Blog, Bachchan, and Bachhe

Posted on August 16, 2008 by indra

>Any blogger must be craving for a lot of readership. As I keep on writing on varying subjects of my interests, I dobn’t expect many. And again many a times, my viewpoints are pretty harsh and caustic that many may not like. However, I always expect that those who like my views will try to pass on to their friends and then the cycle repeats. Thereby, a group of people of similar views may get established and grow.

Stories that are personal certainly will have only few to read. But I expect my dear ones to at least look into my blog to keep on updating about my mental direction or also to get some glimpses from my life.

As it appears there is at least one person who goes through my blog religiously. She is Shannon, my youngest daughter-in-law. I know it must be pretty difficult for her these days to find time, but perhaps that is her uniqueness. I get a heavenly pleasure when she asks or gets asked a question from inside the body of the entries.

I got a little sentimental when I went through in media about the concern of Abhishek Bachchan about his father’s blog.

What really gets him hassled is his father not writing his blog regularly. One Mandvi Sharma of Times News Network reported this story:

There is something that gets AB’s baby (Abhishek) upset – “when dad doesn’t write his blog,” Abhishek exclaims. “I want to wake up in the morning and log on to the blog. Just his talent for writing makes the blog an everyday part of my life. He is my father, so I know these things about him, but I love the way he writes. Even as a kid, he would teach me how to write essays and letters. For fans to get to know the workings of his mind, and that it’s been put across in writing, is wonderful.”

Shannon gets worried when she doesn’t find my entry, as I keep on writing something almost every day. Once she asked Anand to find out if it was all well with me here in India when she didn’t find my entries for few days. Anand replied, “Dad and mom must have quarreled so is the miss.” Shannon said, “No, when papa and mummy fights, papa puts in more entries.” Perhaps she had understood my mind better. When they narrated the story, both of us, myself and Yamuna laughed and got touched.

With so many whom you knew or know, hardly few try to understand you rightly. It’s difficult world and more difficult is the relationships. Words don’t express what one wishes to convey.

I am not a busy man. Big B is. Big B must have hundred and one reasons for not keeping the discipline of putting an entry in regularly. But I have none.

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Indra@69

Posted on August 14, 2008 by indra

God has been very kind to me. He has bestowed on me what was the best for me. What more I would have got: a supporting wife,three lovable sons, beautiful daughters-in-laws, and cute grand daughters and grand sons living near around each other sharing love and affections with each other in the best part of their dream country. And how can I forget the presence of some of those who love me and keep remembering me. And I am sure He will keep his kindness rain on me, and all around me till end.

And I pray ‘Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niraamayaah (May all be happy; May all be healthy) and let Him take me from ‘Tamso maa jyotirgamaya’ (from darkness to Light).

I do also remember, salute and pray on this day my grandfather who made me what I am.

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Ma.. Maya.. Maya Devi or Maya Memshahib: Carpet Bombing for PM Chair

Posted on August 14, 2008 by indra

It is nothing new. Since good old days, some elites, mostly of higher caste have made king out of commoner. As history tells, an enraged Brahmin Chanakya made the son of a low caste woman the first emperor of India in Patliputra.

And today again some are working with a missionary zeal to push Mayawati to the highest position of the country. There is nothing wrong in that, particularly in democracy. But can we evaluate Mayawati by the work done when she was the chief minister of the largest state of the country at least four times? I wish Mayawati had at least done some real grassroots level work to improve the education and skill levels of the downtrodden class too instead of just raising statues of Kansiram and making all members of her clan millionaires through her benevolence. Can she openly declare wherever she goes that all the children in the age group of 6-14 years in SC, and ST must attend school, and she will finance them till they keep on studying?

Last month’s trust vote benefited Mayawati the most. The egoist Karat with all his inferiority complex couldn’t debate and discuss the pros and cons with highly mature Man Mohan. Instead Karat with other leftists rushed to seek Mayawati on his side to defeat Man Mohan on a wrong issue. Mayawati and her sycophant lieutenants started working overtime to push her to the ultimate height. Unfortunately, by some fair and fowl means, Man Mohan won and the dream dashed.

Why is Mayawati in so much hurry? If the politics of India do not undergo some drastic restructuring, she will automatically get what she wants. Unfortunately, none of the national political parties have any charismatic leader who can hit at the core of the people’s heart and impress upon that they must make the national parties strong enough so that when in government it can take some necessary reforms to take the country ahead instead of wasting time in managing many odd allied parties headed by whimsical persons.

Advani is still not acceptable to Muslims neither to many Hindus too. Sonia’s charm is fading. Rahul is still to learn the tricks and prove. In such circumstances, Mayawati is working hard to reach her goal faster. With sarbajan she is trying to break her casteist image. Mishra, Akhilesh and now Natwar are trying to make her image transformed and acceptable to all social groups. According her enemies, Mayawati is interested in the projects such as Taj and Ganga Expressways that she can milk well. And she manipulated to choose the contractor of her choice such as JP Group. She is no more Manuwadi and aims to bring all caste Hindus in her fold. She is now kind to Krishna and has allotted Rs 250 crore to development of Mathura and Vrindavan. I wish one day she does something for Varanasi too.

Mayawati is also charming some media biggies to build her case. Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar writes, ‘The world will love Mayawati as PM‘. Prabhu Chawla has brought her on cover page of India Today and wrote the story, ‘Can She Rule India?‘

I don’t know what must be the ingredient of a prime minister? Is honesty and integrity essential or necessary? Should India go for a prime minister of Man Mohan Singh caliber who becomes victim of ultimate obedience or should India try Mayawati if she picks up the job properly and does justice by default? After all, if the country can tolerate Dev Gowda as Prime minister, why can’t it bear with Mayawati?

