Prashant Kumar

Co-founder | zingbus | Building the biggest mobility company of the world | Ycombinator W21

[Jatin @J_Baat]

Full marks to the makers of @zingbus.

Remarkable product and service. Made buses a serious contender to Rails and planes. Real max feels on Zing max.

[Maanmohan Singh Pahujaa @msgpahujaa]

An old friend messaged me the other day. After the usual catching up, he asked a question many people wonder but don’t always say out loud:

“Why do you still support Congress?”

I paused before replying. Not because I didn’t have an answer, but because I wanted to give him an honest one.

I told him… it’s not about “still.”
It’s about why I do.

I support @INCIndia because I believe in the idea it stands for an India that belongs to everyone, not just a few. An India where differences are respected, not weaponised.

Yes, the party has had its ups and downs. What institution hasn’t? But I don’t judge it only by its moments of weakness, I look at the foundation it helped build. The Constitution, the democratic framework, the space for every voice to exist… these didn’t happen by accident.

And then there’s @RahulGandhi.

I told him, what stands out to me is not perfection, but intent. In a political climate full of loud claims, here is someone willing to listen, to walk among people, to ask questions, even if they’re uncomfortable. That, to me, is strength, not weakness.

I said, I don’t support politics that divides people into “us” and “them.” I support politics that reminds us we are one.

He asked me, “But do you really think it can make a difference today?”

I replied, change has never been instant. But it always begins with people who refuse to give up on the idea of a better, fairer country.

For me, supporting Congress is not blind loyalty. It’s a conscious choice to stand for unity over division, dialogue over noise, and hope over cynicism.

I ended the message by telling him:

“I don’t support Congress because it’s perfect.
I support it because I still believe in the India it stands for.”

[Vishal Gondal @vishalgondal]

I’ve known Rishi Gupta @FinoPaymntsBank always operate with integrity & accountability. His track record & contributions speak for themselves. He deserves a fair legal process not such treatment @mumbai_tech_ @mayank_kmr @dilipasbe @kdhavse @RBI @naiyyasaggi

[Kunal Khattar @KunalKhattar]

Driven 2025 was bigger & better then ever. Thank you to everyone that made it happen - all the participants, founders, investors, team members, advisors & friends. We would not be here without you.

[Prashant Kumar @sinha_prash]

@trackmanish @KunalKhattar Cannot agree more on this 🙏

[Uday Mahurkar @UdayMahurkar]

On World Environment Day I introduce the nation to Vijay Dobaria, 42, a small Rajkot Bizman who should go down as one of the greatest creators of urban forests in history of India. In 3 years he has created 270 urban jungles covering 500 acres in Gujarat on PPP model with almost zero mortality rate. By 2030 he plans to create 5,000 urban forests with 100 crore trees. During this period he will also plant 1 cr roadside trees with tree guards. 

In next one year alone he will plant 10 cr trees to create 100 urban jungles in the state with each tree standing at 20 to 25 ft. Says Dobaria : “ We will turn Gujarat into a green land in a span of around 5 to 7 years. But our plan is to turn entire India into a green land “. 

In creating urban forests he has used the Miyawaki as well his own local technique mainly planting those local trees which have a long life - Peepal, Banyan, Neem, Audumbar, Borsali etc. But his greatest asset is his management power. He convinces people to adopt trees or entire urban jungles. He has involved 1 lakh people in this mission in what is a great PPP model. And for his 2030 Gujarat plan he aims to involve 10 lakh people. 

Planting of one tree in Urban forest costs Rs 100 but the cost of planting roadside trees is very high - Rs 3,000 per tree with tree guard - because it has to be continuously watered over a 3 year period with water tankers after which the tree is on its own. In urban forests it costs much less as here various other & much less costly techniques like drip irrigation are involved. 

One Surat diamond company called JK Star has adopted entire Surat city for planting roadside trees. Dobaria is now planting one lakh trees with tree guards in Surat in its behalf.  He has a team of 3,000 paid workers under his Mission which also has 500 tractors & 500 tankers. His biggest achievement, a lesson for the forest department , is that he doesn’t allow single tree to die. And if an odd tree dies it is immediately replaced with another. 

Dobaria, a Patel by caste & a man on a unique mission, is also readying a national plan.He shuns personal publicity & carries his green revolution in the name of his Trust Manav Seva Foundation. All his publicity material is in the name of his trust & not in his own name.  So much so that i had to convince Dobaria to share his own photo which he did very unwillingly. 

