The online dating and mating game

Perfect Stranger has the gorgeous Halle Berry playing the part of an investigative journalist, Rowena Price. She gets her hands on a good story of a handsome, happily married senator, who is staunchly against gays but he himself is one - albeit still in the closet. And Rowena has pictures of him cavorting with his male interns and so ofcourse he manages to stop that story from being printed.

She goes off in a huff and quits the job but then finds herself quickly trailing another influential and wealthy man, Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) because she believes he lured her friend, Grace, to him via an online chat forum and they had a torrid weekend affair and he later dumps her. He then has her killed for blackmailing him about the affair...or so Rowena thinks.

Rowena gets on his tail but the truth is actually far from obvious. I didn't have too much of a problem with the script because there were a couple of red herrings that keeps the finger pointed away from the real killer, almost till the end.

But I don't understand why the director - James Foley - was shooting almost most scenes from below, where the audience gets too many views up Halle Berry's and Bruce Willis's nostrils. Not a good camera angle. Besides there were gratuitous scenes of nudity that the script just didn't require.

Everyone knows Halle Berry's got one of the best bodies on this planet and no one is really disputing it so there was really no need for a scene where she's looking through her lingerie drawer, while being stark naked. (Don't go rushing to see the movie for this scene because she's not facing the camera!). This scene just didn't need to be there.

Some actresses don't take care, over how they dress on screen, despite the enormous budgets allotted to precisely that - dressing them up. (See Meg Ryan in 'Proof of Life' and you'll know exactly what I mean...in a lot of scenes, she has not even bothered to wear a bra.) But Halle Berry looks hot in almost everything she wears and she (or her stylist) have picked good clothes that make her look stunning. Ofcourse, Berry is a very good dresser in reality as well.

Here again, in the world of a Hollywood film, office-goers working for an advertising agency all dress as if they are readying for a photo shoot. But, I guess we are willing to forgive because even the extras look good in their figure-hugging leather pants and coordinated jewellery and makeup.

All in all, it's a film that I wouldn't watch twice..but it does highlight the dangers of the online dating and mating game. You truly don't know who is the one you are chatting with anonymously in a chat room....these perfect strangers could become life partners or completely wreck lives. So, that's a message that screams loud and clear in this movie.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Dixit charms in 'Aaja Nachle'

This movie is the gorgeous Madhuri Dixit's comeback movie after her marriage and two kids. And time hasn't marred her beauty - just like wine she's become better with age. And her dancing skills seem unmatched. She's poetry in motion and that beautiful smile of hers lights up the silver screen.

She plays Diya, a New York based choreographer who comes back to her hometown Shamli, after her guru dies to save his institution - Ajanta - being torn down to make place for a shopping mall. She comes back to save her roots and also to find herself again because she gave all this up to elope and get married to a foreigner. Her parents leave Shamli because of the taunts of their neighbours and her teacher loses all his students because the other parents are scared their daughters will do what she did.

But Diya is one of a kind. A small town girl with guts to follow her own heart and the will to make a success of her life despite her marriage breaking down in the US. She comes back with her daughter, Radha, and takes on the narrow-mindedness of her hometown. She has to fight a local politician, a local businessman who wants to build the mall (Irffan Khan) and win a bet with the local 'raja' (Akshaye Khanna), whose family has owned that open-air theatre for generations, and now it's up to him to either let it remain a theatre or give it to the government to build the mall.

How she does rescue Ajanta is the plot of the film and you have to watch it to really see her work her magic on Shamli's residents and us - the audience. She's bold, modern, broadminded and just the right person her guru chooses to rescue his school. Does she succeed? Ofcourse she does...this is a Hindi film after all. But it doesn't look easy and even she has her doubts but that's just what makes the film so likeable and believeable.

Watch it for Madhuri Dixit. She makes acting look so effortless because she's so good at it - the other actresses better wake up!

Written for www.newsgaze.com

Bridal Boutique

Are you getting married and thinking of putting together your trousseau? This is the exciting bit for most brides - but where does one go to shop for hi-end ethnic wear. Sure, there are designers like Ritu Beri and Ritu Kumar and ofcourse Tarun Tahiliani but sometimes even their prêt lines may be out of reach of the upper middle class budget.

So, there is a great new alternative option – a store called Kalki which has opened just over a month ago in Worli. This store is the first retail store of Suarabhakti Goods Pvt Ltd, who are into exporting and importing textiles. This store showcases those textiles as finished products.

While materials like georgette, chiffon and velvet can be bought for Rs 2,000 onwards, the readymade salwar-kameez suits in unique colours (like mustard yellow) and with gorgeous hand-work, start from Rs 5,000 onward.

The store also has wedding saris going all the way up to Rs 60,000 and I saw a lady trying on one made out of dark green velvet with silver embroidery on it and it looked stunning. That’s because though the store does have four trial rooms, it also has an upraised ‘stage’ kind of area in a corner, where wannabe brides get help to drape their sari and model it for their loved ones in front of a mirror.

The store also custom dyes a fabric for you. For instance, if you like a certain fabric and the texture but want it in another colour, then they do it for you.

The store also stocks some Indo-Western tops and tunics but the range is limited, though the owner has promised to bring in more variety this Christmas season.

The store also has a small accessories range - like heavy ‘jhumka’ type earrings, tiny hand mirrors and elaborate jewellery boxes and embroidered cloth bags. Though the selection is limited, it is great quality stuff. The jewellery boxes, especially, are beautifully done up and look good enough to gift away by themselves. You can put chocolates and even a bottle of champagne in some of them!

So, do step into this store and add colour and fizz to your celebrations.

Details

Store name: Kalki

Address: 227, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai – 400025

Tel no: 91-22-24912361

Fax: 91-22-24912362

e-mail: info@kalki.co.in

Read classics free of cost!

Going online to do research for your projects or to check on new hairstyle trends is not the only reason you should be doing your internet surfing. Well, try to make it more varied and less need-based. Meaning? How about just letting yourself go with a good book – an e-book to be more precise.

If you find you are way behind in your reading of the classics, then this is just the site for you. Check out www.online-literature.com. There are complete works - including some which you never see in print - of 260 authors and 2,260 complete books have been scanned and posted on this site. There are also 3,664 poems and short stories as well to chose from.

A detailed biographical sketch accompanies all the authors and you can even post your own quiz, of any novel that you may have read. A related and very useful link takes an explorer of this site to the Essay Archive site which has access to some 35,000 term papers.

This link makes for a great study tool as well. Imagine finding critical essays on existentialism and Jacques Derrida’s surreal influence on a writer. This is the place for just that kind of plagiarism. I wouldn’t advocate it ofcourse, but then there is so much to tempt you!

Go to this site and relish the caustic wit of George Eliot with a dash of Alexandre Dumas’s mysterious romances. Or if you prefer bland but never dull Charles Dickens with mischievous E Nesbitt novels, then this is just the site to wander….and get lost in.

A nice touch that has been added is that you can order a CD of any of the authors and gift it to someone. At the moment though, the site claims to have just put 268 titles onto CDs and no short stories and poems are available. But what is available is a great resource, which is already a vast repository of more words than most people read in a lifetime anyway.

So, begin your journey ..one word at a time.

