Thoroughbreds vs. old nags

May 12th, 2006 • 5 comments Culture Briefings

I’ve been meaning to pen my thoughts about this issue for a while now. And then I read Pier’s conversation with a magazine editor, and his observation about the current status-quo between journalists and bloggers made me think.

“It was at that point I realized that this editor would never consider me a journalist. I wrote and published more times in a week than she did in a month and I had a bigger audience. But for her, a journalist sure wasn’t a blogger. Journalists were thoroughbred horses, and I was just an old nag that had found its way onto the course.”

I love how succintly and unfortunately, rightly so Piers substaniated the precise difference between journalists and bloggers. Traditional magazine editors are slowly opening up to the newer publishing facilities, yet, they exact a territorial and almost superior attitude when compared or even held in the same league as bloggers. Why?

Consumer magazines have understood the need of an online identity and I cannot think of a single influential magazine or a magazine with an impressive audience that does not have a website. What I’m trying to grasp is — do publishers and editors honestly understand the power of virtuality or are they simply jumping in with the bandwagon?

The closing of Elle Girl magazine was shocking — yet, the news that it would solely continue to live and operate on ellegirl.com was reassuring. The recent announcement of a mega, user-generated teen website to be unveiled by publishing monolith CondeNast didn’t surprise most of us. It was only a matter of time. More like, why didn’t they think of this sooner?

Hearst magazine Shop Etc, infact hired bloggers to write the Shop Etc blog. Nadine Haobsh, the infamous beauty editor who got fired for revealing the truth about being a beauty editor, was one of the first to be recruited for the Jane magazine blog. In addition to garnering the exisiting audiences of these blogs, these magazines are also in a way banking on the popularity of these bloggers! Because lets face it — bloggers have a face, a life, a voice we grow to love. It is a real person. And that sense of intimacy is far harder to achieve with a magazine.

In a move to achieve this level of intimacy, a particularly popular teen magazine now encourages its editors and contributors to have a myspace.com profile. Every article they write includes their name and a link to their myspace profiles — where readers can actually become friends with the editors. A brilliant move, innit?

When then are some editors so ignorant ? Or is arrogant the right word?

I love magazines — I love to hold the tangible copy to flip through while waiting for my train, I love the perfumed, glossy pages, the beautiful photo-spreads and the artwork. But I also spend close to 12 hours of my day surfing the net and working on the net. Neither media will outlast each other, atleast not in my opinion, but magazines that DO NOT fully comprehend the need of a website, will be the first to lose the race.

Besides, this distinction and projected supremacy is uncalled for because it simply doesn’t have a basis! Magazines ride on their successes partly because of their content, but mostly because of their advertisers. Once the high-end, luxury advertisers move online (which, inside circles tell me is going to happen by December) magazines will face competition with the very people they looked down upon: the bloggers.

So Piers– we are with you on this one. And the day you race the course as a finely bred Arabian is really not too far behind.

Btw…

May 9th, 2006 • 4 comments Culture Briefings

I’ve been invited to join the league of the pundits

and…
I’m a Desipundit now!

Love for Tokyo

May 4th, 2006 • 6 comments Culture Briefings

I type this as I watch one of the most fascinating documentary of the year- – Tokyo Revealed. (If you didn’t already know this, I am a Tokyo-phile) 10pm on Travel Channel.

So, I just watched this segment on cell-phones and it is ridiculous how advanced these people are- They actually video-chat via their cell phones and it is so simple. They buy drinks and condoms on the vending machines with a cool technology that connects their cell phones to their bank accounts.

Another interesting fact — Tokyo has a very low crime rate. According to the documentary, intense gun control is one of the factors that contributes to this safety.

And please, how can we miss the Capsule hotels?! Literally, it’s a– capsule-like quarters that have radio, tv, alarms and a bed. I guess it feels like being in a space shuttle of sorts? Mostly business men use these capsules costing $40 a night as opposed to $100 something a night in a hotel. The catch? most capsules hotels are only for men. hmm, now I wonder why/

and how cool is their transporation system? if the trains run LATE (which according to this doc. is highly improbable) anyways, if they do run late– the stations actually vend out a ticket/recepit stating that the train was late so that they passengers can show it to their bosses!

according to my roommate, who was in Tokyo for 2 weeks on business, a 2 hour commute to and from work is very normal in Tokyo. (it would be like traveling from ny to philly and back from philly to ny in the rickety chinatown bus every single day!!)

fun fact– the shibuya crossing is the world’s busiest crossing. 1,500 ppl cross every light everyday!!

(I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m giddy with enthusiasm and intrigue- – because I am!) I usually don’t use this many punctuations but I wouldn’t know how to communicate my dormant passion for this country in words alone.

When I interviewed Patricia Field, the designer/stylist for Sex and the City, I asked her why she sourced so much from Japan. (Her new store in the Bowery has an eclectic collection of little known Japanese designers and even Hello Kitty stuff.) She said to me, “They respond to popular culture — they breathe popular culture. I guess me and them speak the same language and we understand each other.” Right on.

I’m watching a segment on the fish market in Tokyo now — and although I don’t understand anything, I can tell when one of these fishsellers has made a good sale. They auction the fish at the market at 5am in the morning. You know, we talk so much about the volumne, chaos and color in Mumbai or even New York and ofcourse, I love these cities but I think sometimes, it pays to kinda just look outside your comfort zone and realize there are cities, huge metropolis’s just as alive, throbbing and glitzy as well.

In tokyo- its best not to order sushi on the wednesday. why? the fish market in tokyo closes every other wednesday so “there is a good chance that you may be eating yesterdays fish”

check out the toilet now– a self raising seat that is already prewarmed. a control panel, like a remote controls the water flow in the hole. even the surface is covered in bacteria-free substance. their toilets come with voice-drowning sounds AND a perfume emitter.

Hmm. Sumo wrestlers are celebrities in Tokyo — weeklies talk about their love lives and they are sorta pop icons. Interesting, iinit? And a ticket to a sumo wrestling costs $500. BUT– if you call the stable master (the sumo trainer) are polite, use the right words – you may get to see the training for free. The food receipes are secret, apparently. There is also a Sumo Town, a suburb of Tokyo. (How I wish I was the producer/director of this documentary)

And now… about the shopping disctricts in Tokyo – Ginza. “5th avenue meets Rodeo Drive” The Daslu of Brazil is like the WAKO of Japan. And oh boy, look at their electronics. Their Sony showroom in Ginza is a 6th fllor mega technology haven. “in a startship” setting. And ofcourse, the video games on flat plasma TVs.

The final segment, Tokyo’s nightlife. A cool new concept of mini-bar where “6 is company, 10 is a crowd.” Interesting, huh. A lovely intimate atmosphere that attracts Tokyo’s “bohemian” crowd. And didn’t Karoke emerge in Japan? At some bars, regulars have their own microphones to avoid getting germs from using strange microphones.
Ofcourse, they have their share of exclusive clubs that cost a couple hundred dollars to get in and even more for a drink. What would I give for that cognac that costs $4000 a bottle, huh? Although I’m more of a dry white wine drinker… (that too, I only last a glass)

I had seen a documentary about Hostessing in Tokyo where young blonde girls act as hostesses at bars, acting as an accessory to rich Japanese business men who pride at the sight of a blonde woman on his arm. Reminds me of the obsession *some* Indian men have with white girls. (Is hooking up with a white girl a status symbol for fresh of the boat desis? No offense but I’ve encountered plenty with that kind of an attitude, but then again, how can we discount the white boy fascination with “oriental” beauty?) I do not sterotype, this is a general observation based solely on my personal experiences and media consumption.

The documentary is over. And now I feel wistful. I thought aloud to my better half, “maybe we should go to tokyo for our honeymoon.” he said, “sure.. uhh,. but what will you eat?”

Oops.

Life Tunes

May 1st, 2006 • Culture Briefings

We respond to fragrances and sounds – its subliminal stimuli evokes our conscience, birthing forgotten worlds and memories. Maybe that’s why we avoid wearing a perfume that sheathed us through a particularly horrific break-up or maybe thats why we tend to sniffle almost-over bottles of perfumes to relive the memories we lived in them. True? I guess music and fragrance are an extension of ourselves and our lives just the way blogs have become…. which is why, when I found Tablet Tunes I immediately fell in love with this concept.

I enjoy music best when there is a sense of discovery, a sense of nostalgia (real or imagined) attached to it. Hotels, local stores and restaurants usually play the kind of music that reflect the vibe, the cityscape and the flavor of the city. Something to get you into “the mood” or give you an imagined memory to reminisce. TabletTunes, a collateral to Tablet Hotels is such a delightful little site that I could spend hours listening to the playlists, customized by exotic hotels all over the globe, imagining myself in the psychedelic streets of Tokyo or sun-drenched balconies of Agra. (Prem Joshua anyone!?)

Aptly titled, “Soundtracks for your travels,” the site says, “playlists tailored to specific destinations or types of travel — because lounging in the medina in Marrakech should sound completely different from power shopping on the streets of Tokyo.”
This one has nailed it. And $10 for an entire crystal-clear quality album? It’s a steal!

Go visit now!

Late night voyeruism

April 28th, 2006 • 4 comments Culture Briefings

I enjoy reality TV. I do! I just spent an amazing hour watching “Taxi-Cab Confessions” on HBO. My favorite confession was this ultra cool guy who lived as a bushman in Tanzania for a couple months a year. His story was bizarre! Esp. the sexy with bush-woman part…

And the confession with the transexual was so heart-warming.

Who said late night TV was for losers?

Sicilian splendors

April 25th, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

This morning I woke up thinking about Erice, the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to.
A haiku in honor of the evening that awakened me…

Liquid sunshine
on a November evening
Frothing at the castle

Earlier this year when I lost my hard-drive, I also lost my writings, some of which probably meant more to me than I give credit for. To capture the memory of a serendipitious evening, a lovely date or even a fleeting moment is possible, but to capture its essence is never possible. Sometimes, I don’t understand the depth of a feeling even after it has left me. All I understand is, what I felt that moment may or may not ever be replicated later in my life. Versions and layers of that feeling may occur, but that particular flutter of my heart, or a pause of my breath or a bloodrush exists only for that moment.

For an entire semester I studied about Sicily, in anticipation of the five days I was going to spend in Sicily that winter. I watched and read and re-read Godfathers and all those versions, I also watched a repulsive but very scintilating movie about isolated shepard boys finding relief in the udders of their cattles. I learnt about the Greeks, the Carthiginans, the Romans, the Arabs and the Spaniards who all conquered and acquired and inhabited Sicily at some point in history, leaving their vestiges behind in the form of a rare, but deliciously fused cuisine, a language that has an identity of its own, and people, that have a fiercer identity than any other people I’ve ever met in my entire life.

You wouldn’t be able to tell a Sicilian from any other. Because a Sicilian could have blue eyes and blonde hair or green eyes and dark hair. He could be Adonis-like, beautifully built or he could be stodgy and stumpy. My favorite memory of a night in Palermo was sitting outide on the pavement outside a bar (upscale, seedy — we never figured out. We saw mafiosio, dressed in black from head to toe drive in with beautiful women spelling of expensige perfume and cigerettes) guzzling down beer, making lifelong promises to each other about staying friends forever. We were chased by a bunch of Palermo boys on our way back to the hotel, but it was thrilling. If I concentrate, just a little harder, I bet I can still taste the chill in the air that night.

Sicily is like no other place I’ve ever been to. Why Sicily? Because when I was 20, I asked myself, what were my chances of ever going to a place so mysterious and outskirted with a true understanding of its people and culture? Not many.

