Retailing and the French Wine

While going through the swanky Khan Market today, I saw this...

It's a retro style single CD player with cassette player, FM Radio with a USB port to play songs from USB device like a pen drive. Neat aye?
Anyways, I saw a documentary today called Mondovino. The documentary explores the effect of globalization on the wine industry. It had many tradition French wine makers complaining about the competition from other wine producing nation mainly the US and Australia. It also brought up the issue of Retailing in the wine industry these days.
Talking about retailing... It’s a retailing boom in India. I read Wal-Mart is coming to India in collaboration with Bharati (a big company mainly into the telecom business. It owns Airtel). Retailing is not new to India. But the industry is largely unexplored with most stores still opening up in small cities though their presence can be felt only in big cities. Big Bazaar is already a big name in retail stores. But Wal-Mart was still out of India (it mainly purchases but no retailing) not out of its own will but because of government regulations (a foreign retailer cannot set shop to sell more than one brand). There are other players, like Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries which is in the process of investing in retailing. The Tata Group is already present with its brand Westside.
For many years retailing stores are viewed with suspicion because it is viewed as a sign of western imperialism. The pictures of fat Americans buying goods in droves was typically associated with America's neo-colonialist policies and also, consumerism was (and still is) viewed with suspicion as a sign of wastage and over consumption. Again, when I say this its also true that this kind of economics has brought many goods, viewed as luxury until some years back, into the reach of middle class Indians. From shower gels to plasma television. Had it not been economics of mass consumption its prices could not have dropped as low as for the middle class to buy it. But the mall culture reminds me of the famous Shania Twain song Ka Ching

We live in a greedy little world that teaches every little boy and girl To earn as much as they can possibly then turn around and Spend it foolishly We've created us a credit card mess We spend the money we don't possess Our religion is to go and blow it all So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall All we ever want is more A lot more than we had before So take me to the nearest store Chorus: Can you hear it ring It makes you wanna sing It's such a beautiful thing Ka-ching!
Lots of diamond rings The happiness it brings You'll live like a king With lots of money and things When you're broke go and get a loan Take out another mortgage on your home Consolidate so you can afford To go and spend some more when you get bored All we ever want is more A lot more than we had before So take me to the nearest store ...Dig deeper in your pocket Oh, yeah, ha Come on I know you've got it Dig deeper in your wallet Oh All we ever want is more A lot more than we had before So take me to the nearest store Ka-ching!
No matter how many goodies consumerism has brought us I associate it with over consumption and as Shania Twain said with spending that money that we don't possess. It's about… more more more…about greedy…about…insatiability. For example... my mother brought a pair of foot wear from Trade Fair (a huge consumer items show held in New Delhi every year). While flaunting it to me I she was bragging about the fact that she got it for only 50 Rupees. Dad sitting nearby was upset to hear her bragging. After a few seconds I said "Mom that’s not the point...the point is...do you really NEED it?" Dad promptly jumped in enthusiasm and said "EXACTLY! THATS WHAT I'V BEEN TRYING TO TELL HER, THATS IT!". Mum looked at both of us obnoxiously and went off.

My point it’s with many of these "convenience" stores coming up that we have stopped to think about the difference between our needs and wants. Where we are supposed to buy one bottle of coke we are thrust upon with 3 bottles just because they sell the logic (and not the product) that 3 bottles cost lesser when calculating the prices of the bottles individually. Incase of perishable products this logic is even more harmful. Its pure psychological games they are playing. It reminds me of fat greedy wives hehe.
What Mondovino talks about is that stores like these sells everything in bulk, that’s their USP. It’s about mass consumption and not quality. A Bordeaux Wine producer who has been into this business since ages said that Wal-Mart doesn’t want to buy their wine (neither does he wants to sell it through Wal-Mart). The reason he says is.
A) Because Bordeaux wine takes much more time to ferment and the retailer seeing in bulk cannot wait that long for the wine to reach the store’s shelves.
B) It’s hard to make a Wal-Mart customer realize how a Bordeaux wine is better than those quick-to-ferment wines (mostly produced in Napa Valley, California).
C) Wine in French tradition is not only about taste or BRAND he said. It’s about tradition and also (…get this…) the family its associated with. The Anglo-Saxon, culture, he said, is about Brands French is not, it’s about tradition.

