That, in short, summarises the branding conundrum of VLCC!

The brand, that has been a certified Superbrand, is more known for Vandana Luthra than for the various businesses her beauty enterprise spawns. Can Vandana change this paradox? But hey, is it really an issue? Angushman Paul takes up the weighty issue...

On another front, to perhaps counter Shahnaz Hussein’s worldwide ‘Customer Relationship Management’ system, Vandana has appointed one of the world’s largest specialized below-the-line marketing services agencies, 141 Sercon, a contract to manage the VLCC call centre operations. Aegis Communication (from the well-known Essar Group) is the BPO providing primary services for the venture. Interestingly, Marico with its brand ‘Kaya’ is also planning to start a similar call center model through KPO.

Analysts claims that in the beauty and healthcare business, its essential to give a personal touch in services and therefore, the CRM system and call centers help. But that spawns a critical debate. Why has Vandana taken so much time to undertake these strategies, despite being one of the first movers in this segment? And why now, at a time of economic slowdown when competition in the beauty and wellness business is thickening up like anything? Aren’t her finances being run extremely dry because of such plans?

Vandana is unperturbed on such an argument, “Our USP is totally different from any other brand and our target audience is also different – we cater to many institutional buyers with our various services.” Institutional buyers are one big focus, more due to the recent change in the attitude of corporations that have become more focused on the wellness and health maintenance of its top managers.

But how important does she consider the creation of a sustainable brand, our primary question? “My mother ran a dancing school and she was very popular among her students, but she never though of branding her school, and today, nobody knows about her school. So, from personal experience, I knew that for long run sustainability, one needs to create a brand,” accepts Vandana. And she’s added corporate transparency to that promise, with Ernst & Young being the official auditor for VLCC (which is the only company in the industry undertaking such measures), a learning she obtained from her father’s work experiences at Siemens.

But strategically, does VLCC really have it in itself to one day become a glorious Fortune 500 company? Many decades ago, in 1946, a young woman called Josephine Esther Mentzer asked the same question for her company that offered four simple beauty and care solutions. She realised that the key to success was purely brand building. Today her company, named after her husband, is the world’s largest purely beauty care and cosmetics company, selling a mind numbing $7 billion worth products to women and men globally. Ranked 352 in the Fortune 500 list of 2009, Estée Lauder is known for the quality of its brand universally. Vandana, if she can, so can you... but all in good time...

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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TORPIG

Torpig, also known as Sinowal or Anserin (mainly spread together with Mebroot rootkit), is a type of botnet spread by a variety of Trojan horses which can affect computers that use Microsoft Windows. Torpig circumvents anti-virus applications through the use of ‘rootkit’ technology and data mines the infected system for credentials, accounts and passwords as well as potentially allowing attackers full access to the computer. As of November 2008 it has been responsible for stealing the details of about 500,000 online bank accounts and credit and debit cards and is described as “one of the most advanced pieces of crimeware ever created”. According to RSA, the company which helps to secure networks in Fortune 500 companies, more than 270,000 banking accounts and 240,000 credit and debit cards have been breached from financial institutions. The botnet is really one of the most advanced pieces of crimeware ever created.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Pizzas topped with cheese & happiness

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Brand : Domino’s

Khushiyon ki Home Delivery depicted the bond between Pizza delivery and happiness. Domino’s needed this to alter its functional proposition of convenience and great taste and the campaign was created to act as an emotional discriminator from rivals. The campaign, supported by their ‘easy on the pocket’ Pizzas and 30 minute delivery promise helped Domino’s to garner a market share of 45% by the end of 2008. “We wanted to highlight The happiness factor and especially when other players are increasing prices. We very clearly conveyed that Domino’s can bring happiness in your life with pizza at just Rs.35. The campaign succeeded in conquering the market,” affirms Ajay Kaul, CEO, Domino’s Pizza India Ltd. Need more happiness?

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Marrying health and emotions = sales

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Brand: Saffola Gold
Agency: McCann Erickson

If brand-building is the art of identifying and then occupying a hitherto vacant perch in the conumer’s lifestyle... then Saffola Gold’s Kal Se campaign really lays the oil! Marico showed ingenuity by coming up with the concept of a cholesterol lowering edible oil, while the agency demonstrated a smart way to cash in. Using the insight of procrastination of health needs by the consumer, the campaign talked of protecting your heart from TODAY. The campaign resulted in instantaneous volume growth for Saffola Gold and margin-growth for Marico. In a survey, consumers voted Saffola Gold as the Most Trusted Brand in the cooking oil category...

