I think ... (Tarun Chandel's thoughts)

Blogging Overview

2009-06-29T21:44:00.002+05:30

An Overview of Blogging.

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Presentation from the BlogCamp Pune.

Tarun Chandel

Post BlogCamp Pune Self-Analysis kit

2009-06-29T21:19:00.002+05:30

This is a post BlogCamp Pune self-analysis presentation for campers. This will help you to be a better camper next time around.

Self Analysis Post Blogcamp Pune

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Blogcamp or let me be bit more general, camping doesn't come naturally to us. Camping is not really a culture or part of our life when we are growing up. So when we are put into a camp like situation where a lot of like minded people are available but not there with a specific agenda, we tend to feel lost. It is natural. The thing to remember is that camps can get a lot done for you if you know how to make best use of the camp time.

At Barcamps or Blogcamps you have access to some like minded people who have dabbled around with the topic and are ready to share their knowledge. It is also a great setup to meet new people and build some relations with networking.

The above presentation should help you to plan how to go about in a camp and make full use of it. This should help you to become a better camper and that in turn will help us to have much better camps in future.

Happy camping!

Tarun Chandel

What is BlogCamp Pune?

2009-06-29T19:39:00.000+05:30

The introduction presentation of BlogCamp Pune.

What is a BlogCamp?

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Tarun Chandel

BlogCamp Pune, Idea and What to expect?

2009-06-25T09:24:00.000+05:30

I am sure you are very excited to attend the BlogCamp Pune this Saturday. I am sure you are wondering what is going to happen on Saturday, especially if you are not a regular barcamper. Let me share the idea of the Blogcamp with you and that should help you to ease the anxiety.

With BlogCamp Pune the idea is to bring the bloggers, in person, under one roof and give you a chance to know them better. As bloggers all of us work hard to create our online presence and online relations with our readers and other fellow bloggers. BlogCamp Pune gives you a chance to meet your readers in the offline world and get to know other fellow bloggers.

At Blogcamp Pune I expect to have a good mix of bloggers from different walks of life. This would give us an opportunity to know how people are using blogs and learn from their experiences. I would urge you to share how you use your blog and your experiences with the fellow bloggers at the camp. I am sure you must have made up your mind what you are going to talk about at the camp or who you want to meet at the camp. If you have not yet decided please visit the registration page (http://blogcamppune.eventbrite.com/) and go through the bloggers and topics to be discussed, this would help you to make your plan. I would also request you to use this opportunity wisely and talk to as many campers as possible. Keep in mind the “Law of Two Feet”, using your two feet you move to place where you can learn, share or enjoy. If you are not in such a place move to it or start a discussion of your and others would gather around you.

While on the topic of discussions, I am sure some of you have already planned your sessions. I would suggest you to keep your talks as informal and as less-classroom-like as possible. Think of it as more of a discussion than lecture and that should help. If you are scared that each camper would have to take a session, relax that is not really true. You can take active part in the discussions else you can help us by live blogging, taking pictures or live tweeting the BlogCamp Pune. Please remember to use the tag #blogcamppune as it will help others find the content related to BlogCamp Pune.

The plan for the day is fairly simple; we would be assembling at the SICSR 7th Floor at 10AM for kick starting the event, followed by a round of introduction of all the bloggers. Generally in a Barcamp you will have 3-words-intro but at the BlogCamp Pune we would like to know all the bloggers bit more personally. So we have decided to let go the 3 words and you can give a complete intro. The intro session should warm everyone up and help to break some ice among the bloggers as that will help us to have better discussion through the day.

To get you really talking about the blogosphere there would be a facilitated talk on the blogosphere. After that we would set up the wall wiki – a wall where you can post the session you are going to conduct. Once that is done you can join the discussion that interests you the most.

We will have lunch somewhere in between. We will try to keep the camp going during the lunch as well. There will be boxed lunches available at SICSR that you can buy at a counter and continue with your discussions while enjoying your meals.

At the end of the day we would gather back again for a reflections session, where you to share your experience with rest of the bloggers. Also it would be a good time to gather some feedback on the camp format.

So that’s pretty much what is planned for the BlogCamp Pune. As you might have noticed it is just an outline about the event, not even the complete structure. It is fairly clear that the camp is going to be designed by you. It is a community event and it is going to be what you end up making it. So it is up to you to decide what session you want to run. It is up to you what you want to do at the camp. The whole bunch of bloggers would be there to assist you in all this but it is you who have to make it happen. So I am not sure how it is going to turn out but I am excited about it. More than anything else I am excited to meet you!

Tarun Chandel
BlogCamp Pune

Also read Navin’s reasons to attend the Blogcamp Pune.
If it is your first camp please read about the camps concept here.
And hey I will be clicking a lot of photos so don't forget to bring your best smile with you :)

love all

2009-05-12T07:59:00.001+05:30

ज़र्रे ज़र्रे में उसी का नूर है ...
झाँक खुद में वो ना तुझसे दूर है |

इश्क है उससे तो सबसे इश्क कर...
इश्क है उससे तो सबसे इश्क कर ...
इस इबादत का यही दस्तूर है |

इस में उस में और उस में है वोही ...
इस में उस में और उस में है वोही ...
यार मेरा हर तरफ भरपूर है |

- दिल्ली ६

... holding her hand ...

