January 20, 2011 at 1:10 am (fashion, india, luxury, Opinion, retail)
India connect
From Louis Vuitton to Cartier, India has been a source of inspiration for luxury houses. When Jacques Cartier visited India in 1911 looking for fine pearls he ended up creating a necklace for Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, one of the most expensive pieces of jewelry ever made. Indian royalty eventually became patrons of some of the major European fashion houses in the British era. Things changed post independence. Falling income of Indian royalty and a socialist economy dissuaded luxury brands from making inroads into the Indian markets for several decades secluded themselves in select five star hotels. The economic liberalization of 1990s gave a fresh wave of hope to the fashion houses.
Luxury segment
Today India is the second fastest growing economy, with more than 100,000 high net worth individuals. It is estimated that by 2025 Indian HNIs will account 2% of population and 20 % of consumption. Young businessmen and senior corporate professional created a new market for luxury products and account for 75% of $500 million luxury market in India. These people want social recognition and best product and service available in the market and thus drive luxury industry.
However Indian consumer is also driven by deep rooted Indian value system of frugality, self restraint and family values. Hence purchase should not only be affordable but also be acceptable. This suggests that the prices have to be lower than consumer’s capacity to pay. Luxury products mostly fall under the class of “Credence Goods” i.e average customers cannot determine the quality of goods even after experience hence convincing skeptical Indian customers is a tough ask. Moreover many consumers travel to foreign destinations such as Dubai and London where they find belts, wallets, handbags at lower prices due to high duty structure in India- as high as 150%.Luxury market is affected by the “Grey market” where luxury products are imported bypassing high taxes hence putting organized players at a disadvantage.
Luxury environment
Luxury retail requires an environment to survive. In developed markets it is possible for wealthy individuals to live in differentiated environment in terms of living, entertainment and shopping destinations. India lacks luxury high streets and most Indian consumers have to make way through crowded market places which is certainly not encouraging for luxury shopper. Malls such as DLF Emporio and UB city have emerged as luxury shopping centers, however increasing urban congestion and traffic means reduced catchment for these outlets. As with all retailers high rentals in cities makes luxury retail unviable. Many luxury retailers are, losing more than $300 per sqft per year.
Merchandise mix
Women from wealthy family have traditionally been big spenders at stores such as Amarsons, Nalli and Ganjam. However luxury retailers are wary of customizing their merchandise for Indian women as it would affect their global image. Ironically most luxury retailers are adept at making custom merchandise for individuals but fail to do so at country or region level. Hermes in China has reaped benefits by addressing local tastes. Luxury brands find it far easier to sell to Indian men, who generally are more impulsive. However merchandise mix at most outlets continues to be women centric. But in some areas luxury bands seem to have got their category focus right. They have realized that in India the share of watches and jewelry is much bigger than apparel and personal care products quite in contrast to most countries.
Luxury brands have witnessed an explosive growth in China where people save to buy the next luxury item whereas in India people save to buy real estate. However with increasing wealth urbanization and sophistication India is poised to become a major luxury market. As value systems are slow to change and infrastructure development takes time, luxury growth in India will be gradual but sure.
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January 3, 2010 at 6:26 pm (Opinion, Short Stories)
Tags: Blogging, Enviornment, Inspiration, Life, Random, Thoughts, Writing
I have a confession to make. Over the years I have tried to hide it behind the carpet of the humdrum but it surfaces at very odd moments and disrupts my comfort. I try to discount my deeds as instances of juvenile frivolity but shades of reasons exh
ibited that age makes these sadistic acts hard to justify. As a kid I was an avid bird hunter. To make matters worse I had a good aim and countless pigeons, mynas and other docile creatures bear a silent testimony to that. With my air rifle I hunted them galore.
The array of adolescent transgressions does not end here. Sparrows were frequent visitors to my room in my parental house and some were ill-fated enough to catch me when I was at my mischievous best. I had mastered the art of trapping birds in my room by closing the door and windows and coaxing them to shuttle like trapped bats until they got tired. Drained of energy they became an easy catch and found their way into a cage where they would remain as long as I liked. When the impatience of youthful revelry meets naivety, quite often an innocent victim pays the price. I had learnt the art of catching birds but did not know how to treat them when they were caged. Contemplating on the idea that a bird should not be caged in the first place was far beyond me then. As a result, some of the sparrows saw their requiem in the cage.
