Longer message to Mr. Himanshu Malik, Ms. Gul Panag & others

From Q City to KonektoCRM: Bridging Creativity and Technology

Hi Himanshu and others,

Over the past year, I’ve been fortunate to wear more than one hat: one as an author and the other as a software architect. These paths have now begun to converge in the most exciting ways.

My recent book, Q City, explores a unique narrative I’m proud of—and I'm currently in conversations with filmmaker Lakshmi Iyer and actor-director Himanshu Malik (the talented abovementioned man himself is being referred to here, of course!) about turning it into a feature film. Both expressed genuine interest in the story, and these early discussions have been encouraging. Ms. Iyer, in particular, recently worked with the talented model and actress Gul Panag, someone I’ve long admired for her multidimensional career and creative energy.

In parallel to my literary journey, I’ve also just completed architecting KonektoCRM, a modern customer relationship management platform designed specifically with creators in mind. Think of it as a flexible, secure way for filmmakers, authors, educators, and producers to manage ongoing conversations, collaborations, and feedback from people like me—people who approach them with creative ideas, pitches, and projects.

Even keeping around brief notes about a project and the person who approached you regarding that could pay off in the long run. For example:

Anand Manikutty | proposal to convert book "Q City" into film | Budget: $40,500 to $50,000 | book complete | book even has backstories for characters (like Elves and Dwarves in LotR) | author has developed new languages that characters speak (like Elvish).

This simple practice builds optionality—the right, but not the obligation, to pursue an idea or opportunity at a later time. Optionality is vital for creators. Why? Because creative pipelines can be unpredictable. A creator may be flush with opportunities one year and face radio silence the next. Even incredibly talented actors like Zeenat Aman or Jaya Bhaduri—icons in their own right—have experienced such lulls. In those moments, revisiting previous leads or ideas with strong documentation can make all the difference. Optionality means you don’t need to start from scratch when the winds shift.

KonektoCRM lets creators:

• Track conversations across multiple projects

• Maintain HTML-formatted notes

• Record leads, opportunities, and action items

As a former Oracle engineer who has spent years in enterprise software, I can say confidently: CRM software is a massive category. Products like Salesforce generate over $1 billion annually, and yet there’s been surprisingly little innovation aimed at the creative industries. Oracle CRM was solid in its time, but let’s be honest—many of today’s government and commercial sites that leave you staring at a loading screen for minutes are still using older CRM platforms. You’re often stuck in the past.

KonektoCRM aims to change that—faster, smarter, and tuned for modern creators, small business owners as well as large enterprises. KonektoCRM includes support for emerging technologies like Claude, Gemini, and others that can supercharge workflows.

While I’ve discussed KonektoCRM with a few creators already, I haven’t yet shared it with Ms. Lakshmi Iyer—but I’d love to. And I believe that people like Gul Panag, with her wide-ranging experience in cinema, public life, and entrepreneurship, might find value in what KonektoCRM can do.

If you’re a leading creator navigating a growing set of collaborations and projects, and have a large Twitter following (>500k followers), I’d love to show you what we’ve built. It just might save you time, streamline your process, and help you focus more on what you do best—creating. Plus, there just might be equity involved. Hey, if Ashton Kutcher can get into the tech startup space, why can't you? Equity and stock options often pay off in the long-term.

Thank you for your kind attention to this blog post!

—
Anand Manikutty
Author of Q City | Architect of KonektoCRM | Formerly @Oracle

A short message for Gul Panag

 Hi Gul,

I’m a software architect and recently finished building KonektoCRM, a lightweight CRM tailored for creators. Interestingly, I’ve also written a novel titled Q City, which Ms. Lakshmi Iyer and Mr. Himanshu Malik expressed interest in adapting for film. I heard you recently worked with Ms. Iyer — wonderful to see creators like yourself bringing bold stories to life.

I'd love to connect and, if you're open to it, discuss how tools like KonektoCRM can help streamline creative collaborations — while also exploring the journey of turning Q City into a film. With my background at Oracle in the very group that builds the tools to develop apps like Oracle CRM and Oracle HCM and the CRM space being a billion-dollar domain, I think this could be worth your time.

I can be reached at: teamqwykr@proton.me.

Warm regards,

Anand Manikutty

Short message to Mr. Srikumar V.R.

I want to post below a recent message I will be sending to my friend Mr. V. R. Srikumar (ex-IIT Madras, ex-IIM Kolkata).

This is just to highlight how KonektoCRM fills a real need in the CRM space.

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 Hey Srikumar! 😄

Remember that “not-so-great” CRM we were wrestling with back at MaxedS? Ha ha ha... I think I aged 3 years every time I tried to find a contact in it.

