... aur anta mere baap ka'.
The Prime Minister has finessed everybody, including Sonia Gandhi. Wow!
There is a vanity that Marxists like to flaunt, called "forces of history". This holds that in the shaping of history, individuals don't matter and that there are huge forces at work which determine both the processes and the outcomes. The truth, of course, is that this is the Marxist version of the theory that God is responsible for everything.
Clearly, Russian history would have been vastly different had Trotsky listened to Lenin and become General Secretary of the Communist Party instead of allowing Stalin to grab the post, which allowed him control of what in India is so drearily called "postings and transfers". In Stalin's case of course, the transfer was to Siberia and the posting to heaven.
Much of the melodrama that Indian politicians have now served up before a tired and irritated Indian public can be explained by making this simple substitution: replace all the humbug about history being made with Manmohan Singh, Prakash Karat and Sonia Gandhi — the fog lifts and everything becomes crystal clear.
Those who have observed Manmohan Singh over the years will tell you that if he wants it badly enough, he gets it. There has never been an instance in his public life when this has not happened. Never, period.
They will also tell you that be it not so low a posture or post, if he thinks it will advance his cause, he will take it. In 1971, when he joined government, many people thought that from a professorship at the Delhi School of Economics to a lowly economic advisor in the commerce ministry was an absurd exchange.
A mere six years later, he was Secretary to the Government of India, a post that others get after 32 years. Five years later he had become RBI Governor. Nine years later he was finance minister; and just a brief eight years after laying down that post in 1996, he was prime minister of India! Match that.
Manmohan Singh is a very, very clever man. You have to be very, very stupid to mess with a man like that. That is what Prakash Karat did and which is why he now faces a force of history that no one ever wants to face in any walk of life: the contempt and ridicule of the peer group. Politicians across parties and especially in the CPI(M) — and very especially the Bengalis in it — regard him as an unmitigated disaster. He commands no respect at all.
Mr Karat made the classic error: he opened two fronts at the same time, one with Manmohan Singh and another with the CPI(M) Bengalis, who, since 1977, have regarded the party in exactly the same way as the Gandhi family regards the Congress party — as private property. It was no coincidence that Malayalis like EMS Namboodiripad and Krishna Iyer began talking of ideological purity in the 1980s. Karat and Yechuri were the result. It is no coincidence that neither of them is a Bengali. It was Bengali hubris that allowed Karat to become General Secretary. The old Bong vs Mallu fight has come out in the open.
But why are people laughing at Karat? Because his bluff has been called; because he is being used by other political parties; because he will get his party to vote with the BJP; because he has dragged the Speaker into it all; because he thinks India is safer with a nuclear Iran than it is being friends with the US; because he has allowed his party to be projected as China's servant; because he has never won an election; because, very simply, he is so deliciously incompetent that even Sonia Gandhi shines in comparison.
Mrs Gandhi now has to face a question that everyone is asking: why was she silent about the nuclear deal until now? Many theories are floating about and, as is often the case in politics, all are probably true in some minute way that can never be verified.
Equally importantly, consider her dilemma vis a vis Manmohan Singh now. If the Congress comes back to power, in the sense that the next prime minister is from it, she can't discard him. And if it doesn't come back, it doesn't matter anyway. Like others who took him for granted, she too has been left standing. However, unlike in the CPI(M), it is unlikely that anyone in the Congress is laughing at her or has even realised what an enormous victory Manmohan Singh has won.
In Hindi it is known as "chit bhi mera, pat bhi mera, aur anta mere baap ka" (heads I win, tails you lose, and the coin is my father's).
And the BJP? That distant rumble you hear is the sound of the Great Indian Public roaring with laughter.
Jul 19, 2008
Business - BPCL to foray into Water/DTH Businesses
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), the country's second largest oil marketing company, plans to diversify into bottled water and direct to home (DTH) services in an attempt to boost its profits.
The company reported a 91 per cent decline in its fourth quarter net profit as it was forced to sell fuel below the prevailing market price.
The company is seeking the approval of shareholders, through a postal ballot, for the new line of business. The result of the postal ballot would be known by August 22. BPCL's profit fell to Rs 58 crore in the three months ended March 31 this year from Rs 670 crore a year ago.
"The bottled water market is growing and presents a lucrative opportunity. Our existing infrastructure in bottling and distribution gives us an edge to enter into this business. However, we need to acquire technology and lay infrastructure such as purifying and distilling plants," said a company source who did not wish to be identified.
The bottled industry is witnessing increased competition, with global cola giants, Pepsico and Coca-Cola Company slugging it out with local players including industralist Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher. The size of the bottled market in India has, however, not been estimated.
The company plans to foray into the information technology and communication services space by providing DTH and software solutions.
According to PriceWaterhouse Coopers, the DTH homes are estimated to increase from 4 million in 2007 to 25 million by 2012. The DTH penetration is set to increase from 3 per cent of the television homes in 2007 to 19 per cent in 2012.
The oil marketer will manufacture storage devices for petroleum and allied products to transport its goods economically.
The company reported a 91 per cent decline in its fourth quarter net profit as it was forced to sell fuel below the prevailing market price.
The company is seeking the approval of shareholders, through a postal ballot, for the new line of business. The result of the postal ballot would be known by August 22. BPCL's profit fell to Rs 58 crore in the three months ended March 31 this year from Rs 670 crore a year ago.
"The bottled water market is growing and presents a lucrative opportunity. Our existing infrastructure in bottling and distribution gives us an edge to enter into this business. However, we need to acquire technology and lay infrastructure such as purifying and distilling plants," said a company source who did not wish to be identified.
The bottled industry is witnessing increased competition, with global cola giants, Pepsico and Coca-Cola Company slugging it out with local players including industralist Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher. The size of the bottled market in India has, however, not been estimated.
The company plans to foray into the information technology and communication services space by providing DTH and software solutions.
According to PriceWaterhouse Coopers, the DTH homes are estimated to increase from 4 million in 2007 to 25 million by 2012. The DTH penetration is set to increase from 3 per cent of the television homes in 2007 to 19 per cent in 2012.
The oil marketer will manufacture storage devices for petroleum and allied products to transport its goods economically.
India - Helping rag-pickers to become entrepreneurs
After bringing rag-pickers under the banking network a year ago, the Dharwad-headquartered Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank (a regional rural bank sponsored by Syndicate Bank) has now taken a step forward to identify entrepreneurship skills among them.
The bank has issued ‘laghu udyami’ credit cards to 25 women members of the rag-picking community.
The bank initiated the process of bringing rag-pickers under the banking network by forming five self-help groups (SHGs) of rag-pickers in Dharwad in June 2007. In September that year, the bank went ahead with credit-linking the five SHGs .
Mr M. Dhananjaya, Chairman, told Business Line that the SHGs, which were given loans, have started repaying the loans and now some of the members of the group have started depositing the amount in the bank. Credit cards
After observing the banking habits of rag-pickers for a year, the bank decided to develop entrepreneurship skills among the womenfolk and came up with the idea of extending ‘laghu udyami’ credit cards to them.
Mr Ullas Gunaga, who was actively involved in the formation of the SHGs, said that five groups were sanctioned loans to the tune of around Rs 5.25 lakh. The loans were closed before term, denoting their sincerity and promptness in credit dealings.
Added to this, five members of these SHGs have deposited Rs 10,000 each in the savings bank account of the bank. Members of these SHGs are illiterate and migrants from northern India.
Asked about the reasons for extending ‘laghu udyami’ credit cards to them, he said this will help them bypass middlemen in their work. Added to this, some women members have started persuading their husbands to start work using the items they collect while picking rags. Maintaining account
During the coming days, the bank plans to expose them to issues such as health, hygiene, and education, Mr Dhananjaya said. To a query on how these members maintain their accounts, he said that a social worker from the area, Ms Geeta Patil, is maintaining accounts for them
The bank has issued ‘laghu udyami’ credit cards to 25 women members of the rag-picking community.
The bank initiated the process of bringing rag-pickers under the banking network by forming five self-help groups (SHGs) of rag-pickers in Dharwad in June 2007. In September that year, the bank went ahead with credit-linking the five SHGs .
Mr M. Dhananjaya, Chairman, told Business Line that the SHGs, which were given loans, have started repaying the loans and now some of the members of the group have started depositing the amount in the bank. Credit cards
After observing the banking habits of rag-pickers for a year, the bank decided to develop entrepreneurship skills among the womenfolk and came up with the idea of extending ‘laghu udyami’ credit cards to them.
Mr Ullas Gunaga, who was actively involved in the formation of the SHGs, said that five groups were sanctioned loans to the tune of around Rs 5.25 lakh. The loans were closed before term, denoting their sincerity and promptness in credit dealings.
Added to this, five members of these SHGs have deposited Rs 10,000 each in the savings bank account of the bank. Members of these SHGs are illiterate and migrants from northern India.
Asked about the reasons for extending ‘laghu udyami’ credit cards to them, he said this will help them bypass middlemen in their work. Added to this, some women members have started persuading their husbands to start work using the items they collect while picking rags. Maintaining account
During the coming days, the bank plans to expose them to issues such as health, hygiene, and education, Mr Dhananjaya said. To a query on how these members maintain their accounts, he said that a social worker from the area, Ms Geeta Patil, is maintaining accounts for them
Business - Home videos at Retail
Bollywood is coporatised. The new buzzword is FMCG-isation. And here we are talking about the fastest growing sector in moviedom. Home videos. Pricing and supply and a growing hardware penetration have all fuelled this growth, so now to meet the demand, every retailer from grocer to bookstore, large format to multi format, wants to stock movies. But when was the last time you found the movie title you were looking for, without rummaging countless other titles? This is where retail is still to catch up with the rest of the buzzword industry of FMCG. And if it takes more time than necessary to run through the titles, the consumer may just lose interest. This loss of sale has one reason. Improper shelf management, and as thousands of titles get added daily it will become imperative for players, both retailers as well as content providers, to ensure adequate shelf/category management is taking place. LERNING CURVE
Gautam Sikhnis, MD, Palador, does not mince his words. “In the last two years, movie content has made a quantum jump. Earlier, it didn’t exceed 50-60 titles, today, it runs into thousands,” says Shiknis, adding that despite the flux, there’s no thought going on shelf management citing that video retailing has only to look at book retailing and learn how it has evolved over time. “There’s no science. It’s more stocking and stacking,” he adds.
Movies needs a skill beyond simple stocking, says Muslim Kapasi, CEO, Excel Home Videos. “Organized retail has plenty of gaps in merchandising skills and product knowledge. The systems aren’t robust enough to cross-talk with suppliers and swiftly procure and collectively display the right kind of products yet,” says Kapasi, adding that are a handful of stores who are definitely breaking out of this clutter and are seeing the benefit in higher consumer retention by doing so. Already on a high growth, retailers’ interest in making a special effort in movie retailing will come as a critical differentiator. “The need to create pull is not there now in large format stores as everything is selling. But once the market saturates and competition is strong, categories like movie retailing will be one of the magnet to woo footfalls,” says Kamal Gianchandani, COO, BIGFlix. One option, says Govind Shrikhande, CEO, Shoppers Stop is putting more thought on creating excitement. “The challenge is to market it with the lifestyle tag. Can every movie on the shelf add something different for customers to own it? Can the entire shopping for movies be made more enjoyable?” asks Shrikhande. RETAIL WOES
In their defence, retailers like Crosswords say they do what it takes to manage the movie shelves yet, “It can’t touch the level seen in the FMCG segment. The scale and falling prices don’t merit that kind of investment,” says Chandrashekhar Navalkar, CEO, Crosswords. A reason could be that, “Movie retailing has a lot of churn, making it difficult to create permanent shelf space,” explains Hiren Gada, director, Shemaroo.
Yet, not all are complaining. Harish Dayani, CEO, Moser Baer, says given the large number of units he can provide, large format retailers do provide exclusive space for Moser Baer to display its range. “The separate section allows us to display the range in terms of genres and even language,” says Dayani, adding that this exclusivity has seen a 20-25 % increase than the normal off take. TAKING STOCK :
Shelf management is not just about putting products on the shelf in order. It’s also about management of the shelf and conducting activities in and around to entice the customers.
With the number of units in movies increasing, the movie retailing business can definitely pick up some important lessons from the FMCG segment. One of is working in synergy on aspects like merchandising and sharing of learnings between retail and the content providers. “Experience brings people to shop and results in impulse buying,” states Subhanker Sarker, COO, Seventymm. “Innovative merchandising in key areas as well as the check out counters help create that experience,” he adds. Gada of Shemaroo says that it is working closely with retailers to create distinct categorisation of the titles it retails that works. “Depending on the titles, we provide huge cut-outs for premium stores and smaller standee displays for small formats,” he says. Even the space between two shelves is been utilised by Shemaroo through ‘shelf talkers’, giving movie information or running some promos.
“The challenge is not so much on latest movies, which move off the shelf quickly, but older or special titles, which requires the push,” Gada explains. Citing an example, Shemaroo came up with a Amitabh Bachchan pack which was displayed through special counter top displays near the cash counter. “That’s where collaboration with retailers comes to play.” Shemaroo, says Gada, who has studied the FMCG model in key outlets and has attempted to incorporate some of the learnings. For instance, it has ground staff who visits the retailers regularly to ensure that POPs merchandise and shelves are proper and take measures to immediately rectify any inconsistencies. PACK IT UP Similarly, Palador’s Shiknis says that packaging consistency on the shelves helps in catching the customers’ attention. “For example, packing 20 titles together with say vertical red bands is sure to catch your eye,” says Shiknis who has just done the same for his Trauffaut and Kurosawa collection. He however believes collaboration doesn’t end at just shelves or POP merchandise. “Movie sampling using video kiosks can be done depending on which movies needs a push. This can happen if customer data is used to proactively target the audience,” he adds. Last but least, shelf management also means manning shelves by people who know the category and are able to guide traffic accordingly. “What the stores miss out is largely the recommendation engine. Our retail staff and their product knowledge leaves a lot to be desired,” observes Sarker. There are some like Gianchandani who have entirely quit the retail scene and moved into an entirely rental space. No shelves in cyber space. That is a different story for another day. For now, it’s the end. To Market to Market
Harish Dayani, CEO of Moser Baer, may have opened up the home video market with his pricing strategy forcing competition to follow suit. Dayani’s game plan is one of pure volumes which requires width in terms of distribution. “Our business model is designed for a billion people. So we have to have a large distribution system to reach them,” explains Dayani. As a first step, Moser Baer started retailing at grocery outlets six months ago and now covers 50,000 grocers across India.
Gautam Sikhnis, MD, Palador, does not mince his words. “In the last two years, movie content has made a quantum jump. Earlier, it didn’t exceed 50-60 titles, today, it runs into thousands,” says Shiknis, adding that despite the flux, there’s no thought going on shelf management citing that video retailing has only to look at book retailing and learn how it has evolved over time. “There’s no science. It’s more stocking and stacking,” he adds.
Movies needs a skill beyond simple stocking, says Muslim Kapasi, CEO, Excel Home Videos. “Organized retail has plenty of gaps in merchandising skills and product knowledge. The systems aren’t robust enough to cross-talk with suppliers and swiftly procure and collectively display the right kind of products yet,” says Kapasi, adding that are a handful of stores who are definitely breaking out of this clutter and are seeing the benefit in higher consumer retention by doing so. Already on a high growth, retailers’ interest in making a special effort in movie retailing will come as a critical differentiator. “The need to create pull is not there now in large format stores as everything is selling. But once the market saturates and competition is strong, categories like movie retailing will be one of the magnet to woo footfalls,” says Kamal Gianchandani, COO, BIGFlix. One option, says Govind Shrikhande, CEO, Shoppers Stop is putting more thought on creating excitement. “The challenge is to market it with the lifestyle tag. Can every movie on the shelf add something different for customers to own it? Can the entire shopping for movies be made more enjoyable?” asks Shrikhande. RETAIL WOES
In their defence, retailers like Crosswords say they do what it takes to manage the movie shelves yet, “It can’t touch the level seen in the FMCG segment. The scale and falling prices don’t merit that kind of investment,” says Chandrashekhar Navalkar, CEO, Crosswords. A reason could be that, “Movie retailing has a lot of churn, making it difficult to create permanent shelf space,” explains Hiren Gada, director, Shemaroo.
Yet, not all are complaining. Harish Dayani, CEO, Moser Baer, says given the large number of units he can provide, large format retailers do provide exclusive space for Moser Baer to display its range. “The separate section allows us to display the range in terms of genres and even language,” says Dayani, adding that this exclusivity has seen a 20-25 % increase than the normal off take. TAKING STOCK :
Shelf management is not just about putting products on the shelf in order. It’s also about management of the shelf and conducting activities in and around to entice the customers.
With the number of units in movies increasing, the movie retailing business can definitely pick up some important lessons from the FMCG segment. One of is working in synergy on aspects like merchandising and sharing of learnings between retail and the content providers. “Experience brings people to shop and results in impulse buying,” states Subhanker Sarker, COO, Seventymm. “Innovative merchandising in key areas as well as the check out counters help create that experience,” he adds. Gada of Shemaroo says that it is working closely with retailers to create distinct categorisation of the titles it retails that works. “Depending on the titles, we provide huge cut-outs for premium stores and smaller standee displays for small formats,” he says. Even the space between two shelves is been utilised by Shemaroo through ‘shelf talkers’, giving movie information or running some promos.
“The challenge is not so much on latest movies, which move off the shelf quickly, but older or special titles, which requires the push,” Gada explains. Citing an example, Shemaroo came up with a Amitabh Bachchan pack which was displayed through special counter top displays near the cash counter. “That’s where collaboration with retailers comes to play.” Shemaroo, says Gada, who has studied the FMCG model in key outlets and has attempted to incorporate some of the learnings. For instance, it has ground staff who visits the retailers regularly to ensure that POPs merchandise and shelves are proper and take measures to immediately rectify any inconsistencies. PACK IT UP Similarly, Palador’s Shiknis says that packaging consistency on the shelves helps in catching the customers’ attention. “For example, packing 20 titles together with say vertical red bands is sure to catch your eye,” says Shiknis who has just done the same for his Trauffaut and Kurosawa collection. He however believes collaboration doesn’t end at just shelves or POP merchandise. “Movie sampling using video kiosks can be done depending on which movies needs a push. This can happen if customer data is used to proactively target the audience,” he adds. Last but least, shelf management also means manning shelves by people who know the category and are able to guide traffic accordingly. “What the stores miss out is largely the recommendation engine. Our retail staff and their product knowledge leaves a lot to be desired,” observes Sarker. There are some like Gianchandani who have entirely quit the retail scene and moved into an entirely rental space. No shelves in cyber space. That is a different story for another day. For now, it’s the end. To Market to Market
Harish Dayani, CEO of Moser Baer, may have opened up the home video market with his pricing strategy forcing competition to follow suit. Dayani’s game plan is one of pure volumes which requires width in terms of distribution. “Our business model is designed for a billion people. So we have to have a large distribution system to reach them,” explains Dayani. As a first step, Moser Baer started retailing at grocery outlets six months ago and now covers 50,000 grocers across India.
Fun - Fish n Chips
In India, yesterday's newspapers move fast beyond the raddi man. They are vital for 'atom bombs' and other Sivakasi fireworks. In Kashmir, papier mache objects are dependent on them. Bhelpuri on beaches is commonly served in them, as are hot pakoras and jalebis. They are the south's lifeline for parcelling idli-vada. Abroad, when not relegated to humiliating existence as linings for birdcages and collecting doggie poop, fish-like stunned mullet are covered in old newspapers. But perhaps it is in Britain that old newspapers are most revered. For ages they have been used to wrap batter-fried fillet of cod with fried potatoes. In distant Hong Kong, that tradition continues with restaurants serving the fare even if it means importing old English newspapers. So, expats get the genuine article when they lob up Wanchai's Joe Bananas or Mad Dog and Englishmen. Post take-over, UK's biggest culinary discovery is now served faithfully in the old 'South China Morning Post' . No, sir, fish 'n' chips will not quite be the same if not served in yesterday's newspaper. Besides tradition, it has long been suspected that the wrappings play a role in promoting interest in the printed medium. English workers, for instance, while putting back the fishy fare are often found poring over 'The Guardian' or 'The Daily Telegraph '. And for good reason. There, in the crumpled depths of the oily sheets, is 'all the news that's fit to print': Angelina Jolie and her five-pound bundles of joy. Bush threatens to bomb Iran (again). Gas prices soar. Tendulkar clobbers some hapless bowler all over the park. And when burly yellow helmeted 'lads' gather over fish 'n' chips, jokes flow fast and furious as they poke each other's beer-bellies and point to 'The Sun's seemingly inexhaustible supply of pin-ups of top-heavy babes. So, where does all this leave the desi abroad pining for taaza khabar and home food? Here's an idea that's likely to be widely and heartily endorsed by one and all: wrap takeout tandoori chicken in yesterday's mass-circulated vernacular daily. Influence the publication to load the daily with generous dollops of mirch-masala, say, Rakhi Sawant in revealing ghagra-choli! As the Wah! Wah! fills the air of Birmingham and beyond, the ecstatic Indian diaspora may well go ballistically Balle! Balle!
World - Biting Back
Malaria, an ancient and devastating disease afflicting humanity, infects about 600 million people killing more than a million each year, mainly in the wet tropical regions of the world. In India, the malady has staged a dramatic comeback after its near-eradication in the early and mid-1960s. That's because prophylactic measures are still not economically viable, vaccines haven't been developed as yet and all currently available drugs that attempt to disrupt the metabolism of the parasite are beginning to slowly fail due to the bug's continuously evolving resistance. It's obvious a completely different strategy is needed now. The good news is that Australian scientists have identified a potential treatment to combat malaria by pinpointing the process that helps the disease gain control of the body. In its usual course, infected mosquitoes inject the malaria parasite into humans which then infects healthy red blood cells, transforming them into sticky sacks containing up to 32 new daughter parasites. The hijacked red blood cells are then able to adhere to vessel walls, thereby avoiding being flushed through the spleen and being destroyed there by the body's immune system. The Melbourne-based researchers have found eight new proteins that transport the parasite's major adhesion factor to the surface of infected red cells where it promotes the formation of sticky knobs. More importantly, they've shown that removal of just one of these proteins has the ability to disrupt the parasite bag to stick to blood vessel walls, thereby blocking the virulence or the capacity of the parasite to cause disease. It also has the potential of developing genetically attenuated, or weakened, parasites, which could be used as a live vaccine as has been done with many other debilitating ailments such as hepatitis B. Malaria, which is preventable and curable but can be fatal if not treated promptly, is commonly associated with poverty. But it is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development. Any fresh breakthrough in new anti-malarial drugs should not only be supported by governments worldwide but privately funded agencies too. Perhaps this is where the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is proactively committed to eradicating malaria, could step in. All this, however, doesn't mean we let stagnant water collect in the meantime.
World - Think Big,Think Green
Nobel laureate and former US vice-president Al Gore made an impassioned plea recently in Washington to all US citizens - particularly political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and engineers - to commit to producing electricity only from renewable energy sources. To those who say a complete switch-over to a carbon-free energy grid sounds unachievable in the timeframe he sets, that is 10 years, Gore says it is a challenge that is achievable and affordable, and it has the potential to completely transform our lives. Whether or not such an ambitious target is achievable in full, Gore's timing is perfect: he has thrown down the green gauntlet when people are tuned in to the need for greater energy efficiency, to reduce pollution and maximise cost-benefit in the backdrop of rising fuel costs and falling supplies. Gore's challenge comes when the US is experiencing a fall in demand for fuel, probably one of the reasons for the drop in crude oil prices. It doesn't take much persuasion to convince the converted; yet when a popular green champion like Gore asks people to give the issue priority, he can be sure that his voice will not go unheeded. Curiously, there is no let-up in demand for fuel in India where, traditionally, people tend to err on the side of caution. Facing the climate change and fuel shortfall challenge is something that needs global effort. Economic growth and poverty alleviation are important goals, but the thrust towards using available energy efficiently has so far been inadequate. A lot could be achieved by merely widening roads, for instance, to enable good traffic management that could cut fuel consumption by minimising idling on roads due to jams. Another easily adoptable strategy is to encourage switching over to compact fluorescent lamps that are longer lasting and consume less energy. Gore points out that as the demand for renewable energy grows, cost will continue to fall as it did with silicon - used to make solar cells and computer chips. With economies of scale, energy generated from the sun, wind and water would become more affordable and, eventually, all electricity generated could be from non-fossil fuel sources. All it needs to step up the green revolution in energy is a part-persuasion, part-legislation strategy with strong political leadership and individual faith and determination. Like Gore, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and opposition leader L K Advani should speak out and present a united front to overcome the difficulties posed by the challenge. By thinking big and green, the 10-year challenge might be met, at least in part.
India - No Form-16 needed
NEW DELHI: While filing tax return this year, you need not attach Form-16 with the form. In a statement on Friday, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that annexures and certificates like Form-16, relating to tax deducted at source are not required for income tax returns filing. "No annexures, TDS/TCS certificates are required to be annexed to the returns of income." an official statement said. A senior CBDT official said that all informations regarding TDS are recorded in the PAN (permanent account number) data of a tax payer. He said the department collects data on TDS from various sources and keep it in the PAN data banks of tax payers. Therefore, he said, the tax payers should just provide the TDS informations in the specified column in the return form. If the figure provided in the return is not matched with the data collected in PAN, then the department would ask the tax payer to furnish the Form-16. The credit for TDS and tax collected at source (TCS) will be allowed on the basis of details furnished in the relevant schedules of the return forms. Assessing officer will not disallow claim in this regard (return against excess tax paid) only on the ground that the TDS/TCS certificates have not been filed along with the return of income, the statement said. Also, to enable tax-payers to file returns in the electronic mode, the new return forms have been made annexure-less, except ITR-7, which is the returns for trusts. The electronic return filed with electronic signature will be treated at par with a physical sign. In case of tax return filed without electronic signature, the department said, the tax payers will get an acknowledgement, which will have return receipt number. A tax official said the tax payer should send the acknowledgement to the department. He said only after receiving the acknowledgement form the tax payer, the assessing officer can assess return filed in the electronic form. The department also said a tax payer can make electronic payment of taxes from the account of any other person.
Columnists - Vir Sanghvi
Why do Indian women idolize betty?
Do people still read Archie comics? They were certainly very popular when I was young and entire generations of middle-class Indians grew up believing that the US was stuck in a late 1950s time warp where cheery local restaurateurs ran hamburger and milkshake joints, where college kids wore jerseys with initials on them, and nobody had sex at university.
Most Americans I have spoken to are familiar with Archie and the other residents of Riverdale but I get the feeling that Archie was never as important a part of their growing up as it was for us in India. Cousins of mine who moved to Michigan in the 1970s were devastated to discover that all Americans did not read comics and I suspect that Archie, Jughead and the gang are only dimly remembered in today’s America and that too, as remnants of a more innocent age.
Certainly, other media have been reluctant to adapt the Archie stories. While the comics have influenced Indian movies (the ethos of the Aamir Khan starrer Joh Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was straight out of Archie and all school and university scenes in the Karan Johar-Aditya Chopra school of Hindi cinema owe something to Riverdale), they have had less impact in the West.
Many Americans know Archie only from the early 1970s’ animated TV show but even that has been largely forgotten except as the source for the hit bubblegum pop song Sugar Sugar. (If you care about these things, here’s the story: The Archie show was a cynical attempt to recreate the magic of those manufactured pop stars of the 1960s, The Monkees. It was made by many of the same people and used the same songwriters and session musicians. Archie and his animated pals formed a pop group and sang such songs as Sugar Sugar—which actually hit No. 1. Nobody was told who did the playback for the animated characters.)
I saw a made-for-TV movie about a decade ago which tried to update the Archie story by organizing a reunion for older versions of the characters at Riverdale. Some of it just jarred. Jughead was obviously Jewish and was bringing up a son on his own. Veronica arrived by Concorde. Betty was a fool. And so on. It never really worked for me and the film has been deservedly forgotten.
But it was while watching the TV movie that I began to wonder about the characters and how we saw ourselves reflected in them. From what I remember, Jughead was the likeable happy-go-lucky one, Reggie was the rich jerk, Moose was an over-muscled but well-meaning moron, and Archie was bland enough. Few men I knew identified too much with any of the male characters (though I have to say that I always wanted to be Jughead), and if you pushed really hard then most guys would say that they liked bland old Archie the most.
With the women however, things were entirely different. The running theme in the comic books was that two women were in love with Archie. Veronica was dark-haired, rich, sophisticated and a bit of a bitch. Betty was as pretty but more wholesome, was decidedly middle class and was a nicer person. The interesting thing about the comic was that Veronica was not the vamp. For all her rich bitch airs, she was a largely sympathetic character. Betty was the nice girl but while she should have been Archie’s favoured choice, she always seemed on par with Veronica: We were never sure which one Archie preferred and perhaps he wasn’t sure himself.
It was the TV movie that drove home the distinction to me. I don’t remember it too well but my recollection is that while Veronica had grown up to be the sort of woman we see in Sex and the City, Betty had been shown up as a hick loser. She wrote sweet stories about Easter egg hunts but as the movie made clear, had never really got anywhere.
Perhaps the film was too unkind to Betty: She seemed to have come off better in the comic as I recall. But even so, the point was valid. Veronica was the smart big city girl. Betty was the well-meaning loser.
So, why was it, I wondered, that whenever you asked Indian girls who they wanted to be, they always said Betty?
In fact, I think that’s still true. I have yet to meet any woman who sees herself as Veronica. In their minds, all girls are sweet, lovable Bettys.
And remember: Veronica is beautiful, she’s rich, she’s sophisticated and she has equal claim on Archie’s affections. Yet, no girl I know wants to be her. They all want to be Betty though she doesn’t even necessarily get Archie despite being such a seedha-sadha (simple) person.
Turn this around. Do you know of many men (except for the odd joker like me) who would prefer to be Jughead? Men rarely identify with losers no matter how appealingly quirky they are. They all want to be heroes—no matter how bland.
So why do all girls want to be Betty?
I’m on dangerous territory but here are some possible explanations. One: Girls don’t see Betty as a loser. In the comic book, nobody has to achieve anything so the sense of winners and losers is less distinct. Two: It’s gender conditioning. Men are brought up to want to be successful and attractive to women. Women are brought up to value being nice and decent. Three: Girls don’t identify with rich bitches. Even the rich ones believe that people like them for their personality.
Of course, these are very broad generalizations. I’m sure there are girls out there who idolize Veronica even if I haven’t met them. For that matter, some of them may even want to be Big Ethel. And you could argue that I’m reading too much into childhood comic-book favourites. When we’re young, we all want to be nice. It’s only as we get older that we care so much about being rich and glamorous.
But think about it. Isn’t it odd that even women who want to be Carrie Bradshaw still imagine that deep, deep down they are Betty?
And that one day, they’ll find their own Archie
Do people still read Archie comics? They were certainly very popular when I was young and entire generations of middle-class Indians grew up believing that the US was stuck in a late 1950s time warp where cheery local restaurateurs ran hamburger and milkshake joints, where college kids wore jerseys with initials on them, and nobody had sex at university.
Most Americans I have spoken to are familiar with Archie and the other residents of Riverdale but I get the feeling that Archie was never as important a part of their growing up as it was for us in India. Cousins of mine who moved to Michigan in the 1970s were devastated to discover that all Americans did not read comics and I suspect that Archie, Jughead and the gang are only dimly remembered in today’s America and that too, as remnants of a more innocent age.
Certainly, other media have been reluctant to adapt the Archie stories. While the comics have influenced Indian movies (the ethos of the Aamir Khan starrer Joh Jeeta Wohi Sikandar was straight out of Archie and all school and university scenes in the Karan Johar-Aditya Chopra school of Hindi cinema owe something to Riverdale), they have had less impact in the West.
Many Americans know Archie only from the early 1970s’ animated TV show but even that has been largely forgotten except as the source for the hit bubblegum pop song Sugar Sugar. (If you care about these things, here’s the story: The Archie show was a cynical attempt to recreate the magic of those manufactured pop stars of the 1960s, The Monkees. It was made by many of the same people and used the same songwriters and session musicians. Archie and his animated pals formed a pop group and sang such songs as Sugar Sugar—which actually hit No. 1. Nobody was told who did the playback for the animated characters.)
I saw a made-for-TV movie about a decade ago which tried to update the Archie story by organizing a reunion for older versions of the characters at Riverdale. Some of it just jarred. Jughead was obviously Jewish and was bringing up a son on his own. Veronica arrived by Concorde. Betty was a fool. And so on. It never really worked for me and the film has been deservedly forgotten.
But it was while watching the TV movie that I began to wonder about the characters and how we saw ourselves reflected in them. From what I remember, Jughead was the likeable happy-go-lucky one, Reggie was the rich jerk, Moose was an over-muscled but well-meaning moron, and Archie was bland enough. Few men I knew identified too much with any of the male characters (though I have to say that I always wanted to be Jughead), and if you pushed really hard then most guys would say that they liked bland old Archie the most.
With the women however, things were entirely different. The running theme in the comic books was that two women were in love with Archie. Veronica was dark-haired, rich, sophisticated and a bit of a bitch. Betty was as pretty but more wholesome, was decidedly middle class and was a nicer person. The interesting thing about the comic was that Veronica was not the vamp. For all her rich bitch airs, she was a largely sympathetic character. Betty was the nice girl but while she should have been Archie’s favoured choice, she always seemed on par with Veronica: We were never sure which one Archie preferred and perhaps he wasn’t sure himself.
It was the TV movie that drove home the distinction to me. I don’t remember it too well but my recollection is that while Veronica had grown up to be the sort of woman we see in Sex and the City, Betty had been shown up as a hick loser. She wrote sweet stories about Easter egg hunts but as the movie made clear, had never really got anywhere.
Perhaps the film was too unkind to Betty: She seemed to have come off better in the comic as I recall. But even so, the point was valid. Veronica was the smart big city girl. Betty was the well-meaning loser.
So, why was it, I wondered, that whenever you asked Indian girls who they wanted to be, they always said Betty?
In fact, I think that’s still true. I have yet to meet any woman who sees herself as Veronica. In their minds, all girls are sweet, lovable Bettys.
And remember: Veronica is beautiful, she’s rich, she’s sophisticated and she has equal claim on Archie’s affections. Yet, no girl I know wants to be her. They all want to be Betty though she doesn’t even necessarily get Archie despite being such a seedha-sadha (simple) person.
Turn this around. Do you know of many men (except for the odd joker like me) who would prefer to be Jughead? Men rarely identify with losers no matter how appealingly quirky they are. They all want to be heroes—no matter how bland.
So why do all girls want to be Betty?
I’m on dangerous territory but here are some possible explanations. One: Girls don’t see Betty as a loser. In the comic book, nobody has to achieve anything so the sense of winners and losers is less distinct. Two: It’s gender conditioning. Men are brought up to want to be successful and attractive to women. Women are brought up to value being nice and decent. Three: Girls don’t identify with rich bitches. Even the rich ones believe that people like them for their personality.
Of course, these are very broad generalizations. I’m sure there are girls out there who idolize Veronica even if I haven’t met them. For that matter, some of them may even want to be Big Ethel. And you could argue that I’m reading too much into childhood comic-book favourites. When we’re young, we all want to be nice. It’s only as we get older that we care so much about being rich and glamorous.
But think about it. Isn’t it odd that even women who want to be Carrie Bradshaw still imagine that deep, deep down they are Betty?
And that one day, they’ll find their own Archie
Lifestyle - Get Connected with Green mobiles
Global consumer electronics and mobile phone vendors are going green in India. Heavyweight brands like Nokia, LG, Samsung and Haier, among others, are planning to roll out products that will be positioned on an environment-friendly platform.It is the first time that environment as a brand strategy has evolved in the Indian consumer electronics industry. Till now, electronic brands had either used lifestyle, technology or health positioning in India. “At a time when product features are becoming similar and efforts to drive emotional USP with brand ambassadors is getting cluttered, an environment platform helps attract the top end of the market. India is seen as a more attractive environment-friendly market than the US or Europe,” noted brand consultant Harish Bijoor. For starters, Nokia has just unveiled Nokia 3110 Evolve, a mobile phone with bio-covers made from over 50% renewable material, 60% recycled content in packaging and comes with energy-efficient chargers. Nokia has also made all its products completely PVC-free. “We have made changes in the process and material of our products. As a result, today Nokia chargers save 90% more energy, 65-80% of the phone components are recyclable and have reduced packaging by more than 50%. There are business benefits as well in being environmentally responsible. It improves risk management, makes good economic and business sense operationally and reinforces our brand with consumers,” Nokia India director (marketing) Devinder Kishore told ET. Nokia intends to invest further to drive environmental benefits with phones and applications. Globally, it has developed a new concept phone made almost entirely of recycled material, named Remade. The Remade handset is made of aluminium cans, plastic bottles and old car tyres. “Even inside the Remade we have used environment-sensitive technologies that reduces waste and emissions during production. There is another upcoming product based on the eco-sensor concept—a mobile phone and sensing device that will collect environmental data that can be shared with others to increase environmental awareness,” Mr Kishore added. LG has decided all its newer products henceforth will be environment-compliant. “This includes forthcoming launches like refrigerators, washing machines and AC. Currently, all our products use around 90% eco-friendly materials, which will become 100% by the end of 2008,” said LG Electronics India MD Moon Bum Shin. Samsung too is planning to roll out environment-friendly mobile phones in India. One such model will be produced with bio-plastic made from natural material extracted from corns. It will initially launch two models which do not use heavy metals, PVC and are energy-efficient. The company also plans to set up a phone recycling system. Haier India director Pranay Dhabhai said the company will roll out solar panel water heaters later this year in India. Even US handset vendor Motorola is exploring possibilities for an environment-friendly positioning. “It’s also an effort towards good corporate citizenship,” Motorola Inc corporate V-P (mobile devices—marketing) Jeremy Dale said.
Columnists - Barkha Dutt
Pawns to the Game
Today, it’s baptising an airport; tomorrow it could be giving birth to an entire new state. How far is the UPA willing to travel to remain standing in exactly the same place?
In these volatile months that saw the nuclear deal devouring the political mindshare, many of us in the media publicly urged Manmohan Singh to stand firm. And when a man who describes himself as “an accidental politician” played a remarkably smart hand of cards — asserting his authority over recalcitrant ministers and compelling his party to put its full weight behind him — we silently applauded the fact that a technocrat Prime Minister had not just survived a swim in the political pool of sharks, but he had also emerged much stronger.
But watching the brazen bartering of MPs in the flea market that is Indian politics, I can’t help but wonder how the PM, a man of unimpeachable personal integrity, justifies the naked commerce that is driving the survival of his government. Yes, sure, middle-class hand-wringing over ‘how dirty politics is’ is not just boringly banal; it is also an infuriatingly textbook definition of public morality and an unreal understanding of what makes India go round.
So when the PM personally escorts Amar Singh to the High Table at a UPA anniversary dinner, we see it as an entirely legitimate political peace move. When former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is chosen to be a Muslim mascot for the nuclear deal, we may feel cynical, but we get the logic of using a missile scientist to mitigate ‘mullah disquiet’. And when the Samajwadi Party and the Congress stitch up a seat-sharing alliance for Uttar Pradesh, we aren’t hung up on their tortured history; we understand that it is smart politics. We are also willing to forgive a last-minute rechristening of the Lucknow airport as an innocuous price to pay, to keep a would-be ally happy.
But even our willing suspension of value judgement has to operate within some basic boundaries. And when you ask us to accept your courtship of a man previously dropped from the Union Cabinet on charges of murder, you are testing our tolerance. It’s even more ironic when you remember that it was Manmohan Singh who had fiercely resisted taking Shibu Soren back as Coal Minister, even as party strategists pressured him to do so.
Nothing exemplifies the political hypocrisy of this past week more than the strange case of Shibu Soren and his band of MPs. There is serious speculation that — by the time this makes it to print — Soren would have been sworn in as minister for the third time in this very Cabinet. And if it doesn’t happen before the trust vote, it’s only a matter of time before the man famous for being on-the-run in a murder case becomes either Chief Minister or Cabinet minister.
But if the UPA needs to be mortified (to put it mildly), the self-righteousness of the Right and the Left is just so much humbug as well. The BJP’s Prime Minister-in-waiting is a man of history and, like Manmohan Singh, has impeccable personal credentials. But if L.K. Advani were to rummage through his own Parliament archives, he may stumble upon inconsistencies that make his party’s present line of attack somewhat untenable.
In November 2006, Parliament was crippled by anger and protests by the Oppo-sition. Soren had just been found guilty of murder and the BJP was demanding to know why the PM had brought him back into the Cabinet to begin with. As Leader of the Opposition, Advani targeted Manmohan Singh directly, saying, “We had heard of criminalisation of politics, but we are now seeing the criminalisation of the Council of Ministers.” His argument was entirely valid. Except that today, his party is in not-so-covert talks with the same criminal troopers. And there is grand and excited chatter about a ‘regime change’ in Jharkhand in exchange for Soren’s crossing over to the NDA.
And what about the Left parties? Where was the Left when the controversy first imploded? These days, the Left is drawing (entirely legitimate) parallels between P.V. Narasimha Rao bribing JMM MPs to survive in 1993 and the UPA soliciting their help in 2008. But back in 2006, in the name of ‘secularism’, the Left did not permit the BJP to make an issue of Soren’s criminal record. During the same Parliament debate, the CPI’s Gurudas Dasupta had hit back at Advani’s speech on Soren with a sweeping, rhetorical reply. “The devil,” he had said, “should not quote the scripture.” Today, his party and the so-called ‘devils’ have found common political cause.
Personally, I think the furore over the Left and the BJP voting on the same side is actually an entirely contrived controversy. What sort of parliamentary democracy are we if parties have to be straitjacketed by textbook positions into ideological corners they can never escape from? One of the healthier by-products of the current political crisis is, in fact, the end of ‘secularism’ as the ultimate totem of the moral high ground. Not because I don’t believe fervently in the need for a secular society; but because it had got reduced to a default point of division within Parliament allowing for no genuine or honest debate. But when the future of Parliament is all set to be determined by which party manages to bribe five MPs from Jharkhand, high-sounding words like ‘propriety’, ‘deceit’ and ‘morality’ are hollow and meaningless, no matter which side is spouting them.
And while the shift from Lal Salaam to Dalal Salaam makes for a great SMS joke and an even better political slogan, it applies equally to all our Parliamentarians. In this season of ugly power-brokering, show me a party that doesn’t have a middleman, and I will show you my vote.
Barkha Dutt is Group Editor, English News, NDTV
Today, it’s baptising an airport; tomorrow it could be giving birth to an entire new state. How far is the UPA willing to travel to remain standing in exactly the same place?
In these volatile months that saw the nuclear deal devouring the political mindshare, many of us in the media publicly urged Manmohan Singh to stand firm. And when a man who describes himself as “an accidental politician” played a remarkably smart hand of cards — asserting his authority over recalcitrant ministers and compelling his party to put its full weight behind him — we silently applauded the fact that a technocrat Prime Minister had not just survived a swim in the political pool of sharks, but he had also emerged much stronger.
But watching the brazen bartering of MPs in the flea market that is Indian politics, I can’t help but wonder how the PM, a man of unimpeachable personal integrity, justifies the naked commerce that is driving the survival of his government. Yes, sure, middle-class hand-wringing over ‘how dirty politics is’ is not just boringly banal; it is also an infuriatingly textbook definition of public morality and an unreal understanding of what makes India go round.
So when the PM personally escorts Amar Singh to the High Table at a UPA anniversary dinner, we see it as an entirely legitimate political peace move. When former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is chosen to be a Muslim mascot for the nuclear deal, we may feel cynical, but we get the logic of using a missile scientist to mitigate ‘mullah disquiet’. And when the Samajwadi Party and the Congress stitch up a seat-sharing alliance for Uttar Pradesh, we aren’t hung up on their tortured history; we understand that it is smart politics. We are also willing to forgive a last-minute rechristening of the Lucknow airport as an innocuous price to pay, to keep a would-be ally happy.
But even our willing suspension of value judgement has to operate within some basic boundaries. And when you ask us to accept your courtship of a man previously dropped from the Union Cabinet on charges of murder, you are testing our tolerance. It’s even more ironic when you remember that it was Manmohan Singh who had fiercely resisted taking Shibu Soren back as Coal Minister, even as party strategists pressured him to do so.
Nothing exemplifies the political hypocrisy of this past week more than the strange case of Shibu Soren and his band of MPs. There is serious speculation that — by the time this makes it to print — Soren would have been sworn in as minister for the third time in this very Cabinet. And if it doesn’t happen before the trust vote, it’s only a matter of time before the man famous for being on-the-run in a murder case becomes either Chief Minister or Cabinet minister.
But if the UPA needs to be mortified (to put it mildly), the self-righteousness of the Right and the Left is just so much humbug as well. The BJP’s Prime Minister-in-waiting is a man of history and, like Manmohan Singh, has impeccable personal credentials. But if L.K. Advani were to rummage through his own Parliament archives, he may stumble upon inconsistencies that make his party’s present line of attack somewhat untenable.
In November 2006, Parliament was crippled by anger and protests by the Oppo-sition. Soren had just been found guilty of murder and the BJP was demanding to know why the PM had brought him back into the Cabinet to begin with. As Leader of the Opposition, Advani targeted Manmohan Singh directly, saying, “We had heard of criminalisation of politics, but we are now seeing the criminalisation of the Council of Ministers.” His argument was entirely valid. Except that today, his party is in not-so-covert talks with the same criminal troopers. And there is grand and excited chatter about a ‘regime change’ in Jharkhand in exchange for Soren’s crossing over to the NDA.
And what about the Left parties? Where was the Left when the controversy first imploded? These days, the Left is drawing (entirely legitimate) parallels between P.V. Narasimha Rao bribing JMM MPs to survive in 1993 and the UPA soliciting their help in 2008. But back in 2006, in the name of ‘secularism’, the Left did not permit the BJP to make an issue of Soren’s criminal record. During the same Parliament debate, the CPI’s Gurudas Dasupta had hit back at Advani’s speech on Soren with a sweeping, rhetorical reply. “The devil,” he had said, “should not quote the scripture.” Today, his party and the so-called ‘devils’ have found common political cause.
Personally, I think the furore over the Left and the BJP voting on the same side is actually an entirely contrived controversy. What sort of parliamentary democracy are we if parties have to be straitjacketed by textbook positions into ideological corners they can never escape from? One of the healthier by-products of the current political crisis is, in fact, the end of ‘secularism’ as the ultimate totem of the moral high ground. Not because I don’t believe fervently in the need for a secular society; but because it had got reduced to a default point of division within Parliament allowing for no genuine or honest debate. But when the future of Parliament is all set to be determined by which party manages to bribe five MPs from Jharkhand, high-sounding words like ‘propriety’, ‘deceit’ and ‘morality’ are hollow and meaningless, no matter which side is spouting them.
And while the shift from Lal Salaam to Dalal Salaam makes for a great SMS joke and an even better political slogan, it applies equally to all our Parliamentarians. In this season of ugly power-brokering, show me a party that doesn’t have a middleman, and I will show you my vote.
Barkha Dutt is Group Editor, English News, NDTV
India - Looking for a silver lining beyong Valley
A car pulls up, rather noisily. Pulwama villagers stop and gape: it’s Iqbal Yaqoob at the wheels. And he is driving a Honda City, a sign of success in these parts.
Yaqoob had disappeared on a cold tense morning in January 1994, shortly after an encounter between security forces and militants and the following cordon-and-search operations in his village. Youngsters like him had been rounded up by the security forces and taken away. They returned after a bit with telltale signs of torture — cuts, bruises and welts. The family decided this was no place for a young man and he should leave, except there was no safer place in Kashmir then.
The young man, who had studied till Class 12, headed for Srinagar, which was in a worse situation than Pulwama. Yaqoob kept going. And has not stopped yet — even after setting up a pharma business spanning several states including Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. He is a rich man today.
Ghulam Ahmad Ghani, similarly, would never have left his village, also in Pulwama.
Life was good. He made a living rearing cattle. And then suddenly militancy started and everything changed, very fast. He left for Srinagar, and started work as a dyer in a small carpet factory. Now, he is a successful businessman making and selling carpets.
Kashmiris are an inward looking people. They are happiest at home, which could be anywhere from the remote villages of Kashmir to the bustling Jammu and Srinagar. But militancy changed that quite drastically -- it were as if someone came home and turned it upside down, but left it looking rather good.
"The exposure to outside world affected a psychological change among them, and they began to think and act in new terms," says Khursheedul Islam, a sociologist. He says that many Kashmiris sent their children to the cities for quality education.
There are no official figures but estimates show that over three lakh people -- other than Kashmir pandits -- moved out of the valley in the years of trouble, of whom many set up businesses in places like Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa and Kerala.
Imran Tak, an MCA student from south Kashmir, landed jobs at Indian airlines and IT company HP in Bangalore simultaneously. He chose HP and returned recently after three years in Saudi Arabia and London. "It was a great experience. I had never thought that I would get such a position and exposure," he says.
It's been the same for thousands of Kashmiris, not all of whom left the state but they did leave the numbing comfort of a simple village life for the state's urban areas -- like the capital Srinagar.
Around 50 new colonies came up in and around Srinagar during the insurgency years, which mainly house migrants from rural Kashmir. And this coming out has not been just geographical.
"The exposure to outside world affected a psychological change among them, and they began to think and act in new terms," says Khursheedul Islam, a sociologist. There was a gradual acknowledgement of the importance of education, for one. An official of Kashmir University says that students with rural background account for 80 per cent of in the post-graduate classes.
And there is more. Irfan Ahmad, executive director of Jamkash, a big car dealer, says that out of 300 cars they sell every month over 200 are bought by Kashmiris from the villages. "Money was never a problem in rural Kashmir. But they hadn't the exposure to such things," Ahmad says, adding, "their (village residents) outlook has broadened by way of their interaction with the outside world, and now a car appears to them as a need."
But for some Kashmiris, the outside world was not good enough. It could offer just nothing to offset the longing for home. Mufti Wajid, from Shopian, worked for a while at Patni Computers as a software engineer. And then gave it up all up, returned home and joined the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, at a much lower salary.
"Kashmir is a landlocked valley with moderate climate. People are not used to hot and humid climatic conditions. They prefer to stay back than moving outside," said Shoukat Hussain, who teaches geography at a local college.
And for some, it was the pull of the old family home, teeming with relatives -- the big joint family. "We have a deep family system in place. Many people still prefer joint families," says Mufeed Ahmad, a research scholar in sociology. "Even those with nuclear families love to live in neighbourhood of their relatives," he adds.
Even those who came back, did not completely erase whatever they learnt or saw outside. Wajid is not the same person as he was when he left to become a software professional. He has changed, he has grown up, and is a lot less insular than he was.
Yaqoob had disappeared on a cold tense morning in January 1994, shortly after an encounter between security forces and militants and the following cordon-and-search operations in his village. Youngsters like him had been rounded up by the security forces and taken away. They returned after a bit with telltale signs of torture — cuts, bruises and welts. The family decided this was no place for a young man and he should leave, except there was no safer place in Kashmir then.
The young man, who had studied till Class 12, headed for Srinagar, which was in a worse situation than Pulwama. Yaqoob kept going. And has not stopped yet — even after setting up a pharma business spanning several states including Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. He is a rich man today.
Ghulam Ahmad Ghani, similarly, would never have left his village, also in Pulwama.
Life was good. He made a living rearing cattle. And then suddenly militancy started and everything changed, very fast. He left for Srinagar, and started work as a dyer in a small carpet factory. Now, he is a successful businessman making and selling carpets.
Kashmiris are an inward looking people. They are happiest at home, which could be anywhere from the remote villages of Kashmir to the bustling Jammu and Srinagar. But militancy changed that quite drastically -- it were as if someone came home and turned it upside down, but left it looking rather good.
"The exposure to outside world affected a psychological change among them, and they began to think and act in new terms," says Khursheedul Islam, a sociologist. He says that many Kashmiris sent their children to the cities for quality education.
There are no official figures but estimates show that over three lakh people -- other than Kashmir pandits -- moved out of the valley in the years of trouble, of whom many set up businesses in places like Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa and Kerala.
Imran Tak, an MCA student from south Kashmir, landed jobs at Indian airlines and IT company HP in Bangalore simultaneously. He chose HP and returned recently after three years in Saudi Arabia and London. "It was a great experience. I had never thought that I would get such a position and exposure," he says.
It's been the same for thousands of Kashmiris, not all of whom left the state but they did leave the numbing comfort of a simple village life for the state's urban areas -- like the capital Srinagar.
Around 50 new colonies came up in and around Srinagar during the insurgency years, which mainly house migrants from rural Kashmir. And this coming out has not been just geographical.
"The exposure to outside world affected a psychological change among them, and they began to think and act in new terms," says Khursheedul Islam, a sociologist. There was a gradual acknowledgement of the importance of education, for one. An official of Kashmir University says that students with rural background account for 80 per cent of in the post-graduate classes.
And there is more. Irfan Ahmad, executive director of Jamkash, a big car dealer, says that out of 300 cars they sell every month over 200 are bought by Kashmiris from the villages. "Money was never a problem in rural Kashmir. But they hadn't the exposure to such things," Ahmad says, adding, "their (village residents) outlook has broadened by way of their interaction with the outside world, and now a car appears to them as a need."
But for some Kashmiris, the outside world was not good enough. It could offer just nothing to offset the longing for home. Mufti Wajid, from Shopian, worked for a while at Patni Computers as a software engineer. And then gave it up all up, returned home and joined the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, at a much lower salary.
"Kashmir is a landlocked valley with moderate climate. People are not used to hot and humid climatic conditions. They prefer to stay back than moving outside," said Shoukat Hussain, who teaches geography at a local college.
And for some, it was the pull of the old family home, teeming with relatives -- the big joint family. "We have a deep family system in place. Many people still prefer joint families," says Mufeed Ahmad, a research scholar in sociology. "Even those with nuclear families love to live in neighbourhood of their relatives," he adds.
Even those who came back, did not completely erase whatever they learnt or saw outside. Wajid is not the same person as he was when he left to become a software professional. He has changed, he has grown up, and is a lot less insular than he was.
World - Towards an alternative to IMF,World Bank
BRIC alliance will attempt to set up a new international financial institution.
The western finance crisis has spurred BRIC-building, with the fast-growing economies of Russia, Brazil, India and China (BRIC) stepping up efforts to formalise their four-way club.
The Finance Ministers of the BRIC nations would meet later this year for the first time to discuss the setting up of a new international financial institution, it was announced in Moscow this week.
The agreement was reached by the leaders of the BRIC countries at their meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Japan last month, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told the press in Moscow.
The new body is conceived as an alternative to the outdated financial institutions, he said.
“The post-World War II financial structures, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are not working efficiently,” Mr. Pankin said. “It is necessary to look for alternative instruments or modify the existing ones so that they reflect the new multipolar world.”
Moscow voiced disappointment over G8’s failure to initiate reform of the international financial institutions.
“Prior to the Hokkaido summit the expectation was that G8 would come up with a new vision for the future global financial system and international institutions regulating global finances. However, this did not happen,” the Russian minister said.
He added that the coming meeting of the BRIC Finance Ministers would give a start to an “interesting dialogue.”
The meeting will mark another step towards institutionalisation of the BRIC forum set up in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in May, when the Foreign Ministers of the four nations held their first stand-alone meeting. The foreign ministers called for closer interaction of the financial institutions of their countries to cope with the current crisis.
The BRIC counties are already in consultation over the global financial crisis, according to Bank of Russia Chairman Sergei Ignatiyev.
“We are closely interacting. The central bank chiefs of BRIC country hold regular consultations in Swiss Basel every two months, besides bilateral visits,” Mr. Ignatiyev said last month.
The current financial crisis allows the four BRIC countries to increase their share of the world economy even faster than originally forecast.
In 2007 the International Monetary Fund estimated that the combined gross domestic product of the BRIC accounted for 12 per cent of global growth, up from 8 per cent in 2000. Today the BRIC economics are collectively 16 per cent of global GDP, founder of the BRIC concept, Jim O’Neill of the Goldman Sachs said at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum last month.
Moscow has taken the lead in building the BRIC alliance, as President Dmitry Medvedev and his predecessor-turned Prime Minister Vladimir Putin both want Russia to play a central role in modernising the international financial infrastructure.
After taking office on May 7 Mr. Medvedev said Russia was “a global player” with the capabilities and resources to “take part in setting new rules of the game in the global economy.”
Mr. Medvedev also promised to turn Moscow into a major international financial centre, and to make the rouble into a regional hard currency in the near future as part of efforts to overhaul of the international financial architecture, doing away with the domination of the United States and EU and increasing the role of big developing economies.
In a speech at the St. Petersburg Forum the Russian leader put the blame for the global financial crisis squarely on the United States. He said “aggressive financial policies” of the world’s biggest economy, whose role in the international economic system no longer matched its actual capabilities, was one of the principal underlying causes of the worst global crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Mr. Medvedev’s plan calls for streamlining the international financial institutions so that their work in different financial markets is better coordinated and reflects the interests of more countries; better regulation of financial markets, and creation of a basket of reserve currencies, including the rouble.
At the Yekaterinburg meeting the BRIC nations stated their resolve to push for reforms at the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and United Nations. As the West shows little interest in meeting their demands the BRIC members are taking steps to create alternative multilateral organisations to challenge the dominance of the existing world policy forums.
The western finance crisis has spurred BRIC-building, with the fast-growing economies of Russia, Brazil, India and China (BRIC) stepping up efforts to formalise their four-way club.
The Finance Ministers of the BRIC nations would meet later this year for the first time to discuss the setting up of a new international financial institution, it was announced in Moscow this week.
The agreement was reached by the leaders of the BRIC countries at their meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Japan last month, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Dmitry Pankin told the press in Moscow.
The new body is conceived as an alternative to the outdated financial institutions, he said.
“The post-World War II financial structures, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are not working efficiently,” Mr. Pankin said. “It is necessary to look for alternative instruments or modify the existing ones so that they reflect the new multipolar world.”
Moscow voiced disappointment over G8’s failure to initiate reform of the international financial institutions.
“Prior to the Hokkaido summit the expectation was that G8 would come up with a new vision for the future global financial system and international institutions regulating global finances. However, this did not happen,” the Russian minister said.
