FDI in Multi-Brand Retail is the Butterfly

Hello World,

It's been a while……so here I am…wandering the blogwoods like a crazy wolf….howling out my opinions on something that has been keeping me busy for quite some time….

Ever since the news of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) ruling hit the Indian media, I have been trying to understand it to see how far it is going to drag the Indian business world into a Progressive Transformational Paradigm….So here are my interpretations…..

As the first step I downloaded the FDI Circular released by the Govt. of India and glanced through it. Guess what, after 3 pages I wanted to scroll to the last page… ;)   But as far as my experience goes, that is exactly how I deal with the pdf’s. Glance a few pages…scroll to the last page….read the conclusion….and I would know the crux of the Statistical Mythology that the remainder of the pages would hold. 

From what I understand, in my own stupid way, the FDI Ruling in India basically requests all customer-cheating unethical businessmen to humbly go to freakin hell so that room is made for those businesses that actually care for their customers….No more paper-bundling, sell-without-bill nonsense…consumers will pay for what they get and only get for what they pay….kind of Consumeristic Communism which calls for a class-less society of consumers who would get their money’s worth without having to demonstrate Kryptonic superpowers or ownership of a light-saber (please excuse the light-saber…I like it…)

Snippets from the Consolidated FDI Policy:

Contradicting the popular notion of western businesses taking over India through foreign investment, the Consolidated FDI policy (page 14/3.1.3), as released by the Govt. of India, clearly reminds that since Sep, 16, 2003, OCB’s (Overseas Corporate Bodies) have been derecognized as a class of investors in India. This means that as of now, international businesses cannot invest in India without the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and Govt. of India approving it. Even the erstwhile OCB’s (those that owned shares in Indian businesses prior to this regulation) cannot invest anymore without the govt.’s approval. This is a typical catch in the FDI policy of any country in this world, unless the country is not in a state of restricting the same. Therefore the FDI regulation that caused a stir recently has the basic cover it needs. Now the govt. can at least know of how much investment is getting routed into India and by whom. The possibility of achieving the “feasibility” of controlling nuisance is finally in the govt.’s hands and hence the age old response that goes like…”there are a million businesses in this country…we are the second highest in population and …it is not practically possible to keep track of all….” has been rendered obsolete in every sense. This doesn’t mean anything ground-breaking to be honest, but at least the regulations have started taking grip of reality in their very definitions. 

Another myth roams around stating that now that the FDI regulation has been relaxed, international business will be the sole owner of businesses here and that the Indian public would be suffering at the hands of international corporate nonsense. Well that is quite similar to the Harry Potter series we’re familiar with….absolute fantasy….from all angles. As per the regulation, international entity can hold only 10% of the capital of any Indian business and even the aggregate holdings cannot exceed 24% of the company’s capital. Now if the board wishes to let more investment to come in, it can do so by informing the RBI and Dept. of Commerce that the board has decided to make room for more investment. Even then Dept. of Commerce has laid out statutory/sectoral ceilings which mean that even if the boards decided, the international holding of the Indian business cannot exceed the ceiling set for the respective business segment by the Indian govt. A classic example is that of Indusind Bank that requested for a raise in the investment limit and was granted a limit of up to 49% with a condition that in any way the composite sectoral cap of 74% must not be breached. Also each sub-account of every registered Foreign Institutional investor cannot exceed a capital holding of 10%. This is quite similar to the Civil Supplies Rationing system where only a certain volume of supplies will be issued for every account/card. So bottom line is that no international business can completely buy out a business to an extent which it can operate at the loss of Indian consumers.