When our plane landed at the Palermo airport, we immediately began guessing the likelihood of us being admist mafio honchos. We did see plenty men dressed in forbiding blacks and wearing dark sunglasses, but were they really members of the mafia? Your guess is as good as mine.

The bus-ride from the airport to Palermo city is only about 40 minutes or so and yet, it is one a busride I most fondly remember. Cloaked in the inky darkness, you could hardly outline the savage beauty of Sicily. All I could see from my glazed window were the stars and little clusters of yellow lights high up on the mountains. The stars, seemed a lot more closer, so close that it was eerie. A city-girl heart and soul, I was simultanelously dazzled and scared to see such splendor at such close proximity. You know how the stars are always a lot more shiny and sparkly by the sea? This was far closer than that. At the risk of avoiding the *blanket* cliche. let me just say that the stars looked just like what me and you have imagined they’d look if it weren’t for the luxuries of the urban life. Within reach, is how I’d describe them.

Palermo, although incredibly alive in its own essence, is a hip, urban city with element that makes a city. A mix of urban hip and historical artifacts — swanky Sisley and Miss Sixty stores and Spanish churches fitting neatly into Palermo’s cityscape. Hey -I even passed by a restaurant playing an old Bollywood song!

But the real beauty of Sicily hits you wham when you are in a bus, enroute to the heart of the island. If Tuscany is a play of light and shadow and yellow rolling hills, Sicily is a savage wave, about to crash any moment, hiding innumerable mysteries under its nooks and crevices. While the Venetian beauty makes you fall in love with it, the Sicily scares you. It awespires and the sensations are a mixture of foreboding and adrenaline….

I feel transported to Sicily as I write about it.. and at 11.40pm on a Tuesday night, it is not advisable to go on Maybe some other time… some other night.

I will scan my photos from Sicily… in hopes of conveying to you the majestic beauty of this island as I percieve it. For now, the haiku should suffice.

So outta touch!

April 20th, 2006 • 7 comments Culture Briefings

Today I had my share of the American suburbia experience after a very long time. I am very shamlessly going to let in on a secret of mine – I am 22 and I don’t have a driver’s liscense yet. So I took the bus to the train station first and then the train and then a bus from there to reach the heartland of New Jersey’s suburbia.
Driving Time: 20 minutes. Public Transportation: 1.45 hours (thanks patrix:P ) . Lesson Learnt: Get a liscense and a buy a Mini-Cooper soon.

I spent an very fun afternoon with high school kids talking about music and just hanging out. One of my new friends was relating an almost-car accident his Dad got into.

“And so a bull got behind us and…”

“Bull ?” Trust me. I had the image of an actual bull and for a second wondered how it was possible on an NJ highway when the group burst out laughing.

“Another automotive driver,” my friend corrected himself AND me.

Ahh.

Gossipities

April 7th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

“Angie’s too thin, is her baby in danger?”

“Angie wants to have baby in Africa. Brad doesn’t. Are they splitting?”

“Angie 7 months pregnant and flying planes. Will her baby survive ?”

Angie is going to come at you with an axe. And I know too much about Angie. Stop please!

I was passing by a particular hotel in New York and noticed a swarm of paparazzi camped in their cars opposite the street, their hawk eyes rooted to the entrance. I’ve worked long enough in magazines to feel totally devoid of any emotion, even helplessness as I passed the street. I wonder which poor celebrity was hiding inside the hotel, like a pot roast in the broiler only to be pounced upon my hungry predators.

I don’t even subscribe to glossies, but they are displayed so prominently at Barnes and Noble and little road-side stands. The latest read, “someone’s about to pop.” I forget which pregnant actress they were talking about. And Gawker had a Stalker bonanza today. They even distributed gifts to whoever took the best shot of George Clooney while he was filming in NY.

This is so pathetic. Did you know these weeklies routinely buy the most selling photographs of celebrities from the paparazzi for anywhere between a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars per photograph? And if it is a particularly great shot, like Paris Hilton’s peeking underwear or Kate Moss snorting coke, the weeklies will wage wars and auctions to be the first to capture that news.

There’s got to be somewhere they draw the line.

Maybe someone should start a gossip weekly or a blog about these people who have built empires out of gossiping about other people. Any interested parties?

Longing for more

April 6th, 2006 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

A couple weeks ago I was invited to participate in the Sprint Ambassador Program. Sprint is giving away a Samsung MM-A920 phone with 6 months of free service to certain bloggers in exchange for feedback, although it is not mandatory.

I got my phone in mail last week and have sorta ditched using my Verizon phone for this one. The best part about my Samsung A920 is that it allows me check my email. Woohoo. I’m not and I hope I never turn into those blackberrying-while-dining freaks, but I didn’t have a laptop until last night and my Sprint phone came to rescue when I had to check email.

I also checked out the other cool features – and managed to watch a couple movie previews on the phone. The screen’s too tiny and I’ll probably not do it again, but I have to admit, I got a kick out of using my phone or other than making phone calls.

I have to give credit to Verizon’s Audiovox cellphones for their amazing camera quality. But what’s the point when they charge you $0.25 everytime you send a pic message to someone AND provide no way to transfer your images to your computer or to the internet. Atleast no method that’s not uncomplicated and doesn’t require 10 different cables. Samsung’s camera is strictly OK. Even though it’s slightly more advanced than the Audiovox one– the quality just doesn’t cut it for me.

And I’m not very impressed with Sprint’s coverage. It loses me the minute I descend down the steps to the subway. Verizon never failed me like that, except when I was actually in the subway. Verizon has kept me very happy service-wise and that it has no roam charges (thank god for that!- I remember, a spring break trip to Virginia cost me $300 but my phone bill during those 3 days cost me $150)

But I would never continue with another CDMA service. Number one, the choices for cool phones are just so limited, its disappointing. And number two, I expect to travel a lot. And I’d rather have an instrument that only needs a different SIM card every time I’m in a new country than an different instrument! I made a mistake when I switched to Verizon and now I’m stuck in a 2 year long contract with them.

Phones and cell-pone services are just wayy cooler in Japan or even India for that matter. Sigh..

A dying industry or is it?

April 5th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

The last couple of weeks have been very interesting for the magazine industry. First, Cargo folded– out of the blue, leaving 40 people out of a job and Ariel Fox, the editor, with a very large mortgage on his new West village apartment and no job to pay for it. The New York Times blamed the stickers for the magazine’s demise.
It’s one thing to provide girls with YES, NO and MAYBE stickers in Lucky magazine, but really– what were the editors thinking when they decided to go with BUY and SAVE (something like that) stickers for men! Has any man out there used thes stickers? I bet their girlfriend’s used them (oh what the hell, even the page-full of stickers in Lucky aren’t enough for us girls!)

But on a serious note, my guess is that the magazine was just ahead of its time. I do believe that shopping mags for men will make a BIG comeback, but not yet. For the next couple of years, as men get accustomed to the idea of shopping from an already edited list, an edited store and an edited website– shopping from a magazine won’t be looked down as too gay or too metrosexual.

Infact, the next wave of shopping mags for men will come with effective online websites that will allow them to buy the stuff they loved in the magazine.

Two more magazines closed yesterday– Elle Girl and Celebrity Living. Now I couldn’t care much about the death of Celebrity Living. Good riddance to this already celebrity-obsessed culture. But sadly, Elle girl had substance. It wasn’t 10 ways to kiss your boyfriend or 10 things to do on spring break. It was more than a teenage magazine. The spokesperson for Elle announced that the magazine will continue to be published online and editorial content will be added on the website regulary. That’s VERY good news. And if they can manage enough advertising (which I am pretty sure they will!) it might even thrive online than it ever did in print.

A friend who is the assitant managing editor at one of the bigwigs, shook her head sadly and said, this is dying industry. It may be. But the way I look at it, it’s on the verge of a major revival. The grapevine is that luxury brands who have never before considered anything but traditional modes of advertising, are going into online advertising later this year. This will bring the new wave in print media.

Exciting times ahead! Very exciting times. Hey– the least we can do is be hopeful for the state of print media, for the sake of nostagia associated with it if not anything else!

Oh and did you check out Gawker? They are on a major Clooney bashing spree. Jeez, why lash out on other’s when you are unable to take criticism yourself !

Gawker’s Stalker under arrest

April 4th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

Nick Denton crossed the line when he launched Gawker/Stalker – a Gawker extension that encourages readers to SMS/email/call in the minute they spot a celebrity anywhere, providing more fodder for an already celebrity-obsessed culture. George Clooney is pissed off with Denton and I don’t blame him. One look at the site is enough to make me throw up : Candice Bergen has just entered Saks, Leo is at Nobu’s…

I know there’s an entire mob out there that does care for such information, but pandering to their voyeuristic personas to this extent is just reprehensible.

Gawker attracts close to 1m readers a day. Denton is basically sitting on a gold mine, capitalizing off of other people’s (preferably people who are rich, famous, famous and oh, did I mention, famous) lies, secrets and lives.

Clooney appealed to publicists, and all else to flood the Stalker site with false notes ten at a time and render the site useless. Which kinda makes sense!
“A couple hundred conflicting sightings and this Web site is worthless. No need to try to create new laws to restrict free speech. Just make them useless. That’s the fun of it. And then sit back and enjoy the ride,” Clooney writes, signing the note, “Thanks, George

It’s sad and says a lot about the state of our culture when there’s a whole bunch of morally inept people making a shit-load of money out of such cheap endeavors. Denton, by the way, just launched a new gossip blog called, ValleyWag, that will open the doors on Silicon Valley smarties. Oh and I presume we are already aware of dealbreaker?

To Curry Hill we will go

March 28th, 2006 • 8 comments Culture Briefings

The word has become so homogenized that even the utterance of it fills my nostrils with the unbearable oily heat of the curry. And yet, in New York, its popularity astounds me. “Wanna go to Curry Hill?” And I look blankly at my colleague wondering if I misheard her or misunderstood her accent. “Little India?” She asks looking for a flicker of recoginition, that imaginary bulb to spark inside my head. But continous blank stares later, frustrated, she questions…”Lexington Ave?.” Sure. I say.

There is no real or existing account of why or how the area around Murray Hill became Curry Hill. Some date it back to the 80’s when “Curry in a Hurry,” the first Indian steam-table type restaurant opened in this neighbourhood. Today there’s Pongal, Chinese Mirch, Indo-Wok, East in the West… and (somewhere in remembering the names, they have all begun to sound scarily similar) But the pervasive smell of curry can probably explain how the neighbourhood derived its name.

The funny thing is, even as an Indian who was born and raised in India, I am confused when it comes to “Curry.” As surprising as this is, it definitely wasn’t an everyday word. We didn’t really eat “curry” for dinner or lunch. The closest interpreation of the Anglo definition of “curry” I have, is what we call “Gravy,” – varities of savory sauces to match various appetites. There’s the elusive curry and then the slightly familiar vindaloo, more so from being the theme for England’s 1998 World Cup. (Remember, We’ere off to Waterloo/me and me mum and me dad and me and gran / And a bucket of vindaloo!)
But curry, is not even an Indian creation. Some say it is the British derivation of the Tamil word, Kari, a pickle like relish to with rice or probably from the curry leaf.

In unsettling corners of Lexington Avenue, it is easy to feel transported to a shanty brown-benched “hotel” where the tables are too close, and bollywood music from the ninities dissolves all conversations. And the food arrives doused in oil and spices — heavily delicious all the same. But eating Indian food for lunch is disastrous if you have to go back to work, it lulls me into a seista-like haze and I have to struggle to stay alert and awake!