He added that the coming meeting of the BRIC Finance Ministers would give a start to an “interesting dialogue.”
The meeting will mark another step towards institutionalisation of the BRIC forum set up in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in May, when the Foreign Ministers of the four nations held their first stand-alone meeting. The foreign ministers called for closer interaction of the financial institutions of their countries to cope with the current crisis.
The BRIC counties are already in consultation over the global financial crisis, according to Bank of Russia Chairman Sergei Ignatiyev.
“We are closely interacting. The central bank chiefs of BRIC country hold regular consultations in Swiss Basel every two months, besides bilateral visits,” Mr. Ignatiyev said last month.
The current financial crisis allows the four BRIC countries to increase their share of the world economy even faster than originally forecast.
In 2007 the International Monetary Fund estimated that the combined gross domestic product of the BRIC accounted for 12 per cent of global growth, up from 8 per cent in 2000. Today the BRIC economics are collectively 16 per cent of global GDP, founder of the BRIC concept, Jim O’Neill of the Goldman Sachs said at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum last month.
Moscow has taken the lead in building the BRIC alliance, as President Dmitry Medvedev and his predecessor-turned Prime Minister Vladimir Putin both want Russia to play a central role in modernising the international financial infrastructure.
After taking office on May 7 Mr. Medvedev said Russia was “a global player” with the capabilities and resources to “take part in setting new rules of the game in the global economy.”
Mr. Medvedev also promised to turn Moscow into a major international financial centre, and to make the rouble into a regional hard currency in the near future as part of efforts to overhaul of the international financial architecture, doing away with the domination of the United States and EU and increasing the role of big developing economies.
In a speech at the St. Petersburg Forum the Russian leader put the blame for the global financial crisis squarely on the United States. He said “aggressive financial policies” of the world’s biggest economy, whose role in the international economic system no longer matched its actual capabilities, was one of the principal underlying causes of the worst global crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Mr. Medvedev’s plan calls for streamlining the international financial institutions so that their work in different financial markets is better coordinated and reflects the interests of more countries; better regulation of financial markets, and creation of a basket of reserve currencies, including the rouble.
At the Yekaterinburg meeting the BRIC nations stated their resolve to push for reforms at the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and United Nations. As the West shows little interest in meeting their demands the BRIC members are taking steps to create alternative multilateral organisations to challenge the dominance of the existing world policy forums.
India - NREGA:Ship without rudder?
Recent events in Jharkhand highlight various issues that need to be urgently addressed if the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) is to survive and thrive. These events include the murders of two NREGA activists (Lalit Mehta and Kameshwar Yadav), a survey of NREGA initiated by the G.B. Pant Social Science Institute in Palamau and Koderma districts, and public hearings held there on May 26 and June 18 respectively. The latest incident is the tragic death of Tapas Soren, who immolated himself in Hazaribagh on July 2 to protest against official harassment in the context of NREGA work.
By way of background, a glimpse of the survey findings may be useful. Even in Jharkhand, one of the worst performing States as far as NREGA is concerned, there is some good news. For instance, the transition to a rights-based framework has led to a major decline in labour exploitation on rural public works. Wages are higher than they used to be, delays in wage payments are shorter, productivity norms more reasonable, and complaints of worksite harassment rare. NREGA is a valuable and valued opportunity for the rural poor, and particularly for women, to earn a living wage in a dignified manner.
Most of the respondents in a random sample of about 200 NREGA workers in Palamau and Koderma districts were highly appreciative of the programme. For instance, they felt that NREGA helped them to avoid hunger and distress migration. Also, a large majority of the respondents felt that the assets being created under NREGA were “useful” or “very useful.” This was also the assessment of field investigators. Far from being a case of “playing with mud,” as one grumpy commentator recently put it, NREGA is a productive scheme — and it could be even more productive with a small dose of technical and scientific support.Massive corruption
In Jharkhand, unfortunately, the tremendous potential of NREGA is in danger of being wasted due to massive corruption. Judging from the survey findings in Koderma and Palamau, transparency safeguards are routinely violated and funds are being siphoned off with abandon. A similar picture emerges from surveys in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, though there are also heartening examples of transparent implementation of NREGA, notably in Rajasthan (where we found very little evidence of embezzlement of wage funds) and Andhra Pradesh (where post office payments and institutionalised social audits appear to have a similar impact).
Coming back to recent events in Jharkhand, there is much scope for introspection. To start with, these events have exposed the repressive if not criminal character of the Indian state in large parts of the country. It is bad enough that brazen embezzlement of NREGA funds in Jharkhand, with the complicity of many government officials, has deprived millions of people of employment and wages, and thereby, of their constitutional right to life. For good measure, State authorities often scuttle any attempt to expose this nexus of corruption and crime. Our own survey team had a taste of this bitter medicine in Palamau: instead of acting on the complaints we brought to its attention, the District Administration turned against the team and sent a malicious and defamatory “report” to the Ministry of Rural Development, even insinuating that some of us might have had a hand in Lalit Mehta’s murder. Defenceless grassroots workers are not so lucky as to get away with insults: they literally risk their lives every time they stand up against state-sponsored corruption and exploitation.
Second, the counterpart of this repressive apparatus is the utter helplessness of working people. This helplessness begins with a thick cloud of ignorance: we were amazed to discover how little people knew about NREGA in the survey areas, more than two years after the Act came into force. To illustrate, among 200 persons currently working on NREGA worksites in Palamau and Koderma, less than 30 per cent knew that they were entitled to 100 days of employment per year under the Act. The concept of “work on demand”, for its part, had not sunk in at all. The vulnerability of the programme to corruption and abuse begins with this lack of awareness of their rights among NREGA workers.
Third, this powerlessness is also due to the absence of any effective grievance redressal system for NREGA. Gross violations of the Act can be perpetrated with virtual impunity, and most people do not know what to do and where to go when they have complaints. Even when there is conclusive evidence of fraud, and with the full backing of the Central Employment Guarantee Council, we have found it extremely hard to secure any remedial or punitive action. This state of affairs opens the door to further deterioration of the standards of implementation of NREGA, as the message is rapidly spreading that “anything goes” and that those responsible for fraud and embezzlement are “safe.”
Fourth, while this situation is not unique to Jharkhand, it has been amplified there by the absence of Gram Panchayats in rural areas. Jharkhand is the only state where Gram Panchayat elections have not been held since the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution (known as “Panchayati Raj amendments”). This is not only a flagrant violation of the law, but also an infringement of people’s fundamental rights, since it is impossible to provide effective public services in rural areas without functional institutions of local governance. NREGA itself is a casualty of this state of affairs. In the absence of Gram Panchayats (the chief “implementing agency” under the Act), the implementation of NREGA in Jharkhand is effectively under the control of private contractors, or quasi-contractors such as the so-called “labhuk samitis” (beneficiary committees). But private contractors work for profit, and the only way to make profit from NREGA is to cheat. In Jharkhand, therefore, corruption is built into the system.
Fifth, this impending anarchy also reflects the casual attitude of the Central government towards its own money. Given that about 90 per cent of the NREGA funds come from the Centre, the Central government has a right and a duty to enforce high standards of transparency and accountability in the programme. The Act gives it wide powers to do so, whether it is through framing rules, conducting investigations, designing an effective Monitoring and Information System (MIS), or taking action where there is evidence of fraud. Instead of seizing these opportunities, the Ministry of Rural Development largely expects the State governments to comply with its Operational Guidelines. These guidelines are indeed very good, but their legal status is unclear, and many State governments are treating them lightly — applying what suits them and ignoring the rest. Thus, NREGA is being implemented in a dangerous vacuum, with few mandatory norms except for the general provisions of the Act. Even basic safeguards, such as the maintenance of job cards and the transparency of muster rolls, are effectively left to the discretion of the State governments. This state of affairs makes NREGA quite vulnerable to corruption and other irregularities. As political parties are about to launch their respective election campaigns, there is a frightening possibility that many of them will try to “dip” into NREGA funds to fill their coffers. A wake-up call is badly needed.
Finally, the powerlessness of NREGA workers is also a reflection of the timidity of grassroots organisational work on this issue. Somehow, political organisations and social movements are yet to seize the vast potential for collective action around NREGA, whether it is through joint work applications, struggles for minimum wages, participatory planning, or building workers’ unions. One rarely sees crowds of people blocking the road to demand NREGA work, or staging a dharna against delayed wage payments. The fact that a large majority of the rural population is still in the dark about the basic features of the Act, almost three years after it was passed, is another symptom of this organisational gap. The way forward
On a more constructive note, these observations point to the way forward. As far as government policy is concerned, urgent priorities include framing strong rules for NREGA, putting in place grievance redressal procedures, enforcing the transparency safeguards, and taking swift action whenever there is evidence of fraud. As far as public action is concerned, the need of the hour is to make better use of NREGA as a tool of organisational work and enable NREGA workers to defend their rights. Counting on the kindness of the state would be futile.
(The author is Visiting Professor at Allahabad University and member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council.)
By way of background, a glimpse of the survey findings may be useful. Even in Jharkhand, one of the worst performing States as far as NREGA is concerned, there is some good news. For instance, the transition to a rights-based framework has led to a major decline in labour exploitation on rural public works. Wages are higher than they used to be, delays in wage payments are shorter, productivity norms more reasonable, and complaints of worksite harassment rare. NREGA is a valuable and valued opportunity for the rural poor, and particularly for women, to earn a living wage in a dignified manner.
Most of the respondents in a random sample of about 200 NREGA workers in Palamau and Koderma districts were highly appreciative of the programme. For instance, they felt that NREGA helped them to avoid hunger and distress migration. Also, a large majority of the respondents felt that the assets being created under NREGA were “useful” or “very useful.” This was also the assessment of field investigators. Far from being a case of “playing with mud,” as one grumpy commentator recently put it, NREGA is a productive scheme — and it could be even more productive with a small dose of technical and scientific support.Massive corruption
In Jharkhand, unfortunately, the tremendous potential of NREGA is in danger of being wasted due to massive corruption. Judging from the survey findings in Koderma and Palamau, transparency safeguards are routinely violated and funds are being siphoned off with abandon. A similar picture emerges from surveys in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, though there are also heartening examples of transparent implementation of NREGA, notably in Rajasthan (where we found very little evidence of embezzlement of wage funds) and Andhra Pradesh (where post office payments and institutionalised social audits appear to have a similar impact).
Coming back to recent events in Jharkhand, there is much scope for introspection. To start with, these events have exposed the repressive if not criminal character of the Indian state in large parts of the country. It is bad enough that brazen embezzlement of NREGA funds in Jharkhand, with the complicity of many government officials, has deprived millions of people of employment and wages, and thereby, of their constitutional right to life. For good measure, State authorities often scuttle any attempt to expose this nexus of corruption and crime. Our own survey team had a taste of this bitter medicine in Palamau: instead of acting on the complaints we brought to its attention, the District Administration turned against the team and sent a malicious and defamatory “report” to the Ministry of Rural Development, even insinuating that some of us might have had a hand in Lalit Mehta’s murder. Defenceless grassroots workers are not so lucky as to get away with insults: they literally risk their lives every time they stand up against state-sponsored corruption and exploitation.
Second, the counterpart of this repressive apparatus is the utter helplessness of working people. This helplessness begins with a thick cloud of ignorance: we were amazed to discover how little people knew about NREGA in the survey areas, more than two years after the Act came into force. To illustrate, among 200 persons currently working on NREGA worksites in Palamau and Koderma, less than 30 per cent knew that they were entitled to 100 days of employment per year under the Act. The concept of “work on demand”, for its part, had not sunk in at all. The vulnerability of the programme to corruption and abuse begins with this lack of awareness of their rights among NREGA workers.
Third, this powerlessness is also due to the absence of any effective grievance redressal system for NREGA. Gross violations of the Act can be perpetrated with virtual impunity, and most people do not know what to do and where to go when they have complaints. Even when there is conclusive evidence of fraud, and with the full backing of the Central Employment Guarantee Council, we have found it extremely hard to secure any remedial or punitive action. This state of affairs opens the door to further deterioration of the standards of implementation of NREGA, as the message is rapidly spreading that “anything goes” and that those responsible for fraud and embezzlement are “safe.”
Fourth, while this situation is not unique to Jharkhand, it has been amplified there by the absence of Gram Panchayats in rural areas. Jharkhand is the only state where Gram Panchayat elections have not been held since the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution (known as “Panchayati Raj amendments”). This is not only a flagrant violation of the law, but also an infringement of people’s fundamental rights, since it is impossible to provide effective public services in rural areas without functional institutions of local governance. NREGA itself is a casualty of this state of affairs. In the absence of Gram Panchayats (the chief “implementing agency” under the Act), the implementation of NREGA in Jharkhand is effectively under the control of private contractors, or quasi-contractors such as the so-called “labhuk samitis” (beneficiary committees). But private contractors work for profit, and the only way to make profit from NREGA is to cheat. In Jharkhand, therefore, corruption is built into the system.
Fifth, this impending anarchy also reflects the casual attitude of the Central government towards its own money. Given that about 90 per cent of the NREGA funds come from the Centre, the Central government has a right and a duty to enforce high standards of transparency and accountability in the programme. The Act gives it wide powers to do so, whether it is through framing rules, conducting investigations, designing an effective Monitoring and Information System (MIS), or taking action where there is evidence of fraud. Instead of seizing these opportunities, the Ministry of Rural Development largely expects the State governments to comply with its Operational Guidelines. These guidelines are indeed very good, but their legal status is unclear, and many State governments are treating them lightly — applying what suits them and ignoring the rest. Thus, NREGA is being implemented in a dangerous vacuum, with few mandatory norms except for the general provisions of the Act. Even basic safeguards, such as the maintenance of job cards and the transparency of muster rolls, are effectively left to the discretion of the State governments. This state of affairs makes NREGA quite vulnerable to corruption and other irregularities. As political parties are about to launch their respective election campaigns, there is a frightening possibility that many of them will try to “dip” into NREGA funds to fill their coffers. A wake-up call is badly needed.
Finally, the powerlessness of NREGA workers is also a reflection of the timidity of grassroots organisational work on this issue. Somehow, political organisations and social movements are yet to seize the vast potential for collective action around NREGA, whether it is through joint work applications, struggles for minimum wages, participatory planning, or building workers’ unions. One rarely sees crowds of people blocking the road to demand NREGA work, or staging a dharna against delayed wage payments. The fact that a large majority of the rural population is still in the dark about the basic features of the Act, almost three years after it was passed, is another symptom of this organisational gap. The way forward
On a more constructive note, these observations point to the way forward. As far as government policy is concerned, urgent priorities include framing strong rules for NREGA, putting in place grievance redressal procedures, enforcing the transparency safeguards, and taking swift action whenever there is evidence of fraud. As far as public action is concerned, the need of the hour is to make better use of NREGA as a tool of organisational work and enable NREGA workers to defend their rights. Counting on the kindness of the state would be futile.
(The author is Visiting Professor at Allahabad University and member of the Central Employment Guarantee Council.)
World - Trauma training drill with pigs
U.S. Army to shoot them live for soldiers heading to Iraq
HONOLULU: The U.S. Army is moving forward with plans to shoot live pigs and treat their gunshot wounds in a medical trauma exercise Friday for soldiers headed to Iraq.
The Army says it is critical to saving the lives of wounded soldiers. Animal-rights activists call the training cruel and outdated.
Major Derrick Cheng, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said the training is being conducted under a U.S. Department of Agriculture licence and the careful supervision of veterinarians and a military Animal Care and Use Committee. “It’s to teach Army personnel how to manage critically injured patients within the first few hours of their injury.” The soldiers are learning emergency lifesaving skills needed on the battlefield when there are no medics, doctors or facility nearby, he said. PETA’s views
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, however, said there are more advanced and humane options available, including high-tech human simulators. In a letter, PETA urged the Army to end all use of animals, “as the overwhelming majority of North American medical schools have already done.”
“Shooting and maiming pigs is outdated as Civil War rifles,” said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA’s Laboratory Investigations Department.
The group demanded the exercise be halted after it was notified by a “distraught” soldier from the unit, who disclosed a plan to shoot the animals with M4 carbines and M16 rifles. “There’s absolutely no reason why they have to shoot live pigs,” PETA spokeswoman Holly Beal said. Difficult
The bloody exercise, she said, is difficult for soldiers because they sometimes associate the animals with their own pet dogs.
Major Cheng said the exercise is conducted in a controlled environment with the pigs anesthetised the entire time.
He had “no doubt whatsoever” in the effectiveness of the instruction, which he called the best option available at the base.
“Those alternative methods just can’t replicate what the troops are going to face when we use live-tissue training,” he said. “What we’re doing is unique to what the soldiers are going to actually experience.”
Major Cheng did not have details about the number of pigs, how they were acquired or the weapons involved in the training.
The soldiers being trained are with the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, which is deploying to Iraq this year.
“We understand [PETA’s] concerns and point of view. At the same, the Army is committed to providing the soldiers with the best training possible,” Major Cheng said.
Disappointed at the Army’s decision, PETA on Thursday instructed its two million members to inundate the Army with calls and e-mails.
“We’re hoping at the 11th hour here that we can have this stopped. We have to hang on to hope,” Ms. Beal said.
PETA believes the U.S. military has conducted similar training at other bases using pigs and goats. — AP
Jul 18, 2008
Business - Amazon plans an online store for movies
In a significant step toward vanquishing the local video store and keeping couch potatoes planted firmly in front of their televisions and computers, Amazon.com will introduce a new online store of TV shows and movies, called Amazon Video on Demand.Customers of Amazon’s new store will be able to start watching any of 40,000 movies and television programmes immediately after ordering them because they stream, just like programmes on a cable video-on-demand service. That is different from most Internet video stores, like Apple iTunes and the original incarnation of Amazon’s video store, which require users to endure lengthy waits as video files are downloaded to their hard drives. “For the first time, this is drop dead simple,” said Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president for digital media. “Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can’t help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button.” Amazon, which is based in Seattle, is also pursuing the technology and media world’s Holy Grail - an Internet pipeline to the TV. It has struck a deal with Sony Electronics to place its Internet video store on the Sony Bravia line of high-definition TVs. The video store will be accessible through the Sony Bravia Internet Video link, a $300 tower-shaped device that funnels Web video directly to Sony’s high-definition televisions. That is an awkward extra expense, for now. But future Bravias are expected to have this capability embedded in the television, making it even easier to gain access to the full catalogue of past and present TV shows and movies, over the Internet, using a television remote control. Carr said Amazon would pursue similar deals with other makers of TVs and Internet devices. “We can support both streaming and downloading,” he said. “Our goal is to continue to establish partnerships with all companies who have a connected device.” Amazon Video on Demand will be accessible to a limited number of invited Amazon.com customers on Thursday before it opens more broadly to other users later this summer. Films and TV shows from almost all the major studios and television networks are available for sale or rental to Amazon’s customers in the United States, at varying prices depending on the program and whether people buy or rent it. The lone holdouts are Walt Disney and ABC, which Disney owns. Both have close relations with Amazon’s digital rival, Apple. Although Amazon does not release revenue numbers for its digital initiatives, its 10-month-old digital music store, Amazon MP3, is viewed favourably as a solid runner-up to iTunes from Apple. But it is far behind iTunes, which recently surpassed Wal-Mart Stores as the leading supplier of music in the United States. Amazon Unbox, the company’s original download-only video store, was largely seen as a disappointment because it required customers to download special software to watch the programmes they bought. The service also worked only on Windows PCs and TiVo set-top boxes. To make the new service more enticing, the first two minutes of all movies and TV shows will begin playing for users on Amazon.com immediately when they visit a title’s product page on the digital video store. It will also let users buy a TV show or movie without actually downloading the video file to the PCs hard drive. Amazon will store each customer’s selection in what it calls “Your Video Library.” Customers can then watch that show or movie whenever they return to Amazon, even if it is from a different computer or device, a solution that neatly gets around studio concerns about piracy. “I can be at my office, purchase a movie, and then it will be available on my television at home,” said Robert Jacobs, a senior manager at Sony Electronics. “Creating this on-demand available-everywhere access to premium content is going to be very attractive to consumers.” Amazon will have some formidable rivals if it hopes to dominate the emerging world of digital video. Apple, Microsoft, Google and Netflix are all looking to capture the coveted real estate in the living room as well. Apple has had the most success with video on its iTunes video store and its Apple TV set-top box. It recently added content from several movie studios and introduced video rentals to the service. Amazon Video on Demand is not expected to generate significant profits for Amazon, which must pay large royalties to Hollywood studios and develop the costly technical infrastructure required to make the service operate reliably. But Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, may have another goal in mind. Establishing a foothold on televisions could be a way to let couch potatoes and television advertisers link up to the rest of Amazon’s online store with a click of the remote control. “That is certainly a possibility for the future,” Carr said.—NYT
India - Business of death runs into rough weather
The tombstone maker is carving marble name plaques for new homes. The elderly gravedigger who has buried hundreds of bullet-ridden bodies is idle. And the post-mortem man in his spotless white coat now only deals with jilted lovers and jobless youth.
Times are changing: the business of death has run into bad days in Kashmir.
From the 4,510 deaths in 2001, the highest number for a year in the insurgency, militancy-related fatalities dropped to about 890 in 2007, officials say. This year, 84 people have been reported dead until mid-June.
So 20 years after the deaths began, three different men in different parts of Srinagar, with similar glazed emotionless eyes — Mohammed Maqbool Tramboo the tombmaker, Abdul Kabir Sheikh the gravedigger and Mohammed Maqbool the post-mortem man — have little to do.
“Until a few years ago, there were times when I used to be working day and night, continuously. There is no doubt, the number of militancy deaths is much less and the levels of violence have gone down drastically,” said Mohammed Maqbool Tramboo, 37, a tombmaker who left his home in Anantnag town 15 years ago to make a living in Srinagar.
Militancy-related violence is fading out in Kashmir, where at least 40,000 people according to official estimates — mostly civilians — have died in the insurgency in shootouts by security forces, grenade attacks and remote controlled bombings by militants, crossfire and custody deaths. Anti-government groups say the casualties are twice that number.
That is a sign that things are on the mend in Kashmir, but not a signpost that things are “normal” — simplistic mathematics often attempted by authorities.
Barricades, bunkers and body searches still crowd the day-to-day existence of ordinary Kashmiris. Hundreds of thousands of army and paramilitary soldiers are still on duty.
“I have lifted a lot of bodies. I have buried up to 20 bodies together. The graveyards are overflowing,” said Abdul Kabir Sheikh, father of one of the earliest and famous militant commanders Abdul Hamid Sheikh. Kabir Sheikh works as a “malkhosh”, digging graves and arranging burials for hundreds of people.
One day in 1987, Sheikh's son left home to trek cross the border into Pakistan and by summer next year, the young unemployed Hamid Sheikh had transformed into one of the famous militant commanders of the time, one of the men who founded the insurgency.
The father walked the reporter to the graveyard.
“Yes, my son was a militant. When he didn’t get a job, he picked up the gun. After two-three years, he became a martyr,” Sheikh said.
One day in 1990 across the city, at the police hospital, another young man came face to face with the bullet-gored body of a militant. As he began the post-mortem, Mohammed Maqbool had also started a seemingly unending journey.
“I even did post-mortems in trucks — up to eight bodies at a time,” Maqbool said, his eyes bloodshot. Bodies arrived with no limbs, no faces, or in pieces.
He could not sleep at night, acquired a bad temper, became a chain smoker and used to go into a strange frenzy before a post-mortem, screaming at his colleagues. He was often pulled away from dinner with his wife and children — two sons and a daughter — by a phone call from work.
Now he often gets cases related to Kashmir’s new realities — suicides by security men, or by civilians who drown, poison or hang themselves amid rising numbers of suicides in Kashmir.
As the militancy raged, deaths became everyday. Sheikh the gravedigger helped set up the first graveyard that came up for militancy-related deaths in Srinagar. There were so many bodies that a new layer of soil had to be laid, with a new set of graves on top of the old.
That was around the time when Tramboo the tombmaker moved to Srinagar. His father had died when he was a teenager, and his mother sold vegetables to support the family of seven — four sons and three daughters. Tramboo began to work etching on marble.
There were many deaths to document on stone.
“Most of the dead were young people. Many days were very painful,” Tramboo said, and gave a religious interpretation to the two-decade insurgency. “What happened in these past 20 years was because we dropped the veils from our conscience. We stopped obeying Allah's teachings.”
Times are changing: the business of death has run into bad days in Kashmir.
From the 4,510 deaths in 2001, the highest number for a year in the insurgency, militancy-related fatalities dropped to about 890 in 2007, officials say. This year, 84 people have been reported dead until mid-June.
So 20 years after the deaths began, three different men in different parts of Srinagar, with similar glazed emotionless eyes — Mohammed Maqbool Tramboo the tombmaker, Abdul Kabir Sheikh the gravedigger and Mohammed Maqbool the post-mortem man — have little to do.
“Until a few years ago, there were times when I used to be working day and night, continuously. There is no doubt, the number of militancy deaths is much less and the levels of violence have gone down drastically,” said Mohammed Maqbool Tramboo, 37, a tombmaker who left his home in Anantnag town 15 years ago to make a living in Srinagar.
Militancy-related violence is fading out in Kashmir, where at least 40,000 people according to official estimates — mostly civilians — have died in the insurgency in shootouts by security forces, grenade attacks and remote controlled bombings by militants, crossfire and custody deaths. Anti-government groups say the casualties are twice that number.
That is a sign that things are on the mend in Kashmir, but not a signpost that things are “normal” — simplistic mathematics often attempted by authorities.
Barricades, bunkers and body searches still crowd the day-to-day existence of ordinary Kashmiris. Hundreds of thousands of army and paramilitary soldiers are still on duty.
“I have lifted a lot of bodies. I have buried up to 20 bodies together. The graveyards are overflowing,” said Abdul Kabir Sheikh, father of one of the earliest and famous militant commanders Abdul Hamid Sheikh. Kabir Sheikh works as a “malkhosh”, digging graves and arranging burials for hundreds of people.
One day in 1987, Sheikh's son left home to trek cross the border into Pakistan and by summer next year, the young unemployed Hamid Sheikh had transformed into one of the famous militant commanders of the time, one of the men who founded the insurgency.
The father walked the reporter to the graveyard.
“Yes, my son was a militant. When he didn’t get a job, he picked up the gun. After two-three years, he became a martyr,” Sheikh said.
One day in 1990 across the city, at the police hospital, another young man came face to face with the bullet-gored body of a militant. As he began the post-mortem, Mohammed Maqbool had also started a seemingly unending journey.
“I even did post-mortems in trucks — up to eight bodies at a time,” Maqbool said, his eyes bloodshot. Bodies arrived with no limbs, no faces, or in pieces.
He could not sleep at night, acquired a bad temper, became a chain smoker and used to go into a strange frenzy before a post-mortem, screaming at his colleagues. He was often pulled away from dinner with his wife and children — two sons and a daughter — by a phone call from work.
Now he often gets cases related to Kashmir’s new realities — suicides by security men, or by civilians who drown, poison or hang themselves amid rising numbers of suicides in Kashmir.
As the militancy raged, deaths became everyday. Sheikh the gravedigger helped set up the first graveyard that came up for militancy-related deaths in Srinagar. There were so many bodies that a new layer of soil had to be laid, with a new set of graves on top of the old.
That was around the time when Tramboo the tombmaker moved to Srinagar. His father had died when he was a teenager, and his mother sold vegetables to support the family of seven — four sons and three daughters. Tramboo began to work etching on marble.
There were many deaths to document on stone.
“Most of the dead were young people. Many days were very painful,” Tramboo said, and gave a religious interpretation to the two-decade insurgency. “What happened in these past 20 years was because we dropped the veils from our conscience. We stopped obeying Allah's teachings.”
India - Guru of Blood Donors
AHMEDABAD: While Gujaratis top the blood donation charts in the world, this celibate monk in aapnu Amdavad is leading by example. He is perhaps the only guru to have donated blood for more than 100 times. His mantra in life is: 'I get my bread from society and so every drop of my blood is to be given back.' Swami Adhyatmanand of Sivanand Ashram has donated blood 117 times, mostly for armed forces. This has motivated thousands of his disciples to donate blood. "What better could I do with my blood than donate it to armed forces. Today, be it marriage party, death anniversary or religious discourse, I ask my disciples to organise blood donation camps on all the occasions," says the 64-year-old swami whose disciples in every corner of the world have hosted scores of blood camps whenever he comes visiting. Even during his 60th birthday celebrations, when his followers wanted to donate silver equal to his weight, he asked them to donate an equivalent amount in blood instead. His disciples have stopped doing 'kathas' during death anniversary ceremonies and instead organize blood donation camps. In one single year, he anchored 230 blood camps collecting 69,542 units of blood. As a monk, he has nothing else to donate, he argues. Now that his age doesn't permit him to donate blood himself, he motivates others to do so. The monk has been donating blood since the age of 29 and now organises big blood donation camps on his birthday. "I am called for various functions and the only dakshina I take from my followers is blood." Even the Red Cross Society feels that a few more monks like him to inspire donors and there will never be shortage of blood. "Gujarat must feel proud to have a saint like him. Many donors have been inspired by him to achieve a century of donations," says Ahmedabad Red Cross Society president Mukesh Patel, who has himself donated blood 121 times.
Lifestyle - Burgers & Global Warming
WASHINGTON: A report by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has stated that 18 per cent of greenhouse gases are coming from animal agriculture - meat and dairy, used in making burgers. According to Environmental News Network , the 408-page report states that what many people are eating is contributing more to global warming than the entire transportation sector of the United States. The report said that the Earth, and all who reside here, are in grave peril like never before. It added that everybody has a moral, ethical responsibility and imperative to face up to the truth, even if it means changing their daily habits. There has never been a time in man's existence when it is so critical to move away from the Standard American Diet (SAD) and embrace an Earth-friendly and sustainable plant-based diet - a vegan diet, the report said. By switching to a plant based diet, mankind will instantly eradicate nearly 20 per cent of the global warming problem. If that isn't amazing enough, this simple yet profound change would greatly curtail further deforestation, top soil erosion and even the ever-worsening tainting of the world's waters. Also, high cholesterol and heart disease, hypertension, obesity, adult-onset diabetes, kidney disease and many cancers would virtually disappear. But, the great news is that people don't have to give up on eating burgers, they just have to make them from plant-based ingredients. Veggie burgers have the taste, smell and texture of the traditional burger, but without the harmful ramifications.
Mktg - Obstinacy can be tenacity
A G Krishnamurthy
What I've Liked The virtues of obstinacy Well, this is one quality that most parents must be familiar with — a trait that is inexplicably more visible among the kids of today, than it was maybe a generation ago. Here comes one TVC by Dainik Bhaskar that offers hope to parents who despair every time their child digs his or her feet in, refusing to be the sweet loving angel whom they were familiar with, perhaps just a couple of years ago! Someone once said that you need to have the unreasonable obstinacy of a child in order to succeed in almost any sphere of life. So even though an unyielding nature can be quite frustrating to a parent, the good news is that it would probably be that one trait that helps the child succeed as a grown-up. And of course, this trait when channelised for a positive, social cause… can move mountains and as the Father of our Nation has demonstrated, has the capability to even free a nation from decades of oppression — the Power of One as it is quite often described as. An unusual yet commendable stand for a newspaper to take and beautifully articulated as well, striking a chord especially in this day and age, where values and morals seem to have the pliability of plastic. But yet, there are a few amongst us, who as the ad clearly showcases do stand firm for the causes they believe in — and manage to change their circumstances. So the next time your child is stubborn, gently remind him as the ad advises, to hold on till later when he can unleash it to change his world What I've Learned Is silence always golden… or is it sometimes just ‘yellow'? We've all been indoctrinated into believing that holding your tongue, especially when provoked, is the wisest move of all. To rub the point in even further, there is also a saying that ‘Even a fool when silent, appears wise'. In most parts of our country we seem to take this piece of ancestral caution to extreme lengths and refuse to speak out even when someone steps on our toes. I remember lamenting about this in one of my previous columns and here I am about to do it again — simply because I witness this tendency for most people to silently accept injustice without a murmur time and time again! Educated, well-spoken, articulate, financially well-off people continue to stand on the sidelines and be taken advantage of. Now this is where my mind refuses to wrap itself around the incongruity of the situation. The big question here is "Why?"! I was in a security check line last week when, as is always the habit, an airline staff member rushed in with an extremely delayed passenger and whisked him ahead of all of us who had arrived well in time for our flights! It was as if we were being punished for arriving on time while the late comer received VIP treatment. When I complained to the authorities, a murmur of support rippled through the queue — which is when it struck me: why on earth were they accepting this unfairness without any complaint? Were they lazy, scared or indifferent — the answer eludes me. If enough number of people protested every time an "official" queue-cutting attempt was made, the practice will stop. In countries abroad, if you arrive late, you still stand in the queue like everyone else – it would be disastrous to even dream of cutting past the others — I can't imagine anyone standing around like sheep. The explanation is very simple — people will continue stepping on your toes as long as you don't protest. So let's leave the silence-is-golden approach for worthier causes and not be so yellow when it comes to standing up for ourselves.
What I've Liked The virtues of obstinacy Well, this is one quality that most parents must be familiar with — a trait that is inexplicably more visible among the kids of today, than it was maybe a generation ago. Here comes one TVC by Dainik Bhaskar that offers hope to parents who despair every time their child digs his or her feet in, refusing to be the sweet loving angel whom they were familiar with, perhaps just a couple of years ago! Someone once said that you need to have the unreasonable obstinacy of a child in order to succeed in almost any sphere of life. So even though an unyielding nature can be quite frustrating to a parent, the good news is that it would probably be that one trait that helps the child succeed as a grown-up. And of course, this trait when channelised for a positive, social cause… can move mountains and as the Father of our Nation has demonstrated, has the capability to even free a nation from decades of oppression — the Power of One as it is quite often described as. An unusual yet commendable stand for a newspaper to take and beautifully articulated as well, striking a chord especially in this day and age, where values and morals seem to have the pliability of plastic. But yet, there are a few amongst us, who as the ad clearly showcases do stand firm for the causes they believe in — and manage to change their circumstances. So the next time your child is stubborn, gently remind him as the ad advises, to hold on till later when he can unleash it to change his world What I've Learned Is silence always golden… or is it sometimes just ‘yellow'? We've all been indoctrinated into believing that holding your tongue, especially when provoked, is the wisest move of all. To rub the point in even further, there is also a saying that ‘Even a fool when silent, appears wise'. In most parts of our country we seem to take this piece of ancestral caution to extreme lengths and refuse to speak out even when someone steps on our toes. I remember lamenting about this in one of my previous columns and here I am about to do it again — simply because I witness this tendency for most people to silently accept injustice without a murmur time and time again! Educated, well-spoken, articulate, financially well-off people continue to stand on the sidelines and be taken advantage of. Now this is where my mind refuses to wrap itself around the incongruity of the situation. The big question here is "Why?"! I was in a security check line last week when, as is always the habit, an airline staff member rushed in with an extremely delayed passenger and whisked him ahead of all of us who had arrived well in time for our flights! It was as if we were being punished for arriving on time while the late comer received VIP treatment. When I complained to the authorities, a murmur of support rippled through the queue — which is when it struck me: why on earth were they accepting this unfairness without any complaint? Were they lazy, scared or indifferent — the answer eludes me. If enough number of people protested every time an "official" queue-cutting attempt was made, the practice will stop. In countries abroad, if you arrive late, you still stand in the queue like everyone else – it would be disastrous to even dream of cutting past the others — I can't imagine anyone standing around like sheep. The explanation is very simple — people will continue stepping on your toes as long as you don't protest. So let's leave the silence-is-golden approach for worthier causes and not be so yellow when it comes to standing up for ourselves.
Health - Kidney Removal with nary a scar
Surgeons can now do it through a bellybutton incision
CLEVELAND: Brad Kaster donated a kidney to his father this week, and he barely has a scar to show for it. The kidney was removed through a single incision in his bellybutton, a surgical procedure Cleveland Clinic doctors say will reduce recovery time and leave almost no scarring.
“The actual incision point on me is so tiny I’m not getting any pain from it,” Mr. Kaster, 29, said on Wednesday. “I can’t even see it.”
He was the 10th donor to undergo the procedure at the Cleveland Clinic. Inderbir S. Gill and colleagues at the research hospital on Thursday were set to perform the 11th such procedure, which Dr. Gill said could make kidney donations more palatable by reducing recovery time.
The first 10 recipients and donors whose transplants used the single-incision navel procedure have done well, according to the researchers. They report on the first four patients in the August issue of the Journal of Urology.
Preliminary data from the first nine donors who had the bellybutton procedure showed they recovered in just under a month, while donors who underwent the standard laparoscopic procedure with four to six “key hole” incisions took just longer than three months to recover.
The clinic says the return-to-work time for single-point donors is about 17 days, versus 51 for traditional multi-incision laparoscopic procedure. “For me, that’s huge so I can get back to work,” said Mr. Kaster, a self-employed optometrist.
Patients going for the new procedure were on pain pills less than four days on average, compared with 26 days for laparoscopic patients. “This represents an advance, for the field of surgery in general,” said Dr. Gill, who predicted the bellybutton entry would be used increasingly for major abdominal surgery in a “nearly scar-free” way. “Will this decrease the disincentive to [kidney] donation? I think the answer is yes.”
Paul Curcillo and Stephanie King of Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia developed a single-incision technique and Dr. Curcillo was the first to use the method to remove a woman’s gallbladder through her bellybutton in May 2007. They have since used it for a different kinds of surgery.
Dr. Curcillo said the bellybutton procedure “will definitely make things better” for the donor. “A donor is one of the most altruistic people you’ll ever meet. He’s giving his kidney up. So anything you can do to make it better for that patient, they deserve it,” he said.
Laparoscopic surgery revolutionised the operating room more than 15 years ago, replacing long incisions with small cuts and vastly reducing pain and recovery time. Researchers are now exploring ways to eliminate scars by putting instruments through the body’s natural openings like the mouth, nose and vagina to perform surgery.
The method used by the Cleveland Clinic takes advantage of the bellybutton to avoid a visible scar. Dr. Gill said the procedure was approved by the clinic’s internal review board as an extension of its laparoscopic surgical work. He has begun training other surgeons on the procedure. It is not used to transplant the kidney into the receiving patient.
The new procedure involves making a three-quarter inch incision in the interior of the bellybutton and inserting a tube-like port with several round entry points for inserting a camera and other tools into the belly.
The belly is inflated with carbon dioxide to provide manoeuvring room. The kidney is then freed from connecting tissue, wrapped in a plastic bag and removed through the navel when the blood supply is cut, shrinking the organ’s fist-like size.
The incision is expanded to about 3.2 cm to extract the kidney after the port is removed. — AP
Fun - Bollywood Burner
Earlier this week, London-based chef Vivek Singh caught the attention of food connoisseurs the world over when he announced that his creation, Bollywood Burner, is the hottest curry in the world. He also announced plans to apply for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
The lamb dish, inspired by Andhra cuisine, makes use of two of the world’s hottest chillies — the Dorset Naga and the Scotch Bonnet. A clearer picture about the ‘bite’ of these chillies can be gauged by the following comparison — the Dorset Naga is over 100 times hotter than Jalapeno peppers! In fact, the dish is so hot that The Cinnamon Club, the restaurant serving it, requires clients to sign a health disclaimer before ordering it. But the Bollywood Burner now has a rival claimant to the title of the world’s hottest curry. Bangladeshi restaurateur Rukon Latif, owner of the Rupali Restaurant in Newcastle, says he has cooked a curry that is hotter than the Bollywood Burner. He calls it Curry Hell, a dish that he says was created by his father Abdul Latif when he opened Rupali in 1977. “How dare they claim the Bollywood Burner is hotter than Curry Hell?” asked Latif. “Dad would be turning in his grave. We’ve been serving the Curry Hell for years now and it’s one of our most popular dishes. “But we’ve been thinking of ways to make it stronger — we are experimenting with using Mexican chillies rather than the crushed Indian bird’s eye chillies we use traditionally. Also, the heat does not come from the chillies alone — there’s a secret ingredient, too, which gives it its kick.” Meanwhile, celebrities have been sampling the Bollywood Burner and sweating with delight. Popular chat show host Jonathan Ross, of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross fame, wolfed down the dish on television after signing the ‘by-my-own-will’ disclaimer. Hollywood actor Steve Carell, who has acted in films such as Evan Almighty and Get Smart, politely turned down Ross’s offer to sample a spoonful. Lianne la Borde of the Daily Star newspaper says, “It is the hottest I have ever tasted. At first, it tasted delicious. Then my mouth caught fire. It even made me feel dizzy. Definitely, one for the connoisseur.” According to Metro taster James Ellis, “...while scorchingly spicy, the Bollywood Burner is daal-icious. The lamb-based curry is innocuous enough at the first bite, especially if you only try the filling. But a mouthful... saw my taste buds melt in fury at the inferno in my mouth.” A burning issue indeed!
The lamb dish, inspired by Andhra cuisine, makes use of two of the world’s hottest chillies — the Dorset Naga and the Scotch Bonnet. A clearer picture about the ‘bite’ of these chillies can be gauged by the following comparison — the Dorset Naga is over 100 times hotter than Jalapeno peppers! In fact, the dish is so hot that The Cinnamon Club, the restaurant serving it, requires clients to sign a health disclaimer before ordering it. But the Bollywood Burner now has a rival claimant to the title of the world’s hottest curry. Bangladeshi restaurateur Rukon Latif, owner of the Rupali Restaurant in Newcastle, says he has cooked a curry that is hotter than the Bollywood Burner. He calls it Curry Hell, a dish that he says was created by his father Abdul Latif when he opened Rupali in 1977. “How dare they claim the Bollywood Burner is hotter than Curry Hell?” asked Latif. “Dad would be turning in his grave. We’ve been serving the Curry Hell for years now and it’s one of our most popular dishes. “But we’ve been thinking of ways to make it stronger — we are experimenting with using Mexican chillies rather than the crushed Indian bird’s eye chillies we use traditionally. Also, the heat does not come from the chillies alone — there’s a secret ingredient, too, which gives it its kick.” Meanwhile, celebrities have been sampling the Bollywood Burner and sweating with delight. Popular chat show host Jonathan Ross, of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross fame, wolfed down the dish on television after signing the ‘by-my-own-will’ disclaimer. Hollywood actor Steve Carell, who has acted in films such as Evan Almighty and Get Smart, politely turned down Ross’s offer to sample a spoonful. Lianne la Borde of the Daily Star newspaper says, “It is the hottest I have ever tasted. At first, it tasted delicious. Then my mouth caught fire. It even made me feel dizzy. Definitely, one for the connoisseur.” According to Metro taster James Ellis, “...while scorchingly spicy, the Bollywood Burner is daal-icious. The lamb-based curry is innocuous enough at the first bite, especially if you only try the filling. But a mouthful... saw my taste buds melt in fury at the inferno in my mouth.” A burning issue indeed!
Business - Google Gphone by ADG?
Reports in Western media suggest as much, though there is no confirmation yet
MUMBAI: The euphoria over Apple’s 3G iPhone has barely subsided, but the next big news has broken already — that a San Francisco, USA firm, the Ammunition Design Group (ADG), is designing the gPhone, the mobile handset from Google.
Google executives were not immediately available to throw light on reports in Western media that the company, which has designed mobile phones, computers and other devices for Sprint, HP, Dell and others earlier, has got the mandate from Google to create the Google-branded, Android operating system-based, gPhone.
The fact that ADG is led by Robert Brunner, previously a director for industrial design at iPhone-maker Apple Computers, would make one believe Google will bring innovativeness with the phone, whenever it comes, to match or even surpass the popularity of the iPhone.
Earlier, in 2007, there was a similar speculation involving another US-based handset maker, HTC.
Google had scotched the rumors by announcing the setting up of a 34-member Open Handset Alliance (OHA) to develop the Linux-based Android operating system.Android is regarded as a notch above Apple’s Mac OS X, the operating system powering the iPhone, since it provides for third-party development of applications.
According to a November 2007 release from OHA, ‘Through Android, developers, wireless operators and handset manufacturers will be better positioned to bring to market innovative new products faster and at a much lower cost. The end-result will be an unprecedented mobile platform that will enable wireless operators and manufacturers to give their customers better, more personal and more flexible mobile experiences.”The first phones based on Android would be available “in the second half of 2008,” OHA had then stated.
“Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we’re unveiling will power thousands of different phone models,” the release had quoted Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt as saying.
An expert said, “It is quite logical to think that Google itself can be one of these hundreds of vendors as it would like to take advantage of its suite of applications.” Google’s repertoire of applications include Gmail, Gcal, Gtalk, Search, Gchat, Documents, Spreadsheets, Google Notebook, Google Groups, Google Maps, Google Earth, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, etc.
MUMBAI: The euphoria over Apple’s 3G iPhone has barely subsided, but the next big news has broken already — that a San Francisco, USA firm, the Ammunition Design Group (ADG), is designing the gPhone, the mobile handset from Google.
Google executives were not immediately available to throw light on reports in Western media that the company, which has designed mobile phones, computers and other devices for Sprint, HP, Dell and others earlier, has got the mandate from Google to create the Google-branded, Android operating system-based, gPhone.
The fact that ADG is led by Robert Brunner, previously a director for industrial design at iPhone-maker Apple Computers, would make one believe Google will bring innovativeness with the phone, whenever it comes, to match or even surpass the popularity of the iPhone.
Earlier, in 2007, there was a similar speculation involving another US-based handset maker, HTC.
Google had scotched the rumors by announcing the setting up of a 34-member Open Handset Alliance (OHA) to develop the Linux-based Android operating system.Android is regarded as a notch above Apple’s Mac OS X, the operating system powering the iPhone, since it provides for third-party development of applications.
According to a November 2007 release from OHA, ‘Through Android, developers, wireless operators and handset manufacturers will be better positioned to bring to market innovative new products faster and at a much lower cost. The end-result will be an unprecedented mobile platform that will enable wireless operators and manufacturers to give their customers better, more personal and more flexible mobile experiences.”The first phones based on Android would be available “in the second half of 2008,” OHA had then stated.
“Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we’re unveiling will power thousands of different phone models,” the release had quoted Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt as saying.
An expert said, “It is quite logical to think that Google itself can be one of these hundreds of vendors as it would like to take advantage of its suite of applications.” Google’s repertoire of applications include Gmail, Gcal, Gtalk, Search, Gchat, Documents, Spreadsheets, Google Notebook, Google Groups, Google Maps, Google Earth, YouTube, Blogger, Picasa, etc.
Jul 17, 2008
Mktg - Discount Warrior
It was in 1997 that discount food and grocery retail chain Subhiksha set up its first store as an experiment in Tiruvanmiyur, a suburb of Chennai. To a Subhiksha shopper in upcountry markets it would be in a format quite unrecognisable from the one it is today. No touch-and-feel experience of products for consumers here. Instead, they would write out their orders on a form after seeing a catalogue of goods stocked at the store and would be given a token number. Behind a counter, away from sight, would be the goods which staff would pile up on the counter based on the order form. Shoppers could sit on chairs and watch a TV screen and would be alerted to their order by a buzzer and the token number flashed, akin to a bank. And, on the bill, right at the bottom would be the powerful statement: today’s savings for you!
At the invitation of Subhiksha’s founder and irrepressible 42-year-old Managing Director, R. Subramanian, this writer got to see Subhiksha’s early store operations and its stocking hub. A no-frills, low-cost operation, RS, as he is popularly known, was very clear even then that neighbourhood discount stores selling grocery and consumer goods would be the model he would follow — buying cheap and selling cheap. No fancy air-conditioned stores but workaday stores that would fill at least 75 per cent of the shopping basket of a typical middle-class household. While he scaled up the stores rapidly in the Chennai and Tamil Nadu markets using this model, along the way many of the stores became a bit grungy and complaints of stock-outs of brands became common. It was too early, seeing the initial operations then and seeing Subhiksha’s size today, to say the rest was history.
But 10 years down the line, even as several large corporates with deep pockets in retail still grapple with scale and the roll-out of their stores across the country, Subhiksha has emerged a pan-India retailer with 1,480 stores (and growing with a recent entry into West Bengal) right across the country in 110 cities, among the largest retailers of fast moving consumer goods in most markets and the largest national mobile phones retailer which sold two million phones since it entered this space two years ago.
As Subramanian told Brand Line just after a decision last month to make a public listing of the company, “For the last financial year, Subhiksha doubled stores, tripled turnover and quadrupled profits.” The chain had a turnover of Rs 2,300 crore and a profit-after-tax of Rs 41 crore in the last fiscal and expects to finish this year with sales of Rs 4,500 crore. Around 500 of the stores are exclusive mobile stores while at least 600 supermarkets have a pharmacy attached.
Along the way the ‘rapid-talking, quick-thinking’ RS, an electronics engineer from IIT Madras and an MBA-gold medalist from IIM-A, who drew early inspiration for his model from Sam Walton of Wal-Mart, has had many battles – with FMCG companies, pharma distributors and even with Aavin, a TN government cooperative which retails milk and milk products, for selling much below the maximum retail price, a battle which Subhiksha won in court. Switching gears
A couple of years ago, Subhiksha switched gears. From being perceived as a one-man-driven company it increased managerial bandwidth, observers say at the behest of ICICI Venture, which since 2000 has invested close to Rs 100 crore for a 23 per cent stake in the company, a major chunk of the investment over the past three years. With talent drawn from the top FMCG companies, it took its hub-and-spoke model to other States where each region head operates as if running a separate business division.
From the early format it experimented with, Subhiksha is now a self-service format. With more emphasis on store interiors and lighting, the number of brands stocked too has gone up. Purchase of goods is centralised through 14 hubs around the country which, in turn, consolidate and parcel out the goods to each of the stores. With disaggregation being the buzzword, deals are struck directly with companies, cutting out the distributors and middlemen. At last count, the chain had 125 stores in Mumbai and 175 stores in New Delhi, which is now its single largest market.
As Subramanian points out, the Subhiksha brand too has undergone a change. A few years ago it was perceived as a niche Chennai or South-based retailer, but is today a national brand. Also, as Mohit Khattar, President, Marketing, says, the chain could expand in upcountry markets without the baggage and image problems that it had earlier in the South. Stores in the new markets are all self-service and better stocked and serviced than earlier.
Now that it has achieved scale and size, Subhiksha intends to take the chain up to a new level by making the company publicly traded. While RS was repeatedly asked by the media about an impending initial public offer, the company has instead taken a majority stake in a little-known listed Chennai-based firm, Blue Green Constructions and Investments Ltd. Once merged, the entity will be known as Subhiksha Ltd and is expected to list its shares on the National Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange apart from the Madras Stock Exchange, where the shares of Blue Green are currently listed.
Subhiksha would also come out with an open offer to the public to acquire another 20 per cent shares as mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India under its takeover guidelines. The promoters led by Subramanian hold a 60 per cent stake in Subhiksha, ICICI Venture 23 per cent and other institutions 15 per cent while two per cent is held by the employees.
RS says that since the ultimate object is to get the shares traded, the route taken does not really matter and that anyway the company does not need large capital at one go which is what a IPO would do. The listing could also create an ‘exit window’ for investors in Subhiksha.
However, asked about an impending exit, Bala Deshpande, Senior Director, Investments, ICICI Venture, and a board member of Subhiksha, does not indicate a time frame. Says she: “We look at what works best for the company and shareholders; the company’s interests are first. We will look for an opportune time.” The venture capitalist typically stays invested in a company for about five years. ICICI has invested in several retail plays and Deshpande describes the Subhiksha model as a scaleable and fundable model which caters to a large, price sensitive segment of the consuming public. “RS has managed the extremely rapid rollout quite well. Businesses such as these need that early entrepreneurial drive to move forward,” she adds. Consumer durables in focus
Subhiksha has now trained its guns on the consumer electronics business. Says RS: “We are no longer a food brand but perceived as a value-for-money brand which proposition we extended seamlessly to mobile phones and will now use as an umbrella brand to enter the consumer durables business. Consumers will know they can get the best deal there.” Concurs Deshpande, “If you were to separate out the core of Subhiksha, it is its value-for-money offering. With that you can add on categories.”
As RS explains, the chain will not get into any category unless it can scale up and be among the top two in the business and with the success in mobile phones Subhiksha is confident it can transform that category too. By the first quarter of the next financial year, it expects to have 100 stores of approximately 15,000 sq ft up and running. “We will have the lowest prices,” he declares. It has roped in K.V. Ramachandra, former CEO of confectionery company Lotte India, who has had years of experience earlier at Jumbo Electronics in Dubai, as one of the category heads for the business.
Meanwhile, the chain has an aggressive private label initiative in place which offers the whole range of grocery as in-house brands, including atta and even FMCGs ranging from detergents to shaving creams. Subhiksha’s Khattar says today 25 per cent of company sales come from private labels. With store expansion, he says, the range of brands too was increased from around 400 stock keeping units to almost 1,400 SKUs. “The only constant is the large savings for consumers; it is seen as an ‘honest’ brand which doesn’t make tall claims,” he adds.
Being such a large buyer from most of the FMCG companies, Subhiksha has emerged as a key account for them, ensuring that the retail chain gets higher margins. Comments Ranju Mohan, Vice-President, Sales, Henkel India, “RS has evolved as a retailer in understanding the Indian consumer’s needs and psyche. He runs a tight ship as well.”
The marketing head of a large consumer goods firm, however, says that the rapid expansion of the business sometimes means that the discount chain gets into a bind over cash and payments tend to get delayed. “It faces supply chain issues as the ordering process I feel is not fine-tuned, so I guess they may end up carrying more inventory,” says this executive. But, in the same breath concedes that the throughput of goods that Subhiksha offers makes it a key account for all FMCG firms. But, these are mere hiccups for RS as he hurtles towards his objective of making Subhiksha a $5-billion company and the country’s largest retailer by 2011.
At the invitation of Subhiksha’s founder and irrepressible 42-year-old Managing Director, R. Subramanian, this writer got to see Subhiksha’s early store operations and its stocking hub. A no-frills, low-cost operation, RS, as he is popularly known, was very clear even then that neighbourhood discount stores selling grocery and consumer goods would be the model he would follow — buying cheap and selling cheap. No fancy air-conditioned stores but workaday stores that would fill at least 75 per cent of the shopping basket of a typical middle-class household. While he scaled up the stores rapidly in the Chennai and Tamil Nadu markets using this model, along the way many of the stores became a bit grungy and complaints of stock-outs of brands became common. It was too early, seeing the initial operations then and seeing Subhiksha’s size today, to say the rest was history.
But 10 years down the line, even as several large corporates with deep pockets in retail still grapple with scale and the roll-out of their stores across the country, Subhiksha has emerged a pan-India retailer with 1,480 stores (and growing with a recent entry into West Bengal) right across the country in 110 cities, among the largest retailers of fast moving consumer goods in most markets and the largest national mobile phones retailer which sold two million phones since it entered this space two years ago.
As Subramanian told Brand Line just after a decision last month to make a public listing of the company, “For the last financial year, Subhiksha doubled stores, tripled turnover and quadrupled profits.” The chain had a turnover of Rs 2,300 crore and a profit-after-tax of Rs 41 crore in the last fiscal and expects to finish this year with sales of Rs 4,500 crore. Around 500 of the stores are exclusive mobile stores while at least 600 supermarkets have a pharmacy attached.
Along the way the ‘rapid-talking, quick-thinking’ RS, an electronics engineer from IIT Madras and an MBA-gold medalist from IIM-A, who drew early inspiration for his model from Sam Walton of Wal-Mart, has had many battles – with FMCG companies, pharma distributors and even with Aavin, a TN government cooperative which retails milk and milk products, for selling much below the maximum retail price, a battle which Subhiksha won in court. Switching gears
A couple of years ago, Subhiksha switched gears. From being perceived as a one-man-driven company it increased managerial bandwidth, observers say at the behest of ICICI Venture, which since 2000 has invested close to Rs 100 crore for a 23 per cent stake in the company, a major chunk of the investment over the past three years. With talent drawn from the top FMCG companies, it took its hub-and-spoke model to other States where each region head operates as if running a separate business division.
From the early format it experimented with, Subhiksha is now a self-service format. With more emphasis on store interiors and lighting, the number of brands stocked too has gone up. Purchase of goods is centralised through 14 hubs around the country which, in turn, consolidate and parcel out the goods to each of the stores. With disaggregation being the buzzword, deals are struck directly with companies, cutting out the distributors and middlemen. At last count, the chain had 125 stores in Mumbai and 175 stores in New Delhi, which is now its single largest market.
As Subramanian points out, the Subhiksha brand too has undergone a change. A few years ago it was perceived as a niche Chennai or South-based retailer, but is today a national brand. Also, as Mohit Khattar, President, Marketing, says, the chain could expand in upcountry markets without the baggage and image problems that it had earlier in the South. Stores in the new markets are all self-service and better stocked and serviced than earlier.
Now that it has achieved scale and size, Subhiksha intends to take the chain up to a new level by making the company publicly traded. While RS was repeatedly asked by the media about an impending initial public offer, the company has instead taken a majority stake in a little-known listed Chennai-based firm, Blue Green Constructions and Investments Ltd. Once merged, the entity will be known as Subhiksha Ltd and is expected to list its shares on the National Stock Exchange, Bombay Stock Exchange apart from the Madras Stock Exchange, where the shares of Blue Green are currently listed.
Subhiksha would also come out with an open offer to the public to acquire another 20 per cent shares as mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India under its takeover guidelines. The promoters led by Subramanian hold a 60 per cent stake in Subhiksha, ICICI Venture 23 per cent and other institutions 15 per cent while two per cent is held by the employees.
RS says that since the ultimate object is to get the shares traded, the route taken does not really matter and that anyway the company does not need large capital at one go which is what a IPO would do. The listing could also create an ‘exit window’ for investors in Subhiksha.
