The view from our dinning table is a commonplace Mumbai scene- a tall building, beginning to lose its brightness as the omnipresent dust and moisture take their toll, enclosed balconies and of course lines of laundry put out to dry in the fleeting sun. I have to admit that till this morning I viewed these clothes as ugly intrusions on an otherwise nice facade. “A lack of sophistication” to be absolutely blunt. And then I read that I wasn’t alone. There were actually people just like me around the World crusading to save our suburban lifestyle from the scourge of sun-dried clothing. How shameful!
People like them and me belong to a group who are willing to pay the huge electricity bills that a dryer rakes up. We have the money we say, and we are too sophisticated to mar the looks of our communities. What we forget is that when adopting this point of view we are committing a near criminal act of ignoring the environmental impact our actions have. We forget what we “urbanized” individuals know so well, that in the Sun we have a natural source of heating that is both free of cost and environmentally safe.
On the other hand I have to admit that dryers really are useful. In the monsoon months they can actually be a real boon when you need all the help you can to get those clothes dried and need to ensure that the sticky dampness is sucked out of your clothing. Given the cramped spaces that most urban Indians live in, dryers can actually improve the look of homes and give a sense of better living. And in all honesty who will say that those rows and rows of clothes in the windows (whether it be Mumbai or Tokyo) actually look good?
So the question still remains- to dry or not to dry? Perhaps the solution lies in a combination of both options. Those who have the luxury of space and conducive weather should go Au natural and for those of us who are not so fortunate let us hope technology can soon make dryers more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
When the World lowers its bar
Every financial newspaper has a column dedicated to the road to recovery from the worst economic crisis most of us have seen in our lifetime. It is amazing to see what is being classified as recovery. It seems that after the crisis the world has decided to lower its bar of what success is. Today it is merely the ability to not fail miserably, rather than actually achieve something.
This morning’s headlines talk of how GM is expecting to make a loss of just a “few” hundred million Dollars and that it would use the American tax payers’ money to start paying off it’s commercial debt. Publications are rife with similar tales of large Corporations across the world sending out signals of recovery because instead of billions they are now losing “only” millions.
None of the stories of recovery, perhaps other than those about India or China, are really about a rebound in demand or consumption. Stuff that would actually mean that value was being created and the wheels of the economy were not running due to a downhill momentum but rather because they had fuel in the vehicle!
But perhaps what is the most ironic about the state of affairs in our times is that while Corporations are allowed to flunk and are given bucket loads of money to stay afloat, the individual is being increasingly submitted to a higher and higher standard of success. Anyone who buys vegetables these days knows that the hundred rupee note buys you one third of what it used to just six months back. So with the same job and pay, we as individuals are expected to become more and more efficient while the Corporations can blow millions and still stand in line with begging bowls for more.
This morning’s headlines talk of how GM is expecting to make a loss of just a “few” hundred million Dollars and that it would use the American tax payers’ money to start paying off it’s commercial debt. Publications are rife with similar tales of large Corporations across the world sending out signals of recovery because instead of billions they are now losing “only” millions.
None of the stories of recovery, perhaps other than those about India or China, are really about a rebound in demand or consumption. Stuff that would actually mean that value was being created and the wheels of the economy were not running due to a downhill momentum but rather because they had fuel in the vehicle!
But perhaps what is the most ironic about the state of affairs in our times is that while Corporations are allowed to flunk and are given bucket loads of money to stay afloat, the individual is being increasingly submitted to a higher and higher standard of success. Anyone who buys vegetables these days knows that the hundred rupee note buys you one third of what it used to just six months back. So with the same job and pay, we as individuals are expected to become more and more efficient while the Corporations can blow millions and still stand in line with begging bowls for more.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Economic Crises are just bad habits at a large scale
The history of Citicorp and the several rescues it’s many Avatars have seen over the past eighty years has appeared in detail in today’s edition of “The Mint”. It makes for an interesting story and if you read between the lines you will find the tale of a nation that is constantly setting itself up for failure.
Every time the bank has failed starting as early as 1929, the cause has been too liberal a lending policy, insufficient risk management and the need to win market share irrespective of profitability. And by doing so banks such as Citi have created and constantly strengthened the great debt culture that is prevalent across most of the world’s so called developed economies. And ironically enough in doing so have been victims of a system that is of their own creation.
The balance sheet of the average American household is always in the negative. Given the high credit card balances and large mortgages, most people owe far more than they will ever repay given their ability to only make minimum payments. What used to be said of the Indian farmer is true of the average American- they are born into debt, live in debt and will died in debt.