2009-02-14T22:06:00.001+05:30

Walking all alone in this huge crowd, I felt lost

I kept on walking, I kept on moving

I was tired, I was down

Then I saw a face in the crowd that made me smile

I stopped for a while, I stared for a while

I sat down with her for a while

I walked with her for a while

I still am part of the crowd

I still move and get lost in the crowd

but now I smile with others

I meet them with warmth

I make friends in this crowd

as I move on

holding her hand

holding her hand...

Tarun Chandel
New Life!

You always have a choice

2009-01-20T08:56:00.000+05:30

If you were cool breeze would you freeze the soul or would you relieve an explorer of the desert?
If you were moon would you hide behind the clouds or would you shine brightly so that others can dream?
if you were soil would you be ploughed by a farmer or would you be part of the battle ground?
If you were a kid would you cry your lungs out for the toy you saw in the shop passing by or would you smile at a dull stranger to give him a reason to believe in life?
If you were a candle would you burn bright on a festival or give a chance for a kid in village to read?
If you were a drop of water where would you rolling on the surface of a chilled bear can or on the lips of a thirsty girl?
if you were a traveler, would you like to get lost in unknown places to explore or would you like to follow the beaten path?
If you were in a Karaoke Bar would you sit and laugh or sing your guts out and laugh out loud at yourself?
If you were you, where would you be here or somewhere else?
You always have a choice!

Tarun Chandel
Choosing to Dream On!

Wishlist for 2009

2009-01-02T09:45:00.002+05:30

2009 is here and just like every new year I wish to have certain things to happen this year. Here are my wishlists for 2009.

Technology Wishlist for 2009:

Gmail offline: Yes I am sure Google has it but they have not yet made it public. I would love to see Google coming out with it in 2009.
Auto Tweet Device: Aha this is a dream. Imagine a device that will tweet on its own what you are doing, where you are and what you are upto. It will save a lot of time for a lot of people and may be they will use that time to do some real thing in life :)
Google Earth Night: I love the way places look from sky at night. I would love to see them on Google Earth in night mode. Also there is a real need, to find a place when it is dark is a completely different thing than finding it in daytime. On my recent trips Google Maps was a great help during the day but at night it failed miserably. Only if I had a google map night version I would have saved a lot of time.
iPod See: I am sure Apple geeks are already on it. I mean what else are they going to do next after making iPod touch? They will have ot make an iPod See where things will happen by just looking at it. I beleive that Apple can do it :)
Uninterrupted Internet Access: This is the most realistic wish of all. I am sure that other may happen but this I really doubt. To have an uninterrupted internet connection in Mimbai is next to impossible. I only wish that interuptions remain as less as possible. I am really going to miss the speed and reliability of internet once I get back from London :(

Learning Wishlist for 2009:

Better at my Work: Oh yes! I want to get better at Business Analysis work. Work more and more on details and deliver excellent results for the clients. Also analyse more about the BA practices and get better at them. I also wish to interact with more fellow Business Analysts.
Seek more guidance: There is nothing more important than to learn form people who have more knowledge and experience than you. I wish that I get to meet more such people and I am going to seek their guidance.
Learn something about photography: Photography is something that I am enjoying a great deal at this moment. My photblog is getting better with each entry. Though I still feel that it is all luck, I still don't know jack about photography. In 2009 I wish I get more chances to interact with people who know about photography and learn from them.
Meet more students: I love to interact with students. They have this hunger to learn that I sometimes miss in corporate life. I get to learn more from them than I can give them. I wish I get more and more opportunities to interact with students in 2009.
More Camps: I don't need to say that I love camps. I wish that I get to attend more camps in 2009 and get to meet a lot more interesting people through camps. I also wish that we get to see some different camps this year, camps that are set to achieve much more than the current camps.

Life Wishlist for 2009:

Steady Economy: Worldwide there is a financial recession going on, I wish that we get over this recession in 2009 and hopefully no one gets pink slip in 2009.
No more division: May 2009 be about the integrity of India than division. I wish we don't see people fighting over their region of origin or religion or any other petty issues. May we be one and why only India, may 2009 be a year when the world moves toward global unity.
Solution for Kashmir: I wish that 2009 be the year when we find a solution to problems in Kashmir. May the people of Kashmir have peace and be able to lead a normal life.
No more terrorist attacks: I wish this from the bottom of my heart that people find more peace in 2009 and may everyone realize that killing innocent people will not lead to anything good!
Stable Ecosystem: I wish people realize that biggest danger that we as a human race are facing is not of our differences but from a monster named Global Warming. If we don't stop this monster now, it will wipe out our race without even leaving a trace. May in 2009 we live a healthy life and get more serious about stabilizing our ecosystem.
Lots of love and happiness: I wish that 2009 bring more love and happiness to everyone's life. May all of us dream more and may all of us work harder to achieve those dreams!