However, asked about an impending exit, Bala Deshpande, Senior Director, Investments, ICICI Venture, and a board member of Subhiksha, does not indicate a time frame. Says she: “We look at what works best for the company and shareholders; the company’s interests are first. We will look for an opportune time.” The venture capitalist typically stays invested in a company for about five years. ICICI has invested in several retail plays and Deshpande describes the Subhiksha model as a scaleable and fundable model which caters to a large, price sensitive segment of the consuming public. “RS has managed the extremely rapid rollout quite well. Businesses such as these need that early entrepreneurial drive to move forward,” she adds. Consumer durables in focus
Subhiksha has now trained its guns on the consumer electronics business. Says RS: “We are no longer a food brand but perceived as a value-for-money brand which proposition we extended seamlessly to mobile phones and will now use as an umbrella brand to enter the consumer durables business. Consumers will know they can get the best deal there.” Concurs Deshpande, “If you were to separate out the core of Subhiksha, it is its value-for-money offering. With that you can add on categories.”
As RS explains, the chain will not get into any category unless it can scale up and be among the top two in the business and with the success in mobile phones Subhiksha is confident it can transform that category too. By the first quarter of the next financial year, it expects to have 100 stores of approximately 15,000 sq ft up and running. “We will have the lowest prices,” he declares. It has roped in K.V. Ramachandra, former CEO of confectionery company Lotte India, who has had years of experience earlier at Jumbo Electronics in Dubai, as one of the category heads for the business.
Meanwhile, the chain has an aggressive private label initiative in place which offers the whole range of grocery as in-house brands, including atta and even FMCGs ranging from detergents to shaving creams. Subhiksha’s Khattar says today 25 per cent of company sales come from private labels. With store expansion, he says, the range of brands too was increased from around 400 stock keeping units to almost 1,400 SKUs. “The only constant is the large savings for consumers; it is seen as an ‘honest’ brand which doesn’t make tall claims,” he adds.
Being such a large buyer from most of the FMCG companies, Subhiksha has emerged as a key account for them, ensuring that the retail chain gets higher margins. Comments Ranju Mohan, Vice-President, Sales, Henkel India, “RS has evolved as a retailer in understanding the Indian consumer’s needs and psyche. He runs a tight ship as well.”
The marketing head of a large consumer goods firm, however, says that the rapid expansion of the business sometimes means that the discount chain gets into a bind over cash and payments tend to get delayed. “It faces supply chain issues as the ordering process I feel is not fine-tuned, so I guess they may end up carrying more inventory,” says this executive. But, in the same breath concedes that the throughput of goods that Subhiksha offers makes it a key account for all FMCG firms. But, these are mere hiccups for RS as he hurtles towards his objective of making Subhiksha a $5-billion company and the country’s largest retailer by 2011.
Mktg - Heard outside on Radio
Radio’s still reigning at home. But FM radio stations are not content with that as they look for potential listeners out of home, wherever they can be spotted – be it the cafe, the mall or the gas station. If current trends are any indi cation, then FM radio is set for a song out-of-home. And thanks to the mobile phone and inexpensive FM radio handsets, radio listenership on the move is also catching on thick and fast.
Today, radio in the country is listened to mostly at home (80-85 per cent). Only 15 per cent is out-of-home (OOH) – through cars, mobile phones and at offices and public places.
While the “mainstay” of radio listening is still at home, out-of-home is slowly growing. And with more ‘OOH’ platforms likely to emerge in a big way – such as the Internet and public transport, the future is gravitating towards outdoor radio.
With mobile phone makers using the ‘FM radio’ tag to woo buyers, FM radio players have a lot to gain, says Ashit Kukian, Executive Vice-President and National Sales Head of Radio City, which is promoted by Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd. “There are a sizeable number of phones today which are FM radio-enabled. Even the basic phone carries this feature. So, with handset makers increasingly using FM radio to sell mobile phones, the radio listenership base is all set to grow,” says Kukian.
Agrees Anand Chakravarthy, Vice President - Marketing, BIG 92.7 FM, Adlabs’ radio venture: “In an increasingly mobile world, out-of-home consumption is only going to increase. The mobile phone revolution has put a handset into the hands of millions of Indians. Most handsets by default are FM-enabled, allowing consumers to access our station wherever they are. With the growth of mobile phone penetration, the consumption of FM on the move will only increase.”
“Certainly mobile phones have helped in increasing FM consumption. Today, FM-enabled handsets are standard and available at very affordable price points. However, it is still early days to attribute significant growth in listenership to FM-enabled handsets. Certainly the share of consumption is going up. RAM estimation studies clearly indicate that 30-35 per cent of listeners also listen to FM on their mobile handsets.” And with the mobile phone platform waiting to be tapped, radio marketers are exploring co-branded efforts with mobile handset manufacturers as they see “immense value for both sides.”
To promote radio-enabled phones and FM radio, Radio City teamed up with Nokia about six months ago. While Radio City promoted Nokia’s FM-enabled model on air, Nokia’s handset boxes carried Radio City’s logo. Big FM too has done work with Reliance Mobile on CDMA handsets as well as wireless phones. It is in advanced dialogue with other mobile handset brands in India. Jupiter Capital’s Radio Indigo also believes FM stations can drive listenership through fixed frequency mobiles and is evaluating co-branded activities in this direction.
Several other locations too have emerged out of home for radio play-out – public places such as restaurants, multiplexes, retail outlets and malls. Big FM has invested in radio seeding – putting in single frequency radio sets – in malls, retail outlets, rickshaws, taxis and buses to give consumers the opportunity to stay tuned to Big FM no matter where they are.
It has also done play-outs in Reliance Web World cafés across the country, Big Bazaar , Mongini’s outlets in Surat, KFC in Chandigarh, ‘365’ stores in Delhi, rickshaws in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Currently, it has play-outs in Nirmal Lifestyle in Mumbai and the Iskon Mall in Surat. It has also explored local restaurants, college canteens, local petrol pumps and youth hangouts in the country.
Radio Indigo too has tied with up with various cafes, restaurants, pubs and lounges for on-ground and on-air activities. Radio City is in discussions with retailers to air its content at retail outlets and malls, says Kukian. Apart from public play-out, radio stations have gone a step ahead by literally taking its studio outdoors! For instance, Radio Indigo once went live on-air from a party at a pub in Bangalore.
“We also collaborated with Lenovo to bring in a larger-than-life radio experience. The Indigo studios were set up in a giant Lenovo laptop model 20 feet above the ground. Innovations like this drive the excitement element for the audience, helping to retain the stickiness factor,” says Jayyant Bhokare, COO – Media, Events & Contract Marketing, Radio Indigo.
What is it that makes marketers bullish on out-of-home? Explains Bhokare: “Out-of-home radio consumption has huge potential. With cities getting de-clogged and the formation of new business districts and residential townships, people are bound to spend much more time out of home. We should definitely see listenership growing in ambient areas. Marketers have enormous potential. Given that high traffic density is a favourable factor, listeners today experience a lot of compulsive listening.”
The radio’s ability to converge and blend into any surrounding, anywhere, anytime, and its growing popularity has prompted the increased exploration of the outdoors to boost brand stickiness. Says Big FM’s Chakravarthy: “Radio play-outs are a great sampling opportunity for our brand. Qualitative understanding certainly indicates this helps get more listeners into the fold and get the brand noticed as well. Mass single frequency radio play-outs across various platforms is something we pioneered and drove in a big way. It has been a very successful sampling and brand-building strategy and we will continue to invest in this form of marketing our product and brand.”
And the future appears merrier with radio players looking to conquer more outdoor space. FM stations could be made available on public buses, train stations, bus depots – like in many countries. The Internet also holds good promise – listeners can log onto their favourite stations outside home – at office, in the Internet café, or on their laptops or Blackberry while on the move.
“Uninterrupted access to FM stations wherever consumers are will certainly help in building even more stickiness for the category. However, music royalty issues have created legal barriers to implement this,” says Chakravarthy of Big FM. Radio City’s Kukian hopes the country will soon get government approval for Internet radio. Surely, the FM radio segment is catching the wave.
Today, radio in the country is listened to mostly at home (80-85 per cent). Only 15 per cent is out-of-home (OOH) – through cars, mobile phones and at offices and public places.
While the “mainstay” of radio listening is still at home, out-of-home is slowly growing. And with more ‘OOH’ platforms likely to emerge in a big way – such as the Internet and public transport, the future is gravitating towards outdoor radio.
With mobile phone makers using the ‘FM radio’ tag to woo buyers, FM radio players have a lot to gain, says Ashit Kukian, Executive Vice-President and National Sales Head of Radio City, which is promoted by Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd. “There are a sizeable number of phones today which are FM radio-enabled. Even the basic phone carries this feature. So, with handset makers increasingly using FM radio to sell mobile phones, the radio listenership base is all set to grow,” says Kukian.
Agrees Anand Chakravarthy, Vice President - Marketing, BIG 92.7 FM, Adlabs’ radio venture: “In an increasingly mobile world, out-of-home consumption is only going to increase. The mobile phone revolution has put a handset into the hands of millions of Indians. Most handsets by default are FM-enabled, allowing consumers to access our station wherever they are. With the growth of mobile phone penetration, the consumption of FM on the move will only increase.”
“Certainly mobile phones have helped in increasing FM consumption. Today, FM-enabled handsets are standard and available at very affordable price points. However, it is still early days to attribute significant growth in listenership to FM-enabled handsets. Certainly the share of consumption is going up. RAM estimation studies clearly indicate that 30-35 per cent of listeners also listen to FM on their mobile handsets.” And with the mobile phone platform waiting to be tapped, radio marketers are exploring co-branded efforts with mobile handset manufacturers as they see “immense value for both sides.”
To promote radio-enabled phones and FM radio, Radio City teamed up with Nokia about six months ago. While Radio City promoted Nokia’s FM-enabled model on air, Nokia’s handset boxes carried Radio City’s logo. Big FM too has done work with Reliance Mobile on CDMA handsets as well as wireless phones. It is in advanced dialogue with other mobile handset brands in India. Jupiter Capital’s Radio Indigo also believes FM stations can drive listenership through fixed frequency mobiles and is evaluating co-branded activities in this direction.
Several other locations too have emerged out of home for radio play-out – public places such as restaurants, multiplexes, retail outlets and malls. Big FM has invested in radio seeding – putting in single frequency radio sets – in malls, retail outlets, rickshaws, taxis and buses to give consumers the opportunity to stay tuned to Big FM no matter where they are.
It has also done play-outs in Reliance Web World cafés across the country, Big Bazaar , Mongini’s outlets in Surat, KFC in Chandigarh, ‘365’ stores in Delhi, rickshaws in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Currently, it has play-outs in Nirmal Lifestyle in Mumbai and the Iskon Mall in Surat. It has also explored local restaurants, college canteens, local petrol pumps and youth hangouts in the country.
Radio Indigo too has tied with up with various cafes, restaurants, pubs and lounges for on-ground and on-air activities. Radio City is in discussions with retailers to air its content at retail outlets and malls, says Kukian. Apart from public play-out, radio stations have gone a step ahead by literally taking its studio outdoors! For instance, Radio Indigo once went live on-air from a party at a pub in Bangalore.
“We also collaborated with Lenovo to bring in a larger-than-life radio experience. The Indigo studios were set up in a giant Lenovo laptop model 20 feet above the ground. Innovations like this drive the excitement element for the audience, helping to retain the stickiness factor,” says Jayyant Bhokare, COO – Media, Events & Contract Marketing, Radio Indigo.
What is it that makes marketers bullish on out-of-home? Explains Bhokare: “Out-of-home radio consumption has huge potential. With cities getting de-clogged and the formation of new business districts and residential townships, people are bound to spend much more time out of home. We should definitely see listenership growing in ambient areas. Marketers have enormous potential. Given that high traffic density is a favourable factor, listeners today experience a lot of compulsive listening.”
The radio’s ability to converge and blend into any surrounding, anywhere, anytime, and its growing popularity has prompted the increased exploration of the outdoors to boost brand stickiness. Says Big FM’s Chakravarthy: “Radio play-outs are a great sampling opportunity for our brand. Qualitative understanding certainly indicates this helps get more listeners into the fold and get the brand noticed as well. Mass single frequency radio play-outs across various platforms is something we pioneered and drove in a big way. It has been a very successful sampling and brand-building strategy and we will continue to invest in this form of marketing our product and brand.”
And the future appears merrier with radio players looking to conquer more outdoor space. FM stations could be made available on public buses, train stations, bus depots – like in many countries. The Internet also holds good promise – listeners can log onto their favourite stations outside home – at office, in the Internet café, or on their laptops or Blackberry while on the move.
“Uninterrupted access to FM stations wherever consumers are will certainly help in building even more stickiness for the category. However, music royalty issues have created legal barriers to implement this,” says Chakravarthy of Big FM. Radio City’s Kukian hopes the country will soon get government approval for Internet radio. Surely, the FM radio segment is catching the wave.
Mktg - Driving Innovation
Innovate or die is a credo that is more relevant today than it ever was. What is innovation really about? Is it about competitive advantage, about reinventing business processes? About building entirely new markets that meet untapped customer needs?Selecting and executing the right ideas and bringing them to market in record time?
Is it about taking corporate organisations built for efficiency and rewiring them for creativity and growth? What can we learn from innovative companies? If we briefly look at the history of innovation, in the Sixties and Seventies, making things cheaper was the way to build competitive advantage, in the Eighties and Nineties, it was about making things better and as we ushered in the new millennium it is about making better things.
Innovation today is much more than technology or new products and even more than just new products, technology or processes, it is a balanced interplay of all elements.
How do companies innovate? What do innovative companies do differently? Let’s take a closer look at some of the world’s top twenty* companies to get a few mantras of innovation.
Apple is the first name that pops up when we talk innovation. Why? Because it delivers great consumer experiences with outstanding design; works towards a steady flow of new ideas that redefine old categories. iPod is an excellent example; addition of the iPod to Apple’s line-up essential grew the company’s top-line by 52 per cent!
What’s worked for Apple? To begin with, a focus on ‘end user experience’ - Apple’s early music success transcends technology features and is as much about basic human characteristics often overlooked by companies developing new products. What is the measure of success? Clearly, people and their feelings. Another key element is to keep an ear to the ground - how technology was going to change the world of music; converging technology and how it can entertain.
And, of course, organisational culture. Fostering a culture of innovation within the organisation is a subject by itself but suffice it to say that Apple encourages, supports and rewards new ideas. There are systems and processes to streamline the same and there is tolerance to failure.
Apart from the iPod and phone an interesting innovation from Apple has been The Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, a wireless system where some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor can communicate with Apple’s iPod Nano music player to track a runner’s performance and help choreograph songs to the moment. The Nike + iPod Sport Kit has already won an endorsement from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who plans to run his first New York marathon later this year.
Another company known for its innovative approach is Gillette. It is known for its constant innovative thinking. It maintains focus to innovate at an aggressive pace, ensuring significant contribution of new products to the bottom line.
Fifty per cent of Gillette’s sales will soon come from products introduced within the past five years, up from 41 per cent in 1996 and twice the level of innovation at the average consumer-products company
What works for Gillette? Firstly, investment in R&D. To meet product-development challenges, Gillette religiously devotes 2.2 per cent of its annual sales, or over $200 million, to R&D, roughly twice the average for consumer products.
Secondly, a rigorous and thorough approach: Gillette develops multiple versions of any innovation. For a particular product, it developed seven different versions. Ultimately the winner incorporated many ideas from the six losers and 22 patentable innovations on top of the original idea
Gillette M3Power - a MACH3 innovation - was a groundbreaking, powered wet shaving system for men that delivered a totally new shaving experience. Yet another new product, Fusion Power, is Gillette’s breakthrough design that features five blades, a flexible comfort guard, and an enhanced Lubrastrip.
The combination of adding more blades and narrowing the inter-blade span creates a ‘shaving surface’ that distributes the force across the blades, resulting in significantly less irritation and more comfort. With every innovation, be it for men’s grooming or getting into women’s personal grooming space, Gillette keeps setting new benchmarks in comfort and performance. Gillette has been acquired by Procter & Gamble, which also has a reputation in consistently delivered innovative offerings to consumers.
P&G focuses on continuous product innovation based on an understanding of changing consumer lifestyles. It breeds not just a culture of innovation internally but also sensitises and seeks outside partners for new expertise, ideas, and even products. What works for P&G is technology that makes a difference, its consumer focus, ensuring that products meet active needs or create new needs.
Second and most important is rigour in approach. It took eight years and 180 researchers to develop a special polymer that helps prevent diaper rash.
The result? Ultra Pampers, and happier babies. And a collaborative approach. Some examples of P & G’s innovative products available internationally are Crest Whitestrips, to whiten teeth, and Dryel, a way to care for dry-clean-only clothes at home.
As we study innovative companies and what makes them tick, it is clear that they do have some ‘ways of working’ and a culture that is carefully nurtured. All the examples provided interesting learnings. Here are eight mantras for driving innovation:
Rigour: Innovation isn’t Botox. Inject it in the right corporate places and improvements are bound to follow.
But too many companies want one massive injection, one huge blockbuster, to last them for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, successful innovation is rarely like that, it requires rigour.
End-user experience - consumer focus: The new forms of innovation driving organisations are based on an intimate understanding of consumer culture, the ability to determine what people want even before they can articulate it,
Inclusive vs exclusive: Involvement of all - employees, partners, channel, stakeholders, consumers. Listen to the said and the unsaid. A great idea can come from anywhere, not just an R&D domain.
Demystifying technology: Technology is meeting users half way to achieve ease of understanding and hence higher acceptance among users, unlike the past where a technological breakthrough was first about technology, leaving people in awe and admiration.
Innovation culture: The organisation has to cultivate a culture that breeds new ideas and encourages creative thinking. There has to be no fear of failure, enough stimulus to give wings to imagination and it’s almost mandatory to be in touch with the grassroots reality of consumers.
Innovative organisations are wired differently
Creative economy vs knowledge economy: The focus of the economic environment has changed. Increasingly, the new core competence for executives is creativity - the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line revenue growth. The game has changed. It isn’t just about maths and science anymore. It’s about creativity and imagination.
Design mojo: Innovation in product design combines what is described as “fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff” with relentless experiments into new tools, materials and production processes, to design ground-breaking products such as the iMAC and iBook. The iPod is a good example as it is not only a very new product but it clearly turns users’ previous experience and understanding of storing and listening to music upside down. The devil’s in the design!
Continuous process: Companies cannot rest on their laurels and need to be constantly innovative.
To sum it up, innovation is not a process, it’s a way of life for the organisation. Innovation is about fuelling growth, and doing so in a strategic manner, and in a creative manner. Innovation is about trusting the unpredictability of ideas and surrendering to them with passion and purpose alike.
(*2005 poll of 940 senior executive in 68 countries by Boston Consulting Group)
(The writer is Associate Vice President & Strategic Planning Director, JWT, New Delhi.)
Is it about taking corporate organisations built for efficiency and rewiring them for creativity and growth? What can we learn from innovative companies? If we briefly look at the history of innovation, in the Sixties and Seventies, making things cheaper was the way to build competitive advantage, in the Eighties and Nineties, it was about making things better and as we ushered in the new millennium it is about making better things.
Innovation today is much more than technology or new products and even more than just new products, technology or processes, it is a balanced interplay of all elements.
How do companies innovate? What do innovative companies do differently? Let’s take a closer look at some of the world’s top twenty* companies to get a few mantras of innovation.
Apple is the first name that pops up when we talk innovation. Why? Because it delivers great consumer experiences with outstanding design; works towards a steady flow of new ideas that redefine old categories. iPod is an excellent example; addition of the iPod to Apple’s line-up essential grew the company’s top-line by 52 per cent!
What’s worked for Apple? To begin with, a focus on ‘end user experience’ - Apple’s early music success transcends technology features and is as much about basic human characteristics often overlooked by companies developing new products. What is the measure of success? Clearly, people and their feelings. Another key element is to keep an ear to the ground - how technology was going to change the world of music; converging technology and how it can entertain.
And, of course, organisational culture. Fostering a culture of innovation within the organisation is a subject by itself but suffice it to say that Apple encourages, supports and rewards new ideas. There are systems and processes to streamline the same and there is tolerance to failure.
Apart from the iPod and phone an interesting innovation from Apple has been The Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, a wireless system where some Nike shoes embedded with a sensor can communicate with Apple’s iPod Nano music player to track a runner’s performance and help choreograph songs to the moment. The Nike + iPod Sport Kit has already won an endorsement from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who plans to run his first New York marathon later this year.
Another company known for its innovative approach is Gillette. It is known for its constant innovative thinking. It maintains focus to innovate at an aggressive pace, ensuring significant contribution of new products to the bottom line.
Fifty per cent of Gillette’s sales will soon come from products introduced within the past five years, up from 41 per cent in 1996 and twice the level of innovation at the average consumer-products company
What works for Gillette? Firstly, investment in R&D. To meet product-development challenges, Gillette religiously devotes 2.2 per cent of its annual sales, or over $200 million, to R&D, roughly twice the average for consumer products.
Secondly, a rigorous and thorough approach: Gillette develops multiple versions of any innovation. For a particular product, it developed seven different versions. Ultimately the winner incorporated many ideas from the six losers and 22 patentable innovations on top of the original idea
Gillette M3Power - a MACH3 innovation - was a groundbreaking, powered wet shaving system for men that delivered a totally new shaving experience. Yet another new product, Fusion Power, is Gillette’s breakthrough design that features five blades, a flexible comfort guard, and an enhanced Lubrastrip.
The combination of adding more blades and narrowing the inter-blade span creates a ‘shaving surface’ that distributes the force across the blades, resulting in significantly less irritation and more comfort. With every innovation, be it for men’s grooming or getting into women’s personal grooming space, Gillette keeps setting new benchmarks in comfort and performance. Gillette has been acquired by Procter & Gamble, which also has a reputation in consistently delivered innovative offerings to consumers.
P&G focuses on continuous product innovation based on an understanding of changing consumer lifestyles. It breeds not just a culture of innovation internally but also sensitises and seeks outside partners for new expertise, ideas, and even products. What works for P&G is technology that makes a difference, its consumer focus, ensuring that products meet active needs or create new needs.
Second and most important is rigour in approach. It took eight years and 180 researchers to develop a special polymer that helps prevent diaper rash.
The result? Ultra Pampers, and happier babies. And a collaborative approach. Some examples of P & G’s innovative products available internationally are Crest Whitestrips, to whiten teeth, and Dryel, a way to care for dry-clean-only clothes at home.
As we study innovative companies and what makes them tick, it is clear that they do have some ‘ways of working’ and a culture that is carefully nurtured. All the examples provided interesting learnings. Here are eight mantras for driving innovation:
Rigour: Innovation isn’t Botox. Inject it in the right corporate places and improvements are bound to follow.
But too many companies want one massive injection, one huge blockbuster, to last them for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, successful innovation is rarely like that, it requires rigour.
End-user experience - consumer focus: The new forms of innovation driving organisations are based on an intimate understanding of consumer culture, the ability to determine what people want even before they can articulate it,
Inclusive vs exclusive: Involvement of all - employees, partners, channel, stakeholders, consumers. Listen to the said and the unsaid. A great idea can come from anywhere, not just an R&D domain.
Demystifying technology: Technology is meeting users half way to achieve ease of understanding and hence higher acceptance among users, unlike the past where a technological breakthrough was first about technology, leaving people in awe and admiration.
Innovation culture: The organisation has to cultivate a culture that breeds new ideas and encourages creative thinking. There has to be no fear of failure, enough stimulus to give wings to imagination and it’s almost mandatory to be in touch with the grassroots reality of consumers.
Innovative organisations are wired differently
Creative economy vs knowledge economy: The focus of the economic environment has changed. Increasingly, the new core competence for executives is creativity - the right-brain stuff that smart companies are now harnessing to generate top-line revenue growth. The game has changed. It isn’t just about maths and science anymore. It’s about creativity and imagination.
Design mojo: Innovation in product design combines what is described as “fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff” with relentless experiments into new tools, materials and production processes, to design ground-breaking products such as the iMAC and iBook. The iPod is a good example as it is not only a very new product but it clearly turns users’ previous experience and understanding of storing and listening to music upside down. The devil’s in the design!
Continuous process: Companies cannot rest on their laurels and need to be constantly innovative.
To sum it up, innovation is not a process, it’s a way of life for the organisation. Innovation is about fuelling growth, and doing so in a strategic manner, and in a creative manner. Innovation is about trusting the unpredictability of ideas and surrendering to them with passion and purpose alike.
(*2005 poll of 940 senior executive in 68 countries by Boston Consulting Group)
(The writer is Associate Vice President & Strategic Planning Director, JWT, New Delhi.)
Mktg - On this & that
Twenty-five is one of those magic numbers. A number selected from many others to mean something special. So you have the silver jubilee or the silver anniversary and so on. The last week of June was full of nostalgia about the year 1983. It was, asmost of us know, the year Kapil Dev and his little fancied team brought home the World Cup. It also firmly established Kapil Dev as one of the all-time greats of Indian cricket.
I remember inviting Kapil to be the Chief Guest for an Abby awards function in Mumbai. Well-meaning advertising people kept reminding me that better speakers than him had been booed off the stage in Mumbai. It was with a little trepidation that I gave him the mike to address about 2,800 advertising fanatics in Mumbai.
I needn’t have worried at all. The advertising fanatics were all cricket fanatics as well, and Kapil was God. He spoke from his heart and the crowd responded magnificently. The advertising community was celebrating a great brand and Kapil was to become a great favourite.
It is a pity that in 1983 India was still shackled by its economic policies and could not do full justice in marketing terms, to the great World Cup victory. Yet, 25 years on, with cricket being the ruling deity for the mandarins of marketing, what with the heady success of the IPL, and with the nation’s great success story just slightly marred by galloping inflation rates and political uncertainty, the country looked back at its moment in the sun and savoured the sweet symphony of success. The fact that the magic moment of 1983 had never been replicated in India added to its greatness.
The proliferation of media, the continuing popularity of the stars of 1983, such as Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth, probably made the silver anniversary of that great day even more special. All in all a stirring reminder of how media can help preserve and re-kindle memories of another day.
To me, 1983 is special for another reason. It marked the beginning of an era in the automotive history of this country that has made the Nano and the Jaguar/Land Rover deal something we can now take pride in. The year marked the launch of the Maruti car. The automobile story in India will always be divided into two clear segments. The period before the Maruti and period after it.
For those born after 1980, all this might sound rather melodramatic and exaggerated. It is difficult to blame them. We now have a choice of several cars with several variants in several segments. Before 1983 we had the Ambassador, the Premier and the Standard Herald. All of two-and-a-half cars. Their geriatric models commanded a price premium and a waiting period of several months, sometimes years.
The introduction of the Maruti changed all that. India got more that a new set of wheels. It got itself an industry, a commitment to quality and the right to choose. This is what made the new TV commercial from Maruti Suzuki special for me. Not that it had a great idea or outstanding production values. The nostalgia it evoked and the change it marked made me like the theme “India drives home in a Maruti”.BSNL/MTNL: Ringing in change
I am not sure how many people see the difference between BSNL and MTNL when they see a TV commercial for either of them. In places like Mumbai and Delhi, one gets to see commercials for both these entities and the difference sometimes blurs.
You almost forget that they are distinct entities. Sometime I feel that this accidental state of affairs is fortuitous. If there comes a time when these entities are merged (as we keep reading about in the newspapers), an integration of image at least, will not be too difficult.
After years of being in denial, both corporations have realised that the customer now has a choice and is exercising it in ways other that their way.
The bureaucratic maze that ordinary citizens are subjected to by the government have now tied up these two corporations and by the time they are allowed to order equipment, the competition surges many miles ahead. With capacity constraints, and the Ministry in no mood to let them function in sync with today’s market realities, there is very little they can do. Yet, I am pleasantly surprised to note that BSNL has been active with the perky Priety Zinta endorsing its brand.
Maybe the current advertisement where Ms Zinta rejects an arranged marriage proposal because the “boy’s” side does not have a BSNL landline is a little contrived, but I would give them an ‘A’ for effort. The other TV commercial showing a young man rapping about the benefits of a BSNL broadband connection was something that could actually help make the younger generation change the mindset they probably have about BSNL and MTNL being dinosaurs.
Similarly, MTNL earned brownie points for the humour it infused into its advertising, and the product innovations it is now coming up with.
Its recent high-powered launch positioned its landline as a substitute to the cable operator and the dish antenna. A refreshing slew of initiatives from a public sector undertaking!
Now that it seems to have got a part of their advertising on track, one wishes they get their expansion plans going and really give the big boys a run for their money.
After all, one really should not forget that it was the introduction of MTNL and BSNL mobile services that made the private sector mobile service providers bring down their almost extortionist rates.
It proves the point that any monopolist would indulge in predatory pricing. Private sector companies could add the finesse of a loose cartel as well. It also tells us that markets have short memories.
No one switched from their service provider when they realised they had been taken to the cleaners on rates until the government companies stepped in. They were happy to forgive and forget as long as they got good service, and were exposed to fantastic brand-building.
Meanwhile MTNL plodded with its Dolphin services, unable to really take the big leap. Yet we owe it a small debt of gratitude for making mobile telephony cheaper for all of us. And as MTNL never forgets to remind you, “MTNL Hai, tho Sahi Hai !”
(Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant.)
I remember inviting Kapil to be the Chief Guest for an Abby awards function in Mumbai. Well-meaning advertising people kept reminding me that better speakers than him had been booed off the stage in Mumbai. It was with a little trepidation that I gave him the mike to address about 2,800 advertising fanatics in Mumbai.
I needn’t have worried at all. The advertising fanatics were all cricket fanatics as well, and Kapil was God. He spoke from his heart and the crowd responded magnificently. The advertising community was celebrating a great brand and Kapil was to become a great favourite.
It is a pity that in 1983 India was still shackled by its economic policies and could not do full justice in marketing terms, to the great World Cup victory. Yet, 25 years on, with cricket being the ruling deity for the mandarins of marketing, what with the heady success of the IPL, and with the nation’s great success story just slightly marred by galloping inflation rates and political uncertainty, the country looked back at its moment in the sun and savoured the sweet symphony of success. The fact that the magic moment of 1983 had never been replicated in India added to its greatness.
The proliferation of media, the continuing popularity of the stars of 1983, such as Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth, probably made the silver anniversary of that great day even more special. All in all a stirring reminder of how media can help preserve and re-kindle memories of another day.
To me, 1983 is special for another reason. It marked the beginning of an era in the automotive history of this country that has made the Nano and the Jaguar/Land Rover deal something we can now take pride in. The year marked the launch of the Maruti car. The automobile story in India will always be divided into two clear segments. The period before the Maruti and period after it.
For those born after 1980, all this might sound rather melodramatic and exaggerated. It is difficult to blame them. We now have a choice of several cars with several variants in several segments. Before 1983 we had the Ambassador, the Premier and the Standard Herald. All of two-and-a-half cars. Their geriatric models commanded a price premium and a waiting period of several months, sometimes years.
The introduction of the Maruti changed all that. India got more that a new set of wheels. It got itself an industry, a commitment to quality and the right to choose. This is what made the new TV commercial from Maruti Suzuki special for me. Not that it had a great idea or outstanding production values. The nostalgia it evoked and the change it marked made me like the theme “India drives home in a Maruti”.BSNL/MTNL: Ringing in change
I am not sure how many people see the difference between BSNL and MTNL when they see a TV commercial for either of them. In places like Mumbai and Delhi, one gets to see commercials for both these entities and the difference sometimes blurs.
You almost forget that they are distinct entities. Sometime I feel that this accidental state of affairs is fortuitous. If there comes a time when these entities are merged (as we keep reading about in the newspapers), an integration of image at least, will not be too difficult.
After years of being in denial, both corporations have realised that the customer now has a choice and is exercising it in ways other that their way.
The bureaucratic maze that ordinary citizens are subjected to by the government have now tied up these two corporations and by the time they are allowed to order equipment, the competition surges many miles ahead. With capacity constraints, and the Ministry in no mood to let them function in sync with today’s market realities, there is very little they can do. Yet, I am pleasantly surprised to note that BSNL has been active with the perky Priety Zinta endorsing its brand.
Maybe the current advertisement where Ms Zinta rejects an arranged marriage proposal because the “boy’s” side does not have a BSNL landline is a little contrived, but I would give them an ‘A’ for effort. The other TV commercial showing a young man rapping about the benefits of a BSNL broadband connection was something that could actually help make the younger generation change the mindset they probably have about BSNL and MTNL being dinosaurs.
Similarly, MTNL earned brownie points for the humour it infused into its advertising, and the product innovations it is now coming up with.
Its recent high-powered launch positioned its landline as a substitute to the cable operator and the dish antenna. A refreshing slew of initiatives from a public sector undertaking!
Now that it seems to have got a part of their advertising on track, one wishes they get their expansion plans going and really give the big boys a run for their money.
After all, one really should not forget that it was the introduction of MTNL and BSNL mobile services that made the private sector mobile service providers bring down their almost extortionist rates.
It proves the point that any monopolist would indulge in predatory pricing. Private sector companies could add the finesse of a loose cartel as well. It also tells us that markets have short memories.
No one switched from their service provider when they realised they had been taken to the cleaners on rates until the government companies stepped in. They were happy to forgive and forget as long as they got good service, and were exposed to fantastic brand-building.
Meanwhile MTNL plodded with its Dolphin services, unable to really take the big leap. Yet we owe it a small debt of gratitude for making mobile telephony cheaper for all of us. And as MTNL never forgets to remind you, “MTNL Hai, tho Sahi Hai !”
(Ramesh Narayan is a communications consultant.)
Business - Titan expanding eyewear retail network
Titan Industries, on Wednesday, announced the national launch of Titan Eye + branded spectacles stores.In the current year, the company would be investing Rs 24 crore for putting up 80 stores in the metro, tier-I and tier-II cities. The company has a plan to rollout 200 stores in three years. It plans to enter the highly fragmented spectacles market with branded stores and standard services. It aims to bring transparency and professional approach to the business. About 15 per cent of the stores would be company run and the remaining stores would be managed by franchises.Addressing the media on the occasion of launching of the stores here, Mr Bhaskar Bhat, Managing Director, said there is a huge opportunity in spectacles retailing as 30 per cent of the population uses spectacles for vision correction. The stores would be selling Titan’s own brand as well as global brands. The price range would be from Rs 400 to Rs 35,000, he said.Mr Bhat said that the company attempts to bring about transparency in retailing of frames, offering error-free eye testing and style consultancy to help the customer chose the spectacles according to their lifestyle. All the stores will have the same format where customers can browse, select and then buy spectacles according to their requirement, he said. He said that all the frames will carry a price tag and would be displayed in front of the customers. Trained optometrists would be deployed at all the stores, who will also undergo additional training at Shankar Netralaya Eye Hospital, he said. Titan Eye+ has already undertaken pilot runs in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Nagpur.
Business - Small indian companies play big role in Olympics
BANGALORE/AHMEDABAD: Organisers of the Beijing Olympics are banking on a clutch of small Indian companies to make sure everything goes smoothly at the sporting extravaganza. From managing the new airports messaging system, to making portable potties, this edition of the Olympic games is already a success story for these companies. When thousands of visitors land at the newly upgraded Beijing international airport, they will be breathing pure air thanks to the 45 heat recovery ventilators made by Bry Air, a Gurgaon-based company that did Rs 150 crore in revenue last year. Bry Air’s units reclaim energy from exhaust airflows of the air conditioners and then use eco-friendly heat exchangers to heat or cool incoming fresh air, as per the need. “In this way, we recapture around 80% of the energy that is lost with the outgoing air, and also help in increasing the quantity of fresh air,” says Bry Air Asia MD Deepak Pahwa. This means lower energy bills and higher purity of the air you breathe. Also Bry Air units will make sure that those attending the event at the main conference centre do not suffer from induced attention deficient disorder which brings a drop in productivity and loss in concentration, due to pollutants in stale air circulating in conventional air-conditioned rooms.
Another Indian company will take care of safe landing and smooth check-in . Not an easy task, considering that Beijing expects an influx of almost 4.4 million spectators from across the world, which means tremendous logistic pressure during the Olympics. The solution has been provided by the Kolkata-based Skytech Solutions which has designed and implemented the airport messaging software to act as the nerve centre of Beijing airport’s communication system during the premier sporting event.
Called CIIMS (Central Information Integration Management Systems), “the software is an automated messaging service between the airport and the air-traffic controllers, various gates, terminals, ground crew and the numerous airlines,” says managing consultant Ashutosh Chattopadhyay. The company offers comprehensive solutions and software development services to the airline industry. CIIMS is an intelligent communications network, programmed to react to multiple situations at a time, and respond accordingly, he says. “The Chinese authorities are pulling out all stops to ensure that Beijing airport is fully equipped to handle every situation for this pinnacle sporting event, so our product had to be the best in its class,” says Mr Chattopadhyay. Also, Ahmedabad-based Sintex Industries has collaborated with UKbased toiletries major Poly John International to manufacture and supply nearly 3,000 portable toilets to the Beijing Olympic Games. The toilets, which is designed by Poly John, are manufactured at Kalol, near Ahmedabad, under the brand name Pace. “We have signed a contract for manufacturing with Poly John to supply these globally-accepted toilets for the convenience of athletes,” says Sintex Industries marketing director Sanjib Roy. Sintex will use special plastics and some metal parts as fixtures for the toilets that weigh 85 kg each and can be fixed and unfixed in an hour to other events easily. Each toilet will be manufactured in three conditional processes, roto-moulding, extrusion and thermoforming, and will cost nearly Rs 20,000. To top it all, a Pune-based company is making the roving boats and canoes, on which rests, or rather floats, the water sports events. Sunny Sebastian’s Sunny Water Sports is going to supply about 200 kayaks, roving boats and canoes for the water sports events. To make sure it’s the best in quality, the firm has forged an alliance with an European water sports major and designed it to match up to international standards. “We are excited to be making this stuff for the competition that marks the pinnacle in sporting achievement,” says Mr Sebastian.
Another Indian company will take care of safe landing and smooth check-in . Not an easy task, considering that Beijing expects an influx of almost 4.4 million spectators from across the world, which means tremendous logistic pressure during the Olympics. The solution has been provided by the Kolkata-based Skytech Solutions which has designed and implemented the airport messaging software to act as the nerve centre of Beijing airport’s communication system during the premier sporting event.
Called CIIMS (Central Information Integration Management Systems), “the software is an automated messaging service between the airport and the air-traffic controllers, various gates, terminals, ground crew and the numerous airlines,” says managing consultant Ashutosh Chattopadhyay. The company offers comprehensive solutions and software development services to the airline industry. CIIMS is an intelligent communications network, programmed to react to multiple situations at a time, and respond accordingly, he says. “The Chinese authorities are pulling out all stops to ensure that Beijing airport is fully equipped to handle every situation for this pinnacle sporting event, so our product had to be the best in its class,” says Mr Chattopadhyay. Also, Ahmedabad-based Sintex Industries has collaborated with UKbased toiletries major Poly John International to manufacture and supply nearly 3,000 portable toilets to the Beijing Olympic Games. The toilets, which is designed by Poly John, are manufactured at Kalol, near Ahmedabad, under the brand name Pace. “We have signed a contract for manufacturing with Poly John to supply these globally-accepted toilets for the convenience of athletes,” says Sintex Industries marketing director Sanjib Roy. Sintex will use special plastics and some metal parts as fixtures for the toilets that weigh 85 kg each and can be fixed and unfixed in an hour to other events easily. Each toilet will be manufactured in three conditional processes, roto-moulding, extrusion and thermoforming, and will cost nearly Rs 20,000. To top it all, a Pune-based company is making the roving boats and canoes, on which rests, or rather floats, the water sports events. Sunny Sebastian’s Sunny Water Sports is going to supply about 200 kayaks, roving boats and canoes for the water sports events. To make sure it’s the best in quality, the firm has forged an alliance with an European water sports major and designed it to match up to international standards. “We are excited to be making this stuff for the competition that marks the pinnacle in sporting achievement,” says Mr Sebastian.
Mktg - Pizza hut completes brand transformation
Pizza Hut, a company in the casual dining space, has announced the rollout of a brand transformation strategy in India. The transformation involves the launch of an ‘enhanced dine-in’ concept in the casual dining segment. This includes a new upgraded look as well as a new logo and a tagline that fit perfectly with the brand’s evolution.
The new enhanced dine-in concept would serve to define and cement Pizza Hut’s leadership in the casual dining space and make it stand apart in the country’s highly competitive and fast evolving marketplace.
Commenting on this initiative, Niren Chaudhary, Managing Director, Yum! Restaurants India, said, “This transition in our strategy signifies an important turning point for Pizza Hut in India. As a business, we have been present in the country since 1996 and are recognised as the brand with an Indian heart. We have popularised the concept of casual dining in this country. However, in the Indian market, we have always been wrongly compared and pitted against other pizza delivery chains or even quick service restaurants, which are segments which Pizza Hut is not a part of. The introduction of the enhanced dine-in concept will distinctly position us in the casual dining segment and reinforce our leadership in the space.”
He further said, “We are, therefore, very happy to unveil our first restaurant that embraces the concept of enhanced dine-in in Mumbai today (June 16). Mumbai diners will be the first in the country to experience an evolved dining environment at Pizza Hut. Rolling out the enhanced dine-in concept across the country will be Pizza Hut’s focus over the next few years.”
As part of its transformation strategy that further accentuates its casual dining positioning, Pizza Hut will now sport a new logo and tagline that brings alive the true essence of the brand. The new tagline, ‘Stories Happen’, captures the spirit of Pizza Hut as a place where people bond, forge strong friendships and create great memories while sharing good food.
The enhancement project also includes an asset upgrading programme that will modernise the look and feel of Pizza Hut with an enhanced décor package over the next three years. This will cost Rs 50 crore, and begin with Mumbai and Delhi, before moving on to Pune, Chandigarh and Bangalore.
Pizza Hut’s brand transformation strategy of ‘Enhanced Dine- In’ concept is part of a global re-imaging exercise that has already been successfully implemented in countries such as Hong Kong and the UK.
Milind Pant, Chief Marketing Officer, Yum! Restaurants India, said, “In India, prior to implementing this new concept, the brand had carried out extensive consumer research to test the concept and customise the décor and food to appeal to local tastes while retaining an international casual dining look and feel. The new experience Pizza Hut will differentiate us from fast food and fine dining to dominate the mid-segment of casual dining. Pizza Hut is a brand that holds a special place in people’s memories and relationships, and our enhancement programme will only serve to strengthen that bond between the brand and its customers.”
The brand transformation exercise is expected to have tremendous business impact on the Pizza Hut business in India and beginning with its new Juhu restaurant, the company is projecting a growth of 25 per cent in unit sales due to this initiative. The parent company, Yum! Restaurants India, is effectively the only large global brand operating in India across three channels – casual dining brand Pizza Hut, its delivery format and QSR (quick service restaurant) brand, KFC.
The new enhanced dine-in concept would serve to define and cement Pizza Hut’s leadership in the casual dining space and make it stand apart in the country’s highly competitive and fast evolving marketplace.
Commenting on this initiative, Niren Chaudhary, Managing Director, Yum! Restaurants India, said, “This transition in our strategy signifies an important turning point for Pizza Hut in India. As a business, we have been present in the country since 1996 and are recognised as the brand with an Indian heart. We have popularised the concept of casual dining in this country. However, in the Indian market, we have always been wrongly compared and pitted against other pizza delivery chains or even quick service restaurants, which are segments which Pizza Hut is not a part of. The introduction of the enhanced dine-in concept will distinctly position us in the casual dining segment and reinforce our leadership in the space.”
He further said, “We are, therefore, very happy to unveil our first restaurant that embraces the concept of enhanced dine-in in Mumbai today (June 16). Mumbai diners will be the first in the country to experience an evolved dining environment at Pizza Hut. Rolling out the enhanced dine-in concept across the country will be Pizza Hut’s focus over the next few years.”
As part of its transformation strategy that further accentuates its casual dining positioning, Pizza Hut will now sport a new logo and tagline that brings alive the true essence of the brand. The new tagline, ‘Stories Happen’, captures the spirit of Pizza Hut as a place where people bond, forge strong friendships and create great memories while sharing good food.
The enhancement project also includes an asset upgrading programme that will modernise the look and feel of Pizza Hut with an enhanced décor package over the next three years. This will cost Rs 50 crore, and begin with Mumbai and Delhi, before moving on to Pune, Chandigarh and Bangalore.
Pizza Hut’s brand transformation strategy of ‘Enhanced Dine- In’ concept is part of a global re-imaging exercise that has already been successfully implemented in countries such as Hong Kong and the UK.
Milind Pant, Chief Marketing Officer, Yum! Restaurants India, said, “In India, prior to implementing this new concept, the brand had carried out extensive consumer research to test the concept and customise the décor and food to appeal to local tastes while retaining an international casual dining look and feel. The new experience Pizza Hut will differentiate us from fast food and fine dining to dominate the mid-segment of casual dining. Pizza Hut is a brand that holds a special place in people’s memories and relationships, and our enhancement programme will only serve to strengthen that bond between the brand and its customers.”
The brand transformation exercise is expected to have tremendous business impact on the Pizza Hut business in India and beginning with its new Juhu restaurant, the company is projecting a growth of 25 per cent in unit sales due to this initiative. The parent company, Yum! Restaurants India, is effectively the only large global brand operating in India across three channels – casual dining brand Pizza Hut, its delivery format and QSR (quick service restaurant) brand, KFC.
India - Yesterday once more
The story we heard as young students back in the early 1950s was that even as CPI’s student volunteers were marching in a procession against the British regime following the Quit India call by Mahatma Gandhi, Arun Bose, head of the party’s youth brigade went running after them asking them to stop and turn back, shouting: ‘The party line has changed, comrades’! The party itself and its subsequent fragments, including the bigger one — the CPM — have never quite accepted it as a blunder, or even as a minor mistake. Indeed they invariably offer a very laboured explanation of the World War having turned into a ‘people’s war’ with the Soviet Union having intervened on the Allies’ side. Others, however, never let go of an opportunity to remind them of their ‘betrayal’ of the nation at that critical hour. Comrades usually fall silent whenever this reminder is thrown at their face. Come independence in 1947, and before the celebrations had subsided, the party, then led by B T Ranadive, a 1940s version of Prakash Karat, very learned in Marxist theory, completely unfamiliar with the notion of moderation as well as of practical politics, voiced the slogan: “Yeh azadi jhoothi hai; janata abhi bhi bhookhi hai”. He launched an armed uprising from Telengana to overthrow the bourgeois regime which, according to the party, had been placed in power by the colonial regime in a conspiracy against the rising tide of communist revolution. The uprising was suppressed brutally, as the state always does when faced with a threatening challenge. The price paid by faithful believers in the call of revolution was massive. But they were ordinary workers, always dispensable for a worthy cause. The leaders were put in jail and released. Even this was never formally acknowledged as a blunder, although the replacement of Ranadive with Ajoy Ghosh and the resolution to participate in parliamentary politics “to help complete the bourgeois democratic revolution” as a step towards achieving “a people’s democratic revolution” was an implicit admission enough. Things worked smoothly for a while. So long as workers went on strikes and held gheraos and dharnas and simultaneously party candidates contested elections, the state was not really threatened. Indeed, the state welcomed the absorption of the challenging agency into its fold through election of governments in the states. So complete was the absorption that in the next bout of a serious challenge from the outside, i.e., the Naxalite movement, the CPI and CPM became its chief targets. Nor need we forget that the only party other than the Congress which wholeheartedly welcomed the imposition of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi was the CPI. But by now a radical metamorphosis of the communist movement in India had occurred: its role would henceforth remain strictly confined to the four walls of parliamentary politics. With coalition politics becoming the new norm, a great opportunity came its way in 1998 when there was the possibility of Jyoti Basu heading a coalition government. Karat is known to be the one dead set against this happening and succeeded in enacting what Basu later called a “historic blunder”. Basu was not lamenting the denial of the PM’s chair to him; he saw the results of that denial in BJP’s subsequent rise to power for six long years. It was as a corrective to that blunder that he and another ‘practical’ politician in the CPM leadership, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, helped forge a Left-UPA coalition following the 2004 elections. That coalition is in a shambles now, because Karat, who has learnt his Marxism in a British University and JNU, is obviously unmindful of minor headaches like paving the way for the BJP’s return. Ranadive was fortunate in that he did not have to choose from among many enemies: there was no BJP or its predecessor. The Congress was his single enemy. Karat has made his choice. The Congress still remains his single enemy and if he has to traverse the path in the company of the BJP, so be it. He finds the very communal reason given by Mayawati for denunciation of the nuclear deal as anti-Muslim laudable, even as several highly respected Muslim bodies have refused to link Islam with the nuclear deal. Nor has he any problem with all the crores Mayawati has made in the past few years. Mayawati’s declared intention — and the practice of it — to capture power and hold on to it regardless of whoever is willing to support her, including the BJP, is of no concern to Karat either. These small details must be ignored for the higher cause of bringing to heel a government, which spent four years accommodating some reasonable and some grossly unreasonable demands placed before it with a “Do it or else” command. One can imagine the BJP leaders chuckling under their breath about the help the Left is rendering them. If the Left under the leadership of Karat does go all the way and the BJP does stage a return to power at the Centre, there is no doubt that one more senior CPI or CPM leader will call it one more historic blunder, and wait for the next one to happen. The writer was a professor of history at JNU.
India - Overcoming the skills deficit
Beneath the glitter of impressive economic growth rates, India faces a silent crisis: a shortage of skills. The longstanding problem gained fresh relevance after the economy changed tack in the 1990s. New situations call for new solutions. An altered pattern of employment — a declining role for the public sector as a job-provider — is one consequence of economic reforms. Moreover, as the latest Economic Survey makes clear, future India’s jobs for the mass es will come not from agriculture but from the manufacturing and service sectors. While this poses an immense challenge, India’s demographics offer a rare opportunity: the potential for higher economic performance thanks to a projected increase in its working age population to 68.4 per cent by 2026. The draft National Policy on Skills Development reflects national concern that this demographic dividend should not be wasted. For only a better skilled workforce can maximise the demographic advantage and improve global competitiveness. The lack of precise information on the current skills deficit is a major handicap for any meaningful planning but data on vocational training can be a proxy. By that measure, India falls far short of the mark. A mere five per cent of the labour force has vocational training, which compares poorly with industrialised nations (60 per cent to 80 per cent) or even with major developing countries such as Mexico (28 per cent).
The current thinking is to formulate a national policy that is comprehensive and equitable. The idea is ambitious but the challenges in putting it to work are enormous. The draft policy conceptualises widening the training framework to include school- or institution-based training, training by industry, and lifelong learning. But its emphasis, which could be an overemphasis, on the vocational stream is evident. Proposals include creating a National Vocational Qualifications Framework and increasing coverage of vocations to 4,000. If the policy is to succeed, it must meet the needs of the private sector, which looks for a wide skills spectrum. The proposed National Skills Development Agency has its task cut out to offer facilities that will quickly make millions employable. The planned investment of two per cent of gross domestic product for training in the Eleventh Plan, rising progressively to five per cent in the next two Plans, is welcome. However, if the history of public investment shortfall in the social sector — education and health, crucially — repeats itself, plans to overcome the skills deficit will remain weak statements of intent. India will then continue to fall short of its potential and will jeopardise its economic development.
India - Getting energy smart
India loses roughly 40 per cent of electricity generated, thanks to inefficient transmission and distribution systems. Theft and pilferage siphon off what could otherwise generate employment, output and growth. Experts say that if we only had a bank of baseline data that would be digitised and on tap, specially designed software would help detect losses location-wise. This would make it easier to rectify lapses and overhaul supply lines to minimise transmission and distribution losses. A committee has been set up to generate baseline data required to put in place a feasible audit and accounting system. In 2002, a bureau of energy efficiency was set up and an action plan formulated. An audit found that 23 to 46 per cent energy could be saved with better end-use energy management in buildings. An expert committee on integrated energy policy in 2006 said that in the next 25 years energy efficiency and conservation would be the most important sources of increase in supply for industry, agriculture and transport, commercial and domestic use. Simple initiatives towards saving energy include replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps. The recently announced eight-point climate action plan includes taking up energy efficiency as an important way to improve energy availability, but a more detailed, target-oriented plan would have to be spelt out for different ministries to implement. China, for instance, has a specific 10-point energy efficiency programme to increase future potential through saving and smart adaptation of new technology. India’s future energy planning strategies would have to factor in efficiency, since the country has a poor record in this respect. Energy efficiency initiatives tend to be directed towards urban areas, where new products and projects get tested out and adopted quickly. Modern green building technology would make a big difference in construction-heavy urban India, but there is ample scope to apply it to initiatives in traditional sectors where they could have significant impact. With a quarter of the population yet to receive a regular supply of power, adopting energy-efficient techniques and practices will go a long way in rectifying the deficiency. Using energy efficiently is not the same as energy conservation. It is to make energy use smarter so that we get more out of existing potential supplies while looking to develop new resources. Sharply improving energy efficiency in the economy is a relatively short-term solution to meeting the looming crisis in power. But it would need smart management and serious political will to implement such improvements across the board.
World - Cleaning up Chinglish
Barun Roy / New Delhi July 17, 2008, 0:12 IST
During the Olympics, Beijing will speak English English.
Long time no see" has become such a colloquial greeting among friends and acquaintances meeting after a long lapse of time that one forgets it has a Chinese origin. There are many other examples of a Chinese person's experiments with the English language that have come to be part of a growing global lexicon of bastard English. Terms like "Look-see," "Can do" (or its seemingly logical companion, "No can do"), and "No go" are now almost as legitimate as Chinese-origin words like tofu, honcho, typhoon, kowtow, chopsuey, and gung ho that litter the English dictionary and nobody sneers about.
But some other Chinglish expressions remain the butt of popular ridicule. "Travellers' Tales" in the Far Eastern Economic Review used to be full of them at one time. Like a "Left-Hand-Luggage Office" in Lanzhou, a factory selling "Copulation Accessories" in Guangdong, a "Complacent Industrial Co. Ltd." in Hong Kong, a "Brain Disease Curing Set" in Shaanxi, and a "Mr. Beef Seafood Restaurant" in Beijing. Even now, petrol stations are often called "Oil Gates," a tobacco products store advertises itself as "An Excellent Winding Smoke", signs at public places might say "The slippery are very crafty", meaning slippery when wet, and Beijing restaurants offer "Mixed Chow with Garlic Mud".
It's this Chinglishness that the authorities in Beijing and other cities seem determined to wipe out by the time the summer Olympics begin next month. Under a programme called "Beijing Speaks to the World", a committee of 35 experts is supervising the Chinese capital's transition to English English. Road signs have already been standardised. Beijing's "Hospital for Anus and Intestine Disease" is now called Hospital for Proctology. Outdoor advertisers must check with the committee first to clear the text of their hoardings. Visiting foreigners are asked to report any mistakes they may come across. Taxi drivers have been told their annual licences won't be renewed unless they pass a mandatory English test.
Menus and guideposts in Beijing have already gone bilingual. Signboards in both Chinese and English are being erected at the city's 324 major tourist spots, and six million bilingual pocket maps have been printed for distribution at airports, hotels and Olympic venues. Even a handbook of "security English" has been prepared for the benefit of Olympic law and order personnel. Authorities hope some 35 per cent of Beijing's population will have a working knowledge of understandable English in time for the Olympics.
Says Chen Lin, head of the "Beijing Speaks to the World" programme: "We want everything to be correct. Grammar, words, culture, everything. We don't want anyone laughing at us."
The Olympics may be the immediate provocation, but even otherwise an English frenzy is sweeping China as it expands its links with the global community. It's believed some 50 million Chinese are currently engaged in learning foreign languages and discount stores selling foreign language books are cropping up in many places.
According to an official estimate, a record 200,000 Chinese students are expected to go abroad for studies in 2008. Last year, some 210,000 Chinese took the international English language test run by the British Council. The number was 50 per cent higher than in 2006.
Another country that has taken cue is South Korea. Reports say more than a third of Korean workers are learning English to improve their job prospects, and parents are sending even elementary school children to the US and Canada to learn the language. Some are even going to China. Usually they go for a couple of years and come back to continue their education at home.
At least 300 schools in Seoul have already set up well-equipped classrooms only to teach English. By 2010, every school in the city is supposed to have such designated classrooms. At the same time, South Korean universities are increasing the number of English courses to raise their students' international competitiveness.
Interestingly, North Koreans are showing an interest too. Some 5,000 of them reportedly took the standard test for English as a second language in 2007, triple the number that took it a year before.
But back to Chinglish. Getting rid of it won't be easy.
It isn't easy for us. There used to be a standard joke about the Benglish spoken by flower sellers at Kolkata's New Market: "Take take, no take no take, ekbar toh see!" Even in the late 1970s, a shop in the city's Baghbazar area, well known for its fried snacks, had this written on its bilingual signboard: "Bengal Famous Oil-Fried Shop". However, always too clever by half, we've now learnt to do better. We're deliberately mixing it up and making a virtue of it, calling it a GenX language that people easily understand. At least, that's the bahana. A recent example: "Rs 195 mein Tata to Tata unlimited baatein."
Something the Chinese could follow?
During the Olympics, Beijing will speak English English.
Long time no see" has become such a colloquial greeting among friends and acquaintances meeting after a long lapse of time that one forgets it has a Chinese origin. There are many other examples of a Chinese person's experiments with the English language that have come to be part of a growing global lexicon of bastard English. Terms like "Look-see," "Can do" (or its seemingly logical companion, "No can do"), and "No go" are now almost as legitimate as Chinese-origin words like tofu, honcho, typhoon, kowtow, chopsuey, and gung ho that litter the English dictionary and nobody sneers about.
But some other Chinglish expressions remain the butt of popular ridicule. "Travellers' Tales" in the Far Eastern Economic Review used to be full of them at one time. Like a "Left-Hand-Luggage Office" in Lanzhou, a factory selling "Copulation Accessories" in Guangdong, a "Complacent Industrial Co. Ltd." in Hong Kong, a "Brain Disease Curing Set" in Shaanxi, and a "Mr. Beef Seafood Restaurant" in Beijing. Even now, petrol stations are often called "Oil Gates," a tobacco products store advertises itself as "An Excellent Winding Smoke", signs at public places might say "The slippery are very crafty", meaning slippery when wet, and Beijing restaurants offer "Mixed Chow with Garlic Mud".
It's this Chinglishness that the authorities in Beijing and other cities seem determined to wipe out by the time the summer Olympics begin next month. Under a programme called "Beijing Speaks to the World", a committee of 35 experts is supervising the Chinese capital's transition to English English. Road signs have already been standardised. Beijing's "Hospital for Anus and Intestine Disease" is now called Hospital for Proctology. Outdoor advertisers must check with the committee first to clear the text of their hoardings. Visiting foreigners are asked to report any mistakes they may come across. Taxi drivers have been told their annual licences won't be renewed unless they pass a mandatory English test.
