Life Etc Etc

It’s been one crazy week and it's in weeks like this that you end up doing much more than what you plan for. This was the week when I finally got my hands on a brand new Samsung Galaxy Ace smart phone. Every purchase hinges on some factors and this being my first smart phone I did a fair bit of research to arrive at some of the essential features I wanted and some others which I could trade-off with. Without any further ado then some of the factors (features) I considered are as follows: 1. Touchscreen (capacitive vs resistive): Here's an excellent link about the pros and cons of each touchscreen but what made me go for a capacitive touch screen was the fact that it offers multi touch support and is not prone to get activated by just any object (such as a dust particle) which comes in contact with it. 2. Operating System (OS): There are several operating systems (Bada, Symbian, Android, IOS, Windows) to choose from but the best OS I figured was the one which could ...

Some cities give you the feeling of being on the cusp of technological evolution. I got that same feeling when I visited Bangalore (Bengaluru) recently. I saw quite a few Mahindra Revas (the first electric car of India), you don't see too many of them here in Hyderabad quite probably due to the lack of a well established dealer network. I caught a glimpse of the Bangalore Metro Rail project which reminded me very much of the Canada Line in Vancouver.  Then I saw something which quite frankly made me do the one thing that I usually don't like to do too often -- it made me Analyze . It all began when I decided to commute via a city bus from Electronic City (the place where all the IT companies are) to one of the prominent malls in town. I caught a bus but lo-behold I didn't get into an ordinary one I got into a A/C Volvo (Yes Volvo!!!) bus. Wait that's not what caught my eye. What caught my eye were the monitors (at the back of the head rests) which were star...

The flurry of festivity associated with Diwali (the festival of lights) has just subsided leaving us all gasping for breath. Unlike important days in the west (such as the Independence Day and Christmas) which are celebrated by the city's governing council (through a ceremonial display of fireworks at some important location) Diwali is more of a household affair. Over the years I have often wondered about the economics involved in manufacturing firecrackers and was intrigued by the ability of some brands to regularly turn in profits in the face of increasing competition. This year (with a freshly graduated MBA mind) I want to put forth some ideas which could help a brand differentiate itself from the competition and attract the attention of customers. The domestic firecrackers industry is estimated at around Rs 1200 crore (approximately $250 million). Here in South India we have three major brands which occupy a significant market share: Standard , Kaliswari and Ayyan all o...

Hey all, Its been a long time since my last post. But time just passes you by as you keep observing life. For those of you who might be wondering why the ultra long ( Dr. Strangelove inspired title)? I request you to just read on and find out how little things affect our choices. I live in a City called Hyderabad which is the fifth largest city in India home to around 4 million people and 300,000 cars. India’s emergence as a super power has given a much needed boost to the country’s middle class which means the city I live in sees an average of 600 new vehicles coming on the streets every day. The purchasing power of the middle class gave rise to the MALLS - the ultimate one stop shops for shopping, movies, food and entertainment. Now the million dollar question is do these multi-storied complexes have the capacity to accommodate the customers who come in with their families. If you are someone who spends his entire weekend shopping or hanging out the answer is a painful “ No...

Words don’t do justice to pure ecstasy but if they do its only fair that I recap India’s victory exactly a month into their reign as world cup champions.  For the first time in two decades (since the 1992 edition ) we had a competition so open that it almost required a magician with a crystal ball to predict the winner right until the final moments of the final. At the end, the prayers of a billion people were answered, India were once again champions of the cricket world after 28 long years. While India winning the tournament justified their "favourite" billing it wasn’t an easy road at all for the home team. So how did each of the 14 teams competing in the world cup fare? Let’s find out: 1.       Kenya:   Kenya looked the weakest and most underprepared of all the sides in the tournament. Their bowling lacked teeth their batting was equally inept. It was painful to watch one of the most promising associate nations of the past slip to such depths. ...

Its been a roller coaster ride the past few months but completing my MBA and watching India win the cricket world cup were definitely the highs in this otherwise dull period of my life. Yes my dear netizens no prizes for guessing the topic for the next two entries would be the recently concluded cricket world cup. The first time I saw a cricket world cup match was in 1992 when the tournament was hosted by Australia. The 1992 world cup was a revelation and included many firsts such as coloured clothing, floodlit matches and more importantly it was the first time the two group format was discarded with South Africa joining the competition as the ninth team. Since 1992 the format of the tournament has never been the same and has consistently gone through major upheavals. We saw the introduction of quarterfinals in 1996 , the super sixes in 1999 ( 2003 tournament followed the 1999 format with 14 teams competing) and super eights in 2007 (with 16 teams competing). The recently co...