The naivety of the Indian energy policy makers

I just read this news on India proposing a new gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. The country is gas-rich and theoretically has a great potential to abate our energy crisis.

All of the less-informed, low-intellect, mortal, aam-aadmi know that you can NOT trust an Islamic militant country to protect our lifeline. But out dear 'IAS-babus' seem to know better.

I assume that their rational is that economic powers will keep the pipeline safe. But if they could not secure their pipeline to Russia, a fortnight back - I don't see how they can guarantee the safety of this project. Turkmenistan is riddled with foreign policy troubles - being bullied by both US and Russia while it tries to stand up to Russia with US aid. And the fact that it shares a large part of its border and culture with Afghanistan does not sound too well for the prospects of the pipeline. Any pipeline that goes through Afghanistan & Pakistan and comes to India just doesn't feel safe enough.

The incumbent energy policy makers probably were weighing only the economic benefits from the project when they decided to pursue it. But the fact remains that many decisions involve other considerations - especially those taken by extremists, value schadenfreude very highly. And to give them access to something that could staunch our economy seems particularly foolish -if not diabolical.

And aside from the militant threat, we would rather not be the proverbial grass (When two elephants fight, its the grass that gets trampled - African proverb) in the fight between Russia and US over the dominance in the region. US has been trying hard to cut into the soviet dominance in the central Asian region, and Russia is not willing to let go of its strategic buffer. And the fact that we have been "friends" with both of these countries while still managing to keep the other around means that we could be "reprimanded" slightly by either. Though I strongly believe that they would not want to curtail India - We are a big source of income for both the countries. But why give them an opportunity?

Business Scalability in the Manufactoring sector

As promised earlier, here's my post on how to shape your business for scaling up, if you are in the manufacturing domain.
Most of the articles that I have read talk about up scaling the business in the web or the software domain. None really talked about applying the same principles to achieve scalability in business in the manufacturing domain.

I strongly believe that the principles of business scalability transcend the boundaries of the business domain. When we say that we need to structure the business model for scalability, we need a revenue model that is self perpetuating. One first needs to find out who the customer is. The next thing to figure out (and this is the most important thing) is to figure out what is it that will further your product's demand. And create your revenue model based on these answers.

Now lets focus on the manufacturing industry, If lets say it is a electrical machines manufacturer - that specialises in precision control. The company would probably then want to create a assembly line type product chain. So that each product sold in the market would create demand for more similar products. (If you want to have a more detailed/customised revenue model, you will have to pay me)

Sanity & Insanity

For the past few days, I have been pondering over the question of Sanity and what it means to be sane or insane.
Havent really got an answer right now, but here are some of my status messages and responses to it.
Hope it makes an interesting read.

Ankit Ashok believes sanity is overrated
- Prithvi Raj likes this.

Ankit Ashok believes that calling someone sane is euphemism.
- Shweta Satish at 10:39pm April 19
y all this obsession wid sanity all of a sudden?
- Ankit Ashok at 10:48pm April 19
because I just realised that sanity is trifling and insanity is the only route to salvation
- Shweta Satish at 11:01pm April 19
y do u always talk like ur Socrates' Godson? =P
- Ankit Ashok at 11:05pm April 19
I am not, I was Socrates in one of my previous incarnations.
- Tanvi Sinha at 11:32pm April 19
looks like u having serious issues with sanity
- Ankit Ashok at 11:36pm April 19
Thats what sane people like you think, dear Lady.
Leave the constricted spaces of sanity, come plunge into insanity - and experience the tranquility.


Ankit Ashok is wondering who determines what's sane and what's not?
- Mohinish Sinha at 6:25am April 20
Sanity is the concept developed by the mediocre to protect themselves.. so u can guess for urself the answer to ur question !



- Shweta Satish
Shweta Satish at 7:36pm April 20
@ Ankit : Thanx dude :) That puts me in which category? sane or insane? =P
- Ankit Ashok at 8:03pm April 20
@Shweta : If you seek acceptance for your work, it sadly puts you in the sane category. But the creative types generally have the honor of being called insane.

So it really depends on how you look at this achievement.

- Shweta Satish at 8:07pm April 20
Wow Ankit!! I hereby name u my DEFINITION GUY!! u've got an uncanny way of givin the perfect definition for anythin under the sun!!
- Ankit Ashok at 8:24pm April 20
@ Shweta : To define is to constrict, this is like attaching fetters to the idea to insanity.
I only enunciate, I let people think for themselves. I never confine, I only give people a thought to ponder.
The god's goodness encompasses all that is under-the-sun and beyond , so does the tranquility of insanity.


Ankit Ashok is experiencing the calm that is insanity.

Ankit Ashok just realised that Creativity and Sanity are mutually exclusive.

Ankit Ashok just realised that people will call you insane if they dont have the brains to understand what you are doing.

Ankit Ashok is dangerously sane.