Tarun Chandel
Life, Learning and Technology

2008 a journey through the blog...

2008-12-31T15:33:00.002+05:30

Another exciting year is coming to an end and on the last day it is worthwhile to take a look back on the series of events that unfolded.

January is always an exciting month a new year is starting and there is new energy, new dreams and new hopes. You always feel full of life in January and probably get the most done in this month. In 2008 I saw Tare Zameen Par in January and it was all about not killing your self belief for the world. An excellent thought to kick-start the year.

2008 will be remembered for the Coldest night in Mumbai (for once Mumbai was cooler than Delhi in winters) but it was a beautiful cold night. While the weather Gods were trying to keep Mumbai cool in February there were people who were getting heated up and creating ruckus in Mumbai over Marathi and Non Marathi status, shaking views of some while other stuck to their views.

The year started with an excellent Barcamp in Pune. The month of February was also when I chose to ask many questions and seek some answers. It was quite an eventful month :)

March follwed on the footsteps of February and I continued my exploration, sometimes by the gut feeling and in dreams at other times. March was also about meeting fellow bloggers in Pune and in Mumbai and also trying out different camps. Meeting the bloggers also made me realize the importance of blogging in Hindi, our national language.

April was really fun, except the No Honking Day, a concept beyond Mumbaikars. Funny I say that as I completed my 2 years in Mumbai in April, I am also a Mumbaikar now; so a concept that is beyond me as well ;). In April I decided not to fall but sometimes it is destiny.

May started with a session on Blogging for the students. I also started using pics and videos in my blog. There were times that I wish I get to experience every year!

June was the month of excitement and travelling. It all started with a visit to the Nerul Stadium for the final of the Super Successful IPL. I beleive T20 is the future of Cricket and the change is good for the Cricket.The T20 was followed by a bloggers meet in Mumbai and Bloggers Lunch in Pune. Also on that trip to Pune I had a chance to interact with the students of SICSR about Business Analysis in a Guest Lecture which was great. I had a chance to visit Nashik as well and it is a very beautiful city. After an amazing trip to Nashik I was off to Hyderabad and I got to visit ISB Hyderabd, super awesome place! It was a hectic but great month, I tried leaving a trail behind but I guess someone up there was watching me.

July was the month I decided to go offline for a complete week. It was an amazing experience to stay away from my laptop for a week. This effect carried on in August and September as well. I decided to go for a backing trip away from my computer and it was such a wonderful experience.

September also saw Capgemini waking up to the concept of Barcamp and it was a really good experience to be part of it. But this post on Barcamp Capgemini costed me a friend. September is also a month of festivals in Mumbai and I love that time of year in Mumbai. The Ganesh Visarjan was such a good experience. I was off to Pune afte the festivals to attend the biggest unconference of India, PHPCamp and it was worth it. The down side of September was fighting with plagiarism.

October was about dreams and friends. In November I shifted to London and most of the time I was settling in the UK. December was about finding the reasons not to love London and eventually ending up loving it. More than that December was about asking questions that are not easy to answer.

The 2008 was eventful and a great year. I wish 2009 be even more eventful and even more exciting. To everyone who is reading it, I wish you a Happy New Year. May all your dreams come true in 2009 and may you see more dreams in 2009!!

Tarun Chandel
Happy New Year!

If you were ...

2008-12-24T17:42:00.001+05:30

if you were wind, where will you fly to?
if you are allowed to relive a moment in your life, what would that be?
if you could make one person fall in love with you, who would you choose?
if you could address 1 billion people, what would you say?
if you were a tree, which one would you be?
if you were a boat, which sea would you like to sail in?
if you were a mountain, how high would you be?
If you were granted a wish, what would you ask for?
If you were allowed to fulfill a dream, what would you dream?
If you had to answer just one question, what would that be?

Tarun Chandel
Some questions are not easy to answer!

5 Reasons Why you wont love London:

2008-12-08T08:01:00.000+05:30

Why you wont love London:

It is damn cold: Since I have arrived here the max temperature I have experienced is 8 degrees Celsius. The temperature has been hovering between 0 - 8 degrees and my friends in London are saying that it will go down in coming days.
It gets dark really early: Imagine this, you peek out of your office window at 4pm and it is dark. Yes dark at just 4 in the evening and it gets difficult to work after noticing that it is already dark. Sit in office till 6pm and you will end up having a feeling that you are working late.
The traffic is very slow: Yes it almost crawls during the peak hours.
Tube is as crowded as Local in Mumbai at peak timings: OK I know there is nothing that can match the crowd of Mumbai Local, but still the Tube does get crowded and it is not a pleasant feeling.
Houses and living spaces here are cramped: Now this is something really odd. Most of the places that I have seen so far have really cramped living room, bedrooms and the most cramped are bathrooms and toilets. I know you don't need a dancing space in the toilet but in comparison to most places in India living spaces are cramped in London. I suppose this has to do with the prices of real estate. I remember when I moved to Mumbai I had a similar feeling and London is just an extension of that experience. One word explanation: Economics!

