Emergic: Rajesh Jain's Blog

Even as Mumbai goes to the polls today as part of Phase 3 of the five-phased election process, I was thinking of why urban Indian doesn’t vote in larger numbers. (For the record, I have voted in every election in India since my return to India from the US in May 1992.) There is a [...]

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An interesting idea that can emerge is the ability to let a business communicate effectively with its customers (present or future) via push-based channels. After all, it is customers that generate the revenue. This is what Google enables a business to do – get new customers to a website. Google does it for businesses that [...]

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I was part of a panel on Corporate Governance organised by India Knowledge@Wharton last week in Delhi. Paul Beckett, the Wall Street Journal’s bureau chief in Delhi, was part of the editors’ panel which did the questioning. In an article on the Wall Street Journal site, he quotes me: “Even as we talk about corporate [...]

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India has a variety of current affairs magazines which make for good reading to get the background into the political landscape. There are the market leaders, India Today and Outlook. Then, there is The Week, with its more youthful tinge. I don’t get to see Frontline much in Mumbai. Two interesting ones are Tehelka and [...]

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This idea from 2006 to unwire India will probably get done in a different way (3G, WiMax): “One of the challenges facing India for last mile connectivity to homes and offices is the stranglehold that the government owned telcos (BSNL and MTNL) have. While both are now pushing DSL to the home, the pace of [...]

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This week’s reading: India’s 50 Most Powerful People 2009: A Business Week list. A Guide to India’s Telecom Market: From Light Reading. (via Arvin) Wireless in South Korea: A Forbes Report The Power of Passed Links: by Fred Wilson Monopoly Killer: Wired writes about a new German board game, “The Settlers of Catan.”

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Over the past couple months, I have got an opportunity to interact with many senior leaders in the BJP. Few have fitted into the classical, negative impressions that we have had drilled down about politicians in India. Maybe, I was just lucky. But I do believe that India has hope – and the worst of [...]

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There are a few memories that will stay on with me long after the elections are over: The first 30-person meeting with we had in late January at the residence of Piyush Goyal from which the idea of “Friends of BJP” emerged – people spoke up openly about what they thought India needed. The passion [...]

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During this period, there were a number of posts that I wrote related to the Elections. Here is a list of all of them. (In case you missed them, I would especially recommend reading the ones prefixed with an asterisk.) An Assessment (Apr 10) (*) Building a Complement to a Political Party (Apr 8 ) [...]

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What were our beliefs in “Friends of BJP”? Here is a summary: Activate and Engage Educated Civil Society Middle India is India’s largest votebank and the most neglected “minority” We do not support or agree with the party line on every  issues Over time, we can make a difference in 120+ urban constituencies An opportunity [...]

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As the election process makes its way to the finish line, I decided that this would be a good time to look back at the past couple months. I am seeing this election much closer than ever before. In the late 1990s, when I was running IndiaWorld, I was involved in covering the elections on [...]

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I wrote this in 2005: “Disruptions are technological shifts which provide opportunity for newcomers to take on incumbents – and perhaps usurp power. It happens all the time. Today’s king is not guaranteed to be tomorrow’s emperor – we have seen this in history and politics, and we see it in business also. While at [...]

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This week’s links: Fix The [US] Grid: From Wired.  “We must fix the grid—reinvent it to be reliable, efficient, responsive, and smart.” Why Business Needs to Get Social: From Forbes. “Social technologies are reshaping the way business is conducted.” India’s Jumbo Election: From The Economist. “In 543 constituencies, 4,617 candidates, representing some 300 parties, will [...]

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Dear Abhishek, Nowadays I don’t get to spend as much time with you as before  because of work and travel. I cherish the time when we are together. You are so full of questions – and now your questions  are deeper. I  answer every question you ask. But  of course, you then have more of [...]

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Dear Abhishek, There are plenty of memories of the year gone by. Like last April when I returned from my US trip (I had missed your birthday), you were sitting on the staircase at 11:30 pm waiting for me to open all the toys. (And this was after telling  me not to buy any toys [...]

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Dear Abhishek, You are currently into car magazines, and especially have a fondness for Volkswagens. We even went the other day to their showroom to check the Jetta and Passat out. When we are out on the road, your eyes are constantly searching for VW cars. You go through car magazines identifying all the cars, [...]

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Dear Abhishek, I also hope you will develop some nice and deep friendships – for that is what matters most. (Like you know from McQueen and Mater’s friendship in the “Cars” books and movie.) We’ve laid the foundation, now your teachers and friends will build on that. Their influence on you will, going ahead, probably [...]

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Dear Abhishek, This letter continues the tradition of writing to you every year on your birthday that I had started when you were born. Hopefully, one day, you will read these letters and be able to relive your childhood days. Your fourth year has been an absolute delight – for you and for us, your [...]

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This series from June 2005 was written five years after the dotcom bubble burst. Here is what I wrote in a column in Business World then: ….[A] point I want to make is about entrepreneurs. You have to distinguish between those who go in there motivated only by money and those who go in to [...]

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This week’s links: India’s Rural Innovations: Can They Scale? by Navi Radjao. Also see Atanu Dey’s comments. A Pricing Revolution Looms inOnline Advertising: from Business Week. Only Ten Years TooEarly: by Fred Wilson. A cautionary tale for entrepreneurs. “Beware of ‘way too early’. It hurts and it keeps hurting. Which is good. Because no pain, [...]

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