Author: Wribhu
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Kashmir : Business or Politics
Many keen observers of the J&K situation say that the current state of affairs has thrown the valley back by atleast a decade or so of development. It is also felt that the simple economics provided the means for the separatist movement to gain momentum again. Its been said that the Fruit growers saw an…
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Killer Apps in motorbike industry
Was reading an article in the ET today, which talked about how Bajaj was trailing behind Hero Honda in the Motorcycle sales in the country. The article went on to identify the reason for the widening gap- Bajaj’s lack of focus in sub 125cc segment where the volumes are still high. While all this might…
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3G now in India… immediate impacts on Telecom Sector
Today’s biz papers were all shouting out loud about the 3G telecom policy now finally being here. For the uninformed like me, it meant too much excitement about half a mark (thats how much of technology leap we would take by this costly migration from strong2.5G to 3G/strong ) on the score card… So I…
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Economies around pilgrimage spots
I remember reading this short note about how Shirdi- the pilgrim destination for Sai Baba devotess- quickly evolved from a small-hamlet-nowhere-in-the-map to a prominent-travel-destination-within-Maharastra…. all within the author’s lifespan. The thought was re-inforced by a friend who visited Shirdi and got into a conversation with a cabbie there. The cabbie believed that this family was…
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Card Spends and inflation
Was remembering my days in the bank when part of my job was to increase Credit card spends by manipulating credit lines for individual customers or clusters. My friend in the same team had a similar goal, but he could manipulate only the offers that were made available to our carded customers. While the role…
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Fuel costs leading to Closed economies ?
Read a very interesting article yday- wherein the author built a case for changes he predicted in manufacturing services due to the increased crude prices. According to him the labour arbitrage opportunities that many companies/countries could exploit previously, would no longer be as profitable. Reason being that historically the increased shipping costs due to shifting…
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Washing his way to moolah !
This is the first in my series of odes to the spirit of entrepreneurship at the grass root level… At my place we had a “dhobi (washerman)” who would come over to our place everyday and wash the clothes….Since he had small operations and lived in a hut closeby- he washed the clothes of the…
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Rishikesh
Just managed a hectic but fun filled day trip to Rishikesh… Its about 220-240 Kms from Delhi and can be reached in about 6-7 hrs.Rishikesh is famous as a pilgrim destination and the place is dotted with numerous temples and ashrams all along the Ganges.You can drive all the way into the city and would…
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Reinventing the Wheels
There was a time when the best car models in India came with Maggi- Hot Wheels- thats what they were called and I remember myself trying to raise a great collection of Ferrari’s, and Lamborghini’s …. those were the days when there was just an Ambassador or Fiat to choose from- or if you were…
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The Changing Business of Cricket
Cricket has always been the only rich game in the country- with rights being sold for an unimaginable amount- BCCI has always been flushed with funds. But with the new 20-20 format (in its multiple avtars) coming in- the business of cricket will surely see a lot of changes. So lemme try amp; put on…
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The long tail of grocery retailing …
Grocery retailing is considered by most as the toughest nut to crack in any new market. More so in India where Reliance’s Fresh initiative ran into some serious trouble in the Hindi speaking belt. But apart from the political resistance I guess grocery retailing is here to stay- atleast in the metros amp; sub-metros. With…
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Island Fort @ Murud
Murud Janjira- is an island fort along the Konkan coast. Its about 50 kms from Alibaug & the drive from Alibaug to Murud is so picturesque that it would be criminal to do that stretch during night. You are on a hilly stretch with western ghats on your left & the Arabian Sea on your…
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Selling @ Traffic Signals
Have you ever noticed the kids who are busy selling at Traffic Signals- from tissue paper to calculators, glossy magazines to Indian prints of best-sellers- they seem to have pedelled it all. The overall logistics here works something like this: Multiple traffic signals in an area are “managed” by a single “dealer” who issues the…
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Rural mobile telephony: Show me the money !
Remember the famous lines from “Jerry Maguire”-” Show me the money” With the next battles for telecom shifting to the countryside- I guess most of the telco honcho’s are rattling along the same lines…Coz exciting as it may seem, rural cellular telephony doesnt seem “profitable” enough in all its entirety- or maybe I am missing…
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Surjeet wants to go solo….
Surjeet Singh is your typical sardarji driving a taxi for yet another typical sardarji- Giani Singh. Gianiji has a fleet of around 40-45 cabs that are doing decent business (if fleet expansion rate is any indicator).This has been largely due to the fact that Giani enjoys access to a captive audience – he is the…
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Growth Boosters- Can i find em in Tea?
Ever since we moved office to this part of town – the whole of the team has become almost completely addicted to the corner tea-stall. The shop is your regular road-side tea kiosk managed by this ol man- who is the brewer, accountant, salesman and the delivery boy- all packed in one. It may come…
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Delhi-Gurgaon Toll Plaza: Is adding more Marshals the solution ?
There has been much hue cry about the mis-management of the newly openend Toll Plaza at the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. There have been reports of consistent traffic jams during peak hours where commuters have alleged that they were stranded for almost 2 hrs only at the plaza. While I symapthise with all those who have to…
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Hoysala Temple @ Belur/Hasan
I was at my first Republic Day parade today & was pleasantly surprised to see the Karnataka tableau inspired by the Belur Temple. The float had the Hoysala Emblem at the front & the rest of the it was designed as the temple complex. So I thought its only apt that I should write about…