Ideas- Get Bashed but Keep Going Ahead

           When the sun was setting in the ‘valley‘; it was rising in the India with new ray of hopes. And I was dreaming of the next big idea with my eyes open. I was still sleeping and idea started to convert into a flourishing business. I found myself pitching the idea to inner self. Woah, I was again successful in convincing myself to work hard on it (with the time now I have developed good presentation skills ;) ).

All of a sudden there was this annoying sound which was increasing slowly and sounded familiar. I realized that it’s my mobile’s alarm ringing. I looked on my mobile’s screen with half closed eyes; it showed 8:30 AM and I was already late for my class. I stood up from the bed and rushed towards the institute.

 As I reached in the class professor was standing there with another quiz. I sat on a bench where a friend was sitting; and mumbled to him “why he takes so many quizzes without teaching anything?” And then professor was calling out my name saying “focus on your paper” and sent me to the first bench where no one was sitting (Yes, in college there is always space for you on the first bench). I started reading the question; wtf! I don’t have any idea how to proceed the question. There I was sitting on the first bench with no idea of how to solve that problem of ‘Communication Systems’; and the same thought popped into my mind again. Only difference was that I was not sleeping this time. I thought about it again and realized that this idea actually has good business potential.

After the class I was not interested in discussing the quiz instead I talked about that idea to a friend. He did not seem to be interested. I came back to the hostel and started researching about the idea and its potential. It was getting interested and I saw its lunch time now, but who cares about messy mess food.

I spent few more days on writing a business plan for the whole idea. Now, I was all set to pitch it in front of people; the final users of my product. I started talking to the people around me. First person was not interested in it and so was the second. I was backed down but I was still optimistic (you always have to be optimistic while you are working on a start-up). I pitched the idea to few more people; still there was not very good response. My seemingly good presentation skills were not showing the results this time.

The foiled attempt was making me furious and I started thinking that people generally say “when we will have next facebook or google emerging from India.” And after this I realized if things remain same we can’t see next facebook or google emerging out from India; because in India people don’t really care about your idea and your aspirations.

At the same moment another thought came into my mind that if someone in India would have come up with idea of facebook; people would have told him that:

“Why we need something which will connect friends on internet; we have better things to do over internet. We have cell phones, telephones, and posts (letters) to connect with them. And even if they are not sufficient we have pigeons (kabootar) for accomplishing the task.”

Out of frustration I started browsing internet and stumbled upon an article which brought a smile on my face. Few of the final lines were:

Whatever the current scenario is don’t forget you are an entrepreneur. Only you can bring that ‘change’ in the society. So, if you have got a ‘whacky’ idea, get feedback from few good people; go ahead, build the product and take it out to the market. We all know people will not support you initially but once you have validated the product they will. So “Keep Calm and Innovate.”

बचपन

बहुत दिनों से यह बात दिल में थी,
पर कभी कह नहीं पाया.
और आज जब कलम उठाई,
तो सोचा की लिख ही डालूं.

McD और Pizza Hut जाकर बहुत मज़ा आता है,
पर माँ के हाथ की रोटी की बात ही कुछ और थी.

Malls में घूमकर बहुत मज़ा आता है,
पर फॅमिली पिकनिक की बात ही कुछ और थी.

Prison Break देखकर रोंगटे खड़े हो जाते हैं,
पर कार्टून नेटवर्क की दुनिया की बात ही कुछ निराली थी.

रातों को देर तक जागकर खुश हो जाते हैं,
पर सुबह 7 बजे उठकर स्कूल जाने का मज़ा ही कुछ और था.

यूँ तो Facebook पर हो जाती है दोस्तों से बातें,
पर घर के पीछे वाले पार्क में गप्पे लड़ाने का मज़ा ही कुछ और था.

इस अल्हडपन में लड़कियों को देखकर खुश हो जाते हैं,
पर बचपन में मंदिर की घंटी बजाने का मज़ा ही कुछ और था.

बीनबैग और सोफे पर बैठकर आराम मिलता है,
पर पापा के कंधे पर सर रखकर सोने का मज़ा ही कुछ और था.

चाहे जिंदगी बहुत बदल गई हो,
पर बचपन की वो यादें आज भी लौट आती हैं.

वो बड़े ही सुनहरे दिन हुआ करते थे,
जब जिंदगी एक खुशनुमा शायरी और हम उसके शायर हुआ करते थे!

Candle Light Dinner

Once upon a time there was a guy who used to live in a small town of Mathura. His name was Alok. He was pushing hard to achieve his ultimate aim of pursuing MBA from a reputed foreign university. He worked hard for the GMAT and voila! He ended up in Harvard Business School.

