Show me the balance in the New India Rupee Symbol

Indian Rupee got a new symbol – awesome move. But, I really didn’t like it even though it was one of the top five designs selected by a Jury of Examiners from Art Institutions of repute (such as Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art, National Institute of Design, Lalit Kala Academy, Indira Gandhi Centre for Art & Culture) among others.

Why? The new symbol does not have any base. The upper portion is heavier than the lower portion and seems like loosing balance (think about an inverted pyramid). The letter R has two legs to stand on and the new symbol has just lost one (oops). How are you going to showcase the growing influence of Indian Economy in the global arena without a leg! The designer must have been thinking about the poverty level of India while designing it.

Here is a fast study…

What do you think??

Do you trust others?

Did the passengers think about it!

By default, people tend to believe each other – even if unknown. For example, last night, when I was driving back home, a person suddenly stooped in front of my bike. He was crossing the road but could not determine whether he should move ahead or walk back. So, he just stood still and allowed me to take a decision. Why did he think that I will not run over him!! Why did he trust a stranger!

Do you travel by bus or taxi? Have you ever tried to find out if the driver is in good condition to drive!

Or is it just about a few things where we believe another human being!

Or is it the system, the default, that people trust – the presence of a human being is just coincidental!

I know what you are thinking? Would you trust a stranger with money! Why not! Unless and until you are worried or thinking about a loss, you will (/ may) trust the stranger..

You cant trust someone because you are worried. You are worried because you were taught by the society that there are certain things that are valuable and should be guarded. You were told some stories / incidents about precious things being stolen.

Did your society teach you how valuable your life is!

Or human beings can consider the tangible things only!
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Developing the Indian Web Market by taking companies online

In one of the last posts, I wrote about why you should think twice before developing a website for Rs. 450 (INR) or $10. We were wondering why people go for these cheap websites? And who are the main target group for these websites?

The main problem is that Indian website owners (or prospective website owners) are not yet aware of the real power of internet and how they can leverage it to boost their business. The situation is that this new media (internet) is yet to catch fire in India. People are yet to use internet to meet their daily needs. (It is really very tough to successfully run a web based retail shop in India – people still prefer to walk down to the market than buying it online). Indian web users are mostly information seekers. (How do you buy a mobile phone?)



How this situation can change?

It will take time. And to make it happen, companies must come forward and develop great websites that would solve specific problems of their target market. The companies must get them into the habit of doing things online. (If people can order over phone, they can also order via internet :).)

If nothing else happens, companies can use internet for proper brand development and user engagement. How many companies (think %) are really doing it in India? Internet is the most powerful tool to capture those information seekers.

Coming back to the point, we have been calculating different ways to reduce the cost and offer a legitimate website design and development package. And here we are: Get a new website for Rs. 2,999 (USD 65) only. (Details of this starter package for website design and development can be found here.)

Are we joining the same wagon? Are we offering cheap websites?

Nope. If you take a look at the deal, we are also offering an e-book, which would help the user to understand how they can get the most out of a website. We are not just developing a website for them; we are moving a step forward to help them make money (in any format) from internet. Apart from offering basic on-page SEO, we are also providing free business listing in some of the major portals so that they start getting business from day one. And the domain specific email address may help them to get out of the habit of using free email addresses.

We believe that, if we offer good service and show them that they can really make money from a website, they will come back to us for a more professional website design and development. We are actually planning business for tomorrow rather than making easy money today. Let us know what else can be done.

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Kolkata Twestival - Behind the scene

Kolkata is back with a bang again. We are going to have Twestival (Twitter Festival) for the first time in Kolkata and will join the worldwide twitter community for a cause on 25th March.

I have no doubt to say that it is a community driven initiative in every sense of the term. Each and every community member is giving 100% t make it happen.

All the meetings we are having, every afternoon is as productive as it is fun. The best thing I liked is everyone I taking independent initiatives to make it successful.

Here are some moments from the meetings:

@ meeting

@ facing clicks :)

Some people, working behind the scene:

@arjunghosh

@golchha21

@DaMoViEmAnIaC

@princessmithai

@saikatblogger

@_samiran

@shilps31

@shimulseo

@subhojit_g

_anamus

Venugopal @ fb

Event Details:

Twestival Kolkata is all about bringing tweeters (twitter members) in Kolkata together with a generous aim to help the under privileged. This is primarily a charity event. Here are the details of the event:

• Venue: Natya Bhavan, EE – 8, Sector II, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 91. (On the way from Karunamoyee towards Sector V, near Wipro Crossing, between the petrol pum and Jalpaiguri Bhavan)
• Date: March 25, 2010 – Thursday
• Time: 5:30 PM
• Duration: 140 minutes
• Chief speaker: Great Bong (http://greatbong.net/)

Event Schedule:

• Painting Exhibition & Cultural Program; Courtesy: SOS Village
• Speech by Great Bong
• Slot for the Kolkata tweeters to break the ice
• And many more :)

SEE you all there :)

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Think twice before you develop a new website just for Rs. 450

I can’t believe this. Someone (perhaps an individual – definitely not a company) is offering a website just for Rs. 450 ($10) and it includes the domain name (.co.in), 10 MB hosting, 3 page design and 10 email ids. What the hack!!! Is he/she doing a charity?

Now, do I really have a problem if someone is offering things at such a price? Not at all. However, you (the prospective website owner) may have a big problem in future.

What happens when you are going for such a low budget website development?

1. Who owns the domain? People who go for such websites are often novice in the web world. They do not understand the difference between .com and .cc TLDs. They have no idea about domain ownership or whois details. Thus the company often holds the right of the domain name and next year when you want to renew it, they will charge more – may be even Rs. 5000 / year. Poor fellow! Thinking about starting 10 new website at that price? What about all the marketing efforts that you have invested so long?
2. Common template: You should not even dream of getting a custom made template for your website unless the developer is your girlfriend / boyfriend. They will just pick up a common template (somewhere from the internet) and replace your details. A typical website worth Rs. 450 contains a home page, about page and contact page. Who cares about the web standards!!!
3. Website is not available: We do not need to point out that the website is using a cheap shared hosting solution if not free. And the result is almost negligible uptime. Since the client does not know much about these things, there is hardly any problem for the company.
4. Pay for each update: This one is unique. Beyond 3 pages stipulated in the initial web development offer, you will need to pay for every new page or existing page update (starting at Rs. 300 / page). The client is just trapped. They will simply not tell you how you can do it yourself. And believe me, if you can connect to the internet, you can make minor updates yourself. (I am not talking about the aesthetics.) Helping you is nowhere in the business model.
5. A website will help you to grow your business: Most of the people are said that, if you start a website you will get more business opportunities. People searching in Google will come to your website and order whatever they want. Those of us working in the web industry for sometime know very well, how much effort it takes to generate real business from a website. I will not think twice before saying that these people are being cheated. Nothing comes for free my friend.

Does it mean that, you should consider well established companies to develop your website? You must be careful there too. A well established company has charged RS. 5,700 for a .in domain whereas, it was available in godaddy just for $12 (RS. 550). There is another highly reputed media company who charges Rs 15,000 for the same package.

So, what to do? Wait for my next article.

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