Say Hello to Irony 

Speaking of international business controlling India, I honestly don’t think a major section of the Indian community realizes the fact that our lives are already controlled by products that are produced by companies which are, for the most part owned by international businesses.  Ever heard of Hindustan Lever? Apparently they came into India to sell soaps and now are responsible for almost everything that an average Indian uses. This is just a sample but look below for the brands owned by this company (where 52% is owned by British-Dutch Unilever):

Food brands:

• Annapurna salt and atta
• Bru coffee
• Brooke Bond (3 Roses, Taj Mahal, Taaza, Red Label) tea
• Kissan squashes, ketchups, juices and jams
• Lipton tea
• Knorr soups & meal makers and soupy noodles
• Kwality Wall's frozen dessert
• Modern Bread, ready to eat chapattis and other bakery items

Homecare Brands ^[8]

• ActiveWheel detergent
• Cif Cream Cleaner
• Comfort fabric softeners
• Domex disinfectant/toilet cleaner
• Rin detergents and bleach
• Sunlight detergent and colour care
• Surf Excel detergent and gentle wash
• Vim dishwash
• Magic – Water Saver ^[9][10]

Personal Care Brands: ^[11]

• Aviance Beauty Solutions
• Axe deodorant and aftershaving lotion and soap
• LEVER Ayush Therapy ayurvedic health care and personal care products
• Breeze beauty soap
• Clear anti-dandruff hair products
• Clinic Plus shampoo and oil
• Close Up toothpaste
• Dove skin cleansing & hair care range: bar, lotions, creams and anti-perspirant deodorants
• Denim shaving products
• Fair & Lovely skin-lightening products
• Hamam
• Lakmé beauty products and salons
• Lifebuoy soaps and handwash range
• Liril 2000 soap
• Lux soap, body wash and deodorant
• Pears soap
• Pepsodent toothpaste
• Pond's talcs and creams
• Rexona soap
• Sunsilk shampoo
• Sure anti-perspirant
• Vaseline petroleum jelly, skin care lotions
• TRESemmé ^[12]

Water Purifier Brand:

• Pureit Water Purifier

The above list is from Wikipedia and so don’t take it for granted. Feel free to check the back of the packs of stuff you buy to see if it has Hindustan Lever or Unilever name printed there and you would understand the benefit of foreign investment and also its penetration in the consumer goods sector.

Now, even those who call for total abolition of foreign investment cannot live their normal lives without using the products that are a result of foreign investment in India. This is not something to be ashamed of. This is a case of supply and demand where someone provides for the needs of the others for a price. In some cases that entity just happens to be from a country other than India.

Now that we have established the fact that we already have foreign investment responsible for daily life of average Indians, let’s get back to the analysis of the recent controversy over FDI regulations pertaining to the Multi-Brand Retail sector. We have businesses from outside that manufacture products that we have been using. We are now getting ready to bring in businesses that specialize in selling multitude of products using an inventory-based, logistics-network-supported store system that would enable the consumers (that would be us) in getting access to multiple brands of products. This in other words means that we are very close to getting a wide variety of product choices which would control and slowly eradicate monopoly of brands, where we would have to compromise with the product quality/quantity just because it is the only cheaper version of the product in the market. 

Potential Impact of Multi-Brand Retail on India 

What Multi-Brand Retail would do to any country is quite similar to what Internet did to the world. Shrink the system and bring the subsystems close to each other so that the interaction is bilateral, quick and an inter-dependent yet fairly competitive co-existence. How would this benefit the average Indian? Well, have you ever visited any Indian village and lived their life. It is not as polluted as that available in the cities but they are still lacking access to so many comforts just because those semi-urban and rural communities have been classified “unfit” for access to all the products that are otherwise available in the cities. Villagers still have to travel to bigger towns and cities to make any big purchase for their families. Those villagers are for the most part responsible for the country’s agro-produce but are still left out when it comes to accessibility to products that fall under the basic needs. Even those products that somehow manage to reach the semi-urban and rural communities are either of the most inferior quality or heavily priced. Both the drawbacks exist simply because either there are not many brands of the products available or those who sell them are the kings of those markets who can price the products as per their fantasies. Add a monopoly flavor to their business cuisine and it becomes an economic feast that devours the average Indian on the basis of …”this is how it is…take it or leave it..”… Now what could be a sustainable solution will always remain the question to be answered for it is that question that would take any civilization in the path of real progress. In this case, we need more players to cater to the needs of the consumers. The govt. buying out products and issuing them for free/subsidized rates will not be a sustainable solution as that might make room for corruption of all kinds and the same monopolies would be recreated. We need to calm down and recall how the Soviet Economic System collapsed in spite of its robustness and rigidity. 

