Highlights from the Delhi - Jaipur trip

Notes from my recent trips to Delhi and Jaipur. Saw The Motorcycle Diaries and The Wild Hogs. Learnt how to drive a car. Booked a ticket and caught a flight - all within 30 minutes. Attended two weddings. Saw yet another fort. Saw bats for the first time. Missed my friday-updates. Someone dignosed me with ADD. I reckon its HPD. 

SRK on Mumbai Terror Attacks

IBN got this exclusive interview with SRK post attacks on Mumbai

Few highlights

1.

When I think of my loved ones now, that circle is increasing. It has not got to do with only my wife, my children and couple of friends. It is now increasing, I want to spend time with all the people I thought that I can like or love and slowly I believe this is going to make everyone in the country do the same. We are going to spread this circle of love. I think tragedy has strange sense of uniting people, so it is making me feel that I need to spend every living hour of my life with people who matter a lot.

2.

Absolutely, if you can take away any positive thing from this tragedy and have some kind of peace in your heart to be able to look at that. I think the very thing that the terrorists try to destroy is unity, secularism, the economy and just the dignity of the country. I think for the first time, we all have come to realise that that very thing has actually strengthened. The unity has got strengthened and I cannot say I am glad but I can say that if you can take away anything positive, that in itself is biggest positive. They have now given us the biggest weapon against them and we need to utilise that in the best way possible.

3.

At this point of time we are finding various areas to vent out, whether they are politicians, whether they are some services which failed, we will do all that but I just want to tell the youngsters not to let go of this frustration, anger and cynicism. Use it as a constructive, aggressive move towards bringing a change. This is a historical turning point for us which is going to bring the young people together. Ask questions and listen to the answers and if the answers are not right, ask the questions again or change the people who are giving those answers.

4.

Jihad was supposed to be propagated by the Prophet himself but unfortunately now two versions of Islam exist. There is an Islam from Allah and - I am not being anti - very unfortunately, there is an Islam from the Mullahs. I appeal to all of them to please give the youngsters, the right reading of the Quran

5.

I think fanatics have no ground stand, it is very easy to debate with fanatics because I think they are misinformed, illinformed and they have no ground stand. Any normal, educated, well brought up Indian or Pakistani can debate with a fanatic from either sides and win the debate very easily. They have no answers after a while, I am again and again saying that if you are following Allah's words, even if you are following Gita's words or Biblical words, there is no place anywhere which will say this.

Car

Now I can drive one !

I have a crush on you.

Another brilliant piece from XKCD.

Rahul Gandhi - Impact the World

“What is important,” said Rahul Gandhi, the heir to the family dynasty that controls the governing Congress Party, “is that we stop worrying about how the world will impact us, we stop being scared about how the world will impact us, and we step out and worry about how we will impact the world.”

via Di via NYTimes

Terror Attacks on Mumbai - Analysis

This website probably has the best unbiased analysis and implications of the terror attacks. An excerpt ...

Now, step back and consider the situation the Mumbai attackers have created. First, the Indian government faces an internal political crisis driving it toward a confrontation it didn’t plan on. Second, the minimum Pakistani response to a renewed Indo-Pakistani crisis will be withdrawing forces from western Pakistan, thereby strengthening the Taliban and securing al Qaeda. Third, sufficient pressure on Pakistan’s civilian government could cause it to collapse, opening the door to a military-Islamist government — or it could see Pakistan collapse into chaos, giving Islamists security in various regions and an opportunity to reshape Pakistan. Finally, the United States’ situation in Afghanistan has now become enormously more complex.

Please read. Kudos to George Friedman over at Stratfor for wonderful analysis.

Misc Musings

Since the last year I have started reading anything that comes my way. Books, articles, newspapers, annual reports, faces, people, maps, road signs, behavioral decisions made by people, you name it and I have read it.

I cant really say if reading has helped me or not, but I know for sure that I can now blabber on a lot of things in a group of people and get accepted socially.