Well that’s funny but true. Ka-Ching

Quote: Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought

(OOPS: While trying to publish this bloggi, I encountered an error, I was afraid it will wipe out all my typing but thankfully it didn't, I suggest fellow blogger either keep saving it or better still copy the text to a Text editor before performing any task so that the content is not erased in an error)

Compulsive Blogger

I admit I'm becoming a compulsive blogger. I dedicate a few minutes to hours creating posts and looking at other blogs. I take pictures keeping in mind the blog entries I can make with them… Things aren’t very interesting at the moment apart from Saket being here for a few days. Herez one of his pictures... Saket works for a prominent newspaper and was here for a training session. The first morning I met him at the station and we went to the FIRC for a hot cuppa coffee. A good conversation on what I'm missing not being in Poona was followed by me and him going to his guest house in ChanakyaPuri, a posh New Delhi locality full of embassies and expats. Saket was given a beautiful room on the bungalow’s roof… with a lovely garden view and some colourful flowers. It cold and he didn’t had ne winter outfits so initially we decided to go to Sarojini Nagar but later we replaced it with a trip to old Delhi for a lunch at Karim’s. A few from roof of bungalow where Saket stayed...



Karim is not a hotel it’s a landmark. Being an average Delhite you might not even know it exists. Especially people from city’s suburb don’t like to visit this part of the town known for its visible Muslim population, crowded roads, stinky corner and well...Jama Masjid... here another picture of me and Saky posing outside the mosque I was denied entry to...saying it was prayer time.

Though time did not permit but we did go to see the Red Fort but were put off by the huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge line. So while Saky stood in the entrance line I stood at the ticket counter. While inside we talked about various things amongst them, the effect of Mugal invasions on 'Hindu' India. Saket said that in many cases when talking of art and architecture, the Mugals were much advanced than the indigenous people, to which my replied was that not only were the forts and palaces the Mugals built were built much later but also that Hindu art was as sophisticated during the Hindu Renaissance (but that was centuries ago). The Hindu renaissance period, by the time the Mugals came had vanished. That was one of the reasons why the Mugals established their superiority.
During its peak the Hindu empire (I know many would argue that there exists nothing like the Hindu empire.) but i refer Hindu empire to the time predominantly of the hay days of the empires (mostly ruled by Hindu rulers), which was the last millennium. The Hindu art flourished, it was an era of inventions, importance was given to education and there was an effort to build an egalitarian society. Women shared an equal status in the society and stress was given on rationality and sharing of knowledge. I have often believed that a civilization (or in these time a nation state) achieves its peak when it strives a perfect balance between spirituality and modernity. I'd like to expand a little more on this point. What I mean by the terms spirituality and modernity here is spirituality which makes us see beyond what is apparent and logical. It’s an inner consciousness by which we can judge our actions not based on logic but based on "rightness" and "wrongness". It’s mutually exclusive to logic. It’s closer to the concept of "Karma". The result of actions but not seen through the prism of logic, but through moral good or bad. Of course, when I say that I agree that it can be relative. Too much dependence on either of them will lead to a down fall. In today’s time I site the west as an apt example, in the past I site the Islamic and Hindu civilizations. The west reached its peak of glory when there was still some spirituality left, with the decline in the reach of spirituality and increased dependency on logic or reason, the civilizations started to loose its touch. I blame this fact in the fact that even today modern science (basically a fallout of advancement in physics in the eighteenth century) hasn't been able to explain everything through logic, though logic is always an ongoing process. Countries on the other hand, like India and China, were once the cradle of civilizations because of the existence of both spiritual and scientific knowledge and not because of cultural superiority, the moment they lost the delicate balance they lost their status. Later, it was the Islamic civilizations and subsequently the western civilizations. The reason for downfall of Indian and Chinese civilizations was the downfall of logic or rationality or scientific reasoning rather than spirituality in their societies; while on the other hand the reason for downfall of western civilization is the downfall of spirituality and dominance of logic (It also draws many of them to the east these days). I explain the phenomenon by drawing the example of Scandinavian societies, all of whom are viewed as "model societies" when viewed from Euro centric standards. Apparently, though these societies are ideal, many of them face serious social problems (suicide, alcoholism, psychological violence, etc. There is no law for the last even in these modal societies. In other words there is no psychological aspect to the prevailing laws. Anything which cannot be explained with logic has no provision for punishment in the eyes of the law. It is for this reason that I don't see these societies as a model for other "less developed" societies.
Pragmatically thinking if I hurt somebody physically on purpose I can be punished by the law but any attempt by me to hurt somebody psychologically will not be seen in the eyes of the law as a crime. In other words there is no way to measure "mental hurt". This is the reason why I do not feel the Eurocentric model to be an ideal way to measure things like prosperity. The model can only measure things that can actually be seen or felt by the five human senses. Anyting beyond the five senses is unknown to modern science but well-known to spirituality. The only way to gauge perceptions is through the five senses, but I view it as an absence of "humaity" in it. I’m a firm believer that there's more to humans, which modern science cannot explain. And this, I believe, is the reason why eastern perspectives MUST be incorporated in international organizations It will not only make them popular with the developing world but also the Developed world. But the sad fact is that many of the people who have the power to change things are so drenched in the philosophy of logic that it’s almost impossible for them to see the world in prospective beyond the western logic for many of the answers. It has been embedded in them so much so that even if they want to they cannot think beyond it, though a part of it is also to be blamed on the "system" we have created based solely on logic. The concept of a Corporation (also a movie) is only a tiny bit of it (of which I shall talk about later).