I love Indian food, I adore Indian food but sorry, the spicy, oily texture of all curries and sabzi’s at these Indian restaurans turns me off. It blinds other flavors and when you are done, all you remember is the firey tinges flaming your tongue. This is a trait, I’ve observed with most people of my clan. They complain if their Indian food isn’t spicy enough, but they don’t get it, not all Indian food is supposed to be floating in chillies!

If your fingers aren’t smelling of the food you just had, it had to be really good food. Thats my unproven, least professional but most effective litmus test to judge good food. And it has worked just fine.

But please, don’t let Lexington Avenue’s Curry Hill be your only reference to Indian food. There is a general misconception that Indian food is inexpensive. Maybe you do have to shell out a couple extra dollars to get a taste of more subtle flavors from the Indian cusine to complete your gastronomical experience of South Asia. As I explore more of New York’s culinar facets, I will take it as a personal task to update you about the Indian restaurants worth trying in NY. Until then, have an open mind and remember there’s more than curry and chilli in Indian food.

For Sale, maybe even buy one get the other free?

March 22nd, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

As a journalism student at Temple University, our classes were often peppered with guest-lectures from seasoned journalists from the Inquirer. The Daily News gave deserving students the opportunity to intern, and gain hands on experience before graduating. Some of my best teachers have been full-time journalists from these papers. And it is with heartfelt sorrow that I realize, Philadelphia is about to lose two of its outstanding newspapers. Rather, the only daily newspapers in Philadelphia.

Mergers and buyouts are a cause for concern. I exhaled with relief when Joe Mansueto (spelling?) stepped in and bought Fast Company last year. When McClatchy bought Knight-Ridder for a $4.5 billion, it was but expected that the new owners would ensue a major house-cleaning project. I.E, get rid of business that aren’t generating enough profits.

The Daily News, will most likely be liquidaed, according to the grapevine. The Inquiere is up for sale though. Unless a generous Joe Manseuto steps in to revive this dying dynasty, Philadelphia and it’s people will have lost its only watchdog.

How can newspapers survive with the declining readerships and with dwindling advertisers? WSJ and other papers in Asia have adapted a lovely, magazine like format that is very contained and easy to navigate. I always questioned the size of traditional newspapers, its neither econnomical nor egronomical. Infact WSJ reported fiscal savings when they switched its format for Asia. Maybe its time more papers take heed?

I am not discounting the need for a tangible news source, something to hold and read, BUT breaking news is now broken online. Infact, when it appears in the newspapers the next day, it is already stale. Maybe newspapers need to shake up the traditional model they’ve been working on since the days of penny press and yellow journalism. I think newspapers have quite possibly been the last mode of media to have embraced new technologies and accepted massive yet vital changes.

The loss of Inquierer is heavier felt than conveyed. But may this be a lesson the the newspaper industry nation-wide that its time they get busy with their own house-keeping and churn out something that will not go the way Inquirer did. Or lets hope, whoever buys the Inquirer, implements the necessary changes.

Culture codes

March 20th, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

We like to think our cultures are complex, that we are complex people. And maybe we are right to assume so – but are we really that complex? Or are we just a pissed-off version of the sterotype we are routinely portrayed? While there are some tantalizing notions about being an Indian, I am ready to pull out my hair at the next mention of chiken tikka masala or the vindaloo. It’s like saying an Italian only eats pizza! And a Japanese, sushi. Honestly, there’s more to Indian cusine than curry and, I guess there’s more to Indians than computer programming.

How does this work, really? How and why do we embrace one quality of a particular culture and adhere to it for the rest of our lives? Sometimes refusing to experiment the organic flavor of other aspects of the same culture. I was disturbed by this article I read in a recent issue of Fast Company. A certain psychologist and anthropologist was paid a gazillion dollars to spend a few weeks in India “unlocking it’s culture code.” I’m not sure I understood the idea– I wasn’t aware that the key to a thousand year old culture was locked in its DNA, heck- I didn’t even know it had a DNA. I am not speaking in defense of India – or refuting the fact that we are a practical bunch and prefer stability over creativity. But honestly, is that all it comes down to? Is that all advertisers and major retailers are looking to understand before they parade their wares in the booming economy that India is?

Is a culture, any culture so simple that it can be understood and explained in two sentences?
And more importantly, is it really possible to spend two weeks and a billion dollars to crack the culture code of a country?

Of Bollywood stars and Compaq

March 1st, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings, Marketing/ Advertising

We saw Shahrukh Khan doling out emails on a sexy Powerbook in Main Hoon Na. And we swooned. First over the Khan, then the MAC. Did it compel anyone into buying the computers though? I have no idea.
Yeah, so Khan wasn’t blantantly promoting the brand but to have watched him use a brand I am loyal to made me smug. Ahh.. he’s cool too, I thought.

Last week, Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan was signed
by Hewlett Packard to endorse the Compaq Presario computers. In the
history of computers, Indian advertising and Bollywood stars, no actor
has ever endorsed a computer before. This might as well be the first of
manys.

Computers become a household item in India
Ravi Swaminathan, Vice President, HP India was quoted saying they have
been trying to position computers as a must-have durable product in
India.
Of the 1 billion plus population in India, only 15 million computers are in use. But lets look at some facts before analyzing this further:

Microsoft annoucned an added investment of $1.7 Billion in India to create a total of 7000 jobs.
Cisco is throwing in another $1.1Billion in the next three years in software centers in India. Add to that the 5000 jobs Dell is creating and the additional $1 billion investment by Intel and you have basically passed computer science a mandatory subject in primary schools.

An early January BBC report mentioned that sales of personal computers in India have increased a whopping 36% since September alone. Prices for a standard computer have been slashed down to as low as $250 (10,000 rupees) and are made available on installment plans. PC sales are expected to touch 4.7 Million this year, a significant rise from the 1.7million last year.

The time is ripe. The potential is severely untapped. And HP is stepping in at the right moment to ensure atleast a prime chunk of the market.

So will star-power drive extra sales?

Shahrukh Khan, a brand by himself, already has an impressive (?!)
portfolio of endorsements, each netting anywhere between $1M to $5M.
Soft-drinks, cars, cell-phone service, health paste and soaps — you
know name it, the superstar has endorsed it. But does all this
star-appeal really work? Especially when it comes to a computer?

Vivek Shrivastva, executive director of Triton Communications, India admits that there is no sufficient data that substantiates increase in sales because of star-endorements.
In this article, he woefully admits to having subscribed to the star-endorsement idea while planning a relaunch of Panasonic. The company signed on Bipasha Basu, current Indian heart-throb, ex-model and Bollywod actress, to promote the Panasonic brand to its targetted demographic: the youth.
The campaign managed to hold audiences attention for a while but failed to generate any sales or subsequent interest in the product.

Star-Power brings attention …but
But brand managers and ad-directors agree that stars manage to bring consumers attention to the brand. Hemant Sachdev of Bharti-Tele ventures sums it up, "The advertising will work only if there is a perfect
match between the core values of the product and the values that the star
personifies."

Shahrukh Khan is already India’s favorite. The classic rags-to-riches story, the perfect husband, the perfect father and the perfect friend- Khan’s values reverbate with the Indian sensibilities. But he is already a super-star and has endorsed too many brands to count. Leveraging Khan’s stardom to promote computers may end up diluting the brand message and is  very likely to fail to strike a chord between the products core consumers and the bollywood icon. Audiences can get confused with too many endorements from the same person, and this may also dilute the desired effect.

Compaq will benefit in one way though– the major recognition Khan’s name will give the brand more recall and generate awareness. People are likely to walk into stores asking for the "computer jo Shahrukh ke ad. me tha." (the computer that Shahrukh advertised) But by signing Khan, Compaq doesn’t clearly identify its audience. Khan doesn’t quite fit in any mold-  he’s too old to play ambassador to the youth and too young to influence the older audiences.

So maybe signing on stars isn’ t all that its hyped about. Shahrukh may act as a catalyst in helping launch the brand, but will he drive sales? We’ll only know once the advertisements release.

Conversations over wine and samosas

February 27th, 2006 • 12 comments Culture Briefings

A couple weekends back I took a trip down Hershey to visit my newly-married friends. Our conversations skimmed the usual: weather, New York, careers, India. We debated whether we would ever move back to India, why and why not. Two of my friends, although Indians, were born and bred in the Middle East. They were vehemently opposed to moving back to India and were absolutely unwilling to even consider the recent progress, lifestyle changes and booming economy. Intrigued, I questioned them further. I am open to the idea of moving whereever life presents greener pastures or wherever my whim fancies — be it Prague, Bombay or Sydney. I am not closed to the idea of moving back to India and I needed to know what made these friends so anti-living in India.

I was surprised to hear what they said.

(Friend 1-  PhD in cancer research, MBA in Healthcare management. Born and bred in Kuwait. MBBS (MD) from Bombay)

Simple things like paying an electricity bill are so difficult in India. People have an absolute disregard for rules and laws. When I was studying for my M.B.B.S degree, no one told me you have to know the peon… Thats not how things work  -atleast not where I grew up. I am a misfit there because I do not  know or approve of these sly ways to get my work done. My other Indian friends who study here… have such cheap ways about them. They buy the most expensive fax machine and printer because they have MD  applications to submit– and afte using it, they return it to get their money back. Intentionally. And that is so normal among Indians. Maybe I am a misfit ? Who knows.

(Friend 2: 23, tax analyst, born and  bred in Muscat and London, fruitless attempt at getting into an Engg program in India. Denied because he refused to pay the *donation*. admited on merit)

Yeah. You make too much money, its a problem. The minute you buy a new car, a new house — there are threat calls. You make too little, its a problem. You lead a life, stuck in a rut. Consistent bribing…. tucking away 20 rupee notes inside police officer’s pockets….scrambling to pay your taxes, hiding your income. It’s crazy!  Besides, don’t give me that shitty argument that you can afford servants and domestic help there. There is no pride in making another human clean your arse. You guys don’t even respect your domestic help dude!

Note: Both these friends, have stayed in India for a significant period of time to acrue these judgements. (5-6 years)

Any thoughts?

The only oomph in Indian television

February 21st, 2006 • Culture Briefings

My week-days after work are usually spent watching old re-runs of Everybody loves Raymond andSeinfeld. (Blame the weather for my dormant social life) On and off, I’ll watch a couple episodes of Lost or The Bachelor. (hey- -its addictive!)

Last night, I was struck by the sheer number of “special” episodes in these sitcoms. The Barone family spends a vacation and a couple of episodes in Italy.Seinfeld I’ve heard goes to India for a wedding! Sex and the City went to Paris for its finale…. The Bachelor was also in Paris this year.

Travel in your chair
This isn’t a new or an emerging trend- sitcoms have been traveling locally and nationally for episodes since the conception of outside-the-studio shows. (What the heck, even FRIENDS traveled to California and What-was-it Minnesota? although we never saw anything beyond the standard three-walled mock studio rooms)

Packaging a holiday or a couple episodes at an exotic locale gives the show an element of reality and fantasy at the same time.
Reality because, people travel in real life- A family of five with nosy in-laws take vacations to Disney Land, go on cruises and travel to Italy. This dimension adds extra oomph to our favorite shows. It packs the excitement of watching our characters idiosyncrasies unravel in a foreign city and the added glamor of a new country.

