Archive for July, 2012
The wonderful Hobby of Collecting
I have been collecting various strange things from my school days. My first hobby that I can remember of was collecting the tiny 
posters of cricketers with their statistics that used to come along with the bubble gum. I don’t remember the brand. Then I started collecting match box labels, known as phillumeny. Then a scrap book of photos of cricketers and tennis stars.
Then in high school, as with the case with all kids, I graduated to Stamp and coin collection. Bargaining and exchanging stamps were good fun. I still has my collection with me. Some of the nations seize to exist, like USSR and Czechoslovakia. I was and still remains a timbromaniac, an avid stamp collector.
As years passed I started collecting some strange things. Latest being collecting the bookmarks from Flipkart.
Here are my other collections,
Biographies / Auto-Biographies
Special edition magazines
And my crazy hobby of collecting wonderful items is continuing!!!!!
g|days India Event in Chennai
The g|day events by Google are an opportunity for businesses and web developers to learn more about Google products and the opportunities that are available online. For the first time g|day events have come to India. The events are happening at 5 cities, starting Chennai then Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai. g|Chennai happening on July 19,20.
g|Chennai at Chennai trade centre
I attended the first day of Google India event at Chennai. First day was for Business communities (second day being for developers). Now I went to attend the event with lots of expectations, after all the event is by GOOGLE! and here is my take.
I split this post into three sections. The Best part of g|Chennai event, The not so Best and the Worst part.
The Best Part
a. Name tags
Three- in- one tags, with event agenda and map. And oh yes coffee and lunch coupons ( will come to lunch soon)
b. Ambiance
Google has tried to bring the local flavour and to a certain extent succeeded with all traditional games of Tamil Nadu, Auto-rickshaws and gems chocolate wallah in Lungi and gigantic mustaches and interesting signs
c. Networking
Great event to network. First day saw around 750 attendees. Many SME entrepreneurs.
The not so Best Part
a. Talks
Some talks were interesting, some were too basic ( to give an example, how to create a gmail account) and some talks were bit too techy.
The Worst Part
a. wifi connectivity
In a Google event, that too first time in India, you expect an great wifi with no interruptions, but the internet connectivity was pathetic. This affected the talks and demos.
b. Poor stage management
On several occasions suddenly the mike failed, audio went off
c. Food
The food was the most worst part of the g|Chennai event. In any event, even if its a Google one, cold food is a big no no
But I am sure that Google will learn from the Chennai experience and move on. I am waiting for the g|Bangalore.
One-liners from FailCamp Chennai 2012
Here are interesting one liners from the FailCamp Chennai 2012
-South Indians intellectualise on failures but north Indians believe in action
-In failure, you have to be grounded
-Three views one should follow while facing failures, worm view, butterfly view and eagle view
-When we are facing failure, we escape
-When you encounter a problem, face it
-Like in a boxing ring, you are not declared failed when you fall but when you don’t get up
-Keep your basics right
-There are so many areas that we can fail
-Share your failures
-Very often we fail because we try to be someone else
-We rather maintain our status quo than try and fail
-Sometime you fail because of people around you
-We are wired to fail
-Achieving Success everyday will become routine and routine is boring
-Conflict makes us moving
-Saddest line is ” they lived happily ever after” that means nothing much happened
-First thing once you wake up, be a producer not a consumer
-You can lose your networth, but don’t lose your self-worth
Royal Thai Food Festival at Benjarong
Are you a big fan of food, especially Thai food? Then how about some Royal Thai food? Benjarong is hosting the ‘A-harn Chao Wang i.e The Royal Thai Food festival, for the first time in Chennai. Food festival is from the 11th to 29th of July.
To entice you, here are some dishes,
Now Benjarong has flown down specialist Chef Tharee Charupas from Thailand, exclusively for Royal Thai Food Festival. According to her these dishes are rarely cooked outside Thailand. For more details on Royal Thai Food Festival, check http://benjarong.in/
FailCamp Chennai
“After my spectacular failures, I could not be satisfied with an ordinary success.” Mason Cooley
FailCamp Chennai is back. So if you have no idea what FailCamp is, here it is. FailCamp is a celebration of failure. More than just failure, its about the lessons you learned from them.It’s about learning not to view failure as a defeat, but as a learning opportunity . It’s about taking away the fear of failure and learning to take a chance, think big and achieve what you thought you couldn’t! Now that’s one of the qualities of an ‘Iconoclast’.
Kiruba Shankar is the man behind FailCamp Chennai. Here are the details,
Date & Time
Saturday, 14th July, 2012
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Venue
The Startup Centre, #45 Montieth Road, Alsa Mall, S-4, Second Floor, Egmore, Chennai – 600 008
LandMark:
We are right across the road from the Chennai Museum in Egmore – 15 mins by Walk from the Egmore Train station (if you are taking the train), about 5 Mins away from the Egmore Museum Bus Station (if you are taking the bus).
Door Fee:Rs.200
