Are There Backdoors to the New Do Not Call Regulations?

TRAI, post deliberations, had earlier this year released a new Do-Not-Call / NDNC or Unsolicited Commercial Communication regulation. This was well in the right direction, but it seems that companies are already finding backdoors to the regulation.

For example, I have lately been finding SMS' from Amazon seeming to be non-compliant to the present regulations. Present regulations require a set naming protocol in setting the sender ID.  But the SMS' from Amazon being sent to me seem to be from a generic prefix - 51466.  (Till recently they used to come from Sender ID XX-Amazon).

Sender ID Seems Compliant with #NDNC Regulations

Is this SenderID Compliant with #NDNC Regulations?

One of the largest Internet Companies in the world bringing this change, is something that made me notice this. Could these be SMS' sent from some international gateway and be a back-door the regulations? If so, this may warrant some introspection.  How will the new Do-Not-Call regulations handle such scenarios? Would it lead to a scenario, that the regulation can be by-passed using global networks and cheap inter-connectivity to India? If that happens, it's just going to economically impact Indian enterprises with companies overseas getting windfall benefits (and a drain of foreign exchange). This aspect of the new regulations may merit a deeper analysis.

Notes:

1. My tweet to @amazonIN asking for details on this and their reply is here. 
2. I have contributed to comments on the policy prior to it's being published.

No Job Too Small. No Effort Too Little

I wish I had a timestamp to this photograph. Approximately a few minutes past 11 in the night roughly at Plus Code: 852C+WW Vadodara, Gujarat is where I saw this young man focus on completing his day's tasks.

Look at the pride on his face when I asked him if I could take a photo.

Discipline. Ensuring the task gets done. Whatever be your job. That's one of the things that is key to success in life. And as far as I have learnt, there is no easier way to success. Whether in a job or an entrepreneur; wherever I am, if I can set exacting standards for myself and live by them, no review can stop my growth. Where in the value chain I am is just a matter of time.

Each of us, want a life that is easy. One way is to be born with a silver spoon (or get a spouse with a silver spoon, sic! 😅). If none of those work, well, let's not shy away from getting our hands dirty. I need to be able to walk the talk.

Success does not mean that I need be the best in what I do. If I have to be the best in everything I do, I will probably need to be super-human. But what it means is that I need to give the best in whatever I do. That is what Success is. Returns will come on their own.

10 Years 10 Minutes - Lessons from Each Year as an Entrepreneur

Was faced with a challenge earlier this weekend. Had to collect my thoughts for a 10 minute speaking slot at a startup series. (eChai, Jatin and Nikhil, you folks are doing some amazing work!)

What would be the best way to compile these thoughts? There's always so much to talk about! So, Saturday afternoon, went thinking over, what would be the top 10 lessons I learnt (read - mistakes I made 😉) over the last 10 years as an entrepreneur.

So, here goes the list -
Lesson 1 - No job is too small! Really, Mahatma Gandhi spoke about cleaning our own toilets. Apply the metaphor to work! Are you ready as an entrepreneur to do the heavy lifting? Are you ready to be involved in the smallest job (caveat: you might not be the most skilled) and yet, give it your best!?

Lesson 2 - Margins are important! It's not just the top line that matters. How controlled your costs are is a great indicator of the longevity of your business - new or old. Corollary: If you sell on cost, someone will always beat you. If you sell on product and services, you will invariably beat the biggest.

Lesson 3 - Focus on Key Product! We all work on filling a need in the market! The market has many needs! And filling each need is tempting for an entrepreneur. But then wouldn't you need 10 arms and 10 heads for that? So focus on your key product!

Lesson 4 - Innovate and Protect your IP! Intellectual Property Rights is something many entrepreneurs (atleast in South Asia tech) tend to give a low priority too. Well, if you have developed something, go for protecting that idea to implementation story.

Lesson 5 - There is no such thing as Bad Publicity! is an old adage. Often marketing and publicity take a back seat. As a salesman, you've got to literally be in the hair of your customer (because if you aren't, probably someone else is :-)). Make the right noises and ensure you are available and well positioned and unabashed.

Lesson 6 - Cash is King! A business is measured on the basis of it's turnover (invoice). A successful business is measured on the basis of it's invoice to collection cycle. How well you collect is how well you run your business! Lose your sleep over your customer. If you have a happy customer you will get more and you will get timely collections!