Switzerland and Bollywood
In India, Bollywood movies have long followed the trend of shooting stray dream sequences in Europe (usually involves actress’s in chiffon saris canoodling their heros in the Alps). Subhash Ghai, an Indian film director/producer gives a sweeping history of the visuals in Indian cinema,

“Shooting on locations started in the fifties. Rural India was exposed majorly in our films for about 20 years. Then came the era of family dramas and the focus shifted to lower middle class and middle class families. Gradually, you had films being shot in towns of India. In the seventies and eighties, Bombay and Delhi were where many film stories had their base. That’s when 5-star hotels and helicopters were shown on screen. Then came the television and satellite boom of the nineties. That gave the audience world exposure. Filmmakers, therefore, began to cook up NRI characters to shoot their films abroad. That’s how the visuals have broadened over the years.”

Indian Sitcoms can’t be far behind
Indian sitcoms started crossing frontiers in the 80’s – for a few special episodes ofcourse. The earliest Indian sitcom (that I remember) that may be opened this idea to other directors was Dekh bhai Dekh’s series in London where the entire family crosses the border for a relative’s wedding in London. Tara followed suit with a few episodes in Dubai. And then, there was a sort of lull. But in the last five years, shooting episodes in Mauritius, Maldives and Dubai has become routine setting a new standard for Indian TV sitcoms. And often not one episode, not a couple episodes but entire shows ( Hum Pardesi ho gaye ) are based in abroad. There was Dollar Bahu that even opens with the protagonist chasing a fluttering dollar bill on a NY street. I don’t know if it ever made it on screen though.

Earlier, Foreign specials have been added with the only intentions of glamorizing the show and romanticizing the audiences. Now, it has become a necessity to shoot entire shows abroad to maintain the TRP’s and one-up other shows, even on the same channels. From its burgeoning booty of family dramas several episodes of Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kasauti Zindagi Ki were shot in Australia and Aroona Irani’s (an ex-bollywood actress) Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chaand in London. Even Jassi went to Mauritius for a makeover and Krishnaa Arjun flew to Singapore to hunt for a diamonds. Bollywood veteran Paresh Rawal, took his Bhagwan Bachaye Inko to Mauritius. Indian sitcoms in English based in America are also in the offing.

Reasons Why
This accelerated and unexpected rise in taking sitcoms abroad may be ascribed to the en-masse attitude and lifestyle change of middle-class Indians. An unnamed chief executive at Zee TV told Hindu Online in 2001, that Indian audiences now expect the same level of entertainment that Bollywood provides. That includes catchy music (anyone noticed how lovely the soundtracks for these sitcoms are!! My favorite is still the Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye title song) , young nubile good looking actresses and of course, foreign locales.

Another obvious reason is the 25 million + NRI’s and POI’s scattered across the world (America, UK, MiddleEast, Malaysia and South Africa with the most) This includes working professionals, visiting in-laws and Indian students studying abroad.
With Sony TV, Zee TV, TV Asia and other channels available abroad, sitcom producers are scrambling to fabricate dramas that will appeal to this audience. Besides, almost every other family in India has a family member or a relative living/working abroad. Shows catered to this sector is ek teer do nishaan (killing two birds with one arrow!) — assuring viewer-ship from both within and outside the country.

Lastly, tourism boards worldwide are familiar with Bollywood’s penchant for shooting abroad.
Movies like Dil To Pagal Hai , Kaho na Pyar hai , and Salaam Namaste put low-profile countries like Germany, New Zealand and Australia on a middle-class Indian’s radar. For countries looking to woo Indian tourists, what better promotion and advertising than having a Bollywood movie or a sitcom shot there?

In fact, Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) admitted to a clear marketing strategy to lure Indian tourists to Australia via sitcoms and movies. It even has 25 hours of raw footage of scenes-capes, landscapes and cityscapes of Australia on Beta format shot by their experts ready for use in Indian movies or sitcoms to save time and cost for film crews. Even the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism and Culture has been sending “feelers” to Indian producers and directors

Not for long though…
Based on my observations, I don’t think this trend will last long. Indian sitcom industry is a somewhat close replica of Bollywood. Bollywood went international – Indian sitcoms followed lead. Bollywood does concerts – Indian sitcoms followed lead. Bollywood awards? Indian sitcoms are right around the corner. Bottomline – Indian sitcoms are only an exaggerated and elastic version of Bollywood movies. For another decade or so, Indian sitcoms will exploit foreign lands, the emotions of leaving home, the travails of studying in America, of being married to an American– you name it, you will watch it on TV.

But the way I see it — Bollywood is switching gears now. A patriotic awareness, a sweeping optimism about India’s economic growth and the intelligentsia returning to homeland has sparked ideas for unconventional, spirited, movies. Swades, about a NASA scientist returning to India, Rang De Basanti about young students realizing the true worth of their country, Yuva about young politicians crossing the mile are only recent examples of movies that altered the history of Indian cinema and quite possibly introduced a new era, a new phase of reformist, progressive ideas that will see more intense and more profound treatment in the coming years.

And when this happens, Indian sitcoms will be the first to follow suit. And what a time will that be! Imagine inspiring sitcoms on TV about Indian software professionals, scientists…. writers…. and with some creative liscences, it is very possible to add a touch of glamor to these raw ideas. (because without glamor there is no Bollywood or TV sitcoms, right?) But I’ll leave that to the producers.

(Actually, anything but the saas-bahu (mother-in-law vs. daughter-in-law) drama will be a relief!) But anyways, that only my prediction. I’m not film-critic, only a culture enthusiast, so take my predictions with a pinch of salt.

Concluding…
This derivation is a mere observation. Culture is cyclical. India is young, just about to embark on probably the most exciting period of its history. And as Indian audiences mature and whittle away from the drama, Indian sitcoms will have no choice but to reform their strategies and please this new, educated, intelligent audience.
Hey even Dilbert creator Scott Adams is thinking of moving Dilbert to India. He was quoted in Fast Company, “The world is changing, so Dilbert has to change or else he’ll become outdated. I have to figure out if Dilbert’s going to move to India or not.”

References
Hindu On Net
Tribune India

Other related articles
Jinal Shah on Jassi Jaise Koi Nahi

10 Jobs that won’t exisit in 10 years

February 21st, 2006 • 5 comments Culture Briefings

Fast Company predicts the death of these jobs by 2016:

Cool-hunting, wall street-researchers I second this. Trend-spotting is a dying science.

Bloggers I’m not sure why FC mentioned this because as of 2006, blogging is not even an official job. We have a handful like Boing Boing , Huffintgon Post and Gawker that rake in enough money to support a livelihood. But out of the 27 million + blogs, not even 10% can claim to be bloggers by profession.

Advertising creatives FC thinks amateurs are far better at making ads and posting them online. I disagree. The job of advertising creatives is not limited to chugging out art-like advertisements. If anything, this job is only going to gain more potential and become super-important as audiences find more effective ways of avoiding any reception of advertisements. (Tivo, anyone?!) FC is grossly wrong here. This is akin to stipulating, journalists will lose their jobs because bloggers do a good job of reporting!

Auto mechanics Hmm. In USA, maybe cars will run on softwares by 2016, but auto-mechanics will only graduate to becoming soft-ware mechanics and when our cars fall apart, as they always do at some point, maybe instead of an oil-change, we’ll be charged for a hard-drive change.

Indian call-centers This was evident, wasn’t it?

US-High-tech jobs They’re already going.

What do you think? Which job profiles are bound to disappear in the near future? Banking? Air-Hostess’s?

The world on India

February 3rd, 2006 • 6 comments Culture Briefings

There is a reason why I’m not a huge fan of surveys and polls. You never know if it is an educated answer!

In one such poll for BBC World Service -they asked 39435 people “all over the world” whether on how they saw various countries. Predictably, Iran has the most negative influence. And Japan was seen to have a positive influence.

About India, however — the world view is neutral. Iran and Afghanistan heavily think India has a positive influence and Philippines is the only nation that thinks India has a negative influence. (btw, Pakistan was not a part of this survey – I would have really liked to know what regular Pakistan people thought of India.) The interviews were conducted face-to-face or via telephone.

The thing is — I can’t figure out what they exactly mean by “positive” and “negative” influences. And why would the Filipino’s think so negatively about India– I’d like to know the reasons which the survey fails to provide or disclose them to public.

In Phillipines, 1000 people polled out of which a 57% said that India has a negative influence on the world as compared to the 2000 pollers in Afghanistan and 1118 in Iran out of which 59% and 71% respectively have a positive opinion on India. You do the math.

I dismiss this survey and its results entirely because
1)I don’t know anything about the people surveyed. Geographical and demographic information about the pollers is simply not enough to give this survey any credibility.
2) There is no constancy in the sample of people in each country. For example, only 800 Brazilians participated while 3497 South Africans participated in the survey. Regardless, these numbers don’t even make a strong enough percentage of the population of these countries. It is ridiculously unfair to say, “Philippines thinks so and so” or “Iran thinks so and so” when not even a significant population is represented!!

And best of all– I still don’t get the point of the survey!

BBC news Report
GlobeScan

Disco makes a comeback

January 24th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

(Image via Coolhunter )

LED lights -the new avatar of our discotheques. The lights interact with a dancer’s moves and the Dj’s music, adding an entirely new dimension to the discos. Popularity for the LED floors is only going to increase this year, so much so that entertainment and event management firms are already booking LED floors for 2006! Check out more pics and videos here

She walks in beauty

January 24th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

At this years World Economic Forum, India had every intention of walking away with the most praises, like a beauty strutting in a swimsuit for Miss Universe pageant. Only, India had already announced itself the winner of any and all pageants!

What did she not do — she posed brilliant blue-lit banners at the airport to announce her participation in the forum, she lovingly packed a goody-bag of pashmina shawls, an Ipod filled with Indian pop and classical music, ayurvedic oils and what not. In the evenings, she serenaded her guests and even showed off some of her bollywood jhatkas while feasting them on spicy kebabs and samosas.

I’m beginning to wonder if this really was a summit to discuss economic prowess…

Cosmopolitans and CultureHawkers

January 23rd, 2006 • Culture Briefings

This weekend (back in Philly!) I lunched with a bunch of friends who were visiting from Curacao. If you are wondering where Curacao is….

A Dutch island in the Caribbean, Curacao boasts of a large and vibrant Indian community, predominantly Sindhis. Our table seated an eclectic bunch of Indians — the three Sindhi’s born and raised in Curacao with bi-yearly trips to Indonesia and India where the rest of their family resides. Another friend, Indian- but born and raised in the Middle East and me– plain old Indian, born and raised in India!

As our conversation steered towards growing up and childhood memories, I noticed that even as each of us had a distinctive flavor to our pasts, on a larger level, we all converged on shared memories of Sesame Street, Tin-Tin, Batman and Robin and KitKat. And this was during the 80’s and the 90’s. Today, the permeation of cultural imports is commonplace and the diffusion happens via various channels – TV, music, movies and book being the most pervasive of all.

Back in the 80’s, India was flooded with…

Read more »

CultureFiles – Glance around the world

January 20th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

American designers look to Japan for fashion inspiration, Gwen Stefani, I guess, leading the pack…

Phone Trends for 2006 — I think I need a Blackberry, but then I’d be glued to my email 24/7. Nah..

On Bali’s revival…

Students at a college festival in India decide to adapt an eco-friendly approach

About fashion photographers and their women, inspiration comes in many forms…

A wonderful anecdote about America and pissing by the highway as percieved by the French

The cure for Hikikomori

January 18th, 2006 • 9 comments Culture Briefings

NYT Article.

I was disturbed when I first read of this social disease in the NYT magazine. Hikikomori, a noun, adjective and a verb all rolled into one, is a psychological atrophy Japanese youth are increasingly withdrawing under. The simplest understanding of this phenomena is when a teenager isolates himself from all social contact and retreats to his room- emerging maybe occasionally for dinner or late night runs to the local stores. A complete and absolute social withdrawal. Teenage boys are especially prone to Hikikomori and lock themselves in their rooms (in some cases for as long as 15 years) spending time on the internet, playing video games and listening to rock music.

