IndianMaze

After the gloomy TV coverage that lasted full three days, we wanted to relax for a while and decided to have an evening out. My son was very quick to respond, " No five star, no crowded places, no food courts, no Connaught Place, no Karol Bagh...". I am left with the thought that how much quick learning happens amongst the youngsters. Absorption is immediate. My only hope is retention is not long lasting. This was also observed in a career counselling programme organised by a school on last Saturday and kids were clearly tarumatized by the exposure to terrorist attacks. One child said, "does it matter what I become? Life is very uncertain!" Another quipped "Why should we not become a politician to get rid of bad in society!" But for the intelligent counsellor who tackled these questions very effectively, kids would have taken wrong impressions and possibly started going down an undesirable path. What do parents do? Talk, talk and talk WITH the kids. Listen...

Reams of paper, scores of channels, 72 hrs of non stop coverage, paralysis by analysis. My only moment of self satisfaction. For the doer who claims no PR, coverage etc An anonymous NSG commando's response to "How difficult was the operation?" " हमारे लिए कुछ भी मुश्किल नहीं है " " Nothing is difficult for us" Of all the mantras, it is the spirit and confidence that makes a difference. Salute to the "doers"

Worst ever attack on Indian soil. Touching the soul of ordinary citizens. With bomb blasts, train blasts and now this attack I think not a single family is untouched by the tragedy for there is someone known who has suffered at the hand of terrorists in these cases. Panic is hitting the streets. One of the junior of a friend lost life today, two cops known to a close friend lost their lives. A freind's wife was in complete hysteria last night when she heard Taj attack and her husband being in Taj for a function. She could not even hear when he called to say that he was in Taj Land's End in Bandra and not in Colaba. She kept on yelling "come back, come back". There has been non stop coverage in all TV channels across the country. What was happening at one of the leading newspaper in the capital whose editor decided that this news is good for a byline and anchor story has to be on Delhi elections? Citizens - both directly and through media should start pushing the syste...

I had heard stories from my grandparents as to how people come together in difficult times. My granny's favourite was about 1962 war when the whole country was moved by the leadership and contributed to the cause of building the country. She also used to talk about people giving up land for building Bhakra Dam voluntarily and in many cases for no consideration. I also heard recently one industry leader talking about Indians rallying around a cause in difficult times. I was clearly moved with emotion when departmental people in my organisation came together and voluntarily agreed to cuts in expenditure to contribute in tough times. I wish and hope this is the case in other organisations as well. अब दिल्ली दूर नहीं With this spirit, we are not far from a turnaround.

I had visitors from hills over the last few days and my better half has been coaxing me to take them out for a lunch and show the marvels of Gurgaon, The MALLS. I have been avoiding it like plague as going on a sight seeing trip to a mall is not my cup of (green) tea. She warned me, "tomorrow is the last day that guests are here and under no circumstances I am gonna cook sunday lunch. Enough is enough, move your heavy body and take them to the largest mall in India with 1 km of shopping on each floor". I am still not sure whether the objective was to avoid cooking, being a guide to guests at home or a clear signal to exercise to be in shape. Like a student preparing for the competitive exams, I had no choice but to listen to Ma'am. After the customary drive, wait at the security at The Mall for about 10 minutes, queue of 14 cars before me to the B2 parking, I landed at the prized mall grinning like a kid who has found a box of sweets. One went through explaining Lladro, N...

Marriages are made in heaven and celebrated on earth. The timings appear to be rather odd. It has been reported that Delhi celebrated 17,000 weddings over the 4th weekend of Nov, 2008. I had the (mis)fortune of having 7 invites. All mandatory to attend. So it was a game of musical chairs and hours spent on the chaotic jammed roads of Delhi. Delhi farm houses with more than 100 food stalls at one end and 20 food stalls with at least three cuisines at the other end were decorated to meet the stringent demands of discerning friends and relatives for whom food is a yardstick of how good the marriage celebration is. Look at the recession time: The minimum guest arrangements were for 400 people and max for 2,000 people. On a little more probing, the food cost per head ranged from Rs 700 to Rs 2000 per person. Averages can be misleading but for the simplicity sake doing some basic maths Marriages 17,000 Guests@ 800 Food @ 1,000 Decoration@ 5,00,000 Jewellery@ 1,00,0...