Tarun Chandel
Loving London despite of all this ;)

You can find pictures of London on my Photoblog.

5 Reasons why you will love London

2008-12-04T07:00:00.003+05:30

Why you will Love London:

There are separate paths for pedestrians to walk: This is unique. In most of the places, pedestrian walkways are as broad as the roads. Certain things that I found really amazing:
- You can stop the traffic if you want to cross the road by just pushing a button and the traffic actually stops :)
- The pedestrian walkways are wheelchair friendly as well. In fact a large part of London is wheelchair friendly. They can move in their wheelchairs in most parts of the London. Most of the new Tube stations are wheelchair friendly. Even all the buses are low lying and they gets even lower when they stop. Technology should aim to make life easier for everyone and you will experience that here.
There are dedicated lanes for cyclists: This is something that will really surprise if you are coming from cities like Mumbai. The roads here are not as broad as Mumbai yet, there is a separate lane for the cyclists. I have seen so many people preferring to cycle to work rather than using the public transport or car. Something that every city in this world should aim for!
You can drive really fast here: Irrespective of what some of my local friends in London say, you can touch speed of up to 100kmph within the city roads. People from London say that they drive much faster on the country side roads. No wonder the fastest driver of F1 is a Briton!
No matter what you want to eat, it is available: No matter from which part of the world you are from there are good chances that you will find a restaurant serving food for your taste. If you are a food lover and like to try out food from different geographies, London is a one place where you can daily try food of a new taste.
You can put on all the woolen clothes and look smart without worrying about your bulging waist line ;)

Tarun Chandel
London from the perspective of an outsider

You can find pictures of London on my Photoblog.

London: First Impression

2008-11-21T04:49:00.000+05:30

Heathrow airport was just like Mumbai airport, Mumbai is newly built so looks bit better than Heathrow. Heathrow is the busiest airport of the world so it is huge, but you still get a feel of Mumbai airport. The other thing that hits you as soon as you land or wait in the terminal that more people around you are speaking Hindi that English. So again similar to Mumbai :) The good difference is that you are not haggled by the cab drivers as soon as you put your foot outside the airport, rather most of the time you will have to call the cab service and then they will show up.

The similarity ends and difference hits you as soon as you step out of the airport, the wind that chills your soul (against the humid Mumbai weather). I was wearing just a sweater and believe me I was almost frozen. Felt like that I landed in Shimla, underdressed. The other thing that made my jaw drop was the cars that I saw, Audi and Merc crowd roads like Maruti 800 back home. The roads are good and they look a lot like Delhi roads. The highway that we took was just about as good as the Ring Road of Delhi. The traffic halts are like Mumbai, it takes a while to cross a red light. The roads in the central London looked as cramped as Pune roads. It was raining in London when I landed and it was just like Pune, light drizzle that can hardly wet anything.

It is human tendency to judge anything new by the stereotypes and the experiences of past. I think that is how I am looking at London. The truth is that as you experience anything new it breaks some of your stereotypes and adds more things to your horizon that you can relate to. Hopefully coming days in London will be similar. I am looking forward to some good days ahead.

Tarun Chandel
London Life!

Barcamp Pune 5: Freedom to Be

2008-11-20T01:27:00.000+05:30

Barcamp Pune 5 is just around the corner. We have been planning this one for a really long time now. I remember having discussion with Rohit about BCP5 in June. Woops it has been a long time and this just reconfirms my faith that, to do a good Barcamp you should start planning just one month in advance. So after a long delay of 5 months and over 500 mails among the group (including Rohit, Priyank, Kiran, Amit and Aditya) and after 5 "almost final" dates later the Fifth edition of Barcamp in Pune is finally happening. The only bad thing is that I will not be able to attend this one :(

Barcamp in Pune has always been an exciting event to attend. The community of tech enthusiasts in and around Pune is vibrant and has a lot of variety in terms of their techincal capabilities. The nice thing is that a lot of geeks in Pune love to turn up for the BCP, I hope it will continue with this edition of Barcamp Pune as well. I am equally excited about the fact that BCP has been a favourite among the young techies and they have always turned up in large numbers in past events. I hope that when they come back this time, they do bring in with their experiences with technology. It is always exciting to hear how youngsters dabble with and challenge the technology.

Barcamp Pune has always been a very focussed Barcamp, never diverting the focus from being a community event and giving more attention to sponsorsor chanting. Well BCP has been lucky to get some really good sponsors in past who were active participants and understood the idea of Barcamps. This is my personal view that more and more camps in India are increasingly becoming a place where sponsors turn up to pitch their products, services or brands and while doing all that they dilute the whole essence of camps. Barcamps were supposed to be place where techies would come and discuss their experiences in an open environment. The essence of the Barcamp was freedom, freedom from rules, freedom to learn, freedom to share... The sponsors also took the freedom to ruin it all. When we started thinking about Barcamp Pune this time we had an idea that BCP5 will be a camp with "Back to Basics" theme. That means we would try to go back to the basics of Barcamp and make the environment coducive for learning and sharing and we made a budget of 1.5Lakhs. We got excellent response from sponsors and atleast 4 of them were ready to send us money. When we made it clear to them that we will not like them to ruin the camp for us but work with us to make it better they were hesitant. In all this while (it lasted around 3 weeks) we came up with an idea why not go for a "Free Camp". A camp that is free of sponsors, a camp that is free of blatant marketing pitches and a camp that is purely a Barcamp to it's core. The idea was accepted unanimously by all the group members. Later on, We had to refuse 3 - 4 sponsors and some of our past sponsors who were ready to give money and work with us. When they heard the idealogy behind Free Barcamp Pune they really appreciated it. So the fifth edition of Barcamp Pune is Free. I hope that a lot more camps in India and in other countries would follow the same way of doing camps and keep the spirit of Barcamps alive.

