Cocoon....

Within the last 5 years, I have broken the cocoon of a set life around 4 times and I am all set to do it for the 5th time today. Hence, on an average every year I bit goodbye to the comfort of a normal, set life and start again. If you think of it, it seems tough but when you live it, it becomes a habit. Given that you have a place to stay, the first thing you need to find is a place to eat nearby, the mode of transport, the nearest market for daily stuff, then slowly the house begins to take shape and soon you are not living out of the suitcase anymore. If you think about it, it look like a uphill task, but while living it, it becomes natural and before you even know, you are back in the cocoon of comfort and then - soon it is time to break it again. Let’s see how the breaking and the formation process unfolds in the next few months.

Search...

Structured Search – that seems the buzzword and the way to go forward for the search companies. Wolfram Alpha was the first one to come up with such a structured result of a query. But the results are from a massive database it has. Google has taken up a more challenging task of structuring the whole web through Google Squared, which is still developing in its Labs. Microsoft’s Bing brings in a good competition to the search area of Google. But not to be left behind in its own game, Google, with squared (and the amazing Google wave) clearly has a vision of where it is headed.

As for structured search, it seems the natural way forward. Google has indexed the whole World Wide Web and pulls up what you need at the click of a button for the user. The way forward, quite logically is to present the information or data in a format that is much more user friendly, which saves time and reads the mind of the user effectively.

The advent of Web 2.0 and the user-generated data on the web results in an overload of information. Any innovation which provides a structure, sense and a certain authenticity to this maze of data is bound to be accepted and widely popular.

Lullaby

Summer time. It is afternoon and hot outside. Inside the house, it is calm and quiet. Half-lying on the bed you are reading a book. The book in high probability is something you are not very much interested in. May be some exam is lurking round the corner so you have to read it but it is not tomorrow so not reading will also not make much of a difference. Propped up on the pillow you see the ceiling fan – an old one, itself tired from the tough job in the hot weather but still, lazily carrying on. It is making a creaky noise while going around, as if to sound its displeasure. But nevertheless it is responsible for the difference from the harsh and sunny outer world you can see through the gap between the drawn curtains. It seems like a gentle breeze caressing you. The fast fading black characters on the book cover up the light as the creaking sound from the fan acts as the ideal lullaby for a perfect afternoon nap.

Brand India

Now this was something which I feared.

Slumdog may have won all the Oscars of the world, but it has led to people having a certain wrong perception of India. Now when someone who is not very familiar with this part of the world, hears the word India, the direct association with the movie takes him to an image of the slums which were spectacularly shot in the movie. Brand India certainly takes a hit.

Jim Rogers in a recent interview said “Wherever I go for speeches around the world I tell people, if you have to go to one country in your lifetime, you should go to India.”
But may be his audience are restricted to the ‘Economic Times reading type’.

Movies are a powerful medium which have both the reach as well as the influence to change or form perceptions. May be some of the filmmakers should take lead in making movies which have global appeal and which something better to people to associate India with. It will be quite a creative challenge to weave this aspect in an interesting script.