Work-life balance: Are you lucky to have it?

Talent management is such a tightrope walk because on the one hand you've got to keep thousands of employees happy, and try and do it without going overboard (and finding the right things to do in the first place.)

A lot of employers are now realising that their human resources are their real treasure trove, and keeping them happy and healthy has become a priority for many of them. A Catalyst report called 'Expanding Work-Life Perspectives: Talent Management in India', highlights the following companies' efforts to do good by their workforce:

1. Procter & Gamble: Employees can work from home or work reduced schedules.
2. PricewaterhouseCoopers: Commute support, women’s networks, mentoring.
3. Infosys: Wellness programs, stress-relief programs, counseling, sabbaticals, return to-work training, enhanced maternity leave. 
4. Wipro: Wellness counseling, on-site “day camp” during school holidays.
5. Tata Group: Provides employee programs to connect parents with their children.
6. Ernst & Young: Returnship programs for new mothers, flexible work arrangements, reduced schedules, on-site nursery.
7. Google: Taxis on-call for family and personal emergencies.

Following are the highlights of the report:

• Regardless of gender, future leaders in India are highly focused on their jobs and their career advancement; they also report a strong dual work-family emphasis and the desire to have a good work-life fit.
• Despite having similar levels of career interest and ambition as men, women in India report more challenges managing work and personal life, suggesting the need for companies to consider how current work cultures and work-life policies fit the experiences of all their talent.
• Both women and men reported that their current focus is on their job but also reported a strong dual (work and family) focus.

• They also stated that they wanted to advance further in their careers and aspired to senior leadership roles.
• Both also said that having a good fit between life on and off the job was very important to them and appreciated their company’s flexibility options.
• But women were more likely to report challenges managing work and family life.
• Women were also more likely to convey a mismatch between their flexibility needs and what the company offered.

What's really telling is the above pie-chart, which shows that a whopping 80% of men and 90% of women, don't feel that their workplace meets their work-life (balance) needs.

I guess more corporates need to look at this report and do some brainstorming for solutions.

See the full report here:
http://www.catalyst.org/file/621/expanding_work_life_perspectives_talent_management_in_india_final.pdf

India: The Underachiever

For over 10 years now, India has been mentioned in the same breath as a lot of other emerging economies. It's right there in the middle of the BRIC acronym, which stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China. BRIC has now gone on to become BRICS with the addition of South Africa.

Yet the sad reality is that we have a democracy which functions well for the most part, (because we leave it to our various Gods to rescue us?) but lately has just been limping along, with our leaders unable to do the right thing by the citizens or the country they are supposed to be governing.

I found the below table on the Catalyst website and decided to share it, as it spoke volumes about how we have been lagging on every parameter, except in the first criteria - about how much percentage of women constitute the population of India. Here we beat China by a mere fraction. The numbers prove that without Indian women becoming empowered enough to take their place in the economy, this country will always be a laggard. It's a well known economic fact, that western countries have achieved economic prowess because their women have made progress and contributed to those countries' welfare. They have not been only riding on the shoulders of their male citizens.

With numbers like these, I won't be surprised if South Africa also manages to beat us on some of these economic growth and social improvement indices, in the future.

Can our so-called leaders finally get their act together and really lead India?  Or we'll be making it to covers of magazines like Time, which had Manmohan Singh on it, with 'Underachiever' written in red, across his photograph.

Table sourced from: http://www.catalyst.org/publication/214/women-in-emerging-markets. Also this video is a good watch - http://youtu.be/KMv-pzu9H2w

CaratLane: A shiny, classy online experience

I recently shopped for gold jewellery, and I did it online rather than at any offline store. I was very impressed with the experience. CaratLane not only has some really classy designs but they also have such a smooth process to buy it off them.

I didn't have to register my entire life history with them to begin shopping. The site lets you view their collection entirely and you can complete a transaction as a 'guest', which means you give them all your information at the last minute at the time of making a payment, and you don't have to be a registered user of the site. They also have a toll-free number that you can call and place your order.

I paid for my earrings through net banking, and within 2 days I got a call from their customer service team verifying my credentials and they told me that the earrings would be delivered by a certain day. On that particular day, I got a call from a company rep who told me he was on his way to deliver the earrings and that I (or a family member who was receiving it on my behalf) should keep a ID handy.

The earrings were insured by the site during transit, till I got them. And opening the package was a delightful experience. It came in a silver and maroon colour tin which had the site's name printed on the lid. Within this was a gift box filled with potpourri. And in this box was a milky coffee colour suede box which contained my earrings. The cherry on top of this experience was that there was a handwritten 'Thank You' card saying 'We hope you enjoy your earrings.'

I have never seen such great service even at offline stores, where they have included a Thank You card with my purchase. I think it's time jewellery stores sat up and took note of this simple gesture, which left the biggest impression on me.

So, while people rave about the earrings I have bought, I'm happy with the entire transaction. And coming from someone who normally does not like shopping, that is saying a lot! 

Click-n-buy: Good & bad experience at my fingertips

The shopping bug bit me with a vengeance this month because I hadn't upgraded my wardrobe in years. So, for someone who does not normally enjoy shopping in malls, I found the online version a lot more convenient. All that variety at my fingertips. So while I have shopped with Inkfruit, Myntra and Flipkart earlier and eBay and Rediff in the very distant past, I decided to try out FashionandYou.

The site has a nice look and feel to it and the stocks get updated quite a bit on a daily basis. So, while I did have a sizing issue with the clothes I bought, they did take it back and give me store credit (since the size I wanted was out of stock). I also picked up a handbag, which is so gorgeous that I'm getting raves about it from everyone.

It's when I decided to also buy a mobile from them, that they majorly slipped up. They were having one of their Express Sales on electronic goods and I liked a burgundy colour HTC Magic phone. It was delivered a lot sooner than my other purchases. It took me a week to unlock it because it was not a phone that was introduced into markets outside of Europe and the US (where it is called T-Mobile). I had to boot the phone and then first sync it with my Google account etc and even then importing my contacts from my SIM card wouldn't happen at all. I tried moving all my contacts from my old phone's memory on to the SIM card, and then tried repeatedly, and nothing was working. I would find contacts from A-F not imported but suddenly starting from G for some reason, and then skipping a lot of names in between to land up at S. Also, manually typing the names wouldn't help either because I kept getting an OS error message.

This problem was annoying. I went online and found out that this was actually an Android bug, so the mobile was defective to begin with. But the really irritating discovery was that the phone had been used and returned - for the very same bug issue! There were calls made and messages sent by the previous buyer still on the phone's log. And to think, I got this phone with neon green stickers all over the box saying 'QC Tested by FashionandYou'.

In a way, I'm glad that they didn't do a thorough job of  their QC testing because they might have ended up clearing up the logs, and selling me a second-hand phone. I did suggest to them that they use my seconds site for doing just that because I had set up Seconddealnsteal for that purpose alone. It's offline now. They were not supposed to be doing this though.

Anyway, they refunded my money, so things didn't end badly. But this is a telling lesson about why online buying is riddled with trust issues. An unscrupulous site is not going to bother with niceties like refunding and you could end up losing a lot of your money and be stuck holding on to faulty merchandise that you can't use or resell - in any good conscience - to some other hapless person.