Amitava Kumar

I first came to know about Amitava Kumar when I was in third year of my college. The British Council organized a book reading session after the launched of his new book - Bombay London New York. I went to the British council’s reception to inquire about the programme. While I was trying to grab the receptionist's attention, a man with baggy cargos and red t-shirt walked in. The man walked up the reception and asked something to which the receptionist smiled while I stared standing at the other end. While the man was still at the reception, I got the guts to ask the receptionist as to where and when the book reading session will take place. The man smiled at the receptionist and she reciprocated, I could sense something... welll...fishy. At the reading session the same man tuned up to read the prose. During the discussion one of my questions to Amitava Kumar was if he started writing because it came to him as a way to vent his feeling during testing times (apparently, he's from Bihar, the state known for corruption, and started writing during his college days in University of Delhi, a similar fashion in which I was introduced to writing). To answer my question he nodded and went on to explain the reasons in detail. Apparently, Amitava is married to a woman of Pakistani decent amongst threats from both Hindu and Muslim right wings.
After the session I bought a copy of the book from the counter outside the hall and was waiting for Amitava to come out from a room adjacent to the main hall where he was talking a lady. I wanted to get the book signed (no I'm not using the word autographed). The moment I saw him I jumped to him with my copy and this is what he wrote on my copy of Bombay London New York... while he was still at it, I asked "How do you know I'm a writer?"... He gave me a conceit smile, moved the book towards (which I grabbed instantly) and went off....

Here's one of the article I found on his blog which I liked reading....

Mistaa Chappell

A lil' bit about that Chappell controversy. A person who initially started as a quality critical coach of the Indian Cricket Team is now just proving to a "Big mouth Ozzie jerk" for the Indian politicians. He reminds me of those lines from Samuel P. Huntington’s book "The Clash of Civilizations"... "...Australians, in contrast, are the most direct, blunt, outspoken, some would say insensative, people in the English speaking world."
While at it Mr. Chappell (I respect his professionalism) drew himself a bit too far though I'm a firm believer he's NOT wrong. But you see the Ozzies (Cricket team) already got a bad reputation for being "uncivilized" when they pushed around the Indian minister Sharad Pawar after wining the Champion's Trophy. Mr. Chappell is just cementing the stereotypes... as Mahatir Mohommed of Malaysia once said dismissing Australia's entry into ASEAN (quoted from the Clash of Civilizations)... " ...But Australia, being European, cultrually, feels that it has a right to tell others what to do, what not to do, what is right, what is wrong. And then, of course, it is not compatible with the group...It's not the colour of the skin, but the cultural".

People of Interest to me...

Amitava Kumar
Edwina Mountbatten

Also, a "cute" video of how Indian IT geeks (apparently) like to party (Caution: contains nudity) hehe...