Ticking Conscience

Death is divine.
Everywhere abounds its spectral presence.
To doomsday, mankind is hurled.
Racing along to collective paralysis;
of mind, matter and soul.
Youth; de-sensitized to the gift of life,
awake to the demons of war.
Lets rivers of blood overflow.
Loathes any voice of sanity
that seek to dam(n) it
But like the furies of nature;
I shall plant the seeds of endurance and
nurture any hope of salvation.
Else, birth ends in exalted annhilation.

A woman's touch

If you've ever taken your car to a garage, it's quite possible that you have not spent much time admiring the mechanic's skills. But Namita Chibba stands out because she practices those skills and is one of the few women willing to get down and dirty under the chassis of a car.

However she isn't out to ruffle feathers and she told CNBC-TV18, "I'm a normal Indian woman. I live in a joint family with 12-13 people. I have a husband and two kids to take care of. If they haven't complained, it's obvious I'm taking good care of them. It's just my work that's different."

She is a doting mother to nine year old Arjun and four year old Aaliya. They could be just another content, middle class family but for Namita's unusual choice of career. She says, "The garage is my second home. I feel lost if I don't work here. I was married and on the verge of becoming a mother. I worked in the garage till the last moment, despite everybody advising against it. And I went straight to the labour room from here."

That's a braveheart for you. After all, it is not only about doing battle but also about being a trendsetter - being the first to do something different and that's what Namita has done. She is one of India's very few women mechanics. A philosophy graduate from Delhi's LSR college, she handled the accounts in her father's garage. But before she knew it, she was running the garage itself. She may have earned her stripes on the job. But new customers are still pleasantly shocked.

She agrees, "Many customers are surprised to see a girl here. They think I'm just here to hang around the garage or be with my dad. And when someone tells them that I'm running the show, they're very surprised. But usually they are happy with the work."



She adds, "In real terms, almost anyone can do anything. I consider changing a tyre a very minor thing. Women should know how to do it themselves. Even a loose terminal is a minor thing. All you have to do is hit it with a stone and your car starts up. So these kinds of things I don't think you should wait and say this is a man's job."

Namita doesn't just handle modern day beauties, her garage's speciality is dealing with vintage cars. Namita has always had a way with them. Withered metal comes alive under her care and ancient, stately beauties start sparkling again because she spends hours together on each car. If she can't find or make the parts herself, she has them flown down from London.

She explains, "Most of these cars are abandoned, until some car lover recovers them. One car came to us in cartons and we searched on the net and built it back, part by part."

It's such passion that's kept Namita going for almost 15 years. Her family is supportive enough not to complain and her husband, Vikram Chibba is proud of his wife. He elaborates, "I'm proud to have my wife work as a mechanic. I have a fleet of cars and it gives me peace of mind to know they won't be manhandled by someone who doesn't love them. And I know I won't be overcharged!"

So, if you are a typical male who is still living in the Jurassic Age and think women are dumb when it comes to cars, then Namita Chibb will set you right. Do any of you know what valve tappets, a wheel camber, or steering play and gear linkages are? Well she does and knows how to take it apart and put it back together again.


Picture is representational

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Future art maestros to watch out for

If you want to have some art on the walls that makes your home look great and also makes an impression because it spells 'money' very clearly, then there is only one thing to do.

Buy the right kind of art. This means that you consciously buy artists who may not be big names today but are sure going to be talked about in the future.

Not all people who like art are savvy about the Indian art scene and that's no crime. But buying in haste because some gallery is trying to palm off some inferior artist who they claim is the next Tyeb Mehta is a big faux pas!

So, want to know which artists to look out for. Well, here I'll give out the secret list of names according to sources at Tao Art Gallery...

Vijay Shinde, Anwar, Sujata, Yusuf, Yogesh Rawal, Heeral Trivedi, Venkatesh Pate, Justin Ponmany and Chintan Upadhyay.

Now, that you know which artist to look out for...happy investing in art!

Picture is representational

Written for www.newsgaze.com

The Bourne Ultimatum

The latest Bourne film called 'The Bourne Ultimatum' has Matt Damon reprising his role of CIA officer Jason Bourne. His character has spent the last three years running away from himself because he doesn't recall who he really is... and why he was programmed to become some kind of a killing machine. Then there is the desire to take revenge for his girlfriend who was killed in India (in the previous film, for which Damon came to Goa to shoot.)

This movie - the third one in the Bourne series - is about Jason going in search of his true identity and a operation called Blackbriar, of which he has the dubious honour of being the first graduate. Telling you anymore would be giving away the entire plot but the movie is fast paced. After a while you get breathless watching him zip across Madrid, England and Africa all in the space of 45 minutes.

But it's a great world tour and Tangier, where some of the action has been filmed is really a place worth visiting - it's narrow bazaar lanes, white-washed houses and mosaic flecked buildings made for some good chase scenes. It can take second prize after the one Daniel Craig did in Casino Royale.



Another reason, you get a sense of immediacy and as if you are actually participating in the film is because a lot of the scenes where he is being chased or he's driving away from people who are chasing him is done with cameras are that almost placed on Matt Damon's lap or in his pocket - atleast it feels that way. So, when cars come and smash into his car, you can expect to go wide-eyed and say 'oh God I'm dead!" But of course, Bourne makes it through everything - even when he drives a car off the roof of a building!

While Bourne uncovers some truths about himself, he is doing it at the expense of people who want to hide their own involvement. So, there is plenty of killing to get rid of people who know too much, plenty of scope for double-crossing and of course the whole movie is about men trying to cover their ass after playing God with other people's lives.

Then there is the great way how technology can be used (or misused) to keep an eye on people halfway across the world via surveillance cameras, internet, satellites, mobile phones being tapped, text messages being intercepted. The way people are plugged into the technological network these days, this is an inevitable result.

I found the ending a little tame and predictable and the director has left the ending open for yet another sequel... But if a well made, slightly thin on the plot, slam-bam movie is what you want to watch this weekend, then go for this one.

Written for www.newsgaze.com

Serigraph exhibition of great artists

The season of wet, mucky roads is still with us so, what does one do for amusement? Well, try art exhibitions for a change. Visiting them can enrich your knowledge of art. There are many exhibitions happening throughout the city and it's a good way to educate yourself and spend quality time indoors - out of the rain.

One such art show is on at the Tao Art Gallery at Worli till September 14, from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm. It's displaying serigraphs by noted artists like SH Raza, Madhavi Parekh, Jogen Chowdhury among others.

There is a colourful series of paintings called 'Telangana People' done by Vaikuntam. These paintings are done in rich, bold colours which complements the dusky hues of the skin tone of the South Indians depicted in the works. The smooth brush strokes just about mirrors the clear complexions of most village folk, in reality.

Raza's famour 'bindi' series is also up for display. His fascination with the round 'tikka' that is sported by most married women is now legendary. The artist has found so many layers of meaning in this symbol of matrimony - for him it embodies eternity, and is also a metaphor for mother earth and her everlasting influence on mankind and her timeless significance.

Then there was Chowdhury's 'Nandi' series with blue cows frolicking with women in water and generally being comfortable with human contact. The paintings were addressing the idea that people and animals benefit from tender, loving care, equally. So, one painting titled 'Nandi Cure' actually shows a vivid blue cow licking a human leg with veneration and affection.

But to each his own, so, one can walk away from this exhibition with your own interpretations and that's the real charm.

A catalogue is also available of 15 of the serigraphs for Rs 15,000.

