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life

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India life lifestyle Nature Photography Photography Powai trees Uncategorized

Co-existence

Even we are educated and we also look up Google. So, please don’t teach us… thundered Ignoramus 1. We want him captured and sent back to where he belongs , shrieked Ignoramus 2. As the room was filled by the shrieks and sounds of these 2 gifts to mankind, my mind drifted to a very powerful monologue by Amitabh Bachchan in Agneepath, ( the original one). Amitabh in his rich baritone voice explains to the erstwhile Commisioner of Police the food chain in the jungle. He ends the powerful monologue with the line sher bhediye ko chabaa jaata hai., stating the obvious that in the jungle the Lion is King. But here in the real world, the poor sher and cheetah are no match for the all powerful  aadmi in the cities. Its a fact!

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India inspiration lake life lifestyle Nature Photography Photography Road Trip Safari trees Uncategorized Vacation

In search of the perfect vacation?

Many in Mumbai find it hard to have 1 decent vacation a year. My kind boss allowed me not 1 but 2 five day breaks within a month ! The first was an all boys out Safari to Pench.  5 AM safaris, dusty roads, vodka and bollywood evenings and some great bonding in the jungle meant that the boys really did have all the fun. The second was a nice little family vacation in Poovar & Kumarakom in Kerala. The highlight – our first vacation with our Jackal with killsometimes devil , almost always angel little daughter – Mysha. This one was all about running behind Mysha for her feed, her taking to the pool like a fish to water, long boat rides, running behind Mysha for her feed ,multiple car journeys, screaming on top of our voices like children,  running behind Mysha for her feed  ( yea we did that a lot …).

The Fab 4 @ Pench I had great company in both, fab service levels in the hotels that we stayed in and met hospitable people wherever I went. There were goof ups in both the places too – Missing tiger sighting, small skirmishes with guides,  running behind Mysha for her feed – ( Oh, did I cover that already ! ). But, as  I look back at these mini vacations , I think I have learnt a very important lesson. The first one is obvious – never let out your preference about 2 diametrically opposite trips in public – hehe.

The second one is vacations are all about moments. Little ones. Big ones. The first Tiger sighting on a trip, the bonding over a masala David Dhawan film, your baby’s first outing in a swimming pool, her not letting her parents go out of sight even for a moment in 5 days, her crying papa- papa as you approach the window of your cottage, the family sitting quietly in a boat mysha 1not talking a word but being the perfect family in that moment. Someone once told me I visualise in pictures and images… But when I reminisce about these 10 days, its not a set of pictures but a beautiful movie montage playing out against some terrific slow music. It’s this montage which keeps playing in my mind that makes it oh so perfect.

As we all go back to our daily chores for the next 6 months or so before the next 10 day break, I thank my wife Sunita, our little angel Mysha, My best pal Mayur, Daksh, Suraj and all the people I met for this perfect 10 day vacation – The montage wouldn’t have been possible without you folks 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

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life marketing shopping centers Uncategorized

Read this post and win a Free Sedan !

The title of this post could have easily been the end of experience in shopping centres… but then going by what most malls did in India for Diwali, experience is not a marketable idea. Instead, a car, gold or an International vacation were better options or were they?

First the good news: Most “Live Malls” or should I say malls that were ALIVE and KICKIN’ did better business than last year.

Now the truth: Most did not do as well as they expected.

Its an interesting story really. Developers expected to get above average returns. They knew the economy was bad. The decision was so easy- Lets just bribe the consumer this time. A sub par performance meant – It was expected, hence we didn’t spend. An above par performance will mean – see we spent little and still got the returns.

The Only Truth: The only sufferer was the MALL BRAND !

The relationship between retailers and malls is not an easy one. Malls seek big brands in an attempt to get easy footfalls. Retailers bank on mall marketing to get the footfalls they want. 0 or close to nothing spends on marketing and over confidence on their brand pull means consumers have stopped caring as to where they headed.

The plethora of malls coupled with their reluctance to invest in branding means, consumers no longer go to a shopping centre X or a shopping centre Y. They go to the mall to buy from a Shoppers Stop or an Allen Solly. Loyalty is nothing.

Infact with almost every mall giving away gold or   a car free, the better option would be to go to the mall with lesser footfalls – the odds of winning get significantly better- 1 in a lac vs 1 in a million.

Whichever way you look at it, these are exciting times to be a consumer. You will either be rewarded with an experience or  at least have a 1 in a million chance to own a free car… …  and so are the chances of the mall developing itself into a world class brand

 

 

 

 

 

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Cricket Dhoni Dravid Ganguly India inspiration inspirational life lifestyle MSD mummy Sachin Tendulkar Sport Uncategorized usha joshi

Inspired

July 12, 2013. 2:40 AM IST:

MSD does the impossible once again as he takes 16 runs off a single over in a low scoring game to beat SL in the final of the tri series championship in WI.

One finds inspiration in many places. One finds inspiration at any age too.

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