Due to Climate Change & deforestation threat India faces the prospect 50 degrees C temperature at most places in the country in the coming years. If the nation values Dobaria’s mission & capacity & backs him it can neutralise the Climate Change challenge & bring down the temperature threat from 50 to 40 degrees C - which is virtually reversing it.

[Prashant Kumar @sinha_prash]

@harshsnehanshu 👏👏

[Ole Lehmann @itsolelehmann]

I used to think I was rational.

Then I read Daniel Kahneman's Nobel Prize-winning work on human decision-making.

He routinely asks 8 questions to expose cognitive traps you fall into daily.

Test yourself with these questions (it's the ultimate BS detector for your brain):

[Navin Kabra @NGKabra]

Who are Indians descended from? Aryans from Europe? Dravidians who've been "here" forever? The Indus valley civilization?

A controversial question for 150+ years, but now we have DNA evidence that answers these questions with a high degree of certainty.

🧵

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Precisely

[zingbus @zingbus]

Buckle up for a thrilling journey! 🌟🚌

Fasten your seatbelts with zingbus as we take off being the Official Brand Partner of @fighterthemovie 🙌

Catch @hrithikroshan @deepikapadukone @anilskapoor in blockbuster action-fighter at your nearest cinemas on 25th January.

And book zingbus for an unforgettable adventure! 🚌

#fightermovie #fighterthefilm #zingbus #absafarkarobefikar #busbooking #busbookingapp #busbookingonline #bustravel

[zingbus @zingbus]

Let the cricket fever take off!

zingbus is ready to cheer for Team India with Ajay Reddy, Captain of Blind Cricket Team India.

Come join us to bring the World Cup Trophy home this year!

Download the zingbus app & participate in Spin The Wheel Contest to win World Cup Cricket Merchandise.

Spin karo & Win karo with zingbus!!

#worldcup #worldcup2023 #iccworldcup2023 #ajayreddy #zingbus #absafarkarobefikar

[RAHUL @RahulSeeker]

Time when Brotherhood is a strange word, 2nd Oct is a holiday to stay at home & trending Godse
Sharing it
The Lady here breaking her 25-day Fast is Bibi Amtus Salam.

The Task was assigned to her to save the Sirandi vill, Noakhali, re-establish peace there.

Gandhi left Calcutta on 6th Nov 1946 towards Noakhali with his several followers among them Pyarelal, Sushila Nayar, Satish Chandra & this Punjabi Muslim woman Bibi Amtus Salam born into a Zamindar Pathan family of Patiala dist.

Gandhi decided that each worker would stay in different villages, work individually & hold herself/himself hostage for the safety & security of the Hindu Minority there. Satish Chandra Dasgupta defined their work.

1. The Sevak should regard herself/himself as the lowliest servant of the Village.

2. She/he will
clean night soil,
clean tanks,
repair roads,
keep public places of worship or education etc. in a fit condition.

3. She/he should strive to attend to the sick & be a nurse wherever possible.

4. She/he should help rehabilitate villagers & setting them up in life.

Amtus Bibi settled in Sirandi vill. On 20thJan after travelling to several villages when Gandhiji reached Sirandi, Amtus Bibi had been fasting for the last 25 days. She was heavily suffering from fever & cough.
Sushila Nayar noted
"She was at peace & cheerful, had completely resigned herself to God, and insisted on the Koran & Gita being read to her daily."

What led to her Fast was in the last week of Dec, 3 Sacred Hindu Swords were stolen from that village. Amtus Bibi went to Fast in demand to return those sacred swords. The fever struck her on the 2nd week of fasting.

The local Police Ins came to persuade her to break this fast but failed. Then he arranged meetings of Hindus & Muslims that led to the recovery of 2 out of 3 stolen sacred swords, given back by 2 young Muslims. But Amtus remained Adamant that she would not break this Fast until the last sword is not recovered.

When Gandhi reached the village Amtus's condition was at its worst, she was finding it hard to even drink water. Gandhiji sought to succeed whereas the policeman failed. He called a meeting of the residents of nearby 4 villages (Shanktola, Sirandi, Rajarampur & Madhyapara). In that meeting, the villagers took the pledge of unity written in Bengali on a piece of paper.