End of liberal Europe

I wonder if the grab of multiculturalism Europe has been living under since the 60’s is being unmasked today, more and more governments while reiterating they are multi-cultural are banning symbols of religion primarily aimed at suppressing the freedom of other religions viewed as ‘barbarian’ to Europe, Islam being targeted the most. Everybody knows the Christian cross these days is more of a fashion accessory rather than a show of faith in the religion (and at times a way to show rebellion against the state). So the moment the government makes it unlawful, it will also becomes untrendy. There for most it doesn’t matter. I sometimes I wonder if the real face of Europe is being exposed (I’m talking of politics of pseudo-secularism and not the people in general). At a time when the policy of multiculturalism was introduced in Europe in the 60’s I believe it was thrust upon a society which saw it a way to show its liberalism to distant itself from suppressive ideologies of fascism and Nazism. But I always suspected if that came as a reaction to the prevailing situation at that time in Europe or for those it really reflect what European values stand for? My answer is coming in bits and pieces. First France, then Britain and now the Dutch. The multicultural mask seems to be coming off. The directive clearly seems to be directed at discouraging more immigration (also brewing anger by those liberal Muslims who have successfully embarrassed western liberalism after coming to Europe).
During a conversation with a right wing trader from Poona on my way from Delhi to Bombay we started discussing on religion and Indian nationhood. He said “we Indians always have had a very compatible approach to immigrants. Foreigners have invaded us again and again looting out money, strength, resources while raping our daughters and sister… but we have never been aggressive, our approach has always been ‘you-can-come-and-live-in-our-neighborhood-we don’t-have-any-problem-till-the–time- you-don’t-interfere-in-our-affairs’”. His ideology never appealed to me (apparently he justified the Gujarat pogrom), his word did. Indians hardly call themselves multicultural, even the liberal Hindus are not inhibited to voice out their disapproval of their kins marrying Muslims and in proclaiming their differences with them. It a pragmatic approach rather than being pseudo-secular. It always leads to a situation that Europe is facing today. Multi-cultural face on the outside and xenophobic on the inside. It’s a realitya that Europe must come to term with, today or tomorrow, by hook or by crook, the immigrants (Muslims are the ones they are worried about the most) are now an inseparable part of modern day Europe. If they stop working the European industry will come to a standstill. It’s a typical clash of civilization theory coming to reality. You have an option you either deny its existence or accept it’s a reality and make provision that the clash doesn’t go out of hand. As they say its better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not.

A wonderful adver I found on Youtube.com, enjoiiii....

(Hint: Pause at the 11th second)

Fooony pics and Serious links

Some fooony pictures I found on the net...

"Love" (No wonder I think that PDA doesn't really mean love)

And some link on....

Judiasm in Iran

And the Sami people of Scandanavia

Of Hibernations, Orchestras and the ISFs

I’m in a state of denial for a few days. It’s similar to how a polar bear hibernates to his cocoon for a period of days. I rather talk less to people, or don’t talk at all. It’s like a period of self evaluation or introspection. I wake up I eat I work I read and then again go to sleep. The same things, just less of socializing. After a few days I’ll be back to normal but it rather leaves people around me bewildered as to why I’m doing it and its hard to explain. It’s not rude but it’s just that I have nothing to say. It’s nothing just a phase. My only concern is I don’t leave a bad impression on people I care for especially the family.

A plane just passed by my house, its rather unusual coz my house is in the eastern part of the town and the airport’s on the west and no plane usually goes through this part (partially coz if it comes here, it has to pass the central Delhi region which is a no fly zone). It reminds me of my old house… of late night star gazing, a folded bed in the balcony while me and my sister lie down to look up to the stars and spot a plane occasionally. It was wonderful; my house was a typical government house. No fancy floor but a simple cemented one. We lived there for more than 10 years so at times the floor would break. My father or mother would bring in some cement to fill up the gaps or holes. At times I would dig in my finger or feet to make the pit larger, to see what is underneath the grainy orange sand which comes out after the upper layer of cement is gone. I could never reach the iron rods…
While sitting in my chair comfortably I’m thinking of the hundreds who were on the roads a few days back. Shouting slogans they parading dogs which say “I’m Sheila Dikshit” and blocking roads to all major parts of Delhi. A few days back all major roads to my house were blocked too. The next day they brought in enough security forces to make sure none can confront them. I genuinely feel the problem to be created artificially. Most of these are trader or shopkeepers who migrated from neighbouring states (mainly Haryana and Punjab) to Delhi in search of a better life. They settled wherever they could. The government had no plans for their rehabilitation. Therefore most of the places they stay in are unplanned, have narrow roads, the house are small plot with no sunlight and there’s hardly any space to park their vehicles now. When they were build in the late 70’s it was unthinkable for these people to buy a car, they have dozens now. But now in a matter of days they are rendered homeless. Is such loot and plunder justified for a 10 day event? Guess not but the government has its eyes firm not only on the 10 day Commonwealth Games but the success of the games would also mean the opening of gates for a successful bid for future Olympic Games.

