Romancing the city of Mumbai
There is something about Mumbai that makes it special. As special as your first love is.
I mean, as on last count, I have been to at least 34 different cities, across 4 continents and yet there is something, something about Mumbai that keeps calling me back. Back to its arms, the hug, the embrace, the womb, if I may. You know, its like that illicit love affair that you know wont take you anywhere and yet you cant get out of. Wait, you can get out, if you try. You just dont want to. Coming back, in my case, I think the reason why I keep coming back, the obvious suspects are Neo and sgMS. And may be all those amazing memories that I have, of times, people and places that I have enjoyed while I was living in Mumbai.
This time, on one of those impulse trips to Mumbai, as I was landing in Mumbai, I realized something that I had never noticed in the past. Funny how you still notice new things about Mumbai even though you have been here a million times. Mumbai looks amazing at nights. Amazing because I dont have a better word to paint the picture. Its as decked up like a bride is on her wedding day. Probably better.
The city is showered with amber lights. For some reason, that's the only colour of street lights in the entire city. May be it is easier to spot, cheaper to install/maintain or whatever but the effect is, all the more, electrifying. Things get accentuated when they are under the amber light. You actually begin to notice things that you never cared to even glance at. Take street boards for example. The boards that have pincodes and the official names of the roads on them. The blue ones. Before I saw them with amber tint, at night, I dint even know that they existed in the first place.
You see a different side of Mumbai at nights. The roads are not as narrow as you know them from your "interactions" during the day. They are wide. Wide enough for you to zip around in your car and actually overtake other vehicles. The pesky rickshaws and taxis from the day, are parked in perfect neat rows along the sidewalks. All the filth and garbage you try to avoid during the day, is mysteriously gone. And so are all the signs of life. The beggars, the hawkers and the urchins that create that constant cacophony during the day, are all sound asleep and only sound that they make at nights is when they're snoring.
And then, when most people are off to sleep, when everyone but the romantics are still awake, the ones who love the city the most, come out. The cops, the whores, the chai and cigarette sellers on bicycles, the omelet hawkers, and the romantics. The romantics, the ones who just want to be left alone with their love. The city of Mumbai.
P.S.: Of course Mumbai never sleeps and you can get stuck in traffic jams at even 2 in the night. But then, that's select busy intersections. Right? And at least the romantic in me refuses to believe that Mumbai never sleeps. It does. See it for yourself next time you are out. At night.
P.P.S.: Trying too hard :D
Untitled - 10th Mar 2012
If you are one of the two regular readers of this blog, you would have noticed that in the last few days, the frequency of posts has reduced considerably. I mean I have always been an intermittent writer, but in 2012, I got really active (33 posts, exlucding this one). Except for March.
When I look back at my calendar, I don't really see any meetings or travel schedules that would have prevented me from writing things on my blog! I guess I have been plain lazy.
And no, I dont have any annoucements to make, I dont have any grand plans to reveal and I dont have anything that could interest anyone. Until that time, tc!
When I look back at my calendar, I don't really see any meetings or travel schedules that would have prevented me from writing things on my blog! I guess I have been plain lazy.
And no, I dont have any annoucements to make, I dont have any grand plans to reveal and I dont have anything that could interest anyone. Until that time, tc!
Rant on the cost of acquisition of a customer
A lot of friends, who run internet businesses, work around the cost of acquisition (of a customer).
It is defined as the amount of money that they need to spend in order to get a customer to perform an action. The action could be a mere visit to the website. Or it could be a purchase of an item of certain value.
IMHO, the idea of working around the cost of acquisition is fundamentally flawed.
It’s a metric that someone needs to look at when they are VERY sure that the customer would stay bonded to their service/product. A credit card for example. Or a bank account for that matter. Once you acquire a customer in such a business, you are sure of the repeat transactions and thus continual revenues. And thus it is justified to invest (aka spend money) on getting a new customer. You recover the investment over time and thus the idea of cost of acquisition makes sense. Look at all the razor companies for example. In fact this article on wikipedia is very highly recommended to understand more about the razors and blades.
On the other hand, if you run a website that sells deals, or electronics or clothes for example, then there is no compulsion for the customer (that you spent something like 600 bucks to acquire) to come back to your website to buy things again. The customer is not loyal to the platform (aka your website) but is loyal to the brand he is buying. Or to discounts for that matter. He will simply hop onto the website that gives him more discounts than you.