With age, I did get the sense of this nonsense. I quit hunting and ironically my sadistic acts of bird catching gave way to love for birds in general and sparrows in particular and that happened without any external intervention, without watching an intellectual debate on television on conservation and much before the convention on biological diversity in Rio de Janeiro. I left my parental house for higher education and came there only on holidays. With my every subsequent visit I saw the number of sparrows dwindling and rarely anyone hopped into my room. One day, in one of my sojourns in spite of trying hard, I could not locate even a single sparrow. I later learnt that this ubiquitous bird- which enjoyed its abundance when more exotic folks were under threat of extinction has some of its species- thought not all- in the list of endangered birds. How could such a common sight meet such a fate so quickly? If such is the fate of the most widely distributed bird on the planet, what can be said of other birds?
Here in Hyderabad, every time I stoop down on the balcony railing, I remember of my childhood in Patna when it was a common sight to see sparrows flocking on the roof tops to get their sliver of drying gains. Their chips blended harmoniously and accentuated the evening serenity. I had given up the hope to see a sparrow here when I saw two of them teasingly poking their beaks into one another at a time and place one would least expect to find them- Inside the international airport at Samshabad, in the IIFA lounge below one of the tables where two gentlemen were enjoying their morning coffee at early hours in the morning. Read the rest of this entry »
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December 25, 2009 at 10:59 pm (Opinion, Satire)
Tags: Blogging, Culture, India, Inspiration, Life, Philosophy, Poetry, Politics, Random, Satire, Thoughts, Women, Writing
O woman when will you have your world.
Fitting like a cog in the machinations of man,
O woman when will you have your world.
These are the words that begin to pound inside me whenever I come across cases such as Ruchika’s where a poor girl was offered an array of disservice by men – molestation, trauma, injustice – which the society continues to dole out even nineteen years after her death. Her plight is not new. Women have suffered through centuries all across the world – be it witch hunt in the west or the system of sati in India. I wonder how such a big chunk of human population can remain so deprived for so long.
When self interest wears the guise of apathy, some of the worst crimes are committed. The man in us views issues affecting woman as something outside the confines of our home and mistake silence for agreement and compliance for contentment. Sometimes I find it hard to find ethics in the ethical codes when it comes to women. It is we who decide what kind of beverage is apt for women, what attire is conducive for her, what kind of jobs suit their gender, when to speak and when to keep mum.
O woman when will you have your world!!!!
I typed man followed by space in Google and it prompted me “man made disasters” and when I typed woman it prompted me “woman seeking man”.
I rest my case.
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December 6, 2009 at 5:44 pm (Opinion, Uncategorized)
Tags: Blogging, Inspiration, Life, Random, Thoughts, Writing
I sometimes wonder what it takes to lead a full life. This is something which has always intrigued mankind. I also find this quite paradoxical. We seek the very purpose of our existence because of our consciousness and it is our very consciousness that we seek to justify.
When I see some very smart people in TV who are exceptionally articulate, I wonder if I had such abilities, I would lead a more complete life. Then the rational in me pops up and rekindles the uneasiness which was briefly doused. What is the use of articulation unless it ridden by a new idea, new vision which can take us forward. Eloquence has the capacity to dwarf the audience and win accolades but is meaningless as long as it is mere jugglery of words.
When I meet people who are good with numbers, the people who draw complex analysis, I am lured to better my skills, again to for a more fulfilling life. Before I begin to give it a serious thought, the phantom of past analyses gives a mocking smile to my aspirations. It is possible that an analysis which looks perfect and smart on a spread sheet may be totally out of touch with the ground reality. In my past experience I have seen that better results can be arrived at by intuitive assessments rather than complex analysis. I am convinced that unless it brings about a change in the ground level, quantitative analysis remains mere jugglery.
