atul, April 2, 2002 at 8:27:21 AM CEST

An Interview with a content head of a Portal

note: wrote this in Oct.2000, the peak of internet mania in India.. may sound a bit dated...

An Interview with a content head of WhoCaresForIndiaWeAreInItForMoney.com

We here at asamee would like our readers to be always abreast of what is happening in the world. So I used a few of my contacts and persuaded the content head of the well known portal WhoCaresForIndiaWeAreInItForMoney.com. The portal is a big hit in the intelligent Indians who were stimulated by the interesting intellectual content on the site like the photographs of miss India contest and stock tips for speculators. Okay okay. Enough introduction. I am sure you are dying to get inside the mind of the person behind that intellectually stimulating web monument.

Asamee : Hello sir, welcome to the studios of Asamee. I thank you for taking out time to share your precious thoughts.

CE : Well, its alright. I really like young people coming to me and taking inspiration from my illustrious life. After all I have not become famous to attain fame, or rich to have money. The main aim in my life is to see a resurgent India riding on the internet wave.

Asamee : That is a noble thought sir. Can you tell us a bit about your career.

CE : (smiles) It is really very immodest to talk about oneself. I started my career as a journalist for the magazine Starslegdust which enriched peoples life with glimpses in lives of successful stars. I was frank and was beaten up once or twice when I wrote the truth about some of the personal stories of an actress. Overall I must say my creative and fiction writing skills came from my experience there. After working there for ten years I thought I am not too happy about what I am doing. I joined as an editor of a national daily and gained reputation for making it the number one daily. Lots of people were jealous with me and called it the gossip daily. But I was never afraid was criticism and always listened to my inner voice.

Asamee : Oh that was very insightful. Can you shed some light on your decision to shift to an internet portal.

CE: Again the inner voice. Once when I was relaxing in my Lonavala farm house far from my Malabar Hill apartment I was thinking about my career and I thought, hey what am I doing? Am I contributing to the Indian economy? Am I repaying my debt to the country? I suddenly felt an emptiness in my stomach. I decided to join the great resurgence that India was witnessing. I wanted to be a part of it desperately. The rumours that I joined because I got a seven figure salary and huge stock options are not really true. It is not at all about money.

Asamee : (wiping tears) Oh, I feel really sentimental about this, sir.

CE : I like young boys like you. Why don't you leave this shitty small time magazine and join my empire.

Asamee : Thanks a lot sir. Next question; what is your typical work day like?

CE : Yeah it is really a lot of fun. I believe in the seven habbits thing. Focus on the important stuff not the urgent one. And one day we all are going to die, right? So I create a balance in my workday. I dedicate a lot of time browsing stuff about the most successful industry on the internet. I in fact check new and interesting sites in this category every day. There is so much to learn from the success of others, you know? I read a lot of stuff in the leading business magazines of the US. I spend a lot of time interacting with my subordinates. After all they should benefit from the experience and knowledge I have in the industry. Isn't it true? Then I look for the mistakes they have made in their writings. After all I should push them towards perfection, is it not.

But most of my time really goes in recruiting new people and taking exit interviews. There is so much turnover in the company, you know. And since we are growing I have to look at more people. In fact a lot of them do not like the fact that I am such a big personality and site me a cause for them leaving the company. I spend a lot of time meditating too. Balance you know.

Asamee : What qualities do you look for in the new employees?

CE : Inspiration. They have to be inspired by things they see and should be able to reproduce them. I am really surprised by the narrow minded publishers who send us nasty letters for copying their content. They should be happy. After all imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

Asamee : Some technical stuff for our oh, so geek readers. Which content management software do you use?

CE : Microsoft Word of course. I really like some of the advanced features like cut and paste, the spell check. I think this is what separates the men from the boys. The content management software.

Asamee : YES, SIR. Last question. Your special contribution to your company?

CE : The present business model, of course! With all the content my people have created their knowledge is really substantial. I had to create something where their knowledge is fully utilized. Now all of them are at their phones calling KBC. Imagine the revenues when all of them win a crore each. I would have created a Billion Rs. Company.

Note : WhoCaresForIndiaWeAreInItForMoney.com is now on sale, but no one is willing to buy the company. After all people do not appreciate brilliance.