Ambience of the new place was making him crazy. He was relishing the surroundings of the new place with his newly made pals Stephen, Charles, Maria and Jenifer.  Alok explored more and more about the place and the culture with four of them. They used to roam around the place together, party together and study together. They become helluva good friends.  

Alok never realized but during this time he started liking Jenifer. The more time they spent together, his feelings for her became stronger.  Same was the case with Jenifer; she liked the simplicity of Alok. Both of them never talked about their feelings for a long time. Alok was diffident about his feelings for Jenifer. But, finally one fine day when Jenifer and Alok were studying alone in the library Jenifer confessed about her feelings. Alok was on cloud nine! He was singing songs; they talked whole day. By the end of the day Jenifer was glad that she had found a very loving and romantic boyfriend for her. Before going to their hostels Alok gave a tight hug to Jenifer and she felt ecstatic.

It was 11 p.m. in the clock Alok’s phone beeped and he saw an SMS from Jenifer saying:  “What about a dinner tomorrow?”

He replied: “I will be there waiting for you in the down town tomorrow 8 pm” and went to sleep.

Next day he woke up early in the morning. He was in high spirits throughout the day and was waiting eagerly for the day to end. He read few romantic stories in the afternoon.  As the time was coming closer he was getting more excited. Soon he started getting ready and reached the place by 7:45.

He waited for around half an hour and there she was! She was wearing a red gown and she looked ravishing. She came towards him and said that- “I've already booked a table for a romantic candle light dinner.”

Both of them sat on their table. Waiter came and lit up the candle and placed two glasses of red wine along with the menu cards. Jenifer told Alok that how excited she was whole day, but Alok looked lost in his thoughts. He was not saying anything but just mumbling.  She came closer to him and asked what happened to him. He didn’t respond even then.

She felt resentful but ordered few things to eat. Both of them ate their dinner mutely and came out of the restaurant. She said “I love you” before parting.  Alok did not reply.

He returned to his hostel; now he was feeling bit relaxed. He logged into his facebook account and updated his status:

I can never understand the romance of candles. I have seen too many power cuts. I am an Indian.
P.S.- @Jenifer: Love you too!

तलाश (In search of someone)

एक खूबसूरत चेहरे की तलाश है,
जो मेरे लिए खास है,
दिल में मेरे,
जिसका प्यारा सा एहसास है,
लगता है वो कही आस पास है.


ढूंढता हूँ उसको, 
जो आके महका दे मेरा जीवन,
जिसको चाहे मेरा मन,
दूंगा उसे इतना प्यार,
ग़र करे वो मुझसे इकरार,
पहनाऊ उसे बाहों के हार,
अब यही मेरे दिल की आस है,
एक खूबसूरत चेहरे की तलाश है.


जो समझे मेरी नज़रों की इशारे,
जिसका दिल सिर्फ मुझे पुकारे,
उसपे दिल मैं जाऊं अपना हार,
कर दूँ अपनी जां मैं निसार,
अभी तो 'मोहब्बत' के लिए,
सिर्फ़ ये ज़मीं और आकाश है,
एक खूबसूरत चेहरे की तलाश है.

Social Networking - Truth behind the lies!

Few days back I was enjoying the party with my friends. It was my placement party. I was placed in Facebook. It was my dream job after working on a hacking project offered to me by leading IT Company of India during my engineering. My parents, my family members were really very happy. I was enjoying my time with Rolika as well and I was about to propose her. Rolika was my girlfriend. Everything seemed so perfect; I was able to imagine bright future ahead then.

But, today I am here in a very different situation.  At one instance I was thinking about my friends and on the other about Rolika. How can I forget those candle light dinners, those long drives, walking along with her in the rain? Those sleepless nights in the hostel with friends, booze parties, road trips! Myriad thoughts and feelings were screaming inside me. I was lost in my thoughts when a cop came and said “somebody is here to see you.”

It was Aisha, a friend of mine who completed her law this year itself.

Hi Sachin!

I could not speak a single word. She tried to console me. “I am with you, your friends, family everyone is with you. Just have faith in god and everything will be fine.”

“I have lost my future, my love and even I have lost my self-respect, how can everything be fine?”

Why it happened to me? Why? Why? Why? (My eyes broke into the tears and silence of jail made my cry even louder)

P.S.- I am trying a series of story, so for the coming parts please follow the blog.

Why IITians Should Do Start Up?

Few days ago I came across the article Why only few number of IIT kids end up doing startups. And then there was another article titled The 'Real' Reason Why Few IITians Do A StartUp; which is answer to the previous one. Being students of premiere institutes people expect a lot from IITians, so their arguments are totally correct. And matching upto once expectation is never possible. So I am not gonna add to that; but I will write about Why IITians should do a startup.

