Well, well, what a start to the New Year it’s been! If one expected a smooth easing into 2026 from the year gone by, it was quashed by Trump’s air strikes on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro and his wife to stand trial in the US. I had written about the… Continue reading A Hi-Jinks January that the World Can Do Without
Many of you will be surprised to read that the Indian economy which is growing strongly can actually be losing its way through this growth phase. Well, while on the face of it, it appears that India’s economy is powering ahead, even as it is being buffeted by adverse factors such as the punitively high… Continue reading Indian Economy in Danger of Losing Direction
It’s not exactly a New Year Resolution since I don’t believe in them. But I do intend to explore more on brands and brand-building in 2026, including mainly their connection and relationship with companies and with corporate brands. I have spent the past couple of decades thinking and working on brands – if only on… Continue reading 2026 The Year of Exploring Brands’ Corporate Connections
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Through all the confusion and chaos wreaked on the global economy with US tariffs and the wars still raging, one subject that missed global attention in 2025 is climate change. The fact that the COP30 Summit was held in November 2025 should have helped matters and concentrated minds, but apparently it was a disappointing conference.… Continue reading Why COP30 Copped Out on Fossil Fuels
I just finished reading the second of VS Naipaul’s books that my aged father presented me for my birthday this year along with Sam Dalrymple’s Shattered Lands. I have already written about The Enigma of Arrival and Shattered Lands on my blog, and if I thought that Letters Between a Father and Son would be… Continue reading When Writing Runs in The Naipaul Family
I have been writing on the travails of the advertising industry on my blog for the past couple of years at least. These are based on my observations from the outside, since my career in advertising in India was wrecked over two decades ago by unprofessional organisations. These problems have now reached an existential crisis… Continue reading How the Advertising Industry Can Reinvent Itself
The year is ending with Trump doing a whistle-stop tour of several Asian countries – Southeast Asian and East Asian this time – signing several trade agreements along the way. Of course, the highlight at the ASEAN conference in Malaysia was the peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, one of Trump’s many showpiece peace treaties… Continue reading Asia Becoming Theatre of US-China Competition
What a huge fuss has been kicked up over Bihar’s 2025 assembly elections! This, when there was no new candidate, no major new party contesting the elections and so any big surprise or wild card was ruled out. Some might argue that Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraj party was the big surprise element in this election,… Continue reading When Economic Policies Are Made on The Campaign Trail
While reading Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and The Making of Modern Asia which my aged father gave me for my birthday this year, I was thinking that this is a book for international readers since the history of India’s partitions has been told many times. But through the first chapter itself, I was surprised to… Continue reading Shattered Lands Surprises, Though Not Pleasantly
Peripatetic Perch 