Bringing in international players in the Multi-Brand retail segment would bring in competition from outside. There is no denying that. But that competition is not something that would destroy local businesses. A major portion of the produce and manufactured goods in India are being exported to international markets. This is a great source of revenue to Indian businesses and farmers. Whatever we export to other countries are foreign products for those countries!!!! Our products are giving more than a stiff competition to local businesses and farmers in so many countries around the world!!! That doesn’t mean that Indian agro-produce and manufactured goods are destroying other countries’ economies and local businesses. Similarly this FDI ruling only made it easy for the sellers to enter and operate in India. How will this affect the local businesses? These international players would be more systematic in their approach and would do the needful to meet the demands of the consumers, even if it requires import of products from other countries. Now this would in turn call for a market-wise standardization of quality/price. This would eradicate the events where the farmers/businesses would dump the produce in the ground just to bring up the demand and subsequently raise the price for profits. They had a good harvest but they ended up having surplus. That forced them to behave that way. With Multi-Brand retail coming in, farmers and businesses would have more avenues for selling, most of them devoid of brokers and middlemen of all sorts. Also stores would not just buy anything in any physical state from local businesses. Quality standards would be brought into the system. It is true that implementing them would take a while but we need something in place before we can make it work. These would impose strict terms on the local businesses. Those terms would be of quality for the most part. All the brightly lit shopping centers selling packed goods are now boasting of higher quality but not all of them have it in their products. With many businesses in the market, the need for differentiation would increase and after a certain period of time, it would just be quality and off-season availability. This would bring in the concept of a competitive coexistence that would add fairness to the Indian market. 

The Need for a Benchmark

I personally have observed a wave of fake identities that businesses wear to fool the Indian consumers and they have been powered by the fact that they don’t and won’t have a competition. In my opinion, Indian consumers are at times paying more for less of what they truly deserve. A product worth Rs.5 would not even carry a date of expiry and a product worth Rs.500 would be standing in the shelf of a mega-store, at least 5 months past its expiry date. Both the products are harmful to the Indian citizen, both rich and poor. Also anything with the label “export-quality” is considered top-quality and most often, highly priced. I have personally visited stores that sell factory rejects of major brands (that are manufactured in India and have failed the QC in the factory for export) at regular high prices. The customer needs to know the product information beforehand to make a fair assessment before the purchase. Now the businesses can sell off those products as factory clearance or under any other name that clearly tells about the product’s inferior quality. But unfortunately, here in the Indian sub-continent, among the current state of affairs, especially with the business world, fair thinking is often construed as a carnal sin and every action needs to be motivated by a guarantee of an unearthly profit or a fear of apocalyptic damage. Just because there is not enough competition and the consumers do not have the needed awareness, businesses are robbing the consumers in every way possible. 

Early life on the planet had to go by the code of “Survival of the Fittest.” The average Indian, a modern consumer of the modern commercial world needs more protection from the business end, so that he/she need not fight to survive amidst anomalies such as non-availability, non-accessibility, inferior quality, brand monopoly etc. The consumers should not be left alone to fend for themselves. Also the businesses need to be provided with multiple avenues of selling so that there is free movement of goods from one part to another without having to be destroyed in case of surplus produce. Awareness is a key but not the only one to operate the free-market of the modern world. The businesses have to do their part to substantiate the reason for their existence. Over six decades into freedom, so far it has been social reforms that have been structuring the Indian society. From now on economic reforms and entrepreneurial ventures will be having their fair share of responsibilities. 

All I care is that, every Indian, irrespective of his/her socio-economic status, must be entitled to the basic consumer rights without having to contest it in a legal battle. The average Indian needs to get what he/she pays for and cannot be shepherded by entities that does not care about consumer welfare. The Indian market needs Big Brothers to come in and educate the consumers and businesses about how both of them are inter-dependent. It is the existence of a fair competition that would push for fairness. It is that fairness that would create a free-market where business and consumers can exist in harmony. We are supplying produce/goods to so many countries and it is only fair to let other countries supply to us. Until we have many, we would never know what the best would be like. Also we don’t have to depend on a few for our needs. 

