New Delhi Times

Gaurav Bhatnagar reporting from New Delhi, India

New Delhi Times is two years old!

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It has been exactly two years since I started this blog. I never imagined that blogging could ever become such an important part of my life. By nature, I am NOT a person of habits. I rarely sustain interest in anything new for any significant period of time. So when I started blogging, I didn’t really think I would still be doing it after two years.
This is how I started my first post ever:

Hello! My name is Gaurav Bhatnagar. After working for 3 years in Microsoft here in Redmond, WA, I am moving back to India at the end of this month. Many people have asked me about the experience and how hard or easy it is for an NRI to go back to India. That prompted me to start this blog. I will be using this blog for documenting my R2I (return to India) experiences.

My views about blogging have gone under lot of transformation over these two years. I started with the idea of
documenting my experiences on returning back to India so that others in similar situation could gain from it. Eventually my blog became more about entrepreneurship and technology. I guess, as expected, this blog is a reflection of my own life. It is very gratifying to know that people read my blog far and wide. I get email thru my blog almost on a daily basis. Professionally, blogging has helped a lot. It has helped clients understand our style of working and it has attracted people to come work at Tekriti. In fact, at times, I have felt that the blog has become bigger than me! People identify more with “New Delhi Times” rather myself as a person. This is especially true for people I primarily know thru my blog or those who have read my blog before they meet me in person.
I have only one issue with blogging. Blogging is like talking, and we all know that talk is cheap. It is easy to self-proclaim greatness on one’s blog and also easy enough to start believing in your own hype. There are many bloggers out there who are known primarily for their blog. While there is nothing wrong with it, I think I don’t want to be in that category. I would rather that I come to be known as a successful entrepreneur or a technologist and not just a “prominent blogger”. I would rather walk the walk, instead of just talking the talk. There was a period of time when I was very concerned about how many people read my blog, who links to my blog, where it appears in search engine rankings, how many comments I am getting etc. Fortunately, I have managed to move past that stage. I blog when I have something interesting to say. I don’t want my blog to be my claim to fame. Hence my motto – “Blog less and slog more”! Nevertheless, it has been a roller coaster two years. The beginning of this blog also marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I think I wont be giving up blogging anytime soon!

Written by gaurav

October 20th, 2006 at 11:33 pm

Posted in General

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  • http://www.zerocaffe.in suman

    Hehehehehehehehe
    >It is easy to self-proclaim greatness on one’s blog >and also easy enough to start believing in your own >hype.
    >While there is nothing wrong with it, I think I >don’t want to be in that category. I would rather >that I come to be known as a successful entrepreneur >or a technologist and not just a “prominent >blogger”.
    we are all intractably creatures of vanity

  • http://www.synkarma.com Manish Dhingra

    Nice post dude, congrats and at hindsight I guess I have always believed in what you feel about blogging.
    In fact when you set the notional aspects of how your blog is doing, search engine rankings etc aside, you will get the true value of what blogging is meant for.

  • http://totobogy.netfirms.com Tushar Malhotra

    You are doing a great job through this blog, perhaps greater than you realize – atleast for me, and I am sure a sizeable number of people will agree with me on this, this is a place to interact with and get the perspective of a first generation entrepreneur on a variety of issues, most important being Technology-Entrepreneurship itself.
    Personally, I’m of the opinion that India needs more Entrepreneurs, more start ups and a more proactive Community to capitalize on the advantage that we hold today as an emerging knowledge society. Companies like Infosys have perhaps done a great job and achieved a lot for themselves and for the country. The next ‘wave’ of entrepreneurship now needs to capitalize on these stregnths and focus on the areas which have been ignored uptill now.
    (P.S. Perhaps I should write a blog of my own to rant my thoughts and not hog your space :) I just want to say plz continue the good work:)

  • http://totobogy.netfirms.com Tushar Malhotra

    You are doing a great job through this blog, perhaps greater than you realize – atleast for me, and I am sure a sizeable number of people will agree with me on this, this is a place to interact with and get the perspective of a first generation entrepreneur on a variety of issues, most important being Technology-Entrepreneurship itself.
    Personally, I’m of the opinion that India needs more Entrepreneurs, more start ups and a more proactive Community to capitalize on the advantage that we hold today as an emerging knowledge society. Companies like Infosys have perhaps done a great job and achieved a lot for themselves and for the country. The next ‘wave’ of entrepreneurship now needs to capitalize on these stregnths and focus on the areas which have been ignored uptill now.
    (P.S. Perhaps I should write a blog of my own to rant my thoughts and not hog your space :) I just want to say plz continue the good work:)

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav

    suman – agree completely! blogs provide an easy medium to vent one’s vanity :)
    manish – thanks! I know you have had that philosophy from day one. I think that is the right approach and makes blogging more enjoyable.
    Tushar – Thanks! I agree with you that companies like Infy have provided a solid base of next wave of entrepreneurship. We dont need to build the next Infosys or the next Wipro. Instead we need to broader our horizons further and charter new territory.
    And yeah, do start a blog dude! It can get really addicting though. Dont say I didnt warn you :)

  • http://www.twentyonwards.com Jatin

    happy 2nd birthday!

