Aawaara

TRAIng to get over it!

The TRAI regulations that come into effect from 27th September, 2011 are certainly a blow to me as well as BillBaba.com. Though the regulations may sound foolish, but the bitter truth is that we will have to live with them. I just received an email from my service provider stating the changes:

1) No SMS communication between 9PM-9AM. How do we take care of registrations that happen between this time? Do we send the confirmation code (and other communication) the next day? Has anyone at TRAI heard about ‘User Experience’?I don’t think so after looking at their official websites.

2) There is a pre defined set of transactional sms categories (bank, financial institution, irctc, airlines, educational institutes, DTH), everything else goes into the promotional category. Everything is legal for the transactional folks, and nothing for everyone else. What mission critical information do DTH operators send? Is there a DTH lobby at work here? I heard that the government believes in providing a level playing field to everyone.3) No opt in services. Either you are in a category, or you are not! And if you opt to receive messages of a category you invite all the spam. I thought that that the problem that we were trying to solve here was how to get rid of spam, instead of how to invite spam.

4) The identifier will now we a number (unique id) instead of the short code (DM-BILLBABA). So effectively everything goes marked as spam, and the user will have to read all the messages to separate out the good from the bad. There is no way you can tell the user upfront that the message if from you. Genuine isn’t genuine anymore! It seemed we were trying to save on time here.

Whatever the problem originally was, cutting off all communication cannot be the solution. Yes we all have been bothered by pesky calls and SMSes for too long, and the general sense prevailing may be that the regulations will act as a saviour; but this is a classic case of throwing out the baby with the bath water!

I already heard people complaining about the startup ecosystem in India and here comes another blow. I personally think that the regulations are outrageous and lack common sense. What is everyone else planning to do? I think that a lot of people rely on genuine SMS communication. Anyone going for a PIL or EIL (Entrepreneurs interest litigation) in fact. It’s the ecosystem at stake here!

How are group buying sites dealing with this? Anyone from snapdeal?

Suggested Solution: You ought to differentiate between the different kinds of communication, and cannot regard everything as promotional. Make room for opt in services where you can put the onus of providing auditable information in case of dispute on the service provider.

I cannot always be right!

Folks, I cannot always be right…..that’s too much pressure on a single soul……. ;)

And more importantly…….I may seem like God, but I am not……:P :P :P

Abstaining from the explosive title!

I have decided that from now on, I will try to abstain from political discussions. Try is important here because this is real difficult for me given my DNA, and many would vouch (read as curse me) for that. The least I can do is to avoid it on social networking platforms, and maybe continue to oblige people who know me better, because first they will not be offended, and even if they are I will make up for it some other time :)

The reason being:

“Hindustan ki ek basic problem hai…….agar aap k baap dada Congress/BJP ko vote detey aaye hain to aap bhi usi party se chipak jaatey ho and you simply refuse to see any wrong they do……you would still like/support that party unless they come and shoot you at point blank range……prior to that it simply doesn’t matter and you turn a blind eye to the wrongdoings…….you try to find a couple of good/average things/people (whatever suits you) and try to comfort yourself that it is still a good party…….and the best part is that it all happens in the  sub-conscious and people would simply refuse to accept it. Thanks to that 4-5% floating vote (mostly from the uneducated class), warna sarkaar kabhi badley hi na.

Aur agar iss beech koi aap ki aankh kholney ki koshish karta hai aur aapko sach dikhaaney ki koshish karta hai, you just take him to be an agent of the opposing party and a feeling of animosity develops……and the debate no longer remains a debate……it just becomes a turf war……with people trying to protect their territory. Yahan Digvijay Singh akeley nahi hain……har gali mohalley me chhotey motey Digvijay Singh baithey hain…..jinko har cheez (opposing cheez to be more precise) me RSS ka haath dikhta hai……!!!

So the point is ki bhaiyaaa kuchh badalney waala nahi hai……hum sab aisey hi rahney waaaley hain……..to saaala hum kyo logon se dushmani letey phirey……humey bhi apni roti sekni hai…….aur iss tarah ki ghrina apney khilaaf utpann karkey kyaa phaayda……jaaney anjaaney nuksaan humey hi uthaana padega…….to bhaiyya ab se political matters me……no comments……yeh desh tumhaara bhi utna hai…..jitna humaara hai……isliye har koi apney liye khud sochey….!!!”