In India people are crazy about IITs and IITians, because IITs provide you a feeling of security. Once a child comes in ninth standard, his parents start expecting him to clear the JEE. It's not because of their craziness but they want a secure future for their child. Yes, IITs give you a secure future (in most of the cases). And it's not the degree which you get from IIT; but when you are in IIT you somehow develop certain qualities, skills and confidence that help you throughout your life.

Second reason behind craziness towards IITs is the privilege that IITians get. "Life doesn't give you a second chance, but an IIT does." Personally this is the good thing about IITs, you can always get a second chance. What it means is you start something and you failed after two years you can always opt a good job or you can go for your higher studies, but its not the case with other students of India.

So, I am asking  you to get a dream (an idea), believe in that dream, use that privilege, that confidence, those skills in chasing your dream (building a great product). Because an I-Bank or consulting company do not worth those skills. You will not be earning hefty in initial phases, but the skills you will be learning in the process will be priceless. Because as a start-up entrepreneur at times you will create your product, write the code, market your product, hire and train interns, deliver a keynote, write a blog about your company and list will go on. And if two or three years down the line your start up fails, you can always go for a job or higher studies with those tremendous skills. But I will not suggest you to do that, I will suggest  you to dream again.

Image courtesy: Attndly and Google Images.

ज़िन्दगी

ज़िन्दगी की राह का एक और मुक़ाम पूरा हुआ,
कभी खुशियाँ मिली तो कभी ग़म साथ हुआ,
कुछ पुराने चेहरे थे साथ,
तो कुछ नए चेहरों का दीदार हुआ,
किसी ने हंसाया, किसी ने रुलाया,
और किसी  ने दर्द में भी साथ दिया,
पर 'माँ' के आँचल का मुझ पर हमेशा साया हुआ,
फिर सफ़र में मिली एक अनदेखी अनजानी सी 'वो',
जिसका साथ पाकर मुझे भी ज़िन्दगी जीने का एहसास हुआ,
दोस्तों के साथ बीते कुछ खुशनुमा पल,
और मुझे भी दोस्ती का एहसास हुआ,
सालों तक रहेगा ये साथ हमारा,
मेरे दिल को कुछ ऐसा एहसास हुआ,
बस है ये गुज़ारिश छोड़ना ना साथ मेरा,
कि दुनिया कहे मैं सबसे तन्हा हुआ,
अगर हो कोई गिला शिकवा तो भूल जाना,
माफ़ी मांगने को मैं दिल से तैयार हुआ.

India and Entrepreneurs

When I look at the poor villagers who are living their lives on farming and other small businesses such as by selling milk or by carpentry or by running small poultry farms, every time it reflects that there is a significant gap between urban India and rural India .

Today India is developing with a good pace, and more contribution towards development is of urban areas. Imagine if Indian villages or rural India will also grow with the same pace, then it won’t be very hard for India to become the ‘World’s Largest Economy’.Government of India is continuously implementing different policies to bring out changes; but somewhere we are lacking behind. Sometimes it is because of lack of funds, loopholes in those policies and sometimes it is because of our corrupted system. We are trying hard in last few years but are not able to overcome this situation. So few of us might have this question in our mind - Is there no way for villages to catch up that pace? Some wise person has said “Nothing is Impossible.”  So, there comes the ray of hope ‘Entrepreneurship’.

Entrepreneurs with their splendid ideas and motivation can bring that change. In recent times we have already seen start-ups which are turning into big companies just because these entrepreneurs have that motivation and passion towards their idea and they work hard for it. Development of rural areas will not be an arduous task for these entrepreneurs. But, currently E-commerce/ Internet based start-ups have become a trend in India while 70% of Indians live in villages and around 30% of total are below poverty line (in rural areas it’s even more). These internet based start-ups are increasing consumerism; also these start-ups are not coming up with any technological advancement.According to me entrepreneurs should address the large scale problems. Their ideas should primarily focus on rural areas, social problems and technological advancement. When I look at entrepreneurship it’s all about believing and working on an idea using the core competencies around. But unfortunately today’s Indian entrepreneurs are not focusing on core competencies of India. India has good fertile land and larger work force in rural areas; so their ideas should revolve around the same. There have been few start-ups which are very successful today which are addressing the problems of rural areas, one such example is SELCO labs. 

To conclude I would say entrepreneurs should work around the problems in rural areas and villages, in this way they can play more significant role in development of India and that day will be not far when India will be the World’s largest economy.

P.S.- I know I am too young to write on this, and I am currently working on Internet based start-up itself. But this was my perspective towards what role should entrepreneurs play in development of India.