I have also realized till the time I started reading seriously, everything I was taught, everything I read, I ate it as a fact, not mere opinion of the author. For example if a newspaper said a particular movie sucked, I would have accepted it without question (many people still do) but I have realized over the last year that it’s a mere opinion and they might be wrong after all even if they are the leading media house in the world, winner of Nobel prizes, authorities or even Einsteins of the world.

Continuing with it, I recently started asking questions at places where conventional wisdom wouldn’t have even ventured.

I also realized that it’s the freedom of speech that is one of the most important gifts to the mankind and a lot of us exploit this gift and talk and talk. Also, there is a breed of men (not women … but men) who would use this gift conservatively and speak only when required. No points for guessing which group of people would eventually emerge as winners. I used to belong to the first group and I am trying to jump over the fence and move to the other side.

So far results have been ok. Hopefully would get the desired results.

Focus 3.0

After a lot of convincing by a few very good friends, here is renewed Focus for the blog. Version 3.0.

So, what is all this noise about? What after all is Focus?

Focus is my way of taking stock of things the way they are and the way they could be. I do a focus from time to time. The last (it was also the first one ever) one is here.

What changes this time?

Before everything else, why do I blog? One reason and one reason only. To get an opportunity to meet people who are better than me.

And here are some thoughts (my efforts at thinking out loud honestly) ...

So far I have been posting anything under the sun under the disguise of The New New Thing. As a result, I am not really engaging people in conversations as much as I would love to. I know for a fact that I hold a definitive opinion on quite a few things (branding, Internet, behavioural psychology, etc) and they are more than valid. Just because I have been a lazy blogger, I loose opportunity to interact with great minds. More than that I loose an opportunity to actually establish myself as an opinion holder on these subjects. Not that I want to be known as one but I dont want to be shrugged off as yet another n00b (cant help pimping my domain name :D) on a rampage with a domain name.

What happens to The New New Thing now?

The New New Thing would remain what it is. A blog where I track The New New Thing. However, it would strictly become a business, marketing/branding, technology, Internet and new media blog. 5 things is still too much to cover on one single blog by one single person but I really feel passionately for these things and want to try and juggle all these at the same time. Obviously, if I fail, I can always do a Focus 4.0 in few days.

What else changes about The New New Thing?

As pro-bloggers would say, The New New Thing would become my CV. My conversation starter. My selling proposition. It would act as food for thought for people. It would help me get access to interesting people and their opinions. Finally with these meetings, conversations and debates, I would help myself understand things better. Its like a feedback loop. More you understand, better people you find to talk to. And better people you know, more they help you understand.

And?

And everything else goes to my War of Words blog. Its a step down (It is hosted on blogger) from here but I guess I will stick to it for the time being. I cant really develop two blogs at the same time. I will continue posting on mutiny.in, pluggd.in and venturewoods.org (not that these great blogs miss me) as and when I get motivation and opportunity. I will also maintain PseudoSocial and 04p050. I do plan to start a travel blog sometime soon.

Thank you for a patient read. Please do share any feedback you might have about me or my blogs.

Regards,

Saurabh Garg

I do ...

I just realized that I spread myself too thin with so many things at the same time. Apart from my work at CLA, and a lot of blogging, I am trying to ...

1. Organize a trip to Leh in June 2009.


2. Work with Mutiny and its print edition efforts.


3. Discover India, using post offices as a medium.


4. Create a society akin to Mensa or TED where only criteria for membership is intellect. Its a group of eccentrics, megalomaniacs and talented individuals.


5. Learn Urdu.


6. Master the art of playing Poker.


7. Start a book club for reading enthusiasts in Mumbai and elsewhere in India.

... all at the same time.

Basically I am responsible for spreading myself too thin at all times and hence this lingering feeling that I never complete anything. Any remedies anyone?

Life is worth just a number!

You merely become a number if a calamity strikes you. From 3 hostages to 4, from 10 dead to 11, from 100 untraced to 101, its only an addition of 1 that you make in the list. A very long list. Your entire life is worth just that one number.

Written on 29th Nov, after Terrorists struck Mumbai. More here.

And this quote initiated my sgIdeas idea.