YOU

I am feeling blue.

Lonely, but not alone.

In a place, that I call home.

The reason, being nothing new

Is that I am missing you.

10 things to do in 2011:

1. Write two books - Can't allow my laziness to spoil me anymore.
2. Travel abroad twice - Sometimes, extravagant breaks add spice to your life. My camera will rot in dust, otherwise.
3. Gym - God hasn't given me a pretty face. Why not make my body pretty?
4. Earn a B.Tech degree - Otherwise, my parents would bestow me a get-out decree.
5. Become very famous - yes, that drives me. Is it bad?
6. Date hot chicks - Yes, I'll be getting out of IIT, this year.
7. Set-up a plush office in Mumbai or Gurgaon - You got to make your parents happy, don't you?
8. Network with big people - my job requires me to do so. I like it. Who doesn't like smartness?
9. Drumming - Come on, there should be a place to vent out my anger.
10. Jog - who knows, I might be lucky to meet you!

Here I am

The placements have been the most amazing experience in my IIT life. I've got to learn so much about people, about professions, about companies, about competencies and about life. Besides that, I've got so many interesting stories to pen down, which I am incorporating in my coming novel.

Talking about life, it has two ways. One way leads you to where you want to be. Other leads you to where you need to be. Often, the latter takes you to the prior.

The Road Less Travelled

The sad fact of life is that when you want to trudge into a road less travelled, people don't show faith in you. Rather than appreciating you for going into something out-of-the-league, they try to bring you back to the traditional path. It irritates you.

They can't see what you are seeing. You just have to silently work and nod against all their advices and suggestions, letting them know that they're so right and you've been foolish in your ambitions. The moment of joy comes when someone unexpected comes to you and says your decision is right.

Well, very few people understand passion. Don't expect them to understand. Don't try to make them understand. Just say yes to all their advices and follow what you want. Ultimately, when you will emerge out successful, they would have known that it's not too bad doing something out of the league.

@My friends at IIT: I prepared for consulting just because I dreamt of being in McKinsey. Now that I didn't make it, I've no interest in going into any other consulting firm as a compromise. I've other options available. Hope you understand.

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck in the comments if you appreciate my choice to become a full-time entrepreneur rather than taking up a job.

On Failure

Ha! I experienced failure. It's hard, you know. The effort it takes to overcome the urge to break down, to cry out loud, to droop down and to surrender to the circumstances is immeasurable. The day for which you'd been preparing for months comes and passes by, slapping hard on your cheek saying that you didn't deserve it. Who likes it? You? Me? None of us. I know it's hard. It's harder to be hard in this situation. You can't let your loose side be visible to someone else. Ha! Nobody likes to be seen in tears.

The sun has set, it's pretty dark outside. It's cold. And it's biting. Biting hard. Life is so unfair. You never know when it can turn its back at your face. And trust me, its back looks yuck! It's smelly, dirty and detestable. At the bottom of your heart, you feel like slamming it really hard. Hard - I mean real hard. Things aren't easy, you know. Especially when you've thought so much about it and even thought so much after it ... it seems like a blank wall. They tell you the game isn't over. There are plenty of other opportunities in the coming days. They are silly. They don't know the game that you were preparing for is over. Over. And it's never gonna come back. Sad, isn't it?

I don't know why but I'm feeling a bit like a rider. The destination where I was planning to stop wasn't right, I think. Thankfully, my horse knows where it has to go. And, it's on the right track just because there is someone more intelligent than me who's directing it(read God). It's time to get to know my horse well. Synergy, as it's called, lies here.

Love

Every journey begins and ends at you. Why shouldn't it? It's for you and with you.

On Passion

Passion. The only word that can differentiate you from yourself. Because when it overpowers you, you're not you. You're the passion. Think about it.

Confusion

Do you know what's the meaning of confusion? Here it is - my career options. What to choose, if you can suggest a clear answer to my perplexity, I would bow down to you.

1. Full time entrepreneurship - Do I really want to go full time? Entrepreneurship can be started at any age, but taking up a desired job from the campus won't be possible later on.
2. Job - Taking up a job - seems like a smart choice. It's always better to gain some experience of working in a big firm. But would I be doing justice to my venture? Would I be able to take out time for it? Now that I've started up, I can't take a step back. Confused!
3. Full time writing - It's a secure job and one of the most enthralling one too. With already over 25,000 readers, I can pen down three novels every year and sustain myself financially quite comfortably. But again, I hate to be residing in my comfort zone. I want challenges! And what about the venture? It won't give me time to write. OMG!
4. Full time photography - This is stepping out of my comfort zone. I know I've the knack and I've the passion to pursue it. And this is one of the most exciting things. But am I really ready to take it up as a career? Again, my venture!
5. Studying further: I can study further. I can go pursue Physics in Glasgow University, I already have an offer for the same. I can apply for Creative Writing course in Cambridge. Or I can wait for my CAT score. But dude, am I ready to study further? Absolutely NO!
6. Learn Music: I want to learn composition. I want to learn music. Can I quit everything and pursue it? No, I don't think that I would. Come on, I can do it at any point of my life.
7. Or anything else - such as paragliding or bungee jumping? Hell no!

So the only option left is - doing everything at the same time and cracking my brains completely.

P.S. God help me, otherwise I'll come and kill you.

Story

Life's pretty much monotonous. Thanks to being an entrepreneur, every day there's something new and exciting, so much so that now these new exciting things don't excite me as much as they used to do before. That gives a reason for monotony. The one thing that entrepreneurship has taught me quite well is how to take success and failures in a spirited mood, because for an entrepreneur, every second moment is a challenge and the entrepreneurial life is full of failures with few successes. But at the same time, it brings an insuppressible urge for quality - you can't tolerate anything that's below average - you want everything to be perfect.

Since you're reading this, I've a good news to announce. I've been shortlisted amongst 21 finalists in an international story competition organized by Scinti. The voting phase is on and my story 'Short of Change' is competing for the top 3 spots. Help me win the contest by liking - Scinti page and then liking this link - Short of Change.

Your like will help me win. Please do. Thanks. :)

P.S. Love yourself. It makes you feel wanted even if you're not.

Introspection

It's not about success anymore. It's about happiness. That's what makes you successful.

Wait

Another lonely night

Ghastly!

Thunderous clouds just cried

Stars have gone to sleep

Exhausted

Shining besides mountain - so steep

I'm all alone

Waiting

For someone, my own

Memories come flooding

Trapped

Between the wrinkles - budding

The first time we ever met

Serendipity!

It was. It wasn't love, yet

Those serene eyes rested on mine

Enraptured,

I stood, as though I saw Divine

I began to say when you

Stopped.

Your finger on my lips - and dew

'Wait till midnight,' A whisper said

Anticipative,

I smiled while you left

I waited. Days. Months. Years.

