I want to decide where I shop

The opposition must realize that more FDI means more jobs for Indians. Big chains are not going to destroy the small retailer. If anything, it presses them, to improve their quality of service, and perhaps this is what they are against. To provide a low standard of service and choice which we will be forced to accept. At the end of the day, its the customer who decides where he should spend his money. No one, no party or no government and definitely not the small retailer should oppose giving the customer a choice of goods or where he should purchase his needs from.

Established local retail chains such as Westside, Reliance or Big Bazar, dont seem to have an opposition to more competition and they have definitely not wiped out any of the pop and mom stores. Or is the opposition dancing to the tunes of these local chains by opposing more international competition which would up the ante forthe former and force them to improve their standards. This bill only presents more opportunities for these local chains so that theory can be dispelled.

It would seem that there are no Chinese goods in India now. Look around your own house, take 10 items, 7 will be made in China. The Chinese have moved ahead and dominated ouur homes, while India struggles to dominate its own. Lets stop blaming China for all pur woes.
They are ahead of the curve, we are not and need’nt catch up. We should develop our own curve.

If the opposition is against the bill, perhaps they should come up with an alternate idea which could develop as many jobs, the infrastructure and rejuvenate spending in the biggest middle class in the world. This FDI bill will result in leaner supply chains and better quality, which will be evident in the agricultural sector also.

The opposition is being irresponsible by blocking development, so that they can pass this bill, if and when they come to power and claim they did it.
Its time to look beyond partisan politics and work towards a better India.

To buy or not to buy

I recently joined the ranks of the padded when I was gifted an ipad.
No, I am not going to extoll the virtues of Steve Jobs’ imagination, many before me have done that.
However, the other day, I found my self, laptop-less. So, I logged into google docs, made a .doc document, which is the commonly used format, attached it to an email and sent it to a customer.
The model had changed. I didn’t have to have the most commonly used OS anymore, I didn’t need a valid licensed office productivity software suite or purchase any expensive software. This minor exercise in Cloud computing just changed all that!!
I leave you with something I received in an email. Don’t believe all of it…you’ll just love the ipad!!

Business Harakiri

I might be the last one to find out about this and write about it, but I felt it needs to be known.
The local outlet of Benihana is suing a a blogger Mark (www.248am.com) based out of Kuwait for writing a review about the not so pleasant experience he had. The suit also includes illegal photography among other charges of loss of business and reputation.
The news has resulted in a huge outcry by the readers of the popular blog who have unanimously declared their support for the blogger as well as a boycott of Benihana which started it’s ops only a few months ago.
Being Japanese the management of the restaurant seems to be well versed in Harakiri. They seem to have forgotten they are only a restaurant and they live on the goodwill of the paying public. Suing someone for having an opinion on their service or food is immature and downright stupid.
On the other hand if all they wanted was cheap publicity they could have sued him for illegal photography and that would have aroused the curiosity of the public to check out the restaurants decor. Those footfalls could have been converted by offering good food and service.
Harakiri is a suicidal ritual used to preserve honor, Benihana got the order wrong this time!

Whos who

I was at the airport the other day and browsing through the book shop at the arrivals, waiting for an aircraft to land, I came across the Twitter Celebrity directory – 1st edition.

With anyone who’s anyone having a twitter account and tweeting away, and making an event out of breaking wind or even their wildest most inconsequential thoughts, this could serve as the who’s who in the celebrity world. At 6.something KD, I was just wondering if such a publication would have any takers or even make it to a second edition.

Twitter doesn’t still have a chargeable service, though they do have some kind of B2B deals. It is surprising how many ideas have sprung around it and how it has a lot of potential. Now whodathunk it..

The show goes on…

The best time to kick a person is when he is down. This is the beating that Dubai has taken. While I am not a fan of life in Dubai, as seen from my few visits and stories I have heard, I have always been baffled by the velocity of their growth.

Look at it from the other end. A person buys a car and the payments are financed. A year down the line, he falls into dire financial straits. He sells the car or gets the loan to be refinanced and reschedules the payment, if that is acceptable. This is normal.

So what is different in Dubai? They have assets, and they have only proposed a rescheduling of the payment of a bond. In what has been, clear over reaction, by the media and rating agencies which have now downgraded the status of investments in Dubai, its reputation and goodwill has taken a serious beating.

A reputation of sanguine courage fuelled by ambition. You cannot put a limit on resources or time for ambition. Then it becomes a project. Ambition is fuelled bythe inner force of leaders with a vision and as long as that force does not fade, Dubai will continue its growth. The city has come a long way from “humidity & flies’ to a become a metropolis of steel and glass.

The current correction may slow it down, but the show will go on… For those of you who thought that Dubai was over priced, now might be the time to pick up some good buys!