Written for www.newsgaze.com

Key ingredients of McDonald's success

It's part of the American landscape and a global icon and it has been 50 years in the making. McDonald's attracts 15 million customers a day, and has 31,000 stores in over 118 countries. So, how did McDonald's get this big and how profitable can a franchise be?

A visionary named Ray Kroc made a few hamburger stands into a food empire. Back then hamburgers were sold for 15 cents and French fries for 10 cents. Today, this giant makes $41 million in revenue.

Ray Kroc tapped into the drive and ambition of the individual store owners. But his success started when he realised what a rage drive-in restaurants were in Southern California in the 1950s, especially those run by the McDonald brothers. But Dick McDonald knew that customers were looking for even faster service. After all this was a country that was entering the jet propulsion age.

They sped up the process by dropping most of the things from the menu like root beer and orangeade and copying a factory assembly line. So, they retained the big moneymakers and these were the fries, cheeseburgers and milkshakes, which were then put on an effiicient production line. They reopened after this revamp and they began to get sales clerks, cab drivers and construction workers, who wanted their food fast and here they got that.

At that time, Ray Kroc was selling multi-mixers that could make five milkshakes at once and he got an order from the McDonald brothers for eight such machines. Kroc had never received such a large order from one place before, so, he went to check out the place and that was when history was made. He signed a contract with them to be an exclusive franchise representative.

In 1960, Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers and it first went public in 1965. The very next day, Ray Kroc became a millionaire.

McJobs
Back in the 1950s, you could open a McDonald's with $30,000. Today, ofcourse, it could cost a million dollars or more to buy a McDonald's franchise. But working at McDonald's can be thought of as a low paying 'Mcjob' with a staggering turnover. A McDonald's manager can earn $100,000 or more and soon they can move on to having their own store and becoming a millionaire - just like the store owner they first began working for.

Tyron Davis is one such manager and he's all set to own his own franchise and he knows how to work the ropes to keep them happy and coming back for more. He cheerfully oversees the other employees, offers a refund because a customer waited for his food and ofcourse, just knows that the restrooms have got to be clean - or the customers won't come back again.

It's this efficiency which has made McDonald's bigger and more efficient than any of its competitors. Financially, McDonald's is soaring with annual revenues of more than $21 billion but that's a major turnaround from where the company was a couple of years ago.

Chief Executive Officer, McDonald's, Jim Skinner told CNBC, "I call the year 2002 the 'year of the perfect storm', where all of ths strategies I was pursuing - we hit the wall with our growth strategy in 2002." This strategy included opening more than 2,000 restaurants a year. It was unsustainable. Skinner recalls, "We invested $4 billion in new store growth over the last 3-4 years. There was no incremental growth. So, that was a formula for failure."

Customers were not finding happy meals, but instead they found dirty stores, cold food and a detached staff. On Main Street, McDonald's was out of favour and on Wall Street, McDonald's stock was getting hammered. So, executives woke up to pull up their socks and clean up their act in their existing facilities. They knew they had to concentrate on cleanliness and better quality service. The kitchens were revamped and sandwiches were no longer stockpiled but were instead made-to-order.

They added more chicken and salads to reflect the evolving taste. They spent less time building more stores and more time focusing on the ones they had. But in the middle of this turnaround, McDonald's weathered a double blow - in a span of seven months - the company went through two CEOs because one keeled over and died of a heart attack at a McDonald's convention and his successor died a few months later due to cancer. Skinner was the third one to step up to bat.

But change was in the air and work on bringing customers back was on in full force. So, McDonald's added a line of premium coffees which lured people back from Starbucks. People started coming back for breakfast as well, which is huge for McDonald's as it brings in almost a quarter of a dollar.

Culinary journey
Getting back on track has been good news for the company. And some franchise owners have also been the reason for this success in the past. Just like the clown, Ronald McDonald is now the ubquitous mascot of the golden arches - it was also the idea of a Washington-based franchise owner.

Sometimes, even menus have been tweaked to suit local tastes as Lou Grone did. His store was in a Catholic neighbourhood in Cincinatti and there was nothing for them to eat on meatless Fridays. So, he got the idea to introduce fish sandwiches, which Kroc opposed because he said it would stink up the restaurant.

Instead he suggested a hula sandwich - an exotic sandwich made up of a slice of pineapple grilled in butter, placed in between slices of cheddar cheese in a toasted bun or bread. Then the crowds of Cincinatti were allowed to judge which they wanted. Guess which won? Filet-o-fish was the first new addition to the menu.

But today, the reason McDonald's is such a success is because of the great new additions made by McDonald's 'Culinary Innovation' department which introduced the scrumptious Fruit-n-Yoghurt Parfait or the healthier Southwest salad. All of this has been under the direction of Chef Dan Coudreaut, who graduated at the top of his class from the Culinary Institute of America and has worked for many top notch restaurants, including the Four Seasons Resorts.

Coudreaut knows that people think of McDonald's as being synoymous with burgers and fries, so, they have been slow to notice the parfait, the salads and the triple thick milkshakes in different flavours. But he admits to being looked up to as a big hero by five and seven year olds!

Every item goes through intense scrutiny and an exquisitely detailed development process. Each year, some 1,800 menu ideas are tossed around in Coudreaut's kitchen. Only 3-4 make to the store and by the time a product reaches the menu, it has gone through more than 200 tests and has been years in the making.

Even their coffees undergo this scrutiny. McDonald's sells more than two million cups of hot coffee each day in the US. They have recently added gourmet coffee to their lineup. In the test kitchen, each new flavour is analysed and deconstructed by refined palates.

Fast food or fatty food?

All this is well and good but their portions have just got bigger and critics are blaming McDonald's for the increasing number of obese children in the US. A big mac, big fries and a large Coke equals 1,430 calories and 59 grammes of fat. Their double quarter pound burger has 500% more hamburger meat and their largest size fries has increased 250%. McDonald's products are easily available, cheap and tasty and that has led to obesity. Since the 1960s, obesity in adolescents, children and adults has more than tripled. Today, more than nine million children in the US are obese.

Skinner, though, says that people don't eat often enough at a McDonald's, for it to be blamed and there are lot of healthy options to chose from.

But Professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, Mary Ann Nestle says this kind of food can lead to a rise in blood pressure, blood sugar, cholestrol and weight gain.

There is a growing movement fuelled by scientists and city and state governments that requires McDonald's and other fast food chains to state the number of calories right up on the menu board. But McDonald's is fighting back hard and joined a lawsuit to block the regulation (that New York restaurants should list calories). Now with the issue of transfats being in the news, it will most likely keep the spotlight on fast food chains like McDonald's.

Thought Skinner does say that he wants to be part of the solution and will put McDonald's power behind any solution that comes up. With more that half of its stores in foreign countries, McDonald's has long since given up counting how many burgers it has sold. But it is counting on the golden arches spreading across the globe, generating more fries, visibility, income.. and possibly more controversy as well.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

A journey of a lifetime

This man has a heritage souvenir sitting on his property. It's not a statue or even a restored home. He does have 18 beautifully restored vintage cars but more than that, what catches a visitor's eye is the train in the green shed.

A train with wonderfully cared for coaches nestles in Tarun Thakral's garden, on his property in the outskirts of Delhi. He's maintained the interiors the way it used to be when the Jodhpur royal family used to travel and entertain in it. He got started when he went abroad for two years to do his MBA and he saw people spending a lot of time pursuing their passions.

