Shuhaib ShariffThe Dark Knight… Yeah, Right!

We celebrate our Republic Day today… its an overwhelming feeling watching the R-day parade on TV. India has truly arrived!

For the first time in our history an Indian Prime Minister has missed the R-day celebrations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is recuperating from a bypass surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

A lot of Indians do not understand the significance of Republic Day (26-JAN). Wasn’t India a FREE country on 15-AUG? Why do we celebrate Republic Day then?

Well the short answer is:

We gained our Independence (from the British) on 15-AUG-1947 and Pt. Nehru became our first Prime Minister.
However, the symbolic head of the Indian state was King George VI

On 26-JAN-1950 the symbolic head of state changed to our first President: Mr. Rajendra Prasad. Also the Indian Constitution came into effect on this day.

Thats enough gyan for today!

Mr. Lal Krishna Advani, currently the leader of Opposition in the Indian Parliament has been projecting himself as the Prime-Ministerial candidate of the NDA, should they come to power.

In his recent interaction with Rediff readers, he is claimed to have said:
“I can humbly claim that I can lead the country”
Link here: http://specials.rediff.com/news/2009/jan/22slid1-advani-chat-transcrip.htm

Mr. Advani, save your humility for another cause. A Young India does not need an 82-year old Prime Minister, a man with no past achievement  (positive) to speak off, and a man with no vision. Quit projecting yourself as a statesman… if you were one, you would have *atleast* made way for a younger leader, somebody who can lead the Country and do it in style.

India needs new energy, new focus & new direction.
We need a leader in his forties, somebody at his prime… willing to go that extra mile to make a difference.We need somebody who we can look upto, somebody the world can look upto.

We live in the Present, and would like to plan for the Future. My fear is Mr. Advani, your brand of politics will take us back to the Past.
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of old ones.

“Change” seems to be the mantra, everywhere you go. America voted for Change represented by the charasmatic & young Barack Obama. The sentiment in the US is that Obama will undo the damage done by the previous regime and will provide direction & leadership to the new world order.

The Indian Intellengnesia is looking for its own Obama. Somebody who is the embodiment of Change (for the better), who does not carry a baggage, has a vision for tomorrow and the will to lead from the front.

I see India’s Obama… far away from 10 Janpath (Delhi), surviving in a burning paradise. Trying to pick up whats left of the ruins and making an attempt to turn things around. Undoubetly he is India’s O… Omar Abdullah, sworn in as the new chief minister of troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir.

I see to many similarities between Obama & Omar:
1) Both have respectable educational backgrounds
2) Great Orators… and their speeches have substance
3) Both are Articulate, Passionate, Earnest & Knowledgeable
4) Both have inherited states in turmoil : USA (Economic). J&K (Law & Order)
5) Both are young : Obama (44) Omar (38) and have a vision for the future.

The similarities are plenty… infact they also look alike… almost… I mean, atleast the haircut is the same
I’d like to wish both of these gentlemen well and pray that they take care of the people who have given them a chance to govern.

I’d like to end this post by including a verse of Omar Abdullah’s speech at the Lok Sabha:
“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice….”
- Omar Abdullah, July 22nd, 2008, Lok Sabha

Chakpak.com, an entertainment portal (Bollywood Content) has gotten nearly 25 Crores in funding from Venture Capital Firm Canaan Partners
Sources:
VCcircle
Content Sutra

From the press release:
Alok Mittal, Managing Director, Canaan Partners, India explains that out of a base of 40 million online users in India, 18 million are already accessing some or the other entertainment destination. This put together with the demand for Indian content outside India totals to 25 -30 million users. Mittal says “it’s a large category. Since chakpak.com gets 5 million visitors every month, they have shown very strong traction over the last 12 months in building a significant presence.”

Bollywood PORTAL + 5 million users (claimed) + IIT Grads (Founders) = BIG Funding from a BIG VC

My Analysis of ChakPak.com:
1) Quality of Traffic : 2/10
Due to the nature of the site content, Chakpak caters to teenagers & the time-pass crowd. How many High-Net Worth individuals (HNI’s) do you think will hang out at the Chakpak forum sharing juicy gossip about actors/actresses and doing movie reviews?
2) Revenues : 2/10
What do they make… Rs 25 per 1,000 impressions? Wait, dont they have Google Adsense as their main source of revenue? WOW!
3) Technology: 1/10
Do they have a killer application… difficult to replicate? Any patent-pending technology? NADA
What about the UI… what about design? YUCCCK!
Wait, they do have integration with YouTube. WOW!
4) Competitiveness: 2/10
They are competing for marketshare with the likes of Network18, BCCL (Times), BigAdda, Bollywood Hungama, etc. (Established media business with stake in print, radio, tv, ooh & web) Do they have a differential offering OR some USP… without it they will NEVER be able to build a loyal user base.
5) Market Niche: 1/10
Bollywood content… huh? Very Nice.
In India, pretty much every mohalla in every city has a website centered around Bollywood. Need proof, check this out:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bollywood

Recommended Movie For Mr. Alok Mittal This Weekend: TITANIC

The year gone past will be best remembered for an economic slowdown, recession & bankruptcies. So many events unfolded so quickly and reactions all-around can be best summarized as “Shock & Awe”

In good times, Companies tend to develop bad habits. Nobody notices them when the going is good, but in bad times these very habits can be a catalyst for disaster. In times like these, it is extremely important to get back to the basics:
1) Improve Employee Productivity
2) Cut Down Wasteful Expenditure
3) Optimize your spending… focus on VALUE not SCALE
4) Encourage Multitasking
5) Conserve Capital

To survive I strongly believe that companies need to be LEAN and I have strong feeling that 2009 will be a year of the LEAN company. Im also hopeful that we will see a general turn-around in the economy towards the end of 2009.

In the the words of Percy Shelly “If Winter is Here, Can Spring be far Behind”
Best Wishes to Everybody for 2009