It’s almost 20 years since I left New Delhi for my aged parents’ home in Chicalim, Vasco, Goa in October 2008. When I watch scenes of the smog-filled air in Delhi-NCR play out on English news channels at this time of the year, year after year, I count myself lucky to not be living or… Continue reading Time Indian Cities Promoted Metro Rail Travel
It was long overdue. In fact, GST should have been launched in 2017 with no more than a couple of slabs. Ideally, it should have been just one at 18%. But in a country like ours where most of the population can barely afford even the daily essentials, perhaps a rate of 5% on some… Continue reading How Car Companies Should Make the Most of GST Rationalisation
The Indian economy is growing at a reasonably rapid pace, though nowhere near the 8%-9% growth recorded in the early and mid-2000s. Still, considering the two huge shocks the world economy has faced in the past two decades – the 2008 Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic – we have to say that India has… Continue reading It is Time to Build Brand India
In an earlier blog post on media brands, I had written that BBC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza was found wanting, and that I was particularly disappointed because I happen to be a regular BBC World News viewer and because I had done some advertising work for BBC when they were launching India-specific programmes… Continue reading How the BBC Can Become More Competitive
The festive season is already upon us in India. From Janmashtami - that celebrates Lord Krishna’s birth – which just went by, to Diwali and Dussehra and to Christmas and New Year, accompanied by the wedding season, India is meant to be in a festive mood for more than half the year. It is a… Continue reading Does India, the Land of Festivals, Lack Imagination?
As an advertising professional who has been writing on brands as well as the economy, politics and business as well as culture on my blog, I thought I’d write about the state of the media around the world, as I see it today. I will not focus so much on the advertising aspect of media,… Continue reading The State of Media Brands in the World Today
In line with the theme of innovation that my blog is celebrating this year, I had thought of how companies and brands can address global issues and build their brands at the same time, in an earlier post where I had shared my thoughts and ideas on Absolut Vodka. I had said that very few… Continue reading Brands Addressing Global Issues – Part 2
As I’d written in my Owleye column this month, there are plenty of global summits and conferences this summer and all the way up to the new year. It makes sense at a time of heightened conflicts and geopolitical tensions, not to mention wars. In a year where my blog is celebrating 25 years of… Continue reading Brands Addressing Global Issues – Part 1
The Trump administration just announced a set of new reciprocal tariff rates for more countries and has set a new deadline of August 1, 2025 for these to take effect. It’s still early days, and it’s hard to tell their effect on consumer prices, on trade, and on consumption and economic growth, both in the… Continue reading Have Non-Tariff Ticket, Will Travel
Reading HBR posts online on LinkedIn where I follow them, I was always quite disappointed by the kinds of subject matter and articles that were being shared. Being unemployed for decades now in India, I cannot afford to subscribe to the publication, so I browse and read the occasional free article whenever I find something… Continue reading HBR Book On Strategy Does It a Disservice
Peripatetic Perch 