Logic of a "free" customer

For the past few days, I have been thinking about how much is a 'free' customer worth.
For example, All the social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, MySpace offer free logins for anyone. Similar is the case for eBay.

For example on eBay, all buyers are free registrants . Only the sellers pay - and that too when they get a product to sell. This gives rise to an interesting situation - without 'free' buyers, there are no sellers - and without the sellers the revenue model fails.

Similar is the case with Orkut - without the free users, there are no ads, and hence no money. But its slightly complicated here as Orkut is owned by Google. so there might be opportunity costs involved. like for example, when someone clicks on ads by google from a third party site, google must be paying something to that site as well (as it does in adsense). So when Google values its Orkut users, it will also factor in these savings.

Facebook epitomizes this type of revenue model - it allows advertisers to select their target group very effectively. Allowing them to streamline their ad via features such as
* Location
* Age
* Sex

* Keywords
* Education
* Workplace

* Relationship Status
* Relationship Interests
* Languages



But exactly how useful are these customers? there might be some customers who never click on any ads. Or for that matter, sell products on eBay. So these people never make money for the company. On second thoughts, these might still generate some revenue for eBay - by increasing the selling price through competitive bidding.


This thought cropped up in my head while listening to a presentation on the revenue models followed by browsers. Since then I have not been able to stop thinking about it. So HAD to publish it. Anyone who has some idea on this, please do comment/ contact me. I wish to learn more about this fascinating concept.

How frank should our leaders be?

Last night I read Mohinish Sinha's article on leadership. It talks about a situation where leaders dont either see the bad picture (due to their own rosy glasses) or dont want to let it out in the open lest everyone else comes to know of it. He says "...Leaders, whose self concept is brittle, hesitate to call the truths lest they will be found out. ..."

However, as I see it, there is another side of the story. As he writes in the preceding line, " Organisations tend to mimic the behaviors of the leaders at the top." So a leader might want to shield the bad news from the employees - just to keep them motivated. This, however noble it appears, is not without its flaws. A leader has to be able to see the whole picture, and know the short-comings well. So even if the bad news is not let out in the open, it has to be dealt with - firmly.

HBS too had a similar article/ opinion poll sometime back. They talk about the National leaders during times of crisis. The question posed is if or how frank or deceptive should the leaders be during crisis. The leader showing negative sentiments is not a good sign and it tends to reduce the general morale. However no one wants a leader who lives in a cocoon of self-deception and believes that everything is fine.

As is reported elsewhere, about 70% communication happens via non-verbal means. So the self-deceptive will come out as more natural and more convincing while the one who understands realty will show some signs of distress. But human brain is pretty good at understanding cues from fellow human beings. We can understand if someone is in a slight distress and still very optimistic. Most people would trust such a person more than someone who shows no signs of crisis.

Classic Chennai is now open!

The Chennai group of Microsoft Student Partners presents "Classic Chennai" , a fiesta of month-long ONLINE competitions Supported by Microsoft, held from March 15^th , 2009 to April 15^th , 2009. Lots of Exciting prizes to be won!!!

Mix your creativity with the love for the city, and win loads of prizes.

This is an opportunity for all college students across India to talk about Chennai. Any Indian student enrolled for a full-time course is eligible to take part in this extravaganza.

The Chennai edition of the MSPs want the students to think about their city, and we are fully aware that its not just the technical students who love the city – so this event is totally non-technical.

VISIT: www.classicchennai.net

THEME:

The theme of each event revolves around the vivid city of Chennai and what you think makes it Classic.

Event list:

BLOG –O- CHENNAI : Blogging Ride the Blogger’s paradise for one whole month on the theme 'Classic Chennai'.

PALETTE –DE- CHENNAI : Poster Designing If you can design a poster that outlines Chennai and its highlights in its best form, Palette -de -Chennai IS the platform for you. Are you game ?

THE CLASSIC CHENN-EYE : Photography It’s all about the “being at the site at the right time”. Is photography your passion? Come aboard The Classic Chenn-eye.

SYNTH@CC : Photosynth Merge and weave together multiple images to illustrate what is in a three dimensional world onto a two dimensional screen losing none of the details using " Microsoft Live Labs photosynth " : http://photosynth.net

LIGHTS, CAMERA, CHENNAI! : Short filmmaking
A Classic movie, the one that touches your sensibility is an outcome of the effort of the man behind the camera. Is it time that you assumed that skeletal role in the making of a memorable film, get noticed !

ENVISAGE CHENNAI : Documentary
Capture a busy metro, a vivid environment with a blend of cultures the way you see it with eyes and play it for your audience. Yes! Let Envisage Chennai, the Documentary event lead you all the way.

The CNUG Student Community always strives to bring the best and latest technology into the lives of all of Chennai’s students. Classic Chennai is a unique initiative that not only serves as a platform to encourage young talent but also throws light on how recent technology can help nurture that talent, especially in the field of arts & entertainment. Throughout this month, sessions on technologies like Photosynth and talks by experts on filmmaking and photography to encourage and help participants, are also on the offering.