Forty-five

The wait doesn't get over, here

The whisper haunts my life

Love

Betrays me every midnight

Old, withered and desolate

Hopeful

Of seeing those eyes again, I wait

The Fighter

Things are wrong, things are right

I speak truth, I don't fight

People defy, revolt and ignite

I speak truth, I don't fight

Ruthless, inhuman, were those Whites

I spoke truth, I didn't fight

Violence, famines, I saw all the plight

I spoke truth, I didn't fight

I am not weak, nor am I bright

I speak truth, I don't fight

When faith wavered, none held me tight

I spoke truth, I didn't fight

I didn't fight. I didn't need to fight.

With truth as my weapon, I already won the fight.

P.S. Check the date today.

An Entrepreneurial Lesson

Avoid involving any relative or a good friend in your entrepreneurial venture, because there will be a boundary of the bond that you've with that person that will always be an obstruction between free flow of ideas, directions and responsibilities.

Consider this case: If he doesn't work, you won't be able to scold him to work just because he's your very good friend or relative. And neither would you be able to fire him, because he's again your kin. Now, if he works too much, he would not be comfortable being under your supervision and this would create problem. He would want to be at your level, which is outrightly impossible owing to professional hierarchies. It is really difficult to make them understand this fact. You would never want to share the equity with a person just because he's enthusiastic and also, your relative. Many a times, if there are any personal unresolved issues, you would find yourself bringing in those personal duels in professional situations.

I've often found rifts occurring in the team just because the other person doesn't like to be assigned tasks by a friend or a kin, because he doesn't want to be bossed around by a person with whom he shares a very intimate personal bond. And otherwise, if he's really interested in your work he starts encroaching too much in the administration of the entire venture, just because he thinks that the professional hierarchy doesn't hold for him and personal proximity that one has with that person holds at the professional level too. And this is when situations crumble up and things complicate. Friendship goes. Professional peace goes. And you end up irritated, a bit hopeless and sometimes even depressed, if you're too much attached to the person.

Your start-up emerges out of your desire and determination to render your idea plausible in the real world and you've thought very clearly about how you're going to do it. So, your good friends, working under your supervision, might not apprehend it and could create trouble very often.

Whatever I wrote is just out of experience. So, if you're the director of your venture, involve trustworthy but a little bit distant people, pay them and get the work done. Don't involve people who join you because of you. Involve people who join you because they have faith in your idea and they are capable as well as willing to make it happen.

I've tried my best to keep out all my close friends from my venture. Just to treasure our friendships. The only friend with whom you could be compatible in your venture will be your business partner, because he is your equal and you both will share the longer vision with unconditional faith in each other.

P.S. Starting up is not a picnic. Involving too many close friends and relatives might make it one.

IIT Life

Ten Best things that I've done in my IIT life:

1. Tasted all the grades - 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; except the E and F grade, which touch-wood, I don't want to taste.
   
   
2. Climbed the insti-top and got caught. The security officers were really tough-asses. Glad mine was tougher.
   
   
3. Did a mini-project under the worst professor of the Physics Department, Tarey, name unchanged to make sure intentional libel. After surviving three failed nervous breakdowns, two unsuccessful murder attempts and one almost successful suicide attempt in the process, he gave me an A grade. Sweet guy. Glad, I survived.
   
   
4. Fell in love. Fell out of it. Fell in love. Fell out of it. And the process continues ... unfortunately, with the same girl.
   
   
5. Wrote a book. Yes, being in IIT without even a book written by you - seems too sad and boring. That little fame, jealous peers and big money - who doesn't want that?
   
   
6. Made some real good friends. Fought with them. Befriended them. Kicked their asses. Let them kick mine, making sure I hit them twice as hard as possible.
   
   
7. Blogged. Yes, that's the best hobby ever. You would never ever get bored. Even if no-one reads your blog, you can always find that irritating little sucker called YOU who goes and reads some of your juvenile crappy bullshit, smiling in self-admiration.
   
   
8. Explored hostel LAN - completely. Yes, I've watched all the good movies, fast-forwarded; all the bad movies - at the normal pace. Yes, I'm a bad guy.
   
   
9. VIDESH YATRA. IIT-life without a hefty dose of firangs during summer looks quite incomplete. I went to Glasgow, UK, lived in a royal suite, traveled whole UK and earned my first money 1000 pounds, and invested them all in fun and more fun.
   
   
10. Cracked PJs. Not the poor ones, but the pathetic ones. Some of them being so bad that the persons hearing it felt a sudden shock wave up through their bodies until their head sprang up like the-center-shock guy and their legs shot in revenge at my cute little chubby ass. If you stood there in that serious condescending face of yours just because you didn't crack PJs, don't feel proud. You missed a HELL lot of fun.

Ten things that I'm yet to do in my IIT Life:

1. Get drunk.
2. Get drunk.
3. Get drunk.
4. Get drunk.
5. Get drunk. Now that I'm done, I think I'm done. Good night.

P.S. If the numbers seem wrong, don't mind. You're probably drunk too.

The Purpose of Life

Our life has a purpose. Everyone has his own. The good thing is I know my purpose. And it's called entertainment.

My life statement is - to keep myself entertained through each of the passing moments and to live in the glory of the fun of sheer entertainment that I get.

What's yours? Rather where's yours?

P.S. Search your purpose. It is a good pastime.

Dreamer

When night sky is dark,

Lull prevails, stark.

Dreamers see the light,

Invigorating. Ah, what a sight!

Inspired, he saw that sight.

Determined, to give a tough fight.

Lonely but not alone,

His ultimate fate lay unknown.

He was ready to fight the odds

Smash the hurdles and win the Gods.

The place was far, where he urged to go.

A stormy sea, awaiting conquer, he knew

Fully prepared, he began

A tireless journey, thus spanned

The waves lashed against his chest

He rowed and rowed, without rest

The sea seemed dark and endless

His spirit, however, soared amidst distress

Sea showed no mercy, ghastly waves rose up

He kept trying until the sea gave up

The sea lost

The dreamer won.

For he ran for his dreams, when

Others didn’t know for what to run.

Change is good

With time, there have been some changes in me. Hope these changes are good.

1. I've stopped reading novels based on 'love' by very young Indian authors. Being one amongst them, I know that the writings about love at my age are shallow and insipid.
2. I've developed a good reading habit. I finish two books in one week's time.
3. I've stopped reading new blogs. Just because most of the posts of unknown blogs are too verbose and irritating. I like short posts more, or else, it should be a rivetting story or an overwhelmingly brilliant satire.
4. I write in classes. Thanks to the back-benches for that.
5. I have developed an aversion to idle people.
6. I am clear about what I want. But the execution seems slow.
7. I have become more patient, at the same time, indifferent and detached to most of the things around me.
8. I have developed an inherent hatred to those who can't express themselves in writing or speaking, since I believe nothing conveys ideas and thoughts better than good communication. Hatred is wrong, but I can't help but hate.

Well, that's all. I tried to be honest, but as a human, I might have sub-consciously tried to hide my flaws. To be frank, they aren't many that you'll find. ;)

Change is good, after all.