Well, I just finished architecting KonektoCRM—a CRM that doesn’t make you want to throw your laptop out the window. Let me know if you want to take it for a spin... purely for emotional healing from past CRM trauma. 😂

Hope all’s well!

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KonektoCRM: Not Just for Creators

 KonektoCRM: Not Just for Creators

On social media, I have introduced KonektoCRM—a new kind of customer relationship management tool I architected with creators in mind. Filmmakers, authors, educators, producers—anyone managing conversations, pitches, and collaborations. But here's something important I want to clarify:

KonektoCRM isn’t just for creators. It’s for anyone who manages interactions, relationships, or leads in a project-oriented or people-centric world.

Why start with creators? Because creative workflows are painfully underserved when it comes to smart, intuitive, modern software. If you're a creator, you're probably tracking ideas in Google Docs, WhatsApp chats, Notes apps, and maybe a half-filled Airtable. KonektoCRM brings that all together—structured, searchable, and sharable.

But the same applies to:

• Startup founders tracking investors and early adopters

• Any employee of a Fortune 100 or Fortune 500 company managing customers, opportunities clients and/or tasks.

• Consultants and advisors managing client pipelines

• Community managers coordinating outreach and partnerships

• NGO leaders recording volunteer tasks, grant applications, or impact reports

• Freelancers and agencies organizing client work across multiple domains

What matters isn’t the job title—it’s the need for structured optionality. That means the power to say, “This might be useful someday. Let me make a note.” And when “someday” comes, you're not digging through inboxes or sticky notes.

KonektoCRM includes:

✅ Clean interface
✅ HTML-formatted note-taking
✅ Action item and opportunity tracking
✅ Fast response times (yes, it loads quickly—no spinning wheels of doom)

So yes, I designed KonektoCRM with creators in mind—but I invite entrepreneurs, technologists, independent professionals, corporate employees, educators, and teams of all sizes to give it a spin.

CRM isn’t just about selling things. It’s about remembering things, organizing intent, and building bridges—whether to a client, a fan, a funder, or a future collaborator.

If you're interested in testing it early or exploring potential partnerships (including equity for early evangelists), feel free to reach out to Qwykr Support (teamqwykr@proton.me).

Let’s build the future of smart relationships—together.

—
Anand Manikutty
Author of Q City | Architect of KonektoCRM | Formerly @Oracle

A Personal Note of Thanks to Prof. Ashutosh Tewari, Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy and the Republicans

Some people you don’t just meet—you grok. That is, you understand them intuitively, at a level deeper than mere words. That’s how I felt in my correspondence with Prof. Ashutosh Tewari, Chair of Urology at Mount Sinai and, as many now know, father of Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy.

Our exchange was brief, but something about his tone—measured, and surprisingly human for someone navigating the twin tornadoes of high-level medicine and political proximity—struck a chord with me. He seemed like someone who had seen a great deal, and understood even more.

I’d also like to thank Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy, someone I’ve come to respect for his clarity, audacity, and willingness to speak into uncomfortable spaces. You don’t have to agree with someone 100% to recognize strength of conviction—and Vivek has it. I admire how he’s carved his path through biotech, business, and now public life without shedding the sharp edges that make him distinct. He reminds me of the sort of student who might argue passionately in class, but always with purpose—not noise.

And while we’re on the subject of public figures I grok, Mr. Donald Trump has always struck me as someone whose heart, at least in the context of India–Pakistan tensions, is in the right place. His view—that the conflict isn’t just recent or tactical, but abiding, rooted in centuries of hostility that can sometimes feel impossible to bridge—rings true. There’s a blunt, sometimes jarring clarity to that assessment. And oddly, it carries a certain compassion: an understanding that some wounds are deep enough to shape generations, and can’t be papered over with diplomatic small talk. That’s not fatalism—it’s realism. And in geopolitics, that matters. I might as well add here that my focus, generally speaking, is to avoid making enemies, if at all possible.

So, thank you, Prof. Tewari—for the note. Mr. Ramaswamy—for being unapologetically yourself. And Mr. Trump—for showing, in your own way, that peace is worth striving for, even when it seems out of reach. I’m not a urologist or a political insider—but I notice things, even if I don't agree with you people on all things political. (In any case, my focus over the years has always been policy and not politics).  

Gxis la revido! (Trans. : "Until later!")

Anand Manikutty
Author of Q City | Architect of KonektoCRM | Formerly @Oracle

A Personal Thank You From Me to Mr. Trump

Some people I grok almost immediately. For those unfamiliar with the term, grok—a word from Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land—means to understand someone so deeply that their thoughts, instincts, and motives feel almost second nature. Donald Trump is one of those people I grok. Elon Musk is another. If either of them were professors, I’d probably be the student emailing them with an idea or a disagreement—and most likely, we’d be having a spirited, respectful exchange by now.

