May 06, 2008

The Chepauk Cricket Stadium Grouse

Last week, I had the chance to watch the T20 match between the Chennai Super Kings vs the Delhi Daredevils. I was only half interested in the game (mainly because we were losing) and so spent the other half noticing around things of interest.

Disaster Waiting to Happen: The MAC stadium, the biggest cricket stadium in Chennai, is also the WORST stadium when it comes to safety. There are no emergency exits. All the exits have a swirl gate which means only one person can get out at a time. The bamboo barricades makes it even worse. It took me 25 minutes just to come out of the stadium. I had to inch forward in a long dusty queue. Felt like I was in a Tirupathi Tirumala Devastanam queue.

If an emergency evacuation had to happen, there's bound to be deaths by the thousands as more people will die out of stampede and congestion. It's the most ill-prepared stadium and I guess the authorities will only change after a disaster happens.

Crowded cafeteria: Ok, my grouse continues. The cafeteria area is quite pathetic. Overcrowded and heavily under-managed. First, the give out a rule that outside food should not be allowed inside the stadium. Second, there's only a 10 minute break between the innings. Third, very very few food counters. The result: A maddening rush and flying tempers. The powers that be did not realize that the 9:30 pm break is right at dinner time and they should have food counters that offers food. Biscuits, Cadbuyrs chocolates and Cashewnuts are fine but they aren't dinner food. Pathetic organizing.

No Mexico in Chennai: Chennai crowd may be the most knowledgeable cricket crowd in India but they don't know what a mexican wave. There was a group of people who would start the wave and it would quickly die out as the folks in the next stand wouldn't take it up. It took about 20 tries after which the waves caught on. But by then, the chennai team was losing and the crowd quickly lost interest.

Indian Flags: The vendors have not wisened up to the concept of IPL. The bulk of them were selling Indian flags and there were hardly any buyers. You can't blame them. All the international matches so far have been against different countries and there's a reason for showing your partriotism. I guess it'll take a while before they realize that its time to change. But these guys are quick to adapt and I won't be surprised that by the next tournament, there's be yellow coloured bandanas, flags and Tshirts.

Scoreboard Laggards: Both the electronic and the analog scoreboards do not show the required run rate. They do not show the number of balls a batsman has faced. They don't show the number of balls bowled in an over. The boards are still stuck in the Test era.

The Wind-Shadow Area: If you are booking a ticket at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk, make sure to book your ticket in one of the four stands E,F,G,H. Why? Because that's where the sea wind blows into. Book any other stand and get prepared to sweat profusely.

Thankfully, I was in the F stand, and I could see the folks in the opposite stands of the stadium fan themselves crazy trying to keep themselves cool. Even at night, without any wind, it can get quite sultry and uncomfortable. Interestingly, the folks who paid the highest for the Pavilion Terrace seating, suffered the worst.

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April 29, 2008

The Veiled Marketing Tactic

I got an email from the organizers of The Great Developer Summit saying that they are giving away 100 free tickets for the event. It's on first come first served basis. All they needed was the name, email and phone.

It wouldn't hurt, I figured and so I went ahead and filled in the details. I must've done that less than a minute after I received the mailer. Not that, I had much hopes of getting in. So, it was a pleasant surprise when I got a call from them saying that I might not have made the top 100. I shrugged my shoulders and carried on with my life.

Today, I receive another email from them confirming that I hadn't made it but they are willing to give me an entry at the discounted cost of Rs.3599. The original cost, apparently, is Rs.5999.

And then, it stuck me. Gosh! It's a sales tactic. And I fell for it.

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April 21, 2008

Meeting Ray Ozzie and a Dream Team of Tech CEOs

Tomorrow, the Diya hall at Hotel Leela Palace, Bangalore will have the highest concentration of Intelligence and wealth per square inch. Thankfully, the Law of Averages in the form of my presence, will ensure that it's brought down by half!

A select panel of 10 CEOs have been invited by NASSCOM for an exclusive round table with Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect. Or better known as the man who took Bill Gates' place when he retired.

The invitees are:

1. Sharad Sharma, CEO Yahoo! R&D who is also the Session Chair & Moderator.

2. Ramalinga Raju, Founder & Chairman, Satyam Computers

3. Biren Ghosh, CEO Kahani World Inc.

4. Ashish Gupta, CoFounder and Managing Partner, Helion VC

5. Rajiv Mody, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Sasken Communications

6. Anand Deshpande, Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Technologies

7. Kiruba Shankar, Blogger, Columnist, CEO, Business Blogging, Founder, F5ive Tech.

8. Mohan C M, Chief Scientist, IBM India

9. Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman and Managing Director, Microsoft India

10. Ram Narayanan, Vice President, Yahoo! R & D

The discussion is going to be on the topic, 'Is the Rise of SaaS an Opportunity for India?' To me, the coincidence couldn't have been any higher. Exactly the day before I got the invite (which was two weeks ago), I had scheduled 'SaaS' as the subject for my column in Business Standard for next week. I'll just advance it now. I shouldn't have any problem getting the best quotes!

Being a blogger, I'm the natural choice for being the guy who documents the meeting discussion. With such brilliant minds around, I'm going to be one busy 'note taker'.

The round-table with Ray brings up my memories of a similar meeting with Kevin Turner, the COO of Microsoft. It took place almost exactly one year ago.

One of the big reason why I'm eagerly looking forward to the meeting is because I'll get to meet 8 of the 10 people for the first time. The only people who I've met before are Sharad and Ravi Venkatesan. It's always interesting connecing up with new people who have accomplished a lot in their life. (which has been the motivating factor for me to start Cerebrate.)

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April 20, 2008

One of My Favorite Videos...

If you've ever been a cyclist, this video will strike a chord with you. Read on, after you watch the video. Yeah, count carefully.



Awesome video and it definitely stuck a chord with me. I've been cycling to work for the better part of the last 8 years, averaging about 20 kms a day. While riding in the city is overall safe, I've encountered some real close shaves that I'd count myself lucky to be alive to write this post. Most accidents to cyclists occur because they aren't important enough to be 'visible'. The video above hits it bang on.

Highway cycling turns cyclists into accident magnets. That's why, we always bring along a car that tails the cyclists. Without the car, cyclists are a shoo-in.

It's my request to all of us to show a bit more concern for pedestrians, runners and cyclists. You'll be rewarded with lots of gratitude.

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April 13, 2008

Thumbs Up for Dual Monitors



About three weeks ago, I got two monitors fixed for my PC for a couple of reasons. a) It'd look cool. b) I had to do a review of it for my New Indian Express column and c) wanted to check if its really as useful as others say it to be. Exactly in that order.

And boy, it turned out to be so good that I was left wondering why didn't I do this earlier. More than the coolness factor, it has certainly helped in the efficiency dept. The two monitors especially comes in very handy when you are comparing two applications or designs. Instead of going alternating on 'alt - tab', you can instantly do the comparison.

While its useful, it can also be a bit of distraction. Especially when I open the Cricinfo ball-by-ball update on one screen, like how I'm doing now, while I work on the other screen. But hey, what's life without little pleasures, eh?!

I'm convinced so much about its usefulness that I'm contemplating fixing dual monitors for all my employees. It's an investment.

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