Background:
This is a real™ video of me shot by Sankool while we were traveling back home in a local train. I had pulled an all-nighter the previous night and was probably a reason for inducing this jig. This video is old but still never fails to amuse me :)
“Tring, tring…. tring, tring…”, my phone rings in a subdued tone. Thats my ring tone and its subdued because I don’t like loud ones. I was expecting Sankool to arrive around 11:15pm. So, my initial guess was it was his call since I had asked him not to ring the door bell but give a call when he arrives. While glancing at my wall clock I happened to receive the call in a hurry realizing it wasn’t him. It was 12am and on the other side I hear one of the sweetest ‘Happy Birthday’ songs sung to me. Before the song got over and I could recover from this pleasant surprise I could hear a hustle outside my door. So, I opened the door and it was Sankool. While still on the phone and getting greeted by Sankool someone else barges in behind him. It’s Amit! Amit had come down from Pune and I totally didn’t expect him. By this time I kind of managed to keep the phone down but still not completely recovered from the flurry of surprises.
What followed next felt like a gang bang. Amit and Sankool over powered me and I couldn’t even cry for help as parents were asleep by then. Amit had ulterior motives as I hadn’t caught up with him for a while and had given his plans a slip for many times now. He made most of this opportunity. This surely didn’t leave a bitter taste all thanks to atleast a 100gm of gulkand which was emptied in my mouth prior to this.
While I thought everything had cooled down and they were at peace; Sankool had different plans. Sankool brought in a paste from kitchen what looked like a cake batter and Amit joined in for the festivities. They splashed it all over my face and Sankool kept asking me, “Guess! what is it?”
Non-Ayurvedic Glucose pack
For the record, it was Parle-G mixed with water. Yucks! Finally recession has hit us in the face ;) For all the shutterbugs here is a better pic.
Posing for the camera - click click!
Varun *thankfully* arrived late (and was not part of the gang bang; could have proved fatal ;) but scored a few brownie points by getting a Raspberry cake:
Attack - hapacha ;)
Amol and RY called up late night and kinda took me by surprise. Love you.
Amit and I had a lot of catching up to do - had been a while when we met last (that was 26/11). He would be marrying on the 27th of April and I was posing him all sorts of intriguing questions about marriage and how difficult or simple was it to take *the call*. I shall be attending his marriage in Kanpur next week - anyone joining in?. It was 5am when we finally went to sleep.
Now, its around 4pm when I am writing this down and for a second it feels as if all this happened yesterday. And then I am reminded of ragda patice and the special cake mom baked for me in the morning. Thanks mom. Not to forget a flurry of SMSes, calls, missed calls, emails and messages on Orkut and FB from near and dear ones.
Thanks to you all for making this a day I shall cherish.
“I am an a$$. I seldom tell people what they want to hear, I tell them what they need to hear.” - Akky
April has arrived. OMG! Yes, its already April. But it just feels like last week I had a blast celebrating the arrival of 2009. I am making this post as a reminder to myself and to relive some of the interesting moments in the first quarter of 2009.
January
KFC Ice Cream Sundae
Homemade tasty Aloo Parathas
Celebrated the New Year in Powai by the lake side. After relishing on some crunchy chicken at KFC we headed to the Powai lake alongwith the Ice-cream Sundaes their combo with the homemade Aloo parathas was just perfect.
SocialSync Whiteboard - makes sense?
January, also began on a very interesting note for SocialSync. We had the opportunity to discuss some investment opportunities and set our milestones for the next few months.
Standard Chartered Full Marathon 2009
Running and completing the Standard Chartered Mumbai Full Marathon was another big high. I must say here that unlike the last time when I ran the half marathon I was a tad bit smarter. Although, I did practice for the Marathon and was pretty regular back in September/October 08; I lost momentum and form as December arrived and by mid-December I was in a very bad shape. It was around early January that I made up my mind to run the Marathon smartly by re-accessing the situation based on my limited practice. A few more practice runs and I started feeling better. On the day of the Marathon I feel I did a fabulous job of recognizing my limitations but stretching them enough to complete the Marathon.
February
February was in its true sense an eventful month.