A time will come when Indians would have forgotten the idea that anything cheap is inferior and everything expensive is the best of its kind. A long chain of events have to be completed before that statement can  be rendered true but this Chaos now needs the first flutter and FDI in Multi-Brand Retail is the butterfly. 

On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!

Regards,

Riding Life, Mile by Mile

Hello World,

I have been planning quite a few things to share with you recently but before I could get a clear scope of those, I got an amazing opportunity to venture into a new-found hobby which I would like to share with you...

I recently bought a Royal Enfield Thunderbird and have been planning long rides since I got my ride. Leisure Riding is something I always prefer but Long Rides were not exactly on my mind when I decided to buy my ride but as I started using it, I got addicted to the comfort and feel it offered me every time I rode it. This led to me wanting to stay on my ride as long as possible at every given opportunity.

Having decided to venture into this hobby, I started reading about riding, over the internet and came across tons of information from different corners of the world. Riders have dedicated time out of their life to share their piece of knowledge and wisdom about riding with their fellow riders and newbies like me. I would like to thank all the riders who have documented their riding experiences on the internet. I learned a lot and am sure my learning will never cease. 

Apparently all the articles I read pointed to riding safety and responsible motorcycle operation. I am new to motorcycle riding itself and so it was an enriching experience learning the different aspects of riding motorcycles, especially because, I come from a culture where carefree riding and little traffic violation is considered sane and safe. The safety tips advocated appropriate riding gear and I started looking for my riding gear. 

I bought a Nolan N-90S modular helmet, Tork X-Pro Helmet Speakers and Ipod Shuffle-4th Gen for my head gear. I installed the helmet speakers inside my helmet which was a simple task as Nolan helmets came with the provision for N-Com System that  included slots for speakers and related wiring. I had the chin-guard of my helmet and Ipod  Shuffle layered with standard hook and loop fastener (velcro stickers). So my helmet became my head's protection with built-in entertainment system!!!! 

I bought a leather riding vest from www.makeyourownjeans.com. I wanted to have a customized vest and so I went ahead and bought patches of my choice from www.thecheapplace.com. I traveled to Periyamedu, leather-hub of my city, where most businesses revolve around leather products, and had the patches sewn by an amazing leather technician who is famously known as Mary Amma among the Periyamedu leather-stitching fraternity. She was very kind and agreed to finish my vest-customization even after her usual hours of operation and invited me to her home to pick it up. When I went to her humble residence, she invited me in and offered me coffee which  made me feel I will never understand "Customer-Service" as Mary Amma had installed in her professional practice. That experience just made my leather riding vest all the more special. 

The next was the guards and gloves. My college buddy helped me get my first pair of fingerless riding gloves for which I am very thankful. I wanted fingerless gloves as I foresaw a lot of button-pressing (ipod volume/song change) and scratching during my rides. For the guards, I was quite confused as to what kind to go for as I already had a rather uncomfortable and cracking experience of using elbow and knee guards during the very short stint of skateboarding I got to do a few years back. It was an empty parking lot and i could hardly do an Ollie with my board but when I fell, my guards cracked and I was not entirely comfortable wearing them either. Then came the ebay listing that said US-Army issue knee and elbow guards are on sale. What more do I need? I ordered a pair of elbow and knee guards from a retired military guy who now specializes in procuring army-surplus items and selling them on ebay. With very little use, those guards are a perfect fit for me and needless to say incredibly comfortable. American soldiers would rather be troubled with bad intel than with bad gear. Everyone who remembers Vietnam knows that for sure.

