Damn’d

Cool video…with an interesting twist at the end

Today was the first time i donated something for Charity…Well am not sure if you can call Cancer Research UK a charitable organization but am sure it comes close

Even though i am not sure how much my contribution (a princely sum of GBP 10) will help CRUK, i hope it inspires Roma and her friends to complete the 5km marathon( Running and not walking ) and you to loosen your purse strings:)

For more details, click here:

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/swetha-roma-kahmay

P.S: Have added a widget at the side to track progress of donations

If you think you are a globe trotter and have an accent, check this video out Sure will give you a complex…Though am surprised that what with the entire world hell bent on making fun of our ‘indian’ accent, why did she choose to give it a miss…
Guess it will require a whole new video for her to enunciate the million different indian accents

Now, here is a car which might make, moving to the US worth its while .. The Dodge challenger..
Used to think a BMW was cool, but after i saw one of these, have fallen in love with cars all over again there’s just something so different about them…maybe its the fact that they arent streamlined like all the other japanese cars…like ‘harmony in asymetry’ as one of my intellectual colleagues might want to put it

check out more pics at http://www.dodge.com/

A recent post by Arun on how Indians are the most environment friendly triggered a thought which had been running through my head all of last month, while i was in Dallas on a business trip.

My hotel room had 2 table lamps, a study table lamp, 1 bulb over the kitchenette, one light over the the washbasin, 2 in the bathroom and one in the center of room. Even with all of them switched on, the room was ‘comfortably bright’.

Almost everybody drove a car alone (whether to office or to the the pharmacy) and public transport was almost non existent. It gave new meaning to the words, oil economy. The air though was surprisingly clean and pollutant free.

Compared to that Bangalore’s sea of autos, two wheelers and packed ‘company cabs’ and buses seem really efficient, never mind the civic quality of driving here.

A large number of 3-4 storey apartment buildings have elevators these days. People actually switch on/off the lights and fans in them while getting in and out…and some of the buildings actually switch off the lifts to conserver electricity at night.

A friend’s parents came over and the first thing they commented on the house was that we still used tubelights in the house. For them, tube lights are highly cost inefficient compared to CFLs. The thought never struck me even though i am quite aware of ‘energy-efficient’ lighting and the carbon footprint. Ironic !

So yes, its not surprising that Indians still rank as very environment friendly, but i doubt its because of a function of consciousness about our enviornment. I think it has more to do with our parents generation concerned being cost/value conscious.

Not too sure if when ppl of my generation “grow up”, will India still reign as one of the most environment friendly nations in the world.

P.S: I am not sure if its even worth talking about the copious amounts of tissue paper /styrofoam used in the developed world, and its alarming growth in India. That said, try and use a tissue less, the next time you feel like snatching a few to dry your hands.(Even better if you can use a handkerchief:)

Ohk, so here are the ‘quick and dirty’ results of the survey . A total of 100 ppl responded, primarily from the MBA and the creative community (IIML Alumni and Creativegarh yahoo groups.. Thank you everybody)

The results threw up some interesting pointers:

• Demand is definitely there. Just at a different price point
• People want it more for recreational purposes rather than business
• And they want it cheap, preferably less than 1000 bucks a day.

Also, 89% and 98% of the respondents have a credit card and passport. The reason i had asked this was to check the feasibility of using these documents as identity verifiers(I assume ppl cant default on their passports )

Compared to what is currently available in the market (Rs 5400 for 2 days for a Santro from carzonrent.com), i guess it will be quite a while before some ‘adventurous entreprenuer’ makes ’self-drives’ affordable…i say this because, though starting a ’self drive rental’ might seem like a good idea, execution is going to be excrutiaing.

Probably explains why there are so few players in India (despite many ppl having such brainwaves as me …yes, quite a few wrote in saying they had thought of doing the same thing )

The answer to the last question has an intersting insight. About 45% of car owners are open to the idea of renting out their cars for earning an additional income. Had thought of starting a ’social networking exchange’ but somebody told me that “You cant rent out your personal car for commercial use“..so from a legal point of view, that idea is also blown…:(

However, it might not hurt to ask your friend if they would be willing to ‘rent’ their barely/rarely used car for the weekend , ifyou know what i mean

Results:

Q) Would you like to rent a car with a self drive option ? (i.e. you drive the car yourself)
Ans:
Yes – 93%
No – 7%

Q)What activities would you use it for ?
Ans:
Business Trip 29.0%
Personal Trip 70.0%
Weekend ‘Out of town trip’ 84.0%
Sightseeing 59.0%
Others 14.0%

Q)How long would you want to rent the car for ?
Ans:
1 day 17.0%
1 – 3 days 76.0%
1 week 18.0%
2 weeks 2.0%
Only on weekends 22.0%
More than a month 6.0%

Q)How much would you be willing to pay for it per day ?
Ans:
Less than Rs 500 35.0%
Rs 500 to Rs 1000 56.0%
Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 11.0%
More than Rs 1500 5.0%

Q)What models of cars would you prefer to rent ?
Ans: Basically, junta wants every possible model of car available (including a cadillac)

Q)Do you have a credit card ?
Ans:
Yes 89.9%
No 10.1%

Q) Do you have a passport?
Ans:
Yes 98%
No 2%

Q) If you have a car which you dont use regularly, would you be open to renting it out to earn additional income ?
Ans:

Yes – 18.4%
No – 54.1%
Maybe – 27.6%

Just realised that i havent posted anything on my blog this year…bbad !!

Anyways, here is a good reason to do so

A friend and I were discussing the car rental industry and why the ‘Self drive’ option is still not popular in India…unlike the US or UK…and why is it still so difficult to find a company from whom you can rent a car for a few days ??

Am sure there are folks like me who don’t want to own a car on a daily basis, but would like the convenience of being able to independently rent one (without a driver) whenever i feel like it.

Have created a short survey(6 questions) to get a feel of whether people in India would actually be interested in renting cars without the hassles of getting a driver. Ofcourse, getting a driver has its benefits in our crazy metro traffic, but there are occassions when you want to go for a short weekend trip with your friends, or maybe your parents are in town, or you are in another city which you know pretty well and would prefer to be mobile…

So it will be great if you can take 2 minutes out of your time to answer these questions. You can take the survey by clicking on either of the links below:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Obrzaz3bHtQ3Mtog0W3NBQ_3d_3d

OR

http://tinyurl.com/58py27

Please note, no personal information is being collected in this survey

Survey results will be available on my blog in a week’s time for all interested in the results

cheers
abhik

P.S: If you are wondering what struck this, have been stuck in Dallas for a month, where the public transport sucks and everybody has a big car…so if you are a visitor, you either take a cab or rent one…My license has expired so obviously i can rent one, but the simplicity and ease of the entire exercise just got me thinking

Please pass on to all your friends

ever since i gave up my film SLR, have been using a digi point and shoot…but it just didnt feel the same…

finally got myself a digital SLR…feels good
those with a SLR will know what it means to shoot with an SLR…

Results later once i have had a chance to use this baby…till then enjoy the pic of the camera .. a Fuji FinePix S6500d