While, the purpose of this post is not to crib about the site but to warn. I still find that they have better stuff than others that I have checked out - like Zovi, Jabong and Brandmile. But to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

The Widow Clicquot: Raises a toast to the Queen of Champagne

‘The Widow Clicquot’ by Tilar J. Mazzeo is such a well written historical biography of a formidable woman – Barbe Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot. She was meant to be an ordinary homemaker and mother and was supposed to fade into the background over time. If any mention of her was made, it was meant to be as a footnote in her husband’s (Francois Clicquot) life and business venture. He dreamed of making and selling wines under his family’s marquee –Clicquot - and she supported him wholeheartedly.

She was married off in what amounted to an arranged marriage-business deal, which meant two wealthy business families that held sway in the city of Reims (France) would join hands, to prosper together.

Her father Nicholas Ponsardin was shrewd enough to survive the French Revolution even though he favoured the monarchy and aspired to acquiring aristocratic titles himself. When he realized he could lose his family, his life and his wealth, he very wisely took part in the birth of the Republic. He then worked hard to charm Napoleon Bonaparte. When Napoleon’s reign ended at Waterloo, he foresaw this as being another political allegiance that could become inconvenient, and made sure he was not caught on the wrong side.

So, though she lived in tumultuous times and saw some of the most famous people of her generation up close and personal, she was never meant to be the subject of her own biography. Mazzeo acknowledges this and states that it made her research on Barbe-Nicole that much more taxing and interesting! She’s literally travelled in this woman’s footsteps to try and understand her as a human being and the remarkable businesswoman she turned out to be.

Barbe-Nicole sent her salesmen across war-ravaged Europe to generate business. They risked their lives to get business deals done. And they listened to gossip and sent back orders for some Clicquot wine. One of them was that the Russian queen was pregnant and might produce an heir to the throne, so the country would end up celebrating this news with champagne. She ended up producing her second daughter who also died as a baby. But the wine got drunk anyway, so things ended up well for Clicquot this time around.

The book highlights many such instances where Barbe-Nicole went with her sharp business instincts and got her wine across to countries, which had banned it because they were retaliating against Napoleon’s restrictive trade policies. Reading about them tells you a lot about this woman and how she was even willing to defy an emperor to create her own empire.

A smart wedding present: Gift a subscription

If you have ever wondered what gift to give someone who is getting married, and the many choices leave you feeling confused, (especially if you have no idea about the other person's tastes), then the wedding gifts registry concept is the latest rage abroad.

It's not that popular in India because many people have not heard of it. But it's simply about a bridal couple announcing to their friends and guests what they would like to have as gifts. They create a gift list based on the selections of a particular store. The guests then go and view the 'register' or the list online and opt to buy one of the gifts, that suits their budget from the store or website which is running this registry. So a pre-selected list makes it easier for the guests to get the right gifts.

In India, one site that is doing this sort of thing is shareurjoy. But if this feels too needy and greedy for your taste, then here is smart tip to get yourself a useful wedding present as well as a magazine subscription! Well, I love reading and pick up a lot of books and magazines. Most of these magazines have free gifts that they offer if you subscribe for them.

So, depending on the duration of your subscription, India Today gives away Reebok wallets to Adidas gym bags. Marie Claire gives away Hidesign handbags and H2O skincare products. People magazine gives away a uber stylish coffee mug. Outlook Traveller gives away either a rucksack, a traveller's waist pouch or 3-in-1 travel kit. Geo magazine gives you almost the same things, except instead of the travel kit you get a nice looking laptop bag. Time magazine gives away a sleek looking 2GB USB drive.

The best deals are from Magna Publications. If you subscribe to five of their magazines - they publish good ones like Society, Health and Nutrition, Stardust, Savvy, Society Interiors etc - then you can walk away with anything from a toaster, an iron to a washing machine or a flat screen TV!

These things add up to quite a lot of goodies, for which you would have ended up paying some serious money. So, ask your friends and relatives to gift you magazine subscriptions, and see how you'll manage to kill two birds with one stone. You will end up getting good reading material and all those free gifts that come with it.

All you have to do is check out all the magazines at a bookstore near you, and see what offers they have going. Pick up the magazines you would genuinely like to read and spread your wishlist among your friends and relatives.

Here is what it takes to make killer 4G apps

A whitepaper on Alcatel-Lucent's site called 'How to Build Killer Apps for Mobile Networks' has some good advice for developers looking to create apps for the 4G platform, which is the big-daddy of spectrums that is going to make streaming of media-rich websites and applications, a seamless and non-frustrating experience. Here are excerpts about how to enable long term evolution (LTE), which is the dominant 4G technology, to work flawlessly while your apps get used.

1. PLAN FOR A MIX OF 2G, 3G AND LTE USE: Give your app the ability to make an intelligent decision about how to fetch data, depending on the network and radio resources available. If your app relies on constant network connectivity, periodically have your app check both bandwidth and latency to make a smart decision to adapt dynamically no matter what kind of network it is on, and have your app adjust accordingly.

2. SPEED RESULTS WITH PRE-FETCHING: In many situations data retrieval needs can be anticipated with pre-fetching. By giving your application a way to access necessary data before it is requested by the user, you can provide an even more seamless user experience. If you expect that users will be making many data-intensive requests that have to go through the network to a server, invest some effort in creating a pre-fetching system.

3. CACHE MORE OFTEN: By caching extensively you can increase the responsiveness of your application and eliminate the spikes in network requests that cause user-discernable performance problems. Spikes in network activity typically occur at predictable times. Think about how and when your app needs data, and if possible cache in advance of periods of high network activity.

4. CREATE ONE SESSION WITH MULTIPLE ”GETS”: If you can group requests to remote servers into one session, you’ll be able to take better advantage of higher bandwidth and longer sessions.

5. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LTE’S ALL-IP CAPABILITIES: Because LTE can go from idle to active in 100 ms, your application can provide an always-on experience without actually being active at all times. LTE’s ability to deliver a variety of media concurrently means that you can start one stream while stopping another. For example, an app could display a scrolling map while simultaneously delivering voice-over narration without startup hesitation or playback stutter.

6. AVOID POLLING ON DEMAND REQUESTS: The first batch of LTE-ready mobile devices may consume more battery power because monitoring both LTE and 2G/3G networks at the same time. By reducing polling, you can conserve battery power.

7. FAVOR DOWNLOADING OVER STREAMING: Continuous streaming also appears to drain batteries at a higher rate than downloads. And in areas with slower networks, batteries get depleted faster because the device boosts its network reception in order to overcome network noise.

8. USE A BIGGER BUFFER: When a user pulls down streaming media or initiates a download from your app while on an LTE network and for some reason is switched to a 3G network, the effect on the user can be minimized through the use of a large data buffer. Because LTE already pulls down data more quickly, it is a good idea to use a bigger buffer than you would on a 3G network. This will not create a noticeable performance hit on LTE networks, and will minimize the impact of user movement between LTE and 3G networks.

9. AVOID AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR: Apps that live in an Radio Frequency (RF) environment and have to operate on a crowded wireless network need to be good citizens. If packet loss occurs, a device needs to back off orwait for response. If your app is continuously attempting to regain lost packets, it can exacerbate the original failure conditions, degrading or denying service to other devices and congesting traffic.