For my boots, I chose the13-inch Xelement Harness Riding Boots as they are not very pricey and had received some good reviews with mentions of good comfortable fit and durability. I did have to read a bunch of reviews to filter out all the fake reviews written by internet marketing professionals in the name of SEO/Custom Review Writing Service. The boots turned out to be more comfy than what I expected. The breaking period was less than a week or so and I had them on for a few times during that period. The boots did leave some black dye smudges but I guess products like these always come with a dirt-property that we just have to deal with. The riding comfort is jsut beyond imagination for these though. i dont have to feel a strained shin/ankle while operating my Thunderbird and that's exactly what I intended to have for my Long Rides.

Having done quite an effort to accessorize myself for my new-found hobby, I made my first trial Long Ride from Chennai to Pondicherry and met my college buddy Pondy Balaji. I had told him a few months back that I would meet him, when I come riding my Thunderbird. The ride was a 350 kilometers (roundtrip) expedition that formally inducted me into the world of Leisure Long Riding, teaching me the essentials of Highway Riding. 

Now I was all the more enthusiastic about venturing into actual Long Rides that was longer than my trial ride to Pondicherry. I scheduled a meet with my roomie at Pondicherry and I had to attend another roomie's wedding at Trichy, a city that is approximately 320 kilometers from Chennai. So my first official long Ride Itinerary became Chennai-Pondicherry-Trichy-Chennai. The map below shows it all.

The ride to Pondicherry was quite tiresome as it was a night ride and I wasn't used to Highways with heavy traffic (not on a motorcycle). But I did enjoy every bit of it. I had an awesome time hanging out with my friends at Pondy. The pic below of me was taken by my buddy. 

At Pondy, a friendly ATM Security Officer suggested me an alternate route to Trichy, touching villages Panruti and Ulunthoorpettai before catching up with the target NH 45S. A million thanks to the friendly Security Officer. I got an awesome opportunity of riding through a long stretch of paddy fields, glowing green on either side of the road, the view of which reminded me of movie scenes I grew up watching. 

At Trichy, I stayed at my relatives home, enjoyed their awesome hospitality, and attended my roomie's wedding. I also met some of my best friends I met at Mississippi State University. So after catching up with my buddies, I set off for the ultimate leg of my expedition, the return. It was a straight road zip all the way on NH 45N, which by the way offers some awesome scenery. I loved the stretch until Ulunthoorpettai, which offers a few ups and downs, small hilltops on either side and some of the warmest Tender-Coconut Vendors of Tamilnadu. They took special care to ensure I got the right hydration and served me with a smile. I had a little chat with them regarding other look-able/ride-able areas in and around that stretch and they suggested more than I could remember. I felt humbled. I made another stop a little later and had tender coconuts of three different colors, each one having a distinct flavor (based on their ageing).

Just before reaching Dindivanam, I took another break where a local resident walked up to me and started a conversation on Highway Riding risks and how long rides should be planned. It was an interesting conversation, the highlight of which is the way the guy cursed heavy bikes for bad fuel economy. The kind lady at the shop advised me to be extra-cautious on the highway. 

The finishing stretch had considerable traffic as I moved towards the city. When I reached home, I felt a sense of satisfaction, gratitude and excitement. I had a sense of fulfillment and was all pumped up for the next few hours. I was recalling my experience, the people I met, the conversations I had, the riding nuances I learned, the warnings and advises I got from total strangers and more than anything, the memory of the long roads I cruised. Overall my expedition was 699 kilometers long, filled with experiences, accompanied by Indie Rock/Folk Songs and the long roads. 

I have picked up a new hobby, a passion that calls for raising the dust, praising the dirt and falling in love with the road, all with the company of my choice of iron, Royal Enfield Thunderbird. I am happy I bought this ride and I am happy that it dragged me into such an amazing hobby that will give me a truckload of memories to recall and recount to myself, until the end of my life. So summing up, Live Free, Ride Safe, Ride Long, for it is the road that can teach the untold lessons of Riding Life, Mile by Mile.

On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!

Regards,

Sultan's Palace Survived!!!!

Hello World,

No..I haven’t forgotten you!!!! My laziness just kept me busy all these days….

So here I am …… back in the blogwoods…..

