Blue Peepal

What do you associate with the word start-up? If your mind connects with headlines grabbing large VC rounds, college drop-outs to professional drop-outs and yes, some who managed to complete degrees, technology, gravity defying growth rates and lot of breaking convention from approaching a problem to new solutions, then we are fundamentally on the same page and welcome to the article. Let’s explore more. Why Start up? That’s because it’s how we have managed to innovate, survive, become creative, solve and learn from mistakes. David Eagleman and Anthony Brandt in their book Runaway Species argue that humanity’s unique capability to remake the world is unmatched by any other living beings. F ar from being a professional activity, it is an institutional exercise in solving existing or new problems, or build a new experience. T he case for institutional exercise is when it is developed with an objective to manifest over a long-term. The Society For the ...

It started with a misadventure 2 years back, when driving back from dinner to our hotel in Ooty (hill station in Southern India), Google Maps led me to a dead-end in one of the narrow roads in the hill town. It was drizzling and dark. There was not enough road space to take a U-turn, so my wife got off the car and called for some help. I had to reverse my car downhill for about 20 minutes down 50 meters of the slope, with the valley on my left. With luck, patience and some generous assistance from the local resident, my car got back on the road; with offline guidance, we reached our hotel. The Maps experience left me intrigued; I tried to think of it more as a technology problem or, algorithms that power it, than with Google. Algorithms all around us Algorithms in simple terms are problem solving tools that run from aerospace, medical science, recommendations on most content to commerce sites, best candidates for a job fit to the Maps et al, with a pred...

The celebrated ghazal singer broke into explaining the beauty of poet’s imagination: “Pyaar ka pehla, ishq ka doosra aur mohabbat ka tisara luvz adhura hota hai” (The poet describes that first letter in pyaar , second letter in ishq and third letter in mohabbat are half characters) “Iss liye hum aapko chahte hain, kyunki chahat ka har luvz pura hota hai” (Instead, the poet chose to describe his love as whole, using the word chahat which has no half characters!) The auditorium sprang with applause as the meaning steadily seeped into the consciousness of its audience. The poetry enveloped in Hindustani classical music made the evening riveting. It was my third consecutive year of spending one musical evening with greatest artists from India’s rich musical heritage; each time it grows my curiosity, awe and reverence. Here are some impressions from the craft that these artists display, that I find every day relevance. Humility Each of the artists had over...

A maiden trip to any country is not without its curiosities and anticipation; my US trip wasn’t either. Couple of weeks before my journey, an interesting slice of history caught my attention about United States link with India. In the heat of World War II, when India’s own struggle for Independence was reaching its inflection point, Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) had attempted more than once to persuade Churchill to commit to self-government of colonies post-war, and with reference to India in particular. For some more context from history, FDR and Churchill had issued a joint declaration called the Atlantic Charter in August 1941, which was a statement of “common principles” towards the war aims. FDR’s nudge to Churchill for India’s freedom was under the agreed principles – peoples right to self-determination. The Atlantic Charter was one of the foundation stone to modern United Nations. As my flight touched down on JFK, the excitement did have some historic fervour. The cloudy ...

A reflection on future of work, society and self Imagine waking up to your personal assistant (PA), say like an Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana or, may be an independent chatbot greeting you, then walking you through the important To-Dos of the day and asking what would be your breakfast preference! Let’s then have this PA on to a drone like device, which means your PA is not a static device like your TV or, music system but flies around the house and can also fly in your neighbourhood and some more. When you are not around, it is connected to other devices in the house including your security system. It has a good idea of your preferences, and with your usage also understands your family and friend circle. Interestingly, the drone with a PA like smart-device is not a projection into the future, but featured in a science fiction comedy – “Flubber”, starring Robin Williams that was released in 1997 , a good 21 years ago . The PA was called “Weebo”. The professor’s home ha...

(For context, biking reference in this article is to motorbiking.) Searching for biking destinations around Bangalore, I picked Biligiriranga Hills, colloquially called in abbreviation - BR Hills. The choice ticked some essential things that I look forward in a biking trip: distance that allows minimum 3 hours ride, off the beaten path that brings more nature than smoke on the road, quietude and simple local food.  A biking trip is an immersion in the senses.  The machine binds you not only with the road, but connects you with your thoughts, the eyes capture the passing villages, crops sown or ready for harvest, distant hills, hardworking farmers, old women carrying dried sticks, cattle and ponds that may have few blooming lotuses; the wind against your body, the nose relishing the freshness of cold air in the forest and the occasional stops for a cup of coffee or, snack. The road trip to BR Hills started at 7:40am on a Wednesday morning with the sun trying t...

“Sir, can’t you see we are standing at a generational divide?” “The company or, I should say its new leaders think we are deadwood; only their chosen people or, as they say young team has answers to its problems.” Rudra’s voice trembled as he cleared his mind, from years of silent suffering. “Sir, I tour 15-17 days a month, in arguably one of the toughest times in this industry, just to perk up the mood in the dealerships and in the team; you and I both know that times will change for the better, and until it does, there is a daily battle for motivation.” Krishna Rao looked at the paper weight on his table, and the cracks on its glass surface; the solid glass design inside was untouched from the ordeals the surface had endured. He was attentive to Rudra’s outpouring; reflective of the state of the company and its several long timers. Sameer Babu sat silently with his arms crossed; his left hand holding his glasses to his chin. Tapas Mallick had raised a st...