In 2000, Time Asia that questioned the paradoxical nature of the country that spews out socially-disconnecting gadgets like the SONY PSP’s expressing concern about hikikomori. The impact and gravity of which didn’t hit until hikikomori emerged out of his isolation only to hijack a bus and kill a passenger. Another held a girl captive for 9 years in his room. Yet another became so obsessive-compulsive that he took showers several times a day and wore thick gloves while in his room.

Psychologists, parents and teenagers are still confounded and ponder over what causes this intense withdrawal. The history of Japan- the fact that the country kept itself isolated from the world until the mid-19th century, the traditional mother-son relationship, interdependence of Japanese parents and their children, social stigmas children face in high-school and the importance associated with the male gender in Japan — have all at some point been thought to be at the root of hikikomori.

There may be cultural roots to this disease– but maybe the penetration of technology — the mere existence of the possibility that an entire day can be spent in an entertaining manner bereft of the company of actual humans- may have contributed to some extent in snatching the power to communicate and be socially adept from the Japanese youth.

Americans and prospering countries all over have a reason to be alarmed. Already the youth in schools and colleges are asking each other for their myspace.com and facebook.com profile addresses instead of phone numbers– what will happen if some so-called genius figures out a way to keep these youth connected (make it possible for the youth to watch movies, chat and eat together) in the comfort of their rooms! (Like that isn’t already happening)

When I turned 16 –ICQ was the rage in India. My dad had recently purchased a snazzy new computer, with cool speakers and the works. On the pretext of studying for SAT’s, I’d chat online consistently. I even got a diary on diaryland.com and when random people commented on the overtly dramatic state of my life, it gave me thrills. Worse– as a freshman in America, instead of making new friends and doing things that normal freshmen do, I was so hung up on chatting that I spent all my time virtually -chatting with my friends in India.
Luckily for me, I learnt to recognize the voodoo magic a virtual life possess. Now as a rule, even though most of my work is virtual and I spent close to 12 hours a day stuck to a PC, I know where to draw the line. We all have virtual lives – they are inevitable, but it is imperative that the youth learn to strike the exact balance. Years later, what we’ll cherish and remember is not how many soldiers or enemy planes we killed or how many “virtual” people we know.

Sometimes, I wonder if all this technology and progress is really all that.

Street Vendors of Bombay

January 16th, 2006 • 6 comments Culture Briefings

Bombay, New York and then some…

Work takes me to New York very often. Infact, I only return to Philadelphia during weekends now. The minute I spot the NY skyline from my rusty, spring-roll smelling, Chinatown bus – adrenaline rushes through my veins and I am instantly filled with a new-found vigor and zest for life. Cliched? Maybe. But it doesn’t stop be from feeling giddy-headed and energetic everytime I’m in New York.

New York is the closest I’ve come to feeling like I’m back in Bombay. (Notice how I do not refer to Bombay as home anymore Travel, age and wisdom have thankfully made the idea of home deliciously uncomplicated for me) New York posseses the same unruly, filthy and glamorous aura that Bombay emanates. The surging "anything is possible" optimism and the juxtaposition of poverty and wealth, grit and style, blue-collar and chanel collar, and lust and love — makes New York impossible to resist. The city simulataneously inspires fear and longing within me. It awes me, yet beckons me.

Street Hawkers – A thriving culture in Bombay

This isn’t meant to be a gushing appraisal for either cities. Its acutually a post on how street-vendors, or street-hawkers contribute largely in making a city’s culture.- in building its buzz and lending it character and color. Growing up in Bombay, the street-hawkers were perhaps our most reliable sources for everything from vegetables to quick snacks, from sumptous desserts to varied knick-knacks. Even with the large department stores, megamarts, hypermarts and whatnot clouding the Bombay markets, the street hawker/vendor culture is still thriving and vitally alive!

When I moved to Philadelphia, among other things what I missed  most was being able to simply walk out and buy warm roasted corn or hairpins or a quick snack from a vendor. As a vegeterian, I couldn’t really enjoy the hot-dog carts but even then – the street carts in Philly and in USA in general were just way too sophisticated and urbane for me to enjoy them! Weird, huh.

The closest Philly ever came to emulating Bombay’s hawkers were the random vendors in downtown Philly selling fake Prada bags. And the singular Korean woman selling cheap glitzy scarves for exhorbitant prices and who adamatly refused to bargain! If you are an Indian – the skill of bargaining comes ingrained. It’s a package deal. (Even if you aren’t aware of it or do not appreciate bargaining!!) Flea markets presented the absolute opportunity to polish my bargaining skills and return with a load of cheap plastic junk! Like the huge Tokyo-style paper umbrella that I paid $3 for– or the pack of 24 AA battery for $5! More than the actual products- its the process of obtaining these products that thrills me!

But New York– ahhh. Every nook in NY has its special falafel cart or the fruit cart or the fake prada cart! I remember two summers ago, (2004) I was interning at an upscale magazine house and one of the magazines the company publishes had recently done a large 2-spread story on how fake Louis Vitton bags were affecting LVMH. It was incredibly ironic to read that story because right infront of the company’s building, a Nigerian guy has been selling these fake LVMH and Prada bags for since 2003!

Junior college days in Bombay (11th and 12th grade) were tagged by luxurious afternoons spent sipping milk drinks and feasting on pav-vadas and sandwiches. Certain hawkers with makeshift carts had become a staple in our day-to-day routine. Every few days, there would be a police raid and the hawkers would pack in a frenzy and flee their carts, hiding in the next street watching intently. The police would confiscate the carts and belongings of the ones who were left behind. And yet– miraculously, the next day or often, within the next few hours, the hawkers would reappear at their usual points and resume serving the hungry college students. We never once questioned how the hawkers managed to stay illegally on the streets – but we guessed they had an unofficial agreement with the police and probably bribed the police with a part of their earnings.

There are streets in Bombay infamous just for their hawkers. Khaudra Gully/Bajaj Road in Parle West where the fresh juice-wala cart has a website, the owner owns a cell-phone for home deliveries and his son studies in Australia. Or Linking Road in Bandra, which is dotted with cheap and stylish shoe-carts that scamper everytime a police van draws closer and reappear minutes later. Infact, I heard this crazy story from a friend who’s in Bombay about a bunch of hotel-management students setting up a street-cart outside Shivaji Park making fancy golas (crushed ice topped with syrups, nuts and tangy masalas) – the buzz was that the students used mineral water to make the golas and were extremely careful about hygiene and cleanliness – a trait often not associated with street vendors in Bombay. *sigh*  The street vendors in Bombay contribute to its bustling city life, an image synanmous with the colorful stridents foreigners always associate India with.

Drawing Parellels…

The street vendors are a by product of an economy largely underground and tax-free. Unless you buy stuff from actual stores, the hawkers rarely, if at all, charge sales tax. The transactions are cash only– and if you develop a personal relationship with the hawker then the transactions happen on credit- the kind you pay in cash at the end of every week or month. I am not sure but I think a large number of street vendors in Bombay come from outside the city – immigrants who want to make it big in Bollywood-city. Take for example, Mucchhad, he is notorioulsy famous for two things: his uber-long mustache that reaches his ears and his paans (an indian after-meals snack made of betelnut leaves and stuffed with condiments)  His family originally came from Allahbad, in 1977 and has stayed in Bomaby since, incurring fame and name for his tiny paan shop.

In New York – I’ve gleefully noticed the same. Pardon my ignorance or any mistakes in observations and drawing these conclusions for my knowledge about New York is limited to the last couple of months of constant traveling and working in the city. New York’s economy has symbiotically existed with the street-vendors cash-only transactions to make life easier for the often non-english speaking immigrants or aspiring non-new yorkers who are either here because of their families or the desire to make it better living. 

I already have a fruit-cart on 42nd Street that has become my favorite. The sandwich guy near Bryant park happily accomodates my vegeterian palate and these cold January days are made cheerful thanks to the rare occasions I meet the roasted-chestnuts cart. Yumm. As a group of drunk Indians ambled past the twisted streets of Chinatown looking for the bus that would take us home to Philly, my friends were thrilled on finding a street cart selling hot, spicy kababs on skewers at 7am on 1st January 2006.  Like those streets in Bombay you hear of via word-of-mouth, Canal Street in Chinatown and the area around Battery Park rocks for street jewlery and pirated DVD’s — (don’t buy them– they are cheap but the print sucks!) I am convinced, if I look hard enough and stay long enough- I will probably learn of those hard-to-find street vendors that are skilled in their craft (whatever that may be!) and who knows, I may probably find a random cart in some gully of Queens selling pav-vadas, very Bombay style!

Other places…

I can only refer to experiences from my stay in Italy to draw more parellels to the street-vendor culture in mega-cities. Bangaledeshi and Pakitani immigrants sold cheap cashmere scarves and jewelery, enticing tourists in perfect Italian. Infact, I met an illegal Sri Lankan immigrant who spoke perfect French, Spanish and Italian in addition to Hindi and English, selling scarves by a beach in Sicily. He hops from one country to another, adapting the country’s language, customs and selling-techniques to make money. In Florence, I haggled with an Indian leather-vendor for my friend so that she could buy the coat of her choice for a much lower price. This was all three years ago. Maybe much has changed after, maybe nothing has changed. But Rome reminded me of India a lot. Instead of shopping for vegetables at a huge store like I did in Philly, I bargained for my fruits, veggies and bread and cheese at an open-air market in Rome. Most of the little shopping I did in Italy was from the street vendors. Leather wallets, stone jewelry, a soft pink wollen shawl, and random Made In India cashmere scarves (!!) all bought for cheap from street-hawkers. What the heck- I even bought half a dozen "blessed" little silver crosses from a vendor near the Vatican. Ofcourse I did the perfuntory visitations of classy stores and teeny boutiques, but looking back, my fondest memories of shopping in Italy are those experienced on the streets.

Concluding…

I’m a city-girl. Heart and soul. Which is perhaphs why, street hawkers are such an essential part of my travel memories. To me, they lend a certain authenticity and life to a city that is invisible it its concreate department stores and glass showrooms. In the midst of fabricated beauty and culture, the street represents to me the true, liquid, soul of the city. When I think of the familial hertiage Bombay and their first street-shop has lent the Mucchhad family or the aspiration of the Huanese bus-driver who he shuttles between Philly and New York delivering passengers to their destinations or the Sri Lankan immigrant on a Sicilian beach, more qualified and smart than I can ever be — I know I have truly recognized and known the soul of that city.

* Photos from Flickr.com, and paan.com

CultureFiles – A glance around the world

January 15th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

Hollywood stars aim for the real stars!-
Pitt and Jolie to travel in Branson’s Virgin Galactic Spaceship that will leave for uhh. .space in 2010.

Bangladesh Rickshaw Arts- Pretty self-explanatory

A new kind of music – Vietnamse pop music enters the scene.

Generation D strikes India – An interesting view about the rise of pub-culture in mega-cities of India.

Blogging about work-places – LA Times warns about the mishaps of blogging. (Like that’s gonna stop people from raising their voices!)

About Workplaces

January 9th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

A recent article in WSJ said that aesthetically pleasing well designed computers increase productivity at workplace. I vouch for this. I recently moved to another freelance job at another publishing house in NY. This company had brand-new MAC’s installed a couple months back. It was AWESOME working on those! Compared to the ridiculously pre-historic computers at the other company, it’s like working in wonderland here! I not only felt important, but I kinda took my job a little more seriously as well. A sexy computer just made my job significantly worthwhile for me.