But why does and average American household have all this debt? The simple answer is that the high standard of living that most Americans have come to accept as mandatory can only be serviced by high debt. A television, a car, air-conditioners, a telephone line, even processed and expensive food such as bread and tetra pack milk are considered a norm in every household. You just have to look at the movies- even a guy living in a trailer home will have a telephone and will have a refrigerator and a pantry stocked with cereal and milk and a carton of juice.
So institutions such as Citi have come up with various methods over the years to give people the spending power they need without necessarily worrying about the consequences. So if back in the 1920’s people were able to invest through the then Citibank by putting in only 10% of the money needed to trade (thereby essentially lending them 90% of the rest of the money) in most recent times it was the “unlocked values” of their homes in the form of HELOCS and second mortgages.
Till the habit of over spending does not change, America and the rest of the developed world will always be emerging from one cycle of downturn only to enter another. And this is where the economists in India and other developing economies need to learn a lesson. Measures of development such as the amount of household debt or household income invested in the stock market cannot be used as markers for growth without also understanding the risk involved in increasing their levels.
Every time the bank has failed starting as early as 1929, the cause has been too liberal a lending policy, insufficient risk management and the need to win market share irrespective of profitability. And by doing so banks such as Citi have created and constantly strengthened the great debt culture that is prevalent across most of the world’s so called developed economies. And ironically enough in doing so have been victims of a system that is of their own creation.
The balance sheet of the average American household is always in the negative. Given the high credit card balances and large mortgages, most people owe far more than they will ever repay given their ability to only make minimum payments. What used to be said of the Indian farmer is true of the average American- they are born into debt, live in debt and will died in debt.
But why does and average American household have all this debt? The simple answer is that the high standard of living that most Americans have come to accept as mandatory can only be serviced by high debt. A television, a car, air-conditioners, a telephone line, even processed and expensive food such as bread and tetra pack milk are considered a norm in every household. You just have to look at the movies- even a guy living in a trailer home will have a telephone and will have a refrigerator and a pantry stocked with cereal and milk and a carton of juice.
So institutions such as Citi have come up with various methods over the years to give people the spending power they need without necessarily worrying about the consequences. So if back in the 1920’s people were able to invest through the then Citibank by putting in only 10% of the money needed to trade (thereby essentially lending them 90% of the rest of the money) in most recent times it was the “unlocked values” of their homes in the form of HELOCS and second mortgages.
Till the habit of over spending does not change, America and the rest of the developed world will always be emerging from one cycle of downturn only to enter another. And this is where the economists in India and other developing economies need to learn a lesson. Measures of development such as the amount of household debt or household income invested in the stock market cannot be used as markers for growth without also understanding the risk involved in increasing their levels.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Language is for communication and not for oppression
The news out today is that the body that regulates web addresses (ICANN) will now allow web addresses that can be in scripts other than Latin or what we commonly know as English letters. Also out is another news that in Maharashtra it is going to be mandatory for all commercial establishments to put up bold Marathi signage on store fronts.
While the world is beginning to accept that language must be a matter of personal choice and no boundaries must be put on it, here at home we have decided that the only way for our people to achieve regional identity is to curb their use of language.
There can be little doubt that a language spoken by a majority of the region’s population should be used for as much of the official correspondence and in Government offices as possible, but surely all commercial establishments should have the liberty to choose how they project themselves? The whole idea behind storefront signage is to inform customers about the business. So if an establishment felt that it would lose business by not having signage in the local language it would ignore that fact at its peril. If the shopkeeper felt it would improve his business no Government dictate would be needed to put up shop signs in Marathi or any other language that the shop keeper felt necessary.
Unfortunately this drive by MNS and like has very little to do with their love of the language or their concern for the average Marathi speaking person. It is just another tool they are using to stir up a people who are looking to find their place under the sun. Yes, regional identity is one part of the over all identity of a person. But the MNS would do much better to use the resources it has to push its followers to better educate themselves and eradicate such social evils as drinking, gambling and lack of education- all of which are a far greater of cause of poverty and misery than the lack of Marathi signage.
While the world is beginning to accept that language must be a matter of personal choice and no boundaries must be put on it, here at home we have decided that the only way for our people to achieve regional identity is to curb their use of language.
There can be little doubt that a language spoken by a majority of the region’s population should be used for as much of the official correspondence and in Government offices as possible, but surely all commercial establishments should have the liberty to choose how they project themselves? The whole idea behind storefront signage is to inform customers about the business. So if an establishment felt that it would lose business by not having signage in the local language it would ignore that fact at its peril. If the shopkeeper felt it would improve his business no Government dictate would be needed to put up shop signs in Marathi or any other language that the shop keeper felt necessary.