I finally made a trip to Bangalore. Overall I kinda liked the city; wide roads, footpaths on both the sides of the road :),
parks, pleasant weather and row houses. Public transport is bad and very costly at times.
Felicitation at Bangalore Airport
The first day was really long and now I sincerely hope it had never ended - all thanks to the fantabulous escort. Walking the streets of Bangalore and discussing Haute Couture to some unheard and for some unimaginable interpretations of God idols would remain etched in my memory for ages. God save God. Need I say, there was a tomorrow and then yesterday was just memories to treasure.
Yahoo Open Hack Day 2009
I won the ‘Best socially mobile hack’ at the Yahoo Open Hack Day 2009 !!! OYeah!
Me at Yahoo Open Hack Day 2009
Yo! Anil Wadghule
Yahoo Hack Day 2009 - Xen and The Thinking Mind
David Filo, the co-founder of Yahoo had come down specially for the event and was also one of the judges. You would probably not even notice his presence in a crowd of 10 people; he speaks less and comes through as a honest and humble person. The event was very well organized and the atmosphere was ecstatic. I won a 8GB 2nd gen iPod touch for my hack and believe it or not I gifted it to my brother; I am sure he would make much better use of it. The event wouldn’t be complete if I don’t happen to mention Anil who had come down from Pune; and we code jammed all night. I just slept for less than an hour sometime in the morning the next day after I had done justice to the idea I had chosen to work on. Staying up late and writing code comes oh so naturally to me - so I feel I had an unfair advantage among the 300+ hackers who participated.
RangDe - Akshay & Pavan
Pavan having a comfy ride
While in Bangalore I stayed at Prayas‘ place. Being with him is always enriching and thoughtful. Add to it having a blast with his son Pavan (in pic above) and some spiritual discussions with the grasshopper.
The highpoint of Bangalore was meeting some very interesting people and teams working on refreshing ideas
March started off with a lot of excitement. Sushma maasi (aunt) and BabyV (Varsha) were going to come down to Mumbai. I am sure you must have heard of Varsha from me before or read about her on this blog before.
Varsha - Miss Photogenic
I ended my last blog post on her, wishing she remains as crazy as last time and may be shes taken it seriously :) Good for me, I still can play pranks on her!
On our way to Pawna Dam - Lonavala
On one of the weekends Mom, Maasi, Varsha and me drove to Lonavala. The drive was just fantastic. This was also my first time on the Mumbai - Pune Expressway which was a treat in itself. What worked for us was we didn’t have a long itinerary to follow for the trip; we were just looking for a weekend break. On the first day we visited the Karla Caves in the afternoon and later in the evening witnessed the beautiful sunset at Rajmachi point
Sunset at Pawna Dam - Lonavala
The next day we got up late, had a late lunch and headed straight to Pawna dam. The drive to Pawna dam was exciting with steep slopes and blind curves. The lake, boating, the ducks, peacocks and the sunset was just the perfect setting for spending ones Sunday evening. No doubt it inspired me to write this few weeks back.
The last two weeks of the quarter were great fun too. We made some terrific progress on the SocialSync community platform all thanks to Pavan.
The Inspirational - Y Combinator
YC is an inspiration. It took me close to two years to finally take the leap and submit a application - you know I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t for the right purpose, right team, right idea and right time. And this time the summer cycle is taking place in the Bay area; now isn’t that reason enough ;)
Engaged or Married? - Sorry, April Fool :)
Now how could I sign-off without letting you guys know of a very interesting tale. Last week I ended up playing a prank; or rather my friends just drew into it. I ended up uploading the above pic of me and my sister Mamta on Orkut *without* any captions. Within the next 36 hours I was flooded with 15 comments, 5 scraps, 3 calls, 2 SMSs and 1 email - all congratulating me and asking me whether I got ‘married or engaged?’. The timing inadvertently was so right that I didn’t have to scout for a April Fool’s prank ;)
Wrapup
Finally, I am myself amazed of how eventful this quarter has been. Sometimes it makes sense just to take a breather and look back at one’s journey; and this is what I did. Feels good now! I really would like to thank each and everyone mentioned/missed above to make this special for me. I am really looking forward for the next quarter and you can sure expect me to get back and cover it up for you :)
To the late night balmy breeze and
the morning sunshine,
I dearly missed them
all this time.To the lazy ducks and
the skinny peacocks,
it was really nice to meet
for the first time.I am just back from
a trip to paradise
and now I wonder, why?- Akky
Close to two weeks into the new year and not a single post! Unfortunate but not sad. Things have been chaotic but not totally out of control. Sometimes its fun just to observe chaos as is.