I always end my Barcamp posts with, "see you at Barcamp, do stop by to say hi". This time I am not going to be around so if you miss me drop by on my blog to say hi :).

Enjoy the Barcamp Pune and enjoy the freedom!

Tarun Chandel
For the love to Barcamps

Britain here I come

2008-11-11T23:45:00.001+05:30

Landed in London a week back but did not get the time and the internet connection to blog. The journey in Jet flight was comfortable, they make traveling a lot simple by allowing almost 50Kgs on the flight while other flights like British Airways allows less than 30Kgs.

The feeling that I had when the plane was passing over Pakistan was unprecedented, bit uncomfortable yet bit curious (very difficult to express in words). I opened the lid of my window and the sun rays felt warmer in the cold airplane. It is an odd feeling that the rays that were going to touch Pakistan were touching me. It felt even weird when we were flying over the Afghanistan and Kandahar, where once a hijacked plane from India was taken to. Though I tried looking down but we were flying so high that nothing down was visible or may be there is nothing left in the troubled land of Afghanistan.

The trip has just started and a lot of things that I had never thought of before are making presence felt. I am sure this is going to be a great trip with a lot of things to learn, with a lot of interesting people to meet, with a lot of interesting experiences, with a lot of London, lot of Britain, lot of United Kingdom, lot of England...

Tarun Chandel
In London

My Blog is missing me

2008-11-06T18:38:00.001+05:30

It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I can never explain
what I hear when you don't say a thing

The smile on your face let's me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you catch me wherever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all....

I miss you, hope you will be back soon, spending more time with me!
- My Blog to me in words of Ronan Keating from Notting Hill.

Friends, blog, life

2008-10-13T08:17:00.001+05:30

Life has been busy with camera. Trying out new things with my photography and trying to learn new things about photography. May be trying to move from just another guy with a camera to an amateur, but not sure how long will I continue with it.

In past few days some of my blogger friends have been doing really interesting things:

Preeti is now an author of a book. Yes another blogger has penned down a book. 34 Bubblegums and Candies, her book, is getting good reviews from readers. I am yet to grab a copy of the book but eagerly looking to get my hands on it. I was thinking of attending her book launch at Pune but had to move out of Pune a day earlier.

Harsha the ever versatile photographer (who is trying religiously to convert me into a serious photographer) left his full time job in IT industry to follow his dream of being a professional photographer. I think photography is his calling. Harsha is also part of the Mutiny, one of the better group blogs. Harsha's Mutiny is now a Magazine in Print. Heard a lot of Magazines going for blog like sites but a blog becoming a print magazine is something new and exciting. Mutiny promises to still keep the blog like feel to it's print version. Aha!!

Rohit is busy with Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. I met him last week on my short trip to Pune. Rohit is planning to move to Delhi and join the Common Wealth Games 2010. The biggest sporting event of India, an event that has been the catalyst in dramatic change of Delhi's look and feel. Rohit may do a marathon biking from Pune to Delhi, whoaa that will be awesome. Btw, dude I am in for that trip :)

Meetu is planning a revamp of wogma. The movie review queen of Hindi Cinema urf Bollywood has some interesting plans with her wogma. I love the site even in it's current format but she says the new features will make it even better. Meetu, I saw Kidnap without reading your review and I regret it :( may be you should not be allowed to take vacations :). Meetu I read that the director of EMI is some Kabra, related?

Ideasmithy has gone offline for sometime. Good to see that, she has been blogging alomost non stop for last two months, the break was very much needed. I suggest "Going Offline" to every blogger, disconnect yourself completely with the rest of the online world and live the life. You will be surprised with the kind of ideas and energy you will have once you come back. Btw, Ms Smithy looking forward to some great posts and pics once you are back.

Ranjan has launched a new Business Analysis Blog, good to see more BAs voicing their thoughts on this profession. Looking forward to some interesting post on his blog and Ranjan may be we can BlogJam someday :)

Wishing everyone all the luck with their future and I hope to see all of them shine in their respective fields. (Blog) Life is all about (blogger) friends :)

Tarun Chandel
On an idle morining, thinking about frineds!

I am still Dreaming...

2008-10-10T08:05:00.000+05:30

... I was always moving...
... I was always learning...
... I was always sweating...
... I was always preparing...
... I was always ready...
I have come a log way ... I was always dreaming...