Among other differences, my new company doesn’t really have offices. It has cubicles for almost every position and offices are limited to the top 2-3 people. My older company had offices for everyone. It would be cool to have my own office, but the open cubicle culture kinda invites more dialogue within the employees and creates a fun atmosphere.

Critics may argue that cubicles also allow for chit-chat and less productive time but I believe that if cubicles help foster a fun, inviting environment – a couple of lost hours on chit-chat are worth it because at the end, only happy employees will be productive.

What’s your workplace like?

StyleFiles

January 5th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

Candy-Colored Dreams -  Dylan Lauren, Raplh Lauren’s daughter, builds her own brand, a candy bar …a candy conglomerate!

The Essence of Buzz – Chandler Burr, NYT’s fragrance reporter, writes about the most exclusive and ilusive perfume-shop in New York.

Marrakech Refresh – On this Moroccon city’s revival. Cleaner, chic-er and trendier – words you wouldn’t associate with Marrakech earlier!

Tethered in Technoculture – On death of MSM -mainstream media.

Brazil and Lebanon share a surprising past – About a settlement in Lebanon where the natives speak perfect Portuguese and make traditional Brazilian food. A perfect amalgamtion of cultures. I love this culture-mesh. A must-read!

Make your own South Park Character here! (from Ypulse)

Sex, Stardust and Beijing

January 4th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

Carrie Bradshaw has a sibling in Beijing. Single, a bourgeois bohemian and a journalist – Bradshaw’s Chinese counterpart is named Niuniu. With minor career changes and cultural make-ups, the rest of the cast is alarmingly similar to Carrie’s closest friends.
Married, super rich boss of an entertainment company and indulges in chronic sexual activites with younger lovers : A Chinese Samantha a.k.a, BeiBei.
Single, Oxford educated, erudite, works at a PR company and has a penchant for satirical remarks, Miranda garbed as CC.
Single, editor of a magazine and still believes in prince charming, Beijing’s Charlotte -Lulu.

Together, they star in Annie Wang’s upcoming book, "People’s Republic of Desire."

Intriguted by its brilliant title, I picked up the book to review a couple days back. The author wrote an eponymous weekly column for the South China Morning Post for almost three years. The columns repackaged, is now a book. Reading People’s Republic was like browsing through insipid archives of China’s Page 6. (Or Page 3, for my Indian readers!)

Words like money, wealth and sex have been thrown around abundantly and each story is written to reinforce that every Chinese woman is on the prowl for a Green-card holder husband. Even the married ones. The prose is hardly commendable – a chick-lit writer can do better.

The 100 odd chapters (columns?!) replay mere conversations on men, feminisim, America and sex among the four friends. No story, no plot – the columns come off as a rendition of the author’s conversational life. The book aims to portray the contemporary life in modern Beijing, instead it is a feeble attempt to document the social life of Beijing’s upper-east side.

The book makes Niuniu a paragon of the ultimate Chinese woman. Apparently, she has no vices and while she discretly mentions not-so-endearing qualities about her friends (manipulative and power-hungry for BeiBei, erudite, too picky and a Western men lover for CC) The conversations among her friends make Niuniu look good and wise. (it made me sick towards the end! okok, we get the point, Niuniu rocks!) Is it a co-incidence that the book is written in Niuniu’s voice? And that there are glaring similarities between Wang and Niuniu?

Inspite of all this – I was addicted to the book! I couldn’t put it down until I finsihed it. The little snippets here and there offer a glimpse into the contemporary Chinese lifestyle. Brand names, Starbucks, rich boyfriends, martinis and TV shows – the cultural lexicon of China has definitely changed. The book could have done more justice and presented balanced views about contemporary China because honestly, it is a little unsettling to read every Chinese woman is on the hunt of a Green-card holder and will do anything it takes to come to America or elevate their social status. (con others, lie, even pretend to be single if they are married!)  Is it really like that?

Any Asian readers care to expound on this? My knowledge of cultural and social life of Chinese women is very limited to my brief forays into Chinatowns in New York, San Fransisco and Philadelphia. I’d love to learn more… and would I recommend the book? Definitely. If you can get past the frill and ridiculous self-aggrandization, the book is an insightful read.

I heart Japan

January 2nd, 2006 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

How can you not love the Japanese?! they make life for me much, much sweeter! First, we have the scented credit cards, and now we have smelly cellys for cell-phones!
Imagine my cell-phone emitting a delicate berry-ish fragrance everytime I recieve an SMS.. or everytime my mom calls! Genious! This is probably one of those ideas that as many of you read, you hit your heads hard for not thinking of it before!

We are moving towards a very multi-sensory consumer experience. Be it credit cards, cell phones or books.

Nice Smell Kaori-Chan, even has a curry-fragrance for their cell-phones, among more appetizing ones like English tea and raspberry!   

Trends are so old-school

January 2nd, 2006 • 4 comments Culture Briefings, Marketing/ Advertising

Trendspotting has become so passe that firms no longer need to hire outdoor agencies to do this job. Thanks to online behemoths like PSFK and TrendWatching, emerging trends and signs are available to anyone who seeks. Every once in a while a major newspaper will do an article covering new trends in trendspotting and try to appear news-breaking. A couple months back I expressed disappointment on seeing the same names appear in every trendspotting article. This time, its no different. Instead of talking about Jane Buckingham and Irma Zandl, this NYT article reports on ad-agency DDB’s trend-spotting unit.

Every marketer wants to stay at the top of the game and yet they lack the one necessary skill: the skill to observe and listen. Dropping fancy names for trends has become akin to dropping brand names at a Fifth Avenue penthouse party. PSFK predicted the death of trend-spotting way back in  January 2005 and the exit door has already opened. Trendwatching.com’s (free) December newsletter outlines super-obvious methods to spot trends -browsing on flickr.com, street-walking and visiting random culture-specific websites. Both have been constantly reinforcing the idea that trends and signs are available for free to those who seek!

(BTW, focus groups have never predicted trends. They are so outdated that I’m surprised some big ad-agencies till use them!)

Leafy beds and sonorous dreams

December 28th, 2005 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

Tokyo has become the playground for rich industrialists, culture mavens and fashionable glitterati. (and faraway lovers like me!) The super-l uxe Mandarin Oriental is the latest to open doors in Tokyo. Cosmopolitan in every sense of the word- the hotel houses four restaurants serving world cusines, has a spa and a Sky Lobby. Whats truly unique is the theme-treatment ….

“Under the themes of “forest” and “water,” the hotel is conceived as a single large tree, with guestrooms as branches. The “roots” are a cascading waterfall in the entrance, while the “canopy” on the 38th floor has an abundance of leafy motifs. The themes apply to everything from wall treatments, carpets, fabrics, screens to furniture.”

Themed hotels have pretty much become the norm now. And why not? If a little more fun and imagination is injected in the sta rk, insipid hotel rooms – customers are bound to enjoy their stay and return often!

The Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo


CoolSpot- Site

December 21st, 2005 • 3 comments Culture Briefings, Marketing/ Advertising, On my mind...

Engrish is a collection of humorous english that is used in Asian advertisements and product displays.



Insanely entertaining and a powerful glimpse into the japanese consumer culture!
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India on a quest to return-to-its-roots

December 17th, 2005 • 26 comments Culture Briefings, On my mind...

When the ruling party changed Bombay’s name to Mumbai in 1995 Bombayities young and old revolted by making a somber promise to keep the city’s name alive in their hearts. And so we adhered to calling our beloved city, Bombay.

- The adjoining picture is appeared in The Times of India. Along with the picture appeared this note, "The street sign at the recently named Dr Sharad Pandey Chowk at Bandra was defaced four days ago. The incident comes in the wake of protests from members of a neighbourhood ALM group against naming the chowk after the late doctor". (Thanks Vivek!)

I even went to the extent of losing one mark in my final 10th grade English examination by writing Bombay in the address instead of Mumbai in Letter-Writing (A question worth 8 marks where we had to write a mock letter to a friend, a relative or a parent, usually describing a silly school trip or how celebrated a certain festival) I was proud of that mark I lost.(In 10th grade, every mark counts! – It is like the SAT’s for Indians) To date, I chide my non-Bombay friends who call it Mumbai, It will always be Bombay, I say.

Mumbai is for maps, notarized documents and CNN. Bombay is for its lovers.

As rich and heterogenous Bombay’s history is – it’s name has an even more illustrious history. What used to be a land-mass of seven scattered islands was first called Heptanesia by Ptolemy. When the Portuguese inhabited the islands, they christened the place, Buon Bahia or Bombiam- that meant "good bay," while the fisher-folk living on the fringes by the sea named the island, "Mumba," after Goddess Mumba, their gaurdian spirit.

In 1662, Portugual gifted Bombahia to King Charles ii for his marriage to Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza, Bombahia was soon angelicized to Bombay. And it stayed Bombay from until 1995. Once Bombay’s name was replenished to it’s Hindu name, a slew of other streets, roads, railway stations and airports were named after people from history and other valiant fighters. The justification was, "on anti-colonist grounds." At one point, I actually wondered if they might demolish the colonial architecture, railways and Brit-inspired schooling system. Thankfully, it must have been a tremendous challenge for the politicians because they never mentioned these factors as anti-colonial.

The trend quickly spread to other cities and Madras was renamed Chennai and Calcutta, Kolkatta. Here and other other English-sounding streets were changed. But the big news came a few days back when the government approved Bangalore’s name change to Bengaluru. And a proposal is being considered to change Delhi’s name to Hastinapur.  I heard this news from an enraged Banglorean. "What sucks is, they didn’t come to me asking for my opinion if I want this change or not," he wailed. The name-change has evoked extreme reactions and has both its detractors and the locals, who have supposedly embraced the change. Some are glad to get rid of that last vestige of colonial flavor and some (like me) see absolutely no point in this nation-wide exercise.

India is getting a little too wild with this sudden, "return to the roots" streak- when there are really no narrowly or correctly defined roots! India’s culture is an exquisite amalgamation of hundreds of years of Aryan, Persian, Mongol, Arab, Chinese, Portuguese and British influences. Essentially, by getting rid of one – we Indians are discarding a piece of our history.

This name-change odyssesy has embittered some of us. The city we grow up with and that grows up with us represents our identity and becomes a part of our personal histories. A lexicon we build for ourselves. And to have that taken away is just malicious. A couple generations down the road, they will only read in history books that Mumbai was once Bombay and Bengaluru was once Bangalore. But they will never know the whole generation of peoples who knew and loved Bombay and Bangalore. They will never share that common history with us.

This may not be a big deal to some of you. To some of us, it is a big deal. Imagine changing New York’s name to…Piegoneye or whatever it was called before it was called New York. Or Imagine changing London to…(sod it- can’t think of anything!)  It just matters.

Is this a cultural trend? Or is 50-year-young India still trying to discover it’s individuality? Answers to that will appear with time. For now, this discontent is what we are left with.

I won’t be surprised if India’s name is changed to Hindoostan in the next couple of years. I suggest you brace yourself for this as well.

Here are Aranyi’s views about the issue. Fierce!

Ripples before the Memoirs

December 5th, 2005 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

"Memoirs of a Geisha" releases next week – but the air is already thick with anticipation, swollen promises and an ethreal-ness. Even people who haven’t read the book, or seem the promos for the movie are aware of it. From the classic photographs of actress Ziyi Zhang in this month’s Vogue to the cherry blossom motifs on tea satchels and make-up products – "Geisha" has lit an aura of sophitication, elegance, richness and class.