P.S. I am feverish. And I want to get drunk.

Two Sides of Feminism

India has been a witness to the grand scale women-empowerment drive that has been going on in the last few decades. Indeed, it's a great thing. This empowerment drive has given rise to many feminists, who champion the causes related to the women, be it openly defying gender-biased discrimination, to standing against the biases of the patriarchal society by questioning their validity and rationality. I respect them for that, not only for their firm stand, but also because even I can't tolerate anything that's derogatory to any gender.

But when it comes to benefit of their gender, I can often see a dual value associated in many so-called feminists, which is my primary concern, since I am having difficulty in understanding what's right and what's more right.

I would highlight this issue based on the attitude of two of my female friends, let us call them - A and B, in this article. Both of them are self-proclaimed hard-core feminists; they can't stand anything that's demeaning or disgracing to women, in any way whatsoever. Neither would I.

Friend A

She boards the Delhi Metro, where the seats are just full, with only about a dozen people standing hither and thither. To those of you, who have never been to Delhi Metro, let me tell you that there are specific seats reserved for ladies only, senior citizens and 'specially-abled' people.

Now, my friend A goes near the ladies seat and finds out that it is occupied by an unconcerned man-with-earphones. Without being vexed, she goes to the person and reminds him that he is sitting on a ladies seat(which he perhaps already knew, but didn't bother himself to rise until asked. Yes, men are shrewd!). He acts like he didn't even know and straightaway jumps up on his toes, finds a place to stand and offers my pretty friend 'A' his place courteously, flashing a prideful smile on his face on his random act of kindness(a perfect loser!); which nobody notices except me(writer instinct, you know). A tells me, 'See. Such rights of women, if not asked for, would most of the time be exploited by men. They hardly bother to give up any comfort ever until you ask them, even if their conscience is screaming out aloud that they're sitting on ladies seat while a lady is standing front of them.'

I see her argument. She's right. The sad part is many a times I'd been that man-with-earphones sitting on a ladies seat, until being kicked off by the fairer sex.

Friend B

She boards the Delhi Metro. The situation is same as before, where the seats are just full, with only about a dozen people standing hither and thither along the coaches.

We move around in search of seats. No vacant seats. We go to a corner, from where I take a peek at the whole situation. I see a cheesy lad wearing a yellow-embroidered shirt with earphones tucked in his ears sitting quite comfortably on a seat designated for only ladies. He gives B a top-to-down stare, seeing which I feel a bit nettled. I point out to B, 'See that ladies seat, that lousy fellow is sitting there. Come on, kick him off the place. He would hardly bother to offer you his seat, even if he already knows that it's a ladies only seat.'

B remains unconcerned, and explains with force in her voice, 'Well, I find these "seats reserved for ladies" the most heinous form of gender-discrimination I could ever encounter. I mean you could reserve seats for senior citizens, specially-abled or kids. But why on Earth do women need reserved seats? Aren't we strong enough to stand through the jerks and swings that the metro-ride offers? Well, this is highly condescending of women, but this is India. No matter how much you talk about gender inequality, you'll find that women, even some of the self-proclaimed feminists, encouraging these gender-disparaging symbols present in the society by either accepting it or in many dire cases, even fighting for these. How will you answer these issues when the patient is herself a catalyst for the disease? Women don't need support, because support never comes without pity in this society.'

I remain stunned. B is too different from A. But she's absolutely right.

Wait a minute. Even A was right. Who amongst them is more right? Can there be an absolute take on this issue of feminism? Your insightful opinions needed.

P.S. All those who read this, take a pledge with me to always mention the physically-challenged people as 'specially-abled'. Let us create a culture.

P.S. Women. Enigmatic, aren't they? ;)

My experiments with writing

My belief, right from the very beginning has been that being versatile is one of the key ingredients in the making of a good writer. I treat a writer as a musician, who dares to explore different styles, trying to fuse the good things he has learnt with his own innovations.

A person can be versatile only if s/he is willing to let the mind pervade the areas where they haven't been before. Though with time, one may discover that his/her real forte is in a particular genre, but surely, trying different things groom the narrative capabilities of a story-teller.

I started writing as a blogger, with diary-like entries that mostly concerned with already known philosophies, which obviously found no readers, so I moved to describing events - in which I found myself quite naturally gifted, since I could make them interesting, owing to my tendency to magnanimously exaggerate the story. Once started into events, I started penning down almost all the small incidents with a good amount of exaggerated spice in each of those episodes, which turned to incite my blog-pals, since they happened to like it.

This was the time of my peak confidence as a writer, though my experience lacked more experimentation. With ample confidence in my abilities, I decided that it's time to take the big step. It was the time I started writing my novel, with no intention to publish it at all, since I intended to have a short-novel, with oddly 12-13 chapters of 2 pages each. I intertwined all the funny incidents that I had ever heard/seen with an extraordinary contribution from my imagination to make the novel complete, but alas, the novel was no-more short, but rather a voluminous one with 33 complete chapters in it. Miraculously, it had its own destiny, because thereafter, one by one, many things happened, like my chance meeting with the publisher, the agreement and expansion of my work. I was more than happy.

I made sure that in my novel, which could actually be categorized as just-another-IITian novel, I would not exploit IIT's name on the cover. So I chose an IIT-free title and subtitle, despite all the previous IITians books by my publisher(that were just 2 at that time, compared to over a dozen currently) had those. I even didn't publicise my novel by putting up posters or something in the campus. I made a promotional video, but it didn't spread a lot, owing to my laziness at its promotion. But it found its own readers with time and sold more than 10,000 copies in just 6 months, becoming a national bestseller; 10000 copies being the current Indian standard to classify a 'bestseller'.

Once published, there came a time when I thought I needed to move on. I started noticing plots of stories in everyday life. Everywhere I could observe situations in which twists were possible. I started writing stories. On various themes like humour, sarcasm, emotions, love, twists, human nature, thriller, horror etc. If I now say that I consider myself as a writer, then it's not due to the fact that I am a published author, but because I have seen, breathed and breathed life into stories from in and around my life.

To all the aspiring authors and creative writers, the best suggestion I could give as a fellow writer is that write stories - you could see them almost floating all around you, and you can breathe life into them. You would learn so many intricacies of writing, once you start, such as - How you should start a story? How should you engross the reader to read the next line without getting bored? How should you end with a perfect punch? How you should unravel the mysteries? How to deliver the twist in the tale, with subtlety?

As time passed by, I started writing another book, so that brought me away from story-writing, but that could not stop me from seeing the plots of stories floating around. I've around 35 plots of short-stories in my head currently. The best thing that my life with stories has given me is that now I can see plots for novel, with as many as 7 of them being in my head currently. There is a subtle difference between the plots of stories and plots of novels i.e. the novels have a very long middle, where as it's quite short in the case of stories. So, it gets a little more difficult to enrapture the reader, keeping his/her interest alive throughout the middle in case of a novel.