How does it matter if she is one with assets worth Rs 52 crores or multiple of it, all accumulated in four years, and the highest income tax payer among the politicians and that too out of the money her so-called bhaktas have donated? Will it make the politicians bolder to declare higher assets in affidavits for the next election? Will it lead to legislation by those who rule for themselves and by themselves to make them out of the reach of the judiciary?

Mayawati may be arrogant, crude, and even abusive, besides being corrupt. But who is not? Voters who matter have come from a social system where ‘uppari aamdani’ is respected and adored. She may hardly believe in internal democracy in party. But still she commands unparallel respect among her men and she will keep on getting it with a majority of deprived India. Mayawati is ambitious to the extreme. If Mulayam can build his hometown, why should Mayawati not do it better? I wish she could accommodate some great brains of India in her durbar, and they will love to do that. However, I don’t think she is comfortable with established celebrities and prefers sycophants as other politician community as whole does. Interestingly, she has now selected a successor too who is eighteen years younger to her in age.(“The name will be disclosed only when I am dead”.) But why’s that?

As Prabhu Chawla opines ‘with diminishing clout of the national parties, Mayawati may be a natural winner.’

I don’t know if I shall be able to see her ultimate rise (or political death).

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The Bunty Syndrome and Dhoni Effect

Posted on August 12, 2008 by indra

>

Top Moradabad Hotel and Bottom inside of Ludhiana resort

Have you heard of it? If you are pursuing ‘marketing’ as major subject for your MBA, or if you are in marketing job and wish to be heard by your peers and go fast ahead, you must know about it.

Last year I had been to Ludhiana and Moradabad. In Ludhiana, I stayed for the night with a family and my host took me to a restaurant. So far Moradabad is concerned we just passed through it and took our lunch in a hotel almost right on the road. Whatever, I saw in both places, I just couldn’t believe Bharat has gone so far and fast ahead. I can appreciate both the Bunty Syndrome and Dhoni Effect better. Perhaps the propounder of the syndrome and effect assume that all Indian households are familiar with both the names. For just refreshing those who may still get confused, let me remind that Bunty was the hero of the famous movie ‘Bunty and Bubli’ and Dhoni is the cricketer who has become icon of youngsters. Both came from small or tier II towns. “Bunty and Babli are popular names for boys and girls in small-town India.” Interestingly, my cousin Nirmal named younger son and daughter as Bunty and Bubli 15-16 years ago. Knowledge Wharton came out recently with this interesting paper.

Two related studies are: “The Bunty Syndrome,” by advertising agency Euro RSCG India in October 2007, and “The Dhoni Effect: Rise of Small Town India,” by Ernst & Young in March 2008.

According to the 2008 edition of the RK Swamy BBDO Guide to Market Planning, 51 districts in India have at least one town with a population of more than 500,000. Together, they have twice the market potential of the four metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata) combined.

According to a study by the Future Group, the Indian retailer, and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the ratio of spending to earning is higher in Tier II towns such as Nagpur, Jaipur, Surat and Coimbatore than it is in the metros. An earlier NCAER study, in 2004, had shown a higher percentage of the rich in Middle India than in some metros. For instance, the North Indian state of Haryana had a small-town crorepati density of 280. (Crorepati density is defined as the number of families who annually earn more than Rs1 crore — about $250,000 — per 1 million people.) The relative numbers for Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai were 180, 191 and 291, respectively.

The Bunty Syndrome study provides examples of how companies are adapting to the needs and demands of Middle India.

·Grasim, a brand of suits, through the message of “be self-made,” has saluted the “We’ll get there no matter what” spirit of the youth. The message is enhanced by the use of a celebrity (the actor Akshay Kumar) who has made a name for himself on his own in a field where relatives already in the profession are seen as a prerequisite for creating equity in the industry.

·Idea, a mobile-services brand, has propagated caste equality, while Tata Tea has tried to appeal to the young in Tier II cities with a call to “wake up to the issues.”

·Durables brand Voltas has challenged the monopoly of Korean brands in the air-conditioner space by projecting itself as “India’s own AC.”

·The concept of being able to give back to parents has been used to good effect by MasterCard and HDFC Bank.

The Dhoni Effect identifies a phenomenon where rapidly growing small towns of India are taking center stage.

Spending power moved from downtown Mumbai’s Marine Lines to the distant suburb of Malad many years ago. Now it is going further, to Madurai and Moradabad. And demands are different. One example: In the last few years, the male skin whitening category, which didn’t even exist a decade ago, has grown 150% annually to $100 million. Most of this growth has come from Middle India.

Of the 80 million households that constitute the Indian middle class, only 25 million are in Tier I cities. Close to 55 million belong to the smaller towns. Mercedes sells more cars in small-town Ludhiana than it does in Mumbai.

For products such as Vim Bar dishwashing detergent and Head & Shoulders shampoo, the Indian market easily absorbed price hikes of 13% and 18%, respectively, in 2007. Yet for years, candy manufacturers have been trying in vain to increase prices from 50p to Re 1. Value sensitivity, not price sensitivity, is the buzzword. And look at the Titan’s experience.

Last year Titan had a high-priced collection called Raga Crystals as part of its sub-brand Raga, which is aimed at women. This collection, which was studded with Swarovski crystals, was priced at around $200 at the top end of the range. We estimated a certain amount of sales, most of it from the metros. But when we actually introduced the product, we found that it was selling right down to smaller towns. “While the realities of the Middle India consumer may be different from the urban or metro consumer, his expectations and aspirations are the same,”

Is not India leapfrogging ahead?