... I am still moving...
... I am still learning...
... I am still sweating...
... I am still preparing...
... I am still ready...
I have a long way to go ... I am still dreaming!!!

Tarun Chandel
My life, my dreams

Another Blogger is down with Plagiarism

2008-09-23T07:50:00.005+05:30

This is shocking. One of the bloggers who is no more on my blogroll (was till this post) has shamelessly copied my post, verbatim, and posted it on his blog as his own. I wrote a post on completing 2 years in Mumbai and called it "Not just another year by the bay" and this guy picked up the whole post (even the title) and posted it on his own blog.

Here is what I wrote:

Not just another year by the bay
Two years since I came to Mumbai and it has been:
2 years of fun
2 years of hard work
2 years of sheer learning
2 years of growth
2 years of being independent
2 years of being professional
2 years of survival
2 years of madness
2 years of happiness
2 years of Capgemini
2 years of Mumbai
2 years of life...

and this guy (I am not giving the link to his blog as I don't want to send traffic to his blog and why should I?)

Not just another year by the bay

Posted by XXX on Sep 13, 2008 in Uncategorized

One year since I came to Mumbai and it has been:
1 year of fun
1 year of hard work
1 year of sheer learning
1 year of growth
1 year of being independent
1 year of being professional
1 year of survival
1 year of madness
1 year of happiness
1 year of MBA
1 year of projects
1 year of presentations
1 year of friends
1 year of Chetana
1 year of local trains
1 year of Mumbai
1 year of life…

This is sheer stealing. When I contacted this guy, who by the way was also one of volunteers at Blogcamp Mumbai he said::

The post is about my one year in Mumbai. I know the post is similar to your post about 2 years with capgemini. But if you look at the contents, its totally about my one year with Chetanas.. So I did not get the fact that you call this as "copied post"

What "contents" is he talking about, the whole post is picked up including the title (just changing 2 to 1 and adding a few lines does not make it your content). This is not only against the ethics of Blogging but is also a clear infringement of Copyrights. My content (that includes all text, pictures, videos, presentations created by me and posted on my blog or elsewhere) is mine and no one has the right to publish as their own. If you desire to publish something created by me on your blog or elsewhere you need my prior permission for the same.

Updated on 24th September 2008:
Interesting turn of events: The blogger has updated the post and now it says:

The post is inspired by a similar post by Tarun. If you notice, even the title is the same. When I visited his blog, the post and the title clicked me immidiately. And I thought why not use similar thing for my 1 year in Mumbai..!!! However, the idea of mentioning original author did not clicked me somehow. Maybe I could not understand the efforts Tarun had put in his post.
However, when I recieved communication from Tarun, the need to mention the name of initiator of idea clicked me. But the wrodpress thing as usual did not respond when it was supposed to. So there happened a delay of couple of days in updating.
Anyways, sorry Tarun for whatever misunderstanding that happened on the issue. And thanks a lot for the post.

Good that the idea clicked finally. The odd part is that the blog that shows in Google Search is on blogger (not on wordpress), and he also made a post on it during the whole scene. I guess it's just the pressure from more than 30 (super supportive) bloggers that forced this change. It is still a plagiarized post adding my name at the end will not make the content his. I can't keep running behind this guy so I will leave it to his intellect.

The sad part of the whole incident is that a lot people believe content on internet is for free and they can copy whatever they want. The lack of awareness about copyright violation is another disturbing fact. If you have created any content you reserve all copyrights unless you state otherwise. So unless my blog says that I am ok with you copying my content you will have to ask before copying and that is true with whole of blogosphere and with whole of internet. The number of bloggers and website owners who have faced a similar situation is staggering high. Most of them get similar response from the copier, why are you crying over content that is free on internet? Maybe it is the time to raise the voice that CONTENT ON INTERNET IS NOT FREE TO COPY!

Tarun Chandel
You just can't copy everything because it is online!

PHPCamp: I am camping at PHPCamp Pune

2008-09-19T16:36:00.008+05:30

Leaving for Pune in a while to attend the PHPCamp.

Pictures from the PHPCamp are available here.

If you see me at PHPCamp, do stop by to say hi!

Updated on 20th Sept:
Just returned back from Pune after attending the PhpCamp. Will update this space soon with stories from the PhpCamp.

Updated on 21st Sept:
Here is my version of post PhpCamp analysis.
It was 9 in the morning and it was drizzling in Pune. There were 30 odd campers gathered at Persistent, the venue for Phpcamp. In a short while the rains were getting strong and so was the number of campers. By 10AM it was pouring in Pune and so were the campers at Phpcamp. I wonder was there a direct relation between the rains and campers? Amit kick started the event with 350 odd campers listening to him with absolute attention. Rohit and I tried to break some ice with an intro to barcamp culture and 3 words intro. By the time we finished, the rains were in full flow and so was the camp. More than 500 campers were raring to camp. While doing the ice breaking session, with Rohit, we found out that there were 20 odd campers who came all the way from Ahmadnagar for the PhpCamp. I checked with registration desk that by lunch time more than 700 campers had registered for the PHPcamp.