Lesson 7 - Work is Life; Life is Work! (Don't get me wrong; and wait till Lesson 10) but till then, you've got to eat, breath and sleep your business. Remember the Alchemist. If not read it, there's a very interesting thought there!

Lesson 8 - Never Compromise! God is in the Detail! Detail it out, give it your best and expect the best from others. You might fail while doing that. But you will also come out with, no regrets!

Lesson 9 - People! People, delegation & motivation. These are important. You've go to have things done through the right people. There will always be a temptation of let me do this, but you've got to be able to manage and get things done, because there is a right person for each skill.

Lesson 10 - Get a Life! Not contrary to Lesson 7. Don't forget yourself and your family in the process. Take time out for your own self (that's very often when clairvoyance in thoughts is achieved)  and your family & friends (man is a social animal, said Aristotle).

Is Capping of School Fees Killing Our Future?

Guajrat Government ruled to cap school fees through the Gujarat Self Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017.

Here's what I read of the Act,

1. School Fees is capped at Rs. 15,000 for pre/primary schools, Rs. 25,000 for secondary schools and Rs. 27,000 for higher secondary schools for Academic Yr 17/18. No announcement yet on 18/19.
2. Any deviations need to be approved by a committee where in a break-up and justification needs to be provided by the schools.

Here's what I hear as justification about the law:

• Schools are supposed to be non-profit making, yet they charge high fees (more on this later) and are being run as companies rather than schools.
• There is an uncontrolled increase in school fees every year.

Yes, in the short run, all of this makes good sense. But here are some thoughts that are making me sit back and think:

1. Schools may not make profits, but schools are institutions and institutions needs Capital and Labour to survive. What is the function that defines the fees to quality of teachers and administrators, infrastructure, pedagogy, recognition, affiliations, quality of output? We had great teachers in our time at Bhavans, Vadodara and what a biology lab of specimen of all sorts we had! I wonder if the same teachers and infrastructure would be manageable at schools that have to work under strict budgets? 
2. The lack of a methodology to define the school fees and leaving that to committee to decide (and with all due respect to the committee) without guidelines or a formula is lack of transparency. That's not the most ideal way!
3. Finally, can we compare this with the per capita cost of education that the Government spends in the state of pre-primary, primary and secondary education. I have no idea, but some people I spoke to said that this is much north of the cap set by the Government under the Act. I wonder if that is true. 

My two cents on the above:

1. Schools charging what they wish to is probably free market economy. Government intervention in free market is like saying that the government should cap air fare? Fun fact: on certain days of the year, a one-way single airfare between cities a couple of hours apart in India is comparable to a years school fees per the Act! 
2. In security, we talk of the weakest link. For every control, there is a loop hole. Schools will probably find a roundabout way and that's not good for straightforwardness. (Which, I believe, is one of the traits that we want our kids to imbibe!)
3. A more positive way of handling this would be, that the government focuses on getting government schools to a world class level; such that parents want to send their schools to government schools than private schools. If this happens, that surely is a win and will be great and exemplary governance! 

But till then I am skeptical that this Act might be like a soothing balm in the short run, but in the long run can destroy quality of education and remove transparency in education.

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit...

....

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!

The Balance Sheet of Ability!

One of the kids got up with a pain in her ear  this morning. So, Papa dear rushed with her to the ENT. Well, the darling kid had a talk with Papa and composed and carried herself with absolute co-operation with the doctor. Papa was surprised. Kid talk with Mumma on "Mumma - <<KidName> did not cry at the doctor". That's a proud moment!

But that's not what I am writing about. While waiting our turn with the doctor, I saw a very interesting quote framed in the doctor's waiting room:

ABILITY

without

DEPENDABILITY, FLEXIBILITY and RESPONSIBILITY

is a

LIABILITY

:-) That was a Eureka moment! Wow! So, aptly put. (While writing this, I found that this is quoted in Shiv Khera's You Can Win. Kudos). That's what so many of us miss out on. Each of us has great skill-set. But no one could have put it better. 

In fact, if I coud add to it, Dependability, Flexibility and Responsibility, even with lesser Ability is still an Asset. In the many years that I have worked, I know of some gem of people who might not have the best of Ability, but their Dependability, Flexibility and sense of Responsibility has been exemplary, and they have been Assets wherever they have been! 