I have been longing to share my bizarre experience I had during my trip to Mysore with my parents….A trip that will stay with me forever….No I am not talking about beautiful sunsets….(though I did find some from Chamundi Hills….)…..

And cutting to the chase…..Our taxi driver-guide took us to the palaces in and around Mysore…it was an interesting ride for me…We were visiting homes of people who lived a long time back…and all of them had something to do with the lives of my forefathers…..

Our first stop was at Srirangapatinam, where we saw Tipu Sultan’s palace….the palace he is claimed to have lived in….Well, old palaces don’t usually look aesthetically pleasing….and no surprise..this one was a dilapidated “ruins-alone-left” half-building with everything except the basement gone….The palace was guarded by gated fence and a government appointed security woman….

Seeing no point in gazing through the “long-lost-yet-fenced”  monarchial debris-leftover….we got back in the car…drove through the rest of Srirangapatinam and started for our next attraction for the day…which what do we know...? was another palace supposedly more famous and tourist-entertaining…..

Just like any other tourist from the southern Indian territories….hearing the terms “Mysore Palace,” and “Mysore Maharaja,” I was diving into the ideas of getting familiarized with lavish monarchial lifestyles that ruled the societies back in the day……

And I was right…The Main Palace…as it is claimed was a treat to the eyes…even from the road…The campus was big…filled with tourists….exploring the beauty of a home that can house a farmer’s market, a carnival, a volley ball court with bleachers on all sides and a mid-size rock concert….all at the same time…all indoors…..  

We had to scramble through the crowd to get our tickets to enter the Main Palace....

The palace was guarded…guards at every 100 ft…footwear not allowed inside the building…it was quite a “decorum-demanding” atmosphere there……I walked along the decorated hallways admiring the architecture that I don’t know jack about…I grew curious when I saw pics (or do I say Hon’ble Paintings?) of the royal family on the walls of the hallways….especially towards those featured british men dressed as the members of the Imperial british govt. that ruled India for over 2 centuries….. ???!!!????

I was like…. “This is an Indian King’s palace…What the hell are british soldiers doing in the paintings with the Indian king’s family?”

I have to say..I have met people from England and they are interesting people (let’s spare their accent please…)…I don’t hate the brits for the 2-century vandalism their old-time monarchial govt. executed on my homeland….I do hate the british government that destroyed India…but the English people of this generation need not bear the backsplash anger…..Just my thought…

Getting back to business…I was surprised to see that the King who enjoyed the awesome palace was friends with the british govt. !!!!!!  They have had friendly meets, “High Tea” I suppose…Social gatherings with display of local culture, processions in honor of the king and the british buffoons who had enslaved the spineless Indian king….. and many more I guess…

I started reading every detail I could find to see how far the brits went to keep their friends happy so they can eat the fresh livers of the rest of India that deserved the nation for itself…..

The tiles came from Glasgow, the chandeliers and every other piece of decoration installed were custom made and imported...What a life!!!! Something struck me real hard….I just visited Tipu Sultan’s palace and as far as I remembered (I still do) it was rubble in destitute at best…..

I asked our taxi-Driver/Guide to take us back to the Tipu Sultan’s palace for I really needed to compare details….he agreed…he was surprised as to why I wanted to see the ugly-looking ruin for a second time in a day when other attractions were still out there for us to visit….

During the drive back to Tipu Sultan’s palace, I kept pondering as to why would we decorate, maintain and charge Indians to check out the home of a holy-blood traitor that sold India to the then british imperial euphemism-loving monarchial maniac govt.?????????

I VISITED THE HOME OF SOMEONE WHO DIED FIGHTING FOR INDIA’S FREEDOM, FOR FREE, BUT STRUGGLED THROUGH THE CROWD, PARTED WITH MY DSLR (YES I LOVE MY DSLR!!!) AND PAID MONEY TO VISIT THE PALACE OF SOMEONE WHO EXCHANGED INDIA’S FREEDOM FOR FREAKIN TILES FROM GLASGOW AND RED-DRESSED GUARDS AT THE GATE!!?????!!!!!?!!?!!?!!?!!!?!!!?