Phpcamp ran in 2 threads one was in the 7th floor cafeteria and other was on the 4th floor conference room. I have a crib about Persistent, why can't they give two room on the same floor and make life easy for the campers? I should hold on to the cribs for a while as I have few more of them. For a while let me focus on what all was discussed at the Phpcamp. There were variety of sessions like, Basics of Php, Discussion on Architecture of Php, Sessions on Php based CMSes like Joomla, Drupal, then there were sessions on Security of Php based sites and there were sessions on concept of Open Social as well. During the lunch time I interacted with a lot of campers and the feedback was very positive with most of them agreed that they learn a lot of things and were still looking forward to sessions post lunch.

I am very happy with the attention that events like Barcamps and Unconferences are getting. They attract a huge community following because they promise to deliver the right content from the right people. The reason why community follows camps and come from far flung places to attend even during pouring rains is that they get to learn a lot in a short span of time. Somehow the corporate world has woken up to this phenomenon and as with conferences they have woken on he wrong side of the bed. Almost in ever unconf these days you will find an organization trying to pimp itself among the techies. They go overboard with their promotions and blatant self selling. Somehow they fail to understand the correct way to be part of a camp. They need to realize that, if you keep pimping yourself someday you will get screwed. Satyam guys had practically hijacked one of the thread at Phpcamp and they kept talking about how good they are with Open Social and I don't remember on which slide were they talking about PHP. The worst was the declaration that, Social Networking sites are crap, but if you have business we are here to do the consulting. They want to do consulting of something they don't believe in? Anyhow that's their business model, my only crib is that they don't understand the camps and they left everyone in bad taste.

Camps are impossible to conduct without the selfless support of volunteers and Phpcamp had a vibrant bunch of volunteers from Symbiosis family. They did a fantastic job. Talking about fantastic job Amit pulled off a stunner of a camp. I remember he discussed Phpcamp with me 3 months back and I said may be we can keep it as a thread in the next camp, but he was excited about the idea and believed in it. He started with the camp and rest is history. Once again he proved that if you have right intent things will not only happen but will surprise you. Great work Amit and thanks for not listening to me.

At Phpcamp it was good to catch up with Rishi, Vipul, Varun, Tarun, Jai, Nishit, Saumil, Bhavya, Pramilla and many other blog readers of mine. It was great!

Pictures from the PHPCamp are available here.

Tarun Chandel
Another trip to Pune yipeee!

Ganesh Visarjan Utsav

2008-09-15T19:37:00.007+05:30

I love the festival of Ganpati. The energy, the enthusiasm, the sheer number of people together at one place, the music, the thrill it is unparalleled to any other festival that, I have celebrated.

This is one of the most common music for Ganesh Festival. I love the beats of it.

Another very common music for Ganesh Festival. I love the energy of it (notice the number of people in orchestra).

Finally the Ganpati idol is immersed in the water. Photos of the Ganpati Visarjan Utsav are available here.

Tarun Chandel
Give peace and harmony a chance!

Nothing is Permanent

2008-09-14T16:56:00.000+05:30

चाहे जितनी शमाये रोशन करले धूप तो ढल जायेगी...
- आमिर

Barcamp Capgemini: Capgemini India wakes up to Barcamp

2008-09-09T23:58:00.002+05:30

Nothing interesting for those who are not from Capgemini. But, if you are a part of Capgemini then this is a great news. Capgemini India is going have it's first very own barcamp on Thursday, September 11 2008. Though this is Capgemini only event (that means outsiders will not be able to attend it), but I am sure this is a good start and in future we will have an Open Space event in Capgemini. Also I am sure you will meet more people from Capgemini at coming camps in your city.

More pictures of Barcamp Capgemini available here.

A lot of effort has gone into making this camp a reality. A lot of people have put in their heart and soul into the concept of Barcamp. Thanks to Gaurav and Barada for keeping their faith on this idea and persisting with it. Thanks to all those who bought this idea, I assure all of them Barcamp will surpass all their expectations. It's like setting a wheel rolling down the hill, first few resolutions will take a lot of efforts but once it picks up the momentum it will surprise everyone. It will not only sustain on its own but it will take you the distance. I am very excited about the Barcamp at Capgemini. I will let you know how it went.

Updated on 11th Sept 2008:
It was great to see a Barcamp at Capgemini. Participants turned up with lot of curiosity for the concept. The wall wiki editing was something new for them and it was good to see them breaking away from their apprehensions and arranging their sessions.

More pictures of Barcamp Capgemini.

The campers were happy to know that "Law of two feet" is their right, it also gave presenters a clear message that, keep your talk interesting else people will walk to other threads. A good start, in fact better than most other first camps
outside (in terms of turn out ratio). There are a lot of learning for the Capgemini folks and I am sure that the next camp will be really rocking.

Tarun Chandel
Barcamp Capgemini, Cheers!