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Now that’s a ‘Lucky Gold’star

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In June 2006, LG India became a part of a completely new global marketing strategy of the consumer electronics company. Apart from readying itself to become an export hub for some of the foreign markets and entering new segments, it came out with a brand new communication for its entire home appliance range, breaking away from its health platform, conceptualised in 1997. The campaign for new “Health Plus” for the home appliances range focused on intelligent and futuristic technology under the “Intello” umbrella. But then, did it really paid off? “The thing which has worked wonders for LG is their marketing muscle which allows it to flex across categories. Moreover by shifting its target positioning LG has provided an opportunity of cross shopping to its customers,” answers Sumit Arora, Senior Director, Synovate India. What’s more? The electronics giant has just shifted its technological advancement to masses products also. Wonder at the time when many companies are re-working on their prices, LG believes in playing across all segments. Now that’s called a real winner!

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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McDonald’s means scrumptious burgers and golden arches to most. Few think of this food retailer as a conglomerate.

But McDonald’s growth story amidst the bloodbath on Wall Street has made people sit up and take note of the steely corporate behind the romantic, red and yellow sheen. And if the US recession has left these hamburger people unscathed, guess a slowdown in the Indian economy is cause for celebration? 4Ps B&M’s Angshuman Paul dives into the ketchup :-)

Ronald McDonald is sitting calmly in the war-room of his headquarters at Oakbrook, a suburb west of Chicago. While his rivals are reeling under the impact of the recession that is taking a toll on most of Wall Street, the clown is thanking the investigative journalist Eric Schlosser for writing his bestseller Fast Food Nation a few years ago, which had hit McDonald’s where it had hurt the most – no, not their waistline, but the bottomline! Schlosser’s arguments against McDonaldization of America and the rest of the world (among other things he wrote that “wherever America’s fast food chains go, waistlines inevitably start expanding”) had caught the imagination of the public then, which until then had thought of burgers and fries as their manna from heaven. The hamburger chain’s profits dropped drastically between 2002-2003.

But that was then when they never got anything right! Today, it seems that they can do no wrong. Fast Food Nation and the damage it inflicted on their financials gave McD’s the fodder to change – their menu, image and more importantly their thinking – which is serving them well in these bad times. In the intervening years, not only did the burger company do away with super size burgers and include healthy meals to their menu, they also improved efficiencies, added the McCafe and McTreat chains to their portfolio and launched the I’m lovin’ It campaign. And they are still lovin’ it! When its contemporaries are taking a hit on their bottomlines, Mc’Ds is riding the wave with strong results for the third quarter and the year. Its sales in the US increased by 5% (not to mention a double digit growth in their operating income), even as Domino’s sales fell by 3% and Yum Brands started calling the Pizza Hut chain as one of its biggest challenges. The Pizza chain’s complaints: cash-strapped consumers are eating at home more often. Jim Skinner, the Global Chief Executive of McDonald’s, is not complaining though. After all, in the year ended 2008, McDonald’s recorded a revenue of $23,230 million as compared to rival Yum! Brand’s mere $10,416 million for the same period. Shares of McDonald’s gained nearly 6% last year, making the company one of only two in the Dow Jones industrial average whose share price rose in 2008 (when the stock market lost a third of its value). The other was Wal-Mart!

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You Got Male!

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Is the new Indian woman looking 'differently' at the male? Is the new Indian male looking 'differently' at himself? Is voyeurism suddenly going unisex? Monojit Lahiri probes the new-age phenomenon firing up ad-world!

Actually, Salman Khan started it all. Declaring a flamboyant fatwa against shirts, he converted flaunting his bare-chested, well-toned machismo into a sexual statement that drove a zillion female fans wild while earning envious looks from the guys. Today its come to a situation where (like the gasp-pant Zeenie baby of the seventies) many can’t recognise ‘Sallubhai’, fully clothed! Presently John Abraham’s red-hot number in Dostana, is giving both hotties Shilpa and Piggy Chops a run for money! The way his languorous moves have been choreographed and the passionate love-affair the camera seems to conduct with Johnny-boy … man, ‘you got male’!

