Emergic: Rajesh Jain's Blog

I wrote this in August 2004 looking back to 1994: ” Ten years apart, I had spent two summers trying to imagine a very different future from the one we saw around us.” In India, there is what I call, a “rainbow of revolutions” – seven of them happening simultaneously: computing, as PCs become cheaper [...]

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This week’s links: Your Phone: by Scott Adams. “I was thinking about how different our lives will be as cell phone technology continues to improve. Someday your phone will be your only computer, and your home will have a screen in every room that senses the proximity of any phone that approaches.” Muhammad Yunus: Lifting [...]

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We (Bhavana, Abhishek and I) will be going to London for a vacation in the second week of June. (This is my third visit to London — had gone there once as part of an SOTC package tour in 1981, and then a few years ago with Bhavana.) I wanted to get inputs on the [...]

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Last week, I was on my way to Chennai by the early morning Jet flight. I reach the airport and find this incredibly long queue at 5:45 am to get inside. It took 15 minutes to just go in – past the security check of the ticket and ID. I gave the lady at the [...]

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It has been a fascinating exercise reading the diversity of op-eds over the past few months in the context of the elections and the unfolding political landscape. I have also developed a liking for some of the regular columnists: Swapan Dasgupta (Sunday Times of India, Pioneer) R Jagannathan (DNA) Shekhar Gupta (Indian Express) MJ Akbar [...]

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During the elections, I was struck by the lack of databases and real-world linkages. Such tools could be great assets for both campaigning and direct marketing. I think of this as a “mirror world”– a virtual replica of the real world along multiple dimensions: start with maps add a layer of establishments (buildings, schools, retail [...]

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Atanu Dey gifted Abhishek (on his fourth birthday) the most amazing book I have ever come across –  “The Ultimate Alphabet” by Mike Wilks (Wikipedia – Amazon). It is a collection of 26 paintings, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each painting comprises many objects starting with the specific letter – the A painting [...]

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I wrote this in Jan 2004 about the state of Indian portals then: It is time for us to rethink the Indian content space. As telecom competition makes connectivity cheaper and available at higher speeds, as the cost of access devices goes down, there will be a need for innovative content and community services which [...]

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This week’s links: The Rise of Social Distribution Networks: by John Borthwick on Silicon Alley Insider.  “Today there seems to be a new distribution model that is emerging.   One that is based on people’s ability to publically syndicate and distribute messages — aka content — in an open manner.    This has been a part [...]

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Every crisis presents an opportunity, and that is what needs to be thought of now. BJP at 116 is on a road downwards even though the decline this time was only 21 seats. The time to rethink and reinvent is now. There needs to be a sense of urgency. The BJP now faces a clear [...]

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It used the troika very effectively to send out its message: MMS as the honest face who can do the economic good, Sonia with her larger than life presence with her 2004 renunciation, and Rahul with his youth connect. The party based its campaign on its pro-poor work (NREGA and farm loan waiver), its economic [...]

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As we look back at the past six months, here are two key things which stand out: 26/11 and the assembly election results of Delhi and Rajasthan completely turned the momentum away from the BJP. Till then, its twin planks were terrorism and the economy. Both got neutralised in the past six months – or [...]

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This is the first in a series of four posts which will try and address four questions: what happened in the elections, what did the BJP do wrong, what did the Congress do right, and what should the BJP do next? I wrote out this series on Sunday morning, before reading the newspapers. So, some [...]

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I wrote an article for the India section of The Wall Street Journal website. Here it is. The verdict is in. A new United Progressive Alliance government is expected to take charge of India next month. With it comes the promise of a change for the better. The new government has the opportunity – and [...]

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I wrote this in October 2003: …Among SMEs, there are two clear segments. The SMEs in the developed markets have a greater capability to spend on technology than do the ones in the emerging markets. In fact, if one were to look at the IT maturity levels of companies, even some of the larger companies [...]

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As a Friend of BJP, I am obviously disappointed by the results. But the bright side of it is that the country will have a stable Congress-led UPA government for the next five years. I just hope that there is a positive development and good governance agenda that is pursued quickly because there are many [...]

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This week’s reading: Mobile 2.0:Design for the iPhone and Beyond: A presentation by Brian Fling (via Vinu). The Secrets of Great Teamwork: An interview with Tim O’Reilly in Forbes. “When people feel like somebody else is telling them what to do, there’s going to be resistance. If they think it’s what they themselves want, then [...]

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One of the big changes in recent times has been that we as consumers have a digital identity in the form of an mobile number and an email ID. This identity allows companies to reach us in (near) real-time with their communications. For this communication to be effective, I think it has to be based [...]

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Phase 5 of the Indian elections ended yesterday, and we are now ready for Phase 6 once the results are declared on May 16. This phase will involve plenty of action as the various parties jostle to form or be part of the government. I am not going to hazard any prediction — I think [...]

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I (up/down)graded to the Nokia E71 after my iPhone screen sensors started giving problems. Some thoughts on the two phones: One line summary: E71 is a much better phone than the iPhone, but a much worse browing device than than iPhone. The familiar Nokia interface for making calls and sending SMSes is much quicker – [...]

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