Menus and guideposts in Beijing have already gone bilingual. Signboards in both Chinese and English are being erected at the city's 324 major tourist spots, and six million bilingual pocket maps have been printed for distribution at airports, hotels and Olympic venues. Even a handbook of "security English" has been prepared for the benefit of Olympic law and order personnel. Authorities hope some 35 per cent of Beijing's population will have a working knowledge of understandable English in time for the Olympics.
Says Chen Lin, head of the "Beijing Speaks to the World" programme: "We want everything to be correct. Grammar, words, culture, everything. We don't want anyone laughing at us."
The Olympics may be the immediate provocation, but even otherwise an English frenzy is sweeping China as it expands its links with the global community. It's believed some 50 million Chinese are currently engaged in learning foreign languages and discount stores selling foreign language books are cropping up in many places.
According to an official estimate, a record 200,000 Chinese students are expected to go abroad for studies in 2008. Last year, some 210,000 Chinese took the international English language test run by the British Council. The number was 50 per cent higher than in 2006.
Another country that has taken cue is South Korea. Reports say more than a third of Korean workers are learning English to improve their job prospects, and parents are sending even elementary school children to the US and Canada to learn the language. Some are even going to China. Usually they go for a couple of years and come back to continue their education at home.
At least 300 schools in Seoul have already set up well-equipped classrooms only to teach English. By 2010, every school in the city is supposed to have such designated classrooms. At the same time, South Korean universities are increasing the number of English courses to raise their students' international competitiveness.
Interestingly, North Koreans are showing an interest too. Some 5,000 of them reportedly took the standard test for English as a second language in 2007, triple the number that took it a year before.
But back to Chinglish. Getting rid of it won't be easy.
It isn't easy for us. There used to be a standard joke about the Benglish spoken by flower sellers at Kolkata's New Market: "Take take, no take no take, ekbar toh see!" Even in the late 1970s, a shop in the city's Baghbazar area, well known for its fried snacks, had this written on its bilingual signboard: "Bengal Famous Oil-Fried Shop". However, always too clever by half, we've now learnt to do better. We're deliberately mixing it up and making a virtue of it, calling it a GenX language that people easily understand. At least, that's the bahana. A recent example: "Rs 195 mein Tata to Tata unlimited baatein."
Something the Chinese could follow?
India - A Townsquare,a story of changing kashmir
Beyond the clock tower, along the bullet-ridden walls: Lal Chowk, the main square in Srinagar, is Kashmir’s most eloquent storyteller.
A few metres to the right is the first military bunker in Kashmir Valley. Splinter marks are splattered across the large blue sign board of the radio shop. And there -- the spot where the fisherwoman fell years ago to an unexpected bullet, without even a gasp, her catch strewn on the cold concrete.
But Lal Chowk, perhaps the world’s most violent town centre, is now telling a story of how Kashmir itself is changing.
People don’t suddenly fall dead here anymore to the grenade and bullet. The chatter of scarf-and-sari-clad Tamil tourists and Bihari migrants selling “imported” clothes merges into the smooth tongue-twists of Kashmiri memento and stationery sellers. The soldier in the bulletproof seems relaxed, less nervous and less rude. The son of the shop clerk at Allied Motors is desperate and jobless. The store that sold traditional herbal medicine shut down; it now stocks lakh-rupee LCD screen TVs. The multitude of pigeons is back. And the famous old clock at the clock tower – which rarely showed the correct time – now has a digital version.
“I have seen everything change here, right here,” says a 50-year-old man with a push cart. This is Nazir Ahmed Quereshi, the famous dahi bhalle seller of Lal Chowk. He watched his grandfather and then his father make and sell out the snack – just the way they used to make them in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi town, from where they migrated here before independence.
Lal Chowk was where Jawaharlal Nehru promised Kashmiris they would decide their own destiny. This was the town square where iconic Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah held political meetings in a gurudwara – and, decades later, young Kashmiri men sat in tea shops in the late 1980s and plotted an insurgency that would wrack the Himalayan region.
In many ways, Srinagar was still a small town, a calm retreat where people knew each other, a city sustained by the seasonal flocks of tourists, where people bought shoes from the lone Bata shop.
In the summer of 1988, the first graduates of rebellion – young Kashmiri men trained in guns and guerrilla attacks across the border in Pakistan – had already started to return. Many of them had run away from home riding the heady wave of secessionism, often telling parents they were going to college or the market and then boarding a bus from the Batmaloo station to the border town of Uri.
Many of Kashmir’s future militant icons sat in tea shops here at Lal Chowk, coming from the headquarters of discontent – the stormy neighbourhood of Maisuma – just across the adjacent bridge.
On July 30, 1988, the first major blasts rang out – one at the Central Telegraph Office behind Lal Chowk, another outside the buzzing Srinagar Club, and a third at the M.S. Petrol Pump near the Golf Club. Then three alcohol shops at Lal Chowk – Raina Wine Shop, Chaurasia and Nishat, were targeted with multiple blasts.
Unknowingly, Lal Chowk residents say, separatists and Intelligence Bureau operatives often shared the same coffee shop at the same time – the Kailash Cafetaria.
Suddenly tens of thousands of new visitors began pouring into the valley: soldiers.
People getting off buses and coming to shop began to be frisked at Lal Chowk for the first time. Shopkeepers here began to stock some items they never did – like bidis and the Simco hair fixer, for the soldier customers. The Valley’s first security bunker came up a hundred metres away from Quereshi, outside the Palladium cinema hall.
The cinema hall itself soon shut down. Two panwallahs who played very loud music to the irritation of neighbours turned down their tape recorders and wound up business. The Pakistani flag was waved frequently. Bombings began at Lal Chowk.
In 1990, Border Security Force men took over the square. Their first week began disastrously. A blast by suspected militants set the Karna Building on fire, and jittery BSF men panicked and fired in all directions. Several civilians died – including the owner of Diamond Motors, two sons of the owner of Qazi Cycles, and the son of Shyam Lal the willow basket seller.
“This is the spot where we used to have three-four grenades per day. People stopped coming to Lal Chowk,” said Kuldeep Singh, 52, owner of London Radio House next to the bunker. He grew up in Kashmir and stayed back through the two decades, though most other non-Muslim shop owners at Lal Chowk slowly began to sell their shops and leave the valley.
On January 26, 1991, the town square was empty and guarded by hundreds of soldiers as Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi audaciously hoisted the national flag there on Republic Day.
“There were so many grenade attacks and security crackdowns. It happened before my eyes many times. People would run for their lives, screaming,” said Quereshi.
They took shelter in shops at the oval Lal Chowk shops as gunfights raged outside. The terrified ones got water; the wounded got sketchy medical attention.
On April 10, 1993, security forces suddenly vacated the building that housed London Radio House and it soon went up in flames. Singh’s shop was destroyed – it remained a wreck for four years until he renovated it.
But Singh never brought down the shop’s blue signboard, strewn with splinter and bullet marks.
“I didn’t remove it. I wanted to keep it as a souvenir,” he said.
Then, some years ago, change began to set in. Violence abated. The square began to document Kashmir’s other social changes. Internet access, mobile phones and cable TV came to Kashmir. Social mores changed.
Shoppers returned. Multinational companies began setting up stores. You could buy Swiss watches and Reebok shoes at Lal Chowk. There were so many expensive cars there was no place to park. Travel agents sold air tickets to faraway business and holiday destinations.
“Until three years ago, we used to shut shop at three in the afternoon and go home. Now we close at seven,” said Allied Motors owner Krishan Lal Koul, 76, lifting his yellow shirt to show a bullet wound he received from militants at his shop on the other end of Lal Chowk. He survived only after a surgery in London.
To the right of his shop, the security bunker was renovated – soldiers are hidden inside it, peeping from latticed walls in marble walls.
But the relative peace peeled off the veil from what administrators had long kept hidden in times of insurgency: the poor governance.
“There are no roads, no cleanliness – god alone knows where all the money goes,” Koul said. “Today there was no water, even for tea. I got some in a thermos.”
Koul’s assistant, Ghulam Rasool, looks up wearily from the ledgers. His son is a graduate, unemployed for years like tens of thousands of other victims of Kashmir’s crippling joblessness.
“Ever since Kashmir’s destiny changed, there is a lot of unemployment. I don’t have that much work now,” said Quereshi, who hopes he can send his two daughters, 12 and 16, to college and find them good husbands.
“Twenty years ago, my father and I used to use three quintals (300 kilograms) of milk – we began selling at 3 pm and by 6:30, we had sold everything,” Quereshi said. “Now I sell from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and cannot use even sell curd from 30 kilograms of milk.”
But tourism is not the mainstay anymore, and the new rich – including those trying out businesses from information technology to floriculture – are living it up with everything available in Srinagar.
Behind Quereshi the dahi bhalla seller, the Hamdard shop selling Unani traditional medicine has changed hands. Two shops side by side now sell expensive watches and electronics goods.
“There are customers for high-end watches costing up to Rs 70,000, or LCD television screens and sophisticated refrigerators costing close to a lakh rupees,” said Murad Farooq, 24, whose family owns both shops, and who grew up through Kashmir’s two turbulent decades.
“Kashmir is changing around me. I can feel it,” he said.
A few metres to the right is the first military bunker in Kashmir Valley. Splinter marks are splattered across the large blue sign board of the radio shop. And there -- the spot where the fisherwoman fell years ago to an unexpected bullet, without even a gasp, her catch strewn on the cold concrete.
But Lal Chowk, perhaps the world’s most violent town centre, is now telling a story of how Kashmir itself is changing.
People don’t suddenly fall dead here anymore to the grenade and bullet. The chatter of scarf-and-sari-clad Tamil tourists and Bihari migrants selling “imported” clothes merges into the smooth tongue-twists of Kashmiri memento and stationery sellers. The soldier in the bulletproof seems relaxed, less nervous and less rude. The son of the shop clerk at Allied Motors is desperate and jobless. The store that sold traditional herbal medicine shut down; it now stocks lakh-rupee LCD screen TVs. The multitude of pigeons is back. And the famous old clock at the clock tower – which rarely showed the correct time – now has a digital version.
“I have seen everything change here, right here,” says a 50-year-old man with a push cart. This is Nazir Ahmed Quereshi, the famous dahi bhalle seller of Lal Chowk. He watched his grandfather and then his father make and sell out the snack – just the way they used to make them in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi town, from where they migrated here before independence.
Lal Chowk was where Jawaharlal Nehru promised Kashmiris they would decide their own destiny. This was the town square where iconic Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah held political meetings in a gurudwara – and, decades later, young Kashmiri men sat in tea shops in the late 1980s and plotted an insurgency that would wrack the Himalayan region.
In many ways, Srinagar was still a small town, a calm retreat where people knew each other, a city sustained by the seasonal flocks of tourists, where people bought shoes from the lone Bata shop.
In the summer of 1988, the first graduates of rebellion – young Kashmiri men trained in guns and guerrilla attacks across the border in Pakistan – had already started to return. Many of them had run away from home riding the heady wave of secessionism, often telling parents they were going to college or the market and then boarding a bus from the Batmaloo station to the border town of Uri.
Many of Kashmir’s future militant icons sat in tea shops here at Lal Chowk, coming from the headquarters of discontent – the stormy neighbourhood of Maisuma – just across the adjacent bridge.
On July 30, 1988, the first major blasts rang out – one at the Central Telegraph Office behind Lal Chowk, another outside the buzzing Srinagar Club, and a third at the M.S. Petrol Pump near the Golf Club. Then three alcohol shops at Lal Chowk – Raina Wine Shop, Chaurasia and Nishat, were targeted with multiple blasts.
Unknowingly, Lal Chowk residents say, separatists and Intelligence Bureau operatives often shared the same coffee shop at the same time – the Kailash Cafetaria.
Suddenly tens of thousands of new visitors began pouring into the valley: soldiers.
People getting off buses and coming to shop began to be frisked at Lal Chowk for the first time. Shopkeepers here began to stock some items they never did – like bidis and the Simco hair fixer, for the soldier customers. The Valley’s first security bunker came up a hundred metres away from Quereshi, outside the Palladium cinema hall.
The cinema hall itself soon shut down. Two panwallahs who played very loud music to the irritation of neighbours turned down their tape recorders and wound up business. The Pakistani flag was waved frequently. Bombings began at Lal Chowk.
In 1990, Border Security Force men took over the square. Their first week began disastrously. A blast by suspected militants set the Karna Building on fire, and jittery BSF men panicked and fired in all directions. Several civilians died – including the owner of Diamond Motors, two sons of the owner of Qazi Cycles, and the son of Shyam Lal the willow basket seller.
“This is the spot where we used to have three-four grenades per day. People stopped coming to Lal Chowk,” said Kuldeep Singh, 52, owner of London Radio House next to the bunker. He grew up in Kashmir and stayed back through the two decades, though most other non-Muslim shop owners at Lal Chowk slowly began to sell their shops and leave the valley.
On January 26, 1991, the town square was empty and guarded by hundreds of soldiers as Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi audaciously hoisted the national flag there on Republic Day.
“There were so many grenade attacks and security crackdowns. It happened before my eyes many times. People would run for their lives, screaming,” said Quereshi.
They took shelter in shops at the oval Lal Chowk shops as gunfights raged outside. The terrified ones got water; the wounded got sketchy medical attention.
On April 10, 1993, security forces suddenly vacated the building that housed London Radio House and it soon went up in flames. Singh’s shop was destroyed – it remained a wreck for four years until he renovated it.
But Singh never brought down the shop’s blue signboard, strewn with splinter and bullet marks.
“I didn’t remove it. I wanted to keep it as a souvenir,” he said.
Then, some years ago, change began to set in. Violence abated. The square began to document Kashmir’s other social changes. Internet access, mobile phones and cable TV came to Kashmir. Social mores changed.
Shoppers returned. Multinational companies began setting up stores. You could buy Swiss watches and Reebok shoes at Lal Chowk. There were so many expensive cars there was no place to park. Travel agents sold air tickets to faraway business and holiday destinations.
“Until three years ago, we used to shut shop at three in the afternoon and go home. Now we close at seven,” said Allied Motors owner Krishan Lal Koul, 76, lifting his yellow shirt to show a bullet wound he received from militants at his shop on the other end of Lal Chowk. He survived only after a surgery in London.
To the right of his shop, the security bunker was renovated – soldiers are hidden inside it, peeping from latticed walls in marble walls.
But the relative peace peeled off the veil from what administrators had long kept hidden in times of insurgency: the poor governance.
“There are no roads, no cleanliness – god alone knows where all the money goes,” Koul said. “Today there was no water, even for tea. I got some in a thermos.”
Koul’s assistant, Ghulam Rasool, looks up wearily from the ledgers. His son is a graduate, unemployed for years like tens of thousands of other victims of Kashmir’s crippling joblessness.
“Ever since Kashmir’s destiny changed, there is a lot of unemployment. I don’t have that much work now,” said Quereshi, who hopes he can send his two daughters, 12 and 16, to college and find them good husbands.
“Twenty years ago, my father and I used to use three quintals (300 kilograms) of milk – we began selling at 3 pm and by 6:30, we had sold everything,” Quereshi said. “Now I sell from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. and cannot use even sell curd from 30 kilograms of milk.”
But tourism is not the mainstay anymore, and the new rich – including those trying out businesses from information technology to floriculture – are living it up with everything available in Srinagar.
Behind Quereshi the dahi bhalla seller, the Hamdard shop selling Unani traditional medicine has changed hands. Two shops side by side now sell expensive watches and electronics goods.
“There are customers for high-end watches costing up to Rs 70,000, or LCD television screens and sophisticated refrigerators costing close to a lakh rupees,” said Murad Farooq, 24, whose family owns both shops, and who grew up through Kashmir’s two turbulent decades.
“Kashmir is changing around me. I can feel it,” he said.
Mktg - Ground breaking innovation by Maruti
When it’s a cricket property on television, brands are bound to have a piece of it and how. Title sponsorships, ground sponsorships, ad spots, merchandising and the odd innovation or two, brands have tried them all with one single goal – to tear the cricket fan’s eyes away from the game to their screaming message, even if for a brief second. Nowadays, brands are increasingly trying to integrate their agenda within the content being consumed. In one such attempt, Lintas Media Group recently broke new ground (quite literally) for the Maruti SX4 during the Asia Cup 2008 cricket series. The innovation ran as follows: In a live match (when the shot of a top view of the ground and the players was airing), one suddenly saw the ground open up and an SX4 appear from beneath. Next, the car zipped past the fielders on the ground, leaving behind the brand name and tagline (‘Men are Back’).The Asia Cup aired on STAR Cricket. Oddly enough, this innovation didn’t have too much of a brief preceding it. VS Mani, senior vice-president and general manager, Lintas Media Group, says, “Yes, LMG developed and suggested the idea to the client. We had mutually decided to have a presence on cricket and, thereafter, we thought this kind of an activity would create better recall than a commercial.” In fact, the SX4 commercial didn’t air on the Asia Cup at all. Sanjeev Handa, deputy general manager, marketing, Maruti Udyog India, explains, “We didn’t need to. We only wanted this innovation to stand out.” “With such high ad avoidance, it is important to constantly look at ways and means to integrate brand message with content,” continues Mani. “We had to ensure that it was intrusive, but fit in seamlessly so as not to put off the viewer.” Thus emerged the ‘virtual meets real’ concept on the field. According to Lintas Media Group executives, the innovation brought in a surprise element to the viewer as it was unexpected during the match. There were 13 matches in all (three held in Lahore and 10 in Karachi). The innovation was carried out during the 10 Karachi matches; the visual appeared six times per match. First, a virtual ground had to be constructed digitally for the LMG team to decide exactly where the ground should break. The Lahore matches were left out because that would have required the creation of a separate digital ground. The whole exercise (conceptualisation and execution) took two months. “We worked closely with the ESPN STAR team to ensure the execution came out as desired,” says R Venkatasubramanian, vice-president, Lintas Media Group.
India - Mukesh may foot intl faculty salaries at IIM-B
Kalpana Pathak & Archana Mohan / Mumbai/Ahmedabad July 16, 2008, 4:15 IST
Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani is understood to have expressed interest in footing the salary bills of international faculty at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.
A source said Ambani, who is on the governing board of the premier IIM, had emphasised that the institute should recruit international faculty to become world class at the institute's recent board meeting.
"The board discussed hiring international faculty but we have not yet worked out a detailed plan on this front. We will be taking a call on the issue in the next couple of months and could put a proposal in front of all board members," said a board member.
The institute could also approach the board members to raise funds for the purpose.
Last year, Mukesh Ambani, who is also an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), had sponsored a GSB and IIM-B student exchange programme under which 16 students of the institute visited Stanford on a seven-day trip.
"Sponsoring the recruitment of international faculty could be another step towards raising IIM-B's international portfolio and international research," added the source.
None of the seven IIMs has international faculty on their rolls. Last year, IIM-Ahmedabad was in talks with an international professor but the deal fell through.
For IIMs, recruiting and retaining international faculty is a challenging affair.
"Though we always welcome visiting faculty, we find that they do not want to stay on a permanent basis on campus. However, NRI faculty, who have been working with universities abroad do show interest in joining us," said a professor from IIM Calcutta. Two new NRI professors have joined IIM-C from the UK.
A major hindrance in attracting international faculty to IIMs is the salary. At any IIM, an assistant professor's monthly income is anywhere between Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 (it varies depending on the consultancy fee from corporate assignments). An associate professor's monthly income is Rs 40,000-45,000 and a professor's around Rs 54,000.
Conservative estimates peg a professor's salary in the US at anywhere between $4,000 (around Rs 1.8 lakh) and $5,800 (around Rs 2.61 lakh) per month. This income is over and above consultancy fees from corporate assignments.
Mktg - Philips Water purifier - Ad Analysis
Philips' water purifier has a very simple promise: It either gives 100 per cent pure water or no water at all. The TV commercial opens on the shot of a family on vacation in a desert, clicking pictures. They come across a man among the sand dunes, dying of thirst. The family rushes to him with a bottle of water. Instead of drinking the lifesaving water, the dying man asks whether the water is 100 per cent pure, purified by a Philips water purifier enhanced with Pure Protect Lock and similar trivial questions. The astonished family insists that he drink the water, and he tells them, 'Dekho bhai, chance nahin lena chahiye. beemariyan fael rahi hai' (‘Can't take a chance, brother, too many diseases around’).
The campaign has been done by Mudra. The brief was to highlight the purifier's Pure Protect Lock technology. The technology warns the user when it is time to change the filter and will not let water flow until the filter has been replaced. The purifier thus gives the guarantee of absolutely pure water. Vivek Sharma, chief marketing officer, Indian subcontinent, Philips India, says, “Consumer observations reveal that they are not totally sure if the alternate filtration techniques are good enough. Hence, as a brand, we need to provide complete assurance that the water is 100 per cent safe.”The insight stems from the thought that once one has experienced the best, one will not compromise. Also, people are more conscious today about their health and hygiene. Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer, Mudra Group, says, “That's why, even when he's dying, the man will have water only from a Philips water purifier.” Pawar adds, “People can get stuck on something and be stubborn about it. That's what we've tried to say in the commercial. Humour is not generally observed in this category and we wanted to bring in some humour.”Pawar claims that it would not be creatively relevant to “show happy families”, as in the ads of other water purifiers. They needed to make a point effectively. The film was shot in Jaisalmer by Pushpendra Mishra of Flying Saucers. The shoot had to be cancelled on the very first day because of rain. Mishra was about to return to Mumbai and shoot the entire ad in a studio, but the weather cleared and the shoot was resumed. Mishra used a two camera setup to capture more expressions in a single shot. This setup saved time, especially considering the blistering heat of Jaisalmer. afaqs! spoke to some creative directors to get their opinion on the ad. Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, chief creative officer, Rediffusion DY&R, found the script interesting, but felt the execution was a little over the top. “The script is funny by itself, yet the actors make a desperate attempt at being funny,” he says. He adds that the TVC will be memorable for its dialogue. Santosh Padhi, executive creative director, Leo Burnett, says the ad moves away from Philips’ earlier communication. “The earlier ads were bang-on on the proposition and had a very classy and international approach. This ad seems very garish,” he says. He is not very convinced about the sudden Indian tone taken by the ad and points out that it does not fit in with what Philips has been doing so far.Sharma says the TVC was deliberately made locally relevant, unlike Philips' earlier globally significant campaigns.Brijesh Jacob, executive creative director, Grey India, is partly impressed with the basic idea. He says, “It starts off on a great premise. But as the ad progresses, the excitement dies. The parched guy just doesn't seem to be dying. He's got enough energy to specify all the features of the purifier!” He feels the ad was too formula driven and a slightly different treatment could've saved it.Apart from television, the campaign includes other media vehicles such as print and retail activation. The retail activation has been carried out in malls and multiplexes with live demos.
The campaign has been done by Mudra. The brief was to highlight the purifier's Pure Protect Lock technology. The technology warns the user when it is time to change the filter and will not let water flow until the filter has been replaced. The purifier thus gives the guarantee of absolutely pure water. Vivek Sharma, chief marketing officer, Indian subcontinent, Philips India, says, “Consumer observations reveal that they are not totally sure if the alternate filtration techniques are good enough. Hence, as a brand, we need to provide complete assurance that the water is 100 per cent safe.”The insight stems from the thought that once one has experienced the best, one will not compromise. Also, people are more conscious today about their health and hygiene. Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer, Mudra Group, says, “That's why, even when he's dying, the man will have water only from a Philips water purifier.” Pawar adds, “People can get stuck on something and be stubborn about it. That's what we've tried to say in the commercial. Humour is not generally observed in this category and we wanted to bring in some humour.”Pawar claims that it would not be creatively relevant to “show happy families”, as in the ads of other water purifiers. They needed to make a point effectively. The film was shot in Jaisalmer by Pushpendra Mishra of Flying Saucers. The shoot had to be cancelled on the very first day because of rain. Mishra was about to return to Mumbai and shoot the entire ad in a studio, but the weather cleared and the shoot was resumed. Mishra used a two camera setup to capture more expressions in a single shot. This setup saved time, especially considering the blistering heat of Jaisalmer. afaqs! spoke to some creative directors to get their opinion on the ad. Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar, chief creative officer, Rediffusion DY&R, found the script interesting, but felt the execution was a little over the top. “The script is funny by itself, yet the actors make a desperate attempt at being funny,” he says. He adds that the TVC will be memorable for its dialogue. Santosh Padhi, executive creative director, Leo Burnett, says the ad moves away from Philips’ earlier communication. “The earlier ads were bang-on on the proposition and had a very classy and international approach. This ad seems very garish,” he says. He is not very convinced about the sudden Indian tone taken by the ad and points out that it does not fit in with what Philips has been doing so far.Sharma says the TVC was deliberately made locally relevant, unlike Philips' earlier globally significant campaigns.Brijesh Jacob, executive creative director, Grey India, is partly impressed with the basic idea. He says, “It starts off on a great premise. But as the ad progresses, the excitement dies. The parched guy just doesn't seem to be dying. He's got enough energy to specify all the features of the purifier!” He feels the ad was too formula driven and a slightly different treatment could've saved it.Apart from television, the campaign includes other media vehicles such as print and retail activation. The retail activation has been carried out in malls and multiplexes with live demos.
Columnists - Sitaram Yechury
The push has come to shove. The political crisis that appeared imminent last fortnight could have been averted if the UPA government had refrained from pushing ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal, an issue that was not part of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) on the basis of which the Left parties extended outside support. Unfortunately, this was not to be. With the open declaration of a ‘go ahead’ by the Prime Minister, the Left had no other option but to enforce the decision taken nearly two years ago to withdraw support if the government goes ahead.
However, the manner in which this declaration was made smacks of a desperation that goes beyond the PM’s eagerness to personally convey the “good news” to George W. Bush at the G-8 Summit. Before we take this up, much ado has been made of my being in London at the invitation of the British government when the Left parties withdrew support. My visit to Britain, pending for over an year, having been re-scheduled twice, coincided with the period when the PM was to be away at the G-8 Summit. This was undertaken in order to avoid any further diplomatic embarrassment as, apart from being the Head of the International Department of the CPI(M), I am also a member of the Indo-UK Parliamentarians Friendship Group. In any case, there were no new decisions to be taken and no further negotiations as it was decided that the UPA-Left Committee discussing the Indo-US nuclear deal would meet on July 10 when a final call on the matter would be taken.
Why was this pre-empted by the Prime Minister? Especially when he and the whole country knew that this would only trigger the response of withdrawal by the Left? Further, while the Convenor of the UPA-Left Committee, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, announced that the government would proceed only after demonstrating its majority on the floor of the Lok Sabha, he was, we can only infer, presumably unaware that the Prime Minister had already signed the relevant papers to proceed. Apart from the PM’s eagerness to go down in history as having cemented India to a strategic relationship with US imperialism as a subordinate ally, certain international developments appear to have prompted such desperation. As has now become evident, Israel has made all preparations for a pre-emptive military strike on Iran. There are compelling reasons both for Tel Aviv and Washington to make this happen before the end of the latter’s tenure.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under tremendous pressure to quit for his alleged involvement in a number of corruption scandals, facing a criminal investigation in one case. Last Friday, the Israeli police announced that they were widening the corruption investigation against him. The Chairperson of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Anti-Corruption Committee has stated: “Olmert staying in power would constitute an intolerable burden for the Israeli public, who deserves the Prime Minister who is not up to his neck in criminal procedures.” Under these circumstances, a military strike against Iran would provide the classic diversion to remain in power by whipping up jingoism. Further, the Bush administration is committed to fully supporting Israeli aggressiveness, both in political as well as in military terms. Given the public outcry in the US against the continued military occupation of Iraq, any American military action against Iran, however much Bush may wish to undertake it, does not appear feasible. Nothing could be better than a surrogate Israeli attack. The US has shown Israel the ‘amber’ light to “get on with the preparations, standby for attack and tell us (US) when ready”. Israel’s recent announcement to attack Iran comes against this background.
But then, what has all this to do with the Indo-US nuclear deal? If such an attack on Iran happens, then it would be virtually impossible to ‘sell’ the go-ahead on the Indo-US nuclear deal to sections of the Congress and the UPA allies. This explains the desperate hurry to move ahead.
This only resoundingly vindicates the Left’s apprehensions regarding the implications of this deal on our independent foreign policy, our political and economic sovereignty. To be fair, the UPA has expressed its serious concern over the Israeli declaration to strike Iran. But this is not sufficient. India has already launched one Israeli spy satellite. It is committed to launch two more. This must now be scrapped as these would provide crucial logistical support and information in the war effort. If this is not done, then it is clear that India is already succumbing to US pressure even before the nuclear deal is finalised.
These are the dangers that the Left has warned about regarding the consequences of tying up with the US as a strategic junior partner. The trust vote in the Lok Sabha next Tuesday must focus on these concerns that seriously determine the character of our republic and its future as an independent sovereign nation. Unfortunately, this seems to be overshadowed by the shockingly callous ‘horse-trading’ that appears to be taking place. This is not surprising. The Indo-US nuclear deal will spin off nuclear commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars. There are huge profits to be made by multinational corporations and many Indian corporates. The money spent on ‘horse-trading’ pales into insignificance compared to the quantum of profits. In the process, India’s sovereignty and independent foreign policy would come under severe jeopardy. It is precisely this that the Left seeks to prevent in the interests of India’s future.
Let us all hope that the Lok Sabha debate and the vote will stop this disastrous slide, of India being reduced to a subordinate ally of US imperialism.
Sitaram Yechury is CPI(M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP
However, the manner in which this declaration was made smacks of a desperation that goes beyond the PM’s eagerness to personally convey the “good news” to George W. Bush at the G-8 Summit. Before we take this up, much ado has been made of my being in London at the invitation of the British government when the Left parties withdrew support. My visit to Britain, pending for over an year, having been re-scheduled twice, coincided with the period when the PM was to be away at the G-8 Summit. This was undertaken in order to avoid any further diplomatic embarrassment as, apart from being the Head of the International Department of the CPI(M), I am also a member of the Indo-UK Parliamentarians Friendship Group. In any case, there were no new decisions to be taken and no further negotiations as it was decided that the UPA-Left Committee discussing the Indo-US nuclear deal would meet on July 10 when a final call on the matter would be taken.
Why was this pre-empted by the Prime Minister? Especially when he and the whole country knew that this would only trigger the response of withdrawal by the Left? Further, while the Convenor of the UPA-Left Committee, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, announced that the government would proceed only after demonstrating its majority on the floor of the Lok Sabha, he was, we can only infer, presumably unaware that the Prime Minister had already signed the relevant papers to proceed. Apart from the PM’s eagerness to go down in history as having cemented India to a strategic relationship with US imperialism as a subordinate ally, certain international developments appear to have prompted such desperation. As has now become evident, Israel has made all preparations for a pre-emptive military strike on Iran. There are compelling reasons both for Tel Aviv and Washington to make this happen before the end of the latter’s tenure.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under tremendous pressure to quit for his alleged involvement in a number of corruption scandals, facing a criminal investigation in one case. Last Friday, the Israeli police announced that they were widening the corruption investigation against him. The Chairperson of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Anti-Corruption Committee has stated: “Olmert staying in power would constitute an intolerable burden for the Israeli public, who deserves the Prime Minister who is not up to his neck in criminal procedures.” Under these circumstances, a military strike against Iran would provide the classic diversion to remain in power by whipping up jingoism. Further, the Bush administration is committed to fully supporting Israeli aggressiveness, both in political as well as in military terms. Given the public outcry in the US against the continued military occupation of Iraq, any American military action against Iran, however much Bush may wish to undertake it, does not appear feasible. Nothing could be better than a surrogate Israeli attack. The US has shown Israel the ‘amber’ light to “get on with the preparations, standby for attack and tell us (US) when ready”. Israel’s recent announcement to attack Iran comes against this background.
But then, what has all this to do with the Indo-US nuclear deal? If such an attack on Iran happens, then it would be virtually impossible to ‘sell’ the go-ahead on the Indo-US nuclear deal to sections of the Congress and the UPA allies. This explains the desperate hurry to move ahead.
This only resoundingly vindicates the Left’s apprehensions regarding the implications of this deal on our independent foreign policy, our political and economic sovereignty. To be fair, the UPA has expressed its serious concern over the Israeli declaration to strike Iran. But this is not sufficient. India has already launched one Israeli spy satellite. It is committed to launch two more. This must now be scrapped as these would provide crucial logistical support and information in the war effort. If this is not done, then it is clear that India is already succumbing to US pressure even before the nuclear deal is finalised.
These are the dangers that the Left has warned about regarding the consequences of tying up with the US as a strategic junior partner. The trust vote in the Lok Sabha next Tuesday must focus on these concerns that seriously determine the character of our republic and its future as an independent sovereign nation. Unfortunately, this seems to be overshadowed by the shockingly callous ‘horse-trading’ that appears to be taking place. This is not surprising. The Indo-US nuclear deal will spin off nuclear commerce worth hundreds of billions of dollars. There are huge profits to be made by multinational corporations and many Indian corporates. The money spent on ‘horse-trading’ pales into insignificance compared to the quantum of profits. In the process, India’s sovereignty and independent foreign policy would come under severe jeopardy. It is precisely this that the Left seeks to prevent in the interests of India’s future.
Let us all hope that the Lok Sabha debate and the vote will stop this disastrous slide, of India being reduced to a subordinate ally of US imperialism.
Sitaram Yechury is CPI(M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP
Mktg - India has done a weak branding job in terms of branding
Bernd H Schmitt is a Robert D Calkins professor of international business at Columbia Business School in New York. He is also the executive director of the B-school’s Centre on Global Brand Leadership. Schmitt is widely recognised for his major contribution in the fields of branding, marketing and management. He has also authored numerous books and articles and has worked with top global companies like Ericsson, Estee Lauder, Henkel, DuPont, Sony, Samsung, Microsoft, Motorola, Unilever, Vodafone , Pfizer, Proctor and Gamble, etc. In an interview with DNA Money’s Nandini Goswami, Schmitt spoke on various issues facing global companies and his perception on India Inc and its leaders in terms of marketing and branding. Excerpts:
You’ve worked with many leading global companies and also been a keynote speaker for them. What is the common thread as far as branding and marketing is concerned? In almost every organisation, brands go beyond mere functional characteristics, they create an image of the company and are commercial symbols. However, what is missing in this is a focus on customer experience. Well, all companies go for traditional branding, which is done through logos, by creating an image through advertising and a lot of this is done internally, within the organisation. Top-level management decides what the brand personality should be without much customer inputs. As a result, when they are done, branding is more about what a company thinks of itself, but not exactly what the consumer would like to relate with.
Do you see this happening in big global companies as well?Oh, yes. I’ve done projects for financial services, telecom companies, car businesses — all of them have well-defined brands, essentially wanting to be innovative, approachable and responsive, which do not mean much to a customer. These are buzzwords, which a company uses into advertising to create an image of itself.
Are you seeing changes coming about globally on customer perception?In the past five years, customer interaction has become a hot topic as companies are gradually realising that the brand-value approach is not getting anywhere. The experience movement started when I wrote a book on customer experience in 2003.
The entire global economy is going through difficult times, led by a recession in the US. How do you see global leaders tiding over the situation when it comes to branding and innovation?Financial crisis can date back to Enron, where trustworthiness and honesty were issues. Nowadays, the crisis could be related to investments that customers are not aware of. Branding should be seen as an internal approach and you need to get your employees behind the brand. Branding should be used as a part of the change management.
Your perception about Indian brands? India has become a happening country in the last three to five years. My perception is that India has done a weak job for many years in terms of branding the country as a place where change is happening and where foreign investment would be welcome. It has also been behind China on issues of actual performance and image until very recently.
What about potential business leaders of India, is there a problem of quality?Talking about Indian business leaders, there is no problem of quality but they are largely engineering-driven. This means they are perfect when it comes to getting across a degree of standardisation, process management, cost-cutting, production quality, etc. But, frankly, branding is about creativity, doing things differently, understanding customers better. There is a huge middle-class that dreams of being big. Traditionally, Indian managers are well trained on engineering aspects but connecting to people and their lifestyles is still not too strong.
What is your prescription to tackle this issue?Well, it starts with educational training from primary levels. The need to be interactive and question is very important. In my latest book, Big Think-Strategy, there is a concept to challenge the sacred cow. It’s not being offensive at all, but to bring to the fore that there are certain things in an organisation that is sacred and cannot be questioned. For example the ‘big think’ in Dell Computers was to sell computers directly to consumers. The sacred cow earlier was that it was sold through stores only. Apple, today, considers many things as lifestyle, which, were earlier technology products. Dove from Unilever runs an international campaign on ‘real women’ and does not think that only women with perfect bodies and skin should use this product.
Do you think questioning is bit difficult in family-run businesses in India? Frankly, a lot of things are trade off. Family-run businesses are common in Asian countries. Some of the biggest benefits is that family-run businesses take decisions very fast, although at times the diversity of opinions is not represented. Samsung is a good benchmark. Being on the marketing board of Samsung, I must say that the company has been immensely innovative and has achieved a lot going past Sony.
What are the three most important issues regarding branding for Indian companies?They need to move out of the mentality that branding is about a product. It is about customer interaction, which is the moment of truth. They need to understand that branding is both external and internal, and about managing the organisation. Lastly, innovation, not copying, is the key to be the best in business. I must mention some of the business groups, such as the Tata Group, have done a terrific job on the innovation front by creating a quality product at a low price, which has scared many manufactures of the West.
Broadly, which are the companies you feel have changed and have lived up to the customer’s experience?Apple has done a phenomenal job with the i-Pod and the i-Phone-its vision to all its employees was to “think differently”. Samsung has also changed over the last few years. Among car companies, Audi is doing very well, in fact outperforming Mercedes in many countries. The financial industry is much behind in customer experience, I feel, although they are big brands.
Do you feel that there should be changes in curriculum of business schools in India?Back in Columbia Business School, it is extremely innovative. There are concepts of social emotional skill sets, which is very important for business leaders for which we do a course on social intelligence. There is a need to understand the psyche and consumers of different parts of the world as companies are going global.
You’ve worked with many leading global companies and also been a keynote speaker for them. What is the common thread as far as branding and marketing is concerned? In almost every organisation, brands go beyond mere functional characteristics, they create an image of the company and are commercial symbols. However, what is missing in this is a focus on customer experience. Well, all companies go for traditional branding, which is done through logos, by creating an image through advertising and a lot of this is done internally, within the organisation. Top-level management decides what the brand personality should be without much customer inputs. As a result, when they are done, branding is more about what a company thinks of itself, but not exactly what the consumer would like to relate with.
Do you see this happening in big global companies as well?Oh, yes. I’ve done projects for financial services, telecom companies, car businesses — all of them have well-defined brands, essentially wanting to be innovative, approachable and responsive, which do not mean much to a customer. These are buzzwords, which a company uses into advertising to create an image of itself.
Are you seeing changes coming about globally on customer perception?In the past five years, customer interaction has become a hot topic as companies are gradually realising that the brand-value approach is not getting anywhere. The experience movement started when I wrote a book on customer experience in 2003.
The entire global economy is going through difficult times, led by a recession in the US. How do you see global leaders tiding over the situation when it comes to branding and innovation?Financial crisis can date back to Enron, where trustworthiness and honesty were issues. Nowadays, the crisis could be related to investments that customers are not aware of. Branding should be seen as an internal approach and you need to get your employees behind the brand. Branding should be used as a part of the change management.
Your perception about Indian brands? India has become a happening country in the last three to five years. My perception is that India has done a weak job for many years in terms of branding the country as a place where change is happening and where foreign investment would be welcome. It has also been behind China on issues of actual performance and image until very recently.
What about potential business leaders of India, is there a problem of quality?Talking about Indian business leaders, there is no problem of quality but they are largely engineering-driven. This means they are perfect when it comes to getting across a degree of standardisation, process management, cost-cutting, production quality, etc. But, frankly, branding is about creativity, doing things differently, understanding customers better. There is a huge middle-class that dreams of being big. Traditionally, Indian managers are well trained on engineering aspects but connecting to people and their lifestyles is still not too strong.
What is your prescription to tackle this issue?Well, it starts with educational training from primary levels. The need to be interactive and question is very important. In my latest book, Big Think-Strategy, there is a concept to challenge the sacred cow. It’s not being offensive at all, but to bring to the fore that there are certain things in an organisation that is sacred and cannot be questioned. For example the ‘big think’ in Dell Computers was to sell computers directly to consumers. The sacred cow earlier was that it was sold through stores only. Apple, today, considers many things as lifestyle, which, were earlier technology products. Dove from Unilever runs an international campaign on ‘real women’ and does not think that only women with perfect bodies and skin should use this product.
Do you think questioning is bit difficult in family-run businesses in India? Frankly, a lot of things are trade off. Family-run businesses are common in Asian countries. Some of the biggest benefits is that family-run businesses take decisions very fast, although at times the diversity of opinions is not represented. Samsung is a good benchmark. Being on the marketing board of Samsung, I must say that the company has been immensely innovative and has achieved a lot going past Sony.
What are the three most important issues regarding branding for Indian companies?They need to move out of the mentality that branding is about a product. It is about customer interaction, which is the moment of truth. They need to understand that branding is both external and internal, and about managing the organisation. Lastly, innovation, not copying, is the key to be the best in business. I must mention some of the business groups, such as the Tata Group, have done a terrific job on the innovation front by creating a quality product at a low price, which has scared many manufactures of the West.
Broadly, which are the companies you feel have changed and have lived up to the customer’s experience?Apple has done a phenomenal job with the i-Pod and the i-Phone-its vision to all its employees was to “think differently”. Samsung has also changed over the last few years. Among car companies, Audi is doing very well, in fact outperforming Mercedes in many countries. The financial industry is much behind in customer experience, I feel, although they are big brands.
Do you feel that there should be changes in curriculum of business schools in India?Back in Columbia Business School, it is extremely innovative. There are concepts of social emotional skill sets, which is very important for business leaders for which we do a course on social intelligence. There is a need to understand the psyche and consumers of different parts of the world as companies are going global.
Fun - Lassi outscores Exotic Drinks
Punjab's household drink Lassi has outscored other exotic drinks in a unique entrepreneurship competition held in Europe.
'Lassi' was named the best beverage drink at the "Know Europe-2008" entrepreneurship programme in which a 20-year-old student from Chandigarh, Taman Raj Singh, represented India.
The month-long programme, organised under the aegis of Normandy Business School of France, aimed at assessing the entrepreneurship acumen of business school students around the world.
The invitees were asked to give marketing presentation of beverages famous in their countries and Taman chose the traditional Punjabi drink.
His presentation was a mix of tradition and modernity - the age-old lassi in Verka's tetra packs. It impressed the judges immensely and got a high grading of 90 per cent.
And the reason why none other beverage matched lassi was its unique qualities - a mix of simplicity, flavour and health.
"It was not very difficult to convince people that lassi, a simple mixture of yogurt and water, was a healthy drink that could be consumed by people of all ages, infants and patients, without hitch. And what's more, it can be had sweet, salt, spicy or even plain," Taman said.
Lassi outscored exotic wines, fancy coffees - lattes and cappuccino in the competition that was held last month at four places in Brussels, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
'Lassi' was named the best beverage drink at the "Know Europe-2008" entrepreneurship programme in which a 20-year-old student from Chandigarh, Taman Raj Singh, represented India.
The month-long programme, organised under the aegis of Normandy Business School of France, aimed at assessing the entrepreneurship acumen of business school students around the world.
The invitees were asked to give marketing presentation of beverages famous in their countries and Taman chose the traditional Punjabi drink.
His presentation was a mix of tradition and modernity - the age-old lassi in Verka's tetra packs. It impressed the judges immensely and got a high grading of 90 per cent.
And the reason why none other beverage matched lassi was its unique qualities - a mix of simplicity, flavour and health.
"It was not very difficult to convince people that lassi, a simple mixture of yogurt and water, was a healthy drink that could be consumed by people of all ages, infants and patients, without hitch. And what's more, it can be had sweet, salt, spicy or even plain," Taman said.
Lassi outscored exotic wines, fancy coffees - lattes and cappuccino in the competition that was held last month at four places in Brussels, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
Mktg - Visual Hammer & Verbal Nail
Hyundai has been running print advertisements with iconic images: sumo wrestlers, Mahatma Gandhi, the Wright brothers, Arthur Ashe, space exploration.
The Hyundai slogan: "Think about it."
Think about what? Mahatma Gandhi? I like him for what he did in his lifetime, but what does the "Great Soul" have to do with a brand of automobile?
Advertising today is a visually oriented discipline. And we have Confucius to thank (or blame) for this state of affairs. Confucius' famous saying, "A picture is worth 1,000 words," has been quoted endlessly in advertising circles in America.
Furthermore, most creative directors started out as art directors. First and foremost, they see their job as creating a unique and distinctive visual. The words can come later.
What's more important, the visual or the verbal?
Art directors generally believe that pictures or visuals are more important, while copywriters generally believe that the right choice of words are more important.
Both are wrong.
It's like asking what's more important in building a house, a hammer or a nail? Both have to work together. The best hammer in the world is useless if the hammer misses the nail. And the best nail in the world is useless unless there's a hammer to hammer the nail in.
The visual is the hammer. It's difficult to build a strong, powerful worldwide brand without a strong, shocking, dynamic visual.
The success of Marlboro cigarettes demonstrates the incredible power of the right combination of visual and verbal. Introduced in the U.S. market in 1953, Marlboro eventually became the world's largest-selling cigarette brand.
Marlboro was the brand that made Philip Morris a hugely successful company. If you had invested $1,000 in Philip Morris stock at the end of 1953, the year Marlboro was introduced, your stake would be worth $15.5 million today. (As a matter of fact, Philip Morris stock appreciated faster than any other stock on Fortune magazine's list that year of the 500 largest companies in America.)
Wow! The Marlboro cowboy must be an exceptionally powerful visual.
That's not necessarily true. That's not how advertising works. The Marlboro cowboy is only a hammer.
What was the cowboy hammer trying to do? At the time of Marlboro's introduction, virtually all cigarette brands were "unisex" brands, appealing to both men and women. Almost all cigarette advertisements featured pictures of women as well as men.
To the cigarette manufacturers, that made a lot of sense. Cigarette companies figured their future depended on their ability to create as many female smokers as male smokers. (They have almost achieved that goal. Today, 28% of adult American men smoke vs. 22% of women.)
Marlboro was conceived as a "masculine" cigarette, one of the first brands to focus entirely on men. (In 55 years, there has never been a woman in a Marlboro ad.)
It was this "masculine" verbal message that the cowboy hammer was designed to drive into the smoker's mind. It was this combination that built the exceptionally powerful Marlboro brand.
Is a picture worth a thousand words? No. Without a verbal, a picture is essentially worthless.
Currently, the auction house Christie's International is offering one of Andy Warhol's large portraits of Mao Zedong for $120 million. Granted, the portrait is 14-feet tall and it was completed in 1973 just after the U.S. and China renewed their relations. But is it worth $120 million?
What makes any painting worth that kind of money? It can't be the quality of the painting. (The portrait of Mao was actually printed on a silkscreen press.)
It's the name of the artist. In this case, Andy Warhol.
The world of art and the world of business are alike. It's the brand name that makes a work of art valuable. Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Dali, Mondrian. It's the brand name that makes a product valuable. Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, Apple, Lexus, Marlboro.
Branding is a one-two process and it doesn't start with the visual. It starts with the verbal. I could paint 1,000 pictures of Mao Zedong and none of them would be worth anything. Why? The verbal is wrong. Jack Trout? What does that name mean in the art field? Nothing. On the other hand, put "Jack Trout" on a book and the book will sell. (Maybe not millions of copies, but a few thousand anyway.)
So the first question a marketing manager must ask is, "What is the verbal? What is the verbal message we are trying to put into consumers' minds?"
That's the nail. It's not that the nail is more important than the hammer, but the nail is the first decision a company needs to make.
Art directors in particular need to pay attention to this one-two effect. Oftentimes, an art director will focus his or her entire attention on the visual without considering whether the visual hammer will hit the right nail.
There is often a disconnect between the two. If "Marlboro" were a feminine-type name, the cowboy hammer wouldn't have worked at all. (The first step in a Marlboro marketing program would have been to change the name to a masculine one.)
In our consulting work, we find the single most important mistake companies make is separating the hammer from the nail.
Somebody, usually in the company, decides what words should be used to describe the brand. Then these verbals are turned over to an outsider, usually an advertising agency, to visualize.
The company creates great words and the agency creates great visuals and the two never get connected.
Then, too, visuals are often evaluated by their attractiveness or beauty alone. "I love the look of this advertisement" is the reaction of a typical corporate executive. But beauty is seldom the key attribute of a powerful hammer.
One of the most effective branding programs is for a product called "Roach Motel." The verbal is: "Roaches check in, but they don't check out." You can imagine what the visual is.
Marketing has a job to do and creating a work of art is not what that job is.
Nor can a marketing manager select a verbal without also considering what the visual might be. If you try to establish a verbal concept like "quality," you'll quickly find there is no visual that can hammer in a "quality" nail.
Quality is too abstract a concept. The same thing is true of concepts like excellent customer service, low maintenance, high resale value, etc.
A visual hammer works best with a down-to-earth specific concept expressed as simply as possible. For example, the first three-blade razor (Mach3) and the first five-blade razor (Fusion) introduced by Gillette.
Yet the "nail" decisions, or verbal decisions, are often made without consideration of potential "hammers," or visual devices.
If you can't find a visual device to hammer your verbal nail, then your strategy tends to fall apart.
There's one exception to this general rule. When your brand is first in a new category, you have a golden opportunity to create a powerful visual hammer. Not only can your brand pre-empt the leadership role, as Coca-Cola did in cola, but your brand gets a rare opportunity to create an exceptionally memorable visual.
The old-fashioned Coke bottle, for example, is a visual symbol recognized around the world. When the leader brand creates a symbol associated with the category, the No. 2 and No. 3 brands are visually out of luck.
What visual symbol is associated with Pepsi-Cola? None, really.
Mercedes-Benz, perhaps the first automobile marketed as a luxury brand, created the tri-star logotype which is universally associated with "prestige." Nobody seems to object when Mercedes uses a one-foot-high logotype in the grille of its automobiles.
Nike, one of the most successful athletic shoes, created the Swoosh, not a particularly attractive visual, as its trademark. Yet the Swoosh is a well-known logo around the world in spite of its lack of visual excitement. Why? Because Nike was one of the first mass-marketed athletic shoe and the Swoosh visual is associated with that position.
McDonald's, the first hamburger chain, created the "Golden Arches," another visual with an enormous recognition factor.
Rolex, one of the first luxury brands in the watch category, created a unique watchband that has since been copied by many other brands. Yet the Rolex watchband is one of the brand's most effective visual hammers. (It doesn't matter that other brands have copied the Rolex look. That just makes them look like "imitation Rolexes.")
Visual hammers are particularly effective for high-end fashion products. They tell friends and relatives how smart (or how dumb) you are. The polo player for the Ralph Lauren brand, for example.
Take ultra-expensive Louis Vuitton handbags. They have a unique multiple-logotype design that anyone can recognize from 20 feet away.
In certain circles, a Louis Vuitton handbag is one of those possessions a woman has to have. In Tokyo, for example, more than 90% of women in their 20s own a Louis Vuitton handbag. If the handbag itself weren't quite so "outlandish," sales wouldn't be nearly as high.
Then, too, if Louis Vuitton has captured 90% of young, urban Japanese women, the market share of the No. 2 brand (whatever it is) cannot be too great. When your brand is first in a new category and when you can also develop a striking visual hammer to accompany your brand, you can sometimes achieve a near monopoly.
That's what happened with Rolex. The combination of the brand name (and the watchband visual hammer) has put Rolex in a very strong position.
Today, a high-end jewelry store cannot exist without also handling the Rolex watch brand. (If a jewelry store doesn't handle Rolex, consumers believe it's not a high-end jewelry store.)
Creating a unique visual to accompany a unique new-product development might seem like an obvious strategy, yet many companies miss the visual boat.
Take Apple's iPod, the first high-capacity MP3 player, and perhaps the most successful new product of the 21st century. Instead of the "Apple" trademark, Apple could have created a unique "iPod" trademark that would have been incredibly useful in the long term.
Companies are too concerned about using their corporate marks instead of creating distinctive visual hammers for their new products. Should Toyota have used the Toyota trademark on its Lexus brand? I think not. Yet that's just what Apple did with its iPod product.
The same is true of Prius, the first hybrid automobile, and Scion, the first youth-oriented vehicle. Both vehicles use ordinary, typographical trademarks when they could have created memorable visuals that would last for decades.
Being first in a new category creates enormous advantages. For one thing, you get your choice of visual. Almost every leader brand has the opportunity to dream up almost any visual and consumers will connect that visual to the brand.
Of course, a visual alone is not enough. You need to connect the visual to a powerful verbal statement. When the two work together, when you have an exceptionally powerful hammer and an exceptionally sharp nail, the results can be astounding.
One of the best-executed marketing programs of the 20th century, in my opinion, was for BMW, the "ultimate driving machine."
BMW has become the largest-selling European import in the American market, outselling Mercedes-Benz. As a matter of fact, BMW outsells Mercedes globally.
It was the astute combination of words ("ultimate driving machine") with the powerful visual of a BMW being driven over a series of winding roads that made the brand such as enormous success.
Over the years, there have been many, many advertising campaigns showing beautiful automobiles being driven over lush, winding roads. The hammers are terrific, but the nails are missing.
The trick is to find the right combination of a visual hammer and a verbal nail. When these two work together as they did for BMW, you have a potentially powerful brand.
The Hyundai slogan: "Think about it."
Think about what? Mahatma Gandhi? I like him for what he did in his lifetime, but what does the "Great Soul" have to do with a brand of automobile?
Advertising today is a visually oriented discipline. And we have Confucius to thank (or blame) for this state of affairs. Confucius' famous saying, "A picture is worth 1,000 words," has been quoted endlessly in advertising circles in America.
Furthermore, most creative directors started out as art directors. First and foremost, they see their job as creating a unique and distinctive visual. The words can come later.
What's more important, the visual or the verbal?
Art directors generally believe that pictures or visuals are more important, while copywriters generally believe that the right choice of words are more important.
Both are wrong.
It's like asking what's more important in building a house, a hammer or a nail? Both have to work together. The best hammer in the world is useless if the hammer misses the nail. And the best nail in the world is useless unless there's a hammer to hammer the nail in.
The visual is the hammer. It's difficult to build a strong, powerful worldwide brand without a strong, shocking, dynamic visual.
The success of Marlboro cigarettes demonstrates the incredible power of the right combination of visual and verbal. Introduced in the U.S. market in 1953, Marlboro eventually became the world's largest-selling cigarette brand.
Marlboro was the brand that made Philip Morris a hugely successful company. If you had invested $1,000 in Philip Morris stock at the end of 1953, the year Marlboro was introduced, your stake would be worth $15.5 million today. (As a matter of fact, Philip Morris stock appreciated faster than any other stock on Fortune magazine's list that year of the 500 largest companies in America.)
Wow! The Marlboro cowboy must be an exceptionally powerful visual.
That's not necessarily true. That's not how advertising works. The Marlboro cowboy is only a hammer.
What was the cowboy hammer trying to do? At the time of Marlboro's introduction, virtually all cigarette brands were "unisex" brands, appealing to both men and women. Almost all cigarette advertisements featured pictures of women as well as men.
To the cigarette manufacturers, that made a lot of sense. Cigarette companies figured their future depended on their ability to create as many female smokers as male smokers. (They have almost achieved that goal. Today, 28% of adult American men smoke vs. 22% of women.)
Marlboro was conceived as a "masculine" cigarette, one of the first brands to focus entirely on men. (In 55 years, there has never been a woman in a Marlboro ad.)
It was this "masculine" verbal message that the cowboy hammer was designed to drive into the smoker's mind. It was this combination that built the exceptionally powerful Marlboro brand.
Is a picture worth a thousand words? No. Without a verbal, a picture is essentially worthless.
Currently, the auction house Christie's International is offering one of Andy Warhol's large portraits of Mao Zedong for $120 million. Granted, the portrait is 14-feet tall and it was completed in 1973 just after the U.S. and China renewed their relations. But is it worth $120 million?
What makes any painting worth that kind of money? It can't be the quality of the painting. (The portrait of Mao was actually printed on a silkscreen press.)
It's the name of the artist. In this case, Andy Warhol.
The world of art and the world of business are alike. It's the brand name that makes a work of art valuable. Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Dali, Mondrian. It's the brand name that makes a product valuable. Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, Apple, Lexus, Marlboro.
Branding is a one-two process and it doesn't start with the visual. It starts with the verbal. I could paint 1,000 pictures of Mao Zedong and none of them would be worth anything. Why? The verbal is wrong. Jack Trout? What does that name mean in the art field? Nothing. On the other hand, put "Jack Trout" on a book and the book will sell. (Maybe not millions of copies, but a few thousand anyway.)
So the first question a marketing manager must ask is, "What is the verbal? What is the verbal message we are trying to put into consumers' minds?"
That's the nail. It's not that the nail is more important than the hammer, but the nail is the first decision a company needs to make.
Art directors in particular need to pay attention to this one-two effect. Oftentimes, an art director will focus his or her entire attention on the visual without considering whether the visual hammer will hit the right nail.
There is often a disconnect between the two. If "Marlboro" were a feminine-type name, the cowboy hammer wouldn't have worked at all. (The first step in a Marlboro marketing program would have been to change the name to a masculine one.)
In our consulting work, we find the single most important mistake companies make is separating the hammer from the nail.
Somebody, usually in the company, decides what words should be used to describe the brand. Then these verbals are turned over to an outsider, usually an advertising agency, to visualize.
The company creates great words and the agency creates great visuals and the two never get connected.
Then, too, visuals are often evaluated by their attractiveness or beauty alone. "I love the look of this advertisement" is the reaction of a typical corporate executive. But beauty is seldom the key attribute of a powerful hammer.
One of the most effective branding programs is for a product called "Roach Motel." The verbal is: "Roaches check in, but they don't check out." You can imagine what the visual is.