However, on the other hand, you can somehow create a very solid reason for the customer to come back to you and buy more things from you, then you may spend money on acquiring customers. Something that a business like Zovi.com is doing. They are creating a brand. And the cost of acquisition can thus be justified by apportioning it between marketing and sales. Ideally, your product, your brand must be something that he “needs” (not “wants”). Like recharge for a mobile phone connection. So if you were Zovi and you were creating a brand of menswear, how would you make the brand a "need"?
Apart from this, another reason why I think it sucks to spend so much money on acquisition is the imbalance of incentives. When I am acquiring a customer, I should pass on the benefits to the customer. In most cases, the money that I spend on acquisition goes to the brokers (the search engines). Just because they are marketplaces, they command prices and make the most value out of the entire acquisition game. If there could be a business that paid the customer, or me, for transactions, I would be interested in knowing more about it.
And that’s about it I guess. Like a true critic, I just know that this is broken and I don’t know how fix this. If you do, please share!
First posted on Sandbox.
It is defined as the amount of money that they need to spend in order to get a customer to perform an action. The action could be a mere visit to the website. Or it could be a purchase of an item of certain value.
IMHO, the idea of working around the cost of acquisition is fundamentally flawed.
It’s a metric that someone needs to look at when they are VERY sure that the customer would stay bonded to their service/product. A credit card for example. Or a bank account for that matter. Once you acquire a customer in such a business, you are sure of the repeat transactions and thus continual revenues. And thus it is justified to invest (aka spend money) on getting a new customer. You recover the investment over time and thus the idea of cost of acquisition makes sense. Look at all the razor companies for example. In fact this article on wikipedia is very highly recommended to understand more about the razors and blades.
On the other hand, if you run a website that sells deals, or electronics or clothes for example, then there is no compulsion for the customer (that you spent something like 600 bucks to acquire) to come back to your website to buy things again. The customer is not loyal to the platform (aka your website) but is loyal to the brand he is buying. Or to discounts for that matter. He will simply hop onto the website that gives him more discounts than you.
However, on the other hand, you can somehow create a very solid reason for the customer to come back to you and buy more things from you, then you may spend money on acquiring customers. Something that a business like Zovi.com is doing. They are creating a brand. And the cost of acquisition can thus be justified by apportioning it between marketing and sales. Ideally, your product, your brand must be something that he “needs” (not “wants”). Like recharge for a mobile phone connection. So if you were Zovi and you were creating a brand of menswear, how would you make the brand a "need"?
Apart from this, another reason why I think it sucks to spend so much money on acquisition is the imbalance of incentives. When I am acquiring a customer, I should pass on the benefits to the customer. In most cases, the money that I spend on acquisition goes to the brokers (the search engines). Just because they are marketplaces, they command prices and make the most value out of the entire acquisition game. If there could be a business that paid the customer, or me, for transactions, I would be interested in knowing more about it.
And that’s about it I guess. Like a true critic, I just know that this is broken and I don’t know how fix this. If you do, please share!
First posted on Sandbox.
Untitled - 29th Feb 2012
Today is 29th Feb. I dont remember when was the last time I saw a 29th of Feb. I am sure I did see it in 2008. And in 2004. And in 2000 and all the previous years. Going back to 1984. And I am not too sure if I'd see it in 2016. The world, as they are very sure (except NASA), will end in Dec this year. But then Dec is more than 8 months away and I dont really have time to worry about something that may happen that far in future.
What concers me, is now! Like right now, I am working on a presentation that should have been finished by last week and I am still working on the first section (out of 4 sections). Like right now, I should be working but I am whiling away time, writing things that in almost all probability no one would read. And if they do read this, I am not sure what value would this add to them. Value, one of the most abused words of the globalized world. Almost all business meetings, transactions, ideas and all such things hover around the concept of value. Its the greatest intangible IMHO. An intangible that defines all the tangibles. The concept of time then is also intangible. We've just defined units as per our convenience and then we use it as the lowest denominator to define things that we dont understand.
Anyways, let me cut this lesson in armchair philosophy. Coming back to the reason of writing this, I am sitting on the new chair that the office ordered for everyone and the chair and the slanted table makes for an awesome writing posture. And I am trying to use that to maximum.
What concers me, is now! Like right now, I am working on a presentation that should have been finished by last week and I am still working on the first section (out of 4 sections). Like right now, I should be working but I am whiling away time, writing things that in almost all probability no one would read. And if they do read this, I am not sure what value would this add to them. Value, one of the most abused words of the globalized world. Almost all business meetings, transactions, ideas and all such things hover around the concept of value. Its the greatest intangible IMHO. An intangible that defines all the tangibles. The concept of time then is also intangible. We've just defined units as per our convenience and then we use it as the lowest denominator to define things that we dont understand.