Well done to them! If there's something that I would like to inherit as my strengths and leave behind as a legacy, then those are definitely the above three traits that make an asset! 

Theorem & Corollary

The Practicality of Implementing #ChatBots

It's been three weeks since my last post about #ReadyFor2020 and how bots are there to change the future. It's also been close to three weeks since the launch of Phonon's Chatbot Trixie!

Have been asked many questions through my sales process. I thought it best to jot down some of my thoughts. 

Response Time: We've had a close to 90% positive response rate (usually within seconds) to tweets for flight status received on those #hashtags. Usually quicker than a 20 minute average response time and approximately 50% response time from manual #hashtag tracking. (Reminder to self: get a quantitative analysis done). And that's great. We've had some excellent likes and appreciations too.

Predictive Responses: While our information is sourced from public sources, our Bot tweeted the updates about Delhi airport delays in the last two weeks accurately. Here's a tweet from the drone incidence delays.  

Tweeting About Delays at Delhi Airport

The Bot is Supposed to Transact and Not Converse: This is a death of many technology implementations. We go for the overkill. How often does a customer make general conversation with a call center employee? But why do line managers often want Bots to be super-humans.Many discussions I have had have had the product owners ask the bot the toughest, most convoluted question they can. Nope, that's not how it works! That's probably something your top performers do. Your bot is supposed to reduce the work of bottom-performers so that you can afford better top-performers.

The best implementation strategy in bots is to focus on transactions and compromise on some more false negatives to have zero false positives. So, if in doubt, ask the bot to STFU and get a human to intervene. :-) 

Here's an example of how our bot STFU when it was asked a question beyond it's capability. We tracked #jetInstant and there was a counter question to which our bot kept quiet.

Keep quiet when you don't understand it

Bots reduce human errors and ambiguity. Here's an example of how our bot made a reply unambiguous and more importantly accurate. A flight 9W-856, was LKO/DEL/PNQ. The manual reply made a wee bit of a mess! It gave the departure time of the flight at LKO as the status at DEL. Luckily DEL departure was after the LKO departure. And compare that with the response of the bot!

Accuracy is Paramount

 In a nutshell - #ChatBots are the future. But be clever. Don't use them for #Chatting. Use them for #Transacting.

#ReadyFor2020 - Automation Will Be the Next Big Thing! Decrypting Artificial Intelligence

For all the debate around it, we all remember the infamous (sic) statement attributed in the 1940s to Thomas J Watson Jr., the then head of affairs at IBM. It is said that he said, "there world market for computers is five". Maybe it was related to just a particular type of machines or whatever it may be. In the early years of the Internet, Newsweek carried an article suggesting, Internet being, wait a moment, Baloney! 

Todays, there is a very interesting debate between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerburg about the threat of Artificial Intelligence or AI. These are people who have been key contributors to the growth of the Millenial Development. And there's no way I can take away an iota of credit away from this discussion. It's very engaging! And I am keenly following this.

Having said that, threat of Artificial Intelligence or not, the reality is written on the wall. Artificial Intelligence is the future. Automation will be the next big thing. And let's not be scared, typists went out of jobs when the personal computer came. But what about the new opportunities that computing and the connected internet created for our economy and humanity in general. 

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning or Automation, whatever we may call these, are probably the next big inflection in our world. And let's warm up to it. I again feel that many industry pundits or analysts are talking about chat-bots being a $1B market in the next 3-4 years are probably being way too (I would add many more Os to the too) conservative. 

Let's just think, even if AI automated 30% (grossly conservative by my estimates) of calls or emails being received by call centers. We are talking of 30% of a $400B or $120B global market by 2022. That's a huge chunk. So let's be prepared for it. 

On a personal fron, Phonon developed Click-to-Call™ in the period 2008-2010. Click-to-Call as a services is a defacto standard in the customer service industry today. Lifecycle for technology is short and getting ever compressed. We've got to be #ReadyFor2020! And Phonon's working towards Phonon 2.0 at a feverish pace. 

We've got some interesting products lined up and watch-out for some announcements later this week! In the meantime, here's a video with a sneak preview for what's in store.

Happy Holi! And Doing the Right Thing!

Water Scarcity as defined by Wikipedia is:

Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet water needs within a region. It affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least one month out of every year. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water.

Source: DownToEarth.org

Scarcity is reaching disastrous proportions. I too am guilty of wasting water. Starting today, I will be careful about it. Will also have a waterless Holi! Happy Holi and may we all be grateful!