Marketing has a job to do and creating a work of art is not what that job is.
Nor can a marketing manager select a verbal without also considering what the visual might be. If you try to establish a verbal concept like "quality," you'll quickly find there is no visual that can hammer in a "quality" nail.
Quality is too abstract a concept. The same thing is true of concepts like excellent customer service, low maintenance, high resale value, etc.
A visual hammer works best with a down-to-earth specific concept expressed as simply as possible. For example, the first three-blade razor (Mach3) and the first five-blade razor (Fusion) introduced by Gillette.
Yet the "nail" decisions, or verbal decisions, are often made without consideration of potential "hammers," or visual devices.
If you can't find a visual device to hammer your verbal nail, then your strategy tends to fall apart.
There's one exception to this general rule. When your brand is first in a new category, you have a golden opportunity to create a powerful visual hammer. Not only can your brand pre-empt the leadership role, as Coca-Cola did in cola, but your brand gets a rare opportunity to create an exceptionally memorable visual.
The old-fashioned Coke bottle, for example, is a visual symbol recognized around the world. When the leader brand creates a symbol associated with the category, the No. 2 and No. 3 brands are visually out of luck.
What visual symbol is associated with Pepsi-Cola? None, really.
Mercedes-Benz, perhaps the first automobile marketed as a luxury brand, created the tri-star logotype which is universally associated with "prestige." Nobody seems to object when Mercedes uses a one-foot-high logotype in the grille of its automobiles.
Nike, one of the most successful athletic shoes, created the Swoosh, not a particularly attractive visual, as its trademark. Yet the Swoosh is a well-known logo around the world in spite of its lack of visual excitement. Why? Because Nike was one of the first mass-marketed athletic shoe and the Swoosh visual is associated with that position.
McDonald's, the first hamburger chain, created the "Golden Arches," another visual with an enormous recognition factor.
Rolex, one of the first luxury brands in the watch category, created a unique watchband that has since been copied by many other brands. Yet the Rolex watchband is one of the brand's most effective visual hammers. (It doesn't matter that other brands have copied the Rolex look. That just makes them look like "imitation Rolexes.")
Visual hammers are particularly effective for high-end fashion products. They tell friends and relatives how smart (or how dumb) you are. The polo player for the Ralph Lauren brand, for example.
Take ultra-expensive Louis Vuitton handbags. They have a unique multiple-logotype design that anyone can recognize from 20 feet away.
In certain circles, a Louis Vuitton handbag is one of those possessions a woman has to have. In Tokyo, for example, more than 90% of women in their 20s own a Louis Vuitton handbag. If the handbag itself weren't quite so "outlandish," sales wouldn't be nearly as high.
Then, too, if Louis Vuitton has captured 90% of young, urban Japanese women, the market share of the No. 2 brand (whatever it is) cannot be too great. When your brand is first in a new category and when you can also develop a striking visual hammer to accompany your brand, you can sometimes achieve a near monopoly.
That's what happened with Rolex. The combination of the brand name (and the watchband visual hammer) has put Rolex in a very strong position.
Today, a high-end jewelry store cannot exist without also handling the Rolex watch brand. (If a jewelry store doesn't handle Rolex, consumers believe it's not a high-end jewelry store.)
Creating a unique visual to accompany a unique new-product development might seem like an obvious strategy, yet many companies miss the visual boat.
Take Apple's iPod, the first high-capacity MP3 player, and perhaps the most successful new product of the 21st century. Instead of the "Apple" trademark, Apple could have created a unique "iPod" trademark that would have been incredibly useful in the long term.
Companies are too concerned about using their corporate marks instead of creating distinctive visual hammers for their new products. Should Toyota have used the Toyota trademark on its Lexus brand? I think not. Yet that's just what Apple did with its iPod product.
The same is true of Prius, the first hybrid automobile, and Scion, the first youth-oriented vehicle. Both vehicles use ordinary, typographical trademarks when they could have created memorable visuals that would last for decades.
Being first in a new category creates enormous advantages. For one thing, you get your choice of visual. Almost every leader brand has the opportunity to dream up almost any visual and consumers will connect that visual to the brand.
Of course, a visual alone is not enough. You need to connect the visual to a powerful verbal statement. When the two work together, when you have an exceptionally powerful hammer and an exceptionally sharp nail, the results can be astounding.
One of the best-executed marketing programs of the 20th century, in my opinion, was for BMW, the "ultimate driving machine."
BMW has become the largest-selling European import in the American market, outselling Mercedes-Benz. As a matter of fact, BMW outsells Mercedes globally.
It was the astute combination of words ("ultimate driving machine") with the powerful visual of a BMW being driven over a series of winding roads that made the brand such as enormous success.
Over the years, there have been many, many advertising campaigns showing beautiful automobiles being driven over lush, winding roads. The hammers are terrific, but the nails are missing.
The trick is to find the right combination of a visual hammer and a verbal nail. When these two work together as they did for BMW, you have a potentially powerful brand.
Jul 16, 2008
Business - British Retailer invades America
(Fortune) -- Sir Philip Green spreads his arms wide inside the 40,000-square-foot space that will soon become the first U.S. location of his retailer Topshop. "This is awesome," he says, his voice echoing around the guts of the Lower Manhattan landmark building. Sunlight streams through the windows onto his broad face as his architects show him where the deejay booth will hang from the ceiling. "This is everything you would want in retail," he crows inside the cavernous space.
Suddenly the mood shifts as Green notices that the triple-height ceilings are airy, yes, but out of proportion. "When you come in, there's nothing worse than seeing a load of air," he says before lashing out at the real estate broker, who has been accompanying him on his inspection tour. He wonders aloud why construction has not yet begun, when the store's opening is scheduled for October. (It turns out that the permits haven't yet been received.) Clapping his hands over this reporter's ears, he shouts at the broker, "Get your f*@#ing act together, and get on this 24/7 - seriously!" If things aren't fixed, he points out, "we ain't going to make any money."
In today's tense retail environment, making the kind of money Green deems worthwhile is no easy feat. But it would be a mistake to bet against the former stock boy, who has used his unique abilities as a dealmaker, cost cutter, and retail turnaround artist to change British shopping. Today he is the CEO of two privately held retail companies - Bhs, formerly British Home Stores, and Topshop's parent, Arcadia Group. He is also Britain's ninth-richest man, worth roughly $8.6 billion. He socializes with Kate Moss and Simon Cowell, but he also knows how much each button costs on the dress you're wearing. "I love what Philip does," says Millard "Mickey" Drexler, CEO of J. Crew (JCG). "He's constantly breaking the rules, has no fear about taking risks, and is a shrewd businessman and merchant." The jewel in his crown is Topshop, a chain of 310 stores and 116 international franchises whose brand generates as much excitement from its style-obsessed fan base as Virgin Airlines or Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) does from loyal customers.
At age 56, Green could easily be relaxing in his Monte Carlo penthouse, playing tennis with Prince Albert, or planning more parties like his 55th-birthday bash, where he flew 100 pals to the Maldives for five days of champagne-soaked revelry and a concert by George Michael. Nowadays, though, he's motivated by the challenge of turning Topshop's store in New York into the first of several in the U.S. "I always wanted to [do business] in America," he says, "and now, bluntly, I can afford to." Green is betting that Topshop, with its singular mix of English street fashion, reasonable prices, and fun services, will make it big. A higher-end, quirkier version of fast-fashion chains such as H&M or Zara, with party clothes, accessories, and daywear, Topshop offers middle-market consumers the chance to dress like their fashion idols - many of whom shop there too.
Yet American markets can be tricky for pond-hopping merchants. While IKEA and the Body Shop found a niche, Laura Ashley burned hot, then faded fast. Marks & Spencer bought Brooks Brothers in 1988 for $750 million and sold it for $225 million 13 years later. "The classic mistake is [assuming] a cultural affinity that isn't quite there," says Nicholas Alexander, a professor at the business school of Aberystwyth University in Wales.
Green, an expert at bucking conventional wisdom, pooh-poohs all that, saying that Topshop will succeed because it offers something fresh at good prices in tough times. "You've got to be quite brave, haven't you?" he admits. "But we've got a reason to be."
'A world of make-believe'
Like Green, Topshop is a throwback to an era when retailers took their cues as much from P.T. Barnum as Jack Welch. Walk into Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street in London and you feel as if you've fallen into what Green calls "a world of make-believe." There's a salon offering blowouts for 21 pounds (about $42), a manicure station, a Willy Wonka-esque sweetshop, and a concierge who can get you Jonas Brothers tickets. Bouncing around with armloads of clothes are style advisors, professional stylists who, for no charge, will spend two hours helping literally anyone update their look.
Which is how I ended up standing in my knickers, as the English say, in a private room with a zebra-skin rug and a rackful of clothes that don't exactly scream working mommy: Am I really going to wear a skintight gray pencil skirt with extra material in the derrière? Jessica Wright, my 26-year-old style advisor, who is wearing a tiny black skirt and towering heels, couldn't have been more encouraging. (She even lets me peek at some microscopic items selected for pop star Ginger Spice.) "It's fine if you say, 'It's disgusting!'" she says of my new wardrobe. "We're just trying to show [customers] the brand and then adapt it for that person."
With Jessica's help I do end up buying a tight pair of jeans (that will sell in the U.S. for $80), a few peasant blouses, and a black dress (also $80). The merchandise works, but given the current weakness of the dollar, Topshop is not the bargain it was a few years ago: A billowy white pleated shirt similar to the one I bought for $64 retails for $35 at H&M and $59 at Banana Republic, where the cotton is thicker. But then again, you don't get style advisors at H&M. Or anything like Topshop-to-Go - a Tupperware party for fashionistas in which a style advisor shows up at your home with outfits for as many as ten people - or Topshop Express, a delivery-by-Vespa service for fashion "emergencies." "What they bring is that unique sense of British wit and audacity," says Andy Bateman, CEO of the New York office of Interbrand. "I think they're going to hit it out of the park."
Suddenly the mood shifts as Green notices that the triple-height ceilings are airy, yes, but out of proportion. "When you come in, there's nothing worse than seeing a load of air," he says before lashing out at the real estate broker, who has been accompanying him on his inspection tour. He wonders aloud why construction has not yet begun, when the store's opening is scheduled for October. (It turns out that the permits haven't yet been received.) Clapping his hands over this reporter's ears, he shouts at the broker, "Get your f*@#ing act together, and get on this 24/7 - seriously!" If things aren't fixed, he points out, "we ain't going to make any money."
In today's tense retail environment, making the kind of money Green deems worthwhile is no easy feat. But it would be a mistake to bet against the former stock boy, who has used his unique abilities as a dealmaker, cost cutter, and retail turnaround artist to change British shopping. Today he is the CEO of two privately held retail companies - Bhs, formerly British Home Stores, and Topshop's parent, Arcadia Group. He is also Britain's ninth-richest man, worth roughly $8.6 billion. He socializes with Kate Moss and Simon Cowell, but he also knows how much each button costs on the dress you're wearing. "I love what Philip does," says Millard "Mickey" Drexler, CEO of J. Crew (JCG). "He's constantly breaking the rules, has no fear about taking risks, and is a shrewd businessman and merchant." The jewel in his crown is Topshop, a chain of 310 stores and 116 international franchises whose brand generates as much excitement from its style-obsessed fan base as Virgin Airlines or Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) does from loyal customers.
At age 56, Green could easily be relaxing in his Monte Carlo penthouse, playing tennis with Prince Albert, or planning more parties like his 55th-birthday bash, where he flew 100 pals to the Maldives for five days of champagne-soaked revelry and a concert by George Michael. Nowadays, though, he's motivated by the challenge of turning Topshop's store in New York into the first of several in the U.S. "I always wanted to [do business] in America," he says, "and now, bluntly, I can afford to." Green is betting that Topshop, with its singular mix of English street fashion, reasonable prices, and fun services, will make it big. A higher-end, quirkier version of fast-fashion chains such as H&M or Zara, with party clothes, accessories, and daywear, Topshop offers middle-market consumers the chance to dress like their fashion idols - many of whom shop there too.
Yet American markets can be tricky for pond-hopping merchants. While IKEA and the Body Shop found a niche, Laura Ashley burned hot, then faded fast. Marks & Spencer bought Brooks Brothers in 1988 for $750 million and sold it for $225 million 13 years later. "The classic mistake is [assuming] a cultural affinity that isn't quite there," says Nicholas Alexander, a professor at the business school of Aberystwyth University in Wales.
Green, an expert at bucking conventional wisdom, pooh-poohs all that, saying that Topshop will succeed because it offers something fresh at good prices in tough times. "You've got to be quite brave, haven't you?" he admits. "But we've got a reason to be."
'A world of make-believe'
Like Green, Topshop is a throwback to an era when retailers took their cues as much from P.T. Barnum as Jack Welch. Walk into Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street in London and you feel as if you've fallen into what Green calls "a world of make-believe." There's a salon offering blowouts for 21 pounds (about $42), a manicure station, a Willy Wonka-esque sweetshop, and a concierge who can get you Jonas Brothers tickets. Bouncing around with armloads of clothes are style advisors, professional stylists who, for no charge, will spend two hours helping literally anyone update their look.
Which is how I ended up standing in my knickers, as the English say, in a private room with a zebra-skin rug and a rackful of clothes that don't exactly scream working mommy: Am I really going to wear a skintight gray pencil skirt with extra material in the derrière? Jessica Wright, my 26-year-old style advisor, who is wearing a tiny black skirt and towering heels, couldn't have been more encouraging. (She even lets me peek at some microscopic items selected for pop star Ginger Spice.) "It's fine if you say, 'It's disgusting!'" she says of my new wardrobe. "We're just trying to show [customers] the brand and then adapt it for that person."
With Jessica's help I do end up buying a tight pair of jeans (that will sell in the U.S. for $80), a few peasant blouses, and a black dress (also $80). The merchandise works, but given the current weakness of the dollar, Topshop is not the bargain it was a few years ago: A billowy white pleated shirt similar to the one I bought for $64 retails for $35 at H&M and $59 at Banana Republic, where the cotton is thicker. But then again, you don't get style advisors at H&M. Or anything like Topshop-to-Go - a Tupperware party for fashionistas in which a style advisor shows up at your home with outfits for as many as ten people - or Topshop Express, a delivery-by-Vespa service for fashion "emergencies." "What they bring is that unique sense of British wit and audacity," says Andy Bateman, CEO of the New York office of Interbrand. "I think they're going to hit it out of the park."
Topshop, which Green acquired in 2002, wasn't always so bold. It started in 1964 inside a Sheffield department store. For most of its history the chain - along with Topman, the men's brand that launched in 1978 - catered mostly to teenagers. But in 1998, Jane Shepherdson, a onetime buyer, became brand director. She helped make Topshop a destination, partnering with new designers to make it, in her words, "the world's fashion authority." The epicenter of it all was the now 90,000-square-foot flagship on London's Oxford Street, where assortments change at least weekly. (Gap (GPS, Fortune 500) changes monthly.)
But after clashing with Green, Shepherdson left at the end of 2006. When asked about the breakup, Green gets oddly quiet. "Sometimes you need change," he says, his face clouding over. Shepherdson, for her part, thinks Topshop will do well in the U.S., though the dollar's swoon makes the brand pricier, she notes. "It is a difficult time with the exchange rate."
Topshop is only one of the six brands that make up Arcadia, but it is by far the profit driver; with Topman it contributed an estimated $300 million in profits and $1.6 billion in sales to Arcadia's total 2007 profits of about $700 million on $3.6 billion in sales. Sales per square foot average $1,000 for the chain and $3,000 at the flagship. Since he took over, Green has expanded the chain by about 100 stores and franchises; he plans to open at least one or two more New York locations in the next few years.
Brash and quirky
Topshop is the Arcadia brand most like Green himself - brash and quirky. He has never owned a computer. He doesn't like his staff to use calculators in front of him. (They should be able to do the math in their head, as he can.) Short, round, and intense, Green walks around holding two 1980s-era gray Nokia phones - one for incoming, one for outgoing. He also likes to prove that he still has a merchant's touch, taking me to the headquarters of Bhs, his department store chain with $1.6 billion in sales, where the 2008 Christmas gift selection is on display. Pointing to a DVD, The 100 Greatest Moments in Snooker, Green says he knew instantly that it would be a hit: "I bought a quarter of a million cold. And we sold a quarter of a million. It was our No. 1 item." (No matter that snooker knowledge won't play in Peoria.)
Green is notoriously demanding to work for, say several retail experts, noting his tendency to meddle, curse, and assess later. But his most loyal executives see something very different: a generous boss who cares passionately about the business and lets you "get on with it." "What he responds badly to is if you waffle," says Mike Goring, Arcadia's retail director. "He can smell that. The penalties come if the person hasn't got a view." "I haven't got time for hours and hours of analysis," Green says of his management style. "I encourage people to make a decision."
Indeed, Green has always been in a hurry. A high school dropout, he grew up around business: His father, Simon, owned an electrical retailer before succumbing to a heart attack when Green was 11. His mother, Alma, owned gas stations and real estate. His first job was in the stockroom of a London shoe importer where, he says, his photographic memory allowed him to pull any shoe immediately. From there Green became a blue jeans trader in London. Although he could rummage through barrels of clothing for the stuff that would sell, he had an even better head for the business side and began to take over the stock of struggling retailers. Green was early to realize the importance of the supply chain and traveled to Asia for the first time in 1973, becoming famous for squeezing more out of manufacturers than others did. "He's a guy who goes directly to the factory," says Bruce Rockowitz, president of Asian supplier and retailer Li & Fung. "He'll just work until he gets the price and the product right."
By the early 1990s, Green's turnaround expertise had earned him the respect of a group of financiers - not the old guard but new, aggressive ones - who backed him in a series of acquisitions, including a failed bid for Marks & Spencer in 2004 that riveted the country. "He's one of the smartest men I've ever met," says Bob Wigley, Merrill Lynch's (MER, Fortune 500) chairman for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "That spans not just his retail talent but also his eye for a deal."
In 2002 he purchased the publicly held Arcadia Group, which he put ten million pounds of his own cash into - along with another 800 million pounds from HBOS bank. "Everyone thought we'd overpaid," he says of the buyout. "But I managed to turn ten million into 1.3 billion pounds." Green is referring to the whopping "dividend" he awarded himself in 2005, three years after paying himself 440 million pounds from Bhs. The Arcadia payout made headlines for being the biggest ever - surpassing the 1.1 billion pounds steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal had granted himself a year earlier. But because Green's assets are held in the name of his wife, Tina, a full-time resident of Monaco, he didn't have to pay income taxes on the dividend. (None of this cleverness derailed his 2006 knighthood.)
Every Friday, Green commutes home to Tina and their two teenagers on his Gulfstream G550. A serious gambler, he loves soccer and his toys, including a black Bentley, an $80 million, 207-foot yacht named Lionheart, and a solid-gold Monopoly set featuring his acquisitions - a birthday present from his wife. During the week, he lives in Mayfair, where he gets up at 6:30 A.M. to walk the treadmill and review the previous day's numbers.
It is Green's social life, not his work ethic, that has made him tabloid fodder. For his son Brandon's bar mitzvah in 2005 he had a synagogue built on the grounds of France's Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat and hired Andrea Bocelli and Beyoncé to sing. For his own 50th-birthday party in 2002, 200 guests were jetted into Cyprus for a toga party (Green played Nero) at which Rod Stewart and Tom Jones performed.
That said, it's not unusual for Green to give money away. He has donated $20 million to help create, with other retailers and the British government, the Fashion Retail Academy, which helps train teenagers for careers in the industry. And it was a charity auction - in which he paid $120,000 for a kiss with Moss - that led to his most significant deal of late. Green gave away the kiss but got something better when the two later met at a party: a commitment from the bad-girl supermodel to develop her first clothing line. "I just kind of said, sort of in the moment, 'We should do something,'" Moss says. "Every-body I know shops there, and it's refreshing not to spend thousands of dollars. He said, 'If you're serious, come to the office.' I got his idea straight away."
Topshop is hardly the first retailer to link up with a celebrity - H&M had Madonna first, and Macy's (M, Fortune 500) has since launched lines from the likes of Usher and Jessica Simpson - but Moss has just shown her sixth collection, and Green says sales are up 50% since its May 2007 debut. Green used the Moss line as a prelaunch brand builder in New York, offering it at Barneys. The move paid off in hype; market research shows that 17% of New Yorkers already know the Topshop name.
It may not be an ideal time to open in the U.S., but Green isn't concerned. He's prepared to spend more than $100 million to again prove he knows exactly what he's doing. "In terms of the big, big, big, big picture," he says, "it's not about the actual cost. This is my brand. If I had listened to all the times people told me not to do something, where would I be?" All he has to worry about now is a high ceiling and an ever fickle American public.
But after clashing with Green, Shepherdson left at the end of 2006. When asked about the breakup, Green gets oddly quiet. "Sometimes you need change," he says, his face clouding over. Shepherdson, for her part, thinks Topshop will do well in the U.S., though the dollar's swoon makes the brand pricier, she notes. "It is a difficult time with the exchange rate."
Topshop is only one of the six brands that make up Arcadia, but it is by far the profit driver; with Topman it contributed an estimated $300 million in profits and $1.6 billion in sales to Arcadia's total 2007 profits of about $700 million on $3.6 billion in sales. Sales per square foot average $1,000 for the chain and $3,000 at the flagship. Since he took over, Green has expanded the chain by about 100 stores and franchises; he plans to open at least one or two more New York locations in the next few years.
Brash and quirky
Topshop is the Arcadia brand most like Green himself - brash and quirky. He has never owned a computer. He doesn't like his staff to use calculators in front of him. (They should be able to do the math in their head, as he can.) Short, round, and intense, Green walks around holding two 1980s-era gray Nokia phones - one for incoming, one for outgoing. He also likes to prove that he still has a merchant's touch, taking me to the headquarters of Bhs, his department store chain with $1.6 billion in sales, where the 2008 Christmas gift selection is on display. Pointing to a DVD, The 100 Greatest Moments in Snooker, Green says he knew instantly that it would be a hit: "I bought a quarter of a million cold. And we sold a quarter of a million. It was our No. 1 item." (No matter that snooker knowledge won't play in Peoria.)
Green is notoriously demanding to work for, say several retail experts, noting his tendency to meddle, curse, and assess later. But his most loyal executives see something very different: a generous boss who cares passionately about the business and lets you "get on with it." "What he responds badly to is if you waffle," says Mike Goring, Arcadia's retail director. "He can smell that. The penalties come if the person hasn't got a view." "I haven't got time for hours and hours of analysis," Green says of his management style. "I encourage people to make a decision."
Indeed, Green has always been in a hurry. A high school dropout, he grew up around business: His father, Simon, owned an electrical retailer before succumbing to a heart attack when Green was 11. His mother, Alma, owned gas stations and real estate. His first job was in the stockroom of a London shoe importer where, he says, his photographic memory allowed him to pull any shoe immediately. From there Green became a blue jeans trader in London. Although he could rummage through barrels of clothing for the stuff that would sell, he had an even better head for the business side and began to take over the stock of struggling retailers. Green was early to realize the importance of the supply chain and traveled to Asia for the first time in 1973, becoming famous for squeezing more out of manufacturers than others did. "He's a guy who goes directly to the factory," says Bruce Rockowitz, president of Asian supplier and retailer Li & Fung. "He'll just work until he gets the price and the product right."
By the early 1990s, Green's turnaround expertise had earned him the respect of a group of financiers - not the old guard but new, aggressive ones - who backed him in a series of acquisitions, including a failed bid for Marks & Spencer in 2004 that riveted the country. "He's one of the smartest men I've ever met," says Bob Wigley, Merrill Lynch's (MER, Fortune 500) chairman for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. "That spans not just his retail talent but also his eye for a deal."
In 2002 he purchased the publicly held Arcadia Group, which he put ten million pounds of his own cash into - along with another 800 million pounds from HBOS bank. "Everyone thought we'd overpaid," he says of the buyout. "But I managed to turn ten million into 1.3 billion pounds." Green is referring to the whopping "dividend" he awarded himself in 2005, three years after paying himself 440 million pounds from Bhs. The Arcadia payout made headlines for being the biggest ever - surpassing the 1.1 billion pounds steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal had granted himself a year earlier. But because Green's assets are held in the name of his wife, Tina, a full-time resident of Monaco, he didn't have to pay income taxes on the dividend. (None of this cleverness derailed his 2006 knighthood.)
Every Friday, Green commutes home to Tina and their two teenagers on his Gulfstream G550. A serious gambler, he loves soccer and his toys, including a black Bentley, an $80 million, 207-foot yacht named Lionheart, and a solid-gold Monopoly set featuring his acquisitions - a birthday present from his wife. During the week, he lives in Mayfair, where he gets up at 6:30 A.M. to walk the treadmill and review the previous day's numbers.
It is Green's social life, not his work ethic, that has made him tabloid fodder. For his son Brandon's bar mitzvah in 2005 he had a synagogue built on the grounds of France's Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat and hired Andrea Bocelli and Beyoncé to sing. For his own 50th-birthday party in 2002, 200 guests were jetted into Cyprus for a toga party (Green played Nero) at which Rod Stewart and Tom Jones performed.
That said, it's not unusual for Green to give money away. He has donated $20 million to help create, with other retailers and the British government, the Fashion Retail Academy, which helps train teenagers for careers in the industry. And it was a charity auction - in which he paid $120,000 for a kiss with Moss - that led to his most significant deal of late. Green gave away the kiss but got something better when the two later met at a party: a commitment from the bad-girl supermodel to develop her first clothing line. "I just kind of said, sort of in the moment, 'We should do something,'" Moss says. "Every-body I know shops there, and it's refreshing not to spend thousands of dollars. He said, 'If you're serious, come to the office.' I got his idea straight away."
Topshop is hardly the first retailer to link up with a celebrity - H&M had Madonna first, and Macy's (M, Fortune 500) has since launched lines from the likes of Usher and Jessica Simpson - but Moss has just shown her sixth collection, and Green says sales are up 50% since its May 2007 debut. Green used the Moss line as a prelaunch brand builder in New York, offering it at Barneys. The move paid off in hype; market research shows that 17% of New Yorkers already know the Topshop name.
It may not be an ideal time to open in the U.S., but Green isn't concerned. He's prepared to spend more than $100 million to again prove he knows exactly what he's doing. "In terms of the big, big, big, big picture," he says, "it's not about the actual cost. This is my brand. If I had listened to all the times people told me not to do something, where would I be?" All he has to worry about now is a high ceiling and an ever fickle American public.
World - Making a matter of Race - Good Read
To this day, Jerry Kennedy only does laundry when it rains. For the first 54 years of his life, he lived without running water, and rainstorms were the only way he could collect enough water to wash his clothes. But Kennedy isn't from some far-off rural outpost. He was born and raised in the Coal Run neighborhood of Zanesville, Ohio — a former coal-mining center of 25,000 in the eastern part of the state — just a few hundred feet from a municipal water line. Kennedy, now 58, is black. His neighbors, who did not have running water for more than 50 years, are also black. On July 10, the U.S. District Court of Ohio awarded them almost $10.9 million, ruling that they had been denied access to public water because of their race.
The decision comes four years after the water started flowing in Coal Run, a black community of some 25 homes in overwhelmingly white Muskingum County, following a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) and 67 Coal Run residents. According to the suit, the community had repeatedly requested water service since 1956, the year the city built a water main that ended just short of the neighborhood, and had watched as the East Muskingum Water Authority built new water lines and increased county water efforts in surrounding areas while their requests went unanswered. When he built his house in the early 1980s, Kennedy says, his water request was denied. He can't even remember the number of times he asked the city's service director for help, only to have nothing happen. Then a house went up next door. A white family moved in, and one day Kennedy saw his new neighbors watering their lawn. "They'd be out there with a hot tub out on the porch," he says, "and I was still going down the road [to the local water treatment plant] with a pickup truck every day." Like many Zanesville area residents, he couldn't drill a well because the surrounding coal mines have contaminated the water, rendering it undrinkable. The mines have been closed for years, but the ground is so full of sulfur that residents say the water runs red. In Coal Run, Kennedy and his black neighbors would either pay to have water hauled in from the treatment plant two miles away or catch the rainwater that ran down their gutters.
"When I was growing up, I thought that everyone had water hauled in," says Cynthia Hairston, a 47-year-old nurse, who was born in Coal Run. "I had no idea that outside my neighborhood, [running water] was even possible." When she discovered that her white neighbors' request for a water hookup had been approved in 1999, she began agitating for equal rights — talking to other black neighbors, attending city council meetings and lobbying government officials. Then one morning, she woke up to find a severed pig's head in her driveway. "It was very upsetting," she says. "I was very scared." She doesn't know what the pig's head was supposed to mean or who put it there, but is convinced that the act was racially motivated.
The city, the county and the Water Authority, for their part, deny any discrimination and say Coal Run's lack of water was due to a lack of demand. The neighborhood went without water for so long, they argue, mainly because its residents didn't go through the correct procedures to request it. According to Mark Landes, a Columbus attorney representing Muskingum County, the only official water requests from Coal Run residents came in the form of a 1973 petition and 2001 public hearing. "No one ever showed up and asked for water," he says, adding that a large part of Muskingum County still doesn't have running water today. Hairston agrees that's true but claims that those areas are all very rural, whereas Coal Run is a 10-min. drive from the city center — "a stone's throw away." And while Coal Run is not technically within Zanesville's city limits, neither are several surrounding white communities that have had access to the municipal water supply since the line was installed in 1956.
On Aug. 18, 2003, two months after the OCRC issued its report alleging racial discrimination, Muskingum County decided that the residents of Coal Run finally qualified for water. By January 2004, the last pipelines were laid, but the discrimination trial was already in motion. Resident after resident testified about years of personal conversations held with city and county officials who did nothing to keep their promises to help. Kennedy, Hairston and two other residents stated that in 2001, Muskingum County Commissioner Dorothy Montgomery told them that even their "grandchildren's grandchildren would not have water." Montgomery could not be reached, but Landes says she denies making the comment.
Last Thursday's verdict represents a sweeping acknowledgement of the Coal Run community's suffering. "This case is a throwback to the type of discrimination everyone thinks is long gone," says John P. Relman, a Washington civil rights attorney who represented the Coal Run residents. Relman calls the case a "landmark" because of the number of individual plaintiffs found to have suffered discrimination at the hands of their own government. "You lift up some rocks and find a couple of pretty ugly things," he says. Kennedy, Hairston and the other plaintiffs will receive between $15,000 and $300,000 each in damages, depending on how long they had lived in the neighborhood. "This has been a long saga for lots of these people," says G. Michael Payton, the OCRC's executive director. "The humiliation, the feeling of being treated like second-class citizens — that shouldn't happen today. We're supposed to be past that."
Columbus attorney Landes, however, isn't so sanguine about the case's result. "This is a bad day for taxpayers and a bad day for race relations," he says. He believes the plaintiffs sued solely for the money and blames "out-of-state lawyers" for coming in and whipping up a "frenzy" that the residents of Muskingum County will now have to fund. Attorneys for the city and county say they plan to appeal.
Jerry Kennedy, for his part, says he's just glad it's over. "I finally had a peace of mind, it was only fair that the Lord had seen that we got taken care of," he says. The day his water was turned on in 2004, he took three baths. He doesn't have to worry about the water levels in his cistern anymore, but he can't break the habit of washing laundry when it rains. "It's just something I do," he says. "No matter what time of day or night, I get up and I have to do it."
The decision comes four years after the water started flowing in Coal Run, a black community of some 25 homes in overwhelmingly white Muskingum County, following a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (OCRC) and 67 Coal Run residents. According to the suit, the community had repeatedly requested water service since 1956, the year the city built a water main that ended just short of the neighborhood, and had watched as the East Muskingum Water Authority built new water lines and increased county water efforts in surrounding areas while their requests went unanswered. When he built his house in the early 1980s, Kennedy says, his water request was denied. He can't even remember the number of times he asked the city's service director for help, only to have nothing happen. Then a house went up next door. A white family moved in, and one day Kennedy saw his new neighbors watering their lawn. "They'd be out there with a hot tub out on the porch," he says, "and I was still going down the road [to the local water treatment plant] with a pickup truck every day." Like many Zanesville area residents, he couldn't drill a well because the surrounding coal mines have contaminated the water, rendering it undrinkable. The mines have been closed for years, but the ground is so full of sulfur that residents say the water runs red. In Coal Run, Kennedy and his black neighbors would either pay to have water hauled in from the treatment plant two miles away or catch the rainwater that ran down their gutters.
"When I was growing up, I thought that everyone had water hauled in," says Cynthia Hairston, a 47-year-old nurse, who was born in Coal Run. "I had no idea that outside my neighborhood, [running water] was even possible." When she discovered that her white neighbors' request for a water hookup had been approved in 1999, she began agitating for equal rights — talking to other black neighbors, attending city council meetings and lobbying government officials. Then one morning, she woke up to find a severed pig's head in her driveway. "It was very upsetting," she says. "I was very scared." She doesn't know what the pig's head was supposed to mean or who put it there, but is convinced that the act was racially motivated.
The city, the county and the Water Authority, for their part, deny any discrimination and say Coal Run's lack of water was due to a lack of demand. The neighborhood went without water for so long, they argue, mainly because its residents didn't go through the correct procedures to request it. According to Mark Landes, a Columbus attorney representing Muskingum County, the only official water requests from Coal Run residents came in the form of a 1973 petition and 2001 public hearing. "No one ever showed up and asked for water," he says, adding that a large part of Muskingum County still doesn't have running water today. Hairston agrees that's true but claims that those areas are all very rural, whereas Coal Run is a 10-min. drive from the city center — "a stone's throw away." And while Coal Run is not technically within Zanesville's city limits, neither are several surrounding white communities that have had access to the municipal water supply since the line was installed in 1956.
On Aug. 18, 2003, two months after the OCRC issued its report alleging racial discrimination, Muskingum County decided that the residents of Coal Run finally qualified for water. By January 2004, the last pipelines were laid, but the discrimination trial was already in motion. Resident after resident testified about years of personal conversations held with city and county officials who did nothing to keep their promises to help. Kennedy, Hairston and two other residents stated that in 2001, Muskingum County Commissioner Dorothy Montgomery told them that even their "grandchildren's grandchildren would not have water." Montgomery could not be reached, but Landes says she denies making the comment.
Last Thursday's verdict represents a sweeping acknowledgement of the Coal Run community's suffering. "This case is a throwback to the type of discrimination everyone thinks is long gone," says John P. Relman, a Washington civil rights attorney who represented the Coal Run residents. Relman calls the case a "landmark" because of the number of individual plaintiffs found to have suffered discrimination at the hands of their own government. "You lift up some rocks and find a couple of pretty ugly things," he says. Kennedy, Hairston and the other plaintiffs will receive between $15,000 and $300,000 each in damages, depending on how long they had lived in the neighborhood. "This has been a long saga for lots of these people," says G. Michael Payton, the OCRC's executive director. "The humiliation, the feeling of being treated like second-class citizens — that shouldn't happen today. We're supposed to be past that."
Columbus attorney Landes, however, isn't so sanguine about the case's result. "This is a bad day for taxpayers and a bad day for race relations," he says. He believes the plaintiffs sued solely for the money and blames "out-of-state lawyers" for coming in and whipping up a "frenzy" that the residents of Muskingum County will now have to fund. Attorneys for the city and county say they plan to appeal.
Jerry Kennedy, for his part, says he's just glad it's over. "I finally had a peace of mind, it was only fair that the Lord had seen that we got taken care of," he says. The day his water was turned on in 2004, he took three baths. He doesn't have to worry about the water levels in his cistern anymore, but he can't break the habit of washing laundry when it rains. "It's just something I do," he says. "No matter what time of day or night, I get up and I have to do it."
Lifestyle - Post Apocalypse
Last month a woman who worked for the Stranger, an alternative weekly in Seattle, quit in a huff. She had been writing for the paper's blog, the Slog. The problem was the comments people were making on her posts. She couldn't stand them anymore. "The word I would use is cruel," she wrote in her sign-off.
Actually, if cruel was all they were, she got off pretty easy. For all the hype about Flickr and YouTube and Twitter and whatever else is putting "Web 2.0" in its business plan these days, the most ubiquitous form of user-generated content (to employ a phrase that just won't die) is the humble comment. Web publishers have begun to offer commenting on everything--posts, videos, pictures, whatever--like it was a kind of interactive condiment. Now practically anything on the Web collects comments the way a whale collects barnacles.
In theory, it's a great thing. We're giving the people a voice! But the reality is that commenting either attracts loathsome people or somehow causes ordinary people to express themselves in a way that is loathsome.
A random example: on June 11, a user called way21337 uploaded a video to YouTube. It's titled My new gerbil, and it shows, in fact, a black-and-white gerbil snuffling around cutely in somebody's hand. It is 11 seconds long. By press time, it had acquired 102 comments. Let's take a look! They begin with NewTyhuss, who writes, "sweet!" Things start going south with comment No. 4: "id hit it." (Good one, ZRace67!) After a week, we're down to eldergod: "why dont u shove that gerbil up yur ass and quit posting stupid videos." bwalhof writes, "kill yourself. fast." And so on.
Comments aren't always that idiotic. The comments on Gawker, a Manhattan-based media and gossip blog that I will probably (no, definitely) be made to regret mentioning, can be incredibly mean, but they're also often funnier and cleverer than the posts they comment on. Last August Gawker ran an item about the rapper Foxy Brown, who was accused of hitting a neighbor with her BlackBerry. The commenters spontaneously generated an entire mini-subculture consisting of variations on this single item: "This is like the time Spinderella stabbed me with her Treo." "MC Lite [sic] beat me about the head and upper shoulder with a stack of faxes." By October, the Foxy Brown post had 10,000 comments, at which point Gawker--presumably fearing the arrival of the Rapture--shut it down.
The horribleness of commenters isn't really a mystery: Internet anonymity is disinhibiting, and people are basically mean anyway. Nor is it a mystery why the people who run websites put up with commenters: the economic model for Internet content is based on advertising, which means it's based on traffic volume, and comments mean traffic. They're part of the things that make online publishing work. TIME.com enables comments on its blogs, including mine.) It's just hard to tell whether they're ruining the Web faster than they can save it.
Commenters tend to respond with surprise--they're shocked, shocked!--when people call them on being not nice. In their social universe, this kind of rhetorical slap-fighting is just how you do business, and anybody who feels otherwise is thin-skinned and humorless. As lame and self-serving as this excuse is, we can learn something from taking it at face value. Maybe commenters are just on one side of a cultural disconnect between two incompatible ideas of what the social conventions of the Internet should be. One is based on the standards of real-world, off-line politeness. The other is a kind of communal game in which whoever is cleverest and pushes the most buttons wins.
This disconnect is probably just temporary. In another decade or two, one side or the other will have won out, and then we'll all be on the same page, and we won't have this kind of misunderstanding anymore. But I know which side I'm rooting for. I'm sure Foxy Brown is with me.
Actually, if cruel was all they were, she got off pretty easy. For all the hype about Flickr and YouTube and Twitter and whatever else is putting "Web 2.0" in its business plan these days, the most ubiquitous form of user-generated content (to employ a phrase that just won't die) is the humble comment. Web publishers have begun to offer commenting on everything--posts, videos, pictures, whatever--like it was a kind of interactive condiment. Now practically anything on the Web collects comments the way a whale collects barnacles.
In theory, it's a great thing. We're giving the people a voice! But the reality is that commenting either attracts loathsome people or somehow causes ordinary people to express themselves in a way that is loathsome.
A random example: on June 11, a user called way21337 uploaded a video to YouTube. It's titled My new gerbil, and it shows, in fact, a black-and-white gerbil snuffling around cutely in somebody's hand. It is 11 seconds long. By press time, it had acquired 102 comments. Let's take a look! They begin with NewTyhuss, who writes, "sweet!" Things start going south with comment No. 4: "id hit it." (Good one, ZRace67!) After a week, we're down to eldergod: "why dont u shove that gerbil up yur ass and quit posting stupid videos." bwalhof writes, "kill yourself. fast." And so on.
Comments aren't always that idiotic. The comments on Gawker, a Manhattan-based media and gossip blog that I will probably (no, definitely) be made to regret mentioning, can be incredibly mean, but they're also often funnier and cleverer than the posts they comment on. Last August Gawker ran an item about the rapper Foxy Brown, who was accused of hitting a neighbor with her BlackBerry. The commenters spontaneously generated an entire mini-subculture consisting of variations on this single item: "This is like the time Spinderella stabbed me with her Treo." "MC Lite [sic] beat me about the head and upper shoulder with a stack of faxes." By October, the Foxy Brown post had 10,000 comments, at which point Gawker--presumably fearing the arrival of the Rapture--shut it down.
The horribleness of commenters isn't really a mystery: Internet anonymity is disinhibiting, and people are basically mean anyway. Nor is it a mystery why the people who run websites put up with commenters: the economic model for Internet content is based on advertising, which means it's based on traffic volume, and comments mean traffic. They're part of the things that make online publishing work. TIME.com enables comments on its blogs, including mine.) It's just hard to tell whether they're ruining the Web faster than they can save it.
Commenters tend to respond with surprise--they're shocked, shocked!--when people call them on being not nice. In their social universe, this kind of rhetorical slap-fighting is just how you do business, and anybody who feels otherwise is thin-skinned and humorless. As lame and self-serving as this excuse is, we can learn something from taking it at face value. Maybe commenters are just on one side of a cultural disconnect between two incompatible ideas of what the social conventions of the Internet should be. One is based on the standards of real-world, off-line politeness. The other is a kind of communal game in which whoever is cleverest and pushes the most buttons wins.
This disconnect is probably just temporary. In another decade or two, one side or the other will have won out, and then we'll all be on the same page, and we won't have this kind of misunderstanding anymore. But I know which side I'm rooting for. I'm sure Foxy Brown is with me.
Lifestyle - Truth about Plastic
If you know where to find a good plastic-free shampoo, can you tell Jeanne Haegele? Last September, the 28-year-old Chicago resident resolved to cut plastics out of her life. The marketing coordinator was concerned about what the chemicals leaching out of some common types of plastic might be doing to her body. She was also worried about the damage all the plastic refuse was doing to the environment. So she hopped on her bike and rode to the nearest grocery store to see what she could find that didn't include plastic. "I went in and barely bought anything," Haegele says. She did purchase some canned food and a carton of milk--only to discover later that both containers were lined with plastic resin. "Plastic," she says, "just seemed like it was in everything."
She's right. Back when Dustin Hoffman received the most famous one-word piece of career advice in cinema history, plastic was well on its way to becoming a staple of American life. The U.S. produced 28 million tons of plastic waste in 2005--27 million tons of which ended up in landfills. Our food and water come wrapped in plastic. It's used in our phones and our computers, the cars we drive and the planes we ride in. But the infinitely adaptable substance has its dark side. Environmentalists fret about the petroleum needed to make it. Parents worry about the possibility of toxic chemicals making their way from household plastic into children's bloodstreams. Which means Haegele isn't the only person trying to cut plastic out of her life--she isn't even the only one blogging about this kind of endeavor. But those who've tried know it's far from easy to go plastic-free. "These things are so ubiquitous that it is practically impossible to avoid coming into contact with them," says Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri.
Vom Saal is a prominent member of a group of researchers who have raised worrisome questions in recent years about the safety of some common types of plastics. We think of plastic as essentially inert; after all, it takes hundreds of years for a plastic bottle to degrade in a landfill. But as plastic ages or is exposed to heat or stress, it can release trace amounts of some of its ingredients. Of particular concern these days are bisphenol-a (BPA), used to strengthen some plastics, and phthalates, used to soften others. Each ingredient is a part of hundreds of household items; BPA is in everything from baby bottles to can linings (to protect against E. coli and botulism), while phthalates are found in children's toys as well as vinyl shower curtains. And those chemicals can get inside us through the food, water and bits of dust we consume or even by being absorbed through our skin. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 92% of Americans age 6 or older test positive for BPA--a sign of just how common the chemical is in our plastic universe.
Scientists like vom Saal argue that BPA and phthalates are different from other environmental toxins like lead and mercury in that these plastic ingredients are endocrine disrupters, which mimic hormones. Estrogen and other hormones in relatively tiny amounts can cause vast changes, so some researchers worry that BPA and phthalates could do the same, especially in young children. Animal studies on BPA found that low-dose exposure, particularly during pregnancy, may be associated with a variety of ills, including cancer and reproductive problems. Some human studies on phthalates linked exposure to declining sperm quality in adult males, while other work has found that early puberty in girls may be associated with the chemicals.
Does that mean even today's minuscule exposure levels are too much? The science is still murky, and human studies are few and far from definitive. So while Canada and the Democratic Republic of Wal-Mart are moving to ban BPA in baby bottles, the Food and Drug Administration maintains that BPA products pose no danger, as does the European Union. Even so, scientists like Mel Suffet, a professor of environmental-health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, say avoiding certain kinds of plastics is simply being better safe than sorry.
As researchers continue to examine plastic's impact on our bodies, there's no doubt that cutting down on the material will help the environment. Plastic makes up nearly 12% of our trash, up from 1% in 1960. You can literally see the result 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of San Francisco in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling mass of plastic debris twice the size of Texas. The rising cost of petroleum may get plastic manufacturers to come up with incentives for recycling; current rates stand at less than 6% in the U.S. But the best way to reduce your plastic impact on the earth is simply to use less.
Here's how. You can avoid plastic bottles and toys labeled with the numbers 3 or 7, which often contain BPA or phthalates, and steer clear of vinyl shower curtains and canned foods--especially those with acidic contents like tomatoes. Vom Saal counsels that the cautious should also avoid heating plastic in microwaves. But get rid of the stuff altogether? "It's hard to go all the way," says Haegele, who, 10 months into her experiment, is leading a mostly plastic-free life. Although she still uses a plastic toothbrush, she's experimented with her own toothpaste (made of baking soda, cinnamon and vodka; for the recipe, go to her blog, lifelessplastic.blogspot.com She has used vinegar for conditioner and is searching for a decent shampoo that doesn't come in a plastic bottle. She has tried soaplike bars of shampoo, but they make her hair feel sticky. Plus, they sometimes come wrapped in--you guessed it--plastic.
She's right. Back when Dustin Hoffman received the most famous one-word piece of career advice in cinema history, plastic was well on its way to becoming a staple of American life. The U.S. produced 28 million tons of plastic waste in 2005--27 million tons of which ended up in landfills. Our food and water come wrapped in plastic. It's used in our phones and our computers, the cars we drive and the planes we ride in. But the infinitely adaptable substance has its dark side. Environmentalists fret about the petroleum needed to make it. Parents worry about the possibility of toxic chemicals making their way from household plastic into children's bloodstreams. Which means Haegele isn't the only person trying to cut plastic out of her life--she isn't even the only one blogging about this kind of endeavor. But those who've tried know it's far from easy to go plastic-free. "These things are so ubiquitous that it is practically impossible to avoid coming into contact with them," says Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri.
Vom Saal is a prominent member of a group of researchers who have raised worrisome questions in recent years about the safety of some common types of plastics. We think of plastic as essentially inert; after all, it takes hundreds of years for a plastic bottle to degrade in a landfill. But as plastic ages or is exposed to heat or stress, it can release trace amounts of some of its ingredients. Of particular concern these days are bisphenol-a (BPA), used to strengthen some plastics, and phthalates, used to soften others. Each ingredient is a part of hundreds of household items; BPA is in everything from baby bottles to can linings (to protect against E. coli and botulism), while phthalates are found in children's toys as well as vinyl shower curtains. And those chemicals can get inside us through the food, water and bits of dust we consume or even by being absorbed through our skin. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 92% of Americans age 6 or older test positive for BPA--a sign of just how common the chemical is in our plastic universe.
Scientists like vom Saal argue that BPA and phthalates are different from other environmental toxins like lead and mercury in that these plastic ingredients are endocrine disrupters, which mimic hormones. Estrogen and other hormones in relatively tiny amounts can cause vast changes, so some researchers worry that BPA and phthalates could do the same, especially in young children. Animal studies on BPA found that low-dose exposure, particularly during pregnancy, may be associated with a variety of ills, including cancer and reproductive problems. Some human studies on phthalates linked exposure to declining sperm quality in adult males, while other work has found that early puberty in girls may be associated with the chemicals.
Does that mean even today's minuscule exposure levels are too much? The science is still murky, and human studies are few and far from definitive. So while Canada and the Democratic Republic of Wal-Mart are moving to ban BPA in baby bottles, the Food and Drug Administration maintains that BPA products pose no danger, as does the European Union. Even so, scientists like Mel Suffet, a professor of environmental-health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, say avoiding certain kinds of plastics is simply being better safe than sorry.
As researchers continue to examine plastic's impact on our bodies, there's no doubt that cutting down on the material will help the environment. Plastic makes up nearly 12% of our trash, up from 1% in 1960. You can literally see the result 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of San Francisco in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling mass of plastic debris twice the size of Texas. The rising cost of petroleum may get plastic manufacturers to come up with incentives for recycling; current rates stand at less than 6% in the U.S. But the best way to reduce your plastic impact on the earth is simply to use less.
Here's how. You can avoid plastic bottles and toys labeled with the numbers 3 or 7, which often contain BPA or phthalates, and steer clear of vinyl shower curtains and canned foods--especially those with acidic contents like tomatoes. Vom Saal counsels that the cautious should also avoid heating plastic in microwaves. But get rid of the stuff altogether? "It's hard to go all the way," says Haegele, who, 10 months into her experiment, is leading a mostly plastic-free life. Although she still uses a plastic toothbrush, she's experimented with her own toothpaste (made of baking soda, cinnamon and vodka; for the recipe, go to her blog, lifelessplastic.blogspot.com She has used vinegar for conditioner and is searching for a decent shampoo that doesn't come in a plastic bottle. She has tried soaplike bars of shampoo, but they make her hair feel sticky. Plus, they sometimes come wrapped in--you guessed it--plastic.
Lifestyle - Calories from Carbs or Fat?
Q:Will eating a calorie of fat make you fatter than eating a calorie of carbohydrate?
A: From many kinds of studies conducted over years, we are quite confident now that a calorie from fat will cause a similar amount of weight gain as a calorie from carbohydrate. There are some interesting questions about whether eating carbohydrate calories versus fat calories will make you eat more calories, but based on what you put into your mouth, it's pretty clear that the source of the calories is really not important.
[Whether fats or carbohydrates are more filling] is one issue that's been raised — but it's been raised on both sides. The best way to get to the bottom line is to look at long-term studies where we randomize people to a high-fat/low-carb diet or to a low-fat/high-carb diet and follow them for at least a year or more. That kind of study takes into account the possibility that one kind of diet provides more satiety; so, over the long run you would see more weight loss on that diet. But those studies — half a dozen or more have been done — show quite clearly that the percentage of calories from fat has very little effect on long-term weight loss.
One possible footnote to this issue relates to some recent evidence on trans fats. We have seen in our studies that people who eat more trans fats seem to gain more weight, even when the total calories are the same. I was a little skeptical about that, in part because we're not quite sure we can measure calorie [intake] precisely enough. [It's hard for people to track their portion sizes to the gram, or even be sure of exactly what they're eating, especially if they ever eat out.] But in recent five-year feeding study in monkeys — they're animals so you can control their diets — the monkeys on the high-trans-fat diet gained more weight. They gained about 7% of their body weight over a five-year period, compared to the monkeys on a low-trans-fat diet, who gained about 1.5% of their body weight over five years.
So there may be something more complicated going on there. But there's not any good data [to explain why a calorie of trans fat should cause more weight gain than a calorie of something else]. It may be that on the high-trans-fat diet you're more likely to push those calories into your fat cells rather than your muscle cells — and muscles burn calories 24 hours a day. In the long run, that could make a difference in weight gain. But that's speculation. We're really not sure.
We've now looked at over 250,000 men and women for up to 30 years, and we [also] haven't seen that the percentage of calories from fat or from carbohydrates in your diet makes any difference in relation to heart attacks, various cancers or stroke. Having said that, the type of fat is very important, and so is the type of carbohydrate. So we find that trans fats, again, are particularly harmful with regard to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. On the other hand, unsaturated fats are actually beneficial in terms of reducing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It's the same with carbohydrates. The total amount is not important. But high intake of refined starch and sugar is related to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, whereas high-fiber whole-grain carbohydrates are related to a lower risk. That's not too surprising, as we know that high intakes of sugar and refined starch have an adverse effect on blood glucose levels.
So the quality of the diet is really important, but just looking at fat versus carbohydrate misses where all the action is.
A: From many kinds of studies conducted over years, we are quite confident now that a calorie from fat will cause a similar amount of weight gain as a calorie from carbohydrate. There are some interesting questions about whether eating carbohydrate calories versus fat calories will make you eat more calories, but based on what you put into your mouth, it's pretty clear that the source of the calories is really not important.
[Whether fats or carbohydrates are more filling] is one issue that's been raised — but it's been raised on both sides. The best way to get to the bottom line is to look at long-term studies where we randomize people to a high-fat/low-carb diet or to a low-fat/high-carb diet and follow them for at least a year or more. That kind of study takes into account the possibility that one kind of diet provides more satiety; so, over the long run you would see more weight loss on that diet. But those studies — half a dozen or more have been done — show quite clearly that the percentage of calories from fat has very little effect on long-term weight loss.
One possible footnote to this issue relates to some recent evidence on trans fats. We have seen in our studies that people who eat more trans fats seem to gain more weight, even when the total calories are the same. I was a little skeptical about that, in part because we're not quite sure we can measure calorie [intake] precisely enough. [It's hard for people to track their portion sizes to the gram, or even be sure of exactly what they're eating, especially if they ever eat out.] But in recent five-year feeding study in monkeys — they're animals so you can control their diets — the monkeys on the high-trans-fat diet gained more weight. They gained about 7% of their body weight over a five-year period, compared to the monkeys on a low-trans-fat diet, who gained about 1.5% of their body weight over five years.
So there may be something more complicated going on there. But there's not any good data [to explain why a calorie of trans fat should cause more weight gain than a calorie of something else]. It may be that on the high-trans-fat diet you're more likely to push those calories into your fat cells rather than your muscle cells — and muscles burn calories 24 hours a day. In the long run, that could make a difference in weight gain. But that's speculation. We're really not sure.
We've now looked at over 250,000 men and women for up to 30 years, and we [also] haven't seen that the percentage of calories from fat or from carbohydrates in your diet makes any difference in relation to heart attacks, various cancers or stroke. Having said that, the type of fat is very important, and so is the type of carbohydrate. So we find that trans fats, again, are particularly harmful with regard to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. On the other hand, unsaturated fats are actually beneficial in terms of reducing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It's the same with carbohydrates. The total amount is not important. But high intake of refined starch and sugar is related to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, whereas high-fiber whole-grain carbohydrates are related to a lower risk. That's not too surprising, as we know that high intakes of sugar and refined starch have an adverse effect on blood glucose levels.
So the quality of the diet is really important, but just looking at fat versus carbohydrate misses where all the action is.
The 500th Post - V.G.Read Indeed
The 500th post - people, just had to be special.Managed to get something which is inspiring. Go ahead and read further Eight Lessons of Leadership from Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela has always felt most at ease around children, and in some ways his greatest deprivation was that he spent 27 years without hearing a baby cry or holding a child's hand. Last month, when I visited Mandela in Johannesburg — a frailer, foggier Mandela than the one I used to know — his first instinct was to spread his arms to my two boys. Within seconds they were hugging the friendly old man who asked them what sports they liked to play and what they'd had for breakfast. While we talked, he held my son Gabriel, whose complicated middle name is Rolihlahla, Nelson Mandela's real first name. He told Gabriel the story of that name, how in Xhosa it translates as "pulling down the branch of a tree" but that its real meaning is "troublemaker."
As he celebrates his 90th birthday next week, Nelson Mandela has made enough trouble for several lifetimes. He liberated a country from a system of violent prejudice and helped unite white and black, oppressor and oppressed, in a way that had never been done before. In the 1990s I worked with Mandela for almost two years on his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. After all that time spent in his company, I felt a terrible sense of withdrawal when the book was done; it was like the sun going out of one's life. We have seen each other occasionally over the years, but I wanted to make what might be a final visit and have my sons meet him one more time.
I also wanted to talk to him about leadership. Mandela is the closest thing the world has to a secular saint, but he would be the first to admit that he is something far more pedestrian: a politician. He overthrew apartheid and created a nonracial democratic South Africa by knowing precisely when and how to transition between his roles as warrior, martyr, diplomat and statesman. Uncomfortable with abstract philosophical concepts, he would often say to me that an issue "was not a question of principle; it was a question of tactics." He is a master tactician.
Mandela is no longer comfortable with inquiries or favors. He's fearful that he may not be able to summon what people expect when they visit a living deity, and vain enough to care that they not think him diminished. But the world has never needed Mandela's gifts — as a tactician, as an activist and, yes, as a politician — more, as he showed again in London on June 25, when he rose to condemn the savagery of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. As we enter the main stretch of a historic presidential campaign in America, there is much that he can teach the two candidates. I've always thought of what you are about to read as Madiba's Rules (Madiba, his clan name, is what everyone close to him calls him), and they are cobbled together from our conversations old and new and from observing him up close and from afar. They are mostly practical. Many of them stem directly from his personal experience. All of them are calibrated to cause the best kind of trouble: the trouble that forces us to ask how we can make the world a better place.
No. 1Courage is not the absence of fear
— it's inspiring others to move beyond itIn 1994, during the presidential-election campaign, Mandela got on a tiny propeller plane to fly down to the killing fields of Natal and give a speech to his Zulu supporters. I agreed to meet him at the airport, where we would continue our work after his speech. When the plane was 20 minutes from landing, one of its engines failed. Some on the plane began to panic. The only thing that calmed them was looking at Mandela, who quietly read his newspaper as if he were a commuter on his morning train to the office. The airport prepared for an emergency landing, and the pilot managed to land the plane safely. When Mandela and I got in the backseat of his bulletproof BMW that would take us to the rally, he turned to me and said, "Man, I was terrified up there!"
Mandela was often afraid during his time underground, during the Rivonia trial that led to his imprisonment, during his time on Robben Island. "Of course I was afraid!" he would tell me later. It would have been irrational, he suggested, not to be. "I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world." But as a leader, you cannot let people know. "You must put up a front."