That’s why, when Trump said he felt that India didn’t sufficiently appreciate his efforts to de-escalate tensions with Pakistan, I got it instantly. Not just intellectually, but viscerally. I had a similar reaction when J.D. Vance remarked that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had not shown enough gratitude for U.S. support. Having lived in America for a long time, I instinctively understood what he meant. If I were in Zelenskyy’s shoes, I would have said something like: “I’m sorry—I should have expressed my thanks right at the outset. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been grateful to America all along.” That would’ve been my reflex. It’s not about groveling—it’s about acknowledging support with grace. It’s just a few words strung together. It’s not money we’re talking about. It is absolutely an assumption on part of global media, including, of course, the venerable BBC that a nightclub comedian also somehow necessarily possesses the skillset to be the World's Greatest Dealmaker.

Despite how the media often paints him, I believe Trump can be reasoned with quite easily on almost any international issue. His assessments often cut through posturing and focus on what’s pragmatic. For instance, even when speaking about Syria’s new leadership, Trump avoided unnecessary disrespect. He doesn’t dismiss someone just because they’ve had a rough past—he judges them by their current stance and their potential as a partner. This isn’t softness; it’s practicality. And that’s something to admire. 

Personally, I’d love to ask him where his remarkable resolve comes from. That kind of stately resilience—through scandal, loss, relentless criticism—doesn’t just appear. And asking that kind of question sincerely is how you open doors in any negotiation. You might say: “Hey Donald, now that I’ve apologized, I want to ask you something. Where do you get your resilience? How did you recover after that assassination incident? And you know, I don’t want to bring up anything you’re not comfortable discussing—so if you’d rather not talk about it, that’s completely okay. But this is something my people would love to learn from you.” It is useful to keep in mind that Trump is a New Yorker and J.D. Vance is from the Appalachian Midwest. Instinctively, I deal with individuals with these two profiles differently.

By acknowledging others as people—as individuals with feelings, with histories, with depths—you help them relax. You allow them to be themselves. And that’s when dialogue becomes meaningful. So here it is: my personal thank you to Mr. Trump. For showing up when it mattered. For trying to make peace when it was hard. And for being someone I can genuinely say I grok.

And if any political entity wants help with messaging, I can definitely help. For an appropriate fee, of course, lol, jk. And, yes, I am really good at letting people who are doing the right thing know that they are doing the right thing, lol.

A Simple Thank You to Mr. Trump Would Have Gone a Long Way

When tensions flared between India and Pakistan, many around the world held their breath. It was a delicate situation, and any misstep could have had grave consequences. At that critical moment, then-U.S. President Donald Trump stepped in—not with force, but with diplomacy. His intervention helped cool down a potentially explosive conflict. Regardless of one's politics, this was a noteworthy contribution to peace and stability in the region.

And yet, from the Indian establishment, there was a conspicuous silence. Trump, characteristically forthright, later remarked that he felt India hadn’t shown enough appreciation for his efforts. While some may dismiss that as ego, I find it quite understandable. Gratitude is not a weakness. A simple acknowledgment—publicly or diplomatically—could have signaled goodwill, maturity, and respect for a gesture that was ultimately in India’s own interest.

After all, he wasn’t asking for money or concessions—just a “thank you.” That’s not a tall order. Leaders, like the rest of us, want to feel that their efforts are seen and valued. In international diplomacy, such small courtesies matter. As someone who resonates with Trump’s blunt and transactional style, I see his point clearly. More than that—I understand the way he thinks extremely well. When he says he doesn’t "want to hurt anyone," he actually means it—once you begin to understand the world as he does. A few words of appreciation might have gone a long way toward strengthening the relationship between two powerful democracies.

Indeed, if there’s one thing I can say with confidence, it’s that I understand people.

Inkredebla

A message from Qwykr Technologies is posted below.

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What needs to be said about the Trump tariffs that has not already been said? 

I read an article today on MSN.com with Ray Dalio himself warning about the United States sliding into a 'recession' or 'worse'.

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest Hedge funds, recently issued a stark warning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” show, cautioning that the American economy is teethering on the edge of a recession—or may be potentially something worse—if the current economic policies are mishandled. Dalio, who accurately predicted the 2008 financial crisis, pointed to President Trump’s aggressive tariff policies as a major destabilizing force.

I will say it again, and this time in Esperanto:

La tarifoj estas malbona ideo. Ili estas terura politika instrumento.