Past and future venues of Commonwealth Games
(Copyright - Wikipedia)

Italian Orchestra
The other day I went to a performance by a band playing Italian orchestra. The picture is hazy but the performance was fabulous though I felt a bit out o place. I had work(where I couldn’t have gone in formals) so I arrived in a kurta and jeans while most of the people were in European formals. The venue Purana Quila is a fabulous place and I plan to go see the fort (which I’ve never seen in my 23 years of existence in Delhi) more often now.

Indian Social Forum
I went to the Indian Social Forum on the first day, and I have to say I was greatly disappointed. It was like a ‘mela’ rather than a mature bunch of people trying to bring in a sustainable change (rather than trying to change the whole system by protests and marches). The protesters came in droves loaded vans and trucks often disrupting the traffic behind (something I’m really against). Banners and shouting did the rounds while they reached the entrance of the grounds at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium. The ground was all muddy and dust was all over the place. There was a giant stage with colourful background and a band “trying” to sing ….something. Later it was disrupted coz of some defect in the equipment (thank god, so many tribals were saved the torture). I went around to see the stalls (it was typically trade fair type), many were selling or were starting to sell agro products or some just their ideology. While I was taking picture I again came across with a look a like of Sara Pilot ( I had seen her earlier at the entrance), she was tall, very slim but classy as hell. I went to take some pictures and look a at the crowd, most of which were tribals or people brought in from the rural areas unable to understand English or even why they were there. They just sat wherever they could in groups. I was done and decided to leave to come back some other day (it was a 4 day event). Just when I was about to leave a lame female voice came on the microphone and asked for attention, she went on to say this…”The front seats are reserved for V.I.P.s, foreigners and media person’s, all people sitting in the front(most of the tribals and protesters) are requested to move back to the back benches, thank you”. I thought to my self, “wasn’t this forum about promoting equalities?” I never went back….

Bangalooru??? WTF

I woke up in the morning (after a holiday in Patiala and Chandigarh) to learn that the so called Indian nationalists or “the true sons of the soil” have no limits when it comes to stupidity. The name Bangalore has been changed to Bangalooru. I knew that it was in the pipeline but the fact that a state like Karnataka will do it wasn’t a very pleasant thing to hear. Karnataka is more or less the signature state for Indian's technology industry and that it has moved on from the typical “snake charmer” image. It houses India’s Silicon Valley- Bangalore.

I’m not against it coz its not trendy to flash Indian names but for a simple reason that it doesn’t serve any purpose than political implications only for the politicians. Bangalore today is the best case of political apathy towards development and depleting infrastructure. A day of rain and the roads are chocked. The CM must have a better agenda on this mind than changing the name of the city to the more Kanada sounding Bangalooru? How will it make a difference to the roads, water and electricity situation in the city? Will it solve the problem of increased traffic jam during the peak hours in the city? Will it attract more people to invest in infrastructure in the city? Will it generate employment? The answer to the best of my knowledge is NO.
There have been instances in the past of similar fashion…Bombay being changed to Marathi sounding Mumbai, Calcutta being changed to Bengali sounding Kotkatta and Madras being changed to Tamil sounding Chennai. But one has to ask, what changes did that make on the ground? Bombay has gone bad to worst. Calcutta is in news not because if development but the investment atmosphere. So what does one achieve by it?
To me its nothing but aging of a repressed child who has grown up only in numbers and not from the mind. A sign of showing rebellion against colonial repression and fooling the public into thinking that “we have achieved it on our own”. The fact of the matter is that Bangalore just like Calcutta(coz of the elite English speaking Bengali intellectuals) and Madras(the first state to officially turn down Nehru’s programme to implement Hindi as a national language) has earned their reputation from the very symbol they are pretending to oppose today- ENGLISH. Bangalore will be a ghost city without the number of back office industry it houses. It thrives on the very core business its opposing (all done in English). The people who actually do it see these things as a way to divert public attention from the real issues of corruption (the CM’s son was recently caught fighting with a cinema hall’s staff). I just wish my city never gets this bug no matter how many so called “sons of the soil” make an attempt.