Skip to main content

Vanishing act

I was on a drive to wilderness with my grown up children and they were amazed to see the change in the lifestyle just 100 kms from Delhi, a metropolitan city and we got talking about old times. Later I realised that old times have not been such old times at all. In the history a time of 25 years is not too much but still within the same time how much has changed.

It got me to sit uptight and count that how many things have kind of vanished from a metropolitan life in Delhi in the last 25 years. The list surprised me completely. Read for yourself ( in a random order)

- coal stove (अंगीठी )
- kerosene stove
- electric water heating rod
- mercury thermometer
- traditional weighing scales
- horse carts (तांगा )
- audio spools
- audio cassettes
- video cassettes
- floppy disks (of all sizes)
- fax machines
- film cameras
- photo processing labs
- wet photocopying machines
- carbon papers
- slates and chalk
-  rotary dial phones
- mechanical hand wound alarm clocks
- fresh milk
- small scale flour mills
- local biscuit maker
- sandwitch blades
- knife sharpeners
- hand woven sweaters
- custom stitched shirts/ trousers
- washing soap
- home made sweats
- steam engines
- snake charmers
- marriage albums
- post cards
- postal oders
- telegrams
- operator assisted long distance calls
- trunks (steel variety)
- marble playing (कंचे )
- गुल्ली डंडा  (sorry can't translate)
- masseur
- sewing machines at home
- home made butter

and I am sure there are many more but do I want to live all those nice memories and feel the void.....

ah no.

Yes I miss all that

But I am happy with what is available now.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The biggest concerns - how we tackle?

These days, there are two topics of discussion. One about the national security and issues related to it and second, economic scenario and its impacts on individuals (own and in the organisations they work in). Jobs are difficult to come by. Packages are not as great as they used to be. How do students in B schools etc tackle it: - toppers are more worried about how much money will they make - others are looking at beyond placement cells - companies that were shooed away till last year are being treated with great honour - some students have resorted to contacting their freinds, long lost uncles, relatives etc to seek a favour On talking to a few CXOs, it was clear that making contacts to seek favours actually works to the detriment of the candidate. They all agreed that people is the key concern for them to run a business. They clarify quickly that it is all about RIGHT PEOPLE. How many students are actually writing to the organisations specifically demonstrating how they can add val...
Post a Comment
Read more

Power of observation

Mr Topiwala observed his niece being very interested in dressing up. He engaged in a discussion and came to understand a pain point of large number of Indian women. Something that women are very passionate, possessive about and have a very strong emotional bond, almost unbreakable bond. He created a new product that solved a huge effort and a recurring problem. And this was a self sticking, in varying sizes and design and in colours preferred by women, red and maroon. Since its launch in 1985, the brand is a huge dominant one in the market. Almost synonymous with the category. Companies would envy such a dominance. Over the years many innovations were brought about like iodine enriched, dermatologically tested and many more. 'Shilpa' bindis. An amazing story of a dominant brand that solves a real problem through acute observation. Would love to know of more such stories. #bindingmachine   #observation   #consumerneed   #businessmaze   #indianmaze 204-1-20
Post a Comment
Read more

Mass market opportunities in India

Are there no opportunities in mass market in India? A friend asked me after reading my post on niche opportunities. And the answer is a good news. A large part of consumption in India is still at a commodity and hence, unbranded level. Early enough, brands like Paras in fertilizers (by then HLL) and Parachute in coconut oil (by then Bombay Oil) brought about rhe change by a packaging differentiation/innovation. In hindsight it might appear to be too mundane. Over the years many categories have created brands worth thousands of crores in edible oils, wheat flour (still in early stages), sugar (in infancy) and many others. One such category ripe for disruption is jaggery. Are you ready for it? Both as a consumer and as a business person? #massmarket   #indiabusiness   #indianmaze   #jaggery   #businessmaze   #branding   #hul   #marico 199-1-20
Post a Comment
Read more