When I see philanthropists making generous donations which can improve the quality of life of many people, I feel that bringing smile to the lives of people maybe one of the ways to lead a purposeful like. However even in noble gestures I cannot fail to see the irony of it. Most people – though not all- engage in philanthropy not to lead a fulfilling life but because they are scared of the inevitable i.e. the end of life itself. They want to remembered even after they are gone, hence they seek to buy immortality. Some see philanthropy as an escape route from purgatory. Thus even here I just see a jugglery of life and death.
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August 14, 2009 at 12:28 am (Humor, Uncategorized)
Tags: Blogging, Humor, India, Life, Random, Thoughts
I have finally managed to swap my home loans after several years of harassment which can put the usurer- as depicted in 70’s & 80’s flicks -to shame. My experience with sharp ascents and slow descents of interest rates was no less adventurous than a roller coaster ride. But the bank was comfortably saddled on my woes and stuck to me as barnacles do to a tethered schooner.
Whenever, I called on the bank to complain that my Interest rates have not dropped as in the loan accounts of other competing banks, the bank’s response was “IC!!!! We might do not in near future.” That near future always remained a distant dream. The rates seemed to be statically floating. I was persistent and checked with some officials. It did not benefit me monetarily but it did improve my understanding of economics. “You see interest rates are not only determined by the prevailing market rate but are also determined by bond rates” some top official said. Now it was my turn to say IC!!!!
Opposite was the case when the interest rates rose up. Here the bank was lightening quick in response “ CI had to raise your rates as the general interest rates are up.” I must admit that this was put across in a humble manner with a letter politely stating that my EMI has gone up by 10K and the loan tenure by 20 years. Yes, it did carry a solution- a part payment. With my disposable income eroded by 10K per month, how am I supposed to garner enough cash to do a part payment? I wondered. It seemed to be a cruel irony. It was like asking a lame person in manacles to compete with Usain Bolt in a 100 mts sprint.
Clearly default was out of question as it would only give a reason for the muscle men employed by bank to break their sojourn. I did what anybody does in trouble- seek government intervention. I went to a public sector back and after some deliberation- with which we in India as quite used to experiencing- I managed to get out of the python squeeze.
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May 23, 2009 at 12:09 am (Humor)
Tags: Entertainment, Humor, Inspiration, Life, Random, Thoughts, Writing
Meet my friend Jonnie. Duty free shops at airports are our favorite rendezvous points though it is seldom planned that way. He is always welcoming in his classic upright posture. Inviting him to my home is an obvious gesture on my part which he humbly accepts. I must admit taking him home is a costly affair but I do so with a grin. My wife’s smile wanes when finds that I have come home in his company. Her scornful looks tells me that he is an unwelcome guest. I feel her disdain does not befit his echelon and he should be treated with bit more respect. Nonetheless he takes a coveted place in my living space. My friends who pay a visit are always joyful to find him at my place and want to involve him in the discussion but my Johnnie chooses to be reticent and waits for an opportune time.
When the right time does come, Johnnie comes out of his shell and reveals his golden demeanor. He has a profound impact and makes you whimsical with his touch. I must admit Johnnie has the capacity to invoke myriad of emotions possibly all that can felt by humans, from reverence to lust and from despair to haughtiness. He takes you to uncharted territories and on many instances to the path of self-discovery. He is of kind who can make you appear wise and stupid at the same time. What I don’t like is his uncanny habit of putting words into my mouth and I am left repenting for making a fool of myself. However with him it is always time well spent. He goes on but all of a sudden you notice his exhaustion .One feels he should have stayed longer before bidding adieu. He leaves a lasting impression for the night and hangover in the morning. He is more popular especially with the discerning crowd by his full name “Johhnie Walker”. I choose to call him mon ami.
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April 18, 2009 at 3:21 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Culture, Entertainment, India, Media, Movies, Random, Thoughts
With our economy considered to be at the cusp of achieving greatness and maturity, I wonder if all our institutions are maturing at the same pace. Our polity certainly seems to lag behind. What can be said of Bollywood? Of many facets of our vibrant film industry that can be analyzed, our ability or rather inability of create superstars does portray a deviation from past if not a sign of maturity. The question to ask is whether Mr. Amitabh Bachchan is the last superstar of Bollywood?