He told CNBC-TV18, "When I came back, I met a guy who took me through Rajasthan and I started collecting old gramaphones and record players and suddenly I came across a car - a 1932 Chevy. That's triggered off my collection of cars."

But with vintage cars being collected by most car lovers with money and taste, Thakral decided to buy a saloon. The train is 75 feet long and weighs 30 tonnes and made of Burma teak. This 1930s train belonged to the the Maharaja of Jodhpur and was built in England. The train has ferried royalty and their privileged guests in luxurious comfort.

A train is hardly your ordinary garden ornament, so how did Thakral find it and restore it? Thakral says, "I read in a magazine that in the UK and the US, people have converted old railway carriages into weekend retreats and even hotels. So I wrote to the Indian Railways asking if there was a provision of selling a old rail saloon."

"Initially, the railways were very surprised. They still couldn't figure out why I was buying it. So there was a bond which I was supposed to fill and give it to the authorities, which said that it was going to be restored and used as a personal saloon only. I can proudly say that I'm the first person the Indian Railways has sold a train to an indiviual per se. They have earlier discarded them all as scrap."

That was the easy part, but then came the difficult proposition. He recalls, "The second big task was getting the wagon from Ajmer to Delhi. It costed me a fortune and yet it was some king of a mechanical or engineering feat to move a full carriage made out of wood, which could be damaged at any time. To transport it, we needed a huge Volvo trailer and two huge cranes were needed to lift the entire saloon and park it in my place."

The furnishing and the intricate work on the ceiling and the inlaid panels on the saloon's walls have been restored to its original glory. The Princess of Bikaner helped in the project by picking the artisans herself. There is room on the train to live and party in.

A stylish living room to party the nights away and a comfortable master bedroom ensures peaceful sleep. A spanking new kitchen makes this a self-sustained home away from home. Thakral's children and their friends can have camp nights out in an unusual style. After all, not even the Ambani kids can boast of inviting friends to spend a night on a private train.

That's called living life maharaja-style, in these modern times.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

He is jiggying with cartoon characters

He is a musician at heart, an artist by night, a designer by accident and an author by will. That is Jiggy George for you, the man with several talents who believes in doing a lot of the things he loves. His colourful career began at Zodiac Apparel, where he was made to design socks!

Soon he got bored and decided to team up with brother Gogi George to promote live musical gigs. Their big break was getting Bon Jovi to Mumbai. After a short stint at being an entrepreneur, he decided to gives sales and marketing a shot.

At 34, he is now the Director of Cartoon Network Enterprises, India and South Asia and this Welingkar Institute alumni is putting a lot of those marketing strategies that was crammed into his head, to good use.

George told CNBC-TV18, "Just after graduation, I was going through with this 'I still haven't found what I am looking for' phase. I always knew there was a part of me that loved the Arts and there was a part of me that knew sales and marketing and business. So after Zodiac Apparel, I joined my brother's event management company."

"My brother's company was doing things like corporate parties, Independence Rock and the project on which I worked was a big one - bringing Bon Jovi down to India. That is when I moved into the first leg of business. After this, I moved to Times of India where I did a full fledged sales job, in different departments within the sales team, for about three years."

Then Cartoon Network happened to him. A strong believer in promotional licensing, he hopes to give Cartoon Network's portfolio of characters a life beyond their shows. So there are interesting tie-ups with the usual, FMCG companies and kids brands like Frito and Cadbury and some unusual partnerships, like the one they have with BPCL. Merchandising will also be a serious revenue stream for the company, which has just celebrated 10 years in India.

"When I look at Cartoon Network, there is a huge canvas. You have brands which are cult in the lives of kids and you have sub-brands like Dexter and Johnny Bravo etc. Level one, we did promotional licensing, which is like a Jerry Maguire job. Here we lease out the equity of our characters to clients to run promotions, increase sales and build loyalty."

"Level two is where we have used our characters in commercials. In the UK, we have used Scooby Doo with David Beckham in the Adidas commercial."

The Frito and Cadbury tie-up is understandable but how did George pitch to clients like BPCL and Red Label? He explains, "Red Label was always talking to the family and this Diwali they wanted to gratify the kid in the family, so it was buy a gift for your kid."

"With BPCL, they have been warming up to the fact that the petrol pump is not just this boring place where people fuel up and get out. In a parity market, where fuel costs the same in two different pumps, parents would like to stop at the pump giving away gifts of cartoon characters like the Power Puff Girls or Dexter wth their purchase."

The plan is to be all over the place - in large malls and single hypermarkets and by this Diwali, Cartoon Network merchandise will be in 2,000 stores around the country. Kids are sure to have a brighter Diwali this year.

He explains, "I think at the end of the day, we have to be broadbased and not be elitist and you have to do that in Hindi. We are very clear that the strategy is that wherever Cartoon Network goes, our products should be accessible to those cities. Even in terms of price points, our products should be accessible."

The man is also doing lots of other things with his life. Apart from making plenty of children happy, he has kept the writer in him going as well. He has written music reviews and columns for a vast range of publications - from Filmfare and Metropolis to the Times of India. Next on his agenda is a book on life in corporate India. Well, he is in a good position to pen that.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Do the IIMs need to build brand equity abroad?

When the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, IIM-B, decided to open a campus in Singapore, the Union human resources ministry vetoed the idea because they said, it didn't adhere to government norms but now they have relented somewhat, and say that IIMs can go abroad, but first they should cater to domestic demand, which they have not done properly so far. So, are the HRD ministry's concerns valid?

Sunil Alagh, who is on the board of IIM-B wants to clear the air. He told CNBC-TV18, "The very first day it was decided, we should do this and make a case to the government, get their permission and then go forward. So the misconception that there was any question of going ahead without government approval, should be removed instantly."

"We are not asking the government for extra funds. If anything, we will create income. Once the income comes in, then institutes like IIM-Bangalore will have less reliance on the government and the government can use the same money to create more IIMs."

Alagh honestly doesn't see what the conflict is all about. As he says, IIM-Bangalore cannot create IIM-Kanpur, that's what the government has to do. But what IIM-B can do is expand its own campus abroad, which is what it is seeking to do.

He explains, "The need of the hour is to establish a brand name with authority. If you want to be part of the global system, if you have the stamp of IIM outside - even if it is a 3 or a 4 month course - you are only adding to the brand equity."

Number of seats per institute

IIM Ahmedabad - 250
IIM-Bangalore - 260
IIM-Calcutta - 300
IIM-Lucknow - 300
IIM-Kozhikode- 180
IIM-Kanpur - 180


Commenting on the issue, Professor at IIT, Kanpur, Pankaj Jalote says that most of these institutes are stuck in the 1980s scenario, where demand for MBAs was low and what IIMs/IITs were producing, was not getting used. At the IITs, he says, it took them 20 years to double the output. He feels these institutes should play a more active role.

He explains, "Playing an active role does not mean that you start opening new campuses in Kanpur or wherever, but upgrading the education that is being imparted." So he feels that the IIMs have not catered to domestic demand.

He adds, "It is not just about increasing seats. We are the leaders in these fields and we should lead the people and not just create more capacity for students. There is point that one can do both, but looking at the faculty here (in Kanpur), I know that we are so stretched in various ways - so one can go to the US or to Singapore and expand in India also, but by and large, I think your bandwidth is limited."