An Ernst and Young report highlighted the rise of HTML5 as well, which will help synchronise apps and websites across smart devices. The above graphic says it all.

Source: Ernst&Young - Look at page 10 of this report for the above graphic http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Inside_Telecommunications_4Q_2011/%24FILE/Quarterly%20talking%20points%20from%20EY.pdf

India's handicrafts make for great heirlooms

Indian handicrafts enjoy global recognition. They sell India's culture to the rest of the world. The sheer variety dazzles shoppers, whether they are buying from the Cottage Industries Emporiums or from open air markets in Rajasthan. Here are a few options to explore, so that you take home something unique - customised handicrafts. 

Unusual Handicraft - Idol worship There are two idol showrooms in Mumbai that I’ve visited called Aakaar and Hari Om, which are owned by two brothers - Aakaar by Sudhir Shah and Hari Om by Haresh Shah. Their products are made mostly of marble even though at Aakaar they stock things made of black granite and a polished rose-quartz stone, which they call ruby stone. Hari Om said their best selling idol is of Lord Ganesh. At Aakaar, they have a larger collection of idols comprising Ganesh, Shiva, Lord Krishna, Sai Baba, Buddha, even some paintings of Buddha and Ganesh. They sometimes keep idols of Durga and Saraswati as well but these are infrequent. Prices at Hari Om range from Rs 500 to Rs 10,000 while at Aakaar they have larger idols priced as high as Rs 5 lakhs.

These shop owners, when asked, didn’t divulge the money they make – either domestically or via exports. But since they are in such a niche segment, it’s bound to be a fair amount even though the inventory turnover is not very high because people will buy an idol for their entire lifetime and not keep upgrading. So, these stores do factor this in and maintain high margins. Customisation: Another value-added service that most handicraft manufacturers are offering is tailor-made products. For instance, at Aakaar, you could order a Ganesh statue in plain marble and then have it painted over – from making the eyes more expressive with a kohl-like look to giving the impression that the crown on the God’s head is really gold studded with precious stones in them. Weave your own carpet A carpet maker in Agra will weave carpets for you with any design that you choose to give him. He actually told me that he had custom weaved carpets for the Manchester United football club’s locker room. I didn’t find this claim unbelievable because I saw the quality of the work right before my eyes. Place to shop: For intricately hand knotted, lusciously soft, customised carpets. Contact Java Handicraft Export, Bansal Nagar, Fatehabad Road, Agra – 282001, Uttar Pradesh, India. Telefax: 0091-562-2333716. email: javacarpet@yahoo.com Bring home the Taj Mahal Similarly, another work of art is the stunning mosaic inlay work that Agra is known for – the Taj being a world famous advertisement of this art form. There are descendants of the artisans who worked on the Taj, who are now creating products for tourists to take home. Here again, you can get them to make anything from coffee tables to dining tables to even garden seats out of marble with inlaid work on them. The stones used are corals in shades of green and red and for the blue stone, they use lapis lazuli. The price tags are high for the larger products but the workmanship is exquisite and one-of-a-kind. So if you have the budget for a Rs 1 lakh dining table that will be talked about by everyone who visits your home, then this is the place to buy it from. Place to shop: For beautiful marble inlaid furniture: UP Handicrafts Palace, Fatehabad Road, Agra – 282001, India. Tel no: 562- 2232660/61/62/63. Fax: 91-562-2330193. email: upcrafts@sancharnet.in Website: www.upcraftspalace.com The government offers subsidies to these industries; so pick up gorgeous stuff from here at much cheaper prices than anywhere else in India. 

Agra's other gems are gorgeous human figured chess sets, dolls with Indian costumes and painted decorative plates.

Despite the implementation of VAT, with the export subsidies these industries are entitled to, the goods still work out cheaper. 

Smart Shopping for handicrafts This is something I did last year during Diwali, so I’m passing on the tip to you to use. A supermarket near my home was keeping dryfruit gift boxes which were actually beautiful silver boxes with minakari work and a print of a miniature painting on it. These were in two sizes – in rectangle and square shapes. I waited till Diwali got over and on the last day when they were about to remove the unsold inventory, I walked in and bought one at a 10 per cent discount. I did give away the dryfruits – people anyway eat it throughout the year - but kept the box with myself. It was too good to just give away. Today, I can put anything from dried flowers, scented candles, potpourri and chocolates and leave it in my living room for people to admire. The store sold this silver box to everyone for Rs 900, I purchased it for Rs 810. Similarly, bide your time and strike and you’ll get away with good stuff and at reasonable prices. The last day of trade and handicraft fairs (like the one at the Bandra Reclaimation Ground in Mumbai, the Surajkund mela in Delhi, Delhi Haat, Jaipur Haat etc) is a good time to go and pick up stuff at bargain prices. They want to sell as much as they can at the venue and not haul stuff back home. Another time, I got an unusual handicraft item free of cost was when I had gone to Kashmir with Kesari Travels. They gave everyone on that trip a houseboat – a replica of the ones we all stayed in. It was made of plain wood but I painted mine, once I brought it home. It’s a lovely, colourful reminder of a wonderful holiday in a stunningly ethereal place.

Photos are the author's personal ones and is copyright protected.

False Economy: How coffee beans are mistaken for bullets!

The book 'False Economy: A Suprising Economic History of the World' by Alan Beattie, who is a journalist with the Financial Times is a mind-opener. It weaves its way through subjects as myriad as religion and corruption to tell us if these issues affect people and economies - as is commonly understood.

The fact that corruption is prevalent in every corner of the world - either overtly or subtly is well known. But Beattie has been able to compare two African countries which were governed by two types of leaders - one a corrupt despot and the other an honest politician (they do seem to exist!) and came to a surprising conclusion that the corrupt despot was better to do business with than his honest counterpart. So, while corruption is a problem, it is something that we may have to live with. So, learning how to deal with it may be a better alternative than assuming it will disappear.

Another interesting chapter was on whether religion had anything to do with economic prosperity. This specifically looked at whether Muslim countries were poorer because of the religion they practiced or in the way the religion was practiced? The latter was the case, and some examples in the book go on to highlight this fact really well.

But my favourite anecdote is the one about how poor Ugandan farmers grow world class coffee but have never tasted it themselves. In fact, until Andrew Rugasira, a Ugandan businessman who started a brand of roasted coffee called 'Good Africa' brewed some coffee for the farmers, from whom he bought his beans, they though they were bullets! They thought that they were bullets being used by the guerillas who were fighting in a neighbouring country (Congo)!!

This book really talks about how everything that can be traded - from grains, coffee, asparagus, diamonds, cocaine to even water is used as a political tool rather than an economic one. And in this lies the tragedy. So while some countries may be resource rich - like a lot of the African continent is, (which is why it attracted hordes of invaders through its history), most of the continent continues to remain poor.

The book is a great read and a lot of the hard-hitting points are made very lucidly. Anyone who reads the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal anyway, ought to pick this up. Though it's not quite a text book, but very educational nonetheless. Though it's not a series of Beattie's columns put together, but it is enlightening and intellectually entertaining all the way through to the end.

Sinful bakes to end a year & start a new one!

Ever been undecided about where to pick up a cake from, for a birthday or a party? This simple decision could just get a lot more confusing because of even more choice being available in a glutted market. In Mumbai, we have chains like Monginis, Birdys and standalone ones like Theobroma, Ovenfresh, Gaylord or La Patisserie - the Taj Cake shop - just to name a few, who bake drool-worthy cakes to suit every budget.