Half-way down with my second novel, which was not the sequel, but it was with a really unique theme with a novel within a novel; I felt a little bit uneasy. Because my big-ambitious novel was set in a city in which I had never been, with the protagonist as an entrepreneur, that I had not been that time; and being married, that I would definitely not be in the recent time. So I decided to stop. I had written around 31,000 words, but I decided for good, that I needed to stop, since I was not doing any good in pursuing something that requires a broader panorama.

In the meanwhile, I got into poetry. The best thing about poetry was it didn't hinder my story-telling spirit, since all of my poems had either a story to tell or an emotional recount. Somewhere around this time, I got interested into limericks(which are five-line funny poems) and crafted many of those in my notebook, while idling in the lecture theatres.

Facebook gave a strange gift to me. It polished my skill in word-play. I started writing one-liners, which sometimes were profound or witty, or sometimes just mere play of words. This gave me a strange familiarity, since I now knew writing from a completely different perspective. A story can be told in even one-line. How's that for a story? It gave birth to my business idea and made me realize that all the ideas - be it design, literary, artistic or business lie on the same plane of existence, one just needs to change the perspective to catch it.

I started up and am enjoying a lot as a content writer for my website. Meanwhile, urged by my readers, with more than 1000 mails in my inbox asking me to write the sequel to my incomplete first book, I decided to give it a go. In a day, I got the plot. For your information, the word 'got the plot' means knowing how you're going to end the story, since once you know how you're going to end, everything falls into place. So, I started writing the sequel around 1.5 months ago, which clashed with my venture, and I had been fighting really hard to get a state of being with completely uncluttered mind and no tasks on head, so that I continue with the mammoth task with passion. It's currently at 8,000 words and would require almost a month of dedicated efforts to give it the shape of a book.

That's all from my 3 years writing journey. A journey that'll never end. Since a writer never quits writing, he keeps writing - sometimes his destiny and sometimes, history.

Just for interest:

Graffiti - My Stories Blog

Witty Shit - My One-liner Blog

Quantum Leap - My Old Travelogue

Oops! 'I' fell in love! - The Story of Making of my Novel

P.S. To write is to live - with all the characters of all the worlds.

On Ideas

Earlier I was really insecure about sharing my ideas. I felt that someone will steal it and start working on it.

However with time, I got matured and things have become clear to me. Two of the important things are listed below:

Association: The best thing about your idea is the association that you build with it. A new person, can copy your idea but would never be able to put the passion that you'll be having for it. The idea gestates in your mind and when it's your child you know it better than anyone else on this world. This ensures that no-one, other than you, can really pursue your idea to the fullest. Innovations can be brought by others on your idea, but the sacred bond one should have to the idea remains with the person in whose mind it occurred at the very first place.

Sharing: With time, another thing that has happened to me is that I've become more keen on sharing. Now instead of holding all the ideas that I get to myself, I like to find an interested person and ask him/her to pursue it. Because every idea has a time, and since currently I am working on one idea, I would not be able to pursue many. So, it's always good to find interested persons who are capable enough to rear my child - brainchild, to be precise. And I love to guide them.

I feel blessed to have experienced four different kind of ideas in a really grand way viz. business ideas, story ideas, photography ideas and design ideas. And with time, I hope to experience thousand more kinds.

P.S. Ideas are intoxicating and non-toxic. It's the best addiction one can have. And certainly, they can change your life.

P.S. After reading this, I feel that I am going towards writing non-fiction. A welcome change.

On Movies

Though am not a movie buff, but some movies have made an impact in my life.

I want to enlist some of my favorites. I ain't too critical about movies, I treat movies just like I treat books. Either it establishes a connection or it does not. The breathtaking ones are those which go beyond establishing connection, and they touch your life, your thinking and in rare cases, your heart. Here is the list of the movies of the latter kind:

• Shawshank Redemption - The story of hope
• October Sky - The story of passion
• The Man from Earth - The story of history
• Cindrella Man, Into the Wild - The story of life
• Stranger than Fiction - The story of writing
• Goodwill Hunting - The story of gift
• Veer Zaara, The Notebook, Titanic, An Indecent Proposal - The stories of love
• 3 idiots - The story of students
• Baghban - The story of parents
• Little Manhattan - The story of kids, 'in love'
• Few Good Men - The story of judgment
• Speed I, Rambo - Action
• Arranged - The story of marriage
• Rang De Basanti - The story of justice

P.S. The list will be updated with time.

The Little Bird

Piercing the snowy clouds,

Fluttering with scintillating passion

They travelled.

My feet, fixed on the ground, envied.

I wanted to be with them,

Flying, with my wings wide open.

Touching the sky, kissing the mountains

Breathing the earth, bathing in the rains

Carefree, as they were

They vanished in no time.

Dejected and lonely, I strolled ahead.

Wishing to be a bird, all the while

I wanted to ask God

Why had he been so unfair?

Endowing us, humans, with all the things

How could he forget to give us wings?

Absorbed, I went away

Carefree, you might say

For, I hit a rock - pretty hard

I toppled and fell on the way

While head banged on the road,

My mind swung amongst the stars

I couldn't care anymore.

With God, I was at war.

"God - the unfair, uncaring being

You're so mean", I thought.

I opened my bleary-eyes, distraught.

My eyes saw a poor sight.

There lay a little bird -

Mute, weak and hapless

As if waiting, for an eternal flight

She stared at me, blinking

Blank, as if life had reached its end

Taking her in my palms, I soared

I looked at her and in a go,

I threw her towards the sky

To see her wings, flap with joy.

But, the flight didn't occur

Her wings didn't flutter

Fearful, she came back into my hands

Frightened, she stared once again

I asked her, "What's wrong?"

She said, "Come with me. I'm scared."

I laughed and said, "I've got no wings."

"Wings aren't necessary." She replied.

I didn't want to argue,

So I laughed at her ignorance.

She turned morose,

Jumped on the ground,

Walked towards a cage

And locked herself inside.

Astonished, I questioned,

"Why? Why don't you fly?"

She echoed my words.

"Why don't you break the cage?" I asked.

The echoes follow.

Puzzled, I mumbled.

"I've no wings."

She said, "Wings aren't needed."

"Then what is needed?" I wondered.

"The will to break free." She said.

Stunned, I said nothing.

A surge of gratitude for the Almighty,

Came in a fling.

The little bird broke her cage

And carried me towards the sky

"Sky is where I belong,"

She said in my voice and vanished.

Mystified, I kept flying with no wings.

A little flutter inside my heart

Kept me alive and gave my first flight.

"Sky is where I belong" I screamed with joy.

The echoes follow, this time from inside my heart.

I open my eyes and sway my vision.

An isolated road is beheld.

I turn and look into the vast sky.

Piercing the snowy clouds,

Fluttering with scintillating passion

They travelled. But this time,

My feet, fixed on the ground, reveled.

P.S. There is a little bird inside each of us. Never ever dare to cage it. Because sky is where we belong.

