Rajat, Rajan and I were there at the cafe since 3 pm as I was interviewing both of them for an upcoming series on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in India. We were still discussing entrepreneurship when Sandeep joined us around 4:30 pm.

Though we were meeting Sandeep for the first time but there seemed to be no difficulty in recognizing each other. It is easy to locate somebody who is of the same breed (bachelor:) and blogger).

Sitting left to right (Sandeep Srivastava, M. Thiyagarajan “Rajan”, Rajat Gupta)

The discussion started with Sandeep sharing his life before he joined Microsoft, his current employer and his earlier brush with startups. It then moved on to personal interests. We found out that Sandeep is deeply interested in religion and philosophy. Sandeep got to know more about Advetta - the startup co-founded by Rajan and Rajat. I shared my interest in writing and future plans of getting into publishing. Rajat remembered my interest and later mailed me an interesting article on Digital Publishing.

Later in the evening topics like Reliance’s retail push and sex as a search term took the center stage. Some other points also got a part of our mindspace. Here is the list;

- State of entrepreneurship in India
- BarCampHyderabad2
- Growth of Hyderabad metblogging community
- Creation of a blogroll of all Hyderabad bloggers
- Creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem with nurtures entrepreneurship

With a roll call (on paper napkin - the idea was inspired by recent Mumbai bloggers meet), we decided to call it a day at around 6:45 pm.

I guess now you have a fair idea about what went on. No worries if you feel like having missed a good discussion. As plans are ripe to arrange another blogger’s meet at the end of this month. All bloggers are invited to grace the event.

If you are visiting Hyderabad around last weekend of June, do join us. Normally we go Dutch* for coffee. But for bloggers who are visiting from outside Hyderabad, coffee will be on us. Stay tuned for announcement of exact schedule.

Apart from being the first ever metbloggers meet in Hyderabad; interesting discussions also made this gathering special. Hopefully there are many more to come.

Folks who could not join us; please share your thoughts here.

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*Go Dutch (idiom); To pay one’s own expenses on a date or outing.

Once the meeting was over I headed towards Latent Images at Babu Khan Mall, Somajiguda to get a new tripod for my camera. My interaction with one Mr. Suresh Joshi, the store manager of Latent Images made my evening.

This is the first time I came across Mr. Joshi at the store. Earlier I was attended by various sales people. They are all good but do not possess the attitude of Mr. Joshi.

He made me feel like a valued customer despite this being my first encounter with him. He listened to all my queries patiently, explained things in detail and cleared my doubts. After taking my consent, he created the bill without asking for money. Not to suggest that he would have let me take the stuff without taking the money. This was a refreshingly unique experience as opposed to instances where sales people push you into making a buying decision. He was not hurried in his approach. As a result I left the store as a happy customer with my prized possession.

Take 2 of the tale, I reached adjoining Minerva Coffee Shop as I mentioned in my earlier post. I already shared with you a major part of the experience there. The rest of the tale includes a couple who entered the restaurant with their son (aged around 8 years).

Both of them were searching for a place to sit. Throughout they were focused on each other, busy in their own chit-chat while child was dejected and sad lacking any attention at all from his parents.

Such instances are sad. I do not know the reason but probably the reason is the lack of sensitivity. I wrote about this issue earlier. The westernization and technology has created a change in our lifestyle, way of communication etc. That is all good but if it affects our value system nothing great about it.

Kids are tender beings who need care and nurturing like a small plant does. If we nurture their lives with good doses of attention, love and care they grow up as complete individuals with high self esteem, confidence and sense of stability in their lives. If they lack attention and love in their lives they look outwards to find it. In such situations, chances of these kids ending up in wrong relationships for wrong reasons and falling prey to other bad habits are high.

If you are a parent to a kid make sure that your kid is not devoid of your love, attention and care. Good if you buy them latest stuff and send them to a good school but take care of other small necessities also. Sit with them, listen to them with patience, and know what they are up to at school. Kids may not tell you at first. But if you behave like their constant companions they will confide in you and you will be in a situation to guide them onto right path.

I will look forward to your thoughts on this.

I always prefer sweet as a starter because Ayurveda suggests that one should start one’s food with sweet, follow it with sour and salty and finish it with bitter taste. Finishing with bitter stuff is a tough ask but I do not mind starting with sweet. Off late I have started liking this pattern of eating.

I ordered Gulab Jamun* (at rupees 26) first. After a bit of wait it arrived on the table. I expected that it will be served warm but it was served at room temperature. The quality and taste was good. It would have made for a perfect start if it was heated a bit. (Points: 2)

I ordered Butter Masala Dosa** (at rupees 43) next. It was served hot but I felt that they had used more than optimum amount of salt. (Points: 2)

Finished it off with a Masala Tea*** (at rupees 22). Now that is what I call perfect. (Points: 5)

Verdict: Food -3

Overall it is a clean looking and appropriately lighted place. Only till I looked closer at the sofa I was sitting on. It carried memories of people (in form of food-stains) who sat there before. Supposedly, it was not thoroughly cleaned for days. Better if they could put a cover over sofas and clean it daily. I looked for manager to communicate the same but he was not around.

I liked the instrumental music that was playing in the background.

Verdict: Ambience - 3

The waiters, stewards and captain carried a welcoming smile. I know that it is very hard to carry a smile with the kind of meager salaries that employees of hotels and restaurants receive; but they managed it somehow.

The waiter at my table also kept on refilling glass of water without asking even once.

Once I finished eating, a finger bowl**** was put in front of me filled with hot water. If a kid would have put his fingers, there were great chances of burning. I communicated this to the steward and he obliged by adding some cold water.

Verdict: Service - 3

This is not the first hot water experience for me. Other restaurants are also experts in this act of kindness :). When I see all these establishments overlooking these minor details; my entrepreneurial mind tells me that there is a lot of opportunity for entrepreneurs in every sphere (retail food chains, education, consumer electronics etc.) who can promise and deliver a unique customer experience.

Overall verdict

Visit Minerva if you want to have basic North Indian and South Indian food at a reasonably priced, centrally located place. Good for once in two month basic eating experience. You can go with friends. Not suited to invite some guest or a person with formal association.

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*To make Gulab Jamuns small balls made with refined wheat flour and condensed milk are deep fried in oil and later dipped in sugar syrup for few hours before being served.

** Dosa is prepared by spreading a layer of batter of rice and lentils over a preheated pan. The stuffing is mashed potatoes, cooked with spices and onions. It is essentially freshly coked with coconut chutney and sambhar (lentil flour soup cooked with vegetables, tamarind and various spices).

***Tea made with select spices (cloves, cinnamon etc.) and dry ginger.

****A small bowl that holds water for rinsing the fingers at the table.

Web resources suggest that our city will be covered with scattered clouds throughout the week with chances of rain on Thursday.

If you are planning to travel by public transport, it will be a good idea to carry an umbrella with you while you go out on Thursday (1st June). Sometimes sunny mornings can be misleading :)

If you are one of those carefree types (you can count yours truly among them) then this is time to let your soul unravel in the drops of virgin showers.

Let see what June 1st brings to us all - Godly showers or 38 degrees Sun.

Having written my first post here, I noticed one thing. If you want to be close to nature and sensitive to your surroundings, come join the Metlog author roll.

Your thoughts folks?