Now crowding this space are coffee bars like Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) and Barista. They have both decided to sell entire cakes rather than just slices of it. So, while a 1 kg Chocolate Fantasy or the scrumptious Chocolate Blackforest at CCD is priced at Rs 498 with taxes (and a Rs 50 rebate it was offering a while ago), it works out to Rs 448 only.

Barista has followed CCD by introducing a range of cakes for sale as well, with a pre-tax price of Rs 449, which when I enquired, will work out to over Rs 500, for a 1 kg cake. So, obviously CCD works out cheaper but at the moment, there are only three kinds of cakes you can order from them - Chocolate Fantasy, Choco Blackforest and Mystery Mousse.

Barista seems to have taken a jolt of their Lavazza espresso and woken up to see what more they can do, to keep caffeine-lovers coming back to their coffeeshops. Their eats still languish till the end of the day, while CCD's brownies, muffins and chicken sandwiches often is sold out. That's people's taste buds voting for where the foodstuff is better!

Barista has a tendency to do things by fits and starts, so there are times when they have introduced a really good pastry - and given us a taste of it - then they have inexplicably withdrawn it after a few months. You won't see the Coffee Almond pastry anymore - that's because it's now become a 1 kg cake, that you have to order, in order to enjoy it.

Similarly, there was a Chocolate Cheese Marbled cake pastry, which was the only thing I liked at Barista, apart from the Coffee Almond delicacy, and even this they have discontinued. They seem to like removing things from their menu, that I particularly like.

Cafe Coffee Day is far less annoying and their standards keep improving. Their staff are also far more interested in their customers being satisfied, with the quality of service provided, than is the case with Barista.

I've always been a CCD addict (and well, Moshe's!) and I'm looking forward to the new lounges that are being opened soon. The first one has just opened in Bangalore. I'm sure, the eats and the treats will be something to look forward to - along with me being able to 'craft their menu' as their website states. I think this means, a customised experience altogether.

Besides with names like Black Woods, Apple Paradiso, Sinner's Heaven and French Cheesecake for their desserts and Strawberry Fields, Caribbean Heaven and Choco Decks for their sundaes, they just can't miss.

The other cake shops all have their specials. So at Gaylord, I would recommend the Biscuit cake, which is such a deep, dark chocolate cake, that it takes time for people to recover from it! With the 'with-egg' one costing Rs 478 and an eggless one costing an odd Rs 501 - it is worth digging into.

Everything I've ever tried from the Taj cake shop has been amazing - their cakes and their Christmas puddings. But at Rs 750 a kg, they are worth the price but may not fit everyone's budget. Moshe's is another hi-end option to try, if you are in the mood to be a spendthrift for a special occasion. Their L'orange and Philadelphia Baked Cheesecake are finger-licking good. The cakes here are priced higher than at CCD, Barista, Gaylord, Birdys and Monginis but I've bought a three-dimensional 'Landscape' cake - complete with a house, flower garden and little toy cars on it - for Rs 1,500 - from Desserts R Us. It was for a special birthday.

Birdys and Ovenfresh are great as well. Ovenfresh bakes them fresh on-location and through the day and their Royal Mousse cake or their Fresh Fruit Overload sells like hot cakes..literally. Their 1 kg cakes are priced between Rs 310 to Rs 800 depending on what you buy. The Fruit Overload costs Rs 310 for a kg while the 'Desire', which has three layers of Belgian chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate with raspberry flavouring on top because of which it gets a scrumptious maroon colour, is priced at Rs 800 for a 1 kg cake.

This is the only place in Mumbai that I know of, which makes pastry like the Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie, which is a gooey generous layer of cheese within two thick layers of Belgium chocolate brownie. Got to try it to know what you are missing. Besides, Ovenfresh is also creative with the names of its pastries - like 'Mandarin', 'Charlotte', 'Banoffee' and 'Desire', which do fulfill desires!

Both Birdys and Monginis sell more affordable cakes. Here the house specialities - at Birdys is a Mango Torte priced at Rs 500 a kg. This is a scrumptious mango cake with chocolate layer dripping all over it. Their blueberry cheesecake is also worth a try. The only drawback is that, Birdys tends to stick to baking the same things forever.

In contrast, Monginis tries variations all the time, and they have cakes to suit all tastes and budgets. The interesting ones are a Caramel cake which has loads of fresh cream and caramel topping, priced at Rs 650 for a 1 kg cake. Another unique looking cake to show up at a party with, is the Blue Grape cake, which has blue grape pulp filling inside as well as a blue coloured syrup, as frosting, on top of the cake.

So go right ahead and try out some of these sinful delights. I think even the Gods envy us when we do.

(Pictures are from the brands' sites and from burrp.com)

A daily deal offer: Was it worth it?

My own experience with a daily deal site has been funny. In India, Groupon has taken some stake in a site called SoSasta and in April, they ran a deal for a books website called nbcindia, with 50% off on any title. The site had discounted the books anyway but once I used the coupon..they validated it by giving me 50% off on the listed price and not on the offer price.

Anyway, it worked out cheaper for me one way or the other. But, that books site has yet to deliver my books as of today. After I wrote to SoSasta-Groupon, they told me I would have to follow up with the vendor.

So more than the structure of the deals, I think customer service is often left to the customers! Beware of such unspoken and unclear terms and conditions, even though SoSasta's support staff has written to me to say that this problem is being looked into and will be resolved. But their intervention, if any, has not helped at all. The books site then offered to refund my money, 'after' which I got a call from SoSasta's customer service, asking me for details! I had to do all the follow-up for the refund from the bookseller.


Meanwhile, in an earlier post, I had mentioned a discount card that was launched by Snapdeal called Moneysaver Prime. I tried using it at Bollywood Cafe at Phoenix Mills, which didn't accept it and then downloaded a coupon for Cafe Coffee Day: Promo code - 9441474049210 - from their site, which was also not valid. 

When I wrote to their customer support, they then told me: "This is to inform you that the tie-up with this outlet is no longer available with MoneySaver Prime." If that is so, then they should not have it up on their site in the first place, and this is something I've emailed them about.

While the card is a good idea, they paint an unduly optimistic picture and do not update the offers which are not valid anymore. Tip: Call the outlet wherever possible before stepping out with this piece of plastic. And no..they don't make it easy by providing phone numbers on the site! 

CEOs need to innovate to survive: Report

A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey on innovation highlights the most common myths that hamper organisations and CEOs, from taking that leap of faith and trying out new ideas. The report 'Demystifying Innovation: Take down the barriers to New Growth' states that "43% of CEOs in the pharmaceuticals, and entertainment and media sectors, believe their greatest opportunities for growth this year lie in new products and services, against 29% of all CEOs (across sectors)."

But all of these bigshots know they can't go it alone because "a majority of entertainment and media CEOs (57%), for example, expect their company's innovations will be co-developed with outside partners. 41% of pharmaceuticals and life sciences CEOs expect the majority of their innovations will be developed in markets outside the country where they are based."