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, Scheming in the Right Direction!

We've been hearing advertisements on radio about Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna last few days. Interesting to note about it is 6.5% p.a. subsidy on interest for home loans of less than Rs. 6 lakhs.

The scheme mentions this as:

The current rate of housing loan in India is at 10.50 per cent.  If someone buys a property currently on a loan of Rs 6 lakh for a tenure of 15 years today, he/she would have to pay an EMI of Rs 6,632 per month currently.  However, with 6.5 per cent subsidy under the scheme, the beneficiary would have to pay just Rs 4,050 per month as EMI.  Thus, there is a significant reduction of Rs 2,000 in the EMI itself.

 This is interesting on multiple grounds. Economically a no-brainer, it prevents bloating an unnecessary leveraging of the economy and support micro-spending.

But from a policy perspective it is a level of spending based subsidy. So, the subsidy goes to the right set of people irrespective of caste, creed or religion. Objective policy making. Think, if this gets extrapolated to the current reservation debates! Will it not be a wow for our country?

Freedom from Nothing! Anupam Kher at Telegraph National Debate 2016

I was forwarded this video of Anupam Kher at the Telegraph National Debate a few days back!

I saw upto four minutes of the video and then shut it off! For I felt Mr. Kher was doing what he does best, playing to the gallery! Mr. Kher, immense respect for you, but here's why I stopped viewing your video:

1. You were personally in accusing your co-panelist, Retd. Justice Ganguly. That's not done! Debates are to put forward your views. Not get personal.
2. You didn't have your facts right. '84 emergency! Nope. If a person of public stature does not have this fact right, how can I hope for researched views?
3. JNU Matter - the matter you referred to is sub-judice. None of us can pass a judgement on that. Plus being abreast with current affairs is important. Independent forensic labs said that the tapes are doctored.

That's when I decided to stop viewing the video. At four minutes and a few seconds. Found it beyond amusing!

You know, my problem is not with you as an individual. My problem is with all of us, Indians. We've started getting the mentality of either you are with us else you are against us. We've become too myopic, too blind! We need to start asking, questioning and tolerating (sic!) difference of opinion.

I quote words of Guru Rabindranath Tagore that we all learnt in junior school:

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it's way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action.
In to that heaven of freedom, my father, 
LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE!

Good Moon-ing, Mallya

Guys, Mr. Mallya would have long flown over the cuckoo's nest (in one of his private jets maybe)! Happy hunting! Mr. Mallya just mooned us all!

Can't do anything but laugh at ourselves!

Here's what I read in the papers this morning, Banks ask SC to prevent Mallya from leaving India. Further, the article says, the Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter today!

Me thinks: Yes, Sir, Dear Banks. Mr. Mallya will definitely wait for the matter to be heard by the Supreme Court (sic).

मल्ल्या हुआ फुर्र। ..... बैंकों को मिला ठेंगा !

Dear Banks, please get practical. You reacted to the Diageo cash offering. You should have acted long back. What about all the personal property and multi-firms sitting on assets!? Those should have been liquidated long back! Atleast, for nothing else, pay-up dues of employees. So much for our strict labour laws.

What we need is good corporate governance in our country! Good discipline. Bank mandate along with revenue targets should be proper evaluation and stricter enforcements.

We Indian, should be better Indians. Not only in personal life, but businesses and corporate life too! Lets use our brains and bring in discipline. We've got lots of the former, but the latter is a precursor to success!

God bless us! :-)

COO in Managed Security Business

Isn't it interesting when technology complements traditional businesses? There's significant value to be unlocked. Private security services is one area where technology can bring great value addition. That is one of the business focus areas we are working on.

I am looking for a COO / Partner to lead our foray into Managed Security services. Will be great to meet people with the following skills:

1. Have a a background at head-of-department level in managing security for companies / SOHO / residential businesses. Retired defence personnel with a gazetted officer post equivalent to a Major or higher will be a good fit too.
2. Atleast 20 years experience.
3. Most important will be sharing a common vision of making a scalable business out of managed security.
4. Technology savvy. Will need to understand usage of technology tools and business applications for a holistic security strategy.
5. Preferably based in Baroda or Ahmedabad.

The COO will be responsible for overall function, developing and executing the business strategy to be a leader in managed security services. 