Alagh elaborates and says that what has been overlooked is that, the MBA course offered abroad will be a short-term course and not a 2 years course, like in the Indian IIMs. And he says that they won't be stretched for staff and teaching resources because not the entire staff of the Bangalore IIM will be sent to Singapore, but only one or two professors will be sent to get the campus going, while the rest of the teaching could be done by Chinese or Malaysian professors.

He concludes, "It is not like you are taking the staff from India and opening a branch. So for to say that, we must not export until we meet domestic demand completely is being very myopic. I completely agree that we need to expand the Indian scene, or else how else can IIM Bangalore expand? They can only do that by taking more students in Bangalore but cannot create an IIM-Bangalore brand anywhere else."

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Women's faces just got Lowe's attention

Lowe has released a book called 'Faces' which has studied changing consumer profile among women. With the urban Indian women being the target of most retail advertising these days, her disposable income is being eyed with eager anticipation. President & COO, Lowe, Pranesh Misra agreed and told CNBC-TV18, "If you look at most of our clients in the FMGC space as well as the durables space, the main decision-maker tends to be the urban Indian housewife and we felt that rather than looking broadly, just focus on this target audience."

The book describes five categories Mrs 'Hasmukh' (Popular) (27%), Mrs. 'Pataka' (Cool) (12%), Mrs 'Meri Awaaz Suno' (Attention Seeker) (31%), Mrs 'Gharelu' (House Proud) (18%), Mrs 'Hey Bhagwan' (Moaner) (12%). The question is how is an advertiser going to use this information for his brands.

Misra explained, "For example if you have your brand and you cross-analyze brands across different segments and you find that your brand is doing well, in the segment of Mrs 'Pataka' Cool and you want to influence those women a lot better. Then what you do is, you go deeper and you study what makes that woman buy (that brand) because there is a lot of data in the study, which talks about her lifestyle, her media behaviour, her attitude towards life - all that linkage data is available. So you are able to get a more holistic picture of this woman."

This helps now because more "women are getting into the workforce, as they are getting independent incomes, as they are exposed to more television, which is a good way to learn about a way of life. I think they are getting a lot more independence in their thinking."

Leo Burnett has been doing this kind of work internationally. In fact, last year at the Cannes Advertising Festival, they presented 'Miss Understood', this was a study on how advertisers are getting women consumers wrong or misunderstanding them. The key findings in the international study would help Indian advertisers.

Chairman & CEO, Leo Burnett, Arvind Sharma elaborated, "The key finding is to stop thinking of women as stereotypical homemakers. They want to enjoy humour as much as men or children do. They are described as emotional and therefore very often advertisers think that showing portrayal of emotion on the screen is enough. Now, you have to evoke emotion, not just show emotion and that's the difference between hugely successful advertising and an attempt at being a good advertising. They are participating far more in economic decisions. Earlier, they were participating in FMCG type of decision-making, then they started participating in durables decision-making."

Misra added, "We polled about 10,300 people and of that I think about 1,500 are working women. So now we have the ability to cross analyze and see what is the difference between a working woman versus a non-working woman."

All of this is an effort to involve women in the adverts being put out in the media as now they have greater control of their incomes and chose to spend it any manner they want to. Sharma elaborated, "In absolute numbers, in India, there aren't very many marketing plans that have been tailored to them. The financial sector is beginning to do a bit, automobiles is not yet doing it. But around the world, automobiles do that and you expect the change to come in. But on the other hand, you could argue that indeed they are beginning to get their due, though in a slightly different form - if you go to any of the shopping malls, the proportion of women will be higher on an average day."

Misra explained, "I think the main lesson is that don't look at Indian housewifes as a uniform mass. There are different strategies that can evolve, depending on who you are after and I think traditionally, marketing has been looking at urban housewives in the age group of 25-30 years. I think those kind of variables of target audience should evolve and you should be able to say now, okay what kind of mind does she bring to the party and therefore, how should my brand strategy evolve to fine-tune itself to the mindset of that consumer." Sharma agreed and says, "Stop looking at women as women, look at them as people."

With so many women working in advertising agencies, their perspectives have yet to permeate to the ad campaigns they create. Sharma said, "Men need to change their attitude and we certainly need to give women bigger voices in the campaigns that they are creating."

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Her life's been a happy, karmic happening

She's an heiress from a reputed family down South - the PSG family who have founded many educational institutions and hospitals through the PSG Trust in Coimbatore or Kovai. This city is famous for its textile industry and is called the 'Manchester of South India'.

Born to wealth and with a silver spoon in her mouth, she's fittingly now overseeing the sugar industry. Rajshree Pathy is the President of the Indian Sugar Mills Association and is also the CEO of Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals.

But her business apart, she had responsibilities to fulfil that women with family's are familiar with. She had to cope with bringing up two children - Aishwarya and Aditya - almost single-hanedly because her husband's work kept him in Bangalore, most of the time. Her father's sudden death at the age of 52 in an accident and her mother's subsequent ailment, kept her extremely preoccupied.

She believes that life is a "karmic happening." It probably explains that she chose to branch away from the family business of textiles and go ahead in the sugar business. She acknowledges that the sugar industry was "highly volatile" and there were huge losses initially. She also had to get people to trust her but she had faith in herself.

She had always been creatively inclined. She wanted to become an architect or a dancer but her parents wouldn't allow her to go far away from home - in this case Mumbai - to study! But not having done a architecture course hasn't cramped her sense of style at all. She's built a beautiful home for herself in Coimbatore. Her retreat from the world. She told CNBC-TV18. "My house is a constant love affair for me and the house has evolved just as I have because when I built this house, I was expecting my son and he is 19 today."

The house is also symbolic of her breaking free. She admits, "Breaking-free and living the life that I always believed I wanted to live - a life of great freedom of thought, of conviction and a great sense of fulfillment."

As expected, she also supports young artists and her beautiful home is a repository of some of their work. She plans on opening a private art museum in the future. But this interest apart, she carries the same principle to her factory floor - where young engineers on the shop floor have risen to become general managers.

She elaborates, "I always believe in promoting from within, as opposed to bringing in an outsider. It gives the employees a great sense of belonging. At the end of it it all, what do you want in life? It’s not just a big pay packet."

Rajshree's sugar business has provided one of the most backward regions of Tamil Nadu a source of livelihood. The farmers started planting sugarcane as they were assured of regular, fixed income. So, they have been able to open bank accounts and send their children to decent schools, thanks to her.

But the journey began in 1989, when her father was granted a sugar licence by the then chief minister, MGR, who wanted him to develop a backward area. She's her father's daughter and she's proved her criics wrong - especially the ones who advised her against going ahead with it after her father's death.

She recalls, "He died while the project was still not completed and obviously people had trusted him and his reputation and lent money, so when he passed away suddenly, there was this onslaught of lack of confidence from institutions, from bankers and from the public in general. People were calling up my relatives and saying, how can she succeed in this business, it’s such a male dominated business because it’s very political even now and it means dealing with farmers. It’s a rough business for a woman."

"So people suddenly felt that maybe I should sell out and other people who have been in the sugar business for many years, should take it and run it or they wanted my in-laws to stand guarantee on the bank loans and so on. All of which I refused, I said I built the factory, I may not know the business but I know the factory, I know my area, I know my farmers, having worked with them for two years before the factory was completed, I was the one who tied-up the laws and always with my father’s guidance, but I was the one who was physically managing the project."