So though the survey does show that CEOs are aware that their organisations will have to innovate to survive, or they will get left behind in the rat race for marketshare and consumer mindspace, they still hesitate to take action. With almost a billion new consumers beginning to spend in the emerging economies of the world, the brands/organisations that don't adapt to these markets and their requirements will wither and die.

So CEOs need to be wary of the following misconceptions that the report points out, and take measures to overcome them.


Click on the images to enlarge it

The myths hampering innovative behaviour are:

1. Innovation can be delegated. Ans: No
2. Senior and mid-level managers are natural allies of innovation. Ans: No
3. Innovative talent works for the money. Ans: No
4. Innovation results from lucky accidents. Ans: Very rarely
5. The more open the innovation process, the less disciplined. Ans: No
6. Businesses know how much innovation they need. Ans: No
7. Innovation can't be measured. Ans: Yes, it can be.

The graphic below shows how you can keep track of your innovative team and their progress on that new big fat idea.


The report is a good read for all those who want to figure out ways to speed up the innovation mindset in their organisations, and to cut loose the deadwood who act like bottlenecks.

Tables are from the report. Read the report here: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/corporate-strategy-services/assets/ceosurvey-innovation.pdf

Decoding what makes some startups successful

Ever wanted to know how some startups thrive and become successful and others struggle along, even if they do have good products and/or ideas? A report called the Startup Genome has made an attempt to figure this out. They studied data gathered from 600 startups who chose to fill up their rather lengthy survey (I got to the 75% mark and lost my patience!).

Anyway, they have divided the startups (only internet-based ones) along a development timeline - ie. the stages that all startups have to go through to become a full-fledged profitable player in the market. These stages were: Discovery, Validation, Efficiency and Scale. The report states that by the time a startup moves from the Validation to the Efficiency stage, they should be aware of a single fact - whether 40% of their customers can live without them, and if the answer is 'No', then that is great news!

The report then goes on to divide startups based on the service they provide and the market segment they are targeting. Here they are:

The Automizer
Common characteristics: Self-service customer acquisition, consumer focused, product-centric, fast execution, often automate a manual process.
Examples: Google, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Slideshare, Mint, Groupon, Pandora, Kickstarter, Zynga, Playdom, Modcloth, Chegg, Powerset, Box.net, Basecamp, Hipmunk, OpenTable etc.

The Social Transformer
Common characteristics: Self service customer acquisition, critical mass, runaway user growth, winner take all markets, complex user experience, network effects, typically create new ways for people to interact.
Examples: Ebay, OkCupid, Skype, Airbnb, Craigslist, Etsy, IMVU, Flickr, LinkedIn, Yelp, Aardvark, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube, Dailybooth, Mechanical Turk, MyYearbook, Prosper, Paypal, Quora, Hunch etc.


Click on the tables to view them better.

The Integrator
Common characteristics: Lead generation with inside sales reps, high certainty, product-centric, early monetization, SME focused, smaller markets, often take innovations from consumer internet and rebuild it for smaller enterprises.
Examples: PBworks, Uservoice, Kissmetrics, Mixpanel, Dimdim, HubSpot, Marketo Xignite, Zendesk, GetSatisfaction, Flowtown etc.

The Challenger
Common characteristics: Enterprise sales, high customer dependency, complex and rigid markets, repeatable sales process.
Examples: Oracle, Salesforce, MySQL, Redhat, Jive, Ariba, Rapleaf, Involver, BazaarVoice, Atlassian, BuddyMedia, Palantir, Netsuite, Passkey, WorkDay, Apptio,Zuora, Cloudera, Splunk, SuccessFactor, Yammer, Postini etc


Each of these types have their own challenges to overcome in each stage, as the table above shows, and the below table shows that once the startup reaches scale, some forms of revenue generation does not rake in as much money as it did earlier.


The report states, "Subscription and Transaction Fees are by far the most common type of revenue streams. It’s interesting to see what revenue streams startups think will work in stage 2 but have considerable drop off with startups that have actually made it to stage 4. Virtual Goods, Advertising and Data all have major drop offs."

After Page 30, the report has pie-charts which show answers graphically, to questions like these:
-Which experts (Paul Graham, Guy Kawasaki, Steve Blank, Eric Ries etc) were most looked up to.
-Did entrepreneurs start up ventures for money, self-growth or to change the world.
-Whether startups with mentors or without one, succeed in raising capital. The answer is obviously 'with mentors' but the numbers are there to back it up. (For answers to the first two questions, take a look at the report!). But the one main reason it gave, for so many startups failing was due to 'premature scaling'. So startups that did not do each stage properly, did many more 'pivots' (switches/turnarounds) and usually had to go back a step...to learn their lessons again.

The report is a good first attempt and the founders of the Startup Genome Project are looking to drill deeper into the statistics, and give more answers in their future reports.

Tables are taken from the report. Read the full report here:
http://xrl.us/bkqc2d

New waves of growth: Report

An Accenture report highlights the key areas where growth will occur in the near future and how much it will improve the gross domestic product (GDP) of each economy. The report looked at four economies - the UK, US, Germany and India and pointed out how much each of them will stand to benefit if certain parameters were met to ensure this growth happened.

These are the future growth areas to concentrate on:
1. The silver economy
2. The resource economy
3. The multi-technology future
4. The emerging-markets surge

The western economies stand to gain a lot from harnessing the skills of their aging population, so that is one area that India can choose to ignore for the time being. But not for too long either because we will soon have the same problem of retired people who need to be looked after, and we don't have an extensive government funded social security net in place, to do it on our behalf. The three other countries mentioned in the study, do have their governments looking after the welfare of their elderly population.

So if and when India decided to harness this untapped manpower, the report suggests putting steps in place. Such as these:

• Widening the net by retaining older workers in the workforce.
• Ensuring future supply of “hands and minds”.
• Promoting the productive capacity of older workers.

The report further suggests how organisations can help with this.
• Age-proof your human capital by adapting the workplace environment.
• Recycle and diffuse the critical expertise of older workers.
• Develop your silver radar to capture marketshare.

When it comes to the resource economy and the jobs that can be created in this sector, these were the success-making conditions required on a government level.
• Building the skills needed for a green economy, such as technical, engineering and
“green collar” skills.
• Enabling complementary infrastructure to support new technologies and energy solutions.

Meanwhile, organisations needed to ensure the following:
• Develop new products and services to serve the resource economy.
• Integrate a carbon price into business units to identify carbon hotspots.
• Turn scarcity into abundance by transforming waste into assets.

India stands to add Rs 458 billion to the 2020 GDP, 0.3% above the current trajectory. This will add 8,21,000 jobs.

Similarly with technology being used more extensively and adopted in more sectors, India will add Rs 4 trillion to 2020 GDP, which is 2.8% above the current trajectory. This will add 10.8 million jobs. For this to happen, the report suggests:
• Honing digital literacy and skills through technology-enabled learning and tri-sector cooperation.
• Building the technological arteries by extending high-speed Internet access.
• Setting smart regulatory standards to spur adoption and investment in new technologies.

Meanwhile organisations can get started by:
• Embrace cloud computing for savings and flexibility.
• Use technology to pursue polycentric innovation.
• Create open innovation networks to harness the power of customers and stakeholders.

