Some time since I wrote the last time and trust me, a lot has happened since then. The most exciting thing being " Chamkile Bakre ki kahani".
I am refering to the 15 day acting workshop conducted by Vineet Kumar at Lodhi Road. The experience was just fantastic. I was always interested in acting and other aspects of making and designing a story and therefore through this workshop wanted to see for myself if my interest is actually sustainable. After having spent the 15 days designing and acting in a theatre play, I am convinced that this certainly is one of my interest areas. And now, I do have plans to pursue it. How?? I am yet to figure out but hopefully will do that in some time from now.
But as far as the workshop is concerned, the learnings were far beyond just the techniques of theatre. Theatre in true sense can teach you a lot about life as well. You make rules only to break them. You set benchmarks only to take the next step. You become a totally different person while on stage, you can solve your life's issues by being a part of the world of theatre. I feel it may be an illusion but it is amazing.
For i-dream, product development is still in progress. Rerceived some flak for a few sessions last week. I have tried to make up for it in today's session by including activities and live examples. Still waiting for the feedback though. At the same time however, we now need to start working aggresively on the marketing side. The target is to sign up atleast 10 schools by this year end. Anushree is doing a good job by developing some positive leads and we are hopeful that we would be able to sign up a few of them.
My i-pod is happy and is singing along, " Band baje hai conutry ka..haa band baje hai ki country ka". After all, its chamkile bakre ki kahani. Enjoy!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Sir, May I go to toilet!
Imagine you are standing in front of 50 students from class VI to class VIII and this is what happens to you in the next one hour:
" Sir, may I go to the toilet"
"Sir, may I go to drink water"
"Sir, may I go an wash my hands"
"Sir, he is beating me and she is throwing pens at me"
"Sir, may I do my Maths homework"
"Sir, he has stolen my pencil box"
"Sir, Kalpana Mam is calling me"
"Sir, I need to go for basketball practise"
I do not know at the end of if, how would you react but I pulled out all my hairs. So much so that I had to then rush to a barber to get it all fixed up to avoid any further embarrassment. But, this is exactly what I have been through in the first few days since we have started our program. The good news however is that now I can claim that i-dream is underway. We have officially signed up our first school and began working in it since August.
However, the challenge as I had expected is huge. There are students who are just not interested in listening. These are those with typical Kya Farak Padta Hai attitude. Teachers and friends tell me, there will always be such students in every class. My argument: they are all equally capable, how can we inspire them to do extraordinary things in life. The challenge is more so when it comes to doing something for the environment because even the top 20% students need to be inspired equally. We will try but only time will tell if we can crack this up or not.
As far as i-dream is concerned, we are working full steam to get all the content in place. These days, I am not doing much of sales and involved only in content development and delivery. Once all our content is ready which should happen by end of September, we will go ahead with our sales plan. We would then need some good quality trainers as well.
Another latest is that, I have joined a theatre society in Delhi and will be attending their 15 day workshop beginning this sunday. Now I know, PP and Rashmi would yell their favourite words at me, " Nautanki". But I am sure, it would be interesting and fun.
It is finally raining in Delhi now and my i-pod says, " maine pehli baar mohabbat ki hai, maine aakhri baar mohabbat ki hai." Enjoy
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The First Break
Is it the end of our gestation period?
Well, it may just be so for i-dream. Today, we have verbally signed our first contract with the school. Hopefully, now there won't be any further problems and we would be able to begin the work in the school. The school in question is New State Academy located at Pitam Pura.
The school is headed by Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia and she is an extremely dynamic person. And I am not just saying because she has given us our first opportunity, but she has also encouraged us to chase our dreams and make it a reality.
With i-dream on the verge of getting its first school, the task ahead is huge. We would now need to sit and design all our content formally and give it a proper shape. This would I know require huge amount of effort and what is even more critical is that we need to complete the process fast as well. Meanwhile, my friend Anushree is doing a fantastic job covering all South Delhi schools. In her first few calls itself, she has been pretty impressive to talk through with the principals about i-dream. If, she does continue the way she is doing right now, I am quite positive, that we would be able to meet our first year targets. So, Kudos to her.
So, I am off to work now as there is lots that needs to be done. BTW today was also the day when my chota haathi (read my alto) completed a landmark 5000 Kms and it is therefore now due for its second service.
And my i-pod is enjoying the rains and is singing the romantic tune, " Tune jo na kaha main wo sunta raha, khaamkhan bewajah khwaab bunta raha". Enjoy!
Well, it may just be so for i-dream. Today, we have verbally signed our first contract with the school. Hopefully, now there won't be any further problems and we would be able to begin the work in the school. The school in question is New State Academy located at Pitam Pura.
The school is headed by Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia and she is an extremely dynamic person. And I am not just saying because she has given us our first opportunity, but she has also encouraged us to chase our dreams and make it a reality.