Please spread the word. You could email me at ujwal [at] phonon [dot] in.

Exemplary Governance in Public Enterprise!

An example of exemplary governance in Public Enterprise is the Hon. Minister of Railways, Suresh Prabhu, bringing customer centricity in the passenger division. Many a news articles have come about their being instant responses from the minister himself or the railways responding to customer tweets. One such was the coverage by the Economic Times. Another recent article on the team behind Twitter response at Indian is at the Better India.

One off or reality is a question an ever skeptic would ask. Here's my experience. Last week, I was on my return journey back to Baroda by 12955 BCT-JP Gangaur Express. And there was a minor inconvenience - no running water in my coach. I sent a tweet to @RailMinIndia with my concern. Here's what happened then.

My Twitter Conversation with IR!

1. In about 10 minutes, I got a tweet from @RailMinIndia that the matter was directed to relevant DRM office and some senior twitter handle in the Mechanical division of IR (maybe the coaching division).
2. In about 15 minutes from my tweet, I get a tweet back from a concerned officer, Senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer (SrDME-BCT), saying what, a. regretting the inconvenience b. giving prompt solution and c. soliciting my confirmation of matter resolution. 
3. In about 20 minutes from my tweet the train reached Surat, the coach was watered, and I overheard the coach attendant speak to some senior people over a mobile phone of the matter being resolved. 

Wow! World Class! That's all there is to it. Customer is King, that's something that we are taught in business schools and companies strive for those. Turning around the biggest employer in the world to be so customer centric, and that too, in a public service enterprise (mind you, railways main charter is not for commercial gain, but for transport) is nothing short of revolutionary. 

An excellent case study in top-down management, setting priorities right and bringing customer centricity. @SureshPrabhu Sir, corporate sector can learn a lot about customer service from IR today! Kudos, IR machinery from the twitter back-room of IR to individual Indian Railways staff on ground! You are showing your class!

Senseless Politics! Interpretation of Abhishek Manu Singhvi's Interpretation of Jizya

The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.
- Autobiographical dictation, 30 June 1907. Published in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2 (University of California Press, 2013) Source: http://www.twainquotes.com/Politics.html

Starting this blog, I am occasionally going to try and blog my interpretation of daily senselessness in our lives. It's getting too often, and chronicling that is a good way to channelise thoughts. 

The Journalist of Courage today reported Abhishek Manu Singhvi calling service tax on chopper rides to Vasihno Devi jizya. Here's what I made of it:

1. Jizya was imposed by Aurangzeb, a Moghul ruler on Hindus.  BJP-RSS now according to Mr. Singhvi therefore has muslim leanings. Makes sense! (sic!)
2. Chopper rides are pilgrimages, not a service and therefore should not be under the purview of service tax. Makes sense! (sic!)
3. Railways is a utility but still has service tax applicable, but choppers to Vaishno Devi should be counted as a pilgrimage and therefore should not be under the purview of service tax. Makes sense! (sic!).

Thank you, Mr. Singhvi, I had a nice morning today reading this article.

p.s. Neither this article, nor I have any specific political leaning towards any party in power or in opposition.

What Champions are About!

After a long time yesterday, saw The Doctor, aka Valentino Rossi in action. Switched on the TV to see the live telecast of the wet and action-filled Silverstone MotoGP.

Descriptions of his racing style included the adverb, metronomic perfection.  Following him through the 20 laps at Silverstone was exactly that and nothing lesser. Turn after turn, the same rhythm. Similar to what Mika Häkkinen was known for, especially in his McLaren Mercedes days.

And, the post-win gesticulations, greetings, energy and the interview, showed an excitement as though it was his first win. And that's what the commentator commented, it appeared as though this was his first win.

That is what champions are made of. This is what I believe champions do:

1. They are thrilled by their victories, each time! It's like getting laid for the first time, every time. Yes, that's the kind of joy that each victory gets.
2. They work harder, each time! They don't take their place for granted! Their are always others changing the coveted top-spot.
3. They are consistent, each time! At the cost of redundancy, perfection is made into a habit by them.
4. They value competition, each time! Marc Marquez and Danilo Petrucci were hot in pursuit. And, how Rossi warmed up to Petrucci at the end, motivating him. That's what champions are.

That's what a MOTO GP seen after almost 15 years does to me. That's when Rossi stormed into the MotoGP arena and that's how he took it on! 