"Therefore I said, give me a fair amount of time, give me 11-months because it takes 11-months for one cutting of a sugarcane crop. So I said give me that one 11-month period and I will show you that I can run this factory. For a factory of this size, I needed a minimum of 27,000 acres and at least five lakh tonnes of cane crushing per year. We had 30,000 tonnes of sugarcane for the entire year."

She had to go around in a jeep, sometimes with her little kids in tow, to the villages and convince them to support her and grow sugarcane. She explained to them that it was needed for both their survival. The farmers had already grown sugarcane for another private company, whose factory was next to hers. The factory had incurred losses and the farmers hadn't been paid at all for their crops. So they were understandably wary. But they did put their faith in her and now they have reaped the benefits.

Today, their children go to a school set up by Rajshree, which imparts a high quality, english medium education. She wanted them to get a level-playing field, when they were applying for higher education. Her dream is to sponsor some of them to the IITs or even send them abroad.

She affirms, "I believe that this industry can do so much. We are the second largest producer in the world, next only to Brazil and we are the largest consumers in the world. With those kind of inherent strengths for the industry in the Indian economy, there’s lots that we can do." She wants the sugar industry to be deregulated and open to increasing capacities. Also more investment in byproducts like ethanol, bagasse and power would certainly help.

She says, "Brazil deregulated as early as 1977 and they went in for ethanol production and made it mandatory since 1931, and we are talking about it in 2005. So if only the government is broadminded enough and if they really want to help the agro industry, sugar should be on the agenda and a priority on that agenda." She's been successful in ensuring that the Indian government re-install the ethanol programme.

On her part, Rajshree is moving into other spheres that interest her. She's moving into ayurveda which she says is a "pet project of mine, it’s not a part of Rajshree Sugars, it’s a collaboration with friends and I have always believed in natural healing and alternate medicine."

"However, I would I like to get into organic sugarcane, which we have already started. We have also laid out lands for organic herbal production of plants and for medicinal purposes. But at this point, we have very well-defined set of people for the sugar business, which is our core business. So, we are looking at acquisitions anywhere in India, wherever there is cane and if we find the environment is conducive for growth, we will be there."

So going from strength to strength seems to be her motto and she's surely setting a great example for others to follow her - notably her 23 year-old daughter Aishwarya, who has been closely watching her moves and has taken tentative steps to move into her mother's shoes. Well, the flame has begun to be passed on and it will only burn brighter.

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

The new cafe on the block

There is a new cafe and bakery that's just opened about two months ago and it's in an unlikely area - Worli - where it's not going to be inundated by the tourists anytime soon, (unlike Cafe Mondy's, Leopold, the Baristas or Cafe Coffee Days). This is mainly because it's not on any Lonely Planet guide yet and Worli doesn't see as many tourists loitering around.

Well, good for locals like me, but not good for business I suppose!

But, this new addition to Mumbai's leisure hangouts, is so refreshingly different - the Banyan Tree Bakery & Cafe has a huge banyan tree overlooking its outdoor seating area, hence the name. It's got wooden tables, with orchids placed in vases, on every table. A soothing waterfall - that tumbles over a fountain that's shaped in the form of leaves. All this on the outside.

On the inside, the wooden flooring, the cane chairs with cane and glass-topped tables, the old fashioned gas lamps, the divan in the corner with throw cushions is just the ideal place to curl up with a good book. A ceiling fan, imported from Italy that absolutely gels with the decor and the name of the cafe because the blades are intricately shaped like...well.. a leaf! This is a made-to-order piece and the attention to detail shows. It was almost the first thing that caught my eye, the first time I stepped in.

So, if you want to discover a new place and get some downtime all by yourself - or curl up with a good book or actually hear what your loved one has to say - without all the usual cacophony around you - then this is the place to go to. It's where you actually feel you can unwind in pleasant silence.

The first time I was there, there was just the soft cadences of Italian songs giving me company, the second time, just the soothing fountain and the beat of bass of some English song, which barely registered. That's what I like, the buzz is just low-key enough without taxing anyone's nerves.

While this is a cafe, so by definition, it doesn't do a 'proper' lunch or dinner but I would recommend their Black Forest Cold Coffee. They do have a line-up of pastries like strawberry cheesecake, cherry muffins, brownies, chocolate mud pies, doughnuts etc, what shouldn't be missed is their sandwiches.

The breads (a variey of them are available: like, rye, whole wheat, multigrain, pita, masala, French baguette) are baked right there at the cafe, which has its own bakery. So, the bread is fresh and soft, and you can take away loaves, for your next day's breakfast. Believe me, the whole wheat bread I tried was a melt-in-your-mouth experience, especially, when you have hot butter to help it slide it down your throat.

But don't count on efficient service because I think the staff is still finding their feet and there should be more supervision over the quality of service provided. After all, the food is anything but cheap. You get the feeling at times, that they are just moving around aimlessly, when they should be getting your order instead.

You may find yourself standing in front of the pastry counter, having placed your order but the staff is taking their own time about getting it for you. The proprietor is a young woman with no real experience of running a cafe and so I feel she should hire professionals to run the place for her.

But all in all, don't skip Mumbai without visiting this new haven, and you can find it here: Krishna Worli Sagar, Ground Floor, Shop No. 10, JN Palkar Marg, Opp Podar Hospital, Worli, Mumbai. Tel no: 022 64527222

Written for www.msn.co.in

Apocalypto: A warning sign?

'Apocalypto' is such a visually beautiful film that it grips you from the start. If anyone has already seen the trailer, they will know what I'm talking about. Mel Gibson's previous films - Braveheart and Passion of the Christ - were both spectacles on a grand scale. Apparently, on both occasions, studio bosses scratched their heads and said it wouldn't work and well...the movies did work their magic at the box office... and spectacularly at that.

So, one has to go with Mel Gibson's choice of subjects and his style of movie-making because he does a good job with both. Then there is the bonus of some good acting by lesser known actors. I noticed Jim Caviezel in High Crimes, only because I thought he did a superlative job as Jesus Christ in Passion of the Christ.

Apocalypto has a lot of relatively unknown actors from Mexico City, who have done a great job of speaking their dialogues in Yucatec Maya - one of the many native languages of the Mayans - on whom the movie is based. Just like Gibson brought the Aramaic language to life on big screen in Passion of the Christ, which gave the movie so much authenticity - the same is felt when one watches the young and promising leads in the Apocalypto talk with one another in that haunting sing-song cadence.

The cast is well chosen with everyone having very Indian-Mayan features and they all slip into character with effortless ease. Their bare-minimum costumes, the intricate head gear and nose ornaments, the setting in the forests...all add up to the feel of the film.

Rudy Youngblood and Dalia Hernandez play the young couple in the film - Jaguar Paws and his wife Seven respectively. Youngblood holds the glue to the narrative because he is the first to spot the other tribe that has been dispossessed of their lands, his people are then taken prisoner and force marched and he's almost beheaded, but for divine intervention. So, he is present throughout the journey and you see the story through his eyes.

You see the death of his way of life and the disappearance of a his people - a great civilisation - (as the movie correctly points out) because of the infighting between warring and pillaging tribes and also due to sheer ignorance, where human sacrifices are called for when there has been a drought for a long time. Where slave labour is used to build a city. And where his simple existence in the forest is all that he wants to preserve - for his sons and grandsons.