Unfortunately this drive by MNS and like has very little to do with their love of the language or their concern for the average Marathi speaking person. It is just another tool they are using to stir up a people who are looking to find their place under the sun. Yes, regional identity is one part of the over all identity of a person. But the MNS would do much better to use the resources it has to push its followers to better educate themselves and eradicate such social evils as drinking, gambling and lack of education- all of which are a far greater of cause of poverty and misery than the lack of Marathi signage.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Innovation will always be the best weapon
“ It is impossible to break through all the clutter and noise”, this is what most frustrated marketers feel and genuinely face every day. And added to this is the fact that consumers these days have access to several un-official yet strong networks of information such as social networking sites, forums and blogs. In this kind of an environment what is a marketer to do? Well the answer is the same as has been since the beginning of commerce- innovate.
And this is precisely what marketers of goods and services are doing in India now more than ever before. Co-branding, in-programming product placement, cross promotions have suddenly seen a spurt. Gone are the days of the vanilla media plan where you bought ad space and air time and hoped to God that the viewers would catch your ad and not switch to another channel at the flick of their remote’s button. The need of the hour is to find a greater emotional re-connect with the consumer and communicate in a way that it is perceived more as a recommendation than an advertisement.
Keeping this in mind many television channels are cashing in on a new asset. They have realized that there is a deep emotional connect between their audience and the characters of their favourite television shows. So when Star Plus wanted to launch its new serial “Sabki Ladli Bebo” it placed mentions of it in its already popular “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai”. The same channel also regularly promotes its live award events using its existing fiction series. Similarly Zee TV recently promoted its finalists of “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs” in an innovative yet awkward episode of “12/24 Karol Bagh” which is already growing in popularity.
These kinds of promotions are not limited to television serials alone. Lux just launched its new range with beauty oils. And while they roped in India’s first cine-couple (Ash and Abhi) to do the regular commercials, they also have all the doe-eyed leading ladies of their most popular soaps selling it to all the beauty hungry young girls of the country.
Faced with an ad crunch even the print industry is being pushed into innovation. Femina, a leading women’s weekly, tied up with HUL to cross-promote a range of its products this festive season. The idea of course being that the promotions would be perceived more as an unbiased recommendation by the publication than a push by the manufacturer and the consumer product manufacturer would promote the Femins name in reciprocation. Thereby crossing the boundaries of the usual promotion.
Only time will tell how succesful these tactics are. But they sure indicate a mature marketing environment where the marketers are not caving in but using innovation to reach out to the consumer.
And this is precisely what marketers of goods and services are doing in India now more than ever before. Co-branding, in-programming product placement, cross promotions have suddenly seen a spurt. Gone are the days of the vanilla media plan where you bought ad space and air time and hoped to God that the viewers would catch your ad and not switch to another channel at the flick of their remote’s button. The need of the hour is to find a greater emotional re-connect with the consumer and communicate in a way that it is perceived more as a recommendation than an advertisement.
Keeping this in mind many television channels are cashing in on a new asset. They have realized that there is a deep emotional connect between their audience and the characters of their favourite television shows. So when Star Plus wanted to launch its new serial “Sabki Ladli Bebo” it placed mentions of it in its already popular “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai”. The same channel also regularly promotes its live award events using its existing fiction series. Similarly Zee TV recently promoted its finalists of “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs” in an innovative yet awkward episode of “12/24 Karol Bagh” which is already growing in popularity.
These kinds of promotions are not limited to television serials alone. Lux just launched its new range with beauty oils. And while they roped in India’s first cine-couple (Ash and Abhi) to do the regular commercials, they also have all the doe-eyed leading ladies of their most popular soaps selling it to all the beauty hungry young girls of the country.
Faced with an ad crunch even the print industry is being pushed into innovation. Femina, a leading women’s weekly, tied up with HUL to cross-promote a range of its products this festive season. The idea of course being that the promotions would be perceived more as an unbiased recommendation by the publication than a push by the manufacturer and the consumer product manufacturer would promote the Femins name in reciprocation. Thereby crossing the boundaries of the usual promotion.
Only time will tell how succesful these tactics are. But they sure indicate a mature marketing environment where the marketers are not caving in but using innovation to reach out to the consumer.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Protest for the sake of protest
The recent uproar over the proposed telecast of Obama’s back to School speech seems to be protest for protest’s sake. The content for the speech is being made available prior to the telecast and all school districts are at complete liberty to show the speech or no. Then why are the Republicans calling it an attempt by the US President to covertly influence young children?