A hell of an update

Well well well. Here's my blog that had been untouched since almost a month. I had been missing it.

The sheer joy of blogging is that you write not because you've to write, but because you want to write. You've nothing special to write about and still when you sit in front of 'create post' on blogger.com, you've your heart and mind in synergy letting you speak in a language that's fluent and coherent. Suddenly, you realize you've so much to relate and so much to share. I am home since the last weekend. To enumerate the development:

• I visited Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha got enlightened, on car with my family as I was so desperate to travel. It was a serene place, though there were not many things to see, but still, it was a good time to spend away from work and other real-life pressures, and with my parents, sister and my dear camera. Thankfully, I got some real nice clicks there.
• On way, I finished a book called 'Go Kiss the World' by Subroto Bagchi. It's a marvelous book by an entrepreneur turned author and it emphasized on his life journey and how his life conspired to let him reach his ambitions, with values and integrity intact. I've ordered another book by Bagchi titled 'The High Performance Entrepreneur'. I would read it on my way back to Delhi.
• As I reached home, internet dwindled. Without internet for four days, I had to skip my work, but it gave me time to read and write a lot. Day before yesterday, I wrote 3000 words in a day and felt really accomplished.
• Yesterday, I got my old guitar fixed and its sounding really sweet after all that renovation. I want to jam so badly, but hardly anyone seems to give me company here. Let us see.
• On Tuesday, I started ace cyclist Lance Armstrong autobiography - It's not about the bike - and it's a riveting read. It's not about the bike, it's about life. And death.
• I went on a photographic expedition with my friend Debanjan. We carried our SLRs across the residential colonies and everyone seemed to give us a what-the-hell-are-they-doing kind of stare.
• Today I had a day out with my school friends. It was fun. Watched the movie Udaan, which was nothing but a slow-and-tiresome piece, however Ronit Roy was really impressive in his role; after which we had wholesome lunch and some doses of air hockey.
• What more? Two days left, internet fixed up - I think work would take my days. In between I'll write my sequel.
• I'm done for the time being, I wanna lie down and finish Armstrong's book; as of now, only two chapters are left and I left it at the critical stage where he was to go for the Tour de France.

Well, that more or less counts as a blog update. I love to see me back.

P.S. Try this thing out - listen to the song - 'Hey there, Delilah' by Plain White T's with your eyes closed. You'll realize that every word in that song carries emotion that's unconditional.

thewittyshit.com

Hi friends,

This post is about my venture, thewittyshit.com

Being a creative guy, I failed to succumb to the technical jargons that IIT had to offer to me, and I decided to take the uncommon path - the entrepreneurial path. My start-up is an online-networking-cum-merchandising venture, which will be focussed around one-liners fabricated by the aam-aadmi.

We've openings for young and dynamic people who would be interested in working full-time or part-time with us. If you're interested, read the careers section below.

About us:

www.thewittyshit.com is a networking-cum-merchandising website intended to tap surges of creativity in common people by creating a network of people who are good with words(especially one-liners), providing them a customizable-space to record and host their 'witcraft' and giving them an opportunity to get incentives for the same by merchandising. We believe that quotes are for those who don't have a say for themselves. And if you've the wit, you're equipped, to fabricate your own quotes.

With us, you can get your facebook status messages and tweets recorded, hosted and reach a larger audience with your signature attached to it. We are here to host your quotes in the masses. If your quote gets popular, we would bring out a product featuring your quote and give you royalty from the sales. Just be with us and see how your little creativity can fetch you a lot!

Careers:

At thewittyshit.com, you’ll find people obsessed with the word called ‘communication’. We’re all about communication - communicating through written words, communicating visually through designs and communicating verbally. Not that we do it because we love sharing our thoughts and ideas, but rather because we love to get to know the thoughts and ideas of the other side – your side. We love enthusiastic people, who know how to take fun from the work that they do for us and make work fun for the people around. After all, how boring is this life without an exclamation mark!

Our work focuses on marketing strategies to target youth(especially college students), graphic designing to cater to the gen-x needs, supply chain analytics, web-development and maintenance, product development, plagiarism-check algorithms and inventing smart financial and publicity schemes.

If communication is your passion and you’ve the guts to imagine out-of-the-box communication solutions, you’re born to be a wit-maker! We, being passionate wit-makers ourselves, are the most active users as well as staunch critics of our services and we think we understand what we need and how to get it. Despite being a start-up, we promise a handsome remuneration if you’re ready to show your mettle, plus a lot of enriching work experience for you to carry for your lifetime.

See our current openings:

Marketing Team:

1. College Student Ambassadors

Responsibilities:

• Host our brand in your college and market our products(tees) there.

• Help us organize slogan and design competition in your college.

Qualifications Required:

• A college-level significant position of responsibility would be great!

2. Business Outreach Executives

Responsibilities:

• Pitching a plethora of colleges and companies.

• Convincing people, conveying what we are all about and what do we offer!

3. Marketing Lead –

Responsibilities:

• Talking to your team members

• Coordinating their job, assigning them targets and deadlines.

• Devising astute marketing strategies to reach out to the maximum crowd.

Qualifications Required:

• A significant position of responsibility in the cultural or technical fest of your college.

• Previous work experience in any start-up or NGOs would be an icing on the cake!

Design Team:

1. Graphic Designer

Responsibilities:

• Poster designing for events and competitions that we organize.

• Information brochure design.

• Visiting cards design

2. Textile Designer

Responsibilities:

• Designing of T-shirts

• Creating characters, mascots and logos for assignments.

Pre-requisite: One should be proficient with Photoshop and Corel Draw.

Web-development Team

Web-Designer

Responsibilities –

• Giving an aesthetic feel to the website.

• Working on Drupal modules.

Pre-requisites: Should be fully aware about the CMS Drupal. Must have some work experience in the same.

Prerequisites for each of the above openings:

(a) Enthusiasm (b) Enthusiasm, and (c) Enthusiasm.

No matter what college are you in, no matter what place you reside currently, if you've the passion and the required skill-set, we have a position for you.

Question yourself:

1.Do you want to work with determined creative entrepreneurs?

2. Do you think you're capable enough to contribute in any of these domains?

3. Are you enthusiastic enough to be a wit-maker?

If yes, mail us your resumes and a 'statement of purpose' at thewittyshit@gmail.com, our team'll get back to you immediately.

P.S. Follow our facebook page - to remain informed - http://www.facebook.com/thewittyshit

When Silence Speaks

Indeed, it was a lovely day

Thousands of thoughts lay scattered

Only one of them could I choose to say

Choice was tough, all the way

The tougher was the choice -

Whether to say or not to say

By my side, you were there

Silent, as if waiting for me to say,

Your eyes assuring me that you care.

Silence. That's all what I said.

That moment, words seemed immaterial,

Since every page of my soul had been read.

My eyes rested on yours, blankly I stared

Amidst blatant heartbeats,

Bare silence, we shared.