Contact us at: care@classicchennai.net

Phone : 9884280854

PS - Read newspaper articles about classic chennai here and here.

Irony - as (or do ) we understand it

I had heard this classical hindi song called "पानी में मीन प्यासी | मोहे सुन सुन आवत हांसी ||..." - when I was kid - when translated to English, it reads "I find it really funny that the fish feels thirsty despite being in water..." . It somehow surfaced from my subconscious to the 'everyday-mind' a few days back. And from there on, I could always recognise some irony that reminded me of the song.

The fact is that we are so obsessed with our own understanding of the world and its accompanying prejudices that we tend to ignore/discredit things that do not fit into our instinctive model. Like the other day, I was talking with my friends about the potential for extra-terrestrial life - and almost everyone seemed to believe that they will need an organic photosynthesis (or its sillicon analogous compound). But why cant it be that case that they derive their energy not from a external sun- but from its core itself. We tend to ignore this possibility simply because we assume that life will not be sustainable at those temperatures. When I first proposed this, the audience was startled and started rubbishing it even without thinking. Then when we discussed it with some cool head, it turns out that everyone was convinced that it could indeed be the case. This is a classic case of prejudices blocking our vision.

In a general case, just because others covet a particular thing, it does not mean that the person having it will find it of any or much use. A typical case would be that of abundance - if someone has more money than what he/she finds sufficient, any incremental money has very little potential for making the person happy. Same could be the case with the protagonist fish in the afore mentioned song. Its our own inability to judge the drive of others that induces laughter at the situation - so in a way we are mocking ourselves.

My foodie fantasies

I often fantasize about food.
Of course I have dreams where I create technology to the obliterate energy shortage of the world. It generally is a amalgamation of more efficient machines and in-situ electricity generation. But this post is not about that. Its about my food dreams.

I dream about being surrounded by tandoori items - from murg angara to chicken tikka, from fish tikka to rosht ghost. In my sleep, I can almost feel the taste on my taste buds.

Then there are other nights where I am in a orchard specializing in nothing in particular - infact, it has grapes, apples, chikus, watermelons & bananas - all at the same place. Entierly mindful of the fact that there is a very little chance of having a the suitable climate for it to happen, I allow myself a little leeway - for its just a dream!

Then there are nights where I conjure up images of my mother cooking some wonderful food for me. Any food that she cooks tastes delicious to me - As I believe, is the case with everyone else.

Then there are nights where I have a full punjabi meal with makke-di-roti , sarson-da-saag & lassi. On other nights, I don a more continental taste with lasagna, steak & baked bowl finding favour.

PS- This post have been specially prepared for those people who are planning to throw a party. If your platter includes any of the aforementioned items, please do call me. I will grace the occasion with my presence. :P

PPS- If you dont know my address/phone number, and want to invite me for a party, no problem. just email me at ankit.ashok@gmail.com . I WILL contact you.

MicroFinance - The double bottom Line

MFIs(Micro Finance Institutions) are businesses, they exist to make money; as do any other business.
One can not charity on borrowed/dreamt-up money. Or as the recent banking goof-ups(?) have told us, One cant enjoy luxury on dreamt-up money.

But for now, we are talking about MFIs, which take pride (and rightly so) in doing a social good - by lending loans to fulfill dreams, ambitions, needs.

So its only natural that they have two bottom lines, one that talks about the financial status and other, about the social.

This also in turn tells about the company's average loan balance as a % of per capital GDP of the society of operation. Essentially it talks about the the average lending as a % of average earning capacity of the locality.

A double bottom line undoubtedly helps MFIs attract soft lending and investments from socially responsible investors However,having a double bottom line also means that MFIs may also undertake less profitable activities if it fits the social good framework. After all, if it reflects positively on the bottom line, it is a good investment. These efforts can lead to a higher cost structure for the business, although in some cases, this may also be rewarded with higher yields.

PS- I was reading through the ways in which a valuation of MFI is conducted, and this seemed so different from the single minded bottom-line corporate culture that I had an insurmountable urge to write about it.

I am elated

Tulir - a NGO - (with whom I have been associated with for more than a year now) just received a mail from a guy(gal) saying that he(she) saw my blog through the Microsoft Student partner (MSP) link and that he(she) was really touched by my previous post on Tulir.

Further he(she) wants to work with this team to help in eliminating child sexual abuse. It feels really good if one gets even a single person to help in a cause you believe in.

Here is an excerpt from the mail:
"...when i read a blog by a student from IIT -madras called ankit ashok who had mentioned about an NGO where he was working and thought it was something i found was a real social problem and have been wanting to do something about it, but did not know how to go about and realised that i could really do something about this problem if i was a part of your organisation."

Boy, I hope more people will get interested in eradicating this social evil.