If you are reading this or you have been continuously checking back for updates which you haven’t found then I really apologize for it. I would really appreciate if you leave a quick comment so that I know you were around. Many thanks and have a splendid 2009! Happy New Year :)
Before I go to sleep I am trying to remind myself of what I was missing all this while. The adrenaline of adventure, the energy from the rising sun, the stillness of the lake, the calm of the setting sun, the chill in the late night breeze and the quiet of night. Oh, hell yeah! I dearly missed all of this. Revisiting all this in a single day has been a treat.
Goodnight to me, sweet dreamzzzZZZ!
Finally, I have been able to take a ‘Power Break’ from work! Power Break is essentially similar to what a ‘Power Nap’ is for sleeping. More important you don’t loose grip over your work and come back more focussed. I will be spending this weekend at The Native Place. More updates coming your way soon.. ;)
Surprising! Back in the year 2001 Google had no clue of Facebook, TechCrunch, Michael Arrington and the likes (source). But it still knew me back in 2001.
Feels great :) Thanks Google!
“All business books are misleading. They only discuss the dumbest of events in hindsight which later turned out to be the best things to happen to anyone. ” - Akky
I feel I am free, albeit for a moment. If only I could tell you all how occupied I have been especially for the last two weeks. Its been really crazy. Now that I have checked off the 3 longest standing items on my todo list, I really feel relieved. By coincidence it also happens to be our Independence Day :)
Are you really interested in knowing those 3 items? Aha.. nope, I surely don’t want to pin them up here to be reminded of them again.
By the way I was just wondering why does August tend to be a crazy month year after year. You remember last year? I don’t know.
Few hours back I was watching this documentary on Nat Geo of 3 guys deciding to walk the whole Great Wall of China from its South Western tip till the Pacific. Thats close to 4500 km and a temperature shift of -40*c to +40*C (Gobi Dessert). Real crazy isn’t it? At the end it was just one guy who made it till the end and it took him 15 months. Other notably fascinating documentaries that come to my mind were finding the source of the Amazon river and locating the mystical place Shangri-La. Those guys finally stood by a puddle and pointed to it as the source of the Amazon, the world’s largest river by volume. I would sure like to do something like that… anyone have ideas? Not sure why? but I am longing for a true vacation already. Come December and I have some exciting plans, though can’t wait that long;)
“A good start is just half done. Good finish ensures battle is won.” - Akky
P.S: Credits » bE A SmArT FiNiSher
“Be alarmed and take serious note if you see yourself always occupied with urgent things on hand and leaving the important ones to become urgent.” - Akky
“Screw-ups aren’t all that bad, especially because you can think of them years later and have a hearty laugh.” - Akky
“Everyone digs a pit. Some use it to litter, while others use it for their grave. Only a few see it as the initial phases of the foundation for their multi-storied building and so they keep digging harder.” - Akky
“To start with its the passion, nearing the end is the sheer joy of fulfillment. So, its the midst you need to overcome with focus and a lot of persistence.” - Akky
“Everyone does his best to justify the path one chooses to follow. I have realized I am no different, except that I know I do.” - Akky
social|median harnesses social filtering to help you keep up-to-date with news that matters to you.
From their website:
socialmedian is a social news service that connects people with personalized news and information. socialmedian enables you to easily keep up-to-date on the news that matters to you and to people who share your interests.
Currently, they are in ALPHA (heard of web applications in BETA before? eg: Gmail. Alpha is a milestone just before BETA ;)
What I like about them the most is their approach. Jason the founder and his team at TrueSparrow are not churning up code all the time (like you would like to believe of a product in ALPHA) but constantly looking for feedback from their ALPHA users. At the time of writing this post they already had 2468 alpha users signed up and most of them active.
