Rediscover Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi: A man synonymous with India. Nobody deserved Nobel Peace Prize more than Mahatma Gandhi. Nobody deserved more respect and love than Gandhi. But, nobody gets more criticism than Gandhi( especially by Indians). So isn’t it quite surprising for many of you to see Gandhi topping the list of people I admire.

Gandhi was no emperor, not a military general, not a president nor a prime minister. He was neither pacifist nor a cult guru. Who was Gandhi ? If anything, Mohandas K. Gandhi was a constant experimenter. Mahatma gave us the freedom by revolutionary concept of non-violence, non-cooperation and satyagraha. He was the best communicator known to us. He won the hearts of people even in a new nation like South Africa.

During my Gandhi sessions, I reiterate that he was the best example of servant leadership. He was equally terrific example of authentic and situational leadership. Beyond his politics and philosophy, he was a linguist and health expert. I am glad that Gujaratilexicon has played a small part in digitising his dictionary. His ideas on women empowerment, village economy, self-reliance,  untouchability and health are timeless. 

Majority of Indians have not understood Gandhi and we label him as a bygone phenomenon. But I feel he is more relevant today than ever before. 

Gandhi is in us. Let’s rediscover him. 

Will we? 

I get hope from T S Eliot’s lines:

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started 

And know the place for the first time.

Image: My favourite anecdote of Gandhi’s visit to Lancashire mills….

Social Media – Frankenstein Resurrected?

Is Social Media A Boon Or Bane? The Eternal Debate Continues In The New Netflix Documentary-

Jeff Orlowski’s Docu-Drama ‘The Social Dilemma’ Does Not Tell Us Anything New….We Have Known Both Sides Of Story For Long….What It Does Is To Reinforce The Arguments – Primarily Against Social Media Giants. 

The Documentary Has Two Distinct Tracks. The First Track Features Interviews With The Most Smartest And Conscientious Employees Of The Big Tech Giants. The Second Track Showcase A Fictional Story – How Social Media Manipulates & Ruins Kids Of A Perfectly Normal American Family.  

The Great Minds Of Silicon Valley Include:

1. Tristan Harris – Former Google Design Ethicist
2. Justin Rosenstein – Co-Inventor of Facebook ‘Like’ Button
3. Tim Kendall – Former Director of Monetization At Facebook, Former President Of Pinterest
4. Renee DiResta
5.  Jeff Seibert 

These Interviews Highlight Risk Of Social Media Addiction. Social Media Giants Engineer Platforms To Create Addiction, Manipulate Behaviour & Reap Profits For Their Shareholders. The Dangerous Impact On Mental Health Of Children & Teenagers, Personal Privacy & Data Confidentiality Issues, The Rise Of Hate Crimes & Genocide, The Fuelling Of Fake News, Death Of Democracies Are Some Of The Negatives That Can No Longer Be Ignored. 

The Documentary Considers Founders Of Social Media Giants To Be Trapped. Too Naive! Shareholders & Governments Are Human Beings – And Human Beings Have A Choice – But Are We Willing To Call Spade A Spade? 

Social Media Is A Drug. Agree. It Is Challenging The Organised Religion – An Equally Dangerous Drug 🙂

Why Our Best Brains Work For Biggest Social Media Companies? Agriculture Crisis Hits Headlines Every Year And We Have No Solution….Why We Applaud New Feature Upgrades Of Big Tech Giants While Many Genuine Research Organizations Die Every Year…

Technology Is Neutral. A Gun In The Hands Of Police Protects, While In The Hands Of Terrorist Kills. 

Social Media Has Reunited Families, Help Raise Awareness Of Evils, Found Blood Donors, Brought Joy To Our Life. But It Has Also  Led To Recruitment Of Extremists In Terrorist Organizations, Body-Shaming, Incited Crimes Etc. As Well. 

Social Media Is Not 100% Evil Or The Only Evil. It Is Too Simplistic To Blame It For All Evils In The Society. Yes – It Is A Platform That Amplifies The Evil In The Society. Social Media Giants Are Taking Corrective Actions But We Need Neutral Champions To Review These Actions. 