As if any proof was required, this movie shows the futility of war and bloodshed, more than anything else. All viewers can and should glean their own meaning from the storyline - but to me, it stands as much for how useless killing (or bombing somebody out of existence) is today, as it was for the Mayans. This movie forces us to watch out for what could happen to humanity as a whole, if things are allowed to go beserk.

What's more chilling is that, blaming the Spanish was not an option that the Mayans could exercise because they didn't know 'who' or 'what' they were. Today, we do it for them, with 20/20 hindsight. But, who will do it for us, if we all go the Mayan way....and disappear?

If we don't want to go down that destructive route, then watching this film could be a good start.

Look at a preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF3-CYBGJcM

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Get that extra edge at this charm school

Mega deals have been making front page news almost daily. Indians are making those deals and that goes to show, how confident they have become about stepping up and taking what they feel should be theirs to own and expand. This may prove that Indian businesspeople have the smarts to make such big moves. But are they as confident about the softer skills that go with such success?

Do they know how to handle themselves in jetset company? May be this is second nature for the likes of Lakshmi Mittal or Ratan Tata but there are many dealmakers, who could benefit from some well meant and good advice. And that's where the image experts and etiquette gurus come in - they take you under their wing, guide you, teach you the nuances of refined manners in extremely la-di-da society and then set you free - to conquer even more mountains - with even more charm and finesse.

That's is precisely where The Edge Academy comes in. It's motto is "sharpening your corporate image for the global market' and promises to make you a more complete corporate man or woman. This academy has been started by theatre director, Raell Padamsee, advertising guru Alyque Padamsee's daughter. He is also a member of the faculty. Raell Padamsee’s interactions with several corporate head honchos brought to the fore, that there was a great need for their teams to be well versed in the soft skills, as well as hone their presentation skills in the global arena.

Core faculty team consists:

-Alyque Padamsee – Marketing and advertising guru. Theatre director and Padmashree awardee.
-Sabira Merchant – An icon in corporate finesse and well known theatre personality.
-Raell Padamsee – Has designed and executed a wide range of exclusive events.

Therefore, the point of setting up such an academy is that most of the first impressions are non-verbal and create an image in the client’s mind. So, if employees look and act the part, it strengthens their value and brand, giving management the image of confidence, credibility and success. As adman, Alyque Padamsee told moneycontrol, "There are hundred percenters, and then there are the rest, which do you choose to be?"

The programme will have Raell leading all the meltdown exercises, working on shedding inhibitions, team building, creative visualization in the key business areas. Alyque Padamsee will impart his knowledge on how to generate a powerful presence, command attention and make a killer presentation among other things. The third person of this core triumvirate is etiquette coach Sabira Merchant, who will do what she does best – groom students on social etiquette.

So, the certified course that the Academy provides has a range of corporate modules that aim towards enhancing the professional corporate image of the entire workforce. The courses are designed and customized to match a company's needs and all its requirements. So, if a bunch of young yuppies have just swung a good deal for a coporate, then they could be on their way to global postings, and that's where the etiquette training will help...in abundance. Noted theatre personality and etiquette coach, Sabira Merhant says, “Etiquette is the key that opens us to a broader life, so that we can find social happiness.”

These corporate grooming courses are tailored to meet all different levels of management, including the hospitality industry, BPOs, businesses – anyone and everyone who wants to improve their own image or that of their company. The programmes are available in the following grades:

o Platinum

o Gold

o Silver

o One on One (individually designed to suit requirements)

What's more, is that, The Edge Academy has roped in experts and special consultants like Salvatore Ferragamo, Aigner, Fratelli Rosetti, Christine Valmy International School of Aesthetics, Reid & Taylor, Westside, Pantaloons and The Rudra Spa.

For more details contact:
Manju Utamchandani
Tel : 022 22842845/6/7/8

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

The media cacophony

There is no escaping the media -and I'm a journalist saying this. Good for me, I'm a business (features) journalist or I would have wondered why I chose to be in this profession. But I do love to write - cliched as it may sound.

But what's it with my fellow colleagues in the mainstream media? They just can't seem to let go of inanity at all. They are like a dog with a bone - a bone that they have picked dry a long time ago! They go on ad nauseum about two bollywood stars and their shenanigans, or some equally vapid issue. On and on and on it goes. A minor non-issue is given so much air-time or print space that it assumes proportions that it does not deserve. Where's the sense of news judgement?

Today, more than ever, the media has a responsibility to impart news judiciously, especially in this climate of cheap gimmicks, anything-goes-for publicity and sensationalising everything to give it religious and political overtones.

Please take an intelligent call on what is a genuinely frivolous story that is not going to affect anyone's sleep (Aishwarya and Abhishek marrying) to what should really concern us as a nation (terrorism, Nithari-Noida killings, Muslims feeling sidelined etc)

I have visions of entire forests being denuded for the paper required to print stories about celebrities and their lives. And at the end of all that devastation, who is the wiser?

Do we really need to have so much written about such people, when all anyone has to do is turn on the TV or surf up the information on the net?

By all means, do report trivial stuff and lighten our days, but please don't beat us over the head with too much of it. So, will you guys give it a rest - and the rest of us a break as well!

Come on guys - get a life

Written for www.msn.co.in

BPO recipe: Quality and a dash of M&A

Every human initiative has begun slowly, built momentum and then moved on, on its own steam. The Green Revolution in the 1980s in India, the not-so peaceful revolutions in Russia and France. Innovative inventions too have caught the public's imagination - for instance Henry Ford's Model T car got people moving - pun unintended - like no other innovation did.

One man's success has been a great contributing factor to mankind as whole. Similarly, the software industry has seen tremendous growth and each contract or deal it wins, means that the industry will go from strength to strength.

Chief financial officer, MphasiS BFL, Ravi Ramu told CNBC-TV18, "That's quite right. Actually if you look at a services based industry like ours, it's made up of individuals, whether the organisation is 9,000 or 90,000 strong. But one tends to dovetail these individual performances into a solid team effort. That's where the organisation or the brand really gets the glamour into the organisation. That really is a cornerstone."

"Unless you glamourise it, the youngsters who are getting into the universities and schools will not want to get into (a) the BPO industry (b) or the IT industry. This is where the whole building block works. If I can liken it to an Olympic medallist, you know it's what China does and what Russia did so well when it was the USSR, was to pick out 4, 5-6 year olds and the aim was to make Olympians out of them."

The Chinese have perfected the assembly line theory, of putting kids with Olympic winning potential through the grind, so is Ramu advocating that approach? Double Trap Shooter and 2004 Olympic silver medallist, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore says that even sending children to school is like an assembly line production!

He elaborated, "The pictures that you have seen on the internet of children crying is for gymnastics. Everywhere, around when you have to stretch those muscles, which need flexibility, it is painful. There is no training, which is not painful. I mean it's common knowledge. Denis Lillee said that 'if my muscles are not paining, I haven't done enough'. I mean pain is a part of progress, let's face it."

Ramu reiterated, "I must agree with Raj here because I think one needs an objective. Even as an organisation, you need one to start. Start with an end goal or a medium term goal. It shouldn't be a goal where you say, let's excel. It needs to be let's get the gold medal."

He explained, "For the IT industry, initially, it was difficult to get a phone line in this country. People used to wait six months to get one connection going. Then we had STPIs, which had all these towers, beaming messages and signals across. We did it with individual effort, with entrepreneurship, with drive, just to show that it could be done."