The last area where India stands to reap benefits is as an emerging market. India will see Rs 7 trillion added to its 2020 GDP - 4.9% above the current trajectory and it will add 28.2 million jobs. To get to these numbers, we will need to do the following:
• Build new bridges through trade liberalization, economic diplomacy, new
technologies and collaborative partners.
• Uncover and strengthen comparative advantage and unleashing domestic excellence on to world markets.

While organisations can start on the following to get the same results:
• Create geographic options for inputs and customer markets.
• Be authentically local to tailor marketing and innovation toward emerging markets.
• Design a flexible international operating model to benefit from scale and standardization.

So with this roadmap laid out for India, is someone out there going to pay heed to it?

Read the report in detail here: http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture_Institute_High_Performance_New_Waves_of_Growth_Executive%20Summary.pdf

'Legal eagles need new skills to work in LPOs'

Ganesh Natarajan has been instrumental in the growth of Mindcrest, a premier legal outsourcing company (LPO) based in India that provides services to firms in the US, Europe and Australia.

The genesis of this LPO was as a result of Natarajan spotting an opportunity in the nick of time. “I was a partner at a large law firm in Chicago doing international mergers and acquisitions work. In the course of my career, I saw many opportunities where lawyers in India could be leveraged to perform services to US and UK clients. That was the genesis of Mindcrest,” said the LPO’s co-founder, president and CEO.

Natarajan is a Bombay University alumni with a management degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, and an MBA from Brigham Young University in Utah. He also has a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Washington University in St Louis. He has been a consultant for several Fortune 500 companies over issues such as market-entry strategies, capital raising activities, joint venture arrangements, strategic alliances and various commercial arrangements, including mergers and acquisitions.

He has done all of this over 20 years, but explains that it’s not necessary for young lawyers to cut their teeth in a routine law firm or a corporate legal division to work at an LPO, or may be even start one. “There is no real need for a young lawyer to get experience with a legal firm or a corporation. Subject to their meeting our requirements, we will train them to be effective in their work. This means that a lawyer at an LPO has to develop the rigor to ask the right questions and demonstrate the initiative to understand and resolve issues from the client’s perspective,” he explained.

“They also need to embrace new skills, such as project management, teamwork and technology, and to improve existing skills such as written and oral communication, analytics and attention to detail,” he added.

Natarajan has also worked at the Indian division of McGuire Woods LLP, an international law firm. It was here that he met George Hefferan, and together they teamed up with Rohan Dalal and Teju Deshpande and founded Mindcrest.

On the current LPO scenario in India, he said: “In the wake of the global economic downturn the amount of legal work has significantly increased in several areas of the law. Yet, legal budgets remain frozen or have shrunk.”

“The trend that we observe is that buyers of legal services, whether corporations or law firms, are keen on forging strategic partnerships with LPO providers. Such partnerships typically contemplate engaging a single preferred provider for a variety of legal services that derive significant value with scale and over multi-year relationships. Also, there are numerous LPOs in India today but I expect the number to reduce in the wake of consolidations that might happen,” he said.

Though Natarajan does have all this varied experience, which has enabled him to become a visible figure in the international legal industry, he admits to not understanding new-fangled social media and crowdsourcing strategies, and he does not feel they are an important criteria to run an LPO. He creates brand awareness the slightly old-fashioned way — by addressing many industry forums, bar associations and lecturing at international law schools.

Natarajan and a couple of friends got together to start Mindcrest, but he says self motivation and a strong independent streak are big factors in getting started. Other requirements that come in handy are “common sense, a feel for people and the ability to convince others of your vision. Having domain knowledge of the law business was very helpful as well."

Written for India Syndicate

'Fortune 700 cos will need more financial planning services'

Milind Godbole, President, Asia Pacific, Aditya Birla Minacs Worldwide, opens up about the future of the financial accounting outsourcing (FAO) sector and his company’s expertise in the field.

What is the current market scenario for the FAO?
With regard to Fortune 700 companies, FAO has attained market maturity and has become a highly commoditized business. The key differentiating factors among service providers in this space is their existing capability, size of operations, ability to scale and reference-ability from current customers. However, mid-market customers continue to wait and watch and are yet to demystify the FAO value proposition. The competition in this space is limited due to various reasons; the service providers are trying to offer the traditional Accounts Payable (AP) outsourcing in a commoditized manner but are developing niche vertical specific FAO offerings which will redefine this space over next 24 months.

What are the services areas that you are expecting growth in FAO?
Financial Planning and Analysis services for the Fortune 700 will gather further momentum. Additionally large companies will look upon their BPO partner to provide an integrated Procure to Pay (P2P) service offering to infuse additional efficiency in the system. All FAO service areas in the mid-market space provide an excellent growth opportunity.

Industry specific bespoke solutions that address CFO painpoints or provide disruptive value proposition are poised for growth. Unique yet scalable solutions offerings focused on niche areas such as federal government contractors or restaurant and franchisee business accounting have immense growth opportunities.

What are the business drivers that are driving the growth in this segment? Financial Planning and Analysis: FAO’s focus so far has been on efficiency. In order to create self-differentiation service providers are keen on impacting customer effectiveness. FP&A allows service providers to deliver additional value as it impacts the balance-sheet of the customer.

Procure To Pay (P2P): FAO providers have the opportunity to mine their AP customers and offer a combination of efficiency and effectiveness in form of procurement. Transactional Procurement services integrated with AP help enable higher compliance and end customer/supplier satisfaction. Additionally since FAO providers have access to AP database they can maintain an evergreen spend cube which can enable ongoing spend analysis leading to spend reduction.

Mid-market offers a vast opportunity to service providers as this a segment which has a large size and is relatively new to FAO.

Bespoke solutions are innovative solutions being developed by service providers in order to create self differentiation in an otherwise commoditized market. Such solutions offer a great opportunity because as on date, such solutions aren’t being offered in the market place.

What are Minacs offerings and expertise in FAO?
- Purchase and accounts payable: including purchase order processing, vendor bill and employee claim booking, payment processing, reconciliation.

- Billing and accounts receivable: including sales order processing, invoice processing, remittance posting, debit/ credit note processing and reconciliation.

- General ledger accounting: including ledger scrutiny, accrual entries, schedule preparation, book closure and audit coordination, reconciliation.

- Fixed asset accounting: including capitalization, depreciation runs, fixed assets register maintenance.
- Taxation compliance
- Statutory internal MIS and audit
- Restaurant & Franchisee Business Accounting
- Real Estate Fund & Property Management Accounting

We also provide specialty FAO solutions such as US federal compliance, including government cost proposals, incurred cost submissions, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Cost/ Schedule Summary Report (C/SSR).

What business value does your FAO service bring to your clients?
Since 1999 we have partnered with our mid-market & SMB clients in delivering higher-end, more complex, knowledge-intensive F&A processes. Besides supporting traditionally outsourced finance activities, we also provide services much higher up the “value chain” as a “complete package”.

Many of our clients outsource all of their finance activities below the CFO level to MinacsHence, our teams play a crucial role in supporting the more complex finance and controlling requirements of our clients – providing end to end services, such as information for internal auditors, in helping produce the statutory accounts, providing the necessary support and information for the year-end audit process, delivering the month end accounts and commentaries to show performance of the enterprise in key areas, and most critically, in providing the deep insight and analysis that organizations increasingly require in their complex operating environment to take key decisions.

Written for India Syndicate

Smart saving-n-earning movement is on

The wave of smart spending and earning habits is spreading across the globe and here are some facts to prove it.

