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Sam Rizvi

Samim or “Sam” Rizvi (45) is an extreme athlete from Bangalore, India. This week he became the first Indian to participate in the grueling bicycle event Race Across America. The race is flagged off in Oceanside in Southern California and ends in Maryland on the east coast.

Cyclists race coast to coast biking 3,000 miles in 12 days, crossing 14 states with just an hour’s sleep everyday. That is just the description of the race. What about the total number of calories Sam expects to burn by the end of the race? 200,000 calories. Sam is unfazed by the challenge and says he has tested his endurance level a handful of times. In 2007 Sam became the first Indian athlete to run from Bangalore to Mumbai averaging 50 miles a day. “It was like a marathon everyday,” he says. It took him 22 days to complete the race. Flushed with success Sam discovered and decided to participate in his next extreme sports and honed in on Race Across America. Established 29 years Race Across America is a often described as an ultra-endurance sport.

I talked to Sam on the eve of the race to find out what inspired him to participate in this race that tests an athlete’s mental and physical endurance. Tune in to find out.

You can also follow Sam’s progress by checking the hashtag #samrizvi on Twitter.

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A few of the magical ingredients of what makes Silicon Valley unique is the easy access to mentors and investors. I turned to Yogen Dalal an engineer-turned entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist to find out the answers to many unanswered questions. Yogen came to Silicon Valley in the early 1970s to study at Stanford University. He is the Managing Partner at Mayfield Fund, Menlo Park.

In Part-2 of the interview Yogen talks about innovation, digital lifestyle, his mentors and his old high school headmaster Jack Gibson of Mayo College.

You can also read the transcript of the interview.

In case you missed you might want to listen or read the transcript to Part-1 of the interview with Yogen.

This interview was created in association with LiveMint and published on their website in Nov 2009.

Photo credit: Mayfield Fund

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What is the magic of Silicon Valley?  What is the magic that pulls people from all around the world to come and work here and make their dreams come true? I turned to Yogen Dalal an engineer-turned entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist, who came to Silicon Valley in the early 1970s to study at Stanford University.  Yogen is the Managing Partner at Mayfield Fund, Menlo Park.

In this 2-part interview we talk on a wide-range of issues including magic of Silicon Valley, studying with Vint Cerf and co-authoring the specifications for TCP, working at Xerox Parc and Apple, how he became an investor, innovation, investing in India and his alma mater Mayo College in India.

Can this elusive magical qualities of Silicon Valley be reproduced in other parts of the world? What are the missing ingredients that make it difficult to recreate that magic? What was it to be one of the first graduate students of Vint Cerf, the Father of the Internet? What has surprised Yogen the most about the growth of the Internet? What was it like to work with Apple? What are his thoughts on IPv6 and the new wave of innovation, esp social media and the questions about privacy? Tune it to find out.

You can also read a transcript of the interview.

Listen to Part-2 of the interview of Yogen or read a transcript.

This interview was created in association with LiveMint and published on their website in Nov 2009.

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Slumdog Millionaire music composer AR Rahman has been nominated for 3 Oscars and went to to win 2 Oscars for best original score and best original song Jai Ho.

AR is a private person, who likes to sit huddled in his music studio rather than talk to the media. But, with the sudden and unexpected success of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire AR  finds himself in the media spotlight.

In Part-2 of our conversation AR Rahman talks about his journey that began in Chennai’s (or Madras) Kodambakkam, the epicenter of the South Indian film industry during the 1970s, and the pivotal role his mother played in shaping his career. His mother Kareema Begum believed in AR’s musical gift and talent and helped nurture and nourish it. In this candid interview he talks how his mother helped  and worked as his business partner to set up his first music studio.

AR also talks about the loss of his close friend and colleague Sridhar, his senior audio and sound engineer, who worked with him right from their first film Roja to Slumdog Milliionaire and Delhi 6.

Tune it to find out what AR has to say about his musical journey and the people that helped him along the way and how Sufism has changed his life.

You can also read the transcript here.

In case you missed, you might want to listen to Part-1 of the interview with AR Rahman.

Both Part-1 and Part-2 of the interview originally ran in Feb 2009 on NDTV.com

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AR Rahman’s music in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire has become a runaway hit. The films has won 10 Oscar nominations out of which 3 are for AR Rahman’s music.  AR went to to win 2 Oscars and became the first music composer from the Indian film industry to win 2 Oscars.

In early February 2009 right before the Oscars I caught with AR Rahman on one of his brief visits to Los Angeles. In Part-1 AR as he likes to be called talks about working with Danny Boyle, his thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire and why he instantly connected with it and why he thought the movie reminded him of Shawshank Redemption.  Like everybody else I wanted to find out how he was mentally preparing for the Oscars? Tune in to find out what he has to say about that.

In Part-2 he talks about his  journey as a musician.

You can also read the transcript of the interview.

This interview originally ran on NDTV.com.

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In this exclusive interview Oscar winner director Danny Boyle talks about the making of Slumdog Millionaire in Mumbai, whether this is an Indian or a British film or a hybrid film, AR Rahman, Loveleen Tandan, Mira Nair and  about the future of the young kids that acted in the film.

I also asked Danny if he has any plans on making a Bollywood film. Danny appears to be clearly smitten by Mumbai and all the while when he was shooting for Slumdog Millionaire he had this persistent thought that Mumbai would be a great city to shoot a thriller.

Slumdog Millionaire, an independent film that come from the left field has become an instant hit and has turned out to be a hot favorite.

Slumdog Millionaire won  10 Oscar nominations and went on to win 8 Oscars, including for best picture and director. Prior to winning the Oscars the film had won a string of prestigious awards including 4 Golden Globes.

This interview was recorded in Feb 2009 a few days before the Oscars.

You can also read the full transcript of the interview with Danny Boyle. This interview originally ran on NDTV.com

Photo credit: NDTV.com