Using Twitter in India

I’d hoped sending twitter updates from India would be a snap as they’ve got their own shortcode. Not so.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the local shortcode to work or verify my number while using AirTel in Delhi. After a whole lot of research, I gave up for the night and twittered my frustration.

The next morning, Abhishek said it worked for him in Delhi, Puneet said the shortcode had changed to 55665, at least in Mumbai/Vodaphone, and Kathryn Yu suggested the international twitter #, +447781488126 and pointed to all the trouble folks were reporting with Twitter in India.

Digging in deeper, I found that Twitter’s shortcode in India only works on some networks, and in some areas. Pretty frustrating that this info is nowhere on Twitter’s site, especially since some of the most popular carriers aren’t covered.

What finally worked

• The international number +44 76248 01423. Apparently twitter changed it without updating their help pages. (I found out on Get Satisfaction.)

Cost

• International txts cost 5 rupees each, which is 12-13 US cents.
• Had the shortcode worked, it would have cost 3 rupees each, or 7.5 US cents
• Normal local txts cost around 1 rupee, or 2.5 cents.

Other options

• I found an Indian startup called Vakow! that’s building an SMS forwards service. They’ve got a Vakow-Twitter gateway that uses a local number to avoid shortcode and int’l fees. I might try this next.
• Chittr is/was an India-local Twitter competitor. There’s posts about it online but the site’s currently redirecting elsewhere.
• SMS GupShup is an Indian group SMS platform. The use case is similar to Twitter’s, except everyone belongs to specific groups instead of following people willy-nilly.

Some quick notes from Delhi

I’m in India for a couple weeks and I just starting my second day in Delhi. Here are a few initial observations:

• The malls have arrived. It was clear it was coming last time I was in India two years ago, but now it’s ingrained in the way of life in Delhi (and I assume, most Indian cities.) The chaotic, sprawling, lively markets always defined my experience of India. They’re still around, and for the moment I think they’ll coexist with their more modern counterparts.
• There are new cars everywhere. And air conditioners, and snazzy Reebok shoes. It’s been years since India opened up its trade policies so something other than the Fiat and Ambassador could claim the streets, but it’s still a shock that you can go a whole day without seeing a single one, when they used to be *all* you could see.
• Corollary to the above: people used to *really* customize their cars with all sorts of add-ons, stickers, colors and stuff. Probably because all you could get was a Fiat or an Ambassador, in a few select colors. The customization trend appears to have died now that more brands are available.
• Delhi still sees daily brownouts. Usually at night, but sometimes in the morning. People have large tanks of water on the roofs of their homes and generators or backup battery power and inverter systems to supply water, and power lights and ceiling fans during outages.
• Wi-fi is not omnipresent. It’s odd to open up my laptop and not see a single hotspot when in a pretty densely-packed residential neighborhood in a major city. Very different from the U.S., where the list shows a dozen pretty much anywhere in New York or SF, and at least a handful in even rural areas in CT. Bandwidth is also slow.
• My iPhone isn’t hooked up yet. Everyone here has a cell phone. (We passed not one, not two, but four cell kiosks on our way out of the airport after getting our luggage.) But there’s still confusion around data and how to get GPRS/Edge activated. Hope to have it figured out today.

I’m flying to India today!!

I’m flying with my dad to Delhi, India tonight. It’s a 14 hour flight, and I’ll be back April 29th.

We’ll be joining my mom who made the trip a week ago, and I’ll be attending my cousin’s wedding, and generally trying to soak in India while working.

I’m curious to see how difficult it’ll be working from the other side of the world, and to see how much the country’s changed since I was there two years ago.

In preparation for my trip, I’ve…

• Arranged to have Cable and DSL internet where I’ll be staying with my uncle in Noida. (Bringing my Airport Express to make it wireless)
• Unlocked my iPhone (Thanks Eric!) and done some research into local SIM cards for voice + data (Thanks Abhishek!)
• Bought Eating India, a food-focused travelogue I’m eager to dig into on the flight. (Recommended from past trips: The Age of Kali and City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, both by William Dalrymple, both excellent.)
• Packed a video camera, a point and shoot, and my Nikon D70.
• Emailed a couple friends I made online meeting up while in Delhi. (If you’re in Delhi, I’d love to meet you! Email me.)

I’m ill-prepared for the 100 degree days I’ll see in the next couple weeks, but indescribably excited!!! India is a whole different world.

See you soon!

p.s. I hope to twitter while I’m there. If you’re curious to see what I’m up to, I’m superamit on twitter. Feel free to @superamit if you have questions or advice or anything.

Get an Outsourced Personal Assistant

I had dinner with my pal Michael Galpert a few nights ago and mentioned how for some time, I had been curious to try out an outsourced personal assistant, but couldn’t justify the cost for just myself. I’m still on the fence about trying it out, but the conversation made me dig up an Esquire article from 2005 on the subject.

Honey has completed her first project for me: research on the person Esquire has chosen as the Sexiest Woman Alive. (See page 232.) I’ve been assigned to write a profile of this woman, and I really don’t want to have to slog through all the heavy-breathing fan Web sites about her. When I open Honey’s file, I have this reaction: America is fucked. There are charts. There are section headers. There is a well-organized breakdown of her pets, measurements, and favorite foods (e.g., swordfish). If all Bangalorians are like Honey, I pity Americans about to graduate college. They’re up against a hungry, polite, Excel-proficient Indian army.

The writer A. J. Jacobs has his assistants pay bills, research articles, call his parents, write apology emails to his wife, and read bedtime stories to his son. The upshot: despite some humorous gaffes, for the most part it works! Well worth a read.

Link: My Outsourced Life

The Namesake: A movie by Mira Nair

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my favorite books. It follows the story of a first-generation Indian family, centered around the life of its second-generation son, Gogol. Jhumpa’s writing is crisp and the story vivid. It’s hard for me not to see echos of my own family and life in her writing. I’ve read it twice, and passed it on to friends.

Get a copy. Read it. Pass it on.

This September, Mira Nair’s film adaption arrives. I can’t think of anyone else who I’d rather have directing this story.

Link: The Namesake Trailer