Anyways, let me cut this lesson in armchair philosophy. Coming back to the reason of writing this, I am sitting on the new chair that the office ordered for everyone and the chair and the slanted table makes for an awesome writing posture. And I am trying to use that to maximum.
Tweek needs serious tweaking!
Last few days, my twitter stream was abuzz with stories and links about the new iPad only magazine from the Times Group. Called Tweek, it promised to be a refreshing take on the "new" publishing.
From what I have seen so far, I am terribly disappointed with it. Apart from content, a magazine on an emerging platform needs to do just two things right. Social and Platform. Tweek fails on content and on delivery. Here's why.
Published first on sandbox.
- Platform. IMHO they just ported a pdf document to an iOS. The experience on an iOS can be so much better and can be so immersive that I would not want to go back to print at all. Its that big an opportunity! Tweek is a shot at that opportunity but its an half-hearted attempt to be honest. Of course swipes and zooms work but thats not the point of a tablet. Things as simple and basic as rich-media, for example are missing. So, if I am reading an article about travels to Africa, rather than mere pictures that I am used to seeing on a pdf or an e-magazine, on a tablet, I should see a video. And why cant I have audio content? And I should have the ability to find and get more content, that is similar to what I am reading. It should understand my preferences and recommend me things that I could be interested in. It should be an intelligent magazine on an intelligent medium. Tweek just doesn't get it! And if Flipboard can get it right, anyone else trying to do anything with a magazine on the iPad has to get it right. Wonder if there was any research done before the product specs were drawn!
- Social. The best part of an iPad is that it has tons of "social" elements built into the platform. Tweek fails miserably on this. Of course the magazine has options to send the links to twitter and facebook and email but isn't that around since, what 1947? And is that all there is to it? What about creating interactions around the content? Why cant I see comments and ratings of each article? Why cant I talk about the content like I do on blogs? Why cant we have ratings for each article? Why cant I see the author's bio? Why cant I submit my feedback on it? Etc etc.
- Content. For the publishing and entertainment business, content is the king. Cliched but true. Tweek's content is nothing to write home about. The articles should be special. They are run of the mill right now. It seems that the edit team quickly pulled out articles from the huge TOI stock library and curated the magazine! If they took a leaf out of Crest, their cousin, the stories would be so much better! In fact, rather than Tweek, TOI should have created an iPad experience for Crest and that would have made me much more happy.
Published first on sandbox.
Dear Sudhanshu
Dear Sudhanshu,
Congratulations on the launch of your first book. I am sure this is just one of many you would end up writing. You have to. The world needs you to write and see things from your lens.
Coming to the real reason why I am writing to you. You already know I have always considered myself lucky that I have known you. There are so many things that I think are common between you and me, such as ... wait, before this turns into a love letter, let me cut the flow and come straight to the point. I have known about your book since 2010 (remember that goals thingy that you made?) and to be honest I never thought you could actually finish the book. Till you told me that you have found a publisher and you proved me wrong. And that was big. More than you, I was happy for myself. It was like an affirmation to me that there's hope. That all's not lost! If you can do something, I can do too. And of course I have no qualms in being a follower and aping you.
Thanks to The Lost Story, Serai will now be fast tracked. I have been at it for about 29 years now and I know am not half good a writer as you are but then what the heck, I have been wanting to write this for a long time and its time I take it up seriously. You've given me inspiration. You've given me hope. You've shown me the way. You can even connect me with a publisher who would be willing to publish a book for me!
And ya, that's about it. Like I said, love letters are reserved for sgMS. In the end, congrats once again for the launch and please know that you are now in the same league as that sardaar that changed me life.
Thanks,
SG
P.S.: When am I getting my autographed copy of The Lost Story? And no, this blogpost is NOT an elaborate and contrived way to get a free copy. Divin0's already ordered a copy for me. That too COD.
Congratulations on the launch of your first book. I am sure this is just one of many you would end up writing. You have to. The world needs you to write and see things from your lens.
Coming to the real reason why I am writing to you. You already know I have always considered myself lucky that I have known you. There are so many things that I think are common between you and me, such as ... wait, before this turns into a love letter, let me cut the flow and come straight to the point. I have known about your book since 2010 (remember that goals thingy that you made?) and to be honest I never thought you could actually finish the book. Till you told me that you have found a publisher and you proved me wrong. And that was big. More than you, I was happy for myself. It was like an affirmation to me that there's hope. That all's not lost! If you can do something, I can do too. And of course I have no qualms in being a follower and aping you.
