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Casting his Net wider now

Uber geek Sabeer Bhatia tells we can stop dreaming of being a superpower if we don't wipe out illiteracy

CYBER COOL Not content with the $400 million Hotmail brought in, Sabeer Bhatia is on the market again with blogeverywhere, a tool that enables everyone to blog PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.

If there is one urban legend close to every geek's heart, it is the story of Sabeer Bhatia. Bhatia the ex-Josephite, the ex-BITSian, 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 thereafter owning Ferraris, an apartment by the ocean (the Pacific no less) and reportedly dating a succession of lovely women including our sizzling Sushmita Sen. Even better is that the story is in present continuous. Bhatia continues to be the presiding deity of the Internet, dolling out hot, new ideas like fresh samosas at regular intervals.

There was a time when Bhatia "lost faith in the Internet. It was during the nuclear winter when the dotcom bubble went bust. There was a two-year dip starting from 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."

Social responsibility

Time for a pop quiz — what do technocrats do with their millions after buying needful things like that Lear Jet, the Mercedes and such 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.

Sabeer who was in Karnataka to pledge his support for Round Table India's 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 superpower, the only way to solve all problems from religious intolerance to terrorism, poverty and the population is through education."

Sabeer says his involvement with Round Table India would be in his capacity as brand ambassador: "I will help form strategy and work towards increasing awareness."

Sabeer also used the platform to talk about blogeverywhere, a multi-purpose browser-based tool that enables everyone to become a blogger and comment on anything under the sun. The geezers who sit on the log in Asterix comics have sure come a long way on the information superhighway!

"The Internet 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!

"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 one step further by bringing in context. With blogeverywhere, 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."

Sabeer also acknowledged the downside to blogging. "I accept ... there are opportunities to malign and for misstatements. But the ratings system on the Internet is the best police.

"Soon the most valuable real estate on the Internet is going to be the tool bar, which is why our tool bar offers a whole lot of stuff like multiple searches and a faster browsing experience with mail being downloaded to the user's PC."

All who moaned about Hotmail being slower than snail mail have cause to rejoice as Sabeer promises the "toolbar will speed up Hotmail."

All other things are moving apace like Installcol — instant and simultaneous collaboration on Microsoft office — is "showing remarkable progress." Then Sabeer is relaunching "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." And talking of fun, what is the latest on all the heavy-duty weekend partying in the Big Apple? "No partying for me now! I am too old for that kind of thing," the 37-year-old Methuselah comments drolly. "The crazy time is over."

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

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