The Śūnyatā (Openness) Blog

With the recession related job loss becoming a reality in India, people are looking at alternative career options. There are a few who are setting up their own small businesses, whilst a large number of newly unemployed or under-employed are trying to look for 'secure' jobs, and engaging themselves in discussions about the 'turn around' - when it will happen, and what will be the new lucrative avenues for employment. Like most sectors, the nascent startup ecosystem in India is also suffering, although the relative lack of media focus on the startup scene meant that most of us are hardly aware of the churn. In this context, the area of 'social entrepreneurship' assumes importance for the following reasons: 1.The potential for success and scaling up is enormous in India because of the untapped needs of our 1 billion plus population. 2.Social entrepreneurship is not easy, but the startup capital required is not high, and there are practically no entry barriers.Any ...

After some long posts, I have again entered a quiet phase in my blogging behavior. We celebrated Lasya's first birthday in India, (she had her first birthday in UK last year) on March 12 and had a get together on Sunday, March 18. Met some family friends after a long gap. Thats what get togethers are for, and this one really served its purpose. Lasya had loads of fun too. One of the guests asked me why I am still with TCS :-) And if I am with TCS, why am I in Bangalore and not in US or UK? lol ! I honestly did not know how to answer the gentleman in brief. And that was not the place to give a long winded answer. Don't worry..neither am I going to give a long winded answer on this blog. In response to the query by our guest, I just shrugged, smiled, and remarked that I am too lazy. He took it as a joke ( It was, at least partly). In any case, it is now time to declare ( and commit my self to the declaration), that I am finally happy about two business ideas that we (me and some ...

Here's the scenario: Like most people these days, you want to own an apartment in a good locality in Hyderabad or Bangalore or any other city (leave Mumbai out of this discussion please!). Going rates for a 3-BR from a reputed builder in Blr or Hyd are around INR 50-60 lakh. If you take a bank loan for 45 lakh for 15-20 years tenure, you will end up paying the bank approx Rs. 1 cr at the current rates of interest. And the life of an apartment can not be more than 25 years, if one looks at the construction quality these days. So, there is every likelihood that it doesn't make sense to you to shell out so much over the next 15-20 years. Instead, you wish to buy an apartment at pre-boom prices or may be even less. Say, between 10-15 lakhs for a 3 BR? Before you leave this site, assuming that I am going to propose some hare brained scheme, here's a disclaimer: I am just going to suggest this plan to you. You could execute this along with your friends.Some groups of friends that...

We have been planning to meet a friend and his family for almost 3 months now. Over the weekend, we finally managed it. This friend stays in a place called Bilekahalli, off Bannerughatta Road in Bangalore. I have never been to any of these residential areas developing on either side of Bannerughatta Road. Like the rest of the city, even Bilekahalli has literally scores of apartment complexes coming up. The talk soon turned to real estate, as it does between most IT professionals these days.But since neither of us are really looking for a real estate investment, it was more a general discussion on the boom than any thing else. And then, a third friend came by, carrying a bunch of glossy brochures of various residential ventures. This guy is actively looking for an apartment to buy, and is totally confused about the choices on offer. And guess what, there is no one trying to help him make what is probably one of the most important investment decisions he will ever make. And this is where...