And that's precisely what he learned to do: pretend and, through the act of appearing fearless, inspire others. It was a pantomime Mandela perfected on Robben Island, where there was much to fear. Prisoners who were with him said watching Mandela walk across the courtyard, upright and proud, was enough to keep them going for days. He knew that he was a model for others, and that gave him the strength to triumph over his own fear.
No. 2Lead from the front
— but don't leave your base behindMandela is cagey. in 1985 he was operated on for an enlarged prostate. When he was returned to prison, he was separated from his colleagues and friends for the first time in 21 years. They protested. But as his longtime friend Ahmed Kathrada recalls, he said to them, "Wait a minute, chaps. Some good may come of this."
The good that came of it was that Mandela on his own launched negotiations with the apartheid government. This was anathema to the African National Congress (ANC). After decades of saying "prisoners cannot negotiate" and after advocating an armed struggle that would bring the government to its knees, he decided that the time was right to begin to talk to his oppressors.
When he initiated his negotiations with the government in 1985, there were many who thought he had lost it. "We thought he was selling out," says Cyril Ramaphosa, then the powerful and fiery leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. "I went to see him to tell him, What are you doing? It was an unbelievable initiative. He took a massive risk."
Mandela launched a campaign to persuade the ANC that his was the correct course. His reputation was on the line. He went to each of his comrades in prison, Kathrada remembers, and explained what he was doing. Slowly and deliberately, he brought them along. "You take your support base along with you," says Ramaphosa, who was secretary-general of the ANC and is now a business mogul. "Once you arrive at the beachhead, then you allow the people to move on. He's not a bubble-gum leader — chew it now and throw it away."
For Mandela, refusing to negotiate was about tactics, not principles. Throughout his life, he has always made that distinction. His unwavering principle — the overthrow of apartheid and the achievement of one man, one vote — was immutable, but almost anything that helped him get to that goal he regarded as a tactic. He is the most pragmatic of idealists.
"He's a historical man," says Ramaphosa. "He was thinking way ahead of us. He has posterity in mind: How will they view what we've done?" Prison gave him the ability to take the long view. It had to; there was no other view possible. He was thinking in terms of not days and weeks but decades. He knew history was on his side, that the result was inevitable; it was just a question of how soon and how it would be achieved. "Things will be better in the long run," he sometimes said. He always played for the long run.
No. 3Lead from the back
— and let others believe they are in frontMandela loved to reminisce about his boyhood and his lazy afternoons herding cattle. "You know," he would say, "you can only lead them from behind." He would then raise his eyebrows to make sure I got the analogy.
As a boy, Mandela was greatly influenced by Jongintaba, the tribal king who raised him. When Jongintaba had meetings of his court, the men gathered in a circle, and only after all had spoken did the king begin to speak. The chief's job, Mandela said, was not to tell people what to do but to form a consensus. "Don't enter the debate too early," he used to say.
During the time I worked with Mandela, he often called meetings of his kitchen cabinet at his home in Houghton, a lovely old suburb of Johannesburg. He would gather half a dozen men, Ramaphosa, Thabo Mbeki (who is now the South African President) and others around the dining-room table or sometimes in a circle in his driveway. Some of his colleagues would shout at him — to move faster, to be more radical — and Mandela would simply listen. When he finally did speak at those meetings, he slowly and methodically summarized everyone's points of view and then unfurled his own thoughts, subtly steering the decision in the direction he wanted without imposing it. The trick of leadership is allowing yourself to be led too. "It is wise," he said, "to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea."
No. 4Know your enemy
— and learn about his favorite sportAs far back as the 1960s, mandela began studying Afrikaans, the language of the white South Africans who created apartheid. His comrades in the ANC teased him about it, but he wanted to understand the Afrikaner's worldview; he knew that one day he would be fighting them or negotiating with them, and either way, his destiny was tied to theirs.
This was strategic in two senses: by speaking his opponents' language, he might understand their strengths and weaknesses and formulate tactics accordingly. But he would also be ingratiating himself with his enemy. Everyone from ordinary jailers to P.W. Botha was impressed by Mandela's willingness to speak Afrikaans and his knowledge of Afrikaner history. He even brushed up on his knowledge of rugby, the Afrikaners' beloved sport, so he would be able to compare notes on teams and players.
Mandela understood that blacks and Afrikaners had something fundamental in common: Afrikaners believed themselves to be Africans as deeply as blacks did. He knew, too, that Afrikaners had been the victims of prejudice themselves: the British government and the white English settlers looked down on them. Afrikaners suffered from a cultural inferiority complex almost as much as blacks did.
Mandela was a lawyer, and in prison he helped the warders with their legal problems. They were far less educated and worldly than he, and it was extraordinary to them that a black man was willing and able to help them. These were "the most ruthless and brutal of the apartheid regime's characters," says Allister Sparks, the great South African historian, and he "realized that even the worst and crudest could be negotiated with."
No. 5Keep your friends close
— and your rivals even closerMany of the guests mandela invited to the house he built in Qunu were people whom, he intimated to me, he did not wholly trust. He had them to dinner; he called to consult with them; he flattered them and gave them gifts. Mandela is a man of invincible charm — and he has often used that charm to even greater effect on his rivals than on his allies.
On Robben Island, Mandela would always include in his brain trust men he neither liked nor relied on. One person he became close to was Chris Hani, the fiery chief of staff of the ANC's military wing. There were some who thought Hani was conspiring against Mandela, but Mandela cozied up to him. "It wasn't just Hani," says Ramaphosa. "It was also the big industrialists, the mining families, the opposition. He would pick up the phone and call them on their birthdays. He would go to family funerals. He saw it as an opportunity." When Mandela emerged from prison, he famously included his jailers among his friends and put leaders who had kept him in prison in his first Cabinet. Yet I well knew that he despised some of these men.
There were times he washed his hands of people — and times when, like so many people of great charm, he allowed himself to be charmed. Mandela initially developed a quick rapport with South African President F.W. de Klerk, which is why he later felt so betrayed when De Klerk attacked him in public.
Mandela believed that embracing his rivals was a way of controlling them: they were more dangerous on their own than within his circle of influence. He cherished loyalty, but he was never obsessed by it. After all, he used to say, "people act in their own interest." It was simply a fact of human nature, not a flaw or a defect. The flip side of being an optimist — and he is one — is trusting people too much. But Mandela recognized that the way to deal with those he didn't trust was to neutralize them with charm.
No. 6Appearances matter
— and remember to smileWhen Mandela was a poor law student in Johannesburg wearing his one threadbare suit, he was taken to see Walter Sisulu. Sisulu was a real estate agent and a young leader of the ANC. Mandela saw a sophisticated and successful black man whom he could emulate. Sisulu saw the future.
Sisulu once told me that his great quest in the 1950s was to turn the ANC into a mass movement; and then one day, he recalled with a smile, "a mass leader walked into my office." Mandela was tall and handsome, an amateur boxer who carried himself with the regal air of a chief's son. And he had a smile that was like the sun coming out on a cloudy day.
We sometimes forget the historical correlation between leadership and physicality. George Washington was the tallest and probably the strongest man in every room he entered. Size and strength have more to do with DNA than with leadership manuals, but Mandela understood how his appearance could advance his cause. As leader of the ANC's underground military wing, he insisted that he be photographed in the proper fatigues and with a beard, and throughout his career he has been concerned about dressing appropriately for his position. George Bizos, his lawyer, remembers that he first met Mandela at an Indian tailor's shop in the 1950s and that Mandela was the first black South African he had ever seen being fitted for a suit. Now Mandela's uniform is a series of exuberant-print shirts that declare him the joyous grandfather of modern Africa.
When Mandela was running for the presidency in 1994, he knew that symbols mattered as much as substance. He was never a great public speaker, and people often tuned out what he was saying after the first few minutes. But it was the iconography that people understood. When he was on a platform, he would always do the toyi-toyi, the township dance that was an emblem of the struggle. But more important was that dazzling, beatific, all-inclusive smile. For white South Africans, the smile symbolized Mandela's lack of bitterness and suggested that he was sympathetic to them. To black voters, it said, I am the happy warrior, and we will triumph. The ubiquitous ANC election poster was simply his smiling face. "The smile," says Ramaphosa, "was the message."
After he emerged from prison, people would say, over and over, It is amazing that he is not bitter. There are a thousand things Nelson Mandela was bitter about, but he knew that more than anything else, he had to project the exact opposite emotion. He always said, "Forget the past" — but I knew he never did.
No. 7Nothing is black or white
When we began our series of interviews, I would often ask Mandela questions like this one: When you decided to suspend the armed struggle, was it because you realized you did not have the strength to overthrow the government or because you knew you could win over international opinion by choosing nonviolence? He would then give me a curious glance and say, "Why not both?"
I did start asking smarter questions, but the message was clear: Life is never either/or. Decisions are complex, and there are always competing factors. To look for simple explanations is the bias of the human brain, but it doesn't correspond to reality. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears.
Mandela is comfortable with contradiction. As a politician, he was a pragmatist who saw the world as infinitely nuanced. Much of this, I believe, came from living as a black man under an apartheid system that offered a daily regimen of excruciating and debilitating moral choices: Do I defer to the white boss to get the job I want and avoid a punishment? Do I carry my pass?
As a statesman, Mandela was uncommonly loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and Fidel Castro. They had helped the ANC when the U.S. still branded Mandela as a terrorist. When I asked him about Gaddafi and Castro, he suggested that Americans tend to see things in black and white, and he would upbraid me for my lack of nuance. Every problem has many causes. While he was indisputably and clearly against apartheid, the causes of apartheid were complex. They were historical, sociological and psychological. Mandela's calculus was always, What is the end that I seek, and what is the most practical way to get there?
No. 8Quitting is leading too
In 1993, Mandela asked me if I knew of any countries where the minimum voting age was under 18. I did some research and presented him with a rather undistinguished list: Indonesia, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea and Iran. He nodded and uttered his highest praise: "Very good, very good." Two weeks later, Mandela went on South African television and proposed that the voting age be lowered to 14. "He tried to sell us the idea," recalls Ramaphosa, "but he was the only [supporter]. And he had to face the reality that it would not win the day. He accepted it with great humility. He doesn't sulk. That was also a lesson in leadership."
Knowing how to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship is often the most difficult kind of decision a leader has to make. In many ways, Mandela's greatest legacy as President of South Africa is the way he chose to leave it. When he was elected in 1994, Mandela probably could have pressed to be President for life — and there were many who felt that in return for his years in prison, that was the least South Africa could do.
In the history of Africa, there have been only a handful of democratically elected leaders who willingly stood down from office. Mandela was determined to set a precedent for all who followed him — not only in South Africa but across the rest of the continent. He would be the anti-Mugabe, the man who gave birth to his country and refused to hold it hostage. "His job was to set the course," says Ramaphosa, "not to steer the ship." He knows that leaders lead as much by what they choose not to do as what they do.
Ultimately, the key to understanding Mandela is those 27 years in prison. The man who walked onto Robben Island in 1964 was emotional, headstrong, easily stung. The man who emerged was balanced and disciplined. He is not and never has been introspective. I often asked him how the man who emerged from prison differed from the willful young man who had entered it. He hated this question. Finally, in exasperation one day, he said, "I came out mature." There is nothing so rare — or so valuable — as a mature man. Happy birthday, Madiba.
Nelson Mandela has always felt most at ease around children, and in some ways his greatest deprivation was that he spent 27 years without hearing a baby cry or holding a child's hand. Last month, when I visited Mandela in Johannesburg — a frailer, foggier Mandela than the one I used to know — his first instinct was to spread his arms to my two boys. Within seconds they were hugging the friendly old man who asked them what sports they liked to play and what they'd had for breakfast. While we talked, he held my son Gabriel, whose complicated middle name is Rolihlahla, Nelson Mandela's real first name. He told Gabriel the story of that name, how in Xhosa it translates as "pulling down the branch of a tree" but that its real meaning is "troublemaker."
As he celebrates his 90th birthday next week, Nelson Mandela has made enough trouble for several lifetimes. He liberated a country from a system of violent prejudice and helped unite white and black, oppressor and oppressed, in a way that had never been done before. In the 1990s I worked with Mandela for almost two years on his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. After all that time spent in his company, I felt a terrible sense of withdrawal when the book was done; it was like the sun going out of one's life. We have seen each other occasionally over the years, but I wanted to make what might be a final visit and have my sons meet him one more time.
I also wanted to talk to him about leadership. Mandela is the closest thing the world has to a secular saint, but he would be the first to admit that he is something far more pedestrian: a politician. He overthrew apartheid and created a nonracial democratic South Africa by knowing precisely when and how to transition between his roles as warrior, martyr, diplomat and statesman. Uncomfortable with abstract philosophical concepts, he would often say to me that an issue "was not a question of principle; it was a question of tactics." He is a master tactician.
Mandela is no longer comfortable with inquiries or favors. He's fearful that he may not be able to summon what people expect when they visit a living deity, and vain enough to care that they not think him diminished. But the world has never needed Mandela's gifts — as a tactician, as an activist and, yes, as a politician — more, as he showed again in London on June 25, when he rose to condemn the savagery of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. As we enter the main stretch of a historic presidential campaign in America, there is much that he can teach the two candidates. I've always thought of what you are about to read as Madiba's Rules (Madiba, his clan name, is what everyone close to him calls him), and they are cobbled together from our conversations old and new and from observing him up close and from afar. They are mostly practical. Many of them stem directly from his personal experience. All of them are calibrated to cause the best kind of trouble: the trouble that forces us to ask how we can make the world a better place.
No. 1Courage is not the absence of fear
— it's inspiring others to move beyond itIn 1994, during the presidential-election campaign, Mandela got on a tiny propeller plane to fly down to the killing fields of Natal and give a speech to his Zulu supporters. I agreed to meet him at the airport, where we would continue our work after his speech. When the plane was 20 minutes from landing, one of its engines failed. Some on the plane began to panic. The only thing that calmed them was looking at Mandela, who quietly read his newspaper as if he were a commuter on his morning train to the office. The airport prepared for an emergency landing, and the pilot managed to land the plane safely. When Mandela and I got in the backseat of his bulletproof BMW that would take us to the rally, he turned to me and said, "Man, I was terrified up there!"
Mandela was often afraid during his time underground, during the Rivonia trial that led to his imprisonment, during his time on Robben Island. "Of course I was afraid!" he would tell me later. It would have been irrational, he suggested, not to be. "I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world." But as a leader, you cannot let people know. "You must put up a front."
And that's precisely what he learned to do: pretend and, through the act of appearing fearless, inspire others. It was a pantomime Mandela perfected on Robben Island, where there was much to fear. Prisoners who were with him said watching Mandela walk across the courtyard, upright and proud, was enough to keep them going for days. He knew that he was a model for others, and that gave him the strength to triumph over his own fear.
No. 2Lead from the front
— but don't leave your base behindMandela is cagey. in 1985 he was operated on for an enlarged prostate. When he was returned to prison, he was separated from his colleagues and friends for the first time in 21 years. They protested. But as his longtime friend Ahmed Kathrada recalls, he said to them, "Wait a minute, chaps. Some good may come of this."
The good that came of it was that Mandela on his own launched negotiations with the apartheid government. This was anathema to the African National Congress (ANC). After decades of saying "prisoners cannot negotiate" and after advocating an armed struggle that would bring the government to its knees, he decided that the time was right to begin to talk to his oppressors.
When he initiated his negotiations with the government in 1985, there were many who thought he had lost it. "We thought he was selling out," says Cyril Ramaphosa, then the powerful and fiery leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. "I went to see him to tell him, What are you doing? It was an unbelievable initiative. He took a massive risk."
Mandela launched a campaign to persuade the ANC that his was the correct course. His reputation was on the line. He went to each of his comrades in prison, Kathrada remembers, and explained what he was doing. Slowly and deliberately, he brought them along. "You take your support base along with you," says Ramaphosa, who was secretary-general of the ANC and is now a business mogul. "Once you arrive at the beachhead, then you allow the people to move on. He's not a bubble-gum leader — chew it now and throw it away."
For Mandela, refusing to negotiate was about tactics, not principles. Throughout his life, he has always made that distinction. His unwavering principle — the overthrow of apartheid and the achievement of one man, one vote — was immutable, but almost anything that helped him get to that goal he regarded as a tactic. He is the most pragmatic of idealists.
"He's a historical man," says Ramaphosa. "He was thinking way ahead of us. He has posterity in mind: How will they view what we've done?" Prison gave him the ability to take the long view. It had to; there was no other view possible. He was thinking in terms of not days and weeks but decades. He knew history was on his side, that the result was inevitable; it was just a question of how soon and how it would be achieved. "Things will be better in the long run," he sometimes said. He always played for the long run.
No. 3Lead from the back
— and let others believe they are in frontMandela loved to reminisce about his boyhood and his lazy afternoons herding cattle. "You know," he would say, "you can only lead them from behind." He would then raise his eyebrows to make sure I got the analogy.
As a boy, Mandela was greatly influenced by Jongintaba, the tribal king who raised him. When Jongintaba had meetings of his court, the men gathered in a circle, and only after all had spoken did the king begin to speak. The chief's job, Mandela said, was not to tell people what to do but to form a consensus. "Don't enter the debate too early," he used to say.
During the time I worked with Mandela, he often called meetings of his kitchen cabinet at his home in Houghton, a lovely old suburb of Johannesburg. He would gather half a dozen men, Ramaphosa, Thabo Mbeki (who is now the South African President) and others around the dining-room table or sometimes in a circle in his driveway. Some of his colleagues would shout at him — to move faster, to be more radical — and Mandela would simply listen. When he finally did speak at those meetings, he slowly and methodically summarized everyone's points of view and then unfurled his own thoughts, subtly steering the decision in the direction he wanted without imposing it. The trick of leadership is allowing yourself to be led too. "It is wise," he said, "to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea."
No. 4Know your enemy
— and learn about his favorite sportAs far back as the 1960s, mandela began studying Afrikaans, the language of the white South Africans who created apartheid. His comrades in the ANC teased him about it, but he wanted to understand the Afrikaner's worldview; he knew that one day he would be fighting them or negotiating with them, and either way, his destiny was tied to theirs.
This was strategic in two senses: by speaking his opponents' language, he might understand their strengths and weaknesses and formulate tactics accordingly. But he would also be ingratiating himself with his enemy. Everyone from ordinary jailers to P.W. Botha was impressed by Mandela's willingness to speak Afrikaans and his knowledge of Afrikaner history. He even brushed up on his knowledge of rugby, the Afrikaners' beloved sport, so he would be able to compare notes on teams and players.
Mandela understood that blacks and Afrikaners had something fundamental in common: Afrikaners believed themselves to be Africans as deeply as blacks did. He knew, too, that Afrikaners had been the victims of prejudice themselves: the British government and the white English settlers looked down on them. Afrikaners suffered from a cultural inferiority complex almost as much as blacks did.
Mandela was a lawyer, and in prison he helped the warders with their legal problems. They were far less educated and worldly than he, and it was extraordinary to them that a black man was willing and able to help them. These were "the most ruthless and brutal of the apartheid regime's characters," says Allister Sparks, the great South African historian, and he "realized that even the worst and crudest could be negotiated with."
No. 5Keep your friends close
— and your rivals even closerMany of the guests mandela invited to the house he built in Qunu were people whom, he intimated to me, he did not wholly trust. He had them to dinner; he called to consult with them; he flattered them and gave them gifts. Mandela is a man of invincible charm — and he has often used that charm to even greater effect on his rivals than on his allies.
On Robben Island, Mandela would always include in his brain trust men he neither liked nor relied on. One person he became close to was Chris Hani, the fiery chief of staff of the ANC's military wing. There were some who thought Hani was conspiring against Mandela, but Mandela cozied up to him. "It wasn't just Hani," says Ramaphosa. "It was also the big industrialists, the mining families, the opposition. He would pick up the phone and call them on their birthdays. He would go to family funerals. He saw it as an opportunity." When Mandela emerged from prison, he famously included his jailers among his friends and put leaders who had kept him in prison in his first Cabinet. Yet I well knew that he despised some of these men.
There were times he washed his hands of people — and times when, like so many people of great charm, he allowed himself to be charmed. Mandela initially developed a quick rapport with South African President F.W. de Klerk, which is why he later felt so betrayed when De Klerk attacked him in public.
Mandela believed that embracing his rivals was a way of controlling them: they were more dangerous on their own than within his circle of influence. He cherished loyalty, but he was never obsessed by it. After all, he used to say, "people act in their own interest." It was simply a fact of human nature, not a flaw or a defect. The flip side of being an optimist — and he is one — is trusting people too much. But Mandela recognized that the way to deal with those he didn't trust was to neutralize them with charm.
No. 6Appearances matter
— and remember to smileWhen Mandela was a poor law student in Johannesburg wearing his one threadbare suit, he was taken to see Walter Sisulu. Sisulu was a real estate agent and a young leader of the ANC. Mandela saw a sophisticated and successful black man whom he could emulate. Sisulu saw the future.
Sisulu once told me that his great quest in the 1950s was to turn the ANC into a mass movement; and then one day, he recalled with a smile, "a mass leader walked into my office." Mandela was tall and handsome, an amateur boxer who carried himself with the regal air of a chief's son. And he had a smile that was like the sun coming out on a cloudy day.
We sometimes forget the historical correlation between leadership and physicality. George Washington was the tallest and probably the strongest man in every room he entered. Size and strength have more to do with DNA than with leadership manuals, but Mandela understood how his appearance could advance his cause. As leader of the ANC's underground military wing, he insisted that he be photographed in the proper fatigues and with a beard, and throughout his career he has been concerned about dressing appropriately for his position. George Bizos, his lawyer, remembers that he first met Mandela at an Indian tailor's shop in the 1950s and that Mandela was the first black South African he had ever seen being fitted for a suit. Now Mandela's uniform is a series of exuberant-print shirts that declare him the joyous grandfather of modern Africa.
When Mandela was running for the presidency in 1994, he knew that symbols mattered as much as substance. He was never a great public speaker, and people often tuned out what he was saying after the first few minutes. But it was the iconography that people understood. When he was on a platform, he would always do the toyi-toyi, the township dance that was an emblem of the struggle. But more important was that dazzling, beatific, all-inclusive smile. For white South Africans, the smile symbolized Mandela's lack of bitterness and suggested that he was sympathetic to them. To black voters, it said, I am the happy warrior, and we will triumph. The ubiquitous ANC election poster was simply his smiling face. "The smile," says Ramaphosa, "was the message."
After he emerged from prison, people would say, over and over, It is amazing that he is not bitter. There are a thousand things Nelson Mandela was bitter about, but he knew that more than anything else, he had to project the exact opposite emotion. He always said, "Forget the past" — but I knew he never did.
No. 7Nothing is black or white
When we began our series of interviews, I would often ask Mandela questions like this one: When you decided to suspend the armed struggle, was it because you realized you did not have the strength to overthrow the government or because you knew you could win over international opinion by choosing nonviolence? He would then give me a curious glance and say, "Why not both?"
I did start asking smarter questions, but the message was clear: Life is never either/or. Decisions are complex, and there are always competing factors. To look for simple explanations is the bias of the human brain, but it doesn't correspond to reality. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears.
Mandela is comfortable with contradiction. As a politician, he was a pragmatist who saw the world as infinitely nuanced. Much of this, I believe, came from living as a black man under an apartheid system that offered a daily regimen of excruciating and debilitating moral choices: Do I defer to the white boss to get the job I want and avoid a punishment? Do I carry my pass?
As a statesman, Mandela was uncommonly loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and Fidel Castro. They had helped the ANC when the U.S. still branded Mandela as a terrorist. When I asked him about Gaddafi and Castro, he suggested that Americans tend to see things in black and white, and he would upbraid me for my lack of nuance. Every problem has many causes. While he was indisputably and clearly against apartheid, the causes of apartheid were complex. They were historical, sociological and psychological. Mandela's calculus was always, What is the end that I seek, and what is the most practical way to get there?
No. 8Quitting is leading too
In 1993, Mandela asked me if I knew of any countries where the minimum voting age was under 18. I did some research and presented him with a rather undistinguished list: Indonesia, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea and Iran. He nodded and uttered his highest praise: "Very good, very good." Two weeks later, Mandela went on South African television and proposed that the voting age be lowered to 14. "He tried to sell us the idea," recalls Ramaphosa, "but he was the only [supporter]. And he had to face the reality that it would not win the day. He accepted it with great humility. He doesn't sulk. That was also a lesson in leadership."
Knowing how to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship is often the most difficult kind of decision a leader has to make. In many ways, Mandela's greatest legacy as President of South Africa is the way he chose to leave it. When he was elected in 1994, Mandela probably could have pressed to be President for life — and there were many who felt that in return for his years in prison, that was the least South Africa could do.
In the history of Africa, there have been only a handful of democratically elected leaders who willingly stood down from office. Mandela was determined to set a precedent for all who followed him — not only in South Africa but across the rest of the continent. He would be the anti-Mugabe, the man who gave birth to his country and refused to hold it hostage. "His job was to set the course," says Ramaphosa, "not to steer the ship." He knows that leaders lead as much by what they choose not to do as what they do.
Ultimately, the key to understanding Mandela is those 27 years in prison. The man who walked onto Robben Island in 1964 was emotional, headstrong, easily stung. The man who emerged was balanced and disciplined. He is not and never has been introspective. I often asked him how the man who emerged from prison differed from the willful young man who had entered it. He hated this question. Finally, in exasperation one day, he said, "I came out mature." There is nothing so rare — or so valuable — as a mature man. Happy birthday, Madiba.
Fun - Powering up the Electric Slide
Yes, it's a cheesy slogan: "all you have to do is dance to save the world." But Club4Climate's silly-sounding premise--that partygoers can groove their way to a greener planet--is based on real science. The environmental group, founded by British real estate mogul Andrew Charalambous, is set to open what is being touted as the world's first eco-club on July 10 in London. And as the dancers get pumped up, Club Surya will get powered up. Literally. The dance floor is designed to harness the energy of the people stomping on it based on a principle called piezoelectricity. Piezo, Greek for pressure, uses crystals or other materials that, when compressed, give off a small amount of voltage. So as clubbers dance on the spring-lined floor, the crystal blocks beneath it acquire a charge and generate a current that can charge nearby batteries.
Charalambous, the owner of Club Surya, calls the human body the "ultimate energy battery." His dance floor appears to be the first commercial application to use piezoelectricity on such a large scale--a separate group has been trying to work out the kinks for a similar eco-club in the Netherlands--but the technology isn't new. Piezoelectricity was used in early sonar devices in World War I and can be found in electric cigarette lighters and some gas grills.
Scientists, however, are skeptical of Charalambous' claims that the dance floor may be able to generate up to 60% of the club's electricity. "That level of power surprises me," says Eric Cross, an expert on piezoelectric materials at Penn State University. According to Cross, the required materials are stiff, but if enough people are moving at the same time, he surmises, it's possible that that much energy could be produced. The rest of the electricity at Surya--Sanskrit for "sun god"--will come from solar panels and wind turbines.
The club has lots of other eco-bells and -whistles. Dancers' perspiration will help turn heat-sensitive walls different colors. The toilets will be flushed with rainwater, and even the booze is pretty green: organic, fair-trade alcohol will be served, along with bio-beer, whose makers claim that the aloe vera in it helps increase vitamin uptake as well as reduce the harmful effects of alcohol on the liver. Also, Surya is offering free admission to clubbers who can prove they traveled there by foot, bicycle or public transportation. Of course, given the price of gas these days, it seems unlikely that many clubgoers will be arriving any other way.
Charalambous, the owner of Club Surya, calls the human body the "ultimate energy battery." His dance floor appears to be the first commercial application to use piezoelectricity on such a large scale--a separate group has been trying to work out the kinks for a similar eco-club in the Netherlands--but the technology isn't new. Piezoelectricity was used in early sonar devices in World War I and can be found in electric cigarette lighters and some gas grills.
Scientists, however, are skeptical of Charalambous' claims that the dance floor may be able to generate up to 60% of the club's electricity. "That level of power surprises me," says Eric Cross, an expert on piezoelectric materials at Penn State University. According to Cross, the required materials are stiff, but if enough people are moving at the same time, he surmises, it's possible that that much energy could be produced. The rest of the electricity at Surya--Sanskrit for "sun god"--will come from solar panels and wind turbines.
The club has lots of other eco-bells and -whistles. Dancers' perspiration will help turn heat-sensitive walls different colors. The toilets will be flushed with rainwater, and even the booze is pretty green: organic, fair-trade alcohol will be served, along with bio-beer, whose makers claim that the aloe vera in it helps increase vitamin uptake as well as reduce the harmful effects of alcohol on the liver. Also, Surya is offering free admission to clubbers who can prove they traveled there by foot, bicycle or public transportation. Of course, given the price of gas these days, it seems unlikely that many clubgoers will be arriving any other way.
Lifestyle - Global Warming means more Kidney Stones ?
In early July, when a former government employee accused Dick Cheney's office of deleting from congressional testimony key statements about the impact of climate change on public health, White House staff countered that the science just wasn't strong enough to include. Not two weeks later, however, things already look different. University of Texas researchers have laid out some of the most compelling science to date linking climate change with adverse public-health effects: scientists predict a steady rise in the U.S. incidence of kidney stones — a medical condition largely brought on by dehydration — as the planet continues to warm
Kidney stones are already more common in the warmer Southern states than in the North. Urologists even talk about a "kidney stone belt," a high-risk zone through the South where populations are more likely to develop stones — crystallized chemicals (usually calcium, phosphates and oxalates from an ordinary diet) that form in the urinary tract, and often cause sharp, intense pain when they pass. The Texas researchers used regional data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to predict how this belt might grow, publishing their report this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By 2050, the research suggests, 56% of Americans will live in regions encompassed by the kidney stone belt, compared with 40% in 2000. And by 2095, the belt should expand to 70% of the population.
Scientists have hypothesized other health consequences of climate change before, some better supported by evidence than others: heat waves that kill, new breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread deadly malaria or dengue fever, and stagnant warm air pockets that trap disease-causing smog. But in this study, says lead researcher Tom Brikowski, he and his colleagues are pretty sure they've traced a direct relationship between human health and temperature — no mosquitoes or air pollution are needed to make the link. Even in the belt region where kidney stones are common and populations have adjusted their lifestyles to the heat, cases still peak seasonally after periods of hot weather. A previous study found that soldiers sent to warm regions see a peak in stone risk 90 days after deployment.
What's not clear, however, is the exact relationship between temperature and kidney stone rates. If each additional degree of heat causes an incremental increase in stones, Brikowski and colleagues predict we'll see new kidney stone cases concentrated in regions with the most rapid temperature changes: California, Texas, Florida and the Eastern seaboard. But if there's a threshold temperature at which risk shoots up — some evidence suggests such a threshold exists at about 13.4 degrees C (56 degrees F) — they expect the hardest-hit regions to be those where mean temperature crosses the threshold: Northern California and the belt running from Kansas to Kentucky.
Of course, if you're in the risk zone, there are easier ways to prevent stones than by slashing greenhouse-gas emissions (though that might not be a bad idea for the heat waves and the smog). Drink plenty of fluids, and your body will be better able to dilute the relevant minerals.
Until this month, Brikowski says he'd barely thought about bigger political implications of his work. "But I did warn my family that if I get a letter from the Vice President to go hunting, they could ignore it," he says.
Kidney stones are already more common in the warmer Southern states than in the North. Urologists even talk about a "kidney stone belt," a high-risk zone through the South where populations are more likely to develop stones — crystallized chemicals (usually calcium, phosphates and oxalates from an ordinary diet) that form in the urinary tract, and often cause sharp, intense pain when they pass. The Texas researchers used regional data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to predict how this belt might grow, publishing their report this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By 2050, the research suggests, 56% of Americans will live in regions encompassed by the kidney stone belt, compared with 40% in 2000. And by 2095, the belt should expand to 70% of the population.
Scientists have hypothesized other health consequences of climate change before, some better supported by evidence than others: heat waves that kill, new breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread deadly malaria or dengue fever, and stagnant warm air pockets that trap disease-causing smog. But in this study, says lead researcher Tom Brikowski, he and his colleagues are pretty sure they've traced a direct relationship between human health and temperature — no mosquitoes or air pollution are needed to make the link. Even in the belt region where kidney stones are common and populations have adjusted their lifestyles to the heat, cases still peak seasonally after periods of hot weather. A previous study found that soldiers sent to warm regions see a peak in stone risk 90 days after deployment.
What's not clear, however, is the exact relationship between temperature and kidney stone rates. If each additional degree of heat causes an incremental increase in stones, Brikowski and colleagues predict we'll see new kidney stone cases concentrated in regions with the most rapid temperature changes: California, Texas, Florida and the Eastern seaboard. But if there's a threshold temperature at which risk shoots up — some evidence suggests such a threshold exists at about 13.4 degrees C (56 degrees F) — they expect the hardest-hit regions to be those where mean temperature crosses the threshold: Northern California and the belt running from Kansas to Kentucky.
Of course, if you're in the risk zone, there are easier ways to prevent stones than by slashing greenhouse-gas emissions (though that might not be a bad idea for the heat waves and the smog). Drink plenty of fluids, and your body will be better able to dilute the relevant minerals.
Until this month, Brikowski says he'd barely thought about bigger political implications of his work. "But I did warn my family that if I get a letter from the Vice President to go hunting, they could ignore it," he says.
World - Opec's empty toolkit
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The leaders of OPEC have a long list of culprits for high oil prices: the falling dollar, U.S.-Iranian tensions, and shady speculators.
Here's one they seem to forget: OPEC.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries consistently claims that supply is not a problem - that there's plenty of oil to meet demand.
But last year, as the price of oil nearly doubled, OPEC was actually cutting production. The cartel produced 1.5% less last year despite adding two countries, Angola and Ecuador, to its ranks. That cutback at a time of growing demand helped drive prices up.
"They made a mistake," says Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist for Deutsche Bank, who thinks OPEC's drop in production last year is the No. 1 reason for today's prices. "The Saudis are responsible for trying to manage the world market. They underestimated demand and they overestimated non-OPEC supply."
To get the full context for OPEC's cut, we need to go back to the fall of 2006, when the world was a very different place. The price of oil was falling fast, from a high of $78 in August to below $60 by late October. Hedge funds were reportedly piling into the market and driving the price lower. The poo-bahs of OPEC probably had flashbacks to the mid-1980s oil-price collapse. The cartel decided it was time to act.
On Oct. 20, OPEC voted to drop production by 1.2 million barrels per day.
That day may have been the last time OPEC had control of the oil market. By mid-January, oil bottomed at $51 per barrel and then began its extraordinary rise. Now we're flirting with $150.
Out of whack prices
The question is: Can OPEC now undo what it has helped to create?
Last week OPEC released its World Oil Outlook 2008, a 214-page report that can be summed up in one reassuring sentence from the foreword by OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri: "Availability is not an issue." Despite increasing demand, the report promises plentiful oil for decades to come.
Not surprisingly, then, El-Badri, who also runs Libya's national oil company, argues that, at $140, the price of crude oil is out of whack with reality.
"Today, what is apparent is that oil supply and demand fundamentals are healthy," he writes. "There is, and has been, more than enough supply to meet demand, and oil stocks in major consuming countries are at comfortable levels. This should point away from the direction of current price levels."
In recent weeks, while Congress has been holding dozens of hearings to try to figure out who to blame for the rude price of crude, the Secretary-General and his colleague Chakib Khelil, the president of OPEC and head of Algeria's oil ministry, have offered a variety of explanations. Khelil has cited the falling value of the U.S. dollar, referenced tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and pointed the finger at hedge fund speculators. (It's hard to argue with the first two, but I generally side with my colleague Jon Birger in believing that it's bogus to blame speculators.) Saudi Arabia called an emergency oil summit last month, the main purpose of which seemed to be to get out the message that rising prices weren't the cartel's fault.
But it's disingenuous for OPEC's leadership to suggest that reduced production had nothing to do with rising prices. OPEC pumps 44% of the world's daily oil production and, by its own count, has 78% of the world's proven reserves. In an increasingly tight market, there's no room for the largest group of producers to drop its output without directly affecting prices. And indeed, in announcements before and during the summit, the Saudis pledged to boost production by some 500,000 barrels a day.
Where's the oil?
The scary thought - held by observers like peak oil guru Matt Simmons and commodities investor Jim Rogers - is that the cartel can't do much more than that because the easy oil is already out of the ground.
"They've been telling us for years that they have between two and three million barrels of [daily] spare capacity," says Gal Luft, the executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. "If you have it and you don't use it then you are deliberately denying liquidity to the market when it needs it. If they have it, why don't they use it? And if they don't have it, we need to know that. We need to put more oil in our strategic reserve."
OPEC has apparently given its members the green light to pump all they want, according to a survey released by energy news service Platts last month. The Platts press release about the survey says that "OPEC has a 'tacit' understanding that those members capable of boosting crude production should supply as much oil as world oil markets needed."
In other words, the leaders of OPEC are trying to regain control of oil prices and offer relief to their agitated customers, although Platts Global Director of Oil John Kingston sounded skeptical about how successful OPEC could be. "It's clear that with non-OPEC output continuing to sag, and world demand staying flat regardless of high prices, that any additional supply most likely must come from OPEC," he is quoted as saying. "But...its ability to put much more oil on the market looks severely constrained."
Over the weekend, another important OPEC figure offered his thoughts on the price of oil. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that crude is in a speculative bubble and that it might hit $200 per barrel. (He also took the opportunity to threaten to cut off supplies to the U.S. and drive the price up to $300 if Exxon didn't back off in a dispute over its assets in his country.)
At $200, Deutsche Bank's Sieminski calculates, global GDP growth would fall to a mere 2%. "That would stop demand growth," he says.
Rather than find out if he's right, let's hope OPEC's efforts to drive prices down today are half as effective as its efforts to raise them were in 2006
Here's one they seem to forget: OPEC.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries consistently claims that supply is not a problem - that there's plenty of oil to meet demand.
But last year, as the price of oil nearly doubled, OPEC was actually cutting production. The cartel produced 1.5% less last year despite adding two countries, Angola and Ecuador, to its ranks. That cutback at a time of growing demand helped drive prices up.
"They made a mistake," says Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist for Deutsche Bank, who thinks OPEC's drop in production last year is the No. 1 reason for today's prices. "The Saudis are responsible for trying to manage the world market. They underestimated demand and they overestimated non-OPEC supply."
To get the full context for OPEC's cut, we need to go back to the fall of 2006, when the world was a very different place. The price of oil was falling fast, from a high of $78 in August to below $60 by late October. Hedge funds were reportedly piling into the market and driving the price lower. The poo-bahs of OPEC probably had flashbacks to the mid-1980s oil-price collapse. The cartel decided it was time to act.
On Oct. 20, OPEC voted to drop production by 1.2 million barrels per day.
That day may have been the last time OPEC had control of the oil market. By mid-January, oil bottomed at $51 per barrel and then began its extraordinary rise. Now we're flirting with $150.
Out of whack prices
The question is: Can OPEC now undo what it has helped to create?
Last week OPEC released its World Oil Outlook 2008, a 214-page report that can be summed up in one reassuring sentence from the foreword by OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri: "Availability is not an issue." Despite increasing demand, the report promises plentiful oil for decades to come.
Not surprisingly, then, El-Badri, who also runs Libya's national oil company, argues that, at $140, the price of crude oil is out of whack with reality.
"Today, what is apparent is that oil supply and demand fundamentals are healthy," he writes. "There is, and has been, more than enough supply to meet demand, and oil stocks in major consuming countries are at comfortable levels. This should point away from the direction of current price levels."
In recent weeks, while Congress has been holding dozens of hearings to try to figure out who to blame for the rude price of crude, the Secretary-General and his colleague Chakib Khelil, the president of OPEC and head of Algeria's oil ministry, have offered a variety of explanations. Khelil has cited the falling value of the U.S. dollar, referenced tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and pointed the finger at hedge fund speculators. (It's hard to argue with the first two, but I generally side with my colleague Jon Birger in believing that it's bogus to blame speculators.) Saudi Arabia called an emergency oil summit last month, the main purpose of which seemed to be to get out the message that rising prices weren't the cartel's fault.
But it's disingenuous for OPEC's leadership to suggest that reduced production had nothing to do with rising prices. OPEC pumps 44% of the world's daily oil production and, by its own count, has 78% of the world's proven reserves. In an increasingly tight market, there's no room for the largest group of producers to drop its output without directly affecting prices. And indeed, in announcements before and during the summit, the Saudis pledged to boost production by some 500,000 barrels a day.
Where's the oil?
The scary thought - held by observers like peak oil guru Matt Simmons and commodities investor Jim Rogers - is that the cartel can't do much more than that because the easy oil is already out of the ground.
"They've been telling us for years that they have between two and three million barrels of [daily] spare capacity," says Gal Luft, the executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. "If you have it and you don't use it then you are deliberately denying liquidity to the market when it needs it. If they have it, why don't they use it? And if they don't have it, we need to know that. We need to put more oil in our strategic reserve."
OPEC has apparently given its members the green light to pump all they want, according to a survey released by energy news service Platts last month. The Platts press release about the survey says that "OPEC has a 'tacit' understanding that those members capable of boosting crude production should supply as much oil as world oil markets needed."
In other words, the leaders of OPEC are trying to regain control of oil prices and offer relief to their agitated customers, although Platts Global Director of Oil John Kingston sounded skeptical about how successful OPEC could be. "It's clear that with non-OPEC output continuing to sag, and world demand staying flat regardless of high prices, that any additional supply most likely must come from OPEC," he is quoted as saying. "But...its ability to put much more oil on the market looks severely constrained."
Over the weekend, another important OPEC figure offered his thoughts on the price of oil. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that crude is in a speculative bubble and that it might hit $200 per barrel. (He also took the opportunity to threaten to cut off supplies to the U.S. and drive the price up to $300 if Exxon didn't back off in a dispute over its assets in his country.)
At $200, Deutsche Bank's Sieminski calculates, global GDP growth would fall to a mere 2%. "That would stop demand growth," he says.
Rather than find out if he's right, let's hope OPEC's efforts to drive prices down today are half as effective as its efforts to raise them were in 2006
World - Olympics & Pollution
Air pollution. Heat and humidity. Time zone changes. All have been cited as potential issues at next month's Beijing Olympics. And the fear is that any of them can throw a superior athlete into dissolution, allowing an inferior athlete to win a competition.
But the truth, exercise physiologists say, is not always the same as conventional wisdom. Jet lag may have no effect on performance. Although Beijing's pollution can be a problem, the biggest drag on performance probably will come from the city's heat and humidity.
"Heat and humidity is worse," says Randall Wilber, a senior sport physiologist for the United States Olympic Committee.
Matthew Ely, a researcher at the United States army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts, found that elite marathon runners' times can be as much as 4 percent slower when the temperature is between 68 and 77 degrees as compared with the more ideal temperatures of 41 to 50 degrees. Because people respond differently to heat and humidity, an advantage may go to runners who ordinarily would not have been competitive.
"You will fatigue sooner in the heat," said Jose Gonzalez-Alonso, chairman of the department of exercise science at Brunel University in England. Some athletes cannot finish a race. And exercise just feels harder.
Athletes know the drill — spend some time training in hot and humid conditions to get acclimated. Expect to be slower.
Deena Kastor, a United States Olympic marathon runner, said she deliberately overdressed in training runs to prepare for Beijing. Her goal, she said in an e-mail message, "is to create a more hot and humid environment."
Brian Sell, a member of the Olympic marathon team, is spending a couple of weeks with his family in Florida, getting acclimated to severe heat and humidity and discovering how fast he can run in those conditions.
On race day, just before they compete, some endurance athletes are expected to wear a new version of a cooling vest made by Nike, hoping to start the race with their skin and core body temperatures as low as possible. The vest contains pockets of ice water.
While there is no doubt that pre-cooling the body before exercise in the heat can improve performance, the benefits are proportional to the amount of cooling that is achieved, said Samuel Cheuvront, a researcher who studies the effects of heat and humidity at the Army Research Institute.
Nike has not published data on its vests' effects on cooling or performance. Cheuvront said vests typically had only a small cooling effect, so their benefit was also likely to be small. Even a tiny difference may give a competitive edge in the Olympics, of course. But the sort of cooling that can make a marked difference in performance — drastically cooling the entire body by, for example, immersing athletes up to their neck in icy water — is not practical just before a race, Cheuvront said.
Wilber said that pollution could also affect performance, and athletes have told him that pollution is what they fear the most. As with heat and humidity, its effects are most pronounced among endurance athletes, like distance runners and cyclists.
Few could miss seeing the ever-present photos of Beijing shrouded in a gray mist of smog. Many have heard horror stories from athletes who have competed in Beijing.
The mountain biker Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski raced in Beijing last September. The air was thick with smog and he was convulsed with coughing fits. "I had to abandon the race," he said. He was not alone. Only 8 of the 50 cyclists who started the race completed it, an attrition rate that is "just unheard of," Horgan-Kobelski said.
Wilber's data indicated that Beijing's pollution levels, on a bad day, would be 30 to 35 percent higher than the levels in Los Angeles.
While athletes can acclimatize to heat, humidity and time zone changes, they cannot acclimatize to pollution. In fact, the more time they spend in polluted air, the worse. Effects tend to accumulate with time.
"If I was competing in highly polluted air, I would show up on the day of the competition," said Kenneth Rundell, a professor of health science at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who has studied the effects of air pollution on performance.
And that, it turns out, is what many United States athletes will do.
"One of our strategies for dealing with pollution is to avoid it as long as possible by living and training at other sites," Wilber said.
American marathon runners and track and field athletes have a plan in place, said David Martin, chairman of the men's marathon committee and an exercise physiologist at Georgia State University. Ten days to two weeks before these athletes compete, the Olympic committee will fly them to Dalian, a Chinese city north of Beijing on the coast. They will stay in a former government compound there, which is now a hotel with a weight room, a cafeteria and a nine-hole golf course. Nearby is an unused country road that is perfect for distance runners, Martin said.
During their time in Dalian, the athletes will train, getting used to exercising in extreme heat and humidity and getting used to the new time zone.
"We'd been searching for a place like this for a long time," Martin said. "We wanted a place in the same time zone as Beijing, that was easy to get to by plane and that was on the coast where there would be sea breezes to minimize pollution."
Three days before their events, the athletes will take a 50-minute shuttle flight to Beijing and check into the Olympic village or go to Beijing Normal University, which the Olympic Committee has rented for athletes who want to stay there.
As for the effects of long-distance travel through multiple time zones, Wilber said, the athletes should have that under control. They will wear compression garments — usually just support hose available at any drugstore or supermarket — to prevent fluid from pooling in their legs and feet on the flight to Beijing. When they get off the plane, their legs will feel fresh.
The Olympic committee will also look at the athletes' flight schedules and tell them when to sleep and when not to — in general, it is recommended that the athletes stay awake on the flight. When they arrive in Beijing, the athletes are to do some easy exercise, a slow relaxed run, for example, for about half an hour, have a light dinner and go to sleep at about 9 or 9:30 at night.
It is not always easy, Wilber said, but he added, "We appeal to their ability as athletes to be disciplined."
Within 48 hours, Wilber said, the athletes who adhere to these instructions will have adapted to the new time zone.
But the good news with time zone changes is that it may not matter so much whether an athlete is adjusted.
A position paper by the International Federation of Sports Medicine said that most studies cited as showing time zone effects involved small groups of participants doing laboratory tasks measuring things like hand-grip strength. In addition, the group of experts added, the studies tended to be poorly designed.
Some athletes say they do not perform well when they are jet-lagged, but "there is no consistent or compelling scientific evidence" that that is the case, the report said.
Yet, no matter what the science says, athletes may stick to their convictions.
It can be hard to believe that jet lag may have no effect on performance, but Olympic athletes say they at least know how to deal with time zones — they often have to travel across time zones to compete. And some have said that heat and humidity do not scare them.
Wyatt Allen, an Olympic rower who has been training in sweltering Princeton, New Jersey, said, "I think we've got heat and humidity covered."
As for pollution, some athletes say they are clinging to the hope that it may not be so bad. And even if it is, they add, at least everyone will be in the same situation.
"If I have to run a race uphill, so does everyone else," said Chris Liwski, an alternate on the Olympic rowing team.
But the truth, exercise physiologists say, is not always the same as conventional wisdom. Jet lag may have no effect on performance. Although Beijing's pollution can be a problem, the biggest drag on performance probably will come from the city's heat and humidity.
"Heat and humidity is worse," says Randall Wilber, a senior sport physiologist for the United States Olympic Committee.
Matthew Ely, a researcher at the United States army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts, found that elite marathon runners' times can be as much as 4 percent slower when the temperature is between 68 and 77 degrees as compared with the more ideal temperatures of 41 to 50 degrees. Because people respond differently to heat and humidity, an advantage may go to runners who ordinarily would not have been competitive.
"You will fatigue sooner in the heat," said Jose Gonzalez-Alonso, chairman of the department of exercise science at Brunel University in England. Some athletes cannot finish a race. And exercise just feels harder.
Athletes know the drill — spend some time training in hot and humid conditions to get acclimated. Expect to be slower.
Deena Kastor, a United States Olympic marathon runner, said she deliberately overdressed in training runs to prepare for Beijing. Her goal, she said in an e-mail message, "is to create a more hot and humid environment."
Brian Sell, a member of the Olympic marathon team, is spending a couple of weeks with his family in Florida, getting acclimated to severe heat and humidity and discovering how fast he can run in those conditions.
On race day, just before they compete, some endurance athletes are expected to wear a new version of a cooling vest made by Nike, hoping to start the race with their skin and core body temperatures as low as possible. The vest contains pockets of ice water.
While there is no doubt that pre-cooling the body before exercise in the heat can improve performance, the benefits are proportional to the amount of cooling that is achieved, said Samuel Cheuvront, a researcher who studies the effects of heat and humidity at the Army Research Institute.
Nike has not published data on its vests' effects on cooling or performance. Cheuvront said vests typically had only a small cooling effect, so their benefit was also likely to be small. Even a tiny difference may give a competitive edge in the Olympics, of course. But the sort of cooling that can make a marked difference in performance — drastically cooling the entire body by, for example, immersing athletes up to their neck in icy water — is not practical just before a race, Cheuvront said.
Wilber said that pollution could also affect performance, and athletes have told him that pollution is what they fear the most. As with heat and humidity, its effects are most pronounced among endurance athletes, like distance runners and cyclists.
Few could miss seeing the ever-present photos of Beijing shrouded in a gray mist of smog. Many have heard horror stories from athletes who have competed in Beijing.
The mountain biker Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski raced in Beijing last September. The air was thick with smog and he was convulsed with coughing fits. "I had to abandon the race," he said. He was not alone. Only 8 of the 50 cyclists who started the race completed it, an attrition rate that is "just unheard of," Horgan-Kobelski said.
Wilber's data indicated that Beijing's pollution levels, on a bad day, would be 30 to 35 percent higher than the levels in Los Angeles.
While athletes can acclimatize to heat, humidity and time zone changes, they cannot acclimatize to pollution. In fact, the more time they spend in polluted air, the worse. Effects tend to accumulate with time.
"If I was competing in highly polluted air, I would show up on the day of the competition," said Kenneth Rundell, a professor of health science at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania, who has studied the effects of air pollution on performance.
And that, it turns out, is what many United States athletes will do.
"One of our strategies for dealing with pollution is to avoid it as long as possible by living and training at other sites," Wilber said.
American marathon runners and track and field athletes have a plan in place, said David Martin, chairman of the men's marathon committee and an exercise physiologist at Georgia State University. Ten days to two weeks before these athletes compete, the Olympic committee will fly them to Dalian, a Chinese city north of Beijing on the coast. They will stay in a former government compound there, which is now a hotel with a weight room, a cafeteria and a nine-hole golf course. Nearby is an unused country road that is perfect for distance runners, Martin said.
During their time in Dalian, the athletes will train, getting used to exercising in extreme heat and humidity and getting used to the new time zone.
"We'd been searching for a place like this for a long time," Martin said. "We wanted a place in the same time zone as Beijing, that was easy to get to by plane and that was on the coast where there would be sea breezes to minimize pollution."
Three days before their events, the athletes will take a 50-minute shuttle flight to Beijing and check into the Olympic village or go to Beijing Normal University, which the Olympic Committee has rented for athletes who want to stay there.
As for the effects of long-distance travel through multiple time zones, Wilber said, the athletes should have that under control. They will wear compression garments — usually just support hose available at any drugstore or supermarket — to prevent fluid from pooling in their legs and feet on the flight to Beijing. When they get off the plane, their legs will feel fresh.
The Olympic committee will also look at the athletes' flight schedules and tell them when to sleep and when not to — in general, it is recommended that the athletes stay awake on the flight. When they arrive in Beijing, the athletes are to do some easy exercise, a slow relaxed run, for example, for about half an hour, have a light dinner and go to sleep at about 9 or 9:30 at night.
It is not always easy, Wilber said, but he added, "We appeal to their ability as athletes to be disciplined."
Within 48 hours, Wilber said, the athletes who adhere to these instructions will have adapted to the new time zone.
But the good news with time zone changes is that it may not matter so much whether an athlete is adjusted.
A position paper by the International Federation of Sports Medicine said that most studies cited as showing time zone effects involved small groups of participants doing laboratory tasks measuring things like hand-grip strength. In addition, the group of experts added, the studies tended to be poorly designed.
Some athletes say they do not perform well when they are jet-lagged, but "there is no consistent or compelling scientific evidence" that that is the case, the report said.
Yet, no matter what the science says, athletes may stick to their convictions.
It can be hard to believe that jet lag may have no effect on performance, but Olympic athletes say they at least know how to deal with time zones — they often have to travel across time zones to compete. And some have said that heat and humidity do not scare them.
Wyatt Allen, an Olympic rower who has been training in sweltering Princeton, New Jersey, said, "I think we've got heat and humidity covered."
As for pollution, some athletes say they are clinging to the hope that it may not be so bad. And even if it is, they add, at least everyone will be in the same situation.
"If I have to run a race uphill, so does everyone else," said Chris Liwski, an alternate on the Olympic rowing team.
Lifestyle - Britons shine a light on energy use at home
HOVE, England: A retired customer service representative for the local power company, Jeffrey Marchant, admits to a lifelong obsession with household energy, born originally of thrift rather than green environmental consciousness.
"I'm like one of those fellows who stands at the station spotting trains, only what I do is electricity," he says.
Even today, a meticulous handwritten chart on the wall of the sitting- room documents yearly electricity use since the 1960s, recording how the birth of each child in the 1970s — Phillip, Catherine and Helen — now all fully grown, affected the home's average daily electricity consumption.
The latest addition to the tidy house in Hove he shares with his wife, Brenda, is a small box hanging in the front hall — dubbed a "smart meter " — that displays a continuous digital readout of home electricity use, and how much it will cost the Marchants.
This type of meter takes information normally hidden in the basement or a cupboard and puts it in a place consumers can readily access, helping to save energy through feedback.
Turn on a computer and the reading on the smart meter goes from 300 to 400 watts per hour. Turn off the light and it goes from 299 to 215.
"You walk by and wonder, 'Why is it up?' Or see 295 and think, 'That's not bad,"' said Marchant, a gray-haired man with sensible shoes and wire-rimmed glasses over bright blue eyes. "The girls yell upstairs, 'You're over 400."'
At 500, the meter is set to sound an alarm.
"I've become like one of Pavlov's dogs — every time it bleeps I think I'm going to take one of those pans off the stove," Brenda Marchant said. "I'd do anything to make it stop. It helps you change your habits."
Through a host of small efforts like this, people like the Marchants have reduced their carbon footprint by half in the last five years. Although smart meters are currently an experiment in Britain, in tens of thousands of homes, the government is debating a plan to put smart metering on all 46 million home gas and electricity meters in the country.
Just as movie stars build eco-mansions, families here have made their old Victorian houses eco-friendly, too. But they have done it through a host of minor, inexpensive interventions like under-the-roof insulation, solar water heaters and hallway meters that leave their homes looking, well, like old Victorian houses.
"When people talk about an eco- house they picture a sleek house in the countryside with solar panels and wind turbines. Well, good for them. But that's not how the average person lives," said Mischa Hewitt of the British Low Carbon Trust, which helped to organize a series of Eco-Open Houses here on weekends so that Brighton's residents could show each other what they have done. "What's more important, what we're encouraging, is to take old properties that were not built for energy efficiency and turn them around to save carbon, save energy and save money," she said.
Brighton was voted most sustainable city in the United Kingdom last year by the British research group Forum for the Future. Its politicians recently have made reducing carbon emissions a high- profile public priority, helping to bring eco-consciousness to the trenches, to the very ordinary houses and apartments where most people live.
While most governments use the relatively high emission levels of the 1990s as a baseline against which to measure emission reductions, Brighton is aiming for make a 20 percent reduction from 2006, by April 2012.
That means reducing its emissions by an average of 4 percent per year for the next four years. The city has taken measures like expanding bus services and promoting housing developments that do not permit cars. But about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from private homes, and so every house must do its bit to meet such ambitious targets.
That it why the town council of Brighton, an artsy community with a long tradition of holding open houses in artists' homes, decided to sponsor the eco-open houses this year.
For the Marchants, the two structural modifications they made to their home of 20 years were to install a solar water heating panel on a back roof, at a cost of £3,200 after a local grant) and to place 12 inches, or 30 centimeters, of insulation under the roof, which Brenda Marchant rolled out in the eves herself and which cost: £300.
But there have been dozens of behavior changes as well. Brenda, for example, has a lovely chandelier in the dining room with Regular light bulbs that use more energy. She turns it on only for dinner parties now She now washes most laundry at 30 degrees, instead of 60. She has revived the use of her pressure cooker for vegetables.
"We didn't start to reduce our carbon footprint — we've staggered from one awareness to another," Jeffrey Marchant said. "We're not talking rocket science. We're talking simple things."
When Peter Kaufman and his partner bought their row house here three years ago, they followed a similar principle Coming originally from a part of Austria imbued with green culture, they had wanted to build an eco-house from scratch, but the cost prevented that.
After moving here to work at the University of Sussex, they instead purchased a rundown 120-year-old Victorian row house that was, Kaufman said, "absolutely lovely." Still, "from an energy point of view the house was a disaster," her said in a room cluttered with toys of their one-year-old daughter.