Thanks to The Lost Story, Serai will now be fast tracked. I have been at it for about 29 years now and I know am not half good a writer as you are but then what the heck, I have been wanting to write this for a long time and its time I take it up seriously. You've given me inspiration. You've given me hope. You've shown me the way. You can even connect me with a publisher who would be willing to publish a book for me!
And ya, that's about it. Like I said, love letters are reserved for sgMS. In the end, congrats once again for the launch and please know that you are now in the same league as that sardaar that changed me life.
Thanks,
SG
P.S.: When am I getting my autographed copy of The Lost Story? And no, this blogpost is NOT an elaborate and contrived way to get a free copy. Divin0's already ordered a copy for me. That too COD.
Then and Now
Lemme try a new style. For the lack of imagination and better words, Id call this, Then and Now. And ofcourse this is about sgMS. I am thinking that I should start a new blog all together and call it "Letters to sgMS" or something. May be. But for the time being, here is the post.
Then
Wake up. Think of her. Think of all the things that I could do. Make a plan of action of things that I could do during the day. Look forward to the day ahead.
Now
Wake up. Sulk. Go back to sleep.
Then
Call her moment I leave for work. Even before I lock the doors to my one bedroom existence or step into a rickshaw. I know that I would meet her during the day eventually but still, call her moment I am out.
Now
Wait for her call, message, email, something. Hope that something from her comes my way. Of course I cant call or send messages. All I can do is write things and then hope that someday she reads these. I know that these would lose meanings when (and if) she reads these but then I can only try.
Then
Reach work. Boot up my computer. Message her that I have reached. Get a feedback on what I am wearing. Share my office gossip with her. Hear her office gossip. Play music that she likes. Tell her about the music that I am playing. Take requests even though she may not hear them.
Now
Reach work. Regain sanity after a two hour drive. Ignore what I am wearing. Do not participate in gossip. Try and play some music. Shut the music before the first song is over. Sulk.
Then
During the day, after I have done some work, take a break and go get a coke for myself. Take VP or Rr with me for a walk to the coke shop. Talk to them about whatever. Try and bring her up in the conversation without anyone knowing about it. Miss her.
Now
During the day, do nothing. The entire day is a break. No coke. Miss being with her. Miss talking about her. Miss talking to her.
Then
Look forward to the evening when I would actually get to spend time with her. Even if its at any of those coffee shops.
Now
Dread the fall of the evening. Once its evening, wonder what to do. Kill time wondering. Get dejected and head home. Struggle through traffic for two hours.
Then
End the day, alone on my bed, trying to sleep and thinking about her. Conjuring up dreams of she and I living happily ever after.
Now
End the day, alone on my bed, trying to sleep and thinking about her. Conjuring up dreams of she and I living happily ever after.
Then
Wake up. Think of her. Think of all the things that I could do. Make a plan of action of things that I could do during the day. Look forward to the day ahead.
Now
Wake up. Sulk. Go back to sleep.
Then
Call her moment I leave for work. Even before I lock the doors to my one bedroom existence or step into a rickshaw. I know that I would meet her during the day eventually but still, call her moment I am out.
Now
Wait for her call, message, email, something. Hope that something from her comes my way. Of course I cant call or send messages. All I can do is write things and then hope that someday she reads these. I know that these would lose meanings when (and if) she reads these but then I can only try.
Then
Reach work. Boot up my computer. Message her that I have reached. Get a feedback on what I am wearing. Share my office gossip with her. Hear her office gossip. Play music that she likes. Tell her about the music that I am playing. Take requests even though she may not hear them.
Now
Reach work. Regain sanity after a two hour drive. Ignore what I am wearing. Do not participate in gossip. Try and play some music. Shut the music before the first song is over. Sulk.
Then
During the day, after I have done some work, take a break and go get a coke for myself. Take VP or Rr with me for a walk to the coke shop. Talk to them about whatever. Try and bring her up in the conversation without anyone knowing about it. Miss her.
Now
During the day, do nothing. The entire day is a break. No coke. Miss being with her. Miss talking about her. Miss talking to her.
Then
Look forward to the evening when I would actually get to spend time with her. Even if its at any of those coffee shops.
Now
Dread the fall of the evening. Once its evening, wonder what to do. Kill time wondering. Get dejected and head home. Struggle through traffic for two hours.
Then
End the day, alone on my bed, trying to sleep and thinking about her. Conjuring up dreams of she and I living happily ever after.