Spring Equinox and the Chaitra Month

Beginning of Chaitra Navratri, Gudi Padwa, Cheti Chand. Spring Equinox. This year they happened to be on the same day. Is the Hindu lunar calendar actually in sync the Spring Equinox every year?

Malls and Multiplexes - Is this Financial Discipline? I am not Sure.

Malls, multiplexes that I have observed in Baroda (don't know about other cities) maintain a practice of taking back the parking ticket while exiting the mall. This also effectively can mean no evidence of collecting parking fees for the coupons taken back. :-)

Assume, a mall has an average daily parking of 500 cars and 1000 two wheeler; on weekends, given the queues, estimate that the number of vehicles conservatively multiplies by 3. With the discipline that parking tickets are collected back, assume a bare minimum 80% tickets are taken back. Rs. 20 per parking is charged for four wheelers and Rs. 10 per parking ticket for two wheelers.

• Weekday collections where tickets taken back are = {(500 * 20) + (1000 * 10)}*80% * 5 week days = Rs. 80,000 collected in five days where receipt taken back.
• On Weekends = Rs. 16,000 per week day * 3 times expected traffic * 2 (Saturday / Sunday) = Rs. 96,000.

So, in a week, Rs. 1,76,000 is collected in a manner where receipts are taken back. 52 weeks in a year, assuming the same average traffic = Rs. 91,52,000 in a year. 

I have seen this in Inorbit Baroda and Inox Baroda at the least and don't see any logical reason why this would be done. If they are worried about reuse of tickets, punching is an easier way, the discipline of collecting back tickets is eerie to say the least.

A petty matter for some but is this just Financial Discipline to ensure no one reuses tickets...I am not sure.

2paise on the Current AAP Crisis

Dissent is central to any democracy. - Harry Belafonte

 Some would ask, what would a musician know about politics? I much lesser! But still, an opinion matters. And I believe, what is happening in AAP is Good! Good for politics, good for India. Dissent, factionalism.... most importantly people airing their views. This is good. And, their working for resolution is better still. For what would be a democracy, if everyone held the same view. I see maturing of the Republic of India and am happy.

Long live, India. Long live, Democracy.

200km Kem Cho Brevet - Baroda - Kosamba - Baroda

The last long distance I biked was Baroda - Pavagadh - Baroda a distance of about 96kms in Sep '13. That was without much practice and took me about 4 hours and 5 minutes to complete the distance and got me this.

Since then have been off on a few 50-odd km bike but didn't get myself on to longer rides. Timing, work, priorities, no enthu or general lack of fitness. Whatever, be the alibis, just did not get on the bike to go long distance. Earlier last week I ran out of alibis and decided to go ahead with the 200km Baroda - Kosamba - Baroda brevet. Good weather, more or less a flat surface, decent roads on NH-8 and close to two months of regular work outs at the gym. I felt up to it.

A pre-brevet meeting was planned by Jhala at Rushabh's office the day before the ride. That's the 24th evening. But on the 23rd, I developed some cold feet. That's when I picked up the phone and spoke to Jhala. How much water, how much ORS, chikki. Jhala's informative planning answers regarding puncture patches, things to take etc helped, and the nonchalance of it being a short 200k ride bucked me back up. Zi's feedback on the 24th morning - "keep drinking, it will prevent cramping" and I was almost set for the pre-brevet meeting. I now understand that water is what he meant (sic!).

Spent the better part of an hour at Rushabh's office on the 24th. Met the other participants on the ride. Each friendlier than the other. Such positive energy! Was almost ready to get off home and set the bike up. Tied up the brevet number cards, ensured tyre pressure (forgot checking an important part the chain - more about this later) and while I wanted to hit the sack by 9.30, was past 10pm before I ensured all batteries in place etc and calmed down for the snooze.

25-Jan: 4.45am was up (including coming back home once - forgotten bike keys) and out of the house at 5.40am to reach start at Malhar Point. Jersey pockets so overful that I misplaced my debit card. Found somewhere fallen by Ravi Kashyap (or Ravi's sleight of hand, I wonder!). :-). After a few photographs, and at a few minutes past 6 we were all off.

