Author: Wribhu
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Road to Kargil & Drass
What began as a fall-back plan (with the rains playing spoil sport to the Ladakh trekking plans),the trip to kargil & Drass became one of the best road trips I had ever done. I boarded the bus around mid-night @ Leh to take me to kargil and this meant that I could not see the…
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Way to start a new year- driving 800 kms
The 2nd leg of my road trip from Chennai to Delhi saw me taking a major detour to criss-cross Rajasthan during the peak winters – arguably the best time of the year to see the desert state. I was doing the trip solo and sticking to my Travel Bible – the Lonely Planet- staying at…
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Ginger & army issue socks- battling the cold in N Sikkim
North Sikkim is a sparsely populated district, which sees really harsh winters esp in the Gurudongmar Lake area. We were doing a road trip across Sikkim and decided that instead of going to the valley of flowers (given that it was December & no flowers would be blooming), we would explore the mountainous climes of…
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Letting Destiny build the Itenary – From Leh to Kargil
I have always been a firm believer that best of the trips happen when you dont really plan them, when you have the freedom and time to take the path that unfolds itself to you. It was June in 2005 and I was supremely depressed during my 15 day leave, coz I was not able…
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Rural telecom users price insensitive?
Read an interesting report in the ET today, based on some survey conducted by Credit Suisse. They survey found that the rural consumers are more quality consicous and less price sensitive. Hardly any of the polled users had switched operators basis call-rates. This is very interesting coz most of us (self included) had believed that…
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Will TATA’s Nano command a premium
The much hyped release of Nano was a welcome change in these recession hit times. For once both the consumers and the manufacturers were speaking in highly positive tones. It prompted a strange discussion at my house. My dad feels the euphoria around Nano is so much that its booking delivery process would command a…
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Organic farming – tough road ahead
I went on a trip to Sikkim, with a pal who works for organic farming certification in that state. And while I was doing my sightseeing, managed to enquire a bit about how organic farming is structured and marketed in the country. Quite an interesting case study it is. Organic farming involves complete dependency on…
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Will anyone buy Satyam ?
Its been a not so great start to 2009 for India world over. The economic crisis just keeps getting worse. I had last written about a how the slowdown could be the right time for cherrypicking. But the Satyam story has made me wonder if the same really applies to competitive industries in the service…
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Sikkim- Gods own garden
Nestled between China, Nepal, Bhutan and West Bengal is the small and beautiful state of Sikkim… With a population of barely 6 lakhs residing in 7000 sq Kms, its indeed one of those few places (in India) where man has not yet tarnished the natural beauty. Infact in Sikkim , it seems we have found…
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Global slowdown- right time for cherrypicking?
Its known to the kid next door (a keen stamp collector) that its a good deal if a stamp which was worth five triangular stamps (in the network) is now available for just 2 ! In business language, its called “timing your buy” when the price is lower than the target or true value. So…
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And Honda does it Again !
Honda has always been like the Intel of the automobile market. It has had a steady stream of products coming out of its shop which has meant that one time Honda owners stayed with them while looking for an upgrade or a replacement. The City platform has seen a steady stream of variants and so…
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DTH Games begin- Elephants will win
The arrival of the telecom giant Airtel has made the DTH arena crowded and fun to watch. Not only was the Airtel’s teaser used by BIG TV, the offers from early entrants like Tata Sky Dish TV have seen a never before decibel levels. At stake is the current 6 million household market which is…
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Innovate & explain this…
Was on my way home from the airport when I saw a Maruti car in Delhi sporting a sticker “Bobby Jindal for Congress !” For a second I thought it was my lack of sleep playing games… but then I checked again… amusing as it was, I tried to come up with plausible explanation(s) for…
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In the business of breaking (the) news…
I dont spend too much time infront of the idiot box, but I have been a witness to the news blitzkrieg that Indian consumers are forced to live with. With so many news channels, i usually end up pressing the “Up channel” button almost 20 times before I get out of the “breaking news” zone.…
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Why Google launched Chrome ?
Google launched its very own Internet Browser- Chrome- and die hard fans apart, early experimenters also say- that its cool ! While the industry pundits discuss the features and the strategy behind launching of Chrome- i came up with my very own answer- as to why Google launched Chrome? And the answer lies in the…
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Floods in Bihar- India’s lack of focus towards Infrastructure
The flooding of Kosi has brought to fore the apparent lack of focus government after government has had towards Infrastructure development. Lemme explain why. The Kosi it seems has been changing course every year that it flows above the danger mark- apparently due to high level of silt. The only water flow management in its…
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Free Pricing takes toll on non-life insurers
Today’s ET had a front page article with the same headline “Free Pricing takes toll on non-life insurers” where it reported that the once lucrative Fire Insurance segment now makes private General Insurers bleed. Its an interesting and important development because it could well become the case study in What not to do in a…
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TRAI on overdrive ! Telecom business to see a complete overhaul…
The last 7-10 days have been filled with a lot of action in the Telecom sector, and the regulatory authority TRAI seems to be at the centre of it all. Consider these: – 3G policy is launched – BSNL MTNL given a go-ahead for an early 3G launch – Net Telephony proposed by TRAI supported…