A direct appeal to Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage is all that is needed. How did Atanu not see something like this coming?

Dalio's analogy of it being similar to "throwing rocks into the production system" is quite accurate.

Dalio criticized the chaotic implementation of Trump’s tariffs, aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturing and jobs, likening their impact to “throwing rocks into the production system.” He emphasized that the difference between a “stable” and “disruptive” approach to tariffs could determine whether the economy weathers the storm or plunges into chaos.

How did Atanu not see something like this happening?

Inkredebla! (Trans. : "Unbelievable!")

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I personally don't want to get involved in political debates this week, involving the current administration as far as possible. I also don't want to get personally involved this month also if possible, lol.

En la Studio kun Prof. Devi Sridhar

On Pronunciation, Presentation, and the Right Kind of Guidance

I recently came across an Instagram video by Prof. Devi Sridhar, where she’s in a studio talking about how the producer gives her tips on pronunciation and delivery. Interestingly, she even pronounces the word “adult” in two different ways—something that really caught my attention.

What struck me is that I’ve been thinking about this kind of thing too. The way we speak—especially in public or professional settings—is shaped by a whole web of factors: regional accents, audience expectations, even the medium we’re speaking in. And getting all of this right isn't quick or automatic. It takes time, attention, and, more often than not, the right kind of support.

That’s why having a producer, coach, or someone experienced to guide your presentation can make such a difference. Whether it's refining pronunciation or just helping you come across more clearly, these details matter more than we often realize. 

I am saying all this because I am thinking of similar issues, as I am also at the same time as Devi Sridhar, also thinking about production quality, et cetera.

Here’s the post I’m referring to:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Devi Sridhar (@profdevisridhar)

Dua Longa Afisxo - Message for the movie maker Lakshmi Iyer

 

🎬 Message for Lakshmi Iyer (Part 2): On Budget, Vision, and the Magic of Collaboration

Hi again Lakshmi,

I wanted to share a quick follow-up to my earlier message, just to clarify a few things that might help frame the context better.

The projects I’m working on — particularly the short films — are currently being funded out of my personal resources, so the budget is modest. We’re not talking about full-length feature films or large-scale productions here — just short-format creative pieces that explore some powerful ideas in a compelling, accessible way.

That said, I’m acutely aware of how much of a difference it makes when a film is crafted by someone with real experience and artistic vision. A short film made by someone outside the industry can be well-meaning but amateurish — while a short film shaped by a real filmmaker can transform the same material into something truly special.

That’s where your potential involvement becomes so exciting.

With your name and touch, these short films could go from thoughtful side projects to impactful cultural pieces — and possibly even something widely noticed. I mentioned earlier that one of the videos will likely be retweeted by Shashi Tharoor, which could immediately give it hundreds of thousands of views. And beyond numbers, the right creative partnership could take these ideas — philosophical, political, and technological — into realms we can’t yet predict.

Who knows? One of these pieces could be the spark that brings not just attention, but lasting recognition. Maybe even make you famous in a different, unexpected dimension.

If this resonates with you and you’re curious to explore more, I’d be very happy to discuss — especially while you’re still in Bangalore.

Warmly,

Anand

Longa Afisxo - Message for Lakshmi Iyer

 Longa Afisxo - Message for Lakshmi Iyer

Hi! I’m Anand Manikutty. I'm the founder of Qwykr Technologies, where we develop innovative tools and ideas at the intersection of tech, society, and thought.

One of the key technologies we have developed is RALPH, a literacy-support technology aimed at improving reading and comprehension. Alongside this, I've developed a new Theory of Political Science,. In addition, I have also developed a brand new Philosophy that offers an alternative to classical systems like Advaita and Dvaita — as well as Western schools like Stoicism and Epicureanism. It’s called La Gxoia Filozofio and is about cultivating joy and resilience in a structured, thoughtful way.

In parallel, I’ve been looking into short films as a medium to bring these ideas to a wider audience. Through friends in the industry (some of whom are filmmakers or know directors), I’ve started assembling concepts for short, compelling pieces.

In one instance, I happened to correspond with Shashi Tharoor’s sister, and she mentioned that Shashi has agreed to retweet one of our upcoming videos — which means that even a modestly-budgeted film could get hundreds of thousands of views, just based on that visibility.

Funding for the initial project will come from my own resources. But given the nature of film, who is involved matters just as much as the content. That’s why I’m reaching out to experienced and respected voices like yours — your name alone would bring visibility and credibility.

I tend to work closely with all collaborators, and value deep discussion and shared vision. If this piques your interest, I’d be thrilled to explore possibilities together.