"No one was thinking about energy efficiency when these homes were built," he said. "There were draughts everywhere. And English people thought it was normal. They love it." With a limited budget of £40,000, they focused on renovations that would be energy-saving and set about improving the way the house took in, and held, heat. "People always think about gadgets and technology, but this first thing to do is insulate, insulate, insulate," he said.
In addition, they sealed north-facing windows and created eight new ones on the south facade, all fitted with high quality frames and panes.
Kaufman was not planning to install a smart meter, but was given one as a present for participating in the eco- open house project. It now hangs on the kitchen wall. "It's been very eye-opening, even though I was already sensitive to these things," he said, noting with satisfaction that the meter read only 117 with the ultraefficient Miele dishwasher humming.
"'Look: when you turn on the kettle is goes up to 200," he pointed out, turning on the electric kettle. "It takes a huge amount of energy, one of the worst appliances in the house." He has discovered that one living room lamp used 300 watts, the other 140. He points to the former, an elaborate sculptural contraption with spiraling metal arms and bulbs. Henceforth it will just be art: "I've decided not to use it anymore." A small number of countries, like Sweden, and states, like California, as well as companies have also been experimenting with smart metering in homes in the past few years, generally with success.
The British government will require that all medium- and large-size business install smart meters within the next five years and will decide by year's end whether to mandate them for private homes as well.
"Smart meters have the power to revolutionize people's relationship with the energy they use," said the Conservative leader David Cameron in a speech before Parliament in June supporting the plan, reflecting a government that had become ever-more conscious of energy and environment as well.
Two years ago when Kaufman applied to put a solar panel on the roof of his Victorian home, the town of Brighton said no.
"They said it had to look like a red tile, which of course wouldn't work," he said. "They didn't think about energy, just architectural conservation."
The council eventually relented.
Now, he said, to get a grant for solar heaters you have to get up really early in the morning to wait in line, because they run out early.
"Here the mind-set has switched," he said
"I'm like one of those fellows who stands at the station spotting trains, only what I do is electricity," he says.
Even today, a meticulous handwritten chart on the wall of the sitting- room documents yearly electricity use since the 1960s, recording how the birth of each child in the 1970s — Phillip, Catherine and Helen — now all fully grown, affected the home's average daily electricity consumption.
The latest addition to the tidy house in Hove he shares with his wife, Brenda, is a small box hanging in the front hall — dubbed a "smart meter " — that displays a continuous digital readout of home electricity use, and how much it will cost the Marchants.
This type of meter takes information normally hidden in the basement or a cupboard and puts it in a place consumers can readily access, helping to save energy through feedback.
Turn on a computer and the reading on the smart meter goes from 300 to 400 watts per hour. Turn off the light and it goes from 299 to 215.
"You walk by and wonder, 'Why is it up?' Or see 295 and think, 'That's not bad,"' said Marchant, a gray-haired man with sensible shoes and wire-rimmed glasses over bright blue eyes. "The girls yell upstairs, 'You're over 400."'
At 500, the meter is set to sound an alarm.
"I've become like one of Pavlov's dogs — every time it bleeps I think I'm going to take one of those pans off the stove," Brenda Marchant said. "I'd do anything to make it stop. It helps you change your habits."
Through a host of small efforts like this, people like the Marchants have reduced their carbon footprint by half in the last five years. Although smart meters are currently an experiment in Britain, in tens of thousands of homes, the government is debating a plan to put smart metering on all 46 million home gas and electricity meters in the country.
Just as movie stars build eco-mansions, families here have made their old Victorian houses eco-friendly, too. But they have done it through a host of minor, inexpensive interventions like under-the-roof insulation, solar water heaters and hallway meters that leave their homes looking, well, like old Victorian houses.
"When people talk about an eco- house they picture a sleek house in the countryside with solar panels and wind turbines. Well, good for them. But that's not how the average person lives," said Mischa Hewitt of the British Low Carbon Trust, which helped to organize a series of Eco-Open Houses here on weekends so that Brighton's residents could show each other what they have done. "What's more important, what we're encouraging, is to take old properties that were not built for energy efficiency and turn them around to save carbon, save energy and save money," she said.
Brighton was voted most sustainable city in the United Kingdom last year by the British research group Forum for the Future. Its politicians recently have made reducing carbon emissions a high- profile public priority, helping to bring eco-consciousness to the trenches, to the very ordinary houses and apartments where most people live.
While most governments use the relatively high emission levels of the 1990s as a baseline against which to measure emission reductions, Brighton is aiming for make a 20 percent reduction from 2006, by April 2012.
That means reducing its emissions by an average of 4 percent per year for the next four years. The city has taken measures like expanding bus services and promoting housing developments that do not permit cars. But about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from private homes, and so every house must do its bit to meet such ambitious targets.
That it why the town council of Brighton, an artsy community with a long tradition of holding open houses in artists' homes, decided to sponsor the eco-open houses this year.
For the Marchants, the two structural modifications they made to their home of 20 years were to install a solar water heating panel on a back roof, at a cost of £3,200 after a local grant) and to place 12 inches, or 30 centimeters, of insulation under the roof, which Brenda Marchant rolled out in the eves herself and which cost: £300.
But there have been dozens of behavior changes as well. Brenda, for example, has a lovely chandelier in the dining room with Regular light bulbs that use more energy. She turns it on only for dinner parties now She now washes most laundry at 30 degrees, instead of 60. She has revived the use of her pressure cooker for vegetables.
"We didn't start to reduce our carbon footprint — we've staggered from one awareness to another," Jeffrey Marchant said. "We're not talking rocket science. We're talking simple things."
When Peter Kaufman and his partner bought their row house here three years ago, they followed a similar principle Coming originally from a part of Austria imbued with green culture, they had wanted to build an eco-house from scratch, but the cost prevented that.
After moving here to work at the University of Sussex, they instead purchased a rundown 120-year-old Victorian row house that was, Kaufman said, "absolutely lovely." Still, "from an energy point of view the house was a disaster," her said in a room cluttered with toys of their one-year-old daughter.
"No one was thinking about energy efficiency when these homes were built," he said. "There were draughts everywhere. And English people thought it was normal. They love it." With a limited budget of £40,000, they focused on renovations that would be energy-saving and set about improving the way the house took in, and held, heat. "People always think about gadgets and technology, but this first thing to do is insulate, insulate, insulate," he said.
In addition, they sealed north-facing windows and created eight new ones on the south facade, all fitted with high quality frames and panes.
Kaufman was not planning to install a smart meter, but was given one as a present for participating in the eco- open house project. It now hangs on the kitchen wall. "It's been very eye-opening, even though I was already sensitive to these things," he said, noting with satisfaction that the meter read only 117 with the ultraefficient Miele dishwasher humming.
"'Look: when you turn on the kettle is goes up to 200," he pointed out, turning on the electric kettle. "It takes a huge amount of energy, one of the worst appliances in the house." He has discovered that one living room lamp used 300 watts, the other 140. He points to the former, an elaborate sculptural contraption with spiraling metal arms and bulbs. Henceforth it will just be art: "I've decided not to use it anymore." A small number of countries, like Sweden, and states, like California, as well as companies have also been experimenting with smart metering in homes in the past few years, generally with success.
The British government will require that all medium- and large-size business install smart meters within the next five years and will decide by year's end whether to mandate them for private homes as well.
"Smart meters have the power to revolutionize people's relationship with the energy they use," said the Conservative leader David Cameron in a speech before Parliament in June supporting the plan, reflecting a government that had become ever-more conscious of energy and environment as well.
Two years ago when Kaufman applied to put a solar panel on the roof of his Victorian home, the town of Brighton said no.
"They said it had to look like a red tile, which of course wouldn't work," he said. "They didn't think about energy, just architectural conservation."
The council eventually relented.
Now, he said, to get a grant for solar heaters you have to get up really early in the morning to wait in line, because they run out early.
"Here the mind-set has switched," he said
Lifestyle - In Paris,burgers turn chic
PARIS: Even if you couldn't be on the Champs-Élysées for Bastille Day on Monday to watch seven parachutists float down in front of President Nicolas Sarkozy, you can still celebrate the greatness of France with a new local tradition.
Eat a hamburger.
Beginning a few years ago but picking up momentum in the past nine months, hamburgers and cheeseburgers have invaded the city. Anywhere tourists are likely to go this summer — in St.-Germain cafes, in fashion-world hangouts, even in restaurants run by three-star chefs — they are likely to find a juicy beef patty, almost invariably on a sesame seed bun.
"It has the taste of the forbidden, the illicit — the subversive, even," said Hélène Samuel, a restaurant consultant here. "Eating with your hands, it's pure regression. Naturally, everyone wants it."
It is a startling turnaround in a country where a chef once sued McDonald's for $2.7 million in damages over a poster that suggested he was dreaming of a Big Mac. Hamburgers were everything that French dining is not: informal, messy, fast and foreign.
But as French chefs have embraced the quintessentially American food, they have also made it their own, incorporating Gallic flourishes like cornichons, fleur de sel and fresh thyme. These attempts to translate the burger, or maybe even improve it, strongly suggest that it is here to stay.
"It's not just a fad," said Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, who, as consulting chef at the Champs-Élysées boîte Black Calvados, developed a burger made with wagyu beef and seasoned with what she calls a black ketchup of blackberries and black currants. "It's more than that. The burger has become gastronomic."
Some of the most celebrated chefs in the city have taken up the challenge. Yannick Alléno, who earned a third Michelin star in 2007 for his precise, rarefied cuisine at Le Meurice, serves a thick, succulent hamburger at his casual restaurant, Le Dali. Alléno's baker, Frédéric Lalos, a winner of one of the country's fiercest cooking competitions, makes the buns. With smoked bacon, lettuce, dill pickles, mustard, mayonnaise and fries, the burger at Le Dali costs 35 euros, about $56.
Romain Corbière, the chef at Alain Ducasse's restaurant Le Relais du Parc, in a Norman-style manor near Trocadéro, cooks a seasonal burger a la plancha. This summer Corbière, a veteran of Ducasse's Louis XV in Monaco, is substituting a shrimp and squid patty for the beef burger he served in cooler weather.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon offers Le Burger, actually two small burgers topped with slabs of foie gras of almost equal size.
The only thing more surprising than the about-face in chefs' attitudes may be the enthusiasm with which their patrons have devoured these haute burgers.
"I didn't think we would sell so many," said Sonia Ezgulian, guest chef at Café Salle Pleyel, which Samuel opened last fall in an airy, modernist space inside one of Paris's most prestigious concert halls.
On some days, as many as a third of her customers order the burger, which is offered alongside Mediterranean-inspired dishes like sea bass with fennel confit and pistachios. "Sometimes we say we have no more," she said. "It's just too much."
When a new guest chef replaces Ezgulian at the end of August, he will keep the burger on the menu. It's in his contract.
IT is not as if hamburgers were unknown in Paris. American restaurants here like Joe Allen have long served them. Grasser-Hermé ate her first in 1961 at the American Legion, 11 years before McDonald's unveiled its golden arches in France. But with few exceptions the local burgers were flat, overcooked and shunned even by American expatriates.
Other forms of ground or chopped beef have been enjoyed here for years as well. Butchers sell kilos of ground meat destined to become steak haché, a pan-seared patty made with lean meat, pressed into an oval, and served without a bun.
And while steak tartare shows up on practically every brasserie menu, chefs now recognize that a hamburger is not simply six ounces of chopped lean beef grilled until crusty.
"No, that would be an error," said Grasser-Hermé.
"A hamburger is the architecture of taste par excellence," she explained. "The meat needs to be a mix of fatty and lean. Not raw, not rare. It must be medium rare. At the same time the bread needs to be smooth, tepid, toasted on the sesame side. I like to brush the soft side with butter. There needs to be a crispy chiffonade of iceberg lettuce. Everything plays a role."
In developing the Salle Pleyel burger, Samuel and Ezgulian felt the weight of tradition. "We're a little terrified of making a mistake," said Samuel. "We cling to things like the soft buns, sweet-and-sour pickles, onions, tomatoes, cheese. We need these guideposts because we don't have the history, the context. Otherwise, for us, it's not a burger. It's a hot sandwich."
Yet Ezgulian has taken some liberties. The current version of her burger is a riff on steak tartare. She's kneaded a mixture of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and tangy cornichons and capers into the ground meat. Parmesan shavings stand in for the usual Cheddar.
Céline Parrenin, a co-owner of Coco & Co, a two-level place devoted to eggs that opened in St.-Germain last year, didn't feel any such compunction when she and her business partner, Franklin Reinhard, invented the Cocotte Burger. The Cheddar cheeseburger, with pine nuts and thyme mixed into the meat, sits on a toasted whole-wheat English muffin pedestal. In a wink at the restaurant's egg theme and recalling the time-honored steak à cheval, a fried egg is placed on top.
All the chefs are making hamburgers for the first time, and they are uncertain about the exact cuts of beef they are using. Alléno, for example, simply relies on his butcher, Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec, whose shop, Le Couteau d'Argent, is in the Paris suburb Asnières.
For Alléno's burgers, Le Bourdonnec delivers a mix of chuck and beef rib. But the butcher thinks the American T-bone steak is an ideal cut. The T-bone does not exist in France, but to make his point, Le Bourdonnec made his own. He combined a piece of filet, which is tender but less flavorful, with a piece of contrefilet, which is marbled and tasty, but slightly less tender.
Using a long, razor-sharp knife, he sliced the meat into quarter-inch dice, chopped it fine with a cleaver and shaped it into patties, to be cooked rare in a hot skillet filmed with olive oil. No bun, no pickles, no cheese, no special sauce; only a few grains of fleur de sel.
"What you have is texture and the flavor of meat," he said. "No artifice."
"That's not a burger, Papa," pointed out his 13-year-old son, Paul. "There's no bread."
HOW did the dripping, juicy hamburger come to be one of the signature dishes of Paris? For one thing, expatriate French chefs reinventing American classics in the United States made it safe for their countrymen to try it back home.
"I didn't have this burger culture," said Samuel. "A hamburger, what's that? I didn't get it. Then I tasted it at DB Bistro Moderne," she said, speaking of Daniel Boulud's restaurant in New York. "If Daniel hadn't done it, maybe I wouldn't have either. He helped me understand."
Corbière grew up with burgers, but he didn't think of putting one on the Relais du Parc menu until he tasted Laurent Tourondel's Black Angus burger at BLT Market in New York last October.
Both Tourondel and Boulud laughed when they were told that they had helped the hamburger conquer Paris.
"I think it's shocking, but at the same time the French are realizing that a burger is real food, it's good," said Boulud.
Tourondel grew up in a small town where, he said "nobody ever saw a burger until 10 years ago. Everybody was against it, but everybody goes to eat it."
Whether the interpretations are classical or whimsical, Americans would probably recognize most of the burgers in Paris. They might be flummoxed, however, by the etiquette associated with eating them.
Ketchup does not automatically come with a burger. If requested, it may appear in a porcelain bowl. At the Café Salle Pleyel, servers do produce a ketchup bottle on demand. At lunch there one recent day, a businessman shook the ketchup onto his plate, then, taking a knife in his right hand, spread the condiment onto a forkful of hamburger in his left hand before lifting it to his mouth.
Alicia Fontanier, the co-owner and chef at the tiny gourmet bar Ferdi on the rue du Mont-Thabor, laments that many of her customers insist on using silverware. Fontanier is the sister of Maria Luisa Poumaillou, who owns a couple of boutiques down the street, and many of the socialites, expatriate international types and fashionistas who shop there invariably stop in for her burger, the Mac Ferdi, and guarapita de parchita, a potent drink of cachaça and passion fruit juice
"Eating with your hands is part of the pleasure," Fontanier said, seated in a dining room decorated chiefly with her 15-year-old son's childhood toy collection. "But nine out of 10 people use knife and fork. I'm happy not to see it. I'm in the kitchen."
At Floors, a three-story diner in a former printing shop near Sacré-Coeur that features custom burgers, Emil Lager, a waiter, said that many of the diners seem self-conscious about ordering.
"Another thing I've noticed is that the muscled guys order the boeuf double with bacon, egg and fries, and a Diet Coke," he said. "Then they share a cheesecake. They don't want to gain weight."
Also, he explained, Parisians don't really understand about drinking a milkshake with the burger. They order it as dessert.
Eat a hamburger.
Beginning a few years ago but picking up momentum in the past nine months, hamburgers and cheeseburgers have invaded the city. Anywhere tourists are likely to go this summer — in St.-Germain cafes, in fashion-world hangouts, even in restaurants run by three-star chefs — they are likely to find a juicy beef patty, almost invariably on a sesame seed bun.
"It has the taste of the forbidden, the illicit — the subversive, even," said Hélène Samuel, a restaurant consultant here. "Eating with your hands, it's pure regression. Naturally, everyone wants it."
It is a startling turnaround in a country where a chef once sued McDonald's for $2.7 million in damages over a poster that suggested he was dreaming of a Big Mac. Hamburgers were everything that French dining is not: informal, messy, fast and foreign.
But as French chefs have embraced the quintessentially American food, they have also made it their own, incorporating Gallic flourishes like cornichons, fleur de sel and fresh thyme. These attempts to translate the burger, or maybe even improve it, strongly suggest that it is here to stay.
"It's not just a fad," said Frédérick Grasser-Hermé, who, as consulting chef at the Champs-Élysées boîte Black Calvados, developed a burger made with wagyu beef and seasoned with what she calls a black ketchup of blackberries and black currants. "It's more than that. The burger has become gastronomic."
Some of the most celebrated chefs in the city have taken up the challenge. Yannick Alléno, who earned a third Michelin star in 2007 for his precise, rarefied cuisine at Le Meurice, serves a thick, succulent hamburger at his casual restaurant, Le Dali. Alléno's baker, Frédéric Lalos, a winner of one of the country's fiercest cooking competitions, makes the buns. With smoked bacon, lettuce, dill pickles, mustard, mayonnaise and fries, the burger at Le Dali costs 35 euros, about $56.
Romain Corbière, the chef at Alain Ducasse's restaurant Le Relais du Parc, in a Norman-style manor near Trocadéro, cooks a seasonal burger a la plancha. This summer Corbière, a veteran of Ducasse's Louis XV in Monaco, is substituting a shrimp and squid patty for the beef burger he served in cooler weather.
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon offers Le Burger, actually two small burgers topped with slabs of foie gras of almost equal size.
The only thing more surprising than the about-face in chefs' attitudes may be the enthusiasm with which their patrons have devoured these haute burgers.
"I didn't think we would sell so many," said Sonia Ezgulian, guest chef at Café Salle Pleyel, which Samuel opened last fall in an airy, modernist space inside one of Paris's most prestigious concert halls.
On some days, as many as a third of her customers order the burger, which is offered alongside Mediterranean-inspired dishes like sea bass with fennel confit and pistachios. "Sometimes we say we have no more," she said. "It's just too much."
When a new guest chef replaces Ezgulian at the end of August, he will keep the burger on the menu. It's in his contract.
IT is not as if hamburgers were unknown in Paris. American restaurants here like Joe Allen have long served them. Grasser-Hermé ate her first in 1961 at the American Legion, 11 years before McDonald's unveiled its golden arches in France. But with few exceptions the local burgers were flat, overcooked and shunned even by American expatriates.
Other forms of ground or chopped beef have been enjoyed here for years as well. Butchers sell kilos of ground meat destined to become steak haché, a pan-seared patty made with lean meat, pressed into an oval, and served without a bun.
And while steak tartare shows up on practically every brasserie menu, chefs now recognize that a hamburger is not simply six ounces of chopped lean beef grilled until crusty.
"No, that would be an error," said Grasser-Hermé.
"A hamburger is the architecture of taste par excellence," she explained. "The meat needs to be a mix of fatty and lean. Not raw, not rare. It must be medium rare. At the same time the bread needs to be smooth, tepid, toasted on the sesame side. I like to brush the soft side with butter. There needs to be a crispy chiffonade of iceberg lettuce. Everything plays a role."
In developing the Salle Pleyel burger, Samuel and Ezgulian felt the weight of tradition. "We're a little terrified of making a mistake," said Samuel. "We cling to things like the soft buns, sweet-and-sour pickles, onions, tomatoes, cheese. We need these guideposts because we don't have the history, the context. Otherwise, for us, it's not a burger. It's a hot sandwich."
Yet Ezgulian has taken some liberties. The current version of her burger is a riff on steak tartare. She's kneaded a mixture of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and tangy cornichons and capers into the ground meat. Parmesan shavings stand in for the usual Cheddar.
Céline Parrenin, a co-owner of Coco & Co, a two-level place devoted to eggs that opened in St.-Germain last year, didn't feel any such compunction when she and her business partner, Franklin Reinhard, invented the Cocotte Burger. The Cheddar cheeseburger, with pine nuts and thyme mixed into the meat, sits on a toasted whole-wheat English muffin pedestal. In a wink at the restaurant's egg theme and recalling the time-honored steak à cheval, a fried egg is placed on top.
All the chefs are making hamburgers for the first time, and they are uncertain about the exact cuts of beef they are using. Alléno, for example, simply relies on his butcher, Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec, whose shop, Le Couteau d'Argent, is in the Paris suburb Asnières.
For Alléno's burgers, Le Bourdonnec delivers a mix of chuck and beef rib. But the butcher thinks the American T-bone steak is an ideal cut. The T-bone does not exist in France, but to make his point, Le Bourdonnec made his own. He combined a piece of filet, which is tender but less flavorful, with a piece of contrefilet, which is marbled and tasty, but slightly less tender.
Using a long, razor-sharp knife, he sliced the meat into quarter-inch dice, chopped it fine with a cleaver and shaped it into patties, to be cooked rare in a hot skillet filmed with olive oil. No bun, no pickles, no cheese, no special sauce; only a few grains of fleur de sel.
"What you have is texture and the flavor of meat," he said. "No artifice."
"That's not a burger, Papa," pointed out his 13-year-old son, Paul. "There's no bread."
HOW did the dripping, juicy hamburger come to be one of the signature dishes of Paris? For one thing, expatriate French chefs reinventing American classics in the United States made it safe for their countrymen to try it back home.
"I didn't have this burger culture," said Samuel. "A hamburger, what's that? I didn't get it. Then I tasted it at DB Bistro Moderne," she said, speaking of Daniel Boulud's restaurant in New York. "If Daniel hadn't done it, maybe I wouldn't have either. He helped me understand."
Corbière grew up with burgers, but he didn't think of putting one on the Relais du Parc menu until he tasted Laurent Tourondel's Black Angus burger at BLT Market in New York last October.
Both Tourondel and Boulud laughed when they were told that they had helped the hamburger conquer Paris.
"I think it's shocking, but at the same time the French are realizing that a burger is real food, it's good," said Boulud.
Tourondel grew up in a small town where, he said "nobody ever saw a burger until 10 years ago. Everybody was against it, but everybody goes to eat it."
Whether the interpretations are classical or whimsical, Americans would probably recognize most of the burgers in Paris. They might be flummoxed, however, by the etiquette associated with eating them.
Ketchup does not automatically come with a burger. If requested, it may appear in a porcelain bowl. At the Café Salle Pleyel, servers do produce a ketchup bottle on demand. At lunch there one recent day, a businessman shook the ketchup onto his plate, then, taking a knife in his right hand, spread the condiment onto a forkful of hamburger in his left hand before lifting it to his mouth.
Alicia Fontanier, the co-owner and chef at the tiny gourmet bar Ferdi on the rue du Mont-Thabor, laments that many of her customers insist on using silverware. Fontanier is the sister of Maria Luisa Poumaillou, who owns a couple of boutiques down the street, and many of the socialites, expatriate international types and fashionistas who shop there invariably stop in for her burger, the Mac Ferdi, and guarapita de parchita, a potent drink of cachaça and passion fruit juice
"Eating with your hands is part of the pleasure," Fontanier said, seated in a dining room decorated chiefly with her 15-year-old son's childhood toy collection. "But nine out of 10 people use knife and fork. I'm happy not to see it. I'm in the kitchen."
At Floors, a three-story diner in a former printing shop near Sacré-Coeur that features custom burgers, Emil Lager, a waiter, said that many of the diners seem self-conscious about ordering.
"Another thing I've noticed is that the muscled guys order the boeuf double with bacon, egg and fries, and a Diet Coke," he said. "Then they share a cheesecake. They don't want to gain weight."
Also, he explained, Parisians don't really understand about drinking a milkshake with the burger. They order it as dessert.
Lifestyle - The Luxurious growth
We all know the story of Dr. Frankenstein, the scientist so caught up in his own research that he arrogantly tried to create new life and a new man. Today, if you look at people who study how genetics shape human behavior, you find a collection of anti-Frankensteins. As the research moves along, the scientists grow more modest about what we are close to knowing and achieving.
It wasn't long ago that headlines were blaring about the discovery of an aggression gene, a happiness gene or a depression gene. The implication was obvious: We're beginning to understand the wellsprings of human behavior, and it won't be long before we can begin to intervene to enhance or transform human life.
Few talk that way now. There seems to be a general feeling, as a Hastings Center working group put it, that "behavioral genetics will never explain as much of human behavior as was once promised."
Studies designed to link specific genes to behavior have failed to find anything larger than very small associations. It's now clear that that one gene almost never leads to one trait. Instead, a specific trait may be the result of the interplay of hundreds of different genes interacting with an infinitude of environmental factors.
First, there is the complexity of the genetic process. As Jim J. Manzi pointed out in a recent essay in National Review, if a trait like aggressiveness is influenced by just 100 genes, and each of those genes can be turned on or off, then there are a trillion trillion possible combinations of these gene states.
Second, because genes respond to environmental signals, there's the complexity of the world around. Professor Eric Turkheimer of the University of Virginia, conducted research showing that growing up in an impoverished environment harms IQ. He was asked what specific interventions would help children realize their potential. But, he noted, that he had no good reply. Poverty as a whole has this important impact on people, but when you try to dissect poverty and find out which specific elements have the biggest impact, you find that no single factor really explains very much. It's possible to detect the total outcome of a general situation. It's harder to draw a linear relationship showing cause and effect.
Third, there is the fuzziness of the words we use to describe ourselves. We talk about depression, anxiety and happiness, but it's not clear how the words that we use to describe what we feel correspond to biological processes. It could be that we use one word, depression, to describe many different things, or perhaps depression is merely a symptom of deeper processes that we're not aware of. In the current issue of Nature, there is an essay about the arguments between geneticists and neuroscientists as they try to figure out exactly what it is that they are talking about.
The bottom line is this: For a time, it seemed as if we were about to use the bright beam of science to illuminate the murky world of human action. Instead, as Turkheimer writes in his chapter in the book, "Wrestling With Behavioral Genetics," science finds itself enmeshed with social science and the humanities in what researchers call the Gloomy Prospect, the ineffable mystery of why people do what they do.
The prospect may be gloomy for those who seek to understand human behavior, but the flip side is the reminder that each of us is a Luxurious Growth. Our lives are not determined by uniform processes. Instead, human behavior is complex, nonlinear and unpredictable. The Brave New World is far away. Novels and history can still produce insights into human behavior that science can't match.
Just as important is the implication for politics. Starting in the late 19th century, eugenicists used primitive ideas about genetics to try to re-engineer the human race. In the 20th century, Communists used primitive ideas about "scientific materialism" to try to re-engineer a New Soviet Man.
Today, we have access to our own genetic recipe. But we seem not to be falling into the arrogant temptation - to try to re-engineer society on the basis of what we think we know. Saying farewell to the sort of horrible social engineering projects that dominated the 20th century is a major example of human progress.
We can strive to eliminate that multivariate thing we call poverty. We can take people out of environments that (somehow) produce bad outcomes and try to immerse them into environments that (somehow) produce better ones. But we're not close to understanding how A leads to B, and probably never will be.
This age of tremendous scientific achievement has underlined an ancient philosophic truth - that there are severe limits to what we know and can know; that the best political actions are incremental, respectful toward accumulated practice and more attuned to particular circumstances than universal laws.
It wasn't long ago that headlines were blaring about the discovery of an aggression gene, a happiness gene or a depression gene. The implication was obvious: We're beginning to understand the wellsprings of human behavior, and it won't be long before we can begin to intervene to enhance or transform human life.
Few talk that way now. There seems to be a general feeling, as a Hastings Center working group put it, that "behavioral genetics will never explain as much of human behavior as was once promised."
Studies designed to link specific genes to behavior have failed to find anything larger than very small associations. It's now clear that that one gene almost never leads to one trait. Instead, a specific trait may be the result of the interplay of hundreds of different genes interacting with an infinitude of environmental factors.
First, there is the complexity of the genetic process. As Jim J. Manzi pointed out in a recent essay in National Review, if a trait like aggressiveness is influenced by just 100 genes, and each of those genes can be turned on or off, then there are a trillion trillion possible combinations of these gene states.
Second, because genes respond to environmental signals, there's the complexity of the world around. Professor Eric Turkheimer of the University of Virginia, conducted research showing that growing up in an impoverished environment harms IQ. He was asked what specific interventions would help children realize their potential. But, he noted, that he had no good reply. Poverty as a whole has this important impact on people, but when you try to dissect poverty and find out which specific elements have the biggest impact, you find that no single factor really explains very much. It's possible to detect the total outcome of a general situation. It's harder to draw a linear relationship showing cause and effect.
Third, there is the fuzziness of the words we use to describe ourselves. We talk about depression, anxiety and happiness, but it's not clear how the words that we use to describe what we feel correspond to biological processes. It could be that we use one word, depression, to describe many different things, or perhaps depression is merely a symptom of deeper processes that we're not aware of. In the current issue of Nature, there is an essay about the arguments between geneticists and neuroscientists as they try to figure out exactly what it is that they are talking about.
The bottom line is this: For a time, it seemed as if we were about to use the bright beam of science to illuminate the murky world of human action. Instead, as Turkheimer writes in his chapter in the book, "Wrestling With Behavioral Genetics," science finds itself enmeshed with social science and the humanities in what researchers call the Gloomy Prospect, the ineffable mystery of why people do what they do.
The prospect may be gloomy for those who seek to understand human behavior, but the flip side is the reminder that each of us is a Luxurious Growth. Our lives are not determined by uniform processes. Instead, human behavior is complex, nonlinear and unpredictable. The Brave New World is far away. Novels and history can still produce insights into human behavior that science can't match.
Just as important is the implication for politics. Starting in the late 19th century, eugenicists used primitive ideas about genetics to try to re-engineer the human race. In the 20th century, Communists used primitive ideas about "scientific materialism" to try to re-engineer a New Soviet Man.
Today, we have access to our own genetic recipe. But we seem not to be falling into the arrogant temptation - to try to re-engineer society on the basis of what we think we know. Saying farewell to the sort of horrible social engineering projects that dominated the 20th century is a major example of human progress.
We can strive to eliminate that multivariate thing we call poverty. We can take people out of environments that (somehow) produce bad outcomes and try to immerse them into environments that (somehow) produce better ones. But we're not close to understanding how A leads to B, and probably never will be.
This age of tremendous scientific achievement has underlined an ancient philosophic truth - that there are severe limits to what we know and can know; that the best political actions are incremental, respectful toward accumulated practice and more attuned to particular circumstances than universal laws.
World - Detainee challenges Guantanamo
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba: Salim Hamdan moved slowly to the witness chair.
Once a driver for Osama bin Laden, Hamdan is scheduled next week to become the first detainee to go on trial at Guantánamo and the first person in decades to face an American war crimes trial.
Fluke and circumstance brought him, and not bin Laden, to Guantánamo to answer for Al Qaeda. So Hamdan, with his bad back and his deep brown eyes, took the stand Tuesday at a pretrial hearing and described the everyday details of life in Guantánamo.
His lawyers are asking a military judge to move him from what they call solitary confinement, claiming that he has been so driven to distraction by Guantánamo that he cannot focus on his case.
In a white head scarf and a beige jacket with sleeves that were too long, Hamdan delivered something of a travelogue of his six years here. "Camp Echo," he said at one point, "is like a graveyard where you place a dead person in a tomb."
At Camp 6, where he was also held, "you can only see the soldiers," he said. "And, of course, I was never able to see the sun."
Tuesday's hearing was part of a broad strategy by the team of military and civilian lawyers working for Hamdan. On Thursday, in Washington, they plan to ask a U.S. judge to stop the trial here from starting, asserting that the military commission system violates Hamdan's constitutional rights.
If the judge in Washington permits the military trials to begin, there will be many more scenes like the one Tuesday, a preview by Hamdan of the detainees' portrait of life at Guantánamo.
He was not sure when he had been moved into one or another of the half dozen camps here, or when he was transferred out. Time is not measured in the usual ways for the detainees. He often recalled his moves from camp to camp in relation to Ramadan, though it was not always obvious if he knew in what year the events had occurred.
But, as he presented them, some details were clear. He described the airplane trip to Guantánamo, during which he said he was blindfolded and tied down in a position that inflamed a back injury. "Such severe pains, I cannot really explain," he testified.
He described the time when, he said, a female interrogator sexually humiliated him. "She came very close with her whole body towards me," he said, looking down, seeming to catch his breath. "I couldn't do anything."
The detainees' cells are small, he said in answering questions from a retired military lawyer, Charles Swift, who has represented Hamdan for years in cases all the way to the Supreme Court. The possessions permitted are few, he said: a toothbrush, a blanket, a towel. They are sometimes taken away, he said.
He was less jovial than the last time he spoke in court, in April, when he had a bit of a debate with the military judge about the process. He is about 40, even though he is not certain of his birth date, and has a youthful face. He had the tentative gait of a man with back pain.
He described a Guantánamo that sometimes seems far from the orderly courtroom.
Alone month in and month out, he said, he briefly had the chance to live in Camp 4, detainees' favorite because it is the only place at Guantánamo where men are permitted to live communally, with group areas for meals and prayers.
"You share a room with other people, and have almost a normal life," he said. "You speak together. You pray together."
But soon, he said, there was "a problem" and he was back in a cell alone, in Camp 5, which looks like an American prison. He is there now, he said.
One prosecutor, Lieutenant Commander Timothy Stone, said the "problem" was that Hamdan had incited a disturbance.
Whatever the cause, the move was a source of sorrow for Hamdan. In Camp 4, he said, "I felt like I started to live again."
Swift asked Hamdan if the two had discussed his concerns. For a man facing a trial that could bring a life sentence, his answer showed how small the world is on the other side of the barbed wire.
His lawyers say Hamdan can barely discuss any subject other than his wish to get back to Camp 4.
"I always ask other lawyers, and I ask you," Hamdan said to Swift. "Why am I being placed in the fifth camp? If you can't do anything for me, I don't need you. Why are you my lawyer?"
Once a driver for Osama bin Laden, Hamdan is scheduled next week to become the first detainee to go on trial at Guantánamo and the first person in decades to face an American war crimes trial.
Fluke and circumstance brought him, and not bin Laden, to Guantánamo to answer for Al Qaeda. So Hamdan, with his bad back and his deep brown eyes, took the stand Tuesday at a pretrial hearing and described the everyday details of life in Guantánamo.
His lawyers are asking a military judge to move him from what they call solitary confinement, claiming that he has been so driven to distraction by Guantánamo that he cannot focus on his case.
In a white head scarf and a beige jacket with sleeves that were too long, Hamdan delivered something of a travelogue of his six years here. "Camp Echo," he said at one point, "is like a graveyard where you place a dead person in a tomb."
At Camp 6, where he was also held, "you can only see the soldiers," he said. "And, of course, I was never able to see the sun."
Tuesday's hearing was part of a broad strategy by the team of military and civilian lawyers working for Hamdan. On Thursday, in Washington, they plan to ask a U.S. judge to stop the trial here from starting, asserting that the military commission system violates Hamdan's constitutional rights.
If the judge in Washington permits the military trials to begin, there will be many more scenes like the one Tuesday, a preview by Hamdan of the detainees' portrait of life at Guantánamo.
He was not sure when he had been moved into one or another of the half dozen camps here, or when he was transferred out. Time is not measured in the usual ways for the detainees. He often recalled his moves from camp to camp in relation to Ramadan, though it was not always obvious if he knew in what year the events had occurred.
But, as he presented them, some details were clear. He described the airplane trip to Guantánamo, during which he said he was blindfolded and tied down in a position that inflamed a back injury. "Such severe pains, I cannot really explain," he testified.
He described the time when, he said, a female interrogator sexually humiliated him. "She came very close with her whole body towards me," he said, looking down, seeming to catch his breath. "I couldn't do anything."
The detainees' cells are small, he said in answering questions from a retired military lawyer, Charles Swift, who has represented Hamdan for years in cases all the way to the Supreme Court. The possessions permitted are few, he said: a toothbrush, a blanket, a towel. They are sometimes taken away, he said.
He was less jovial than the last time he spoke in court, in April, when he had a bit of a debate with the military judge about the process. He is about 40, even though he is not certain of his birth date, and has a youthful face. He had the tentative gait of a man with back pain.
He described a Guantánamo that sometimes seems far from the orderly courtroom.
Alone month in and month out, he said, he briefly had the chance to live in Camp 4, detainees' favorite because it is the only place at Guantánamo where men are permitted to live communally, with group areas for meals and prayers.
"You share a room with other people, and have almost a normal life," he said. "You speak together. You pray together."
But soon, he said, there was "a problem" and he was back in a cell alone, in Camp 5, which looks like an American prison. He is there now, he said.
One prosecutor, Lieutenant Commander Timothy Stone, said the "problem" was that Hamdan had incited a disturbance.
Whatever the cause, the move was a source of sorrow for Hamdan. In Camp 4, he said, "I felt like I started to live again."
Swift asked Hamdan if the two had discussed his concerns. For a man facing a trial that could bring a life sentence, his answer showed how small the world is on the other side of the barbed wire.
His lawyers say Hamdan can barely discuss any subject other than his wish to get back to Camp 4.
"I always ask other lawyers, and I ask you," Hamdan said to Swift. "Why am I being placed in the fifth camp? If you can't do anything for me, I don't need you. Why are you my lawyer?"
Mktg - Wii Did it
Wii Did it!
June 20, 2008
-By Kenneth HeinDespite what you’ve heard about the dumbing down of America, entertainment is getting more complex. In order to jump into the latest season of Lost or 24, for instance, you have to watch about 60 hours of shows and bear in mind that a plot may hinge on an obscure scene from the first season.Movies like Memento and Pulp Fiction also require work on the part of the viewer, who must assemble the movies in their head, like a puzzle, to account for a nonlinear narrative.But nowhere is this complexity more evident than in the world of videogames. The much lauded Halo 3, for instance, has a back story similar in size to the Star Wars saga and sports 34,000-plus lines of combat dialogue. Entities like The Sims seem less like games than alternate lives that are as richly realized as a novel.There’s a corollary to this, however. The flip side of the phenomenon is that people also want their entertainment in smaller, simpler portions. ITunes, for instance, has led to the growth of the single over the album. YouTube and mobile platforms have forced Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central to shoot for three-minute lengths for sketch comedy.So when Nintendo mulled the latest round in its battle against Microsoft and Sony, it had a choice: Simple or complex? Nintendo chose simple. Simple was good.In the fall of 2006, Nintendo’s Wii was thought to be an also-ran to the real gaming console battle between Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. By comparison, Nintendo's Wii was considered to have cruder graphics and a more basic selection of games than the other two. Nintendo, many thought, would merely peddle its Mario and Zelda games to its core audience: young kids.That thinking was proved false. By August, Nintendo had sold four million Wii units, versus six million for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (which had a year’s head start) and more than doubled the U.S. sales of PS3, per NPD, Port Washington, N.Y. In April, Nintendo reported that its sales for the previous fiscal year hit $8.1 billion, a 90% jump over the previous year. Net income also rose 130% to $1.5 billion.Meanwhile, market researcher IDC, Framingham, Mass., predicts Wii will be the bestselling console in 2008, and Merrill Lynch forecasts that 30% of U.S. homes will have a Wii by 2011. Not everyone agrees: Yuta Sakurai, an analyst at Nomura Securities in Tokyo, expects Sony to sell 71 million PS3 units by 2011, versus 40 million for the Wii. But analysts concur that Wii has legs. “Despite what people say, ‘Oh, it's a novelty, PS3 and Xbox 360 will come back as the true gaming consoles,’ Nintendo seems to be holding them off,” said Paul Jackson, principal analyst at Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass.This was precisely the ass-kicking that Reginald Fils-Aime (pronounced FEES-oe-MEY), president and COO of Nintendo of America, prophesied. Those in the industry know Fils-Aime as brash and competitive, and may recall his introduction at the 2004 E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles: “My name is Reggie. I’m about kickin' ass. I’m about takin’ names. And this company is about makin’ games.”
That was a shock to many who viewed Nintendo as a conservative company, but Fils-Aime knew “he had lightning in bottle” with Wii and wasn’t afraid to brag about it to the press, analysts and consumers. One half cheerleader for the brand, one half bully to the competition, he has become, arguably, as much a public figurehead for Nintendo as Mario,Donkey Kong and (his favorite) Link from the Zelda franchise.The role came naturally to Fils-Aime, who is driven to beat the competition, no matter whom they are, said those who know him. “He's a larger-than-life character. The bloggers love him because he's prone to outbursts [about the competition],” said Jackson. They have likened him to Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris and one agency exec refers to him as the “Reggie-nator.”Fils-Aime is often spied practicing his Wii Sports Tennis swing, as he’s talking on the phone in his office, so he can maintain his near undefeated streak when demonstrating his beloved product. “It’s different from the Nintendo deferential of the past, where the mindset was: ‘It's not polite or proper to bash your competition too overtly,’” added Jackson.But this is a new Nintendo. A Nintendo that is not only armed with the best-selling Nintendo DS handheld console launched in 2004, but also the “killer app” in Wii.To make Wii a success in America, Fils-Aime drew on a humble realization: As he entered his mid-40s (he’s 46 now), he had to admit the multilayered Xbox and PlayStation games were a bit offputting.“I was finding the new controllers too tough to handle. The games weren't accessible or interesting to me . . . I was prototypical of the consumer we were trying to get back into gaming.”Of course, he wasn’t the only one at Nintendo who saw an untapped market. CEO Saturu Iwata has told analysts that he believes that by creating ever-more complex games, the industry had been alienating lapsed- and non-gamers. Working adults have little time for epic competitions, and mastering complicated controllers can make some long for the days of the Atari 2600.Iwata learned a lesson from Nintendo DS which features simpler controls. Its Nintendogs game, that let users train their cyberpooches and enter them in competitions, proved to be a huge hit that—rare for a videogame—strongly skewed female. Iwata wanted to insure that Wii appealed to not only kids, but also moms who are the ultimate gatekeepers for many purchase decisions.
Wii was built on such insights. Its wand-like controller contains motion sensors that translate physical movement into on-screen action, particularly games like Wii Sports Tennis and Bowling. The controller, the focal point of Nintendo’s marketing outreach, resembles a standard remote control, but can, for example, be swung like a tennis racket and emulate the action with surprising fidelity. Wii also was priced at $250, versus $600 for a PlayStation 3. (This summer, Sony cut the price by $100 to $500. A Microsoft Xbox 360 cut also is expected.) Wii games are also generally about $10 less than Microsoft or Sony titles. But price alone can’t explain Wii’s appeal.“I attribute Wii's success to one overriding factor: It is fun to play. With this whole console transition, Nintendo has had one clear message [that they are fun for all ages] and they’ve been consistent with it,” said Anita Frazier, NPD industry analyst for toys and videogames.“There is a need for the industry to expand its audience and to do that, you have to show that videogames can be fun, and not hard to pick up and play. The Wii and its remote has done that beautifully, and now you have multiple family members playing it.”That didn’t happen by accident. Fils-Aime challenged all of his agencies to work together to come up with a strategy that let everyone, young and old, know that the intuitive remote was unlike anything ever before in the category. Ad agency Leo Burnett, Chicago, public relations agency GolinHarris, Los Angeles, A-Squared, Los Angeles (viral ambassador program), and U.S. Concepts, New York (mall tour), were brought together with the Nintendo team to come up with a new way to bring Wii to market. “He basically challenged us to rethink not only what we do, but how we do it,” said George Harrison, Nintendo’s svp-marketing who is stepping down at year’s end.
For starters, Nintendo threw Tupperware Party-like events aimed at multigenerational families, wooed alpha moms with parties at luxury suites replete with champagne and cookies. Nintend also left mysterious voicemails for a select few hard core gaming influencers that revealed clandestine locations where they could try Wii for the first time. More than 2,000 such gamers had the chance to play. As Nintendo’s Viral Ambassadors program began to build buzz,last fall the company launched its $200 million “Wii would like to play” advertising blitz from Leo Burnett. Set to the Yoshida Brothers’ catchy song “Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix),” the TV campaign stars two Japanese gentlemen going door-to-door, like encyclopedia salesmen showing off their product.Said Fils-Aime: “We liked the concept of opening up your door,being handed a remote for a gaming system and the all of a sudden everyone in the household is having fun.”Yes, that means everyone in the household, including Grandma. Nintendo’s pr eagerly promoted the story of elderly residents at Erickson Retirement Communities in Chicago holding Wii baseball and bowling tournaments. “All of the stories about people at retirement homes playing it are a marketer’s dream,” said Forrester Research’s Jackson.Wii parties, as well as Wii competitions at local bars, have surfaced as well. Nintendo has even partnered with Norwegian Cruise Lines to bring Wii competitions to the high seas. Players can assemble in its ships’ ballrooms to play one another in their favorite game. “One of the best visuals is seeing a group of people on a cruise ship in their 20s, all the way up, gathered around playing Wii bowling,” said Fils-Aime. “I don’t think anyone could havepredicted that.”The fanatic fever has spread online too in expected and unexpected ways. The “How Wii Play” MySpace page had nearly two million page views at press time and almost half-a-million unique visitors.The gaming console has also helped spawn a new category: Exergaming. Nintendo may even have its own Jared Fogel in Philadelphia’s Mickey DeLorenzo, who created a Web site showing off his own Wii Sports weight-loss program, which he credits with helping him lose nine pounds.Miis, characters you can create using the Wii, have also taken on a life of their own. Following the launch, Wii players started out just using Miis to play games as themselves, but that quickly evolved into customizing Miis to look like celebrities, the creation of unlicensed Mii merchandise and the launch of Web sites where fans can trade and post their Mii characters. “Miis have become a cultural phenomenon,” said NPD’s Frazier. Popular Mii sites include Miiplaza.net (share Miis, find friends),famousmii.com (step-by-step guide to creating celebrity Miis) and mmrcloud.com/Nintendo-tshirts-head-p-171.html (to get your Mii on a tee). Not to mention, a recent search on YouTube for Mii resulted in more than 6,000videos.“We were hoping the Miis would become a cultural phenomenon and that there would be events like the virtual tennis open right there in Rockefeller Center [see sidebar] . . .We had to create a vision that would allow for that to happen,” said Fils-Aime.“I’ve been involved in some big, audacious ideas and we needed some big, audacious ideas at Nintendo,” added Fils-Aime, who formerly held marketing titles at Procter & Gamble,Pizza Hut, VH1 and Guinness.Wii and its all-inclusive message (reflected even by the product’s name) was this huge idea. By August, Nintendo sold 400,000 units, which was roughly the same sell-through as Xbox 360(268,000) and Sony PS3 (131,000) combined, per NPD. And, Wii shortages are expected to continue throughout the holiday season as Nintendo struggles to keep up with demand.Fils-Aime couldn’t be more thrilled about Wii’s success. After all, he loves to win. Harrison recalls E3 2006 when he and Nintendo lead designer Shigeru “The Spielberg of videogames” Miyamoto were defeated by Fils-Aime’ Wii Sports Tennis. “Somehow the two of us lost . . . Reggie is a pretty avid gamer and competitor, no matter what.”
June 20, 2008
-By Kenneth HeinDespite what you’ve heard about the dumbing down of America, entertainment is getting more complex. In order to jump into the latest season of Lost or 24, for instance, you have to watch about 60 hours of shows and bear in mind that a plot may hinge on an obscure scene from the first season.Movies like Memento and Pulp Fiction also require work on the part of the viewer, who must assemble the movies in their head, like a puzzle, to account for a nonlinear narrative.But nowhere is this complexity more evident than in the world of videogames. The much lauded Halo 3, for instance, has a back story similar in size to the Star Wars saga and sports 34,000-plus lines of combat dialogue. Entities like The Sims seem less like games than alternate lives that are as richly realized as a novel.There’s a corollary to this, however. The flip side of the phenomenon is that people also want their entertainment in smaller, simpler portions. ITunes, for instance, has led to the growth of the single over the album. YouTube and mobile platforms have forced Saturday Night Live and Comedy Central to shoot for three-minute lengths for sketch comedy.So when Nintendo mulled the latest round in its battle against Microsoft and Sony, it had a choice: Simple or complex? Nintendo chose simple. Simple was good.In the fall of 2006, Nintendo’s Wii was thought to be an also-ran to the real gaming console battle between Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3. By comparison, Nintendo's Wii was considered to have cruder graphics and a more basic selection of games than the other two. Nintendo, many thought, would merely peddle its Mario and Zelda games to its core audience: young kids.That thinking was proved false. By August, Nintendo had sold four million Wii units, versus six million for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (which had a year’s head start) and more than doubled the U.S. sales of PS3, per NPD, Port Washington, N.Y. In April, Nintendo reported that its sales for the previous fiscal year hit $8.1 billion, a 90% jump over the previous year. Net income also rose 130% to $1.5 billion.Meanwhile, market researcher IDC, Framingham, Mass., predicts Wii will be the bestselling console in 2008, and Merrill Lynch forecasts that 30% of U.S. homes will have a Wii by 2011. Not everyone agrees: Yuta Sakurai, an analyst at Nomura Securities in Tokyo, expects Sony to sell 71 million PS3 units by 2011, versus 40 million for the Wii. But analysts concur that Wii has legs. “Despite what people say, ‘Oh, it's a novelty, PS3 and Xbox 360 will come back as the true gaming consoles,’ Nintendo seems to be holding them off,” said Paul Jackson, principal analyst at Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass.This was precisely the ass-kicking that Reginald Fils-Aime (pronounced FEES-oe-MEY), president and COO of Nintendo of America, prophesied. Those in the industry know Fils-Aime as brash and competitive, and may recall his introduction at the 2004 E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles: “My name is Reggie. I’m about kickin' ass. I’m about takin’ names. And this company is about makin’ games.”
That was a shock to many who viewed Nintendo as a conservative company, but Fils-Aime knew “he had lightning in bottle” with Wii and wasn’t afraid to brag about it to the press, analysts and consumers. One half cheerleader for the brand, one half bully to the competition, he has become, arguably, as much a public figurehead for Nintendo as Mario,Donkey Kong and (his favorite) Link from the Zelda franchise.The role came naturally to Fils-Aime, who is driven to beat the competition, no matter whom they are, said those who know him. “He's a larger-than-life character. The bloggers love him because he's prone to outbursts [about the competition],” said Jackson. They have likened him to Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris and one agency exec refers to him as the “Reggie-nator.”Fils-Aime is often spied practicing his Wii Sports Tennis swing, as he’s talking on the phone in his office, so he can maintain his near undefeated streak when demonstrating his beloved product. “It’s different from the Nintendo deferential of the past, where the mindset was: ‘It's not polite or proper to bash your competition too overtly,’” added Jackson.But this is a new Nintendo. A Nintendo that is not only armed with the best-selling Nintendo DS handheld console launched in 2004, but also the “killer app” in Wii.To make Wii a success in America, Fils-Aime drew on a humble realization: As he entered his mid-40s (he’s 46 now), he had to admit the multilayered Xbox and PlayStation games were a bit offputting.“I was finding the new controllers too tough to handle. The games weren't accessible or interesting to me . . . I was prototypical of the consumer we were trying to get back into gaming.”Of course, he wasn’t the only one at Nintendo who saw an untapped market. CEO Saturu Iwata has told analysts that he believes that by creating ever-more complex games, the industry had been alienating lapsed- and non-gamers. Working adults have little time for epic competitions, and mastering complicated controllers can make some long for the days of the Atari 2600.Iwata learned a lesson from Nintendo DS which features simpler controls. Its Nintendogs game, that let users train their cyberpooches and enter them in competitions, proved to be a huge hit that—rare for a videogame—strongly skewed female. Iwata wanted to insure that Wii appealed to not only kids, but also moms who are the ultimate gatekeepers for many purchase decisions.
Wii was built on such insights. Its wand-like controller contains motion sensors that translate physical movement into on-screen action, particularly games like Wii Sports Tennis and Bowling. The controller, the focal point of Nintendo’s marketing outreach, resembles a standard remote control, but can, for example, be swung like a tennis racket and emulate the action with surprising fidelity. Wii also was priced at $250, versus $600 for a PlayStation 3. (This summer, Sony cut the price by $100 to $500. A Microsoft Xbox 360 cut also is expected.) Wii games are also generally about $10 less than Microsoft or Sony titles. But price alone can’t explain Wii’s appeal.“I attribute Wii's success to one overriding factor: It is fun to play. With this whole console transition, Nintendo has had one clear message [that they are fun for all ages] and they’ve been consistent with it,” said Anita Frazier, NPD industry analyst for toys and videogames.“There is a need for the industry to expand its audience and to do that, you have to show that videogames can be fun, and not hard to pick up and play. The Wii and its remote has done that beautifully, and now you have multiple family members playing it.”That didn’t happen by accident. Fils-Aime challenged all of his agencies to work together to come up with a strategy that let everyone, young and old, know that the intuitive remote was unlike anything ever before in the category. Ad agency Leo Burnett, Chicago, public relations agency GolinHarris, Los Angeles, A-Squared, Los Angeles (viral ambassador program), and U.S. Concepts, New York (mall tour), were brought together with the Nintendo team to come up with a new way to bring Wii to market. “He basically challenged us to rethink not only what we do, but how we do it,” said George Harrison, Nintendo’s svp-marketing who is stepping down at year’s end.
For starters, Nintendo threw Tupperware Party-like events aimed at multigenerational families, wooed alpha moms with parties at luxury suites replete with champagne and cookies. Nintend also left mysterious voicemails for a select few hard core gaming influencers that revealed clandestine locations where they could try Wii for the first time. More than 2,000 such gamers had the chance to play. As Nintendo’s Viral Ambassadors program began to build buzz,last fall the company launched its $200 million “Wii would like to play” advertising blitz from Leo Burnett. Set to the Yoshida Brothers’ catchy song “Kodo (Inside the Sun Remix),” the TV campaign stars two Japanese gentlemen going door-to-door, like encyclopedia salesmen showing off their product.Said Fils-Aime: “We liked the concept of opening up your door,being handed a remote for a gaming system and the all of a sudden everyone in the household is having fun.”Yes, that means everyone in the household, including Grandma. Nintendo’s pr eagerly promoted the story of elderly residents at Erickson Retirement Communities in Chicago holding Wii baseball and bowling tournaments. “All of the stories about people at retirement homes playing it are a marketer’s dream,” said Forrester Research’s Jackson.Wii parties, as well as Wii competitions at local bars, have surfaced as well. Nintendo has even partnered with Norwegian Cruise Lines to bring Wii competitions to the high seas. Players can assemble in its ships’ ballrooms to play one another in their favorite game. “One of the best visuals is seeing a group of people on a cruise ship in their 20s, all the way up, gathered around playing Wii bowling,” said Fils-Aime. “I don’t think anyone could havepredicted that.”The fanatic fever has spread online too in expected and unexpected ways. The “How Wii Play” MySpace page had nearly two million page views at press time and almost half-a-million unique visitors.The gaming console has also helped spawn a new category: Exergaming. Nintendo may even have its own Jared Fogel in Philadelphia’s Mickey DeLorenzo, who created a Web site showing off his own Wii Sports weight-loss program, which he credits with helping him lose nine pounds.Miis, characters you can create using the Wii, have also taken on a life of their own. Following the launch, Wii players started out just using Miis to play games as themselves, but that quickly evolved into customizing Miis to look like celebrities, the creation of unlicensed Mii merchandise and the launch of Web sites where fans can trade and post their Mii characters. “Miis have become a cultural phenomenon,” said NPD’s Frazier. Popular Mii sites include Miiplaza.net (share Miis, find friends),famousmii.com (step-by-step guide to creating celebrity Miis) and mmrcloud.com/Nintendo-tshirts-head-p-171.html (to get your Mii on a tee). Not to mention, a recent search on YouTube for Mii resulted in more than 6,000videos.“We were hoping the Miis would become a cultural phenomenon and that there would be events like the virtual tennis open right there in Rockefeller Center [see sidebar] . . .We had to create a vision that would allow for that to happen,” said Fils-Aime.“I’ve been involved in some big, audacious ideas and we needed some big, audacious ideas at Nintendo,” added Fils-Aime, who formerly held marketing titles at Procter & Gamble,Pizza Hut, VH1 and Guinness.Wii and its all-inclusive message (reflected even by the product’s name) was this huge idea. By August, Nintendo sold 400,000 units, which was roughly the same sell-through as Xbox 360(268,000) and Sony PS3 (131,000) combined, per NPD. And, Wii shortages are expected to continue throughout the holiday season as Nintendo struggles to keep up with demand.Fils-Aime couldn’t be more thrilled about Wii’s success. After all, he loves to win. Harrison recalls E3 2006 when he and Nintendo lead designer Shigeru “The Spielberg of videogames” Miyamoto were defeated by Fils-Aime’ Wii Sports Tennis. “Somehow the two of us lost . . . Reggie is a pretty avid gamer and competitor, no matter what.”