And the promotional tie-in’s reflect the opulence, perhaps  an effect the produers were aiming for before the release of the movie?

- Banana Republic sold a limited edition of kimono-styled blouses and mandarin collared jackets. Prints and patterns were inspired by the movie’s traditional costumes.

- Fresh cosmetics designed a special-edtion Geisha cosmetic line of six beauty products to be sold at major stores like Sephora, Neiman Marcus, Barneys and Saks. Priced between $25 to $125, the sale of these products is already "double digit" ahead of the company’s expectations.

- Icon, an art-work company, has translated "Geisha" inspired motifs and photo-prints on shoes and leather bags.

- The Republic of Tea, has released special sencha tea satchels, infused with cherry bloosoms. The package design features the lead actress Ziyi herself!

- Mikimoto, supplier of high-end pearl jewelry, has lent unique museum pieces to "outfit" the characters. In the past, when Mikimoto supplied pearls for movies like, "Girl with a pearl earring" and "Legally Blonde" – a few dozen customers requested the exact $5,500 Scarlett’s earrings and $37,000 Reese’s necklace from the movie.

Additonally, the movie has hiked up the sales of the book. And will undoubtedly result in creating a country-wide kimono-ish trend and a re-emerged love for silk, pearls, round toed shoes and sake.

It is only because I love the book too dearly, I have not indulged in denouncing or appreciating the movie’s marketing methods. If anything– it was amazingly creative!  Tastefully subtle, yet ridiculously powerful.

A letter from Italy- Welcome Serena!

November 25th, 2005 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

Have you wondered if Italian teenagers wear Prada and Gucci? Have you wondered if most of them aspire to grow up to be world-class fashion designers? Well, I have. And now, I’ve got the answers!

Serena M., lives in Naples, Italy. She will soon turn 18 and this is her last year in high-school. An incredibly smart student, a brillaint athelte and a polygot (she speaks Italian, French and English- jealous?!) she claims to be an exception among the regular Italian teenagers and warns us to not attribute her own experiences and thoughts to the all Italian teenagers.

Serena will be joining StyleStation to share her experiences as a teenager in Italy. Although she is very busy attending her friend’s birthday parties (Like American’s celebrate their Sweet 16, Italians await their 18th) she promises to write her first letter soon.

Welcome to StyleStation, Serena!

Welcome to the Hipster Club

November 21st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Will a club, specifically fabricated to attract the rebels and trendsetters of Tokyo, end up avoiding them?

Tokyo Hipster’s Club, a gigantic "antitecture" that includes three floors, a rooftop cafe and a bookstore is desgined to please the non-conforming senses of the Harajuku trendsetters of Tokyo.
It is the dream of every marketer/ fashion label/ new product innovator to please the Harajuku girls.

THC is being designed to work as "THE" place for these hipsters. With wall-high posters of Che Guevera, rock-themed coffee-table books and selection of cult fashion labels like Mai 68 (named after the student-uprising in May 1968 in France) — to me, it looks like a synthetic fabrication of a culture that exists only in the minds of the Harajuku teenagers.

I don’t really know how successful this endeavor will be, but if my gut feeling is right and if the Harajuku hipsters are as smart as I think they are, the THC will not be met with the welcoming anticipation they are probably expecting.

USA -No 1 fashion producer

November 16th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

In October, Label Networks, a research and marketing company, released surprising results from  their annual European Youth Culture study.

3500 young adults (15-25) across UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain ranked USA as number one producer of fresh fashion trends.

Spain, France and Itlay had a unamious opinion about best fashion emerging from America. 54.8% of UK youth stongly asserted that the best fashion trends came from UK. However, the higher age groups believed that UK produced best trends and the younger age groups believed that USA produced best fashion trends.

mCheq- changing the way people shop

November 16th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Airtel, a mobile phone service provider in India, announced the arrival of mCheq, that enables Airtel users to use their cell-phones as credit-cards.
Airtel plans to issue mCheq smart cards that will replace the currently used SIM cards for free. This service is offered in a tie-up with ICICI Bank and Visa.

Initially the mCheq service will only be used in upscale book-stores, malls and shops. With the mobile phone usage on a 80% increase every year, chances are this service will be successful.

Pimpin up the rides

November 8th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Karma Kars – Pscyhadelic beauties traversing London roads. 

Tobais Moss, an avid traveler and lifestyle guru spent considerable time in India during the 60’s hippie craze. Taking his inspiration a step further, he devised a fleet of Karma Kabs, essentially a taxi service with a little more difference, a lot more personality and oodles of fun!

<– Monsoon Wedding

Each of his four cars are designed and created to provide the travelers a relaxing, and almost therapeutic drive through the traffic-jams of London. However, you won’t be able to hail these cabs at the corner of Oxford Street- or anywhere! These cars are available for special events, launches, retail therapy!!, and London Karma tours only. Kinda sorta. I guess if you are willing to spend the money, you could use it to go from point J to point K. (A and B are fully parked )

Ab Fab Kar
The service gives me a strange nostalgic feeling of starring as an Indian princess in one of the old technicolor films, where the princess roamed the cities atop beautifully decorated camels and elephants.

Only now, instead of elephants, it’s old souped up cars!

Check out the other two themes..

SheeshMahal Kar

Bollywood Kar
(Via Shrine)

A hotel room, that’s quite a view

November 8th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Carlton Arms, New York – rusty, old and tired, yet breathes color and joy

I’ve wondered what it would be like to stay at a hotel where they didn’t have  the almost mandatory white towels, white robes, a perfunctory tablet of soap and some repackaged shampoo in little satchets and bottles.
I’ve wondered what it would be like to stay at a hotel that didn’t have the safe grey, brown or white carpets and stock furniture.
I’m not sure about the towels and shampoo, but Carlton Arms Hotel in New York promises a, if not cool– definitely weird stay at one of it’s 54 rooms.

I’ve read reviews of the hotel-  and to most elite travelers, rattling pipes, a creaky staircase and whimsy electricity are a red-signal. But are travelers bound to change their mind once they learn that each of the 54-room has it’s own individual identity?

Each of these rooms is home to an artist’s fantasitical parades through his intellect and imagination. There is no one period or one theme that defines the art in these rooms. There are Hindu Gods, futurisitic space art, Egyptian princes and random squiggles and squires painted on these deceript rooms, some of which aren’t even equipped with a bathroom.

I’m just inspired by this hotel, the idea of this hotel– the experience it embodies. There is nothing like immersing yourself in another’s imagination and experiencing it first-hand. The rates, I’ve heard, are cheap as well, compared to the going-New York hotel room rates.

While other’s hotels may promise their customers a comfortable stay with the requisite luxuries, I appreciate the idea of a hotel that promises to inspire it’s customer’s imaginations and passions.

The equation’s changed or has it?

November 3rd, 2005 • 11 comments Culture Briefings

Whatever happened to tall, dark and handsome?

I am dusky woman (yes, the picture is misleading) and a proud one at that. But I grew up in a culture where dusky women used (and still do) turmeric and honey pastes and Fair and Lovely creams to lighten their skins. Now there are professional beauty treatments available as well, aptly titled, Skin-Lightening Treatments.

I grew up in a culture where boys liked light skinned women. I don’t know if it was a myth, but I remember feeling insecure because of my skin color. Especially when I entered junior college (11th and 12th grade)

I grew up in a culture where the Marriage Classified ad’s in newspapers still say, "Looking for a slim fair-skinned girl…." And where my mother often rebuked me for playing in the sun too much lest I become darker. With good intentions ofcourse.

No jokes. Most dusky Indian women grew up with a complex that being fair equates to being more attractive, more successful, and secures a good catch for marriage. This has definitely changed over the last few years with dusky Bollywood actresses and dusky models ruling the Indian glamor world. The changing social climate has also lent the women a sophisticated confidence which has effectively cured most of us of our skin-color related insecurities.

But when Emani Industries annoucned, Fair and Handsome. I was stumped. Fair and Handsome sounds like the younger brother of Fair and Lovely, but it’s just a brilliant advertising move because Fair and Lovely, the fairness cream is owned by Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL). Emani’s fairness cream for women is called, Naturally Light.

India is a huge market for fairness creams. Fair and Lovely was first and the only patented fairness cream in India when it was introduced in 1976! This cream alone is claimed to be a larger brand than the other seven skin-cream brands put together. Fair and Lovely is marketed in 30 countries!

The other fairness creams are, Revlons Fair and Glow, Godrej Consumer Product’s FairGlow, CavinCare’s Fairever and Chik Fairee, Emami’s Naturally Fair and Gold and Turmeric, and other creams under Lakme and Aviance brands. Fair and Lovely holds 53% of the fairness market.

Emami has definitely scored a point by using similar nomenclature as HLL’s Fair and Lovely. Not that it matters, how different can skin creams be? But Fair and Handsome will certainly gain more brand value from its "fake" association with India’s number one fairness cream brand.

The advertisement for Fair and Handsome is also, not surprsingly, very predictive. Has this become a sure-shot ad formula for men’s beauty products?

The advert for the male cream shows a dark-skinned college boy
relegated to the back seat and ignored by the girls until he uses the
product. Soon enough, his complexion lightens and girls flock to him
like moths to a flame…

I don’t know if men share the same concerns and insecurities about skin-color. But this report indicates that the Fair and Handsome has been receieved well by Indian men. The article expands that men are not afraid to admit that they want to have a light skin.

I have no doubts or qualms about men using beauty products but sometimes, I think advertising takes a little too far when it begins to exploit these inbred insecurities about skin-color. As another blogger puts it, "it won’t be long before we see self-depricating ads about how a man got left behind in life because he
was not fair or was too dark and how by using this Rs 30 tube of
ointment (which could be moisturiser for all I know), he can catch up
and indeed leave the rest behind."

I guess it is cool, in a way. Men have every right to demand a skin-lightening cream if they need it. But I feel very strongly about this issue, or maybe the way it is advertised. Is there a way to advertise a skin-lightening cream by not making any MAN or WOMAN feel like he/she’s a loser if he/she’s not fair?
Frankly, that’s how these ads made me feel when I was a teenager.

An advertisement where a guy attracts a girl because he smells good, is fine. No girl in her right mind is going to coddle with a stinky guy. But this particular method of marketing this product, makes me feel uncomfortable.

I invite discussion on this. I want to hear what you think, regardless of your sex.

Ironic?

October 31st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden has been my favorite book ever since I first read it. Its made into a movie now. Exciting!
Only, the lead actress, who plays the famous Geisha, is Chinese.

I don’t really care, but I can’t stop wondering– would the movie be better had a Japanese actress performed the lead role?!

Oh and the movie is also releasing its line of cosmetics. Another fantastic promotional tactic!

Halloween – a comerical party

October 31st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Last night I saw two huge, beefy men dressed as babies in diapers, the bib and a milk bottle in their hands. They also wore teeny closed-toed round booties and short shocks.
I also saw a skinner version of Hitler, a couple hundred milk-maids, a few wanna-be hookers, and random assasins and skletons.

Thankfully, now the pumpkins will disappear, the wretched looking scarcrows and the annying radio commercials of Halloween sales.

Oh yes, maybe the thrift stores in my city will also take off their "Halloween Costumes" posters.

Relief. Temporarily though. Christmas is just around the corner.

Keeping the Shibuya Girls happy

October 31st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

LA Times has an article about the trend-setting Shibuya Girls. Shibuya district is known to attract thousands of people : young, old, students, businessmen, travelers, foreigners alike.
The article is fascinating- I will be writing a longer piece on the Shibuya District soon.