So this is how my country wishes to teach me patriotism….a fine blend of satire, surreal and off-color humor flavored with the realities of the “Yes-Boss” history that violated India from all sides….

I do agree I was not capable enough to realize this until this incident….may be my brains failed to identify these bizarre yet real things….may be this incident merely made me realize my intellectual handicap that had been preventing me from understanding things the way they are supposed to be….understood….

For some reason that I am yet to understand, the concept of patriotism which often times is loosely based on man-made fences on planet earth, is entertaining as well as confusing. I am just happy to call myself something and feel possessive about the same thing, in this case they are geo-social parameters, using terms that someone coined a long time ago. But on the flip side, is it not fair to stand by the ideals of individuals who stood for the benefit of their fellow citizens? Is it wrong to mildly appreciate the sacrifices made by individuals from the past who successfully laid out the possibility of my existence and freedom in a future that they knew for sure they wouldn't see?.....Honestly, I sense microwaves dancing through my cerebral stuff...so I would stop this side of the discussion right here and leave the rest for your intellectual experiments....

Here are some pictures of Tipu Sultan’s Palace, the home of the man who successfully implemented one of the earliest rocket artillery in modern warfare, in an attempt to free India from the clutches of the east-whatever company…

 And here’s the palace of the “Mighty-Hon’ble-My Rat’s Ass-Privileged” king who was brethren with “Feudal Bred-Queen Coached-Barely Missed Guillotine” brits who believed in civilizing the colored Third-World with imperialistic resource-greediness……

 

To all the current generation of English/British people, none of the hate-remarks I mentioned are targeted towards you or anyone who was not directly involved in the imperial rule from the past. I like Beatles, I ride a Royal Enfield and I sure have a lot of my fellow citizens living in England right now…..so Cheers!!! 

To my fellow citizens, it is time we start preserving all elements of our history alike, ……traitors and patriots are part of any political trash bin of every era and ours need more fair treatment….if we can protect the traitors well, we can protect the patriots too…since the very definition of patriot and traitor is subjective and relative, how about preserving every piece of our history with same respect and effort, so we can spend the rest of our generations laughing at the idiosyncrasies our forefathers mastered and marauded….. No offence intended towards anyone who were not directly related to selling India’s freedom for brit-alms…..so Cheers!!!!

I am already feeling a lot better....means...this post is coming to an end...  ;)

Finishing up, I have to say, that trip to Mysore was entertaining and surprising, with another “Wake-Up” call that reminded me that there is so much I need to know and there is so much out there that has not caught my attention yet, in spite of being in plain sight…….who knew Sultan’s Palace Survived!!!!


On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!

Regards,

Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses

Hello World,

A really long time and no see at all....well, I am Back!!!   ;)    

I have recently gained interest in social media marketing. Having run facebook campaigns myself, I thought it's time I share with you my experience. Nothing special but this is just my perspective of Social Media Marketing. If you have a business, or looking to start a new business, or you just like to spend a lot of time on facebook, then I guess you would get a new perspective on the topic. 

Marketing is a key component for any business and for small businesses, it is the main component. The main reason being that large businesses are more visible and cover a large region of the land whereas small businesses, often times, have to start with their local region and a limited market. Reaching out to the customers is always the priority and not all small businesses have the financial freedom to use the conventional high-priced media. The advent of social media has transformed the world for good and this means a lot to small businesses. Now small businesses can reach out to a large audience of their choice and don’t have to spend a lot in the process.

Social media have their ways and therefore it is important for small businesses to understand their properties before using them for their marketing efforts.

Ministry without Minister

Social media have connected a large number of people and are connecting more and more as time passes by. The users of social media are not connected to a single source. This is the specialty of social media. This means that information can be produced at multiple points and gets distributed through multiple networks of users. A cool YouTube video can be shared through facebook, twitter and google+ at the same time and each media can have the users share that video with their friends and so on. So it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a YouTube account. You still get to see YouTube videos on your facebook newsfeed. With advancement in mobile phone technology, users are now always in touch with social media. Small businesses can now leverage this property of social media and reach out to a large audience without having to spend on the heavily centralized industrial media.

