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Casting the net wide

Internet guru Sabeer Bhatia on the fight against illiteracy and all that's on his plate

If there is one urban legend close to every geek's heart, it is the story of Sabeer Bhatia. He who went on revolutionise the chitti aayee hai phenomenon with hotmail.

The story has a wonderful ending with Bhatia selling hotmail for a delicious $400 million to Microsoft and owning Ferraris, an apartment by the ocean (the Pacific no less) and dating a succession of lovely women, including the sizzling hot Sushmita Sen.

Even better is that the story is in present continuous. Bhatia continues to be the presiding deity of the Internet, doling out hot, new ideas like fresh samosas at regular intervals.

A second web

There was a time when Bhatia "lost faith in the Internet. It was during the nuclear winter when the dot com bubble went bust. There was a two-year dip starting with the stock market crash on March 5, 2001. Things are getting back to normal and the world is ready for web 2.0, a new version of the web, which is all about user participation."

Time for pop quiz - what do technocrats do with their millions after buying needful things like that Lear Jet, the Mercedes and other trinkets? They decide to acquire halos in quick time by giving back to society that has given them so much - listen carefully for the hosannas, the heavenly choir and the flutter of wings.

Doing his bit

Sabeer, who supports the Round Table India's (RTI) "Freedom through Education" project, bristled with righteous indignation at aspersions cast on his intentions. "It is not about giving back to society. This is something I passionately believe in. I feel every young person should be involved in the fight against illiteracy. There are 50 million children who have never seen a school. If we want to become a super power, the only way to solve all problems, from religious intolerance to terrorism, poverty and population, is through education."

As RTI's brand ambassador, Sabeer will help form strategy and work towards increasing awareness.

Sabeer is also into blogs. "Blogs are another manifestation of the democracy of the Internet. They are a platform for people to air their views. They are new versions of home pages. We wanted to take blogs a step further by bringing in context. With blogeverywhere.com, a user can comment on any site he is visiting. Blogs are not frivolous as they help capture feedback and one can listen to what the market is saying."

New democracy

The Internet, he says, "has become more democratic." "Wikipedia, for instance, is a perfect example of using the collective intelligence of the Internet. The site is constantly evolving and the contributions are from readers. If there is a mistake, it is corrected by one of the many million readers. That is the kind of support even the venerable Encyclopaedia Britannica cannot claim!"

Sabeer is re-launching "arzoo.com in three months' time. It will revolutionise travel in India. We are the first to give information on the mobile phone."

Still very much the eternal entrepreneur, Sabeer says: "Creating is a lot of fun." Talking of fun, what is the latest on all the heavy duty weekend partying in the Big Apple? "I am too old for that kind of thing," the 37-year-old comments. "The crazy time is over."

G. N. PRASHANTH

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