And we are back!!

New look, new features and a new spirit... yes we are back for good!

Purdafash has been revamped for a new season of participatory news making. Now citizens and journalists come together to create a social news network and build campaigns surrounding issues of core public interest. The new PHP version of Purdafash (the previous being Ruby on Rails) monetizes on drawing the skills of both the skilled and unskilled at news collection and dissemination.

The redesign was achieved through a process of continuous selection and negotiation of available technology. It has been long nights for the technical team. What looked amazing in initial mock ups was not particularly good when coded into HTML. Even our playing with color gradients did not help much, so we were back to the drawing board for a new design. Finally what came out was similar to what you see today at Purdafash. Ofcourse, there shall always be an attempt to grow and improve on all fronts.

Another realization was that just allowing users to upload their stories/problems was of no consequence unless the people came together to rally around those problems and help out each other. This made us put on our thinking hats and we decided to come up with a feature called ‘Campaigns’ which allows people to share a common platform on any issue highlighted by a particular news and interact in a much closer and faster manner.
We are keeping a list of all the feedback you are giving us and we will try to incorporate most of them whenever we work on a newer version. After all Purdafash is your website.

Personally, it has been an amazing experience and a steep learning curve to be on our own. There has been words of encouragement as well as sniggers of doubters, but we are still on the path that we chose for ourselves. From being covered in Mint and Deccan Herald to being recently featured on NDTV India... The ride has been really exciting and we are still going strong. I guess that is what matters finally.

Today I believe it when I quote Enrique:
"Ose le meilleur....Et lève-toi sans avoir peur"
(Dare the best and lift yourself without fear)

Thus we are back.. and we are back to stay!!

- Siddhartha Banerjee
CTO, Purdafash Dot Com

“Tum Apni Job Chodd Rahe Ho Purdafash Ke Liye?”

Was it the question or tone or stare that made me re-consider the most significant decision of my life. Here I was, just off my flight from overseas, convinced that Purdafash was where my heart and future lay rather than the placement from IIM Calcutta. I had spent the past couple of months convincing complete strangers that Purdafash was a sound investment. And now my dad needed the second round of convincing.

Settling down with him to an uncomfortable silence, I wondered what provoked such an outraged question from the one person closest to me. I remembered seeing a lady telling her toddler, “Sadak pe mat bhago beta, gir jaoge.” (Don’t run on the road son, you will fall)… And I mentally added, “Don’t run even if you want to run, even if you believe that you can run; for what IF you fall?”

Isn’t that what we are teaching daily to our loved ones? Driving them to the right path, the tested path… for what if they fall and get hurt?

But do we stop and consider if the attempt is more important than the failure? Does failing make me a failure? Isn’t living different than existing? Would I be a winner if I worked in an MNC from 8 to 8? Would it make me socially more respectable if I was to wear a perfectly tailored suit and spent my day in an air-conditioned office doing something I have no heart in??

I was screaming inside.

Irrespective of what is going to happen, the child in me today wants to run. He wants to fly, he wants to play and play like there is no tomorrow!

And on this note started the Purdafash journey… a journey which has till date frustrated me, exhilarated me, disappointed me and yet has given me a sense of purpose in a way that nothing had till now. Most importantly it has taught me more in a couple of months than two years of MBA did.

The journey has had its high points- convincing the angel investor to put in his money, building a team that shared my dream, getting tremendous public support, getting unheard of traffic for an alpha release and finally the rush of doing something of my own.

And of course the low points- waiting for the damned bureaucracy to move its feet while getting the company incorporated, waiting for all the people who promised action but did not deliver to actually do something good, staying up till 6.30 in the morning trying to soothe frayed tempers. And I thought the real battles begin once the product is launched!!

As I sit down today looking back at an eventful year that has been and looking forward to a year that could be the most defining one of my life, the following words by Bob Moawad come to my mind:

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”

So bring it on 2008, I am ready for my life to begin!!

- Areeb Khan

CEO, Purdafash Dot Com

Numbers For Change

"The ordinary middle class people did not have to become Mahatma Gandhi... the danger is that .. most middle class Indians have swung to the other extreme, where notions of public good play no role whatsoever in their lives. The challenge is to find a modus vivendi, a middle ground between these two polarities."
- Pavan K. Varma, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations

What is the point of differentiation between thought and action? Between will and power? Between hope and result?
Is it me, you... we?

