kinshuk sunilit aint no, dessert if therez no caek

November 26, 2008 was a dark day for all of us as 10 gunmen roamed the streets of Mumbai, firing indiscriminately on anyone in sight. They molested the Indian dignity and hospitality that day. Destroyed many families, ruptured life. Today, it is a complete year and there is no justice in sight. Things havent changed. When will they?

As I have mentioned in previous posts, these days I am working on the lyrics for some songs for Manu Rajeev’s next album. One of the songs is on the subject of terrorism – a lament. Today, I share the lyrics with you. Do give your feedback. Hopefully, the song will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Romanised Hindi lyrics, followed by (rough) English Translation:
(I had trouble writing in devanagri – every help welcome)

Kal, shor tha aur tha, jalta aasman
Kal the, sapno ke bujhate chiraag
Kal, dard tha aur tha, ye ehsaas
maine hai khoya koi apna is gham ki aandhi me

Yadon ki dastak na thi, Sapno ki aahat na thi
Gardishi gard me, mit gaya tera mera nishan

Tu hai kaisa aadmi? Teri jannat ki ye hasrat kaisi?
Mujhko mita ke, khud ko luta ke, tu kya payega?
Khoon ki ye nadiya baha ke, tu kya payega?

Apno ki aahat na thi, Lamho ki chahat na thi,
Gardishi gard me, mit gaya tera mera nishan

Tu tha kaisa aadmi? Jannat ki ye teri hasrat thi kaisi?
Sab kuch bhula ke, duniya ko jala ke tu kya payega?

Kal, lut gaya, kho gaya mera jahaan
Aansuon me beh gayi, meri pehchaan

English Translation:
Yesterday, there were shouts and cries and a burning sky
Yesterday, there were some dying hopes

Yesterday, there was pain and the numb feeling
that I have lost a dear one
in this torrent of sorrow

Memories did not beckon, dreams did not reckon
In a sad dark cloud was lost our existence

What sort of man are you? What is this desire for heaven?
By destroying me, by ruining yourself, What will you achieve?
With all this blood-shed, What will you achieve?

Kin do not beckon any more, No more is a want of moments
In a sad dark cloud was lost our existence

What sort of man were you? What was your desire for heaven?
You forget everything and just burn the world, What will that achieve?

Yesterday, was ravaged and was lost – my world
And was lost, in tears, my name

Sorry guys for not being in touch these few days. I was seriously unwell. Bam! Just like that! But these days have been exciting.

First of all let me explain to you the topography of my room – in my room there is a big window with a ledge outside it. In the initial room design, there were only the window-doors on this window and I was practically wasting the ledge space. Pigeons used this space to shit and make their nests, which was very unhygienic. So, in a flash of inspiration – the decision was taken to cover up the whole ledge space with a grill. Now, as luck might have it – there was, perhaps, a nest of pigeons on my AC. For 2 days after setting up the grill (yesterday morning), my mom and I noticed a baby pigeon inside the window.

Now we all were concerned of the pigeon-ling. Its care and nourishment. The biggest dilemma was how to ensure its safety and how to re-unit it with its mother. For we saw the mother coming to the window sill every other hour and the son (by the way, how do you check if its a male pigeon or a female one?) running towards her, both sharing some moments together and then the mother flying away and the son left stranded. We felt so sorry for the poor thing that mom and I decided that we should nurture it. I placed some rice grains and some water near it, and left it in peace. This was around 11.

I checked again around 3 and found him trying to hide behind the glass panes in the window-door due to the sun. His little cage must have been burning. The best I could do at that moment was to create a make-shift home for him using a carton box. He likes that shelter very much. It was then that we decided naming it and I came up with the name ‘Tunnu‘ – cheesy! I know! Yet all nicknames in my family are rhyming to the ‘-unnu’ sound so we went forward with it.

Tunnu has been drinking some water, but not touched any food as yet. This was worrying me very much. He should eat or how else would he have the strength to live. This went on whole of yesterday and till 2pm today.

It was then that I observed that the mother who has been coming every other hour to the window, is actually feeding the child through the grill. So now I am not very worried about feeding Tunnu, now my only concern is to how to reunite Tunnu with his mother. His beaks and claws scare me so i don’t think I would be courageous enough to lift him from the window ad place him in an open environment from where he can fly away. I am not even sure if he knows how to fly. Even if I “free” him, I am worried about his sustenance in the ‘wild’ world. The only option that seems viable to me is break open the grill so that Tunnu can learn to fly and fly to freedom one day.

