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Apples iAds coming soon
Apple just announced its official foray into mobile ad networks – iAds. This is sure to change a lot of things in the rapidly growing mobile ad industry. Google’s acquisition of AdMob might have given them a headstart in the space but with Apple sitting on a huge consumer base the battle of giants will…
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Granada- The Last sigh of the Moor
As a schoolboy I had seen a picture of the glorious red castle of Alhambra surrounded by hills. And often I wondered how it would be to walk through the courts of the Kings of Granada. So when we made the trip to Spain, we took the five hour bus ride from Madrid to Granada…
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Rail Museum
As a kid growing up in a small town (I had spent most of my childhood days in Ranchi), our annual summer vacations in Delhi usually left a deep impression. Can you imagine the excitement one had at seeing such huge buildings/forts & so many cars on the roads. One such trip whose memory lingered…
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Organized retail in residential areas
The frequent (and usually negative-themed) coverage of the fortunes of most organised retailers has left most wondering as to what really went wrong for most retailers. While I am sure most consultants are making money coz the answers are still unknown, I think the concept of retail outlets in residential areas needs a special focus.…
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The JUNGLE BOOK (Kanha, APRIL 2009)
The first day At 4:00 am there is a sharp knock on the door. It’s still pitch dark but its time to wake up with tea & biscuits at 4:15am! The gypsy and eighteen year old Ramzan are waiting for Simrata & me and we quickly join and drive to the queue at Kanha gate.…
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Value of Marketing
I remember my MBA days when I thought I had made a very smart decision to not take up any marketing courses. I felt as if it was all jargon-wrapped-common-sense. Why sit through classes(& worse exams) for something you can pick up by just keeping the eyes and ears open. And for a long time…
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Ambassador push-starting a Santro
Yday while driving to work, I witnessed a not-so-uncommon scene, a hassled guy trying to push his car since the battery had conked off in the Delhi winter. But what was uncommon, was how he finally got his Santro started ! And while many zipped past this old economy metal monster pushing the “smart people’s”…
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Finding the techie Rancho !
Since 3 Idiots seems to be the most talked about thing these days, heres a post to reach out to those young smart thinking techies out there. For one of my ventures, I have been looking for someone who is good at Ruby-on-Rails and PHP. Went through the usual route of spreading the word around…
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Mukhteswar- an ideal hill station
December was almost gone & I had not done any serious trips in the whole of 2009. The guilt was really high & I was asking some friends if they were keen on a road trip – anywhere from the hills to the deserts. After a lot of SMS, I realised by the evening of…
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Why entertainment Sells?
On my recent trip into the Kumaon region, I noticed that almost every second house had a DTH connection – with the dish antenna being flashed at every bend on the road. I remembered noticing the same during my trip into N Sikkim last year & I was wondering as to why there is such…
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Has the BlackBerry revolution begun?
Last couple of weeks, I have been amazed at the number of users who have been flashing their BlackBerries. All my friends have one – whether they are salaried or self employed – and I do understand their need to be connected on emails. But the surprise came when I met college students using BlackBerry…
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Lending after recession
What happens to loan disbursal policies immediately after recession? – Do the banks tread a careful path & go slow & stricter in lending – Do they see the improvements in economy a sign for them to also go bullish in lending – Most importantly how do they cater to the now-able-to-pay but bad-credit-profile segment…
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Boeing- Built to Last !
Just got this mail from a friend in the US-truly inspiring- “I happened to see this in passing at the backside of a Boeing newsletter few months back. Simply love the raw determination of the human spirit. What a privilege to belong to the same species!!” “I’ve tried to make the men around me feel,…
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Mobile operators & financial Services
The telecom operators in our country have a really enviable position. They are probably the only ones who have in such a short span created a consumer base that cuts across almost all economic and geographic boundaries. Their elder cousins from the FMCG sector are still way behind in capturing the imagination of the rural…
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What is vipassana?
Disclaimer: I have attended just one course and my understanding of Vipasanna might be inaccurate. I would recommend interested people to read literature on the same by Goenkaji or actually attending the course. ————————————————————————- Vipasanna is best summarized as a meditation technique that revolves around body sensations. Sounds strange- right? But apparently this strange but…
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My first vipassana course- part 2
Couple of masala-teas later,when the shock of the situation had been absorbed, I started figuring out how best to utilize my time before the registration (which was to start at 1400hrs). AY had already told me about a good trek to Bhagsu village, but I needed to freshen up and dump my stuff somewhere. The…
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My first Vipasanna course- part 1
Life is best lived if one learns to read the signs (so says the Alchemist) and most of us have at some point or another read those signs and followed em. Vipasanna was one such sign that had been staring me in the face for almost 3 years. The first I heard about this seemingly…