6.40am, were out of Baroda on NH-8 and riding together with Sanjay Pater and slightly later with Deep Udeshi, rode on till a few km short of Bharuch. Where I stopped for a short break. Around 8.30am, was a Bharuch fly-over with about 30-odd km left for TP at Burger Hut. I had this feeling that would be at the TP by about 10am latest, will take an hour's break and then leave back for Baroda to complete that about 5 hours. Had added an hour due to the strong head-winds expected.

Approx 8.45am, there was a spanner in the works. A flat! Lucky me! Just off the Sardar Bridge and I have a flat. Well, ok, let's start off remove the wheel, start removing the tube, all ok. Suddenly fatigue catches on. And it's more than 45 minutes, that I just about am managing to get the tyre back on when Jhala with Jitendre Sharma come along. They move on and about 10-odd minutes laters, around 9.45 am back on the bike headed for Kosamba again.

A few kms I find a massive accident with about half a km of traffic piled up; and here's where the bike helped. I could just manoeuvre between all the vehicles. Crossed Ankleshwar GIDC and kept cycling on to find Jitendre stopped at 108km (3 km short of Burger Hut) searching for the TP. We guessed a few km ahead and rode on to finally reach the TP around 11.20am. An hour tweny behind schedule.

Well, that's when I had one of my best morning snooze's this winter. On the lawns of Burger Hut, with direct sunlight into eyes being protected by a plastic chair.

About 12.20pm, and after a quick bite of a chicken wrap, I leave back on the much-dreaded-headwind blasting-return-leg. Man, every 10km is an effort. First break at GIDC Ankleshwar. Second break, just a few km before Sardar Bridge. By this time the GPS battery had given up, had no idea of the time, distance covered or pace. All, I was capturing was km left to Bharuch and the Kosamba. By the time I crossed Sardar Bridge, a thought ran through my head zombie on the bike. So, humming Zombie by the Cranberries, I biked on a few km to Hotel Atithi. Stretched my legs, a few more half-liters of water (was probably 4 liters water down already).

Somewhere roughly between 2.45-3.15pm, is when I saw Mayur, Sanjay (Sporty), Nikhil, Hrudik bike past the hotel. Well, I carried on snoozing and left a few minutes later heading towards Baroda. Barren stretch of road, next target was Palej. Where's Philips Carbon Black ki chimney. About 20km further on, I crossed Palej. That's when I was getting thoughts of giving up and called up Pooja to talk me through this. Here's what she said, "Don't feel dizzy!", and while hanging up, "you can do what you put your mind to!". I remembered that I hadn't eaten much, so reached out and had half-an-energy bar. Decided that I'll ride on to the Cafe Coffee Day at Kosamba, have a big cold coffee with black-forest cake shake and then decide. They didn't have that, so opted for a simple cold-coffee with ice-cream instead.

Approx. 5.15pm, met Mayur, Sanjay, Nikhil and Hrudik while leaving CCD and we all rode on together. Setting milestones, Por - Varnama - Baroda entry. Taking short 2-3 minute breaks every 5-7 km. Just a few km more, narrow-bridge and we enter Baroda. Crossed Jitendre on the way - puncture on the home stretch! Bummer!

Possibly, 6.15-6.30pm, when we entered Baroda, and I stopped for a quick breather. Hrudik saw Sanjay Sporty and said, "bye! I am going to finish first". :-). Then the traffic hours in the city and finally reached Malhar Point for the swipe at 7.12pm.

Here's what my thoughts through the ride were:

• Tail-wind feels good! Wheee!!!!
• Truckers are the best and most disciplined drivers, followed by ST buses. The small cars and private buses - be wary of them. I mean, on the highway - truckers were patient, maybe short horns, just to indicate they are coming. On Sardar Bridge while returning, patient to follow me than honk me out of the way!
• You don't just have cold coffee with ice-cream, you earn it! That's an instant energy drink!
• Remain hydrated while biking. Listen to your body. Stop when you feel like. You are not competing, not even with yourself. You are doing it because, you feel like doing it.
• Be disciplined on the highway. As Jitendre put it "you don't need to improve everyone in the world!".
• Resolve is what matters. Kudos Hrudik - my 13 year old riding partner, Yogeshbhai, though DNF, first ride after ages, Jitendre, finishing a minute over-time, after a home stretch puncture. Finishing has it's own fun!

Ciao now, till the next ride.

Here's the ride map:

Quality Check and Plagiarism

Another example of how lightly we take quality and plagiarism. Here's the latest ICICI Bank Speak of the Week mailer - spot the problem!