One of the major changes that have happened in the Indian audience is its fragmentation and parallels to of same can be found in Indian automobile Industry. A decade ago whether you were rich, upper middle class or lower middle class you had only two choices for your car– Fiat or Ambassador. India was one size fits all market. In Bollywood we had Amitabh Bachchan commanding superstar status with other starts thriving in his shadows. Today we have different audiences for multiplex cinema, urban cinema, small town halls and rural cinema screens. What works for one audience does not wok for the other. While “Rock on” & “Luck By Chance” delights urban audience the small town/rural crowd gets mesmerized by Mithun da’s flicks viz .Hitler and many other such names with different combinations of prefixes and suffixes to the word “Goonda” . The regional film industry also seems to have come of age. While Ashwarya and Katherina have captured urban India, Nagma rules Bhojpuri heartland. Moreover the blooming overseas market as a result of Indian diaspora has prompted the Indian movie makers to include exotic locations in their movie. A large section of Indian mass cannot connect to it. In short, Indian populace is no longer a milling mass but one which marches in discrete regiments having distinct tastes and value systems. All this has obviated the need for one super star – the one having a universal appeal.
Increasingly movie makers are choosing to make candy floss rather than content heavy movies which can have universal appeal. Movie makers find it much easier to make light melodramatics glossy movies rather than well researched ones with appealing contents. Shahrukh Khan and Karan Johar are best exponents of such skewed eclecticism. Shahrukh in his prime chooses to make more movies like “Kuch Kuch hota hai”& “Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Gum” rather than “Chak de” & “Swadesh”. Amir makes better movies more consistently but his consistency gets beaten by his frequency.
One change in our society which is definitely a sign of societal maturity is dwindling hero worship. We are increasingly moving away from seeing one individual as a role model for all our activities and choosing to apply our own rationale and not choosing to be poor clones one individual. There are several reasons of such a change. Economic prosperity has made a lifestyle accessible for middle class which was earlier reserved for the rich. We may admire or aspire for the opulence of the rich and the famous but are certainly not awed by it. Tabloidization of Indian media has mercilessly and sometimes unjustifiably exposed our dissolute celebrities and rendered them unworthy of our reverence or emulation. Hero worship is a necessity ingredient for making a superstar.
Today, will any boy plunge into defilement to get a glimpse of his star as portrayed in the movie Slumdog Millionaire? It looks unlikely. Amitabh Bachchan is perhaps our last superstar.
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February 15, 2009 at 10:15 am (Opinion, Politics)
Tags: Culture, India, Philosophy, Thoughts
Ever since the ghastly incident took place at Mangalore, one has seen several columnists expressing their views on that issue on a frequent basis. The Indian audience has been bombarded with a wide spectrum of expressions ranging from acquiescence to mockery with most portraying squash of liberty, especially of women and the seeming impunity of the rioters. Few have pointed out remedial measures which can prevent such atrocities from occurring in future and Mutalik would have never imagined such gainful returns in terms of popularity from an act which though hideous was a relatively small one when compared to the campaign most politicians need to undertake to gain such limelight. This has reminded me of one of the scenes of Tom and Jerry carton show. In that scene during a usual chase and run both Tom and Jerry fall from a tall building. Jerry was the first to go followed by Tom. The two had very obvious but distinct pop-ups coming out of their heads. The one of Jerry had a question mark while the one of Tom carried an exclamation mark. Both took hold of their respective punctuation marks by their stem and let the dots go on a free fall. Jerry was able to use the question mark as a hook to cling on a flagpole while Tom could not find much use of the baton left of exclamation and hit the pavement. Hence instead of expressing shock Indian intelligentsia needs to channelize its creativity on what needs to be done. Sending panties as a response to the kind of crisis at hand is as innocuous as going to a modern day battlefield with a water gun.
Democracy is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for liberty. Persecution of any community -especially one which is marginalized -or an individual is possible in a democratic society. This is a lacuna in a democratic system which otherwise is by far the best system of governance known to human civilization. A filmmaker can be forced to change the title of his latest movie or drop certain scenes fearing an outrage even by small but vociferous group. A painter can be forced to paint or not to paint in a certain way. Recent MNS activities targeting migrants and treatment of minorities in Gujarat are near extreme cases of trampling of liberty. Just as Devil catches the hindmost, any violent group to gain political mileage will chose as its target ones who it sees as least capable of offering resistance. Hence you see MNS activists targeting north Indian examinees, taxi drivers and hawkers and Sri Ram Sena targeting women. People from Bihar and UP due to poor governance and Women due to patriarchal system have seen long periods of deprivation and hence appear as soft targets to people like Raj Thackeray and Mutalik.