Practical Takeways:

1. Regulate Screen Time For Self & Kids

2. Do Not Take Devices To Bedroom

3. No Devices For Kids Till High School

4. Research & Question Sources Of Information

5. Explore Alternatives To Big Social Media Products

6. AI Is Already Running The World

I Believe Our Ethics, Values & Choices Drive The Usage Of Any Technology. Social Media Can Be An Agent Of Good. Let’s Switch Off The Screens, Watch The Real World, Smell The Flowers & Drive A Positive Change. The Answers Lie With Us….

Watch It – A Important Documentary To Watch. One’s Outlook Toward Mindless Scrolling & Notifications Will Change!

Infostretch – Picture Abhi Baaki Hai!

Time for the next orbit of growth and success!

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Everstone Group (Everstone) have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a significant stake in Infostretch. The investment will help accelerate the company’s business growth and expand its digital engineering service offerings for both enterprise and digital native companies. 

Congratulations Rutesh, Manish, Manish, Shalin & Team Infostretch!

The is a vindication of the great vision, commitment to customer’s success, unrelenting pursuit of excellence, inspiring Infostretch family and living our core values! 

Great companies are not built on business plan document or excel sheets – they are built in the trenches – Selling the vision, traveling 20 hours for encouraging team for a new pitch, delivering the promise at all costs, writing the automation scripts, proof-reading the documents, cleaning the coffee mugs, dead serious preparation for dance shows and prioritising the ‘giving back’ cause! Rutesh & Manish have done this all and more – I and other core members have had the privilege of working alongside them!

Rutesh, Manish and Manish have created the strong foundation with their hard work and values. The customer first mantra is seen in their in-built quest for better value proposition and exceeding expectations. The bias for innovation and passion for leveraging technology for customer problems has been a way of life. Respect, growth opportunities, attention and care for every Infoneer is something that drives all Infostretch actions and conversations. Infoneers are indeed inspired to stretched – to explore and grow their potential. 

Rutesh, Manish and Manish have taken everyone together! And walked the talk in letter and spirit. The best part of the Infostretch journey is the opportunity to work with such a talented and inspiring extended family – Shalin, Siva, Pinakin, Kanhai, Vipul, Pal, Leila, Avery, Yaten, Mike, Herpreet, Sachin. And the wonderful connect and warm interaction with the family members including Mona, Ketki and Nisha is special – Truly it has been an amazing joyride with awesome friends and family. 

I am really delighted that all these wonderful things will be grown exponentially. The platform is getting bigger and the opportunities even bigger!

Time to cheer! 

Time to celebrate! 

Time to recommit to our goals and values!

Time to get ready for the next milestones!

Milestones like these indeed ignite nostalgia! I fondly recollect the journey of 11 years at Infostretch – an interesting, a defining and definitely a delightful decade of learning, growing and having fun. I still remember the day I first entered Infostretch and was delighted to see the picture of Mahatma Gandhi and the quote. Being a Gandhi fan, I immediately felt that I was at the right place and then interactions with Manish Mistry, Shalin Shah, Vipul Jani etc cemented the feeling of being at home. I won the first project on Day 3 and we bagged more projects in next few weeks and the caravan rolled on. And within first few months, I realised that the entrepreneur in me can live and thrive in Infostretch environment – I just got a bigger platform. 

The acquisition of new clients, maturing of business model, scouting and opening of UK office, shifts to different office at Regency, Sigma and finally Infostretch house are all entrenched strongly in the memory. Equally entrenched are those Thanksgiving visits to US and wonderful time with families of Rutesh, Manish and Manish. The pre-sales, demand generation, marketing support, Government projects and other activities grew the repertoire of activities. Sales Super Saturday, Filmy Friday, Thirsty Thursday, Mobile Monday, Hot Seat, Koffee Sessions, Infostretch Cricket League, Infostretch Ignite (Pahel) etc. added to the beauty of life at Infostretch. My thoughts are flowing and I cannot stop myself – but stop I must as we celebrate this special moment!

The Infostretch Journey has been an amazing journey. Infostretch brought sunshine, learning, growth, memories and friends for life! The wisdom, living my entrepreneurial passion, freedom to share thoughts without fear, working on special initiatives and opportunity to make a difference are things that I cherish. Looking forward to the fantastic future times where we continue to scale our visions and dreams together. Looking forward to even more exciting times ahead! 

As they say in Bollywood, ‘Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!’ 

1 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 194