Bill Gates' favorite teacher

Bill Gates' favorite teacher http://www.khanacademy.org/

Driving Holiday - Jog Falls - Murudeshwar - Maravanthe - Agumbe - Sringeri - Horanadu

Recently went on a five day driving trip and covered Jog Falls, Murudeshwar a temple town on the West Coast of Karnataka, Maravanthe , a small beach again on the west coast , Agumbe a hill station in Shimoga and Sringeri and Horanadu temple towns in Chickmagalur district of Karnataka.

We set out on Wednesday 25th August morning and reached Jog after driving through 380 Kms on NH 206. We had earlier planned to stay on in a home stay close to Jog but drove on to Jog. Jog falls has quite a few accomodation options including the Karnataka State Tourism Mayura hotels and a PWD guesthouse. Though not much difference between the two we preferred the PWD guesthouse, which while was very spacious and the windows overlooked the Jog falls fell quite short on the maintenance aspect. 

Jog is best during the monsoons when the water flow is the maximum but the disadvantage is that it rains continuously and is very misty so the falls is obscured at times. The other disadvantage was that the steps to the bottom of the falls was getting repaired and hence we could see Jog only from a distance. In addition to the main Jog falls viewing area there are two additional sight-seeing points where one can get a good look at the falls as they start to fall into the mountains, and we visited both these points also.

We had originally planned to relax in Jog but the sad state of our accommodation made us  to move on. I have always had  a fascination for beaches and decided to head westwards.  While the distance from Jog to Honnaver on the west coast of Karnataka is just 60 Kms, the road is through the mountains and is full of bends. Since we started a little late in the evening, it was foggy all through and we made very slow progress and could cover the 60 Kms with a ( break in between )only in about 3 hours. 

Ambition: Why Some People Are Most Likely To Succeed

Ambition: Why Some People Are Most Likely To Succeed

RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

An interview with Sivakumar , CEO ITC ABD in Network - Quarterly Publication for IRMA Alumni

Sivakumar's interview in Network

DIFFERENTIATED ENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH SIVAKUMAR

Arpit Shah & Burra Naga Trinadh, both belonging to PRM30, are on a journey to meet IRMAns who are making differences. They were hooked up with Sivakumar, second batch of the two-year Post-graduate Programme in Rural Management at IRMA, and presently the head of the ITC’s agribusiness division. Presently Sivakumar is also on the IRMA Board of Governors.

AS & BNT: Tell us something about your childhood and education. What was Rural for you before joining IRMA?

SK: I grew up in an urban-like industrial township near Kurnool in the state of Andhra Pradesh. My father who was an engineer used to work in a cement factory in the township. As a school kid, I aspired to become an IAS officer, because for me an IAS officer was the district collector who was the local hero and the chief guest at all the functions that happened in the town. So, I decided to go for a 3 year degree course, which was a faster route to appearing for a Civil Services Exam, rather than a 5 year engineering course that my father expected me to join. I went to Silver Jubilee College in Kurnool which was known for sending out many of its students to the IITs, IISc, Civil Services and all the management aspirants to IIMA in those days. Initially, for me Rural was a scenic beauty, a holiday destination, or the grandfather’s house. Two key events occurred which changed my conception of rural India and probably the course of my life! The first one was when I joined the college’s NSS programme, and had gone to different villages for doing an economic census. I saw the real rural India and it came as a shocker to see the poverty and quality of life in the villages from close quarters. The other event occurred when as the Chairman of our College Students Union, I met with various politicians, ministers and bureaucrats for certain negotiations and understood Government beyond the District Collector. I then decided ‘IAS is not for me’.

Rest in Peace "Pankaj Davar"

Was deeply saddened to learn about the death of Pankaj Davar my boss in Shriram Foods which happened on 15th June. Pankaj was an amazing human being and a great boss.  He was put in charge of the IIIrd party outsourcing division of Shriram Foods and lead the initiative brilliantly. He truly trusted and empowered his subordinates and maintained a very friendly atmosphere. He was always eager to try out new ideas.

His death happened due to a very freak accident of being electrocuted from an old  washing machine which was plugged in ( but not switched on )

He is survived by his wife and two daughters. I pray that God gives his family the courage to recover from this unfortunate tragedy.

Ashish on BBC

Wintel positioning in today's tech world

http://economist.com/node/16693547

While the article focusses on the WINTEL relationship, it gives an overview of the current developments in the tech marketplace

bangalore sights from churmuri blog