Seriously, do most parents really think that a single speech is enough to color the political thoughts of their children for the rest of their lives? And if the President can’t address the future makers of his country why does he hold office in the first place? All public schools are government bodies and therefore from time to time will be subject to policies sent down from the administration. These will include such things as curriculum decisions and Teachers’ wages and messages from members of the administration. They must engage in active debate if they disagree with policies rather than wasting time protesting against a short speech.
So far the Obama administration has not done anything to show that it is out to corrupt the minds of the young and manipulate them. Then why are Republicans creating this psychosis? Surely for most children capable of understanding the content of such an address it is not the most important thing. They will more likely than not be thinking of their next date, television program or snack even as Obama makes his proposed speech.
Having lived in the US I will hazard so far as to say that this kind of exaggerated fear is typical of the society where concern over personal freedom can sometimes get out of control and border on the ridiculous.
Seriously, do most parents really think that a single speech is enough to color the political thoughts of their children for the rest of their lives? And if the President can’t address the future makers of his country why does he hold office in the first place? All public schools are government bodies and therefore from time to time will be subject to policies sent down from the administration. These will include such things as curriculum decisions and Teachers’ wages and messages from members of the administration. They must engage in active debate if they disagree with policies rather than wasting time protesting against a short speech.
So far the Obama administration has not done anything to show that it is out to corrupt the minds of the young and manipulate them. Then why are Republicans creating this psychosis? Surely for most children capable of understanding the content of such an address it is not the most important thing. They will more likely than not be thinking of their next date, television program or snack even as Obama makes his proposed speech.
Having lived in the US I will hazard so far as to say that this kind of exaggerated fear is typical of the society where concern over personal freedom can sometimes get out of control and border on the ridiculous.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Accepting homosexuality is about accepting that nature is random
As expected, the repealing by the Delhi High Court of Article 377 (that made homosexuality a crime) has been met with both cheers and overwhelming concerns about how this affects the country’s “Sanskriti” and morality. Driven by a deep-seated fear of homosexuality and a belief that it is unnatural and therefore a threat to the cultivated and safe order of our society, a motley crew of people has filed Public Interest Litigations asking for the law to be reinstated.
To many of us who consider ourselves liberated enough to accept homosexuality, their arguments sound pitifully petty. “Different is not necessarily wrong” we say and point out that even the sculptures at Khajuraho hint at homosexuality as a prevalent practise back in the ancient days. That said, if we want to save the rights of homosexuals, we cannot simply wish away the dissenters. We must make an attempt to understand where this fear and disgust for homosexuality stems from and eliminate the root cause.
In modern society we have endless rules to bring order and control to a world that is otherwise quite unpredictable. We try to measure and judge everything by these norms and if there are uncommon or exceptional phenomena that break the norms, we deal with them by either putting them in a museum or they become the object of our amusement at freak shows. There are several examples of conjoined twins being dragged around the world to be displayed to a bemused audience and don’t we all love to see that five foot giant pumpkin that a farmer in UK pulled out of his field? Why don’t we just leave it alone and ignore it? We can’t, because it is different.
To those who are against it, homosexuality is much like the conjoined twins or the giant pumpkin- something that breaks the accepted and cultivated laws of society. It is a deviancy, a freak manifestation. But what they do not realize is that Nature is neither straightforward nor predictable. Shapes in Nature are never straight lines or perfect circles. There are millions of species of animals, insects, birds and all other kind of creatures where maybe just a few would have done. But this is Nature’s way. It is far more complex and adventurous than we are ready to acknowledge. Therefore a deviancy is neither unacceptable nor unnatural. What is unnatural is our controlled and limited view of the world and a wish to reign it in.
At some level even the concept of marriage (passionately defended by the anti-gay lobby) is a man made attempt to control the natural spirit of sexuality. No species other than human beings has such an institution. All animals simply find an appropriate mate, procreate, and stay together till such time as the off spring needs. After that the male and the female will move on to build new groups and start afresh. Even those animals, such as cranes and penguins, that “mate for life” and maybe argued are together for reasons beyond just procreation, have no such ceremony. It is only us humans as a “highly developed” species who feel the need to control and institutionalize everything. It is no surprise then that most of us with our limited view of things, believe heterosexuality is okay and homosexuality is wrong simply because the latter is a deviancy and the former a more commonly occurring phenomenon.
To conclude, homosexuality or any unusual behavior or phenomenon will only find wide acceptance or understanding amongst us when we are ready to shed our limited worldview and accept that nature is a creative genius and a free spirit. It is not limited by culture and creed and its only rule is constant change and creativity. Homosexuality is a manifestation of just that free spirit where sexuality cannot be defined in one singular way.
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