In India, we have a culture of accumulating things just as people in the West do - and we either give it away or prefer to exchange them for newer things at exchange fests. The results of a poll that I requested AZ Research - a marketing research firm - to put up on their Facebook page, gave some fresh answers. The question asked was 'How do you like to sell/dispose of your seconds?

The answers are in the below graphic, but a third option that people are looking to explore now are - selling their seconds through a site. So selling through sites, will bring in money for well maintained possessions - and that is an income stream that has not been explored in depth, nor has its potential been understood as yet.


Click to enlarge the image

But my own preferences apart, abroad as well, people are cutting down on frills since last year. Also more people were going online to find bargain deals - this is in fact their prime reason for being online, as suggested in this Comet Technology Census, done by polling 2,600 Britons.

This poll reveals that "Comet’s technology-centric count found that 84% of people use the net at home to search for deals, pushing online banking into second slot and scouring the news into third place. Social networking, despite the hype, made it only to seventh most popular web activity."

Analytics & consulting services to boom

There is a huge demand domestically for IT applications services as it is the backbone of delivery for any business, says Vertex India CEO Keshav Gaur.

“The right quality focus and access to global expertise aid companies align delivery and support IT solutions that help clients achieve high performance. In these fast-changing times, analytics and consulting services are also becoming essential to develop the predictive capabilities and to achieve operational excellence. These services are now gaining magnitude in utilities, telecom, financial services and the public sectors,” says Gaur.

Vertex is one of the many new-wave business process outsourcing (BPO) entities looking to make a mark in India since 2002, “when the Vertex Group acquired the UK contact centre operator 7C and the shareholding of 7C India”, he asserts.

With Vertex offering a bouquet of services, among them consulting, IT applications and analytics, they are seeing their business grow to a point where in September 2010 they signed a joint venture deal with Shell Transource.

“This joint venture creates one of India’s largest integrated end-to-end solution providers in the customer management outsourcing industry. Today, we have over 5,000 employees in India. We principally provide a range of voice and non-voice services and fulfillment solutions for international and domestic clients and a number of key support services to the Vertex business,” he explains.

With multi-lingual capabilities and in-depth understanding of rural markets and Tier II and Tier III cities, they have customers from over 350 locations in India, especially in these above-mentioned markets.

The joint venture has ensured that Vertex has “a broad client base across financial services (banking & insurance), public sector, aviation, BFSI, telecom, utilities, KPO and media sectors, and our sales pipeline is strong and continues to grow”, assures Gaur.

Vertex also has expertise in delivering advanced analytics and marketing research driven management consulting services to many companies in sectors like banking, telecom, FMCG, energy, transportation, retail, pharma, BPOs and others.

It also delivers IT-enabled business intelligence solutions using advanced state-of-the-art software tools such as SAS, WPS, R, Stata, Qlikview, Cognos, Informatica, and Business Object and applies advanced research methods and state-of-the-art models to meet clients’ strategic and operational decision needs.

What’s more, the organization is also building on its Decision Sciences capability in India. It is looking to leverage all of these business solutions in their portfolio, over a range of sectors - like retail, financial services, travel, utilities, media and telecom, public services and logistics and transportation.

When asked which of these sectors seem more promising to Vertex, Gaur said, "Our industry focus is utilities, public sector, financial services, telecommunications, media & entertainment and retail/distribution industries where we provide rewarding customer experiences and valuable client outcomes in the areas of Customer Management Outsourcing, IT Applications and Services, Consulting and Transformation and Decision Sciences. Sectors with maximum potential and immediate addressable opportunities are banking and insurance, telecom, retail, travel and the public sector."

With their core belief being that they are on the ‘same side of the table’, which means that they share risks and rewards, which in turn gives them a stake in helping their clients’ achieve success, they are well placed to understand their clients’ needs. This insight allows Vertex to shape the development of new strategies, techniques and technologies.

Written for India Syndicate

Antiques: Art & Science of shopping for Timeless Treasures

This is why you should be spotting treasures from other people’s discarded items or having the good sense of collecting them in the first place. Some of them become valuable after a couple of years like rare stamps or first edition comics and books written by the great wordsmiths of our times or even an earlier era.

Here is what a website reported would have happened if you had held on to your first edition Superman comic - you would have made one million dollars today. (Read The-superman-asset-bubble-is-here.) Besides, it’s not only kids who love hanging on to comics, even older people have their quirks and obsessions. One such adult, who is a comic lover and collector, is actor Nicholas Cage. He auctioned off a portion of his collection – about 140 lots for $1.68 million. This might be small change for a Hollywood actor, but put yourself in his shoes – wouldn’t this kind of money mean something to you?

Meanwhile, auction house Christie's is auctioning of an original copy of American writer Edgar Allan Poe's ‘Tamerlane and Other Poems’. It was expected to fetch $500,000 to $700,000. What is surprising is not the amount of money it is expected to fetch but the actual condition of the book. It looks like something rescued from a trash can but that’s precisely the whole point of a seconds market or website – it’s supposed to help people discover hidden gems like this one.

One person who has actually found an alternative hobby while maintaining his model car collection, is now finding fame on the web because he’s done a brilliant job of showcasing his cars against a backdrop of a 1960s fictional town called Elgin Park that he has created. Yes, he’s made scale models of an entire town with such attention to detail that it looks like a real place. This model town flaunts his priced car collection to perfection. (Read about Michael Paul Smith here: Showcase Collectible Cars.)

If you are a Dan Brown fan, then you’ll know that the professorial hero of his three books (The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons and The Lost Symbol) – Robert Langdon - is never caught at the scene of his numerous adventures without his favourite Mickey Mouse collector’s edition watch. Another author named Clive Cussler, who writes such fast-paced thrillers, that his novels' protagonists make James Bond look like he should retire into the sunset gracefully - anyway, this writer is an avid collector of vintage cars and locomotives. Even his fictional alter ego - Dirk Pitt - displays the same taste.

In India as well, there are many vintage car lovers - some well known and the others not so much. They often flaunt their babies at car rallies across the country. But one man in India, has got vintage cars and an entire train parked in his garden, which he has painstakingly restored and now uses to entertain his guests in. (Read more about Tarun Thakral here - http://writtenpath.blogspot.com/2007/07/journey-of-lifetime.html)

Moving on to celebrities, Amitabh Bachchan has a fetish for pens and everyone is aware of Elizabeth Taylor’s love of jewellery. Marilyn Monroe loved Manolo Blahnik shoes. Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino’s movies drip blood and expletives but he’s not the one who collects knives (Angelina Jolie does that) – he collects staid board games. George Clooney collects motorcycles, Jamie Lee Curtis collects photographs, billionaire Malcolm Forbes collected Faberge eggs and toy soldiers, Freddie Mercury collected stamps, Demi Moore collects vintage clothing and dolls and Nicholas Cage also collects European sports cars along with comics. Johnny Depp’s collection ranges from the intellectual to natural - he collects both rare books and insects and even Dolly Parton collects rare butterflies. (For more details, read this: Famous Collectors & their Collections.)