Where are the offices of the future?

October 27th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

An article in the November Fast Company says that, this year there are 19.5 million "distributed" workers. A 10.9 million increase from 2000. Distributed workers are essentially an emerging breed of workers who work from home, the nearby Starbucks or wherever they fancy. 

The debate about virtual offices and telecommuting has been around since 1993 when Jay Chiat, founder of Chiat-Day advertising agency and one of the most influential men of that decade, decided to do away with his employees offices and desks and instead equiped them with Powerbooks and phones. He got the design stalwart Frank Gehry to design the new LA building and Italian designer Geatano Pesce to design the NY building on his new vision that had lots of comfy sofas, colors and a bunch of conference rooms that were meant only for client meetings.

Near the entrance, the concierge desk had a huge, bright-red pair of lips
painted around it. The floor – there were rumors Chiat spent $1 million
on it – glowed in multicolored hues, and had hieroglyphs painted all over
it. (For example, the sign for the men’s room was an illustration of a
man peeing.)
- Wired Magazine

His employees were free to work from any location in the office. They had no offices, no phone lines, no desks. Jay Chiat saw "architecture and technology" as the future and worked on his vision.

 For a while it seemed that everyone in
the ad business had caught Chiat’s raging fever: Fallon McElligott briefly
experimented with portable offices; the MadDogs &Englishmen agency installed
desks that attached to the ceiling and moved on tracks, like bumper cars.
But in the end, the cubicle survived Chiat’s insurrection.

-Wired Magazine

Unfortunately for Chiat, he was 10 years too early. His new experiment went downhill within a year. His employees didn’t have meeting spaces, didn’t have a voice mail or permanent phones– couldn’t find the right people in the huge sprawling space where it was easy to get lost.  However, it will be 2006 soon and maybe, time again to try Chiat’s experiment.

The idea of virtual offices or a more relaxed work environment has its own advantages and disadvantages…even then more and more companies are realizing the need to nurture the creative talents of their employees and they have figured it out that a 9 to 5  desk job (that in most cases involves a substanial but of communting) does not help the case.

Jim Ware of Work Design Collaborative LLC, in the article says that there is pretty substanial evidence that distributed workers are more productive. And Charlie Grantham adds that there is a wealth of talent out there that normally can’t be tapped into if you have to move the people to work.

Further more, a 2004 Business Week article about workplaces for the future said,

In fact, the idea that an office is an enclosure with walls is already
disappearing, thanks to technologies such as Wi-Fi, which provides
high-speed access to a network or the Internet from any place a
connected employee chooses to wander, be it down the hall or to a café,
airport, or hotel.

A shift from the traditional work place offices is evident in the near future. Maybe as soon as 2006. Who knows. I don;t need to state the obvious but technology has made it possible to conduct business 10,000 miles across. A friend who works for IBM often works from home when the weather outside sucks. Her boss encourages his team to work from their homes because he thinks its a waste to spend several hours communting to work, getting stuck in traffic and dealing with the weather. Another friend who runs his own business, often starts work at 9pm in the night and works away till wee hours of the morning. He claims to be more productive that way and even though he pays rent for an office space, he uses it only to schedule meetings with clients.

On the down side,  I think there are only a certain kind of people that will be more productive with the non-traditional work styles. Some people simply prefer the structure, the routine and the security and familiarity of their office space. Also, there is only a certain kind of work that can be "virtualized." Industries like advertising and marketing, designing, media etc work largely on collaboration and it is very likely that these teams will not work at all if their members are dispersed!

All arguments granted– in today’s day and age, I just am convinced that there is going to be a seismic shift in people’s working habits. Some have tried and failed miserably. Some will continue to try. The idea of a desk-office will never be erased or replaced but jobs
that are possible to be virtualized will definitely become virtualized.

South Asian is now a category

October 25th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

I’ve been on a job-hunt for the past month and half. And everytime I have to fill out the demographic box, I blindly click on Asian American. A more correct way to identify myself would be as South Asian. Simply because when you mention Asia, it immediately draws up sterotypical images of Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians, and the other "Asians."

India, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh– are all collectively known as South Asia because we more or less share similar cultural values. And we look a little alike too

But South Asians as a category has never been included anywhere. Not in job-hunt software, in college applications, when signing up for newsletters, services… just about anything!
(there’s something called Pacific Islander that I thought I might fit into but later realized it was for the Islanders. And there’s the "other" category, which I detest!)

So imagine my surprise and glee when I recieve an email from a local market research group I am a member of asking me if I would kindly log into my account and specify the type of Asian I am.
The email mentioned the growing number of South Asian and how strongly this particular demographic had been ignored in adveritising and marketing campaigns.
The realizaiton came late. But hey– I’m have a category now!

This was a teeny research group in Philadelphia. But perhaps its the begining. Maybe others will follow lead and give the South Asian community the recognition it deserves.

If only these major corporations had any idea how BIG OF A DIFFERENCE it would make if they included say one, just one 2 second spot of an Indian family celebrating Diwali in their commericals. Or an Indian wedding procession … or an indian family in a car…
just one clip.

Atleast we are a category now. horray.

Coffee Colored India

October 20th, 2005 • 18 comments Culture Briefings

In-Depth: Coffee Culture in India

In September 2002, BBC news filed an article marking the birth of the coffee culture in India. I was still in 12th Grade then and Barista had instantly become a hit among my circle of friends. I still remember the sparkling evenings we spent sipping on expensive Blue Curacau’s and biting into the stale paneer sandwiches. The coffee and granita’s Barista offered were exotic to our ears, the decor and the ambience was warm and inviting and the extra special throw-ins like that guitar and board games like Scrabble and Chess endeared Barista to us. It was unique.

Then I visited Bombay in 2003 and was in for a total reverse culture-shock. Here I had just returned from StarBucks land to a city that seemed to have mushroomed with coffee chains over night! There were Baristas, Cafe Coffee Day (what’s with the name! Its CCD among the youth, btw) and even Cafe Mocha (as if they couldn’t come up with something more original! and sorry, looks like this one doesn’t have a website)

My city had been Starbucked! Only it wasn’t Starbucks.

I am not a coffee-drinker. Infact, I am neither a tea partron. I don’t even like sodas. But I appreciate the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. And I learnt to appreciate it in Italy. You will laugh if I tell you that during the three months that I lived in Italy, I probably had coffee twice or maybe thrice. Really. But I hung out at the little coffee shops.
I was in awe when I sat on a chair at Florian in Venice, reputedly the oldest cafe in the world….I was told that poets and writers, artists and painters got together in cafe’s to exchange stories, discuss politics and just relax. Some writers had their own tables where they would work everyday, without being bothered.

Cafe’s were a cultural merging point. And the best thing about the cafe’s in Italy is that each little cafe has its own, special aura, barista and color.

Zoning back to India. Marketers have tried new techniques to attract consumers. And I guess to simulate the european cafe culture, where going out for coffee is a way of life, not an added commodity or an inserted culture. Cafe Mocha’s slogan is "Coffee and Conversations." and in an effort to be more original, it aims at creating a stronger bond within its community.

Mocha has taken the community building route to strengthen its brand
and sustain customer loyalty. It is adding new clubs — music and coffee
and wine appreciation — to its existing two, the Backpackers Club and
the Film Club.

while Cafe Coffee Day, on the other hand..offers a more value-for-money deal. The newest to enter the bandwagon is, American Barnies Gourmet Coffee and Tea Company. How deluded is the Indian Director for the chain, Ravish Mehra when he makes the following statement:

Indian consumers are yet to taste a ‘real’ cup of coffee. The
futuristic machines and Barnie’s expertise promise a good cup of
coffee. Players such as Barista and Cafe Coffee Day have introduced the
coffee culture and, thus, the platform is ready for us,” Mehra said, on
competition.

Especially when reports indicate that 60% of Barista’s sales are brewed from teas,
smoothies, food items and merchandise.
The Bangalore-headquartered Cafe
Coffee Day earns 70% of its sales come from beverages including
coffee.
And at Cafe Mocha, coffee sales are up from 14% per cent in 2002( when it first started)  to 17%  today. (2005)

If that’s not of an enough eye-opener, according to a 2005 research
report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, India’s
coffee consumption has been increasing only at 2.2% per annum.

With
consumption pegged at 70,000 tonnes, branded coffee accounts for 53 %, unbranded 40 %, with cafes constituting 7%.
Industry estimates peg the annual growth rate of the coffee-house
segment at a half per cent clip.

Why then, are marketers and directors making tall claims and gushing about the (inexistant) coffee culture in India!? All three coffee chains, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Cafe Mocha offer sandwiches, pastries, smoothies and other snacks. Even the new Barnies Coffee is trying to co-brand with bookstores or Taco Maker, the
US-based Mexican cuisine chain.

At my most recent visit to Bombay this summer, my favorite Barista outlet had installed a teeny-weeny book-store inside the store. Ingenious! But it wouldn’t allow patrons to borrow books while they enjoying their coffee!! You gotta buy the magazine or the book to take it out of that book-store! What’s the point then?

So you ask me what is the point of this article?
Simple. Coffee culture does not exist in India. Yes, people enjoy novelty, they enjoy new ideas and new places but it is definitely not just coffee.

I gaurantte, if tomorrow some smart, rich, business-man finds a way to make tea look cool, there will be reports headlined India going back to its roots- tea culture breaths back to life!  Any more chains intending to capitalize on this so-called coffee craze or coffee culture in India is better off introducing a new concept to us Indians. How about bringing bubble tea to India? or oooh, italian gelato?!
If anything, India will devour a new idea or a new concept happily. And hungrily.

Lending books? sure. Lending people? what!

September 28th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

I’ve been to the rare books section in my library where they allow me to take the book out for 30 minutes. But I’ve never quite heard of a library that actually lends people for 45 minutes time slots!
ofcourse,
1)  they charge no late fee for returning people late
2) you neeed no library card
3) you get to ask as many questions as you want

In an effort to spread awareness and bring people closer to members of the minority groups, several cities in Europe have introduced "living libraries" to reduce prejudice and critisicm towards the minorities. This is on a strictly voluntary basis.  Gay men, lesbians, poverty-stricken women, gipsies, alcholics are among a sampling of the kind of people available for lending.

I like the idea of this project.  And the more media exposure this project gets, the more people it attracts. But in the back of my mind, an annoying voice asks, how long before media actually begins to capitalize on this idea?
"Lending People" is such a great theme. And I can totally see a tiny cafe in New York lending out "subjects" like waitresses, farmers, bar-tenders, lawyers etc to fiction writers at a hefty price. It would save fiction writers the time to go out there and research. It would make life simpler for them to have a live subject who’s experiences and thoughts they can pick to color their own characters.
I’m not going to be surprised if this is already in works or will be worked on in the near future. But I sure will claim rights to this idea!

Becoming a perfumer

September 15th, 2005 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

I spotted one of those Dummies guide to cool careers at B&N today. While browsing through the book, I saw that perfumery was an actual career. Intrigued, I read more about it. and researched more.

I found this, PerfumersWorld.
this website teaches a basic perfumery course for $80. It start you off with a kit and instructions about learning the art of perfumery.

I’ve always resisted mass-customization. I don’t like wearing a fragrance that instantly recognizable.. or something that everyone’s wearing. Which is why I bought the BodyShop’s Blendables and wrote about them for PSFK.
but the idea that I could, maybe, learn to make my own perfumes is so tantalizing that I’ve signed up for the free module. If I think its worth it– I’ll continue and pay the $80 to move to the beginners course. I’m super excited!

Oh and about the marketing textbook. Piff. I knew almost everything they said in there.