This in no way means that I plan to change my views, feelings or actions with respect to everything that is happening around. I still am the same old person, and would take every opportunity presented to me and in my capacity to improve upon things. Simply put - It is more action and less rantings. I would save the blabber for the near and dear ones, and as we all know exclusivity is in (look at google+)……who knows people actually start paying me for that…..:P ;) :D

To conclude, The Argumentative Indian (I wouldn’t wish to be included here, but of course you may do) does not have the stomach to digest constructive criticism, leave aside plain old criticism. We argue just for the sake of arguing, with our eyes and ears shut and mouth open.

PS: I am open to constructive criticism and even things like ‘khud ko hero samajhtey ho kaa’ are welcome, but I would abstain from replying, else the post loses it’s meaning and essence. I would charge $100 for replying to any comment…..:P…. samjha karo…..berozgaar hain……;)……99% of the people wouldn’t agree with the above hypothesis, but I would like to know what percentage of people vote differently than their parents, and don’t just say it for the sake of saying to show me in bad light……khuda k khauff se darrrr…………:P…..exceptions would be there…….and as always……hats off to those exceptions….irrespective of the choice…..at least they themselves take their decisions!

Cheat INDIA……..

The mail below is a response to the mail sent by Times Of India group to all YFE (Youth for Equality) members requesting them to participate in the LEAD INDIA Initiative…

to: The Times of India <[email protected]> 
cc: [email protected], [email protected]
date: Aug 25, 2007 6:52 PM
subject: Re: YFE-TOI partnership for Lead India
mailed-by gmail.com

Dear “Whosoever you are”,
I believe that all this campaign,etc. and all this blah blah blaaaaahhhhh is just for publicity and financial gains and to increase the ratings. At the same time……i also believe that somebody needs to start, take the initiative and all other blah blaahhhh……but I’ll like to add to this blah blah blaaahhhh by pointing out that this is not the right way to start. It seems that some sort of INDIAN IDOL thing is going on…..rather than choosing a leader….and that leader will be sent for further studies rather than fight(i purposely chose fight, not contest…..it’s not an easy task buddy) the elections and dirty his/her hands in the bloody Indian politics……and in the end it would all “END” by giving him/her 50 lakh for a project of his/her choice……..greaaaatttttt…<wbr>…..awesome dude…….INDIA is relieved…….liberated……<wbr>.all the bloody politicians now fear this great man……..and the Indian politics will now be governed by his whims and fancies……so……Thank you times of India for all this…….for Changing INDIA…….I owe you something dudes and dudettes…..at least a mail for all this effort…….I believe it’ll suffice….I don’t think u’ll need more of it…..!!! I know you people are clever……..you’ll fire back by saying what’s the solution(if at all somebody reads it)…..I’ll say…….I don’t have a solution(go read my blog www.sojao.blogspot.com and have shit with me) ……..but that’s not the way it is…….. if at all you are serious…..and I don’t think that’s the case……because I’ve witnessed media irresponsibility on a daily basis…..it’s all about business dude…..if u’ve got it……show it…..what’s the point in keeping it to urself…..increase your ratings…..hurt sentiments…….rouse religious sentiments……and blah blah blaaahhhhh again…….!!! So, if at all you are serious then devise a game plan that suits the structure of Indian politics…….be a part of the system to overcome the malfunctions……start with a political party which recruits educated and young people……scan resumes……before you get them in…..so that it’s not just another political party…..but something with a difference…….and help them “fight” the elections……..coz you have the infrastructure……you have the power of press….which indeed is powerful….!!! These Indian Idol sort of things crop up everyday……people like them………but in the end…..they are lost in the crowd……so…..don’t be lost in the crowd……..!!! In the end…….I’d like to receive a thank you mail (i don’t expect a thank you….in fact it’s an acknowledgement mail)……for wasting your as well as mine TIME……..so that i know that at least somebody read it…… ;-) Regards, Amit Saxena

CURRENT STATUS: No response received till date……so i thought……why waste all this effort…..better put it on a blog……and let thy be enlightened…… ;-)

Point Of View……..

