Voltage Stabilizer

This Voltage Stabilizer was found in a rural village. It is similar to a US surge protector but this will handle very long periods and high voltage excursions which occurs often in India when the power returns. It is common for the voltage to double for seconds. Naturally this is a problem because the spikes literally burn the electronics, e.g. radios, fans. For example: one of the villages had 20 TV's burn out at once when a surge occurred. It was doubly frustrating for the villagers because all the village men were watching a major soccer tournament.
This will be the last blog for a few days. We leave tonight for a ten hour bus ride to Belgaum where we will be visiting three small villages with no electricity - hence no Internet.

The I-team: Joshua, Kurt and Terri

Pictured here is the I-Team showing signs of jet lag before heading off to MSFT research lab in Bangalore. Once there we prepared for Tuesday's pilot being held in two villages south of Blore (Blore is short for Bangalore). One village is off the grid, the other is on the grid but has daily blackouts lasting six hours each afternoon.

The office which houses the MSFT lab is a fantastic work place conducive to brainstorming and collaboration. I was surprised just how nice it is. Later in the day Josh and I went to Nokia to meet with Nokia's India Design Research Director. As we walked off the elevator into the Nokia space Josh's jaw dropped in awe ...and a bit of envy. This space houses Nokia's India design headquarters, one of several design centers Nokia is building around the world for emerging market development. (Another design/research office in under construction in Kenya.)
The Nokia design/research groups are comprised of researchers, designers, engineers. Their role is to bring findings from emerging countries to the business units ensuring products are born of user-centered requirements, hence one reason why Nokia is so well regarded and the top selling phone in India. As one informed person told me: many villagers think Nokia is an India brand. Consumers feel Nokia is so complete and committed to India that it must be an India company. Based on the success and manner of working Nokia has established, it is definitely a best of breed company for those working in emerging markets.

Bakrid Holiday

ABOVE PHOTOS: Goats being bought and keep for sacrifice to God. Many of the goats have decorations around their necks and painted horns of green and yellow, and cost about 2000 rupees ($50).
Yesterday, Thursday Dec 20 was the religious festival celebrated by the Muslims as a commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, under the order of Allah. The festivities last for two to three days depending on the country. The tradition is that those who can afford to do so sacrifice their best domestic animal usually a goat. The sacrificed animals have to meet certain age and quality standards or else the animal is considered an unacceptable sacrifice.

We finally meet

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Belkin's Business Development Director of India: Madhu Joshi. Having exchanged many emails before meeting it was great to finally meet in Bangalore. Since arriving Madhu not only helped secure a mobile phone for me but has been like a guardian angel watching over me, making sure I'm OK. Thank you Madhu! I leave for New Delhi toady, where we will meet up again. Stay tuned....

Belkin at Staples India

Daeline: Bangalore
The first Staples store in Bangalore just opened and I went to visit per Madhu's (Belkin's India Director) suggestion. Congratulations Madhu who is responsible for getting Belkin into Staples.

The store is on the Outer Ring Road in the Garunda Mall in the center of Bangalore. The mall is targeted for teens who are choosing from a mix of American wear and traditional Indian wear. The main attraction in this mall is the movie complex which had a long line of teenagers waiting to get into the first movie of the day. There are no high-end shops in this mall.

As soon as you enter Staples you sense it's new because the merchandise has rather slim pickings and store helpers seem rather unsure about technology. Only one person I spoke to was confident about answering questions.

When walking through the store I found the Belkin Wirelesss Router which had good placement on the end of an aisle ... easy to spot.

In another aisle, on the bottom shelf, I accidentally found a Belkin laptop cooling stand. The box was in sad shape - as if it was bounced around with tears and scratch marks on it.

Overall, Staples is not the Staples we know of in the States. This is a much smaller store with limited product offerings and a young staff; but given time to grow it will be an important location for Belkin.

A woman's work is never done

Women in the slums have the toughest job in the family. It's the woman who is responsible for the children, cooking, washing and earning money for the family. You often see the poorest women, those who migrate to the cities from rural areas, doing hard labor like digging ditches alongside the men. In this photo, washing is done the old fashioned way using brute force. It's surprising that even though the slums are dirty, dusty and down right filthy, people including the children tend to look clean and neat.

You can't always get what you want...

Dateline: Dharavi, Mumbai
ABOVE PHOTO: You can't always get what you want, but you get what you need ... and in this case it's a TV.
Although the Dharavi Slum is one of the largest slums in the world where few homes have running water or toilets, it is uncommon to find a household without a TV.