SMS: Misc

I want to race an autorickshaw

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:32:04 GMT

More werid happenings, this time from India..

Man, I missed taking part in the first ever multi-day autorickshaw race in India. For those of you who have not been to India or do not know what an autorickshaw is, check out this link. Basically it’s a three wheel people mover I that is a very popular mode of transportation in India.

It seems that a budding entrepreneur from south India (from the state of Tamil Nadu) has put together a multi-day race called the Autorickhsaw Challenge. I am surprised he was allowed to do this as the Indian authorities as they are trying to ban autorickshaw racing. Being in an autorickshaw, I can attest to the adrenaline rush that you experience when sitting in one of these machines. I would have loved to race one of these machines. What fascinates me the most is that approx 43 drivers from all over the world applied to race and most of them had never driven in India, forget driving an autorickshaw. From what I can tell, the Autorickshaw Challenge was similar to the Amazing Race. Participants had to perform a variety of tasks over the 8 day rally that spanned more than 1000 kilometres. Each driver was awarded points for tasks that they completed successfully. A British husband and wife duo won the race; man that trophy could have been mine.

On a serious note, I believe autorickshaw racing could be a huge sport in India. The Indian government needs to setup a governing body that will develop rules to ensure safe racing. This association can organize multiple races that will allow people to race autorickshaws in a safe and controlled environment. This will also provide autorickshaw drivers an avenue to earn some extra money to supplement their income (most of them earn minimal wages). I also feel that an entertainment based ecosystem will form around this sport that will result in additional money being injected into the local economies. I am sure local TV channels will want to broadcast these races, local companies will want to sponsor these drivers and people will want to place bets on the multiple races. This kind of injection of cash will be most beneficial to the rural parts of India. You never know, I might quit my day job to become an autorickshaw racer, although, I don’t think autorickshaw racers will have groupies following them everywhere :)

Presenting at the conference on New Media for Communication

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:24:38 GMT

I will be presenting on the Pros and Cons of Introducing Blogs to Your Employees at the conference on New Media for Communications tomorrow. The conference is being held at the Pantages Suites Hotel in Toronto. The conference is a two day conference and starts tomorrow (Nov 28th). I will be presenting at 1.00pm and cant wait. It should be a great experience and I cant wait to see how the audience reacts to the material I present.

Back from Florida

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:27:34 GMT

Sorry, I havent posted for a while, I was on a very hectic business trip in Orlando, Florida and did not have a chance to blog while out there. A lot happened when I was in Florida, Microsoft announced its Q4 results and a share buy back program, Google announced results for their 2^nd qaurter and Zune was announced. If you are wondering why I was in Florida, check this out. I have a lot to talk about, so I will get back to posting soon.

Welcome to SMS!!

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:49:20 GMT

Welcome to SMS!! I hope you hang around and take a look at my revamped blog. This is my second attempt at blogging, the first time I started this blog, I ran out of steam in less than a month. I had a lot to say but didn’t have the discipline to keep updating my blog on a regular basis. I have been contributing to an internal MSN Canada blog recently, this got me jazzed and I thought I would give my own personal blog another try. So here we go…..

As part of my first blog post, I thought I would share a little bit about myself. I am the Director of Communication Services (CS) team at MSN Canada. I have a great team that manages communications assets such as Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, MSN Spaces, MSN Mobile and a host of other Windows Live services. I have been with MSN Canada for approx 17 months now. Its been an exciting 17 months so far and with the launch of numerous Windows Live services around the corner the excitement promises to continue. On the personal side, I recently got engaged and am busy planning our wedding, which will be next year. My financee is an elementary school teacher and she is as passionate about kids as I am about technology! I enjoy reading (as you can tell by my book list), playing tennis and of course tinkering around with all types of wireless gadgets. All right, I should stop before this turns into a “personals ad” J

Continue to check out the blog as I talk about various things that interest me and/or peak my curiosity. I hope to update my blog at least once a day. As always, I welcome you to let me know what you think about my blog posts by commenting on them. The more we converse, the more ideas and viewpoints will be exchanged. Happy reading!!