A Politician’s Point of View :

Hey! Look at those fluttering votes. Come on! It’s election time. Go, grab them before that dangerously threatening wind flows them to some other place.Get them, at any cost and deposit them in my precious ‘Vote Bank’. Take special care to place different types of ‘fools’ in different lockers.Don’t let them mingle!’Fools’? What are you talking about, sir? I did mistake it with the large sea of people over there. I am such a fool…!!!

Ha Ha! No you are not.Ya, I was talking about those fools only. There are Hindu fools and Muslim fools.That’s not the end of the story. There are even Dalit fools, the new found OBC fools and many subclassifications and superclassifications. These good for nothing fellows are of use only once in 5 years. They are just a piece of Ballot Paper that I need to collect and grease at election time and later I am free to use it as toilet paper. And do you know, I have a real big stock and even a surplus.Now you go, and lure them, by saying whatever you like and promising them whatever you may deem correct. You may even use contradictory statements at different places and among different groups of people, but do it wisely and vaguely, so that we can deny it and say that it has been quoted out of context, at our own sweet convinence. These fools are even more foolish when it comes to remembering things. They forget things easily, because it was not their house that was burnt.

Now go and collect that shit(get those foolish votes) for me, it will not be difficult…!!!

People’s Point of View :Look at these bunch of bullshitters. These good for nothing fellas are here, once again! Begging for votes, and making false promises. They think we are fools! These ugly, corrupt, unscrupulous, non-trustworthy bastards, I know them very well…!!! But what can I do? I have neither power nor authority! All I can do is, VOTE…!!! Vote the way my father and grandfather did. I have to choose one asshole from the bunch of assholes. Under the given circumstances, the best I can do is not to vote at all. But that will not make any difference either. This party politics is too shitty and one vote, or even one MP would make no difference at all. I am helpless…!!!BUT, I have hope…!!! Some day or the other these bastards will face the consequences of their misdeeds. I believe in GOD! They would have to answer him. “Bhagwaan k ghar der hai, andher nahii…!!!” All the good men are not dead and I have a firm belief that some day, they will come forward and change the system. They will have to…!!! Even I would like to join them but this politics is too messy, too shitty, too corrupt, and I don’t think that I would be able to handle it. Also, I have a bright career ahead. I will play my part by excelling in my field of work and contributing to the fast growing Indian Economy. I have a family to feed. I need to live upto the expectations of my parents. I can’t enter this mess……although I would like to, from the bottom of my heart!But some day or the other, this all got to change, and it surely will.
‘Mera Bhaarat Mahaan………!!!’
My Point of View :

I am no GOD, but I am no Bullshitter either.
I am no revolutionist, but I am no coward either.
Then who am I? Who am I? Whoooo ammmm IIIIIIII……??? I don’t get the answer. No divine voices pop out from the heavens, and tell me that I am a saviour! What have I done that makes me stand apart? I belong to the same class of bullshitters, that come in crores. Technically speaking, there was no need for a seperate column ‘My Point of View’, but since I am a bullshitter, so I need to shit in large quantities.I am such an elite bullshitter…!!! I wasted so much time and energy in typing this. I even wrote it on paper. Shame on me! I could even get carpal tunnel syndrome. Where the hell did I get this idea of writing for these bullshitters. I would have better written some beautiful poems or something creative. At least that would have impressed some beautiful girls and won me some accolades. Ohhhh poor meeee…….! I really pity myself at this point of time (blog)! :(
Why didn’t I utilize my time in sleeping or ‘orkutting’? why am I not happy with my smooth running life? Why am I not happy with my job, my cubicle, my internet connection, my close group of friends, my tightly knit family! Why am I bothering about the unbothered! Why the hell don’t I shut up, and stop writing…??? I believe that I just watched an english movie and a news programme, and messed it up. It is just a piece of stinking shit, with an icing over it, and here goes the last drop!
NOTE : Exceptions are always there…!!! Hats off to those exceptions, and if you are not an exception then go to sleep, you Bullshitter.