It is imperative that right education is inculcated at the very beginning in order to create a society where liberty is honoured and cherished. Gains that can be made in any human endevour- be it economy, science & technology, literature or music- in a liberal society should be adequately highlighted and should be an essential part of high school curriculum as part of any subject deemed fit. History should not be taught as a chronology of isolated events but holistically wherein it can be learned that how people across geographies collaborated to take the freedom struggle to its critical mass. Once such ideas get imbibed in the minds of young only then you can the bases of divisive politicians getting eroded and reduced to a vestigial state. In a cartoon show none of the characters ever die and the Tom’s fall merely caused ridges in his tummy but nations, societies and civilizations do perish-some due to external compulsions and others due to internal contradictions. We need our safeguards and take contra nadir measures.
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February 13, 2009 at 7:41 pm (Poems)
Tags: love, Poetry, Random, Thoughts, Writing
As everyday, I walked down the lane
Amidst avian shrieks, chirps and squeals
I could have relished the supine mundane
But for my perennial weal.
You stooped on rails, watching the murk wane;
It’s an image that I always look to steal.
Its fun to see the Sun emerge in disdain,
Amazed at your face that streaks reveal
And to see it glare- how is it moon again?
As every day you were oblivious of my despair,
The one I wish someday you would atone.
And it burgeons, for with pals I don’t share,
My insanity which is so very my own.
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January 26, 2009 at 8:43 pm (Opinion, Satire)
Tags: Blogging, Culture, Film, Humor, India, Movies, Politics, Thoughts, Writing
You think I got the title of the famous movie wrong and it should read Slumdog Millionaire. Well! I decided to take the movie on a higher pedestal, not because movie is expected to fetch billions from box offices across the globe, not because the movie is winning awards and accolades galore, not because the people who were part of the movie did a stupendous job- which on all counts they did, but because of the adverse critique the movie has received from some of the Indian intelligentsia and also because the of bold portrayal of Indian “reality “. Even big B , who I am sure would not have been able to control a faint smile seeing the depiction of a crazy fan plunging into excrement to catch his glimpse, could not resist a slander on crude depiction of Indian poverty. Likewise many known columnists have expressed their dismay over portrayal India.
The Indian elite having escaped the plight of destitution associated with the lives of millions of Indians seem to be living in a parallel universe. No doubt that every Indian wants to be treated with dignity and prides on India’s advances, however our development has left a large chunk of population – which it still longing for it’s sliver of opportunity- untouched. Shunning their depiction will only feed our ignorance of their deprivation and that will further exacerbate the insensitivity with which we all suffer.
The reality shown is not that of far-flung areas in India tucked away in seclusion but one which is there in the very environs of our abode. We just have to just look around and its there. Peep put of the car window in any Indian metropolis and you see naalas oozing with black filth and the torso of Indian kids cruising inside. Not an unfrequented view! Gaze through your balcony and you see a seemingly educated person whirling the poly bag of house hold garbage and targeting a pile in a vacant plot akin to acts of master slinger David taking on Goliath. Also on the view would be a bunch of rag pickers winnowing through the pile and scouting for any item of value.
It is our insensitivity and the ability to accept whatever is on offering that leads to the state we are in. It could be our local policeman who may choose to chew his Paan over a brawl in his sight or it could be our primary school teacher in a government school who may choose to doze off in his class, are all products of our apathy. We are contended as long as no ill is happening confines of our home and is restricted to our neighborhood. Let the beggar be thy neighbor and as long as your pecuniary situation is good, you need not twitch.
The movie stares at us and tells us “This is your reality”. “That is what you are” and we cannot help realize that our weal is not in some unseen area but right in our face and is bound to show unless healed or we walk partially veiled as Zeenat Aman did in the movie Satyam Shivam Sundaram. I think the movie scores well over its critiques on this account.
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