You smiled. You sighed.

With clouds as my companion,

I blinked. And we cried.

With you and me, the clouds wept.

Our silence finally spoke up, and

A silent eternal promise was kept.

P.S. Silence is the language of heart. Words contaminate the purity of feelings. This thought made me compose this poem.

Urge

One day,

An urn of sunlight will shower the ground, soiled with darkness, with its bright seeds of light.

That day,

The shadow of darkness will be buried into the wells of ignorance.

The beaming light will sublimate every corpuscle of iniquity into ether.

The urge of knowledge will paint our hapless minds with the colors of rainbow.

The diligent action will take precedence over the shallow promises.

The destination-less wandering mind will find its savior in the word called 'purpose'.

The wild stallion within us will chase the horizon just to catch a glimpse of that supernatural shine.

That day,

This nescient mind of ours will find the real knowledge...

The listless soul of ours will cross across the dark edge...

Just be ready, all the time;

For the day is near

And it can come any day, anytime

Since, on that one day, my friend!

Everything will be anew, everything will be clear

And every 'thing' will end.

P.S. Inspired from Tagore's 'Where the mind is without fear'.

On starting up

Last four months have been like a new birth to me, I realized my passion for entrepreneurship - the lust for ideas and making it tangible in the real world. These four months offered a new learning experience with so many lessons that even an entire book could not suffice. However, just to share it with like-minded people, I want to enlist some of the learnings here:

• Ideas are precious. Share it, but with caution.
  
  
• People won't appreciate(they don't generally know how to), they won't see a future(most of them are myopic!), they would question your ability(they seriously think that you're infertile!), they would say it's not the right time(they're unsure about themselves and they want to paste their diffidence upon you!).
  
  Just listen to them. Revel at the fact that you've been gifted with the passion for the idea that no-one else has.
  
  
• Find a partner. Who is passionate, different and trustworthy. Shake hands, firmly.
  
  
• Partner with a person who (a) you're really compatible with, (b) who is totally different from you in skill-set, and (c) who shares the same passion and vision for the idea as you. Respect him/her.
  
  
• Make sure that your partner is staunchly critical yet not offensive. Be the same to him. Stauncher, if possible.
  
  
• It's not the one with whom you first shared your idea, who can be your partner. It's the one who first shared the excitement for your idea, who can be your partner. Remember.
  
  
• Once done with the skeleton, meet 'talented' people - the creative ones - who can suggest ways to improve your idea when they don't like something, instead of just smashing it. It polishes your idea.
  
  
• Avoid losers. It's easy to recognize them. They'll always suggest why something can't be done instead of suggesting something that can be done. They would take away the input and give you no output.
  
  
• Welcome critics, but avoid cynics. It keeps you encouraged.
  
  
• While hiring people, always remember that enthusiasm precedes talent. It holds for you too.
  
  
• If your friend's advices are really good, include them. If not, smile and say, 'Thank you.' Remaining unperturbed when unwanted suggestions are flooding in is an asset for an entrepreneur. It offers you stability.
  
  
• Hire people who're frank enough to say, 'I want to join you because I want money.' They would tell you before they ditch you.
  
  
• While making your core team, remember that long distance relationship sucks! Make sure your team-members are near to you, so that you can fuel their enthusiasm frequently, assess their work and see the progress yourself. It makes things easy.
  
  
• Seek friends who you respect and who respect you, for suggestions. Mutual respect is really important. It enhances creative output.
  
  
• Be happy with yourself and your idea. It brings confidence.
  
  
• Write - your ideas, your learnings and your plans. It brings clarity.

P.S. Add more to the list by commenting. It'll help other readers.

Life

It's a new day.

I get up and say.

'Today, I am gonna run!'

'For sure, it's gonna be fun.'

Somebody once told me that life's a race.

This is the only reality you've to face.

I agreed to it, thinking, 'How true?'

Run, that's what I am supposed to do.

Oh! it's gonna be fun.

This race called life, I'm gonna run!

I run and run until the day comes to an end.

I come back home, smashing my friends.

Accomplished, happy, but tired.

I drop to my bed. Bleary-eyed.

And fall into the trap of my dreams.

Where the race ain't over, that's what it seems.

It's another race there.

Tougher, if not equal, I swear!

Life's a race, how true?

That's the little secret I would tell you.

For years, the process continues.

Successes many, failures few.

I grow old, still racing.

Without any idea of what I have been chasing.

Years go by, my fate awaits.

It seems bad, as if I had missed something great.

The messenger of 'Death' appears.

I am dreadfully tired, full of tears.

For, my time has come.

I can't see what I have done.

And what, undone!

In a bass tone, he speaks to me.

As though a grave decree.

'I can't take you!' He commands.

'I'm done with my life. Why can't you?' I demand.

'Because you already died.'

'When?' I cried.

'The day you started running, out of your own choice.'

Suddenly, a memory flashes before my eyes.

'Weren't you the one who gave me that advice?'

'That life is a race.'

'That's the only reality what I've to face.'

'Ah! Yes, but you got it all wrong!'

'That was not even the part of my song'

Then he sang, 'Life is a grace.'

'That's the only reality, you've to face.'

My eyes open up, abruptly.

I find myself lying in dark, all lonely.

Someone pulls my head. And it's all light.

And I scream out loud, as if in fright.

A lady in white cuts the cord

That connected me to my God.

And I see, the only reality I could face

Is that life's a grace.

P.S. 'A life within a life can also be a death within a life.' This interesting thought made me compose the poem above. Hope you're able to appreciate it.

When you aspire

I abhor the word 'aspiring' before any of my ambitions. I get so impatient that I immediately start working and planning to get rid of the 'aspiring' label before my aspirations. It may be wrong, but the connotation that the word 'aspiring' has on my mind is that of a 'wannabe'.

When I aspired to be an engineer, I prepared for IIT and cracked it. When I aspired to learn to play guitar without any teacher, I spent 6 hours a day for two months with it and got it. When I aspired to be a writer, immediately I wrote a novel, found a publisher and got it published. When I aspired to be a photographer, I learned the photography techniques, bought an SLR and did it.

And now I am aspiring to be an entrepreneur. And you know what, I am feeling restless. I want to get rid of this 'aspiring' tag behind the word entrepreneur. It kills me from within. It makes me feel ungratified. So, what I am doing to get rid of it? Well, that's the right question to ask. Ironically, the answer is in the question itself - 'I am doing' - I am doing all I can, pouring down my heart and soul into it. And trust me, within a month's time, you'll see what I mean when I say 'pouring down my heart and soul'.

In the recent days, I have developed a belief, which will sound a bit harsh but for me it holds. It says that when your aspiration takes a very long time to get fulfilled, it means that either you're not doing anything or you're doing many things but all wrong. Aspiration, without action, is stagnation.

And that's why I fear the word 'aspiring' prefixed before any of my ambitions. It makes me feel like a 'wannabe'. To end this emotive recount, I end it with one of my one-liners.

