Kiran and Zainab were going to be in Delhi for a brief stay, after which they were going to Dharamshala for a break. Kiran had a particular fondness for Dharamshala, I knew. One time, in 2011 or 2012, he had dropped by home on his way back after spending an extended time (1 month or 6 months, I forget which in Dharamshala).
We sat then for a few hours in my rooftop office and I discussed with him my participation in a consultation on Mobile VAS, and he had explained the way the Internet works, with URLs, DNS’ (Nameservers), and I fleshed out on a whiteboard, a corresponding model for liberating VAS from the clutches of telecom operators, and essentially freeing numbers (like STAR TV’s 7827) from the control of telecom operators. At that time, SMS was big: Times Internet had 8888 and would later launch a service called FOLLO (which I thought was brilliant). That shortcode, though, was an identity on SMS, like a website was an identity on the web, except that you licensed it from the telecom operator and could never own it.
In the VAS industry there was folklore of how once a telecom operator was refusing to renew the license for a companys short code, and Ajay Vaishnavi, who later became head of mobile for Times Internet, went from circle to circle, and convinced circle CEOs to renew that short code. Eventually they gave in, but telecom operators drove a hard bargain, and they controlled your existence on SMS. I presented this idea to the TRAI later at a public consultation in Bangalore, but the TRAI never
The bus for Dharamshala leaves from Majnu Ka Tila in Delhi, near my house, so I asked Kiran if he could drop by on his way to the bus stop, and I could explain the Net Neutrality problem that I saw coming ahead of us. If we did anything like a campaign, we would need tech to run an email service, and I needed Kiran on board. Except that Kiran didn’t make it: he got late leaving from Karim’s house (Karim is not his actual name), where he was staying, and couldn’t stop by. “Why don’t you come to Dharamshala for Hillhacks? Just take a bus, and I’ll tell you how to get there.” Next day was Diwali, and I knew Delhi would be unlivable for a week or so, so I thought it over and told Kiran the next morning that I’m be coming for Hillhacks. I booked a bus for 7PM, packed and boarded a largely empty bus. That night, for as long as I had a mobile Internet connectivity, I saw AQI readings rise progressively. It was Diwali night, the roads were empty, and the bus reached at 5AM instead of the expected 7AM. The bus also dropped me away from where Kiran had suggested I disembark, so I walked all the way down, trying to find “Ghoomakkad” where Hillhacks was being held. When I did reach there finally, dodging a few strays on the road, only one person was awake. I was pointed to a dorm — a large hall with wooden beds and mattresses on them, and people fast asleep. I found an empty bed and crashed.
Hillhacks is/was a makers community, and this was the first one, called Hillhacks 0. There I met Akiba from Japan, who had managed to bring in sacks of solar panels to teach kids how to solder and build solar powered items, like lamps.
Sva appeared to be running the show, and there were a few people from Germany. People had been here for a couple of weeks, and had spent time teaching kids in schools tech. The community had pooled in money, some more some less, and there was a minimum charge. Food was made by the community. Someone had brought and set up a 3D printer. Sva, I think was teaching people how to print t-shirts. This was a makers space, a geek-paradise, the kind that Kiran was connected to and I was fascinated (and daunted) by.
In the morning, I told Kiran a little about the Net Neutrality issues and what we were facing. He stopped me short and suggested that I do a talk on it. There was going to be an unconference the next day, and there were open slots: all you had to do was put up a post-it for a time-slot that was available. I blocked an afternoon slot. In the evening we walked to McLeodGanj for some Korean food. I came back and crashed.
The next day, Kiran convinced me to do the Triund trek – we went halfway up, to magic view. Somewhere along the way I found enough connectivity for a silly tweet.
The Unconference was the next day. There was a projector, a screen, in an open area covered by a tent of some kind, and carpets on the floor.
We sat on the carpets and people made presentations – I don’t remember most of them – but Kiran gave a talk about open source and platformisation. He pointed out that “We seem to have come to a unilateral understanding of tech, that it is industry led. Different ways of looking at development. “
In the afternoon, on the 26th, I shared the issues with Zero Rating. There weren’t many people there – maybe a maximum of 10-15 – and most people didn’t quite understand the implications of these issues for business. They were hackers not startups. I remember getting into a debate with someone from Germany who didn’t quite understand why someone shouldn’t be able to subsidise data costs for their apps and websites, and I remember struggling to respond to this at the time. This was my first time talking in public about Net Neutrality, albeit with a small audience.
Some of it, it seems, landed.
I remember staying till the end of Hillhacks in 2014, as plans were made for the next hillhacks, and everyone went their own way. I returned to smoke-filled Delhi.
P.s.: I’ll let Kiran detail his version of events here