"The problem we have in India and we can see that in other industries is that they don't seem to take the lead. Take the example of Prakash Padukone, I saw him win in London in March 1980, he is a good friend of mind and I remember telling him that there are going to be several badminton champions. Today, we just have one Gopichand and that also was a one- off. So it hasn't become an institutionalised thing."

So, despite setbacks, how has the software industry consolidated? Ramu said, "We have done it in a very simplistic manner and that is by taking India and Indian things to compare and compete constantly with the outside world. Let's actually look at the genesis, we started selling to the best in the world. We starting doing things lower down the value chain and then moved up over 20-25 and 30 years. The BPO industry has had the benefit of competing with the best and having the self-confidence to take on and beat the best, is really what it is all about, it's not the one-offs."

"Also, one has to keep quality in mind apart from cost efficiency. Cost efficiency is not going to sustain us for too long. We have to think global and act local. There is no point in not doing like the Romans in Rome - we've got to go out, globalise but actually play the games that the locals play in business terms."

Ramu adds, "The other way would be to actually have a cultural mix. Our vice chairman is Dutch and he lives in New York. So we started off as, what one of our directors, who is professor of international business, called an 'instant global company'. So we didn't start as an Indian company, in terms of mindset, we started as a global company and built on those blocks."

"For example, two years ago, we went to China and bought a company. It took us a year and a half to really make it profitable. For it not to lose cash, to understand their cultures, we sent a person who was born in Taiwan to lead the team. We didn't send the head of operations from Bombay or Bangalore because we wanted to make them feel part of a team and yet not lose that local element."

Ramu suggests the M&A route is another way for an organisation to become a global player but very few have been successful in this regard. He says, "I think there are two things, first, there are these regulations and then the money factor - you've got to have the currency to do so. Then the other element is the mindset. You know there is this fact that 85 per cent of all M&As around the world failed. So they don't want to be in that 85 per cent bracket. I think we need to get a bit braver and more adventurous, in terms of really globalising."

The Indian BPO industry has also got to fight a perception problem. Ramu acknowledged, "Well that perception is being fought, in the sense that if these MNC companies don't do this, then they are going to lose out to the competition who does. So, if there is a UK company outsourcing to India and their competitor in the US doesn't do so, it's going to be a matter of life or death for the US company."

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

The phantom of the Parliament

After Jaya Bachchan was forced to quit from her Rajya Sabha post because she was accused of holding an office of profit with the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Corporation, a cry went out for more blood to be spilt. Predictably, the Opposition members wanted Sonia Gandhi's scalp on a salver and it made great copy, especially when people sensed another Bachchan-Gandhi tussle was in the making.

Jaya Bachchan had actually given up her post with the UP Film Development Corporation when she was sworn into the Rajya Sabha, so she was well aware that she would lose her post, if she was reinstated at the film corporation. Though, her party spokesperson has revealed interesting information.

Samajwadi Party General Secretary Shahid Siddiqui says that many MPs have resigned offices of profit to get into power and then go back to their old jobs! And what's more, it has happened repeatedly. He points a finger at the current speaker, Somnath Chatterji and says that even he's held offices of profit frequently, while being at another posting.

BJP spokesperson, Prakash Javdekar agrees that this (Jaya Bachchan's disqualification) was done in keeping to the letter of the country's laws but he recommends a review of the law nontheless. He told CNBC-TV18, "When Pramod Mahajan was the advisor to the Prime Minister and when he was chosen for the Rajya Sabha nomination, he resigned from his job because it was definitely an office of profit and prohibited under the law."

If Jaya Bachchan was going to be reinstated, then the Uttar Pradesh government could have atleast repealed the law to save her the embarrassment of being disqualified. This is something that Siddiqui agrees with, and says that she was not given the right advice at the right time and the UP Chief Minister can't be expected to know every law. He adds, "People took things for granted and now we will need to look much deeper into this."

Benefits that Jaya Bachchan was entitled to:
* Free housing and medical treatment for her and her family.
* Free housing in government circuit houses while on tour.

The truth is that though Jaya Bachchan was entitled to compensation and she had not taken it, but the Bhagwat Commission disqualified her on the grounds that she had been "entitled" to it in the first place. Javdekar feels that this being the law, it was correct to follow it so thoroughly. But he agrees that the time has come to look at it and give it a broader meaning.

In the aftermath of this case, Sonia Gandhi holding dual positions as an MP and the chairman of the National Advisory Council of the UPA has also come up. But will any party take it forward? Siddiqui explains that his party has opened Pandora's box and a lot of people will be questioned. Some of them who are already being questioned are Kapila Vatsayan and Minority Committee Chairman Trilochan Singh. He also believes that there is a move to change the law.

So with all parties pointing out people in each others camps, will this be a chaotic massacre? Javdekar doesn't see it that way, but just feels that the "law should be applied to all those who've broken it." He adds, "The Election Commission should not wait for complaints but should just look at the details of all MPs appointed and suo moto start reporting and give the findings to the President."

Written for www.moneycontrol.com

Ikjot Singh Bhasin is a magician with cars

A car speaks as much about a person's wealth as it does about his/her personality. But if you want to give your car a outstanding personality of its own, or something that reflects you, in its clean lines, then a makeover is in order. A Delhi-based young designer has made reworking cars, his life's passion.

Ikjot Singh Bhasin, owner of Jyot Designs is quietly going about making a name for himself in the world of redesigning cars. With Dilip Chhabria being all over the news, this young man is waiting for his spot in the sun.

He says he wanted to do something different, right from his college days. So, he experimented on the family car - a 1984 model of the Maruti 800 and worked on it for six-seven months, before he turned the car into a more than just a mode of conveyance. He had turned it into a beauty.

He moved onto other projects, like he's coverted a Cielo into a two-door convertible and a Zen into a cute coupe! A Qualis metamorphed in his hands and came out with an X5 look. He's worked his magic on a Wagon R and Tata Sierra as well. He's redone around 18 vehicles, so far.

He told CNBC-TV18, "When a customer comes to me, they all want to be different. Few of them are practical and few of them are not. They come with vague ideas, like they want a batmobile out of a Maruti car! So things like this are not possible. But things like converting a Maruti car into a two-door coupe is quite possible. So, they settle doen to a level, where they actually want what I'm ready to give them."

Bhasin does not have any formal training but that doesn't deter him. He says ,"Every designer, whether he's a fashion designer or a car designer, the first thing he starts from is sketching. Honestly, I lack that. I'm not a good sketcher and I can't draw much. But I explain things to my guys, whom I've worked with for 10 years, and they understand it."

Unlike others, he works with metals and moulds every curve into shape. It takes him six months to do a complete makeover and he works on one car at a time. These projects could cost Rs 2 lakhs or more and there is never any repetition of designs.

He explains, "If the customer doesn't have a big budget for a makeover, then we give him a package. We give him four pieces of spoilers, which includes the front, rear and two side skirting and the spoiler ofcourse. We give it to them with the fitting and a paint job, and it sums up to around Rs 30,000."

"We also do give warranty for parts, like the bumpers or the body that we've made and for things like rusting and paint jobs." Local wear and tear and bumping against another vehicle is not included in this deal.

What began as a teenage fantasy has become a profitable business, with customers walking in based on word-of-mouth publicity. Bhasin is also working on a website to showcase his handcrafted beauties to the world. So, watch out for his labour of love, on the roads near you.


(All pictures are representational and not Bhasin's reworked designs.)

Written for www.moneycontrol.com