Everyone’s Invited

You don’t have to get 15 approvals and 25 certifications for starting a facebook page for your business. The industrial media has tools that are not accessible to everyone. That’s the key strength of social media. Small businesses can now make creative “Cover Photos” for their facebook page and send their message loud and clear to all of their fans. A still camera for pictures, a handycam for videos and your creative studio is all set to roll out creative content for your social media marketing campaign!!! A lot of small businesses hire professionals for the purpose which is also an option dependent on the marketing budget.

Say No to Godfather

Industrial media requires technical expertise to operate but social media does not demand that expertise. Any additional graphic design support can add value to the marketing campaign but there is always an easy workaround for that. Anyone with a good command of Adobe Suite and social media can perform social media marketing. There is free software for almost everything from sound recording to video production.  The key is not technology but “Application” of the same. If you can figure out creative ways to blend your facebook profile picture with your cover picture, you are eligible for induction into the creative brotherhood of graphic design!!!  There are online tools like hootsuite, crowdbooster etc. available for social media marketing. Schedule your posts and keep track of how far you are reaching your audience.

“Now” Marketing

With social media, whatever happens, happens at that moment unlike a newspaper print that may take one night before reaching the audience. So instantaneous reach out is possible with social media. Small businesses can send information with a simple twitter update or a pinterest pin-up. The key is to stay current and varied. Variety is always welcomed and if it is related to current events, the fire stays long. Mention your business’s support to local community development events to show people that your business actually cares about the local community. Corporate Social Responsibility is the key to entrepreneurial growth in the coming generation and all Small Businesses are looking to incorporate that into their core business model. Look for events that might interest your audience and have status updates reminding them of the event or your organization’s appreciation for it. If your audience can relate to the event, then your message has been successfully delivered.

Short Lived “Forever”

With social media, nothing is forever until mentioned so over and over again. If something comes out in print, it stays and the impact of the first print takes a long time to wear out but with social media, you are just a status update far from a change of news. It has to be noted that anything done online stays online and can cause troubles later. An honest approach to social media marketing would avoid this scenario altogether. Mistakes happen all the time. If we take responsibility and rectify it, it gets back to normal very soon. So small businesses need to be aware that with social media, any marketing disaster is possible but the recuperation is also equally quick. The key is to have a good, comprehensive social media marketing strategy for your small business which clearly mentions the Do’s and Don’ts that keeps the marketing efforts from getting carried away.

Tao of Social Media Marketing

Connecting with your customers is just the first step of social media marketing. How they are engaged and entertained is the real game. Therefore, packaging the information to be conveyed is the key. The social media audience has very small attention span and a craving for attractive yet simple content.

Instead of an old-school print ad that says “Discover the best,” a simple youtube video of you explaining your product/service would give your small business, a personal touch. It can be flashy if you decide to make a flashy video but it is ok if it is not flashy. By publishing a YouTube video, you have given a personal image to your business which adds credibility to your message. Your audience would know they are going to work with “You.” Remember taxi driver Devesh Mishra? He is a taxi driver from Banaras who shot to fame with his YouTube video. His video has over 42000 hits so far and that video is not a HD musical extravaganza. A simple speech by him done outdoors is all it is. A lot of his international clients get to know him through his social media presence. 

If you are a small business with experts in your team, have them speak about their work and publish those videos. Your customers would get a clear image of what they might get when they see the responsible one speaking about it.

If you have a small business and like to go big in reaching out to your customers, embrace social media for affordable and unconventional marketing. Prepare your social media marketing strategy and follow it for effective marketing. At all times, you need to know where you are, where you wish to be and where you are headed right now. Don’t restrict yourself to one medium. The idea always is to have your message available through multiple channels and in diverse formats. Take it step by step, one step at a time. The greatest investment in any marketing campaign would be patience and open-mindedness. Let your creativity rule your marketing campaign and have fun connecting with your customers. Wish you all the best.

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