With i-dream on the verge of getting its first school, the task ahead is huge. We would now need to sit and design all our content formally and give it a proper shape. This would I know require huge amount of effort and what is even more critical is that we need to complete the process fast as well. Meanwhile, my friend Anushree is doing a fantastic job covering all South Delhi schools. In her first few calls itself, she has been pretty impressive to talk through with the principals about i-dream. If, she does continue the way she is doing right now, I am quite positive, that we would be able to meet our first year targets. So, Kudos to her.
So, I am off to work now as there is lots that needs to be done. BTW today was also the day when my chota haathi (read my alto) completed a landmark 5000 Kms and it is therefore now due for its second service.
And my i-pod is enjoying the rains and is singing the romantic tune, " Tune jo na kaha main wo sunta raha, khaamkhan bewajah khwaab bunta raha". Enjoy!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The D-Day
And finally it happened. A small journey that started off on a dull afternoon culminated into my first ever meeting with the investors. I have no clue on what it took i-dream to be amongst the 1000 ideas from the total of 12000 which appeared in the first round. Very frankly, real work on the business plan had started only after I had cleared the first round. And then, i-dream managed to even clear the last hurdle and enter into the final round. May be it was the power of idea we had which was strong enough to be one amongst the 234 ideas which made it to the final round.
The final round involved a meeting with the potential investors. I have been preparing for this meeting since a very long time with innumerable days and hours going into it. On the D-day, Dad and me reached on time and we were asked to go into the meeting slightly before scheduled time of 11:45 AM. That the meeting lasted for more than 1.5 hours against the allotted time of 45 mins is a good enough indication of the fact that the things were all positive. The panel liked our idea, concept, marketing, sales strategy etc. However, the only point was that we are still a pre revenue company which therefore increases the risk from the investor's point of view. And very honestly, the point is fair as well. I mean why would someone want to invest money into an idea which is still at a very nascent stage. Secondly, we are trying to sell a concept and not really a product whose market exists already.
So, we may not get the immediate funding but the prospect of getting one is extremely high if we are able to prove our concept in the coming 5-6 months. Moreover, the entire exercise has also helped me give a definite shape to entire business plan which I feel is so critical for any new venture. It helps in more ways than one. Firstly, it sets the direction where you would see your venture shaping up in the years to come. And secondly, since you know your potential numbers much before, you also avoid a lot of frustration creeping into you during the early years when you may not be making all the profits.
As I have said before, " It may or may not, the dreamer will keep dreaming", and so it will be.
My i-pod somehow catches the mood of my guitar and keeps playing the same song, " Piyu bole..piya bole...kya ye bole...jaanu na". Enjoy!
The final round involved a meeting with the potential investors. I have been preparing for this meeting since a very long time with innumerable days and hours going into it. On the D-day, Dad and me reached on time and we were asked to go into the meeting slightly before scheduled time of 11:45 AM. That the meeting lasted for more than 1.5 hours against the allotted time of 45 mins is a good enough indication of the fact that the things were all positive. The panel liked our idea, concept, marketing, sales strategy etc. However, the only point was that we are still a pre revenue company which therefore increases the risk from the investor's point of view. And very honestly, the point is fair as well. I mean why would someone want to invest money into an idea which is still at a very nascent stage. Secondly, we are trying to sell a concept and not really a product whose market exists already.
So, we may not get the immediate funding but the prospect of getting one is extremely high if we are able to prove our concept in the coming 5-6 months. Moreover, the entire exercise has also helped me give a definite shape to entire business plan which I feel is so critical for any new venture. It helps in more ways than one. Firstly, it sets the direction where you would see your venture shaping up in the years to come. And secondly, since you know your potential numbers much before, you also avoid a lot of frustration creeping into you during the early years when you may not be making all the profits.
As I have said before, " It may or may not, the dreamer will keep dreaming", and so it will be.
My i-pod somehow catches the mood of my guitar and keeps playing the same song, " Piyu bole..piya bole...kya ye bole...jaanu na". Enjoy!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Website Launch
And so i-dream goes online. After a lot of patience, lot of time and a lot of thought, we have finally launched our website. It was a very normal affair unlike doing it in a press conference as suggested to me by a friend. I just reached home from office, logged on and here it was, the website was finally up.
So, mark this date of 10 June, 2009 as the official launching day for i-dream website.
Please log on to http://www.simplygreens.com/ and let me know your feedback/comments.
My ipod meanwhile has picked up my new favourite song, " gulon mein rang bhare, badalon bahar chale". Enjoy!
So, mark this date of 10 June, 2009 as the official launching day for i-dream website.
Please log on to http://www.simplygreens.com/ and let me know your feedback/comments.
My ipod meanwhile has picked up my new favourite song, " gulon mein rang bhare, badalon bahar chale". Enjoy!
