It has been several months and quarters of agony for the Indian automobile industry, what with vehicle sales falling. The rapid growth rate registered in the 2004 to 2013 period seems to have sputtered to a slow growth, if that. Newspapers and magazines are suddenly full of news about falling vehicle sales and job losses;… Continue reading Stuck in the Slow Lane
What a delightful surprise, to read an author and discover that you have been speaking the language that he spent years studying, throughout your career. That was how I felt, having finished reading Roland Barthes’ Mythologies. In what is probably his best-known work, Roland Barthes takes a microscope to popular cultural phenomena and analyses -… Continue reading Of Language, Myths, and Roland Barthes
While the news in and out of India in recent days has been, quite rightly, hogged by the Kashmir issue, I would like to draw your attention to the economic slowdown in India. There probably isn’t a soul anywhere in the world who hasn’t heard of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to foreign investors, “Make… Continue reading A Made-in-India Economic Slowdown
The recent wave of protests in Hong Kong are making news headlines for a variety of reasons. From the draconian nature of the extradition bill proposed by Mainland China, to the intensity and massive turnout of the protesters, to the violent reaction by the Hong Kong police, everything was captured by television news channels. The… Continue reading From Gateway to China to Getaway Island?
All my life I have wanted to visit Kashmir, but have been unable to go there. These are my thoughts as Kashmir continues to be in a state of lockdown after the Indian government's decision to revoke Article 370 which had guaranteed Kashmir its special status all these years. It is a travesty of the… Continue reading Lockdown Valley
When one is thinking about brands, it is our favourite products or services that come to mind. Sometimes, a few companies. Rarely does one think of a person. And when one thinks of people, and I mean the well-known ones, we don’t necessarily think “brands”. It would be rather odd, if we did. But is… Continue reading Person Brands: The Importance of Being Ernest or, Scott
If you happen to own Arendt’s books and read them a long time ago, it’s time to dust them off your bookshelves and read her all over again. I regret I did not read her earlier, but I am glad I have discovered her wonderfully sharp intellect and detailed expositions of totalitarian regimes now. Why… Continue reading The Relevance of Hannah Arendt
Sharing an article that I just wrote for LinkedIn on brand purpose, since there is so much discussion around it these days. I came across a 1970 article by Milton Friedman in The New York Times that spurred me to put my thoughts down on the subject and refute some of his theories or arguments.… Continue reading Why Brand Purpose Must be Aligned with Business Purpose
I am saddened that the Indian team didn't make it to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Final, thanks to some poor decision making by the team management and poor batting by the batsmen. But I am glad the other Men in Blue team made it and won it, for reasons different from those you… Continue reading Okay, It Wasn’t Our Men in Blue to Win It
If, after watching news of the recently concluded G20 Summit, you got the impression that the global economy is chugging along fine and that countries were getting along fine, you can attribute it to one person: the world leader with the world-leading tweet! After firing off a set of confrontational tweets in customary style, Trump… Continue reading G20: A Summit in Need of Statesmanship
Peripatetic Perch 