'When you aspire, perspire!' - Harsh Snehanshu

P.S. It feels great to be having a surge of emotions for something that I 'aspire'.

Harsh Meets Harsh

Interview with Harsh Narang, Founder, Phokatcopy

(as a part of a term paper for the course Entrepreneurial Management - interview conducted by Apoorv, Akshay, Ashish and me)

Very rarely do we encounter people who are ready to go on a road less travelled, who dare to deviate from the conventional career path just to follow their dreams. It takes a lot of courage, passion and immense self-confidence to do so. This term paper is about one such maverick, who forwent an IIM-A call just because there was something that seemed more important to him. It was his idea.

When his friends were busy playing counter-strike or making female-friends on facebook, Harsh Narang, a fifth year student of Mathematics and Computing, IIT Delhi was busy building his own company – his innovative venture called ‘Phokatcopy’.

16th March

While we(the four of us) were waiting at Lipton, IIT Delhi campus, to take his interview as a part of the course SML-302 on Entrepreneurial Management, we were tad nervous. We kept revising our sets of questions and were ready with our pens and paper to start off with our questions as soon as he arrived. It didn’t take much wait on our part, as a simple but dynamic guy in a blue-shirt carrying an extravagant smile appeared in front of us and we introduced ourselves.

The first question that came as a part of our conversation was not from our side, but it was from him. Curiously, he asked us, ‘Why did you choose me for your entrepreneurial study?’ to which I was quick with reply, ‘We identify ourselves with you. Your being one amongst us brings us immense pride and we wanted to know more about you and your venture, and take your story to our fellow mates.’

Thereafter, we began our questionnaire and the pens that were so desperately waiting to make notes, engaged themselves in the handsome task, quite gleefully.

The questions follow:

Personal Information about Harsh Narang - Harsh lives in Saket and is a day-scholar, currently in 5th year student in MCA at IIT Delhi. The day we met him - 16th March, 2010, he had an IIM-A call for interview, and he skipped it to give us an interview. He skipped it not for the us(of course), but for his passion - his enterprise.

About Phokatcopy - PhokatCopy provides an innovative youth-oriented platform for advertising . Offering students photocopying services at no cost, with advertising initiatives on the back page, It links student needs with an innovative marketing strategy, providing an opportunity for targeted brand visibility and information dissemination to impact this demographic. Currently PhokatCopy has MoU's signed with over 25 colleges and Photocopy operators across Delhi including IIT-Delhi, SRCC, Hindu, Hansraj etc, and has recently launched itself in Pune.

1. How did the idea first occur to you?

- I used to photocopy a lot. The concept of free photocopying came to me on a long afternoon in 2007, after I had just copied a mountain of notes! On an average, a student at IIT takes 6 courses per semester which accounts for approximately 1000 papers every semester. So, that is a huge market seeing the number of students in India. Added to this was the growth of advertisements and media lately. So, it occurred across to me “Why not merge photocopy and media?” and hence, came Phokatcopy. I worked on refining the concept and the financials and fleshed out the idea over the course of the year - and PhokatCopy was born.

2. What gave you the confidence to stick to your idea and make it work?

- I had faith in myself and my idea, which was the most important thing.

3. Did you seek mentorship? If yes, how much of help had it been for you?

- I participated in Vishisth, IIT Delhi’s B-Plan competition, in Jan’08 and got a lot of support from the mentors there. I participated in a lot of business plan competitions thereafter and got really good mentors. Yes, mentorship is really helpful. It saves your time as you learn from other’s experiences as well as get important feedbacks from very senior people in the line of entrepreneurship.

4. From where did you get the initial capital to start?

- It was self funded. Around 60-70 thousands came from B-plan competitions and the rest were funded by my parents, a total of 3 lakhs.

5. What were the major challenges that you faced while making this idea work?

- Getting advertisers was a very tough job to do, as the idea revolved around them. And since it was a new idea, convincing them was quite tough. Another major problem was managing the people who worked under me. I had a team comprising of people over 30 years of age reporting to me, and obviously, as you can think, one is not comfortable reporting to someone who is so much younger to them.

6. How did you go about with the market survey? What part of the population were you targeting and how much has Phokatcopy reached till now?

- I conducted a market survey in IIT itself regarding whether they liked the idea or not. Since my idea was student-centric, we thought the results of the survey in IIT would very much reflect the mentality of the students all across India. The survey was done across 500 students. Out of which 96% liked the idea and said that they would be really happy if such a thing comes across.

My target market is students. In India, around 4.7 million students photocopy 450 pages a year on an average. And there are plenty of advertisers who want to target the youth since there are a hatful of youth-oriented products and services available in the market. So, this works for me as well as for the advertisers, who are perhaps the most important part of this venture. The advertisers are the ones who are actually paying for the photocopying.

7. What does your experience about students turning entrepreneur say? Are there many hurdles which require experience or can starting early be advantageous? Didn’t your studies get affected?

- I would say that time management is really an important thing to learn if you want to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship requires commitment, and there is no right answer to your second question.

I scored 9.2 SGPA with 28 credits in the semester I started Phokatcopy. And to add to this, I participated in 5 B-plan competitions around this time, traveling across India throughout the semester. One just needs to manage his time properly.

For me, when you are in college the opportunity cost is very low. After graduating I would have to do away with a job of Rs 12 lakhs or maybe 30 lakhs, if I graduate from IIM, which would have haunted me later. Plus, my venture involved students. I am close to them when I am in college rather than being in a job. So, I think I made a wise decision by starting early.

8. So there is nothing to lose in college? But everything to gain?

- If time is managed properly, you have nothing to lose.

9. How did the name ‘Phokatcopy’ came into being? It’s a really catchy name.

- Our name is our biggest USP. It just occurred naturally. Cheap Photocopy = Free Photocopy = Phokat Photocopy = Phokatcopy!

10. How are you publicizing your venture? Are you satisfied with the popularity it has gained in such a short time?

- Yes and No both. We recently had our mention in the first page of Hindustan Times. Still, word of mouth remains to be our main source of publicity.

We already have Warner Bros., CCD, Vodafone, Nirulas, as our major clients. But getting the payment from them on time is a big bottle-neck.

11. Has Phokatcopy started making profits?

- We have not yet started making profits but have reached the break-even stage.

12. Has your internship experience as an engineer come into play in setting up and carrying forward your venture?

- It did give me an experience of the work environment and how organizations work. But in reality, starting something from scratch and building a company is completely different from working in an organization.

13. Do you think being in IIT has given you the necessary confidence and platform to realize your dreams?

- I would not say that it has given me the necessary confidence but yes, IIT brand has given me the necessary leverage. When I approach people and introduce myself as a student from IITD, they do listen to me. It definitely helped when I was looking for advertisers, the IIT Alumni network being the biggest help.

14.What is the future of Phokatcopy? Are you planning to sell it off?

