Oxford Sub fusc

I ventured a little bit into Google Webmaster tools as well as into Google analytics...and I found that most people who stumble upon my blog are people who have been googling for the Oxford Sub fusc!

The sub fusc really is one of Oxford's quaintest traditions. For those that are wondering what it is I'm talking about, here's a link to one of my older posts.

Worth Contemplating...

The people who succeed the most are the people who have failed the most, because they are people who have tried the most.

Amazing Talent : Sand Animation

India Wine Show 2009, Nasik, 26-30 Nov 09

From www.delhiwineclub.com

The third biennial edition of India Wine Show 2009 taking place in Nashik from 26-30 November aims to provide a business platform to the grape growers and wine producers from India and overseas as well as wine lovers who wish to learn more about winemaking, with tasting and vineyard visits thrown in as an added attraction.

The show emphasizes on the technical know how to the processing, packaging, actual marketing of the product in the domestic and foreign market , with an opportunity to network with the international dealers, and generate business, says the Show’s website

There are a number of conferences to be held over two days (27-28 Nov.) and which will be addressed by the industry experts, leading exporters / importers, dignitaries and the professionals. The speakers will highlight on the various aspects of the agriculture industry and the wine industry. The discussions will throw light on the subjects like marketing strategies, business developments and growth in the Indian wine industry and spirit market. Seminars will deliberate on the topics ranging from viticulture to export opportunities.

There will be a Panel Discussion on the benefits of wine, new trends in wine making procedures, development steps and marketing strategies. The discussion will also encompass the growth and fate of the Indian wine industry. It will also include a technical session where the producers and technical people will share their wine industry vision with the participants.

Buyer Seller Meet is the highlight at Krishi 2009 which was first organised in 1996 and has completed 5 editions- apparently it has been now merged with the Wine Show. The organisers hope it will promote the market linkages between the Indian and foreign buyers and the local producers directly. This would give the producers in the food processing industry a direct access to the global market at the best prices.

The Show is organised by Media Exhibitors in conjunction with Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture.

For more details and registration/invitation visit their website, www.indiawineshow.com

Navigating the blogosphere and twitterfield...

...and learning how much there is to learn

Never Underestimate the Power of a Great Story

Facebook Integration - part deux

Here's an update about my little attempt at posting something from Facebook using an app called BlogIt.

I was expecting something to go wrong, and it did. The post did appear on my blog as promised. The only problem is that it appeared not once, but six times! Why it would do that is anyone's guess, but I'm sure not going to be using this app again without ensuring the bugs have been ironed out.

It was also supposed to have left a little message on my Facebook wall about the post - that didn't happen either. Guess I'm calling it quits.

Facebook integration

I am trying to post to my blog from Facebook using the application called Blog It. Reviews haven't been that great so I;m not expecting too much. Let's see how it works.

I'll surely post the results of this little experiment.

Apologies to those readers that couldn't care less!

Special Delivery

Here's an article from The Mumbai Mirror about Dhruv Lakra's amazing courier-service-that-employs-the-deaf venture:

Mumbai’s ‘service’ industry hasn’t changed a great deal in the decades gone by; only the gurkha has become the suave guard; the milkman now delivers smart packages, the multi-tasking bai has remained the same. However, one of these services, the courier boy, is undergoing a radical change, thanks to a little-known Kashmiri entrepreneur. Twenty-eight year old Dhruv Lakra, an MBA graduate from Oxford University, recently flagged off operations of Mirakle Couriers, and all his employees are deaf. When we catch up with this ‘social entrepreneur’ in his South Mumbai office, he’s having an animated chat with his team. “When was the last time you interacted with a deaf person?” he asks us. Can’t recall? Well, chances are that you may not remember even seeing them. “They are ‘invisible’ in India!” he asserts, “While you can help a visually impaired person to catch a train or help someone on crutches to cross a road, deaf people are overlooked.” No wonder it’s one of the most underfunded disabilities in our country, despite it being home to an estimated 60 million of them. It was this realisation and a personal tragedy - Lakra’s father met with an accident last year and can’t walk anymore - which inspired him to quit his Merrill Lynch job to find his calling. His research indicated that the hearing imparied only found jobs in fields like candle or file-making. His Eureka moment occurred while receiving a courier delivery. “Here was a job made-to-order for these people. Reaching destinations and taking signatures does not require communication at all,” he says. And Mirakle Couriers came into being. However, Dhruv had to face and overcome, several challenges. The biggest being the attitude of his employees’ families. “While some are proud, most are over-protective about their children, especially girls,” he says. Also, he has to constantly up their self-esteem. The logistics of this business too was extraordinary. “I spent many weeks on-the-job with them, fine-tuning the process. I realised they wouldn’t hear the lift door musically crying if it’s unclosed, and what a misleading address can do to their confidence,” he says. Lakra attaches the ‘ISL’ sheet with each delivery His 15-member strong team then devised signs to communicate possibly everything we deem mundane. Such as names of places: wavy hands indicate Chowpatty or Charni Road, Vile Parle is indicated by a biscuit-bite gesture. Care is taken that each packet has a prominent landmark, and their boss is in touch with every boy on-field. “SMS is our lifeline at times,” he says. We start gesticulating more to know how the employees’ lives have changed. Ivan tells us of his run-ins with insensitive watchmen, Ravinder gestures how this job is better than carrying cement sacks. The company has three ladies too - Jyoti handles the administration while Reshma and Neena are responsible for the sorting. Be it the reticent Rakesh or Suraj, who went to Sachin Tendulkar’s home, we sense in them a common desire to be counted as equals. Alongwith fulfilling these, Lakra is spiritedly trying to expand the business. “I expect empathetic support from my clients; I am not running a charity,” he says. He also wants awareness about the deaf and the little-known Indian Sign Language (ISL). For his newly created Mirakle, his patient vision is the biggest asset. “I’m planning to go pan-India in the long run, be the next Fedex… with a difference.”

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