Yahoo! The Filo Way

I was covering the Yahoo! Open Hack Day here in Bangalore on Saturday but it was the presence of co-founder David Filo that interested me. I land there very early and stepped into a room full of hackers and almost immediately felt an IQ inferior complex. Got out of the room to breathe again, I noticed this frail-looking T-shirt clad guy in jeans chatting randomly to a few Yahoo folks. Guessing he was some random Yahoo organiser, my eyes scanned the area hoping to spot Filo. But no such luck came and I went ahead to meet the Yahoo communications team to check for an interview slot with Filo.

I had a larger-than life image of Filo as during the early days of the internet having a Yahoo! mail account was the second best thing to have; the first being a girlfriend. Having created a platform spawning a new generation, Filo gave the geek world a whole new world of recognition. In this online battle, Yahoo might be on the losing side but hey the consumers are not complaining as are just getting better.

So surprisingly my Filo interview request came through and I was supremely excited. I got introduced to the man himself (as you have already guessed it was the frail T-shirt clad guy). I figured he was a man of few words and emotions as I got no small talk or a broad smile when I shook his hands. Maybe journalists probably intimidate him especially us TV guys who usually stick up mikes like it was a gun and ask for bytes. But the questions were discussed in advance with his team and the interview went well. I got some politically correct soundbytes like 'Bullish on India' and 'Leverage Bangalore's talent pool' and I was happy it went well with no retakes. I was also thrilled that I had got Filo first and exclusive on our channel.


But I was expecting to see some passion and excitement from the guy and it will be fair to say that I went home disappointed and nothing to Yahoo! about. For Filo, this must have just another TV interview and really no reason to impress the audience or the reporter :(

Up, Up and Away!

It's not everyday that you wake up and say I Love My Job..I was feeling the same yesterday as I was scheduled to board the US Military Boeing C-17 Globemaster III..it is a military airlift plane..Wow wow wow..Sitting inside the plane felt like a kid in a candy store. I just couldn't stop smiling..We took off with pilot showing off his short runway takoff..it fe lt like a roller coaster. The US Military guys were inside describing each move to us and it felt like a part out of Top Gun..

He took us to 20,000 feet and I did a link to the camera at that height walking...It was really exhilirating. ..After showing us some moves at that height for about 20 mins, he said we were going to do the tactical descent...So we descended almost vertically from 18,000 feet to 6000 feet in 30 seconds...

The only scary moment was when this was happening I saw the crew running around in despair..but they were desperately hunting for a paper bag for my cameraman who was going to puke..He was filming the whole thing from the cockpit and the descent was too much for his stomach to handle...Besides that, the ride was just fuck amazing..Hard landing and braking..It was just too good to be true; felt orgasmic..Almost wanted to plead once more to the captain..

The day before, I went on board a Global Vectra chopper..it was ok compared to the Boeing ride..That video onboard the Boeing plane has still not been uploaded..will share the link asap..

On the right of this page there are two videos of my stories on the Aero India show. Some lucky journalists got to fly on the F-16s this time and I will lobby hard to get on one next time...

Can't wait to fly again!

Oh My God!

There are instances when religion upsets me and my atheist side takes control. The most common is these public processions in the name of religion and the nuisance I causes. Traffic jams, noise pollution and unnecessary hysteria makes me mad. The more recent gross misuse of God and religion is using it for political purposes in name of preserving 'culture'.

Building more religious sites or paying visits to holy shrines or breaking a thousand coconuts is beyond my understanding. Why cant we just understand that our faith in the power does not need to be kept happy by rituals or a thousand pujas or sacrifices but by the way we go about our lives? Religion and godmen feed on the insecurity of human beings and tend to take control of one's lives after a point. I feel that God or the superpower or whatever you want to call it judges you on how you live your life honestly and keep your loved ones happy. When you pray what is that you ask for - happiness and well-being. Why cant we just close our eyes and ask the power for that? Simple. It is not like God is going to reward more happiness to the person praying ten times a day...

A recent incident has affected me personally and I have given below the details of yet again religion playing with the mind of my best friend and causing nothing but grief.

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It was a very eventful weekend as we drove down to Chennai for the long Republic Day weekend. Spent lots of time 'feeling at home' at home which means eating the awesome food and sleeping without feeling guilty.

Met my school buddies for dinner one night and discussed the recent events with a close friend of mine. He converted into Islam in the US a few years back while he was going around with a girl of the same religion. He gave us and his parents very strange reasons for doing this and I am not sure i want to share those ridiculous reasons.

The next day we went to meet his parents who are in Chennai and are very close to us. What I experienced there was something I will never ever forget. To say that they are heartbroken and shattered by their son's decision is an understatement. My relationship with my parents is supremely special to me and I am extremely protective of them. To see my best friend's parents in tears as they express helplessness over their son's decision made me angry and sad. I cannot imagine how any son could cause so much hurt to his own parents who have given up all their lives for him. Which God says it is ok to cause so much pain to your parents? When my wife says that there are sons and mothers and fathers in the world who hate each other, I simply dont understand how this can happen.

In this particular case, I spoke to my friend after I got back to Bangalore and sought an explanation. After all, his parents had begged us to try and talk sense into their son and come back to their religion. Images of his parents in tears affected me all through my stay in Chennai and I felt morally obliged to try my part to bring some happiness back into their lives. The phone conversation did not result in anything but my friend telling me that he will try his best to speak to his parents and convince them that this is for the good.

Anger Management

Being a business journalist in the television medium, the quarterly results of the listed companies are keenly tracked and being in Bangalore, Infosys and Wipro are usually the most sought after. I see it more as a quarterly ritual more than actual reporting unless something dramatic (which never happens) is announced.

And today at the Wipro results press conference, I witnessed yet another episode of the Chairman dealing with the media with unnecessary arrogance. I hold high respect for the man but just the way he treats the media is apalling and sometimes plain rude. Either he does not see the need for a fourth estate to exist for his business to run smoothly or he simply does not see the point wasting his time with journalists.

Today he was asked a harmless questions on his company's recent dealings with the World Bank and he plainly refused to answer the question. His reasoning was that there was enough spoken about this subject and he had nothing more to add. But the journalist persisted and this is where he lost it completely and even said 'that is a ridiculous statement'. It was an awkward moment for all of us as journalists as we were not sure of how to react to this. With the permanant scowl on his face, he does look and sound intimidating and I did expect him to just stand up and walk out. He has done that a couple of quarters back where in the middle of the conference, he just got up and left citing a customer meeting.

This is a stark comparison to its peer Infosys who understand the role of the media and sometime use it to their advantage. It reflects in the coverage that they get and makes a huge difference to their public perception.

Next time Mr.Chairman, just simply answer the question!

Bala Broadcast??

This 'Bala Broadcast' nick was handed down infamously to me when I was studying in the Asian College of Journalism. I would like to think it was because I was in the Broadcast journalism batch and not for a reputation of being a loudmouth.

My other infamous nick include B***s and a pet name strictly for family only. I recently read the book Namesake and I truly thank my stars and parents for not having put me through the trauma of my pet name as my real name.

Blogging Bug Bites Finally!

It feels weird as I start this journey of blogging as I have never really understood why one needs to pen down and share his thoughts with god-knows-who. But I must say there is something refreshing to this activity that makes me want to showcase it as a reflection of my personality.

So expect simple language (maybe some grammatical errors!) and a wide variety of subjects to be discussed from my world of television journalism to some of my most fondest memories in Chennai and Delhi and of course some travel writing as well.

So wish me luck as I embark on this slightly weird but new experience. I welcome myself to the fascinating world of blogging.