Now
End the day, alone on my bed, trying to sleep and thinking about her. Conjuring up dreams of she and I living happily ever after.
Untitled - 24th Feb 2012
I am no statistician but I like to play with numbers and data. Most of the numbers are meaningless if you ask. Take 8 for example. By itself, it does not mean anything. But moment I put it in perspective, things and patterns change. The last blogpost on this blog for example was 8 days ago. And before that I was posting almost twice/thrice every week. This may mean two things.
One, I did not have access to Internet. And this further may translate into a lot of reasons. I could have been busy, I could be travelling, I could be unwell or it could be any of those million things that would have kept me away from the Internet. In fact it was a combination of all these. I was indeed travelling. I didnt really have access to Internet. I have been unwell - mentally.
And two. I dint have anything interesting to say. Interesting anyways is a bad place to be at. It would mean that all my 900 odd other posts are interesting. I am not too sure if this is case, considering that I dont really get a lot of hits and there are no regular readers. But anyways, its been some days since I've posted something and I was itching to.
Hope to get back to blogging soon and start posting some "interesting" things soon! Oh, I did start another project. Its called DIY Entertainment. Do check it out.
One, I did not have access to Internet. And this further may translate into a lot of reasons. I could have been busy, I could be travelling, I could be unwell or it could be any of those million things that would have kept me away from the Internet. In fact it was a combination of all these. I was indeed travelling. I didnt really have access to Internet. I have been unwell - mentally.
And two. I dint have anything interesting to say. Interesting anyways is a bad place to be at. It would mean that all my 900 odd other posts are interesting. I am not too sure if this is case, considering that I dont really get a lot of hits and there are no regular readers. But anyways, its been some days since I've posted something and I was itching to.
Hope to get back to blogging soon and start posting some "interesting" things soon! Oh, I did start another project. Its called DIY Entertainment. Do check it out.
Untitled - 16th Feb 2012
Its 5 AM local time. I am not in India. Not that it matters but the fact that I cant just pick up my phone and call you. It must be what 3 in the morning there? Unless you are out partying with your super happening friends, I dont stand a chance. I mean even if you were not partying, I still wont have a chance. After all I am no where close to all those people you have around you. Nah, not trying my hand at self-deprecating humor. Being really serious.
Since we havent spoken for the longest time now and I now know that you can live without me, I still cant live without you, hope you are doing good.
Always,
SG
Since we havent spoken for the longest time now and I now know that you can live without me, I still cant live without you, hope you are doing good.
Always,
SG
The Lost Story
He wrote a book and its gonna be out in a few weeks! Called The Lost Story, he has co-authored it with yet another MDI dude, Amit Goyal. I dont really know Amit that well but if Suds has put his name on the book, it has to be awesome.
I have read a couple of chapters and its gripping to say the least. I have done everything in my powers to get Suds to send me the rest of the chapters but so far he hasn't shown any inclination. Its like grass. You have some and then you are going to keep having it over and over and over again. You wont stop. You wouldn't want it to end!
It is different. Not just for the sake of saying it, it actually is. To start with, its not a love story. And its not a boy chasing kites. And its not about those mushy love letters that a lot of people (including me) write. And its not about two college kids with dreams and ideas about changing the world! For the want of better language skills, this is what the back cover says...
Sandy, an aspiring young writer gets an incredible opportunity to work with his idol – the celebrated and reclusive author Saleem Afzal – who hasn't written a new book in 23 years.Of course, you have to read it. Here are the links for easy access. Pre oder on Flipkart and the Facebook fan page.
In a novel idea, each writer writes one half of the story, leaving it for the other to finish. Together, they imagine an epic battle between balance and chaos, a tale of a haunted house, a simple journey home that turns into a man's greatest nightmare, and even the end of the world.
As the stories take shape, Sandy gets curious about Saleem's past and the several unanswered questions that he encounters… Why did Saleem stop writing? Why can he no longer finish stories? What is behind the locked door in his house? And… what is The Lost Story?
Written like the premise, the stories in this book have each been done in two halves. One part by one author, and the second by the other, never discussing the story in between.
Please show some love by preodering it on Flipkart. And no I am not being paid for this. I may get an autographed copy for posting this but knowing how popular Mr. Gupta is, I am not sure if I can get dates from him!
Wait, here is a deal. If you actually read this and preorder it, I can ask Suds and Amit to give you guys a signed copy and a poster of the book cover. Just let me know. Not kidding. Suds can you please endorse this claim?
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