IndianMaze

I must say that this mail has quite a bit of emotion in it. It was earlier in the week that I was awestruck with two bits of media information that I was exposed to. 1. Some person of reasonable responsibility in US administration mentioned (as reported in media) that for issuing pink slips, corporates must first target "foreigners". 2. In a hard hitting 1-on-1 interview, an experienced journo asked a very senior business magnate as to why his company is shrinking manpower in "West" and increasing in "East" or Chindia. Answers that business is shrinking in "West" and growing in "East" were completely brushed aside. At the same time is it not " immoral " (my interpretation from the interview) for the company to float subsidiaries in tax havens and, therefore, avoid paying tax to a "Western" country when the country needs all the money. Above two examples are from the countries that have been propagating the spirit of ...

The message was clear. US is facing a financial crisis. Americans need to contribute to get out of "conveniences". But the statements like "it will get worse before it gets better" without a timeline and references to a time of slavery etc are not comforting. American era may be ending faster than anticipated. Obama's inaugration speech was truly indicative of a man under pressure from the start. As any sportsman will confirm, it's all in the mind and followers just follow the leader and Obama has not set the bar high at all. My view is that it is heading south fast...... Contrast this with the situation in India. All that leaders are talking about is security and resolve to protect Indian at ANY COST. Economic issues are tackled with a view, yes it is a slowdown but we will still beONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD. No talk of worsening things, less spending by government. News headlines are all talking about shrinking bottomlines for profit and NOT LOSS issues....

It was a TV spectacle on Indian media as well. The stark difference was about the subtle message - Inauguration happened out in the open in front of hundreds of thousands people. Contrast this with Indian President/Prime Minister oath taking ceremony that is really grand in pomp and show but confined to a hall behind walls and in front of no more than a couple of hundred people. Yes, TV telecast happens but the message is not in the telecast. Also, the position is transferred at the designated time irrespective of the time of oath taking. It is another matter that outgoing team is sent off with dignity that seems absent in Indian case.

It is the sale season in the capital. All and sundry shops are showing big blown signs of "SALE". Customers run to get the bargains for all they wanted to buy. Somehow, sales on garments appear to be the biggest draw. There are many caveats to the sales. I spent good couple of hours trying to understand the psyche of "SALE" by outlets. As one shopkeeper mentioned to me, the key objectives of a sale are: - push non-moving stocks - push volumes - keep real discount levels low It is the 3rd point that got me intrigued and then I looked for what is actually happening. 1. Sale declares " upto 75% off SALE " Only about 10% goods are at the highest slab of discount. Almost 50% are on the lowest slab of discount which invariably is 20%. 30% of goods are not on sale. So the effective discount is 20%. 2. Buy 1 get 25%, Buy 2 get 1 free, buy 3 get 3 free. The hidden thing is that goods of higher price are billed and lower price are given free. Garments get sold o...

This post originated from the news item that shares of one company were offered to employees of another which happened to be a customer. The whole idea of appropriateness or otherwise of behaviour is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural fabric of the society. Different cultures view gifts very differently. In many parts of Asia, it is perfectly all right to give/accept a gift that is more like a souvenir and is not measured by the cost/value of the gift. This is more pronounced in Middle East where it is a part of culture to offer gifts that are not "cheap". Is an offer of a merchant banker to a fancy dinner (with Chateau Margeaux, caviar et al) or invite to a 18 hole golf course in Scotland with best of malts, salmon, Grouse shooting, fishing et al different from offering a Mont Blanc or Waterman to a business associate? Where does the thin line vanish differentiating a gift from a bribe? As is said in Indian mythology that everything that you see is a result of the context t...

Last few days have been Godsend for the economists who love to play the mind games. We have had amazing mixed signals, though the net effect is more sentimental than real. -ves - Satyam fraud - banning of many IT firms by World Bank (more on that in the next post) - strikes by transporters and oil industry officers +ves - better IIP numbers - lower inflation - higher credit offtake - announcement on infrastructure spending by government What is future holding for us is anybody's guess! I still maintain that India will be one of the quickest off the block from this downturn. I see a major positive outcome of the Satyam fraud as most organisations will clean up their balance sheets, if there are inaccuracies, and then going forward good news will be a real one. The euphoria being over, consolidation in various industries will bring in efficiencies. Shedding flab due to the circumstances will mean healthier businesses. A control on spending will ensure that investments will be put in ...

It was a usual day trip to another metro with early morning flight. The day did not start well and was feeling that I will miss my flight as morning scene at airports is busy, very busy. Anyways, after taking shortcuts and faster than normal speed, I arrived at the airport and was pleasantly surprised to see very little crowd. Walking into the checking in counter, I observed most counters bereft of passengers. I asked, "light flight?". Her answer shocked me in the economic downturn environment - "I am not complaining, it is less work for me." On the return the same evening, I arrived at the airport at the usual 75 minutes before flight and explored if I could take an earlier flight if available. The lady at the counter after punching in a few keys on computer responded; "I am sorry sir, usually you would have got it but thankfully after a long time we have flight going full. Why don't you rest in the business lounge as I see you came in the morning and must...

Shocked to hear the fraud committed in Satyam by its top management. What were auditors doing? Indian Enron? Are there more skeletons in the cupboard?

The time change appears very apparent, all of a sudden, around the new year. I woke up to the fact that I am on the other side of eighty and so on. On the first tuesday of the new year, my better half coaxed me out of slumber to get into some action and finish long pending chores. I reluctantly agreed and offered a cup of coffee to her if she accompanied me. She thought of it as a great gesture whereas my motive was to share the "workload" - selfish me! It is only after we got on the road we realised that today is "tuesday" and local malls are all closed in "Gurugram". Once out of slumber, I offered to go on an extended trip to the old market of "Sadar Bazaar". It was, as expected, a flood of experiences. Shops, more shops and even more shops interspersed with street hawkers and crowded with people. On the road a kilometer long, there are at least 1,000 shops, 400 hawkers and probably 10,000 people at that time. Range includes or rather extends f...