Notion Ink’s Adam: Dream or Nightmare?

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under usability, user experience, ux

Very rarely a product comes along, gathering tremendous support and anticipation even before it’s launched. A huge fan base is built even before anyone has seen the product. Product companies fail to get that sort of PR even after spending millions. Adam was one such product. It was touted as the Apple killer. The underdog that’ll for sure, kick butt.

I got my Adam yesterday after more than a 40 day delay. 40 days more than the promised ‘six to eight weeks’ delivery assurance. Adam probably is a brilliant product no doubt, but customer experience is much, much more than just a great UI or prodigious engineering. Here’s why:

  1. Taking the ‘personal’ ‘we are a small outfit’ charm too far: I understand that Notionink is a start-up but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to jump in and

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Dabur Partha and the Tusker (part 1 of 2)

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under childhood, chittoor, cricket, stories

Someone stole Niall O’ Brien’s kit and that inspired me to recount this story

The match was, how do I put it… ah!, tantalisingly poised. It was a ‘bet’ match. We were playing for money. Not for a ball or bat. The money at stake was 110 INR. Each player contributed 10 bucks. 10 bucks was a lot of money then. I am talking 1986/87 here. The Greamspet team, our team, was chasing and the Srinagar colony boys were all over us. Two wickets to go, ten overs remaining, and some 90 odd to get. Parthasarathy, my first friend, neighbour, and captain of the team was a worried man. I was curious. ‘Machan only ten bucks da, relax.’ I said. ‘Yeah but my dad had only 15 Rupees, for the entire month. And we have two weeks to go. More...

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Did you do it?

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under childhood, chittoor, cricket, stories

Somewhere from across the hills abutting the Chittoor Arts college grounds, the Lapwing’s shrill call pierced the peace of our cricket match. “’Did-yoo-doo-it! Did-yoo-doo-it!” It questioned. I ambled to the bowling end. Scratched my calf with my toes and took my position as the umpire. L. Ramesh, self-proclaimed ‘pace’ bowler adjusted his spectacles and waited as Farooq took guard. He took his own time. He took a bail out and rammed it into the ground, to mark his leg stump. And then, took about half an hour to place the bail back on the stumps, thumped his hands on his sides, dusting them. He studied the field, multiple times. I was almost dozing off when Farooq’s “LEG STUMP EMPIRE!” woke me up. I never quite understood why some people called an umpire an ‘empire’. I shook off the grogginess More...

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How I won the World Cup for India

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under culture, stories, writing

Ramaswami Mudaliar was a kind man but he wasn’t too kind when it came to his Dyanora black-and-white television. In 1983, owing a television was the current day equivalent of driving a BMW with Katrina Kaif as your dinner date. Mudaliar probably hugged and slept on the TV, which was encased in a wooden cabinet. Such was his love for the idiot box. As a ten year old it really didn’t interest me: watching Chennai Doordarshan’s ‘Vayalum Vazhvum’ (a show for farmers that also educated us how to create a Gobar gas plant every now and then.) The only other frequently aired program was ‘Suveet, Kaaram, kaapi’ which carried a family planning message: the number of courses in your meal is inversely proportional to the number of children you have. Or some such shit.

But that day was different. More...

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Gharwal Diaries -2

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under Uncategorized

27th October 2010. Night. Around 2200 hours. Khirsu.

The jeep fell silent after a rancorous cough. My ears are still ringing. The forest rest house (FRH) was tucked away atop an incline. 1800 m above sea level. The crickets and the eight of us are the only ones making noise. The chowkidhar turned up after yelling for him for five minutes. Harish Negi. He told us his name.

The Forest Rest House, built in 1913, has a solemn ambiance. The cream-yellow, angry walls stared at us. ‘1913?’ I thought. ‘There must be ghosts here.’

28th October 2010. Early morning. Khirsu. FRH Compound

It is cold. Too fucking cold.  I step out. The Himalayan range stared back at me. Snow clad, regal, and absolutely breath-taking. In the backyard garden of a house, I spotted activity. Black-lored tits. More...

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The end of Suren as we know him?

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under chennai, culture, stories

For all you guys that know Suren, here’s some breaking news. The rum-loving, party animal who terrorized unsuspecting victims with his ruthless one-liners has been branded. Yeah, that’s what samarshanam means. They brand you with red-hot Sanku and Chakra emblems. What this entails is that Suren is not supposed to drink, smoke, and eat (even veg food) from outside. How long can he hold on? Is this the end of the monster Suren? Time will tell.

I’d like end this with Suren’s popular quote: “Sappunaa Saaklaitu. Nakkuna Nakslaitu.”

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A Married Man’s Angst

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under culture

Back in 2003, while waiting for an auto to go to the Koyambedu bus station, my brother blurted out all of a sudden, “They think something is wrong with you… you know? You are 30 and still not married?” Of course! My brother was being very polite: once an elderly gentleman, on a train, asked me, ‘So are you married?’ I said ‘No.’ He frowned and said, ‘Go to a doctor. You should never let these things prolong.’

There’s another pattern that I have noticed. Suddenly, Venguttu mama and Suresh mama are prowling around, trying to spot unmarried boys and girls. These guys, well over 50 now, have become self-proclaimed matchmakers. They do it for free too! It’s like “So why should we be alone in the misery? Bitch?” It’s sadistic. Until you’re married they just won’t stop hounding More...

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The Garhwal Diaries – 1

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under birds, stories, travel

26 October 2010, Delhi, Dehradun

We got rooms in the Doon club! Thanks to Dominic. The ‘Jehar’ (fresh lime juice) from the Doon club kitchen is supposed to be world renowned but I think it’s overrated. The boys made fun of my humungous suitcase. It can carry a whole town inside it.

Sandeep, seems to love animals. We were drinking in the balcony and Sandeep was all concentration, watching a bunch of dogs down in the lawns.  He even had his eureka moment and he screamed, interjecting an intense conversation, with ‘Hey they are having sex! They are having sex!!’

Sandeep says he sees our faces covered in undies. Because we kept saying ‘cocky’.

Raghuram Kalletla reiterates what a big fan he is of T. Rajender, by crackling every now and then with “Action cum direction. Added More...

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The Duck’s Gonna Go

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under stories

I was sitting in the D stand on the fourth day, watching the match when Pujara walked by. I normally don’t scream at players to grab their attention, I mean fuck. No. But when I saw Pujara, I felt like I had to tell him. I screamed “Pujara! Hard luck man!” He was mildly shocked I guess. He smiled at me and gave a thumbs-up. I told myself ‘hope this boy makes it in the second innings.’ I had doubts though. I was sure Pujara would walk in only if the top order collapsed. It didn’t and Dhoni & co made that brilliant move: sending Pujara one down. Watching Pujara and the first innings hero M. Vijay play, I couldn’t help but think ‘Our cricket is in good hands.’ Agreed, their litmus test will happen when More...

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Wanted: imagination when hiring talent

1 year ago Posted by Suman Kumar Filed under culture, general, user experience

Dear Indian software company, I didn’t want to write this, but you forced me to this. I am stunned at that apathy and lack of imagination in the way you try to hire talent. When you want a guy to come for an interview, the least you could do is, giving him parking space. That’s fine, I can live without parking space. But you claim you are ‘going green’ and yet, you insist on ‘a printed copy of your resume’ ‘printed copy of this e-mail’… My small brain can’t fathom how that is exactly ‘going green’ Did you realize this is 2010?

Now that’s just getting to your gate. The experience is, subtly put, fucking irritating. If I somehow managed to enter your hallowed precinct, your staffing team, sure as hell, ups the ante. “Be seated. I’ll call More...

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