All of these people can afford to indulge their tastes and pursue serious collecting as a hobby but that shouldn’t stop the rest of us to keep looking and cultivating an eye for fascinating, beautiful and tasteful things. Treasures can and are found in unexpected places – an old trunk in your grandparents home may have vintage clothes and dolls that you might be able to sell to Demi Moore some day! What’s more, collections are and can be started with what interests you – so people are collecting Disney memorabilia, Hot Wheels cars, Beanie babies, Barbie dolls and other items like these which you thought you had outgrown. You could possibly find such people online and swap your children or grandchildren’s toys with them.

Abroad, the collecting instinct is well entrenched and there are many stores that people-in-the-know visit to scout for the latest bargains. For instance, the next time you visit the UK, here is a list of great antiques stores, you could browse in: The 50 Best Antiques Shops in Britain. Some of the shops actually stock furniture, which look a lot like what we would find being neglected in our grandparents home in India.

So, once you realise the actual value, you could fly back and take care of it well, if you already own it, or offer to buy it from them before they unwittingly sell it to a neighbour or relatives. Another store in Britain called Deddington Antiques Centre lets you trade in your antiques for something else from their stock! That is such a fun way to keep people interested.

Abroad, collectors have many options as the art of collecting is well and truly alive, as it reflects well on their level of refinement, if they can flaunt beautiful things in their homes. You only have to look at that list of the best antiques stores given above, to see that some of those stores look like upscale country homes, that you would like to holiday in. The fact that those store owners can afford and maintain such properties mean that they are doing very well.

Collectibles come up for sale in odd places like garage sales, thrift stores apart from art and photography galleries and auctions. One such treasure up for sale at a photography gallery in Vienna is a 170-year old wooden sliding box camera, which was made in Paris in 1839 by Alphonse Giroux and designed by Jacques Daguerre – it also has Daguerre’s signature on it - thereby making it an authentic item. This vintage camera is up for sale at a starting price of Rs 1.25 crore – the price of a pricey apartment in Mumbai. In 2007, an ‘unbranded’ old camera was sold at the same venue, for Rs 3.59 crore. So the ‘signed’ model is expected to fetch a much higher price.

In India, at the moment, Saffronart is having an online auction of jewellery that you might want to take a look at. These are specially designed period pieces and they are expecting more than 700 people to flock in, like they did last time, to bid for them. Not everyone can begin hunting with the big game right away, so begin small with some auction websites like Saffronart and AstraGuru and you might in time, build a collection that could drive everyone else green with envy. Other options that you could try is, use a metal detector and comb beaches for coins, trinkets, souvenirs and relics on your next seaside vacation. You might just strike pay dirt.

In India, Christie’s website is a good place to start if you have the inclination to know what’s happening in the collecting business. They have sections like watches, prints, jewellery, glassware, photographs, furniture, porcelain, musical instruments, books and manuscripts, armour, lighting and a host of other things. Take a look at the list and also see how one can customise it to your wallet. Look for the ‘Create your Wishlist’ kind of element on the Christie’s site: http://www.christies.com/

On the other hand, if history and archaeology in particular, is of interest to you, then keep track of what’s happening in that field – sometimes treasures are recovered and not everything makes its way to the museums of a country. There have been cases where things have been smuggled away and, hidden yet again only to surface years later in some billionaire’s private collection. Ironically, sometimes such items that were acquired on the black market is auctioned off in a public manner. If you keep yourself updated on such matters, then some day, you might spot something that you know is valuable in an really unexpected place.

The best method is to keep your eyes open and train it to spot treasures. So begin a collection and try and spot your diamonds in other people’s coal bins!

I contacted Christie’s India Representative and Vice President, Menaka Kumari Shah and asked her a few questions on the art of collecting.

1. Have you had any private collections come up for auction in India?
A: Christie's does not hold auctions in India, but we do hold auctions of art from South Asia in New York, London and Hong Kong. Many international private collections are offered in a wide range of categories, for instance contemporary art (film director Michael Crichton's collection) or Impressionist/Modern art (the collection of Mrs Sidney Brody) etc.

2. How do you start the collecting habit? I mean apart from having the money to do it and the taste for say, collecting vintage wine bottles...how do you know what one is collecting will turn out to be valuable some day?
A: We suggest would-be collectors do their homework - study auction categories, auction results, visit galleries, museums, read journals etc. Auction houses - large and small - cover a myriad of categories, but it is up to the person on what is of interest to him/her. We always advice people to start collecting what they are passionate about.

3. Are there some categories that are going to be hot from a collectors viewpoint? How do these collections do as against other investments in terms of capital gain?
A: There is indeed a lot of cash looking for a home at the moment. Fear of inflation but also very low interest rates have driven many individuals to diversify their assets and acquire works of art.
·On Jewellery: High quality diamonds will get more and more difficult to locate due to the scarcity of rough material as will important rubies and natural pearls. The market will gain strength from a buyer's perspective due to the emergence of new markets in China, Russia and India and as seen through the ages, jewellery will continue to be an alternative form of investment when money fluctuates a lot. Buying activity will be governed by the exceptional demand for important diamonds, gemstones, and vintage jewels, which are keenly sought after by private clients and the trade who buy for stock and, on some occasions, on behalf of a client.
·On Wine: When considering a bottle to add to your collection, one must consider rarity, provenance, condition and its source of creation. Typically, the best-produced wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy are among the most exclusive in the world and among the most established fields for collection. Other important collectible areas in France include Champagne and Rhone wines. Beyond France, the wines from Spain, Italy, California and Australia regularly appear at auctions. We encourage buyers to bid on wine to enjoy them and not primarily to buy to invest. Although it is true that returns on some blue-chip wines over the past few years have been very positive, we encourage any buyer who is interested in wine investment to seek professional advice, and of course Christie's specialists are on hand to answer questions.
·On Art: Statistics track a fast growing segment of affluent Asians, including Indians. We can foresee this trend continuing to gain momentum over the next decade. I think that after houses, cars and education, people look to art as a celebration of their status and as an expression of pride in cultural heritage.

Collectors from this region have a wide range of tastes and collecting habits. Usually our specialists always advise our clients or would-be collectors to start with what they like or are passionate about - this should take precedent over pure investment value. Of course there have been many instances where art acquired many years back is now being sold many times its original price, as we can see from works by Indian artists such as Souza, Raza, Hussain, Kallat and others.

4. Who are the famous collectors in India and what do they collect? If you have an idea of how much their collection is valued at, then do add that information here even as an approx figure.
A: Christie's does not comment on clients.

Places to buy antiques in Mumbai

Philips Antiques
Indian Mercantile Mansion,
Opposite Regal Cinema,
Madame Cama Road,
Colaba – 400001
Mumbai
Tel no – 022 22885115
Site: http://www.phillipsantiques.com/

White Rose
F-72, Oberoi Towers,
Nariman Point - 400021
Mumbai
Tel no – 022 22025757

Natesan’s Antiquarts Pvt Ltd
Jehangir Art Gallery,
Kala Ghoda, MG Road,
Mumbai – 400023
Tel no – 022 22852700

E.A. Merchant
Hasham Building,
Mohammed Ali Road,
Mumbai – 400003
Tel no – 022 23424610

Chor Bazaar
Near Nal Bazaar,
Close to JJ Hospital,
Opposite Mirza Ghalib Market,
Mumbai - 400003

Outside Maharashtra, Jew Town in Kochi, Kerala and Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu are good places to shop for antiques.