Truth prevails is an old adage that seems to be losing its relevance in the current sentiments. Still I am confident that "Truth shall prevail". Hopefully, sooner than later. The case in point is the investor confidence in the stock market. Indian markets are aping the performance of the stock markets of developed world. In fact, the possible loss in indices is reasonably predictable in the last few weeks based on what happened on the previous day in Europe and US. Are the situations similar? Are Indian businesses facing the same situation as companies in western world? Are Indian corporate giants going bust like crackers in Diwali? Have companies of great repute and history in India have filed for bankruptcy? Has any company in India reported loss of sales (top line) in double digits and evaporation of profits? Slowdown yes. How bad is India? Is it comparable to West? It has baffled me as to how convenient has it been to be infected with "western sentiments" virus ...

I was very happy to see today's newspapers in the Capital. In particular I am referring to the supplement on Luxury goods with Business Standard mentioning that tough times are good for true luxury products. But the more interesting one is in ET mentioning restaurant sales up significantly in the last 1 week. I had mentioned these two sectors as possible gainers in the slowdown time in my post of 12th November http://indianmaze.blogspot.com/2008/11/downturn-who-are-gainers.html? Incidentally the same question came up in an interesting lunch over panchratna dal, sham savera..... What is bugging top managers at this stage was the hottest topic over lunch and surely fresh green chillies added to the discussions. More on that later when I have some more time at hand. It's off to routine chasing the long to do list of mine.

Are there buyers waiting to buy things with a waitlist of 4-6 months in the current times? Honda Hybrid's recent action and response both have left me with more questions than answers! A 38% discount leads to a jump in sales by 100 times (30 cars in 4 months vs 100 in 4 days) and that too for a future delivery to be completed by March 31, 2009. Takeouts - - Honda has been able to liquidate all the stocks imported into the market - will have these cars run on Indian roads and give complete inputs on the performance on an ongoing basis - tested the price elasticity for the car - a similar multipoint research would have costed at least 50 % of the cost incurred by this method (assuming hiring Booz or McKinsey or so) But are consumers buying it because it is "cheap" or "value for money" or because there is a hefty discount and so a great short term bargain to flaunt! Time will reveal what is the insight but I am keen to know. Comments welcome.

After a trip to the financial capital of India, Mumbai, I landed in the flashy city of Delhi. Of many people that I met and talked to in Mumbai, the discussion hovered around the difficulty faced by people in stock market, economic issues, tough times, tightening the belt, lay offs (declared and not declared), sectoral impact etc etc. In a nutshell "get into the shell for safety". Then I met Rajan S, a dear friend. I knew that he has lost a good more than 50% of his investments in stock market and was expecting a similar response that I witnessed in Mumbai. I was all set to ensure that I remain as balanced as possible. "Hi, welcome to my newly decorated home" he exclaimed. "I went and bought two easy chairs, 5 decorative pieces, 5 pairs of trousers for myself along with 5 shirts, kids wardrobe has been replenished, wifey has bought some sarees and suits and not to talk of new curtains; all in the last fortnight" he went non stop "there are such great ...

Few friends were drowning their sorrows in the respective preference of drinks at a club. This is usual but for the venue. Normally, these suited friends would be seen in the 5 Star bars and drinks would be Single Malts, Rose wines etc. Club menu offers limited choices and almost half the prices offered by 5 Star bars. Expected. The interesting bit was when one asked "what would people do when they want to save money but still pass time?" Opportunity strikes in most adverse circumstances. To cut a long story short, consensus was that people will spend more time socialising at home with families and friends and consume more food (part home cooked and part packaged/ordered from nearby restaurant) and consume more media. I sense an opportunity for TV channels (more time spent), magazines (more readership per copy and time spent), radio, video rentals. Does it mean more DVD players being sold? why not? Are creative guys working on it? Opportunity for more advertising?

Professional hazard - air travel is certainly one of the hazards. Travelling is considered as one of the high stress activities. However, it also has an aura of glamor and glitz amongst loads of people. What are the bases of selection of a flight by an executive - usual ones - schedule - punctuality - comfort (seat width, pitch etc) - food - "service" (it is black box to put anything and everything in there) not spoken about ones - mileage points - incentives - smarter/attractive pursers/hostesses But is there any customer delight....... I met Alan M on a flight from Delhi to Mumbai and got chatting on availability of alchohol on Indian domestic flights. Since all flights are "dry", I asked him as to what is the reason for chosing Kingfisher? Alan smiled, and then actually burst out in a loud laughter. He asked " Do you really want to hear the truth?" "Of course" was the prompt response. Alan came to India for the first time in October last year ...