Now, it is this approach of theirs which I highly appreciate and when Jason announced the social|median design contest I had to pitch in.
I throughly enjoyed the whole experience of participating in the design contest while the product is in its ALPHA and probably help shape its vision/roadmap. My participation in the contest is a story in itself and it will probably unfold sometime soon on this blog (may be partially).
Interested in seeing my entry for the contest? For you all I have a special annotated version of the files I sent to Jason unlike the ones uploaded in the contest.
(I would recommend you to see the first and the third at its original size by clicking on the preview images below. The notes would also help you figure out what’s the application about.)
User’s signed in homepage:
User’s signed in homepage after clicking on expand profile:
Web 2.0 network on social|median:
You can go through all the entries here. To vote for me you can follow this link. I would highly appreciate if you take time out and make an informed decision by going through all the entries. Since, all the designs are also effectively ALPHA ;) do leave your comments here or on the individual design pages for the designs.
Thanks for taking time out and participating in the voting process. Looking forward for your feedback.
Update
Jason has been grateful and has extended some ALPHA invites to social|median for you! Grab them soon before they are gone. Leave me a message along with your email and I shall send you the code for the ALPHA invite.
Results are out:
Results are out and you can read more about it here. I didn’t win but I hope I did add value to the whole process. In all I am extremely happy with the contest and my entry for the feedback I received from fellow contestants, unknown friends (from what I noticed there were atleast 3 comments which went missing from that post after I read them. so if you see your feedback missing do push it to me on my email as I really value it) and well wishers. Thanks once again for your support.
“One day I will not remain as dumb and as foolish I am today. And that is what I fear.” - Akky
P.S: The one in the pic is Akshat. I am behind the lens :)
What to change?
Simply put I would like to start getting up early (be in the early riser group) and see if it affects me positively. Do you feel the same?
Is something wrong without it?
No, in fact I can go without it. Currently, I consider I have a schedule which allows me to put in the requisite amount of hours in my work and other activities that I want to indulge in. Overall I am happy with the pace of things and I have learnt to avoid the areas which produces the guilt feeling.
I will give you a small example here: Now the ideal time to go for a run/jog is early morning. I have tried my hand at it numerous times and finally settled at time around 9 pm. Now, I wouldn’t say I failed in all the previous attempts because all the times I consoled myself rationally that it was not the right time *for me*. Sometimes saying to myself that ‘I need more sleep as I have slept late’, ‘I am not the early riser kind of person’, etc. Bottom-line: I decided that it shouldn’t make a big difference if I jog/run at evening/night plus I get to avoid that guilt feel of not being able to meet my goals. This has worked wonders for me. I have been able to do all the things I want to in the time I have and surprisingly without the guilt feeling of not waking up early. For all these years I have enjoyed working late nights. I Feel it comes naturally to me. I love the calmness of the night, I love its silence. I feel hitting all-nighters (here, here and so many times) is a trait which I am proud of and has benefitted me over the years.
So, why now?
Right from childhood this has always been in the back of my mind. I have tried but I have not stuck with it for various reasons (they may seem rational while hitting the snooze button but not any more). I want to give it one more shot and for the simple reason that I know I can. But, from my past learnings I also know I can come up with some rationale to avoid it and so this post and a call for everyone who wants to cultivate this habit. So, let not make it an individual struggle but a collaborative experience.
What’s the game all about?
Lets play this game as a team. Remember, together we can.
Format:
Hope you get the gist?
Vision
Is this only about getting up early? No, not at all. This is about change. This is a part of an un-named project that I am initiating (its yet to have a name and I am open to your suggestions, any?) Oh yeah, I can hear in the background cheers of… “yes we can, yes we can… ;)”
So are you game?
If you want to become an early riser than this is for you. Please leave a comment below or contact me on my email.
Updates
Barka and Anil have joined in :) Please give them a standing ovation (or better send them some words of appreciation in comments below. Pokes and vampire bites a strict no, lol)
For updates head straight to 42times project wiki project page:
If you would like to join in, you can leave me a message below or contact us through the contact page on 42times project.