Monday, June 8, 2009
i-dream makes the Final Cut
Some good news for i-dream. Out of 12, 000 ideas that were shortlisted in the first round at ET-Power of Ideas Contest, i-dream is among the 254 finally selected for the final round of presentation in front of the investors.
As for the final round, I have also been assigned a mentor who will review the B-Plan with me and help fine tune it before the final presentation. I have not met him yet but his profile as per his company's website looks very promising. I am sure it would be exciting to meet him and discuss about i-dream.
More than the selection in to the final round and the amount of money it might bring in, I am glad that the idea is finding some acceptability when it comes to making business sense out of the same. Also, making the business plan has given a lot more direction to the way we need to approach about i-dream irrespective of whether we get the money or not. All in all, the connection with the ET initiative has certainly been of some utility for me. Lets see how it goes on from here.
My i-pod is playing the same that I am currently playing onmy guitar, " Jab se tere naina..mere nainon se ..laage re...." Enjoy!
As for the final round, I have also been assigned a mentor who will review the B-Plan with me and help fine tune it before the final presentation. I have not met him yet but his profile as per his company's website looks very promising. I am sure it would be exciting to meet him and discuss about i-dream.
More than the selection in to the final round and the amount of money it might bring in, I am glad that the idea is finding some acceptability when it comes to making business sense out of the same. Also, making the business plan has given a lot more direction to the way we need to approach about i-dream irrespective of whether we get the money or not. All in all, the connection with the ET initiative has certainly been of some utility for me. Lets see how it goes on from here.
My i-pod is playing the same that I am currently playing onmy guitar, " Jab se tere naina..mere nainon se ..laage re...." Enjoy!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Competition is hotting up...
Just read about one of TERI's initiative in the field of environment education. What they are trying to do is very similar to our concept as well. In such a scenario, the odds are certainly stacked against us. And there are reasons as well.
TERI is ofcourse a very big and influential organization when it comes to anything to do with environment. And after Dr. Pachauri got the nobel prize, TERI has come under a lot more limelight. However, I must admit that they are doing fantastic job as well undertaking several very good research projects. Moreover, it is much easier for them to get any sort of tie-up whether in media or any sponsorship. Akshay Kumar infact endorses their Soldiers of the Earth comic series.
But, how well are they able to sustain their initiative on environment education is something that I would need to watch out for. Because if they do manage to do well, it will create some very stiff competition for us, atleast in the city of Delhi. Lets see how it goes on from here. Some highlights of TERI's initiative:
"The Soldiers of the Earth campaign, an all encompassing, environmental awareness generation programme launched by TERI Press, the publishing arm of TERI and India's first green publisher, in collaboration with the ONGC is all set to go to the grassroots with the start of their school awareness programme in early July this year.
The programme includes innovative components like books, workshops, educational learning material to educate, train and encourage children from all walks of life to learn more about the world they live in and encourage them to act towards saving their planet.
This phase aims to raise awareness among school children towards conservation of the environment in the school, at home and in the locality. Activities such as rainwater harvesting; vermi-composting; tree plantation, slogan-writing, and poster-painting competitions, as well as 'reduce, reuse, recycle' campaigns would be carried forward in schools across India"
My i-pod is reminding me of the Lagaan spirit,
" koi humse jeet na paave...chale chalo..chale chalo.." Enjoy!
TERI is ofcourse a very big and influential organization when it comes to anything to do with environment. And after Dr. Pachauri got the nobel prize, TERI has come under a lot more limelight. However, I must admit that they are doing fantastic job as well undertaking several very good research projects. Moreover, it is much easier for them to get any sort of tie-up whether in media or any sponsorship. Akshay Kumar infact endorses their Soldiers of the Earth comic series.
But, how well are they able to sustain their initiative on environment education is something that I would need to watch out for. Because if they do manage to do well, it will create some very stiff competition for us, atleast in the city of Delhi. Lets see how it goes on from here. Some highlights of TERI's initiative:
"The Soldiers of the Earth campaign, an all encompassing, environmental awareness generation programme launched by TERI Press, the publishing arm of TERI and India's first green publisher, in collaboration with the ONGC is all set to go to the grassroots with the start of their school awareness programme in early July this year.
The programme includes innovative components like books, workshops, educational learning material to educate, train and encourage children from all walks of life to learn more about the world they live in and encourage them to act towards saving their planet.
This phase aims to raise awareness among school children towards conservation of the environment in the school, at home and in the locality. Activities such as rainwater harvesting; vermi-composting; tree plantation, slogan-writing, and poster-painting competitions, as well as 'reduce, reuse, recycle' campaigns would be carried forward in schools across India"
My i-pod is reminding me of the Lagaan spirit,
" koi humse jeet na paave...chale chalo..chale chalo.." Enjoy!
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