Mktg - Brand marketing cos gaining momentum
Twenty-eight-year-old Nakul Gandhi was in for a pleasant surprise when Louis Philippe extended its brand into Lp, to target young buyers.The last time Gandhi had visited a Louis Philippe store was more than a couple of years back. Back then, he had told the salesperson that as much as he loved the brand, he would rather buy it for his father. Now, Lp was offering him just the kind of image and designs that young consumers wanted , almost as if some designer had overheard his none-too-subtle jibe. It perhaps wasn't a designer playing the part of the fly-on-the-wall , but somebody at Madura Garments must have been listening that day. And that's the advantage of having a strong and direct retail connect with consumers. "Exclusive outlets help you get cues from customers on a live basis," says Vikram Rao, business director, textiles and apparel, Aditya Birla Group, the company that owns Madura Garments. So at a time when most consumer businesses in India are still finding their feet in doing business with organised retailers - negotiating margins, cornering shelf space or learning the art of display - a few marketers have gone ahead and set up shops on their own, running retail enterprises themselves, or through franchisees. Cases in point: Videocon and Tata Tea. The reasons go beyond the clichés of 'getting closer to customers' , 'providing a uniform brand experience' and 'espousing the right kind of brand values' : the objective here is spotting the next trend, test-market combinations that a retailer might otherwise hide at the bottom of the rack, pick-up consumer feedback, and even making customers co-creators . "These outlets are the ultimate in being customer-centric . Beyond being points of interaction, they enable us to pick ideas, track trends, test products and even reverse-engineer products based on feedback," says Sangeeta Talwar, executive director , Tata Tea, of the company's Chai Unchai retail format. Saurabh Dhoot, director, Next Retail, part of the Videocon group, adds: "These formats can lead to a lot of interaction with customers and help in keeping ears to the ground."Shop , skip & jump Before getting into exactly how retail is helping these companies, understanding why businesses are eager to have a retail face is important. One big reason has to do with consumers themselves. In some categories, like say cellular phones, consumer attitudes have undergone a sea change. "As a country, we are moving from a penetration economy to a consumption-led economy. Hence marketers need to move from just satisfying customer needs and desires to delivering a holistic experience," says V Ramnath , head - branded retail, Nokia India. Others see the phenomenon as being a result of value migrating to the retailer's end. "There is not much product differential in the market place. So service provides the experiential differentiator. Naturally, retail is becoming very important," says SK Palekar, senior vice-president , marketing & knowledge management, Eureka Forbes Limited growth can come only from retail. In lifestyle categories wholesale growth is restricted ," he says. Take, for example, a scenario where a brand like Van Heusen is retailed through a multi-brand outlet. It would get a maximum display of 200 to 300 square feet, and naturally only the best selling designs or sizes would be on display. As the competition is only a few feet away, no one dares take chances. In comparison, one Van Heusen exclusive outlet in Delhi is 20 times that size. "Who thought we would ever have a 7,000-square-feet Van Heusen outlet some years back?" asks Rao. For Madura, which owns brands like Allen Solly and Peter England, apart from Louis Philippe and Van Heusen, this retail play will only get bigger . At present, close to 40% of the company's sales happen through its direct retail (companyowned or company-operated ) network. Over the next three years, its retail operations will account for as much as 70%-80 % of its apparel sales, with the conventional wholesale route accounting for the rest. To set a context, three years back, only 10% of the company's business came from the direct retail channel. In some categories, though, exclusivity need not necessarily guarantee sales. As Palekar points out, consumers walk into durable stores with two-three brands already in their consideration set, and often walk out with the ones that deliver the best value-for-money . Probably why Videocon Industries, on its part, prefers to keep the Next chain of durable retail outlets as a "completely independent" operation. Dhoot says the chain maintains a supplier-buyer relationship with Videocon Electronics, as it would with any other manufacturer. Marketing consultants say this arrangement can help chains like Next to actually gauge buying patterns of consumers like any other retail channel, as the evaluation happens across brands, rather than studying buying patterns within a single brand. For Tata Tea's Chai Unchai, it's early days. But even as the company has only three outlets , post launch early this year, it is testing waters across different consumer segments. While its first outlet came up within the IIM campus in Bangalore, the other outlets have come up within an office complex and a mall.One of the big objectives of the Chai Unchai venture is to connect with youth in a differentiated manner. Talwar points out that the rationale to set up Chai Unchai was prompted by the fact that the out-of-home food and beverage segment is "large and growing." To top this, the Tata Tea portfolio was tea, coffee and even water, so the company was gunning for a larger share of throat. But out-of-home tea consumption was largely happening at the corner teashop where the consumer rarely knew - or bothered to know - what brand of tea was being served. "Tea tends to hide in the pan that it's boiled in, unless it's a teabag. Chai Unchai attempts to make tea more poignant and front-of-face , yet unpretentious," says Talwar. At Chai Unchai outlets , the company is offering not just tea and snacks at an average billing amount of Rs 40. It is also experimenting with other cold beverages. Talwar says that the learning process is huge. "We will adapt to various elements of the mix and optimise ," she says. One of the Chai Unchai outlets, for instance, is bang in the middle of a food court, with brands like McDonald's and KFC in the vicinity - the flow of customers will be easy to track and even compare. One of the important lessons that the company has picked up is that instead of investing heavily in fixed assets, an outlet of Chai Unchai can easily be unscrewed and transported to another location - like a piece of do-it-yourself furniture. While Tata Tea is mastering the entire business of out-of-home tea retailing, others like Nokia and Madura Garments are making incremental gains. "As the moment of truth happens at the retail end, branded retail becomes key," says Ramnath of Nokia. The company uses customer feedback in both its product and service offerings, and dovetails it into the back-end . Looking for cues are very important for Nokia, as emerging trends play a huge role in new product introductions. And the company introduces new products by the dozens - at one product every week, Nokia introduces 52 new models every year. While successful models last for 18 to 24 months, with the maximum value coming in the initial four months, unsuccessful models can die in as little as six weeks. Hence, the retail end proves to be extremely critical . Company executives say that using customer feedback, Nokia is now looking at introducing localised pre-loaded music and ringtones. Madura Garments has examples where the retail store triggered an alarm or became a laboratory . In the case of Louis Philippe, the starting point of introspection was that few young men were visiting its outlets. As research found that the brand was seen as a label worn by executives above 35 years, it soon paved the way for a newer extension that caters to the younger audience . At present, Lp has six stores. Rao claims that soon the company will launch Lp Luxury, for the upmarket buyer. "The strategy is to serve multiple customers and also be available on multiple occasions for the same customer," he says. Similarly, company executives say the planned extension into the women's range came about when it was observed that trousers with smaller waist sizes were flying off the shelves at Allen Solly outlets: women were picking those up for themselves. Also, Van Heusen has been extended into Vdot, a lifestyle range for men. Rao says, "Vdot has Swarovski crystals on a party shirt. Few would have imagined that a Van Heusen would have that." The accent on retail has also helped Madura cut spends on advertising as a percentage of overall sales. In the past, when most of its sales were through the wholesale route, the company invested 10%-11 % of sales on advertising. Now, it spends only 7%-8 % of sales on advertising. "Still there is scope for improvement. International apparel companies spend only 3%-4 %," says Rao. Company-owned retail might have strong fringe benefits like gaining consumer insights. But it cannot be all encompassing. "Feedback and insights cannot be the single largest causal factor for huge investments in retail," says Puneet Avasthi, vice-president , retail, of market research agency IMRB. He adds that other research initiatives like a web-enabled direct feedback mechanism , market research for post-purchase experience are some aspects that are equally important. Also, relying purely on retail-based research means feedback can be captured only from consumers visiting the store. "Own retail channels are an excellent medium to romance the target customers. The flip side to this is that the brands are not in a position to cover the entire target audience. Moreover, customers shop in multiple locations. Hence, consumer insights from other channels like trade and department stores would also be required," Rao concurs. That said, the opportunity that companyowned retail stores provide is undeniable. "But most companies are doing nothing of that opportunity . Being physically close is not the same as being customer-focused ," says Shripad Nadkarni , director, MarketGate Consulting. He cites the example of the airlines industry in the US. "Airlines are the closest to customers. Yet, in the US, the service standards of most airlines are below expectations," he says.
Mktg - Branding a real challenge
The 200-year-old British financial brand Norwich Union has little time left. It is soon to be replaced by the less patriotic-sounding Aviva , which its senior management argues will allow it to shake off associations with British parochialism and perform better on the global stage.This may sound alarm bells to those who remember the disastrous rebranding of British institution the Post Office Group as Consignia in 2001, which brought the company to national attention for all the wrong reasons. However, Aviva brand development director Sally Shire identifies key differences in the finance group’s approach to the rebranding process compared with that taken by the Post Office, which she believes will make the change a success . Not least of these, she says, is that “Aviva is already a successful customer brand in more than 20 countries, and has gained significant worldwide recognition.” Shire adds that she is keenly aware that “clear and consistent stakeholder communications” are vital for keeping staff, customers , partners and shareholders on-side , particularly when killing off a brand that has such a strong heritage in Britain. Consequently , the Aviva name is being phased in slowly, in contrast to the sudden and stark changeover that Consignia attempted, without any prior advertising. This approach led to a PR crisis, as journalists and the public failed to understand that the rebrand would not result in the Royal Mail and Post Office brands’ disappearance. Consignia was merely meant to be a global name for the company’s business-to-business arm. The other major difference between the two rebrands is that Aviva is in good financial shape, whereas Consignia was in trouble . However, this did allow chairman Allan Leighton to package the axing of the Consignia name a year later as a new beginning. Consignia’s agency, Dragon Brands, was disappointed by Leighton’s retreat. “You don’t change a company name without very good reason,” says Keith Wells, the agency’s director. “These were present for Consignia, just as I am sure they are for Aviva , and I would advise marketers there to stick with it and keep reinforcing the idea that it is a way to help the business achieve its goals. After all, Aviva is only a name. You get used to it, just as we have all got used to Diageo, Virgin and Accenture. People are very quick to criticise anything remotely interesting and brave, but we should let brands be, so that they can grow.” These two contrasting case studies demonstrate the fine line between triumph and disaster that is present in any rebranding exercise. A well-executed rebrand can revitalise a tired property, turning festering sales into sudden growth. Done badly, it risks alienating existing markets, confusing the general public and conveying a lack of credibility.Steve North, head of digital channel Dave, which was formerly UKTV’s G2, agrees that when rebranding it is often necessary to ride the wave of bad publicity. “It is impossible to have a rebrand that everyone is going to love,” he says. “You have to accept that there will be a few detractors. For us, awareness - whether positive or negative - was the key thing.” Awareness of UKTV G2 was only 1% of the UK population but only a week after its rebrand, awareness of Dave was 32%. It has since clinched the coveted brand revitalisation award at the recent Marketing Society Awards for Excellence. “Dave had stand-out quality. People were saying ‘you can’t call a TV channel Dave, that’s ridiculous .’ Well, actually, it seems that you can. Our viewers love it,” adds North. The idea behind the Dave moniker was to give the channel the persona of a fun, witty and entertaining ‘surrogate friend.’ “Everybody knows a bloke called Dave, so it’s familiar. And there is no class issue with the name,” says North. His comments highlight that the only opinions marketers should be concerned about are those of their customers. Ian Derbyshire, executive director of the holidays division at Thomas Cook, who has overseen the repositioning of its Club 18-30 brand, has faced plenty of critics who argue that the brand will never be able to ditch the sleazy, sex-on-the-beach , lager-lout image encapsulated by its ‘Beaver Espana’ and ‘Summer of 69’ ad campaigns. However, Derbyshire describes the repositioning as ‘a huge success.’ “That is very much an old perception. It has stuck in the media, but not among our audience,” he says. “Today’s customers are too young to remember those campaigns . For a start, the ads ran on billboards , which aren’t relevant to our target audience now. They are better reached via social networks. Some journalists have said it will be an uphill struggle to reposition , but after 40 years of trading, this year has been our most successful.” Some brand consultants may have advised Derbyshire that, to reposition, it would be necessary to axe the Club 18-30 brand, but he claims to believe more in brand ‘evolution’ . “Club 18-30 has such recognition that changing the name would be to its disadvantage,” he says. “I would only drop it if it hadn’t stayed relevant and was still operating in the past.” Jim Prior, managing director of branding consultancy The Partners, is another wary of hasty rebrands. “A lot of high-street brands tend to be superficial in their approach , thinking too much in terms of logos , brochures and shop fronts,” he says, adding that many rebrands seem too be little more than exercises in vanity. Another deadly sin, according to Prior, is compromise. “BUPA has spent a year going through a rebranding process that has left it looking even less interesting than before, and you can’t help thinking that the heavy hand of compromise has been at work,” he adds. Rebranding, then, is a risky business, and as Prior argues, the worst thing to do is rebrand yourself into obscurity. It is far better to be bold and memorable, even if it draws criticism from outside the brand’s target audience. Focusing on the consumer , and heeding their views, will ensure that a brand retains credibility and stays in their shopping baskets.British Airways is less than upbeat about its 1997 rebrand and the introduction of tailfins sporting ethnically-inspired designs . The strategy, intended to impart a more global feel to the BA brand, did not go down well with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who famously covered one of the designs with her handkerchief, saying ‘We fly the British flag, not these awful things’ . Shortly afterward, Virgin Atlantic added the Union Jack to its livery. Two years later, then BA chief executive Bob Ayling called a review, resulting in a decision to discontinue the tailfins and replace them with a variant of the Union Flag used by Concorde. The existing ethnic tailfins remained, but no more were launched. When Rod Eddington replaced Ayling two years later, all BA planes were repainted with the Union Flag design, which Eddington felt was less likely to alienate British customers. ‘In terms of the consumer, it was a disaster ,’ says Steve Irvine, creative director of branding consultancy LFH. ‘BA didn’t realise the reaction it would get from the Daily Mail-reading public. Sometimes branding experts live in this idealised, cosmopolitan, London-centric world, when they actually need to think beyond the M25 and see that it is a totally different world out there.’ Case study : PWC In 2002, the consulting arm of accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was preparing to float on the stock market. The brand team, including head of UK brand communications Jacqui Rivett, had been working on a rebrand for months. When the name, Monday, was revealed, it sparked widespread criticism. However, the debate didn’t last long. Before Monday could be floated, IBM bought the company and ditched the name in a merger with IBM Business Consulting. Many critics claim this decision rescued the firm from the embarrassment of a disastrous rebrand, but Rivett argues that the rebrand was a great achievement in terms of boosting awareness of the company. ‘We got a mention on the BBC News, and there’s no such thing as bad publicity,’ she says. ‘Of course, there was lots of misquoting about how much we had spent on the rebranding - in some sections of the media it was reported to have cost hundreds of millions of pounds - but that sort of thing is inevitable.’
World - Midnight's Children rides again but critics baffled
Hasan Suroor
That the book has won such an overwhelming mandate flies in the face of all assumptions about what people like to read.
As a fully paid-up member of the Salman Rushdie fan club I am, of course, delighted at the latest triumph of Midnight’s Children which, last week, was voted as the best of all Booker prize-winning books of the past 40 years in a global readers’ poll. But I am also a little surprised that a novel which, like Ulysses, has been more talked about and discussed than actually read should have proved such a hit with the public in a day and age when nobody, we are told, has time for “serious” literature.
Midnight’s Children is one of those famous books that everyone has heard about and wants to read but few, in fact have. When a stage version of the book was presented in London a few years ago people flocked to it, but I had difficulty finding many who had read the novel. Most people I spoke to sheepishly confessed that either they had not read it or not got round to “finishing” it.
Indeed, not “finishing” Midnights’s Children has become a bit of a joke: a character in one episode of a popular British sitcom Peep Show says to another: “Good luck with Midnight’s Children. Nobody ever finishes it.”
What was even more surprising about last week’s poll was that apparently more than 50 per cent of those who voted for Midnight’s Children were under 35. What? Under-35s reading Rushdie? What’s going on?
If the poll is, indeed, accurate, though I hesitate to take phone-in and internet polls seriously, then we have clearly missed a trick. And the stories we have been told about people’s reading habits (that serious writing is in trouble, people read only pulp, and the younger generation takes fright at the sight of anything more serious than Da Vinci Code, etc.) are a lot of nonsense. In which case we owe readers an apology; and should salute the under-35s who voted for Midnight’s Children.
For a book that doesn’t tick any of the right boxes in terms of popular taste to have won such an overwhelming mandate from the public flies in the face of all our assumptions about what people like to read. Indeed, Rushdie himself was surprised to hear the news of his win. He said he was “astonished” that Midnight’s Children was still “interesting and relevant to people who were not even born when it was written.”
Less surprisingly, the choice of Midnight’s Children has provoked controversy as happens with most awards and especially with anything to do with Rushdie. The idea that it is the greatest of all the novels that have ever won a Booker Prize has been questioned even by several diehard admirers of Midnight’s Children which was chosen from a shortlist of six that included the works of some of the world’s best writers.
Many believe that at least three other books — Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist; J.M.Coetzee’s Disgrace; and J.G.Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur — had a better claim. Some have criticised the shortlist itself for leaving out such important works as V.S. Naipaul’s In A Free State which won a Booker Prize in 1971; Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997) ; Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, the Sea (1978); and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989) among others.
Writer and critic D.J. Taylor, though a huge admirer of Midnight’s Children, found the shortlist skewed in favour of novels that represented the fashion for a more flamboyant literature whereas equally interesting but “quieter” works were left out.
“To pluck a few deserving names from the Booker’s 40 years, it would be a shame if David Storey (Saville, 1976) and Penelope Fitzgerald (Offshore, 1979) were overlooked in the Ggdarene dash to acclaim Salman Rushdie as the Dickens of our day,” he wrote in The Independent.
To me, it seemed odd that book that had already won the Booker of Bookers on the 25th anniversary of the prize in 1993 should have been put forward again at all for a similar prize. True, the selection process this time was different but how many times are we going to see the same novel, however great, being flogged at the cost of newer and perhaps equally interesting works? There is a danger that at this rate the Booker Prize sponsors will end up causing a Midnight’s Children fatigue even among its most enthusiastic fans.
Meanwhile, Rushdie has disclosed that he “wasn’t confident at all” when he wrote Midnight’s Children.
“It was all just a trick. My first novel [Grimus] had done less than zero and had been trashed. I had four or five other unpublishable novels, so I felt like a failed writer. At the time Ian [McEwan], Martin [Amis] and Julian [Barnes] had had great successes. All my contemporaries were like Ferraris, leaving me at the starting grid,” he said in an interview in Guardian’s G2 section.
A quarter of a century later that “trick” is still pulling in the readers across the world — and winning prizes.
“The book has leaped the generations which is wonderful for me. I feared it might just be a topical book about the birth of India and that it wouldn’t endure,” he said.
But sometime being proved wrong can be such a bliss.
World - A green gift to smog choked beijing
Beijing’s notoriously smog-choked environs are soon to be gifted an oasis of respite, courtesy of the Olympic Games. The largest public green space in the country, a 680-hectare Olympic Forest Park will soon open its oxygen-laden doors to the public.
The park is being billed by the authorities as a green lung for what is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Built at the cost of 7.7 billion yuan ($1.12b) over a three-year period, the Forest Park is located at the northern end of the south-north axis around which the Olympic village is constructed.
Stunning views of the iconic iron mesh-wrought Bird’s Nest stadium are to be had from atop a hill at the park’s centre. Five hundred thousand plants representing 180 different types of flora dot the space.
But the most striking feature of this urban forest is a 27-hectare, man-made lake. This is also the feature that has proved to be the most controversial, leading to a fierce debate over the wisdom, or lack thereof, in constructing such a massive, ornamental lake in a city that is on the verge of a water crisis.
Having suffered eight straight years of drought, Beijing’s natural water supplies are severely depleted; a crisis that is exacerbated by pollution. Already struggling to meet the needs of its 17 million inhabitants the Olympics will likely place an even greater burden on the city’s water supplies. An extra 1.5 million visitors are expected during the games and water use could surge by up to 30 per cent according to some estimates.
The situation will likely be aggravated by the fact that in a bid to show its best face to the world the municipal government has built a number of water-guzzling musical fountains and created lush green lawns to line the main boulevards of the capital city. Forty million potted plants are also being placed all over Beijing as part of an Olympics-related beautification project. To ensure enough potable water for the games’ period Beijing is tapping 800 billion gallons of back-up supply from four reservoirs in neighbouring Hebei province. As a result, although Hebei is one of the least water-abundant provinces in China, peasants there find themselves helpless as precious water for their crops is diverted to serve the capital’s explosive developmental needs.
Pipelines to pump water from further south (part of the country’s ambitious 500 billion yuan, North-South water diversion project which seeks to channel water up from the Yangtze River in the south to the parched north) are also being put in place.
At a recent press conference deputy director of the Beijing Water Authority Bi Xiaogang insisted that even during the Olympics, water would only be diverted from other parts of the country in an emergency. While admitting that the capital’s reliance on shrinking groundwater reserves was not ideal — three-quarters of Beijing’s water now comes from underground wells up to 1000 metres deep — he added that heavier than average rains this year may help generate adequate supplies without resorting to piping in water from Hebei.
Addressing the issue of the Olympic Forest in particular, Mr. Bi stressed that all the water used for irrigating the park as well as in the toilets, will come from recycled sources. Rainwater harvesting facilities have been set up to enable the storage and re-use of up to 70 per cent of rainfall. Moreover, the trees planted in the park are of indigenous varieties and most are drought-resistant.
Although the Olympic Forest will consume a daily water supply of 280,000 cubic metres, the water authority official thus claimed the project was environmentally sustainable.
The park is also expected to act as a barrier against the sandstorms that plague the Chinese capital every spring, the result of the large-scale desertification that is creeping across the country’s dry northern regions. In 2006 for example, a particularly virulent sand storm led to over 300,000 tonnes of dust and sand deposited in Beijing on a single night in April.
Tang Tong, the Olympic Forest’s deputy general manager said that the park was intended to “help develop a sustainable ecology and combat desertification and soil erosion.”
The Beijing Olympics are being promoted as the Green Olympics and the pledge to clean up its environment was a major consideration in the decision to award China the games. Beijing has in fact invested some $12 billion in environmental projects since winning the bid in 2001, and last year a United Nations Environment Programme report concluded that the city had made “significant strides” in improving its environment.
Ultimately, the balance sheet of the Olympics for the capital’s environment may remain open to debate. But the Olympic Forest Park at least will present a green legacy with a long-term impact. The park which will cost an estimated 100 million yuan ($14.2 million) a year to maintain, will also absorb some 7,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 32 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, while releasing 5,400 tonnes of oxygen annually.
The forest will be open during the Olympics for 12 hours every day but only athletes and others games personnel will have access to begin with. The park will then open to the general Chinese public early next year.
In China, the lingering remnants of the collective culture of communism find their most visible expression in parks. Every morning and evening the capital city’s green spaces are abuzz with people of all ages exercising, taking their caged song birds for a walk or simply catching up on gossip with friends.
By plugging into this park-culture, the Olympic Forest is in fact likely to be one of the more successful attempts to make the Olympics meaningful for the 2008 host city, long after the games themselves become part of history.
The park is being billed by the authorities as a green lung for what is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Built at the cost of 7.7 billion yuan ($1.12b) over a three-year period, the Forest Park is located at the northern end of the south-north axis around which the Olympic village is constructed.
Stunning views of the iconic iron mesh-wrought Bird’s Nest stadium are to be had from atop a hill at the park’s centre. Five hundred thousand plants representing 180 different types of flora dot the space.
But the most striking feature of this urban forest is a 27-hectare, man-made lake. This is also the feature that has proved to be the most controversial, leading to a fierce debate over the wisdom, or lack thereof, in constructing such a massive, ornamental lake in a city that is on the verge of a water crisis.
Having suffered eight straight years of drought, Beijing’s natural water supplies are severely depleted; a crisis that is exacerbated by pollution. Already struggling to meet the needs of its 17 million inhabitants the Olympics will likely place an even greater burden on the city’s water supplies. An extra 1.5 million visitors are expected during the games and water use could surge by up to 30 per cent according to some estimates.
The situation will likely be aggravated by the fact that in a bid to show its best face to the world the municipal government has built a number of water-guzzling musical fountains and created lush green lawns to line the main boulevards of the capital city. Forty million potted plants are also being placed all over Beijing as part of an Olympics-related beautification project. To ensure enough potable water for the games’ period Beijing is tapping 800 billion gallons of back-up supply from four reservoirs in neighbouring Hebei province. As a result, although Hebei is one of the least water-abundant provinces in China, peasants there find themselves helpless as precious water for their crops is diverted to serve the capital’s explosive developmental needs.
Pipelines to pump water from further south (part of the country’s ambitious 500 billion yuan, North-South water diversion project which seeks to channel water up from the Yangtze River in the south to the parched north) are also being put in place.
At a recent press conference deputy director of the Beijing Water Authority Bi Xiaogang insisted that even during the Olympics, water would only be diverted from other parts of the country in an emergency. While admitting that the capital’s reliance on shrinking groundwater reserves was not ideal — three-quarters of Beijing’s water now comes from underground wells up to 1000 metres deep — he added that heavier than average rains this year may help generate adequate supplies without resorting to piping in water from Hebei.
Addressing the issue of the Olympic Forest in particular, Mr. Bi stressed that all the water used for irrigating the park as well as in the toilets, will come from recycled sources. Rainwater harvesting facilities have been set up to enable the storage and re-use of up to 70 per cent of rainfall. Moreover, the trees planted in the park are of indigenous varieties and most are drought-resistant.
Although the Olympic Forest will consume a daily water supply of 280,000 cubic metres, the water authority official thus claimed the project was environmentally sustainable.
The park is also expected to act as a barrier against the sandstorms that plague the Chinese capital every spring, the result of the large-scale desertification that is creeping across the country’s dry northern regions. In 2006 for example, a particularly virulent sand storm led to over 300,000 tonnes of dust and sand deposited in Beijing on a single night in April.
Tang Tong, the Olympic Forest’s deputy general manager said that the park was intended to “help develop a sustainable ecology and combat desertification and soil erosion.”
The Beijing Olympics are being promoted as the Green Olympics and the pledge to clean up its environment was a major consideration in the decision to award China the games. Beijing has in fact invested some $12 billion in environmental projects since winning the bid in 2001, and last year a United Nations Environment Programme report concluded that the city had made “significant strides” in improving its environment.
Ultimately, the balance sheet of the Olympics for the capital’s environment may remain open to debate. But the Olympic Forest Park at least will present a green legacy with a long-term impact. The park which will cost an estimated 100 million yuan ($14.2 million) a year to maintain, will also absorb some 7,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 32 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, while releasing 5,400 tonnes of oxygen annually.
The forest will be open during the Olympics for 12 hours every day but only athletes and others games personnel will have access to begin with. The park will then open to the general Chinese public early next year.
In China, the lingering remnants of the collective culture of communism find their most visible expression in parks. Every morning and evening the capital city’s green spaces are abuzz with people of all ages exercising, taking their caged song birds for a walk or simply catching up on gossip with friends.
By plugging into this park-culture, the Olympic Forest is in fact likely to be one of the more successful attempts to make the Olympics meaningful for the 2008 host city, long after the games themselves become part of history.
India - A Green Gas?
A proposal to supply coal bed methane to Kolkata to replace the city's diesel-dependence is being welcomed in all quarters, since it would reduce pollution levels in the area. Methane will be extracted from coalfields in Jharia, Jharkhand, by using converters imported from France. The gas will be transported by road to Kolkata in steel containers until such time as new pipelines are laid and distribution networks worked out. Initially, methane will be used to power autos, taxis and buses that currently run on diesel, often adulterated. Eventually, the plan is to extend gas supply for household cooking purposes as well. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has signed an agreement with a private company for distribution to commence in January 2009. Coal bed methane as a source of clean natural gas has immense potential for India, especially since there are rich sources in the Jharkhand and West Bengal regions. Methane gas is found trapped in fissures in coal and extraction reduces explosion hazards in mines, thereby reducing safety risks for miners. When burnt as fuel, methane has zero emission, whereas when released into the atmosphere its global warming potential is 21 times that of carbon dioxide over a span of 100 years. There are, however, several factors that have hampered the realisation of this clean fuel potential in India. Though the country is rich in reserves of bituminous coal containing methane, the reserves are at depths of up to 1,200 metres and need appropriate drilling equipment apart from know-how for extraction. In the process of coal bed methane extraction, water from the coal bed is first pumped out and since the water is usually rich in sodium, its salinity makes it unfit for irrigation or drinking purposes. So, waste-water disposal from coal bed methane deposits is something that needs looking into in order not to adversely affect the local water table or stunt plant growth. Unless it is diluted sufficiently with normal water, saline content will be far too high. This, and the fact that converters to extract methane from coal beds are not available locally, makes it imperative for India to have ties with other countries for technology and know-how transfer. China is on the job, showering tax breaks and subsidies on coal bed methane extraction companies and having an agreement with the US for technology inputs. India should speed up its coal bed methane projects in order to generate clean fuel in areas easily accessible from coal-bearing zones.
Fun - Paradox of Brains vs Brawn
BERLIN: Nikolay Sazhin almost knocked out his opponent with a blow to the chin in the second round, but he had to take the queen to win the match.
As Sazhin moved a bishop to go in for the kill in front of 1,000 cheering fans one recent Saturday night, he took the title of world champion of chess boxing, a hybrid sport that combines five rounds of pugilism with a 24-minute game of chess.
“It’s the No. 1 thinking game and the No. 1 fighting game,” said Iepe Rubingh, the sport’s 32-year-old founder.
Rubingh’s inspiration was ‘Cold Equator,’ a 1992 French comic book in which two heavyweight boxers fight for 12 rounds and then play a 45-hour game of chess. “That’s not functional. So I thought about how it could work.”
His version comes complete with a custom-made electronic chessboard that lets spectators watch the action projected onto a pair of large ringside screens.
In 2003, some 800 people turned out in Amsterdam to watch an exhibition match between Rubingh and a friend. “It was a catastrophe. I lost my queen in the second round of chess,” he said.
But the loss did not stop him from pursuing his dream. The Dutchman returned to Berlin, where he has lived for a decade, and set out to find tough fighters who could also play a good game of chess.
Germany has emerged as a major boxing centre attracting top talent from Eastern Europe. Most of the world’s top heavyweight fighters are natives of Russia and Ukraine, and many train in Hamburg. Rubingh hopes that will create room for variants like chess boxing or ultimate fighting, a more punishing combat sport seeking a foothold in Europe.
He knows he would not be recruiting either boxers or chess players at the top of their games, but does believe there is a deep reservoir of talent among amateur and lower ranked pro fighters who have a sharp, tactical mind. “With a certain level of practice, people can play chess during a chess boxing match almost at their normal level,” he said.
One of his first prospects was Frank Stoldt, a 37-year-old Berlin riot policeman and amateur kick boxer. Stoldt was also an obsessive chess player, who often lost himself in late night online matches.
“Both disciplines are aggressive,” Stoldt said of his attraction to the sport. He started training at Rubingh’s chess boxing gym in Berlin’s downtown Mitte district. In November, he won the sport’s first world championship in Berlin.
He lost his belt this month to Sazhin, a 19-year-old Russian who had never travelled abroad until he came here to prepare for the match.
Sazhin learned about the sport while surfing the Internet, and tried out by mailing boxing tapes to Rubingh and playing him in online chess games.
Rubingh thinks he could be the first of many chess boxers from a country that has embraced fighters and immortalises chess players, like Russian legends Garry Kasparov and Boris Spassky.
It was long after midnight in a Berlin warehouse when Sazhin and Stoldt entered the ring and sat down at the chessboard. In this version of speed chess, each had 12 minutes in which to beat their opponent on the board, which would be broken up between as many as five rounds of boxing
As Sazhin moved a bishop to go in for the kill in front of 1,000 cheering fans one recent Saturday night, he took the title of world champion of chess boxing, a hybrid sport that combines five rounds of pugilism with a 24-minute game of chess.
“It’s the No. 1 thinking game and the No. 1 fighting game,” said Iepe Rubingh, the sport’s 32-year-old founder.
Rubingh’s inspiration was ‘Cold Equator,’ a 1992 French comic book in which two heavyweight boxers fight for 12 rounds and then play a 45-hour game of chess. “That’s not functional. So I thought about how it could work.”
His version comes complete with a custom-made electronic chessboard that lets spectators watch the action projected onto a pair of large ringside screens.
In 2003, some 800 people turned out in Amsterdam to watch an exhibition match between Rubingh and a friend. “It was a catastrophe. I lost my queen in the second round of chess,” he said.
But the loss did not stop him from pursuing his dream. The Dutchman returned to Berlin, where he has lived for a decade, and set out to find tough fighters who could also play a good game of chess.
Germany has emerged as a major boxing centre attracting top talent from Eastern Europe. Most of the world’s top heavyweight fighters are natives of Russia and Ukraine, and many train in Hamburg. Rubingh hopes that will create room for variants like chess boxing or ultimate fighting, a more punishing combat sport seeking a foothold in Europe.
He knows he would not be recruiting either boxers or chess players at the top of their games, but does believe there is a deep reservoir of talent among amateur and lower ranked pro fighters who have a sharp, tactical mind. “With a certain level of practice, people can play chess during a chess boxing match almost at their normal level,” he said.
One of his first prospects was Frank Stoldt, a 37-year-old Berlin riot policeman and amateur kick boxer. Stoldt was also an obsessive chess player, who often lost himself in late night online matches.
“Both disciplines are aggressive,” Stoldt said of his attraction to the sport. He started training at Rubingh’s chess boxing gym in Berlin’s downtown Mitte district. In November, he won the sport’s first world championship in Berlin.
He lost his belt this month to Sazhin, a 19-year-old Russian who had never travelled abroad until he came here to prepare for the match.
Sazhin learned about the sport while surfing the Internet, and tried out by mailing boxing tapes to Rubingh and playing him in online chess games.
Rubingh thinks he could be the first of many chess boxers from a country that has embraced fighters and immortalises chess players, like Russian legends Garry Kasparov and Boris Spassky.
It was long after midnight in a Berlin warehouse when Sazhin and Stoldt entered the ring and sat down at the chessboard. In this version of speed chess, each had 12 minutes in which to beat their opponent on the board, which would be broken up between as many as five rounds of boxing
Lifestyle - Parents for Sale
A new American documentary film, 'Two Million Minutes' by Bob Compton, shows why Indian and Chinese students score consistently better than their American counterparts in international comparisons and are going to give tough competition to the latter in securing jobs. Comparing six high school-going students — two each from India, China and the US — the film credits the Asian students' clearer focus about their future and propensity to work harder than their American counterparts for their better performance. While some Americans have debunked the film's findings saying that six students is too tiny a sample size to draw any meaningful conclusions, it does raise some pertinent questions about American schooling. But a point, which most reviewers seem to have missed, is that the film also pays an oblique tribute to parental involvement. For, one factor that it cites and says works in favour of the Indian and Chinese students is parental pressure. In the case of American students it has been found to be almost non-existent. In a way, it is a telling comment on American parenting, which was pointed out by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner in their book, 'Freakonomics' . After extensive research, they found that though parentage did matter in shaping children's future life, it made almost no difference in the development of American children. That should not have come as such a big shock because as an American journalist said, "Most of us become parents long before we have stopped being children." But the same cannot be said of Asian and, more particularly, Indian parents. They slip from childhood to parenthood with utmost ease. And once they assume their new role they take their duties to the point of forgetting that they have a life of their own too. Call it result-oriented parenting but as far as pushing their children into 'fruitful' activities (topping studies) goes, Indian parents would beat the dads and moms of any other country hands down. A pity, therefore, that millions of Indian parents are forced to take early retirement from the all-important parenting work once their wards leave for IITs, IIMs and foreign universities. Having given their best years to parenting they find it hard to reconcile to a childless existence. Fathers and working mothers can still cope with it since they have their careers to fall back upon. But the condition of non-working, superannuated mothers becomes unenviable because it is too late in the day to embark on a career. The poor souls become victims of the empty nest syndrome. Would it not, therefore, be better if this vast pool of parental talent and experience is merchandised for the benefit of the international community, especially to bring up American and even European children? Needless to say it would benefit all parties and is perhaps the best bet to achieve international parenting parity. An Indian middle-class family offers an ideal setting for the growth and development of a child. Apart from formal education, there is a lot to learn from the rich and diverse cultural and social milieu here. Moreover, Indian schools are much safer than American schools, which are rocked by shooting incidents every now and then. In fact, India has the potential to emerge as an international, result-oriented, surrogate parenting in-sourcing hub. Each alien child that's brought up here would be not only our goodwill ambassador but also a future consumer of Indian products. If the financial package were attractive, even younger parents would be willing to take up one or two foreign kids under their charge. A question that arises is — would the divided attention not adversely impact the development of their own children? On the contrary, it might help them. Nothing would make Indian children blossom more than a little easing of parental pressure. Let's make an early beginning and gain a head start over the Chinese who would sooner or later wake up to the opportunity and give us competition. (The writer is an Ahmedabad-based commentator on current affairs)
Business - Instant Karma
Vidyut Shukla was six months old in Mumbai when his friend in Jaipur called him, requesting him to send a birthday cake to his friend's fiancée, who also stays in Mumbai. Shukla was clueless: he was new to the city. That's when his colleague asked him to call Just Dial. In 30 minutes, Shukla had not only placed the order for a cake, but also arranged to send it across to the birthday girl on D-day. Since then, Just Dial has been Shukla's trusted guide, easing his life in this vast, sometimes bewildering metropolis.
IdeaWhat exactly is Just Dial? If you are looking for information on, well, almost anything - ranging from a neighbourhood drugstore to the best kebab corner in town, simply dial 6999-9999 from any of 240 cities and towns in India. The response is almost immediate. The service is round the clock: 24x7, 365 days a year. In Mumbai, you can also dial 2888-8888. For VSS Mani, 35, the company's founder and managing director, the idea was very simple. He intended to make Just Dial a telephonic search engine that would have the names and telephone numbers of all commercial enterprises of the cities where the service functions. All this data has been collected over time and organised.Just Dial connects the seeker to the sought. While the caller gets information absolutely free, the establishments from which the caller buys products and services has to pay a fee to Just Dial. That's how Just Dial generates revenue. For instance, a caller from Mumbai can get information about a florist in Bangalore. Its database is divided into sponsored clients and non-sponsored clients. In the list of names that is provided to a caller, the names of sponsored clients feature in the top positions. Mani charges money from a sponsored company when the caller places an order with the establishment.The idea of launching a telephonic service struck Mani in 1988 when he was working in Delhi for a yellow pages company. He was chatting up a client about the prospect of trading information, when it flashed across his mind. His logic was simple: "Unlike in the West, Indians are always banking on friends, relatives and neighbours for information in their everyday life. Why not launch a service to cater to this need?" asked the Jamshedpur-born Tamilian. For Mumbaikars, absorbed in the pursuit of money, travelling great distances on suburban trains to make a livelihood, and always running short of time, such a service turned out to be almost tailor-made to their requirements. Information was virtually on their fingertips, and there was hardly any effort involved.
BusinessPost-1991, after the dawn of liberalisation, India experienced a new beginning. As the economy opened up and lifestyles changed, the need for information became acute. That was the time Mani came to Mumbai - in 1996. Above all, he realised that if Just Dial had to become popular, then its number should be such that people could remember it easily. As luck favoured him, the Kandivli exchange gave him a series of 8s.But even before getting the magic number, Mani began acquiring the names and telephone numbers of small and medium-sized companies through a small team of data collectors. He also had a team of telemarketing executives to validate that data. There were also a lot of raw data readily available. All these names and numbers were stored in a computer."Initially, I had convinced some establishments to be my sponsored clients on payment of a flat fee," said Mani. As time went by, the number of sponsored clients multiplied. Then that model gave way to a premium fee where the sponsored clients paid a sum according to the category of their products and services. That model, too, was changed to introduce lead-based payments, where a client paid according to the number of customers he got through Just Dial. Now Just Dial draws from a database of two million establishments - of which 60,000 are sponsored - to feed information to callers.The success of Just Dial is also an example of why it is important constantly to upgrade services and explore new mediums. Just Dial's website justdial.com, which was re-launched in March last year, now registers more than 72,000 hits every day. Information is also sent via SMS and WAP (wireless applicaton protocol) in an effort to be customer friendly, which means that Just Dial sends out one lakh SMSs every day to its mobile-toting callers and 6,000 messages through WAP. To manage the ever-burgeoning database, Just Dial has a team of R&D professionals."From the start, three things worked in our favour," said Mani. "First, we kept the price low for our sponsored clients, namely we charged a very low flat fee. Second, though we couldn't pay our staff well at that time, we evolved a performance-based incentive scheme to keep morale high. Third, callers were happy as their calls were promptly responded to. Simply put, it was a win-win situation for all." Today, this pan-Indian service receives 1.4 lakh calls every day from 240 cities and towns. Mumbai alone contributes to nearly one-third of the total number of callers. Eight call centres spread across the country handle the mad rush for information.
SuccessJust Dial has an annual turnover of Rs 85 crore, and the company's valuation stands at a whopping Rs 500 crore. The company's all-India staff strength is 3,000. Just Dial's 20,000-square-feet office in Malad (W) accommodates nearly 700-odd employees. All this is a result of one man's vision and perseverance. But Just Dial began in a 300-square-feet shop in Malad. Before this, in 1989, Mani launched ASK ME in Delhi with two partners. The service was on the lines of Just Dial, and then spread its tentacles to other Indian cities. It was supposed to be the next link in the chain on information dissemination that began with the telephone directory and then graduated to yellow pages. However, this unique business operation died a premature death. In hindsight, Mani realised that he had been a little too ahead of his times. Not many people were using the telephone, even in the metros. He walked out of ASK ME owing to a difference of opinion with his partners, but not before parting with his shares. He gave up his shares to the partner who had invested in the business. He had also launched a wedding planner in Delhi, but here too the story was the same. Not one to give up, he launched Just Dial in 1996, and the rest is history.
FutureMani's dream is to make Just Dial as omnipotent as Google. He has been thinking global for some time. The two major search engines, Google and Yahoo, have already approached him for partnership, but Mani had the good sense to politely decline the offers."A merger with them would have resulted in Just Dial losing its distinct identity in the Indian market," said Mani.However, he has said yes to two US-based investors over the past two years, one a private equity fund and another a hedge fund. "The world of local search will intensify in the coming years," said Mani.He is now eyeing the US and Canadian markets for setting up something similar to Just Dial in those countries. By July-end, he proposes to have a pilot-run of his project with a US company, and the Canada venture will follow after that. Mani did not wish to divulge more about these ventures.On his journey to success, Mani has met with many failures but he says his family, especially his wife, has been a great support. "My family has suffered a lot of hardships with me. They have been a constant source of inspiration," he said.
IdeaWhat exactly is Just Dial? If you are looking for information on, well, almost anything - ranging from a neighbourhood drugstore to the best kebab corner in town, simply dial 6999-9999 from any of 240 cities and towns in India. The response is almost immediate. The service is round the clock: 24x7, 365 days a year. In Mumbai, you can also dial 2888-8888. For VSS Mani, 35, the company's founder and managing director, the idea was very simple. He intended to make Just Dial a telephonic search engine that would have the names and telephone numbers of all commercial enterprises of the cities where the service functions. All this data has been collected over time and organised.Just Dial connects the seeker to the sought. While the caller gets information absolutely free, the establishments from which the caller buys products and services has to pay a fee to Just Dial. That's how Just Dial generates revenue. For instance, a caller from Mumbai can get information about a florist in Bangalore. Its database is divided into sponsored clients and non-sponsored clients. In the list of names that is provided to a caller, the names of sponsored clients feature in the top positions. Mani charges money from a sponsored company when the caller places an order with the establishment.The idea of launching a telephonic service struck Mani in 1988 when he was working in Delhi for a yellow pages company. He was chatting up a client about the prospect of trading information, when it flashed across his mind. His logic was simple: "Unlike in the West, Indians are always banking on friends, relatives and neighbours for information in their everyday life. Why not launch a service to cater to this need?" asked the Jamshedpur-born Tamilian. For Mumbaikars, absorbed in the pursuit of money, travelling great distances on suburban trains to make a livelihood, and always running short of time, such a service turned out to be almost tailor-made to their requirements. Information was virtually on their fingertips, and there was hardly any effort involved.
BusinessPost-1991, after the dawn of liberalisation, India experienced a new beginning. As the economy opened up and lifestyles changed, the need for information became acute. That was the time Mani came to Mumbai - in 1996. Above all, he realised that if Just Dial had to become popular, then its number should be such that people could remember it easily. As luck favoured him, the Kandivli exchange gave him a series of 8s.But even before getting the magic number, Mani began acquiring the names and telephone numbers of small and medium-sized companies through a small team of data collectors. He also had a team of telemarketing executives to validate that data. There were also a lot of raw data readily available. All these names and numbers were stored in a computer."Initially, I had convinced some establishments to be my sponsored clients on payment of a flat fee," said Mani. As time went by, the number of sponsored clients multiplied. Then that model gave way to a premium fee where the sponsored clients paid a sum according to the category of their products and services. That model, too, was changed to introduce lead-based payments, where a client paid according to the number of customers he got through Just Dial. Now Just Dial draws from a database of two million establishments - of which 60,000 are sponsored - to feed information to callers.The success of Just Dial is also an example of why it is important constantly to upgrade services and explore new mediums. Just Dial's website justdial.com, which was re-launched in March last year, now registers more than 72,000 hits every day. Information is also sent via SMS and WAP (wireless applicaton protocol) in an effort to be customer friendly, which means that Just Dial sends out one lakh SMSs every day to its mobile-toting callers and 6,000 messages through WAP. To manage the ever-burgeoning database, Just Dial has a team of R&D professionals."From the start, three things worked in our favour," said Mani. "First, we kept the price low for our sponsored clients, namely we charged a very low flat fee. Second, though we couldn't pay our staff well at that time, we evolved a performance-based incentive scheme to keep morale high. Third, callers were happy as their calls were promptly responded to. Simply put, it was a win-win situation for all." Today, this pan-Indian service receives 1.4 lakh calls every day from 240 cities and towns. Mumbai alone contributes to nearly one-third of the total number of callers. Eight call centres spread across the country handle the mad rush for information.
SuccessJust Dial has an annual turnover of Rs 85 crore, and the company's valuation stands at a whopping Rs 500 crore. The company's all-India staff strength is 3,000. Just Dial's 20,000-square-feet office in Malad (W) accommodates nearly 700-odd employees. All this is a result of one man's vision and perseverance. But Just Dial began in a 300-square-feet shop in Malad. Before this, in 1989, Mani launched ASK ME in Delhi with two partners. The service was on the lines of Just Dial, and then spread its tentacles to other Indian cities. It was supposed to be the next link in the chain on information dissemination that began with the telephone directory and then graduated to yellow pages. However, this unique business operation died a premature death. In hindsight, Mani realised that he had been a little too ahead of his times. Not many people were using the telephone, even in the metros. He walked out of ASK ME owing to a difference of opinion with his partners, but not before parting with his shares. He gave up his shares to the partner who had invested in the business. He had also launched a wedding planner in Delhi, but here too the story was the same. Not one to give up, he launched Just Dial in 1996, and the rest is history.
FutureMani's dream is to make Just Dial as omnipotent as Google. He has been thinking global for some time. The two major search engines, Google and Yahoo, have already approached him for partnership, but Mani had the good sense to politely decline the offers."A merger with them would have resulted in Just Dial losing its distinct identity in the Indian market," said Mani.However, he has said yes to two US-based investors over the past two years, one a private equity fund and another a hedge fund. "The world of local search will intensify in the coming years," said Mani.He is now eyeing the US and Canadian markets for setting up something similar to Just Dial in those countries. By July-end, he proposes to have a pilot-run of his project with a US company, and the Canada venture will follow after that. Mani did not wish to divulge more about these ventures.On his journey to success, Mani has met with many failures but he says his family, especially his wife, has been a great support. "My family has suffered a lot of hardships with me. They have been a constant source of inspiration," he said.
Columnits - Karan Thapar
In Praise of Repartee
I guess we live in a four-letter age. When we wish to retort or rebuke we tend to swear and curse. If we’re English speaking the F-word trips off our tongues with frightening fluency. The rest, I suspect, are prisoners of Punjabi invective. In either case, the crude, even the lewd, dominates our response. Sadly, we’ve bid goodbye to the use of wit and repartee.
How different was the world of Winston Churchill and Lady Astor. They seem to have been habitual sparring partners. Almost a century later, their stories are still delightful.
Once, when a tipsy Winston Churchill stumbled down the stairs of the House of Commons, he fell in front of a disapproving Lady Astor. “Winston”, she reprimanded, “you’re drunk”. “And you’re ugly”, he shot back. Then, rising to his feet, he added: “But tomorrow I’ll be sober.”
At a dinner where Lady Astor was pouring coffee, she handed a cup to Winston Churchill with the words “If you were my husband, I’d poison your coffee”. Accepting, he replied “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
But it wasn’t just Winston Churchill and Lady Astor who used their wit to keep the other in his or her place. Gladstone and Disraeli did the same in the 19th century. Gladstone, who was more proper and less flamboyant, was frequently at odds with Disraeli. “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.” “That depends, Sir”, Disraeli responded with a flourish, “on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”
I suspect Disraeli usually got the better of their exchanges but Gladstone’s description of him has achieved a certain rhetorical immortality. He called him “a sophistical rhetorician inebriated by the exuberance of his own verbosity”.
The truth is that the English — and those who enjoy imitating them — delight in witty ways of putting the rapier in. They don’t bludgeon but they delicately carve and slice. Consider the following put-downs. They make their point with great effect yet its difficult to be offended by them.
He has all the virtues I dislike but none of the vices I admire” (Churchill); “He has no enemies but is intensely disliked by his friends” (Wilde); “He had delusions of adequacy” (Walter Kerr); “A modest little person with much to be modest about” (Churchill); “Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go” (Wilde); “He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts … for support rather than illumination” (Andrew Lang); “Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without an address on it?” (Mark Twain); “He’s not only dull, he’s the cause of dullness in others” (Samuel Johnson) and “In order to avoid being called a flirt she always yields easily” (Talleyrand).
It’s not just authors or politicians who have a way with words. Occasionally even Hollywood celebrities can be remarkably witty. Robert Redford once said of a fellow actor: “He has the attention span of a lightening bolt.” And Mae West of a suitor who was less than ardent: “His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” My favourite, however, is Billy Wilder on an unkind music critic: “He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.”
In my time the Cambridge Union would applaud repartee far more than weighty and serious argument. The better debators always had a quiver full. The arrows were aimed at their opponents. A regular used to be: “He’s a well-balanced man with a chip on both shoulders”. Another was this comparison: “The difference between Mr. X and me is a question of mind over matter. I don’t mind and he doesn’t matter.” But the one that brought the House down was the Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe’s attack on Reginald Maudling, at the time a Conservative minister: “They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, I suppose that explains why Reggie Maudling is sitting put in his chair”.
I’ll always be a sucker for the deceptive charms of the good Reverend Spooner. Borrowing from his repertoire, I was once called “a shining wit”. I beamed only to discover the quotation meant something very different.
I guess we live in a four-letter age. When we wish to retort or rebuke we tend to swear and curse. If we’re English speaking the F-word trips off our tongues with frightening fluency. The rest, I suspect, are prisoners of Punjabi invective. In either case, the crude, even the lewd, dominates our response. Sadly, we’ve bid goodbye to the use of wit and repartee.
How different was the world of Winston Churchill and Lady Astor. They seem to have been habitual sparring partners. Almost a century later, their stories are still delightful.
Once, when a tipsy Winston Churchill stumbled down the stairs of the House of Commons, he fell in front of a disapproving Lady Astor. “Winston”, she reprimanded, “you’re drunk”. “And you’re ugly”, he shot back. Then, rising to his feet, he added: “But tomorrow I’ll be sober.”
At a dinner where Lady Astor was pouring coffee, she handed a cup to Winston Churchill with the words “If you were my husband, I’d poison your coffee”. Accepting, he replied “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”
But it wasn’t just Winston Churchill and Lady Astor who used their wit to keep the other in his or her place. Gladstone and Disraeli did the same in the 19th century. Gladstone, who was more proper and less flamboyant, was frequently at odds with Disraeli. “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.” “That depends, Sir”, Disraeli responded with a flourish, “on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”
I suspect Disraeli usually got the better of their exchanges but Gladstone’s description of him has achieved a certain rhetorical immortality. He called him “a sophistical rhetorician inebriated by the exuberance of his own verbosity”.
The truth is that the English — and those who enjoy imitating them — delight in witty ways of putting the rapier in. They don’t bludgeon but they delicately carve and slice. Consider the following put-downs. They make their point with great effect yet its difficult to be offended by them.
He has all the virtues I dislike but none of the vices I admire” (Churchill); “He has no enemies but is intensely disliked by his friends” (Wilde); “He had delusions of adequacy” (Walter Kerr); “A modest little person with much to be modest about” (Churchill); “Some cause happiness wherever they go, others whenever they go” (Wilde); “He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts … for support rather than illumination” (Andrew Lang); “Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without an address on it?” (Mark Twain); “He’s not only dull, he’s the cause of dullness in others” (Samuel Johnson) and “In order to avoid being called a flirt she always yields easily” (Talleyrand).
It’s not just authors or politicians who have a way with words. Occasionally even Hollywood celebrities can be remarkably witty. Robert Redford once said of a fellow actor: “He has the attention span of a lightening bolt.” And Mae West of a suitor who was less than ardent: “His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” My favourite, however, is Billy Wilder on an unkind music critic: “He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.”
In my time the Cambridge Union would applaud repartee far more than weighty and serious argument. The better debators always had a quiver full. The arrows were aimed at their opponents. A regular used to be: “He’s a well-balanced man with a chip on both shoulders”. Another was this comparison: “The difference between Mr. X and me is a question of mind over matter. I don’t mind and he doesn’t matter.” But the one that brought the House down was the Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe’s attack on Reginald Maudling, at the time a Conservative minister: “They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, I suppose that explains why Reggie Maudling is sitting put in his chair”.
I’ll always be a sucker for the deceptive charms of the good Reverend Spooner. Borrowing from his repertoire, I was once called “a shining wit”. I beamed only to discover the quotation meant something very different.
Columnists - Vir Sanghvi
Emotion over substance
Yes, I know, I’m getting as tired of this interminable political drama as you are. When the Left withdrew support after four years of threats and abuse, we should all have been sitting up, thrilled to watch this crucial twist in the plot. Instead, we greeted the development with an air of weary inevitability.
Now, we should be worried about the confidence vote, which could be touch and go. But nobody has the energy left to care.
But, for better or for worse, it is still the future of our country that is at stake. So forgive me for any fourth straight political column in a row. My point this week is that, in politics, emotion and image count for as much as substance.
Weak Prime Minister: Was Atal Bihari Vajpayee a strong Prime Minister? Most of us would say he was and we’d probably be right. Along with Brajesh Mishra, he pretty much ran the country from Race Course Road.
But it’s the Vajpayee of the second term that we remember. Few of us now recall the failing, stumbling Prime Minister of the first term, the man who had no control over the price of onions.
What made the difference? After all, Vajpayee’s two single biggest achievements — the Pokhran tests and the Kargil victory — took place during the first term not the second.
I think we judge the strength or weakness of Prime Ministers by their ability to visibly impose their wills on their governments. The Vajpayee of the first term had Jayalalitha to contend with. Each week she would make some outrageous demand. Emissaries would fly to Madras to mollify her. Periodically, she would threaten to withdraw support.
Eventually, Jayalalitha did pull out and the Vajpayee government did fall. But when Vajpayee came back — and no longer needed her MPs — he seemed stronger for it.
As Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is unchallenged in the Cabinet. Such powerful allies as Sharad Pawar and Lalu Yadav have unquestioningly accepted the Prime Minister’s leadership. Contrary to predictions, no parallel power centre has grown up around 10 Janpath. As the current crisis proves, so high is Sonia Gandhi’s regard for Dr Singh that she is willing to sacrifice the government on his say so.
So why does the BJP get away with calling the PM “weak”?
Mainly, it’s because of the Left who have played the Jayalalitha role in this coalition. It wasn’t enough that they could influence the agenda. They needed to keep attacking the government and berating the Prime Minister’s decisions.
On most measures, Singh has been a good Prime Minister. He has presided over the greatest period of prosperity in modern Indian history.
But in politics, appearance is everything. So just as Vajpayee was seen as weak when Jayalalitha undermined his authority, Manmohan Singh’s real strength has been underestimated because of the constant carping of the Left.
For future coalitions, the lesson is clear: it’s not what you do when you are in office that determines your image. It is how the coalition partners behave in public.
Yes, I know, I’m getting as tired of this interminable political drama as you are. When the Left withdrew support after four years of threats and abuse, we should all have been sitting up, thrilled to watch this crucial twist in the plot. Instead, we greeted the development with an air of weary inevitability.
Now, we should be worried about the confidence vote, which could be touch and go. But nobody has the energy left to care.
But, for better or for worse, it is still the future of our country that is at stake. So forgive me for any fourth straight political column in a row. My point this week is that, in politics, emotion and image count for as much as substance.
Weak Prime Minister: Was Atal Bihari Vajpayee a strong Prime Minister? Most of us would say he was and we’d probably be right. Along with Brajesh Mishra, he pretty much ran the country from Race Course Road.
But it’s the Vajpayee of the second term that we remember. Few of us now recall the failing, stumbling Prime Minister of the first term, the man who had no control over the price of onions.
What made the difference? After all, Vajpayee’s two single biggest achievements — the Pokhran tests and the Kargil victory — took place during the first term not the second.
I think we judge the strength or weakness of Prime Ministers by their ability to visibly impose their wills on their governments. The Vajpayee of the first term had Jayalalitha to contend with. Each week she would make some outrageous demand. Emissaries would fly to Madras to mollify her. Periodically, she would threaten to withdraw support.
Eventually, Jayalalitha did pull out and the Vajpayee government did fall. But when Vajpayee came back — and no longer needed her MPs — he seemed stronger for it.
As Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh is unchallenged in the Cabinet. Such powerful allies as Sharad Pawar and Lalu Yadav have unquestioningly accepted the Prime Minister’s leadership. Contrary to predictions, no parallel power centre has grown up around 10 Janpath. As the current crisis proves, so high is Sonia Gandhi’s regard for Dr Singh that she is willing to sacrifice the government on his say so.
So why does the BJP get away with calling the PM “weak”?
Mainly, it’s because of the Left who have played the Jayalalitha role in this coalition. It wasn’t enough that they could influence the agenda. They needed to keep attacking the government and berating the Prime Minister’s decisions.
On most measures, Singh has been a good Prime Minister. He has presided over the greatest period of prosperity in modern Indian history.
But in politics, appearance is everything. So just as Vajpayee was seen as weak when Jayalalitha undermined his authority, Manmohan Singh’s real strength has been underestimated because of the constant carping of the Left.
For future coalitions, the lesson is clear: it’s not what you do when you are in office that determines your image. It is how the coalition partners behave in public.