Can you think of any better solution? If yes, any help is welcome.

These days with Tunnu have also been very illuminating. It is very inspiring to see pigeons exhibit complex relations. I had only heard of them, now I am seeing them first hand.

I have been working in that role and function now for almost 18 months, yet it will be a very difficult job for me to define it. Why am I attempting to define it? Well, all my friends (the Non-geeks) keep asking me – what the hell is your job profile. Guys! Read this carefully and read it Very carefully – I am going to sincerely pour out my heart for you all here – yes I am awesome!

When understanding something, I have always found it useful to begin with the language. The Word “Community Manager” literally means someone who manages the community. So, what is a community? A Community is a ‘social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage’

For a company, a community is the pool of its customers, partners, suppliers, users, and can include Similar stakeholders (government, society, really!). What is important is that these entities are brought together to co-habitat a specific region. The members also depend on the strategic objectives and direction the company wants to move.

So a community manager is someone who manages this community for a company. Savvy?

What that means is that a community manager is an interface between the company and the community. It is the community manager that gets all the conversations done. He uses the social media tools and platforms to pitch the company’s perspective to the community and brings back ideas and feedbacks from the community to the company. He represents the company in the community and the community in the company. He is the one who balances the community’s welfare with the strategic objectives of the company.

In the present day world, where technology is being abstracted within daily life at a very fast pace resulting in almost instantaneous conversations; a community manager can make all the difference between a successful company and a not so successful company (lets avoid all negative speak). He would be the one creating opportunities, brands, and customer loyalty.

In my (not the very) next post, I will talk about some specific activities almost every community manager undertakes.

Take that huh!

Afterlife is a science fiction novel I am working on. Currently in talk with some publishers (do recommend me to some if you find it worth it). This is an old copy of the initial 3 chapters as old as 2006. Will soon update with more details. Matrix and Harry Potter are acknowledged inspirations :)

Afterlife tells the story of Rahul Sharma, a prodigious software engineer from India, working for the best Virtual Reality company in the world. During his researches and his work, he designs a powerful neuro-electric simulation program, which is soon licensed as a successful MMO. The company, though, in their greed overlook common development wisdom and rush through the development cycle. The long and winding road soon brings Rahul on the crossroads where the interest of his family will conflict with the benefit of the world. he has to choose his own path, forge his own destiny. He is no hero.

I am sharing with you an exchange of emails with someone from the Free Software Foundation, India, while working on the OSSCamp Delhi (September 2007). I am censoring it, snipping out few portions and identities from the email that would hint or disclose the other person’s identity for the sole reason that he never gave me his permission to post this exchange on my blog. Other than the identity-hinting portions, I have not snipped anything else. Let me know, what you think of the discussion.

***

Dear FSF India
My name is Kinshuk Sunil and I am a Student. Me and my friends are trying to organize an Open Source Event on the lines of the world famous Bar Camps (http://www.barcamp.org ). The name of the event is OSS Camp Delhi [Open Source Software Camp, Delhi]. It is scheduled for September 8th-9th 2007. More information about the event is available at [http://www.osscamp.in/OSSCampDelhi]

The event is free for all and all cost will be managed by the sponsors. I am not writing you this mail to request you to sponsor us. The target audience of the event are Open Source Practitioners and Open Source Enthusiasts, alike and we plan to arrange about 300-500 people. I am asking for your help to spread the word for the event so that people interested in Open Source may choose to be present at this event and contribute to its success.
Some of my friends have already organized one such camp OSSBarCampMumbai in Mumbai on 23rd March 2007 [http://www.barcamp.org/OssBarCampMumbai] and so we are confident of successfully organizing this event too.

I am requesting you to help us spread the word about the event so that people interested in Open Source technologies may attend it. This is a free-for-all event and our objective is not to make any money out of it. This is just facilitating the open source community in India by providing it a favorable platform.

And if you find it deserving, you might also help us by sponsoring it.

Thank you for your valuable time.
Kinshuk Sunil

I got the following reply:

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