal moves and mating calls. Thankfully everyone else was drunk enough not to take offense.

I think it is customary in the dance clubs of New York & New Jersey to play Bhangra mixes too. I saw a few who were wondering what to do for this kind of music. Being the helpful person I am, I helped them with a few Bhangra steps (I thought it was close enough).

Finally when I got tired, I sat down and began taking some photos. I wanted to take a shot from above and stood up on the couch (In retrospect, removing the shoes would have been a good gesture). Somebody pulled me down, my friends tried to reason with him, they were sent out, I followed and what not. Anyway everything happened so quickly and we were out of that place in no time. But we did not have any regrets since it was closing time. We took a limo back home. Some played with the wine glasses in the limo but thankfully did not break any.

We reached Sangeeth's place in Newport by about 2:30 am. We sat around to give our feet some rest. Thats when Kinnan started an "Antakshari". It was just fun initially but it became real fun when Kinnan and Sangeeth started acting out (muscle flexing) the songs. That's when I really missed my camcorder. Their respective wives did not seem to be very amused as they were already tired. After many "well-adapted" songs and some "intelligent" score-keeping by Sangeeth, the "guy's team" won! We decided to call it a day at 5 am.

The next day we were supposed to meet but by the time we all woke up it was late. Moreover it was snowing and we stay put in our places till the evening.

Bijoy had decided to go to a Desi party in New York because his wife's cousins had already bought the tickets. Sangeeth & Pooja decided to give him company. Initially I was not keen on the Desi party but I was not aware of the fact that Bijoy wife's cousins were all single ladies! It was too late by the time I came to know; I had already fought against the Desi party so hard :P

The rest of us bought tickets to Movida, a club in Manhattan. It was supposed to be a place frequented by movie stars.

However we all decided to meet at the "better place" after 1 am or so.

We reached Movida at around 10:30 pm. The place was very small and crowded. For some reason it did not look as stylish as the photographs on their website. Our hearts sank; maybe the Desi party was a better idea! But for a single guy like me, the New Year's Eve with a group of couples was anyway going to be bad; so I did not mind. To our relief we found that there were more floors and those were much better. Everybody had a good time. I posed for photographs, got introduced a lawyer from UK who came to NY just to spend her NYE there and danced a bit.

The real fun started when we wanted to leave the club by around 1 am. We found that there was a long queue on the way out. They were waiting to get their coats. The club lost the tags on the coats and got it all messed up. That was the beginning of a 2 hour long wait to get our coats and pushing our way in the multi-directional-queue-like-formation. I was lucky to get mine quickly but had to wait for my friends. I took a seat on a corner-couch and watched the tempers running high. Many found it difficult to carry themselves. They were "ready" to leave if not for their coats/jackets. A lady fell into my lap; I helped her up and she fell again. Then she got up and stood leaning on the wall but a little later she fell on the floor.


My friends (wives and hence their spouses) who had to wait long to get their coats did not find all this very amusing. I don't think they even liked my sneaky comments about all this.

Bijoy and Sangeeth had called many times by then but we decided not to meet them and hurried home since it was almost 4 am.

All this while, we were thinking that the Desi party would have been a much better choice than ours. But then, ours was not bad except for the coat issue.

When I talked to Sangeeth the next day, he said that they did not even go to the Desi party. The had VIP tickets but could not go in due to some ID problem. Later when Bijoy & Saru did go in, they found that it was a total mess with thousands of people, and came out immediately. They spent the rest of their time club/pub hopping in Manhattan.

I think everyone who went to Movida was so happy that it was not so bad from them. See, happiness is relative!

I had my flight back to Houston the very next day. The airport was busy due to the holiday season and eventhough I checked-in online and left about two and a half hours early, I just made it. I reached Houston at around 8:30 pm and the temperature was in the 70s, a big drop from the 30/40s in NY.
I think the rest of them went and ate. Obviously they were hungry after all this :)