After Gandhi took the signed pledge to Amtus Salam & persuaded her to break her fast she did by accepting a glass of orange juice from him.

Born in an Aristocrat Muslim family Bibi Amtus Salam spent her life serving this nation and silently left without any notice. After the partition when her family & her brothers left for Pakistan, she refused to go. She wanted to go back to Patiala & do the work of re-establishing communal harmony.

As a young Muslim woman, her only potent weapon was 'FASTING'.

She was a bit of a similar kind to Gandhi, who adopted her as a Daughter. During the period 1947 & 48, she along with Lajjawati Hooja & Rameshwari Nehru evacuated 1000s of kidnapped Hindu & Muslim women from India & Pakistan.

Pyarelal wrote "More than once she had risked her life by rushing to dangerous spots".

5th May 1948, The Tribune reported about her sitting on an indefinite fast at Dera Nawab in Bahawalpur to protest the “negligence” of the state authorities in the work of recovery of abducted women and children.

She wrote a letter to Nehru informing him of her Fast as the delay of the Ministry in settling the Hindu Migrants in Rajpura.

No, she didn't scold them saying "Kagaz to Dikhana hi hoga".

She spent her life resettling Hindu migrants from Bahawalpur to Rajpura settled there establishing Kasturba Seva Mandir.

This religious Muslim woman passed away on September 29 1985, unnoticed & unsung. It is good that she left before seeing today's India. Hardly anybody remembers her name today as possibly she never became a Politician, however, that does not matter as she left after her work was completed.

[Prashant Kumar @sinha_prash]

@alokebajpai @ixigo Congratulations 🎉🎉

[Archana Pawar 🇮🇳 @SilentEyes0106]

The year was 1971 and the month November.

“If India pokes its nose in Pakistan, US will not keep its trap shut. India will be taught a lesson.”
- Richard Nixon

“India regards America as a friend. Not a boss. India is capable of writing its own destiny. We know and are aware how to deal with each one according to circumstances.”
- Indira Gandhi

[Romeen Sheth @RomeenSheth]

"If you could go back 10 years and tell yourself to develop 1 skill that you think would lead to maximum success at work, what would that skill be?"

I *love* this question. I used to think that there was no silver bullet in careers. But I was dead wrong. There is definitely a clear and simple silver bullet:

“Be really good at getting shit done.”

Clear and Simple, but not easy.

At every level in your job, you will interact with people that are really good at leaning away from the mess. In the early years, it’s less sexy. In later years, it’s beneath you.

I have come across hordes of people over the past decade that are fantastic problem explainers and problem sympathizers - they tell you what is going on, why the problem exists, why it’s difficult to solve and why things are going wrong. But it’s incredibly rare to come across someone that does the above *and* then goes and tackles the challenge head on.

Getting shit done is the best way to get noticed and more importantly get ahead. It’s a skill you should hone when you’re starting out and a skill you should never lose no matter how senior you get.

When you’re in the early part of your career, you will develop a reputation quickly as a go to person that is actually helpful. As you rise the ranks, you will set the tone for your team - if you are willing to get it done yourself, you set a culture of accountability and humility.

Ultimately every business has to move forward. The underlying tasks have to get done. Unfortunately most people in the work environment are riders, not drivers.

That’s your advantage.

Make sure you’re driving the car and not just riding along.

[Arindam Paul @arindam___paul]

Over the last 8 years, I have interacted with more than 3000 Indian consumers with HHI greater than 5 LPA through a mix of POS interactions, home visits, pre-sales and service calls

12 observations/trends which could be relevant for founders building in consumer brands/tech👇👇

[Press Trust of India @PTI_News]

More than 2.7 crore passengers could not travel by train in 2022-23 despite buying tickets because of being waitlisted: RTI

[zingbus @zingbus]

Introducing! #ZingElectric - India’s First Shared Intercity Electric Cabs

Choose a single seat & reduce your carbon footprint with our shared electric cabs! Neutralize over 100 Tones of CO2 per month with every booking.
#Safe, #reliable, & #affordable
#GreenMobility #zingbus

[Kunal Khattar @KunalKhattar]

Shared mobility platforms are replacing ICE with EV’s as an imp lever to become profitable ⁦@zingbus⁩ is electrifying intercity travel - starting with 4W EV before launching EV busses 🚎 as well. Future is Electric. #EndICEAge https://t.co/nGJ1wIxszG