The rising status of the Indian middle class has has made it the new scapegoat. We are blamed... left, right and center... for our indifference, our ability to not notice injustice, our consumerism driven lifestyle, our self centric viewpoints in every societal sphere, ...
Are we to blame?
What has driven this popular notion to stick in these times? Are we not only attempting to gain a foothold in some semblance of social security? We fight in every aspect of life.. for food.. water.. education.. medical care.. housing .. and yet we only have to look forward to more fights.. these have become too common place for us to even think about.

If basic social security is what we aim to build then what prevents us from proactive initiatives to instigate change? Is it the fear of "one"?... The fear of fighting alone?

If thats what chains us.. then we need numbers.

If numbers need to come together.. then we need a platform.

If a platform can make changes possible... then perhaps Purdafash is in the right job... of being the "modus vivendi."

- Nazia Erum
HOC, Purdafash Dot Com

The Revolution is Spreading like Wildfire !!

Main akela hi chala tha, janib-e-manzil magar,
Log saath aate gaye aur caravan banta gaya !!

-Majrooh Sultanpuri

600+ revolutionaries before the site was even launched...

1200+ revolutionaries in 4 days...

And that too without any media releases,advertisements or press conferences....

Need we say any more?

Thank you India for your overwhelming support !!

Check out the latest on www.Purdafash.com- How fake license plates are being sold with gay abandon !!

The Gandhi Of Small Things…

Tarun J Tejpal:
“The idea of India was not based on religon, not on commerce, not on race, not on language. It was set on the plinth of a deeply shared culture and history and built by the brick and mortar of the great ideas of modernity - equality, liberty, justice.
but national narratives are not unchanging… as generations die a steady forgetting of the bhai-bhai past..."

Khushwant Singh:
"Wounds inflicted by Partition took a long time to heal... The new generation doesnt even believe somethng that horrific happened. "

So, what does the new generation believe?
It believes what it sees.
1992 demolitions.
1993 blasts.
1999 war.
2002 riots.
2006 protests.

It believes the 'demonisation' of a few.
It believes the 'demon' in a few.
But that’s too fictitious and that’s too plebian.
Or is it?

In out great fictions we are reminded how power corrupts. Perhaps in our not-so-great lives we are constantly reminded how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Just take a look around…millions of unfulfilled promises… thousands of children being made to work on streets… hundreds policemen asking for bribes to harass lesser citizens… media working on whims and fancies of corporates… big shot’s children believing they rule the country…and many more.

In all the initial court proceedings of Jessica Lall case, Manu Sharma’s face did not show a shadow of remorse or guilt. All that shone from his actions was the undeniable fact that he would get off lightly, for he had the power. This changed when the youth took charge.

The youth of this great nation is growing up in an atmosphere of distrust towards all. Its time for our Gandhi to emerge and lead the way towards another freedom struggle. Freedom from the shackles of pervasive powers that are bent on realization of self-interest. Freedom from all the demigods that rule over all the small aspects of everyday lives.

Lets get up and energize ourselves for the onus is on us to act now and act with courage if we really, actually, whole-heartedly want to see India shining. We need to get angry at what’s happening, because anger shall culminate into active action. We need to make our voices heard; we need to make our marks seen.

As the nation celebrates Gandhi Jayanti, we at Purdafash have gone live to give the millions of unheard voices in India a chance to fight back !!

So now its time for us to get angry and raise our ‘dandas’ as we can be the new generation Gandhis in all the small and big things in our lives.

Purdafash- The Revolution is Here !!

January ,2006:Rang De Basanti wakes up a generation that was widely written off as “too materialistic” and “too self centered” by everyone around them.

March and August,2006:The common man, led by the Indian youth, takes to the streets to demand justice to murderers of Jessica Lall and Priyadarshini Mattoo and makes the courts sit up and take notice of them.

The generation realizes the “explosive power” within. All that is needed for a revolution to happen is a spark…..

August 24, 2007: Purdafash arrives
Let the Revolution Begin !!

Purdafash.com is launched to highlight the problems of the common man and bring together all the forces that can solve that problem. The venture is powered by IIT and IIM pass outs as well as youngsters who had earlier made Tehelka and CNN-IBN the success that they currently are.

Now no person is common enough, no problem is too small; if anything has left you feeling sad, frustrated, angry or helpless come to Purdafash and post it for the world to see and let people who can solve your problem reach out to you. So go ahead…FIGHT BACK!!