- Currently, it is not a big venture. We've recently launched it in Pune, and we intend to expand it to many cities, all across the country. Let’s see how big it grows. It is in its development stage. I am definitely going to sell it off, but not now. Maybe in 2-3 years. Since it is at break-even point, no one is interested in buying it. But as it expands and starts making profit, big companies will become interested in it.

15. What kind of material (paper, ink) you use? Is it eco-friendly?

- We use 100% wood-free paper. It is made up of sugar cane pulp. The ink is eco-friendly too. To add to this, we have also reduced the thickness of our paper from 100 gsm to 80 gsm. This saves us 20% of paper.

16. According to you, how is Phokatcopy socially beneficial?

- At first, it promotes entrepreneurship. Youth-oriented start-ups can reach to their core customers by advertising with us.

Today, paper cost is increasing with time, but the photocopy shop operators can not increase price beyond 50 paise. So they are kind of trapped. Phokatcopy gives them huge margins by providing them with papers at very low cost, which fits into the ‘socially beneficial’ category. Plus, we are promoting 100% wood-free paper and wherever Phokatcopy goes, wood-free paper becomes in vogue.

Other than this we have placed recycle bins in collaboration with ‘Green O Bin’ at all the photocopy shops where Phokatcopy is done, so that students can drop in their used papers. I am not making money on this part. Students, who drop in 5 kg of paper, I give them Rs.10 of talk-time. That's how it works. I am paying incentive to people for saving paper.

Often people talk about the fact that one side of page in Phokatcopy is wasted because of the advertisements. What I would like to say is that, one side is just reserved as a means of communication, just like you have advertisements in newspaper or take fliers. In a survey conducted recently, Dominos declared 2% strike rate for fliers. This is much less than the strike rate for advertisements provided in Phokatcopy. This can also be used for providing awareness on issues such as AIDS. NACO has funds and what better ways to reach students are there other than Phokatcopy?

Normal paper cuts 17 trees for 1000 kg of paper. But we cut zero. To add to this, I am also ready to fund tree plantation in campuses where Phokatcopy operates.

17. Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line?

- I come up with a new idea almost every 3-4 days. I actually maintain an idea diary. For now I will stick to phokatcopy, but 3 years down the line, who knows what is going to happen.

Other than this, I have planned to start an NGO which collects VMC, FIITJEE packages costing originally around 35000 and distribute these among poor kids. A lot of students have them, but they are of no use to them now.

We: Thank you Harsh, it was pleasure talking to you. Wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

Harsh Narang: Thanks a lot.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. This was it. We were mesmerized by the confidence. So much that we suddenly wanted to be an entrepreneur ourselves, not in the hope of opening up an enterprise, but rather with desire of scoring a whooping 9.2

P.S. A break-even point is the point where a start-up reaches a no-profit no-loss situation, with the initial investment recovered.

On Words

Words fascinate me. Not the difficult words, but simple words which have great importance in our lives.

Each word has its own picture in my head. There are phases in my life when a particular word resides in my head for a long time and strikes it every now and then. It happens not because of the word or its meaning but because of the 'persona' it creates for itself inside my mind. You may call it infatuation. But actually, it's something more elusive. It's like them being guests to my mind, who come, stay, make their presence felt, alter my thinking in their own subtle way and then they go. In this age of Atithi - tum kab jaoge, I ironically enjoy the presence of words as my Atithi.

I don't quite remember when this process started, because I started noticing it quite late. However, I would like to share about some recollections from recent times.

Last year, around summer, this word called 'gift' was my guest. It stayed in my mind for almost two months. All day, whenever I contemplated, I would think about this word, its different connotations, how this world would have been if this word had not been there, how could we describe the feeling of being 'gifted' in something, the feeling of having the gift of 'vision' to see the beauty of the world around, the gift of nature, the gift of God and so on. The gift that I am talking about cannot be conveyed in all of its figurative forms by any other words like present, endowment, talent. Hence, I felt the word 'gift' is rare, it's specifically designed and has its own purpose and destiny.

I came up with many one-liners during those phases to convey my crush with the word 'gift' and what it means to me. Some of them are:

• Something can be called your 'passion' if it can make you lose your sleep; something can be called your 'gift' if it can make others lose their sleep for it.
• You happen to be the best gift God has given to you.

I even developed a plot for novel around this word 'gift'. It revolved around the story of a boy from Bihar who studies hard and makes it to the IIT, only to realize later that his real gift is writing and he is in a wrong place. It then relates how he drops out of the college to pursue a career in literature and his parents and relatives ostracize him, saying it has lowered their status amongst their peers. His only support is his girlfriend, who stands by him and makes him realize his destiny. And again the same happy ending stereotype, when people are made to realize that everyone has his own gift and the true destiny is realized only when one follows one's own passion. The movie 3 idiots brought out this message quite effectively, and that too at a much larger stage than my novel would have, through Madhavan's sentimental scene at home, and thankfully, I am liberated from the 'I-should-write-about-it-and-make-people-realize' feeling, and I am splurging my mind into a different plot.

Talking about now, I am infatuated with the word that is popularly known as 'ideas', as I am boggled to see how this word called ideas work. It goes on and on, one idea links to other and weaves itself into another idea to create a massive superset. It's like a chain reaction and the moment of joy comes when the flash of a fresh idea occurs. It just happens. It can't be explained, it just occurs. You don't really need to think about how to do it or so, because it will occur automatically, if you just streamline your thoughts in a particular direction. I can give you a simple example to demonstrate this, by relating how plots of short stories occur to me. Once I was reading a story in a magazine and it ended with a 'To-be-continued' at the climactic scene, which was supposed to be very disappointing to me. And then I thought of writing a story myself, which you can read here and appreciate the feeling of how inspired-ideas work. Sometimes, ideas don't tend to follow such structured patterns and that is when you realize that it just happens, and this is the most amazing thing with ideas. I even constructed some one-liners around this word 'ideas', which are mentioned below:

• An idea can change your wife.
• It is more important to have a mind full of ideas than to have a mind full of knowledge. The world is full of people brimming with knowledge. Interestingly, they are the ones who work under the directions of 'the men with ideas'.
• Ideas act like nuclear reaction - one idea leads to other and the chain reaction starts, for eternity.
• One is never short of ideas for the person who means to you.

As I am working on two levels now - one as a story-teller(writer) and the other as a budding entrepreneur(about which I'll disclose as and when the right time comes), I am astonished to see how I can find links between the two kinds of ideas, which have different origins but a common source i.e. my mind and my thought-process.

So this is a brief history of how words shape my thoughts and if I consider my long history many other words like passion, love, hard-work, dreams, value, book, story and even the word 'words' have been a part of my mind's journey. I just hope this journey continues, with such words shaping my mind on a constant basis and my blog seeking your tryst with your favorite words.

If you would like to read more of my one-liners, you can visit my blog called Witty Shit, here - wittyshit.blogspot.com/

P.S. If you've any such mind-probing experiences, I would really love to hear them. Comments most welcome.