  • http://www.campuschai.com Sunder Iyer

    Your blog is definitely a must read for entrepreneurs setting up shop in India. You are already sort of walking the walk by actually addressing issues relevant to startup’s rather than just writing about the next big web 2.0 thing. I think it would be a great idea for someone to get the top five technology bloggers from India and start something similar to ThinkVitamin(http://www.thinkvitamin.com). I would love to do something like this but CampusChai keeps me busy 24×7 and some. Congrats on your two years, keep up the good work!

  • Sarat

    I found your blog exactly one year ago because I was actively fishing for r2i stuff, having just the made the decision to return to India in the not too distant future. Since that time, your blog has obviously graduated from the r2i theme. No one can keep harping on the move to a place once that place has become their natural home. The theme becomes old hat. What remains current, and worth blogging about, is what you are doing with your life everyday.
    On a personal note, my r2i plans remain intact, though deferred by a couple of years – 2010 as opposed to 2008. I make a lot of business decisions based on that time horizon. I am looking forward to a new, family- and friend-centric life in a country that I have always loved. Ever the entrepreneur, I have at least 10 great business ideas to launch after I move to India, and I have promised my wife not to go near any of them. See you soon, and keep working on adding value to customers, employees and everybody even remotely connected with your business. Once you do that, the money will always find you.

  • http://blog.indiagoes.com Vaibhav Domkundwar – india 2.0

    Congratulations Gaurav!
    I echo your feelings on blogging – its tough to blog regularly (even if you want to) when building a business.
    Cheers,
    -Vaibhav
    PS: just found your blog – its all good stuff!

  • Palak

    CONGRATS!!!!!

  • http://arvindatwork.com Arvind

    Congrats.

  • http://www.newdelhitimes.org Gaurav

    thanks everybody! Sunder I think thats a good idea. I really want to do something like Startup School (http://www.startupschool.org/) here. Lack of time has been my issue too. But maybe next month!
    Sarat – always a pleasure to get your words of wisdom. Really looking forward to meeting you later this year! :)

  • rajul dube

    hi gaurav……CONGRATS!!
    i am sorry i m nt writing anything great…actually i m stuck in a problem. i am in final year of BBA from manipal university and i got an assignment in the subject of entrepreneuship development. i have to meet physically and interview any first generation entrepreneur in delhi about his his drive and passion for his work, hw he/she actually started, hw he managed various risks etc.
    it will be very kind of you if u could help me in getting one or provide me the links or help me in anyother way. the last date for submission is 31 st march 2008. i hv to produce a 5000 words report and if i made it really great it will also be published in HT weekend magazine BRUNCH.
    plesae help me. it will be highly appreciated.
    i will be obligeg.
    thank you
    Rajul Dube
    9968226963

  • Ratul Arora

    Sir,
    I am a student of punjab engg college chandigarh and we are having pecfest in november
    i am a part of edc organisation (entrepreneur development circle) and we are organising some events which recognises some of the greatest entrepreneur.
    I would like you to join this convolusion and enlighten the students of pec
    I am waiting for your reply
    My contact no. is 09878728985 and my email address is ratulrohit@gmail.com

  • Ratul Arora

    Sir,
    I am a student of punjab engg college chandigarh and we are having pecfest in november
    i am a part of edc organisation (entrepreneur development circle) and we are organising some events which recognises some of the greatest entrepreneur.
    I would like you to join this convolusion and enlighten the students of pec
    I am waiting for your reply
    My contact no. is 09878728985 and my email address is ratulrohit@gmail.com

  • Ratul Arora

    Sir,
    I am a student of punjab engg college chandigarh and we are having pecfest in november
    i am a part of edc organisation (entrepreneur development circle) and we are organising some events which recognises some of the greatest entrepreneur.
    I would like you to join this convolusion and enlighten the students of pec
    I am waiting for your reply
    My contact no. is 09878728985 and my email address is ratulrohit@gmail.com

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