Daily Archives: May 7, 2007
Cost of being overconnected
There’s something delightfully self-deprecating about that name,
Twitter–we’re all just a bunch of happy birdies, tweeting away in our
trees!–but it also makes me nervous. It’s like the cocaine of blogging
or e-mail but refined into crack. Internet addiction is an old story,
but we’re on the tipping point of a new kind of problem that might more
broadly be called an addiction to data, in all its many and
splendiferous forms.Like any good pusher, services like Twitter don’t answer existing
needs; they create new ones and then fill them. They come to us wrapped
in the rhetoric of interpersonal connection, creating a sense that our
loved ones, or at least liked or tolerated ones, are electronically
present to us, however far away they may be. But I can’t help wondering
if we’re underestimating the countervailing effect: the cost we’re
paying in our disconnection from our immediate surroundings, in our
dependence on a continuous flow of electronic attention to prop up our
egos, and above all, in a rising inability to be alone with our own
thoughts–with that priceless stream of analog data that comes not from
without but from within.
No, I don’t have a twitter account and neither do I plan on getting one !
Meeting friends in Gurgaon
Was in Gurgaon from 4th to 6th for some client work and therefore took
out the time to meet some XLers there.
Learning from the visit: While the rest of the country seems to club
Delhi and the rest of NCR together, Gurgaon residents see themselves
quite differently from Delhi residents 
Met the Nokia management trainees (of the ’06 batch) at a party one of
my batchmates was throwing at his residence (yeah Surya, you were not
there Discovered the interesting grax that 3 xlers in Nokia had
stayed in the same room in XL’s men’s hostel ! Room 315 !
One of the MTs wanted to find out if there was any recorded statistics
of how many XLers have ended up marrying XLers and how many have married
IIMCians. Any ideas? There was this interesting example I heard of an XL
guy marrying an IIMC girl !
Also met the earlier discussed Shuklaji (from the ir ’98 batch – who
crafted the “Jai Bholenath” song). Apart from being the country manager
of a text messaging firm, he’s also planning to take an elective on
entrepreneurship at IIM A. Current batch XLers apparently also listened
to his talk on entrepreneurship at XL through a video conference,
apparently which was arranged by a new prof in XL called Munish Thakur.
Also said Hi to the bm ’98 head of marketing for Reebock, who also lives
in the same apartment block as my batchmate in Nokia )
Met up with the pm ir’94 lady who works for the global search firm
called EMA Partners. Some 5-6 years ago she was HR head of Dominos
Pizza, and her husband (from the 91 batch) now is with Yum brands, which manages Pizza Hut !
Talk of co-incidences ! There was talk of new careers that are emerging
- Chief Parking Officer, anyone
Finally also met up with Abhijit Bhaduri who informed me that the sequel
to “Mediocre But Arrogant” will be mostly called “Married But Available”
and the book is almost 30% done.
However, there were a lot of Gurgaon and Delhi XLers I could not meet up
with. Maybe next time folks 
XLRI Alumni movements
Rajesh Soundarrajan XLRI ’99 batch has joined Microsoft at Singapore to drive the Emerging Segments and Market Development (ESMD) segment for Consumer and Business Segments in APAC.
His responsibility is to drive ‘social business’ working as part of the Microsoft® Unlimited Potential (Launched April 2007). His job role involves integrating new business models, technology solutions, & expanded citizenship efforts to address the needs of 5bn+ people, in developed/ing nations, who currently receive little or
no benefits from technology.
Mohinish Sinha XLRI pmir is now Managing Director at iDiscoveri, an organization that is a pioneer in the area of learning in schools, organizations and indeed in the lives
of people. He will lead the area of building leadership in organizations. He has worked in building leadership capability in organizations including working as a coach to senior management professionals.
Prior to idiscoveri, he headed the People and Change consulting practice of
PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) in India. Prior to that with Ernst & Young, Andersen, Citicorp Info Tech (now iFlex) and Cadburys.
XLRI Alumni movements
Rajesh Soundarrajan XLRI ’99 batch has joined Microsoft at Singapore to drive the Emerging Segments and Market Development (ESMD) segment for Consumer and Business Segments in APAC.
His responsibility is to drive ‘social business’ working as part of the Microsoft® Unlimited Potential (Launched April 2007). His job role involves integrating new business models, technology
solutions, & expanded citizenship efforts to address the needs of
5bn+ people, in developed/ing nations, who currently receive little or
no benefits from technology.
Mohinish Sinha XLRI pmir is now Managing Director at iDiscoveri, an organization that is a pioneer in
the area of learning in schools, organizations and indeed in the lives
of people. He will lead the area of building leadership in
organizations. He has worked in building leadership capability in
organizations including working as a coach to senior management
professionals.
Prior to idiscoveri, he headed the People and Change consulting practice of
PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) in India. Prior to that with Ernst &
Young, Andersen, Citicorp Info Tech (now iFlex) and Cadburys.
Spidey goes dehati
News:
Spiderman-3 has been dubbed in Bhojpuri at an
estimated cost of 250,000 dollars (rupees 10 million). It is also the
first Hollywood movie to be dubbed in Bhojpuri.
Bhojpuri films actor Ravi Kishan has lent his voice for the dubbing of the movie in Bhojpuri, a dialect popular in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
“I
am very excited, it is a dream I had cherished for a long time that has
come true. I want to see the Bhojpuri film industry grow. I want the
international companies and corporate houses to make the Bhojpuri film
industry larger, stronger and more powerful,” Kishan said.
Hmm, I wonder how “Abhai tum to humra jaala se nahi ja sakte babua” will sound ?
