No, I have not gotten an offer from ITBHU. Certainly not one with on-campus housing.
But today _is_ huge.. rather.. HUGE for me. And the fact that so many of you have asked about it makes it even more special.
Moving on, here is the deal [your patience is all I need]:
Background: During the mumbai incident of Nov 26, 2008, all [most?] of us felt "I need to do something about this".
So I started thinking as to what _I_ could do, given my constraint of not being in India, but having the skills that I have.
The more I thought, the more I became convinced that thing to do is to provide people a way to track the promises that their elected representatives have made -- think of it as a structured wikipedia.
The guiding principle are two: evaluatable promises [by the politicians], and verifiable references [by anyone posting content]. There is lots more detail at this page, and this PDF, which I had written during my travels in India, where I got to further polish my ideas using the wonderful feedback from you all.
The movement is young, but I have found some like-minded people in Pune [and Mumbai], and we had aimed for a Jan 26 launch.
And after an all-nighter fixing the cool google maps scripts, this guy who has not slept for the past 36 hours can happily say that as of 8:45pm IST, Jan 26, 2009, the site is already online at
http://www.neverforget.in
And now, its your turn. What each of _you_ can do [please, pretty please :) ]:
- Let me know your comments on the PDF/website,
- Sign up for announcements using the textbox on the site,
- Forward to your close friends this announcement of Jan 26. This is a people's movement, and is nothing without people getting involved, and
- [optional: if you got the time] be a part of the initiative. We need writers, web developers, more contacts in cities, etc. Stuff we non-residing Indians can help with.
cheers, and looking forward to your responses.
Animesh
P.S. For cool google map goodness, check this part of the website.
P.P.S. The journey has just begun, and will need a lot of effort. Hopefully I will be able to give at least that much for the motherland.
And you?
congratulations on your launch!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
ReplyDeleteManu
Nice effort
ReplyDeleteI have already subscribed :)
Already subscribed and also volunteered to help!
ReplyDeleteThat is very exciting, Animesh! Good luck. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Start Animesh,
ReplyDeleteI will forward it to friends all over. Also you an count me as a volunteer to help!!!
Good Job Animesh-DVP!
ReplyDeleteHey Animesh,
ReplyDeleteLong time.. hope all's well. Just bumped into your blog on a whim today. Rather strange coincidence that I bumped into it on such a special day. And a special day it is indeed. That's a fantastic idea you guys have and even more amazing is that you guys have managed to get it to the point of launching in such a short span. I did look through the website briefly and do promise to read through the PDF, soon. For the moment, here's a quick suggestion... do think about the Facebook developer platform... there's tons of people (and several Indians) on there and that could give you guys a greater reach, relatively quickly and relatively easily.
Wish you all the best!
:O
ReplyDeleteU aint getting married ?
btw i copy pasted ur post on my blog
@Jenny, Manu, Mayank, Ritu, Lauren, Aastha, DVP, Anil and Abhishek: Thanks a lot for your encouragement! Means a lot to get kind words from friends!
ReplyDeleteRitu, Aastha, and Abhishek: Thanks for signing up to be part of the team. Will be sending you individual responses shortly.
@anil: long time indeed man! I am happy for this nice coincidence :-).
Hi Animesh,
ReplyDeleteThis is good stuff. Saw your facebook post. It is amazing that I was discussing a Wiki for politicians/projects/tenders/NGOs with a friend a few weeks back. But the lazy asses that we are, we never got anywhere with the idea.
Projects/tenders also need to be discussed about as I see very little reportage about them in the national dailies. Most of the corruption is hidden in the details of these projects with quite a lot of companies profiting by simply bending a rule here or a clause there. It would also be great if technical people can give a quick glance and a summary of the pros and cons. Also, most of the tender-grants or the policy-making can be tied down to a few politicians heading the committees.
I am looking into TRAI spectrum policies and the various lacunae in them. I think your website will be the ideal platform for any discussion on it and such.
-Gokul
PS: Still have to finish that PhD :(
Hey Animesh,
ReplyDeleteGlad that you are taking the initiative. I have joined the community on fb,orkut and twitter. Wish everyone good luck! Hope to be able to contribute to this endeavor.