Tahaan - Movie Review

2008-09-04T23:21:00.003+05:30

Tahaan means thirst in Marathi and Tahaan means kindhearted in Urdu. Tahaan the movie lives up to both the meanings. The story is that of a kid but to me Tahaan is the story of Kashmir and childhood in the stressed out heaven on earth. There is hardly anything for kids to do in such a place and that's what the whole movie is all about.

Santosh Sivan has an eye for beauty. The way he has captured the beauty of Kashmir is breathtaking. Each and every shot is really beautiful and he has paid a lot of attention to minor details. Be it the white and gray snow covered mountains or the early morning mist or the sunrays trying to bring life to the cold valley; every shot is like a beautiful painting. The use of real folk music helps in getting the authentic Kashmiri experience. I like the way he has captured the essence of Kashmir, be it the broken houses of Kashmiri Pundits or the plight of youth or be it the innocence of young kid. The best I like is how he has depicted the dreams of wives who wait for their turn to cry over the dead body of their husband, as if they are tired of waiting for the inevitable. That is the real picture of Kashmir.

Music is not really great except the two folk songs by Gulzar Ganai. Purav Bhandare, the kid, plays true to his character and delivers a brilliant performance. Sarika who plays a mute mother delivers an exceptional scene without uttering even a single word. Anupam Kher acts out well but at times you can notice him slipping from the character he plays. Talent of both Rahul Khanna and Rahul Bose has been wasted in the movie. But that is what Tahaan is all about trying to build story at a place where life is fighting hard to survive. The only things that people of Kashmir have are the thirst to live and the kindheartedness to take unquestioningly whatever life has to offer. This Tahaan (thirst) is something that is keeping them alive; this Tahaan-ness (kindheartedness) is something that is keeping their hopes alive.

Tarun Chandel
Trying to write a movie review,
do let me know how have I done.
(*If you are wondering why a movie review? Well I attended a preview show for bloggers arranged by Moksh, just like the last time. For more professional review read Meetu's Wogma.)

Backpacking away from computer

2008-09-04T10:02:00.005+05:30

Taking a break from online life and spending time in offline world is something that I really cherish. It has become sort of a new resolution of mine. Last time I took one week off and this time I was away for 2 weeks. It is fun to do such a thing and at the same time you get so many idea when you are away from your computer or laptop. We humans are not designed to think in front of a screen and I can vouch for that statement.

In the two weeks that I was away I read a lot, met friends, spent a lot of time with loved ones. For a week I also went on a backpacking trip to Himachal, spent some time in Delhi, also visited Dehradun.

Mumbai Vs Delhi:
I watched Singh is Kinng in Delhi and also in Mumbai and surprisingly the experience was starkly different in either city. Delhi crowd was going crazy while Mumbai crowd had more of a "WTH" feeling. I had a blast! May be the Delhi guy in me comes up sometimes.

Delhi Rains:
I witnessed the heaviest rains of Delhi and to be frank that was hardly a rain for Mumbai. The potholes on the roads were bigger than the ones on Mumbai roads. While everyone was grim I couldn't stop grinning. I guess the Mumbaikar in me takes over sometimes.

Dehradun:
Dehradun has improved a lot since my last visit. Bit modern and yet that coziness of a small valley town, that place gives a unique feeling. The only reason to crib I have is about the road from Delhi to Dehradun (which also takes you to Haridwar, Masoori). Inspite of being one of the most traveled roads of north India it's in terribly bad shape. I fail to understand why?

Cloud covered towers. For more pics visit my photoblog.

Himachal:
Himachal is really beautiful and in rains that place looks like heaven after a wash. The only colors I could see were the shades of Green and Brown. The clouds had shifted their home to the hills and the mistiness added to the whole divine experience. I was traveling some of the interior villages of Himachal, got to meet a lot of people talked with them about the life and challenges that they face. People are extremely friendly, they open up quickly, they accept you quickly. Something that we in cities should learn. Life is hard there, they can hardly do anything after it's dark (but they do so much during the day). Good Schools are rare. After schooling the choices of courses are very limited. Those who really want to do something have to travel to other states (not a bad thing) but the knowledge of what other universities can offer is again very low.

A Wedding in Himachal:
People live a very community oriented life there. I attended a wedding and more than an event of an individual family it was more of a community event. People from all over the villages dropped in to help, they chip in with all the necessary things like milk, vegetables, grains and most important of all their time and efforts. The marriages last for three to five days and it is more of a festival for the whole village than a family or person. Something starkly different from cities.

Coming Back Online:
Coming back online after a long break is not easy. There are so many things to catch up. It took me two days to read and reply to all the mails, three days to read blogs of my friends, one day to catch up on twitter and one for all other social networks. Pheww...

Things I am looking forward to:
Barcamp Pune is coming back and I am part of the planning team (interesting times ahead). Capgemini is waking up to the concept of Barcamp it is going to be an internal event but surely going to be interesting. I have a new photoblog (someone said the dark side of your blog, I say colorful side of my blog:)). The Business Analysis Blog is doing good, getting a lot of interaction going on but somehow BAs prefer mails over comments.

Tarun Chandel
Feeling refreshed after a break!