Beyond Sallu, John, and SRK’s sexy 6-pack abs flash, Ranbir’s (oooops!) wardrobe dysfunction in Saawariya and Aamir’s new, killer body in Ghajini, lies a slew of ads saluting the male form – with women, actively co-opted as enthusiastic participants! Be it the Euro Brief slugs where the young dude gets ‘assaulted’ (with lipstick marks!) the AXE effect TVCs, Moods’ condom ads (where the babe nibbles her guy’s ears) and the latest Akshay Kumar’s lethal unbuttoned ad, the male, suddenly, is taking centre stage and women seem delighted to play avid, rah-rah audience!
As the song says, what’s goin’ on?

Gushes the Delhi-based ad veteran Esha Guha, “As the ad says, why should boys have all the fun? For centuries, women have played dedicated objects of desire to men’s hungry eyes. Isn’t it time to hit the role-reversal button?” The ‘unputdownable’ Guha argues that in today’s world where women go eyeball-to-eyeball with men in the professional, financial and social zone, why should they suddenly play cute n’ shy away from the delicious sport called male-gazing!

Young copy-writer Payal Sinha is delighted (“Wow, Some Lady”!) at this response from someone who represents a generation who, (mostly) would reach for smelling salts before attempting to coherently articulate their (Shock? Disgust?) opinion. “I think our generation looks at the very concept of sexuality differently – the urban, middle-class, educated community, that is. There is neither the hush-hush, behind closed-doors factor, the sex-is-sin belief, nor the shy, feminine, mega blush-flush at the very mention of the S word.” Payal elaborates by saying that the new-age woman is pretty savvy and clued-in and with the huge exposure in the public domain – TV, movies, radio, Internet – as well as everyday life and living, the male body is (normally) not totally alien country!

Creative Director Moon-Moon Dhar joins the party with unbridled ecstasy! “This stuff was long overdue and I have no hesitation in saying that I went to Dostana just to ogle! Johnny-boy was truly an eye-candy!” Toning the pitch down a bit, the bindaas mother of two believes that today’s men too are less self-conscious about flashing-flesh or getting paranoid if their partners drool. “My hubby is, by turn, amused or threatening to get those 6-pack abs, very soon. It’s cool.”

Home-maker Vidya Baluja feels like throwing up! “My god, its blatant sexism, male-style … and it’s so much more yucky!” She believes that there are certain areas of life, which indeed exist but should be celebrated only in the private space. “All this dramabazi exhibitionism is so vulgar! Sure there will always be a lunatic fringe that will wow the toned and chiseled male form but generally speaking, most sane, balanced, intelligent women will view this new-age disrobing of inhibitions in a startled, amused and embarrassed way.”

Journo Bina Khanna adds her spin to it. “I really think too much is being made of this male-gazing – thanks to the Dostana factor – and it’s more media-generated than real!” Khanna believes that the recent hungama is because traditionally, its always been the politically correct thing for men to drool, salivate and play the raging-hormone voyeur. Suddenly (Globalisation? Gladrags?), there has been a change in the mindset among a segment of society that have woken up to this role-reversal and embraced it with unholy glee! This has toppled the apple-cart and brought something hugely private and hush-hush tumbling out of the closet into the streets…

Khanna could well have hit the nail on the head. The new-age woman is different from her mother-in-law in many ways, mindset, heading the list. She is socially, intellectually, financially and professionally up there with men and suffers no complex about it. Individual liberation through sexuality is emerging as a major tool to break feudalism in society. Also, in an age of suppressed libido, celebration of the male body by women is liberating, balancing the man-woman equation and making commodification of culture a two-way street. Besides, in a time and age when women are breaking every mould in life and rewriting the rules of the game, it’s time to celebrate choices, stop living in a man’s-idea-of-woman world, go with the flow and coin a whole, new and exciting word – DIRECT MALE!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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20 murders a month and counting: Bangalore's new face

Surprisingly, 20 murders even before the first month of 2009 is over does not rattle the Bangalore Police Commissioner Shankar M Bidari. “This is not a new thing. Bangalore usually witnesses over 20 murders every January and there is no need to create hue and cry over it. Moreover, if we compare it with last year’s statistics, there were more murders last year,” said Bidari.

For the Commissioner sahib, 20 murders in a month is not a serious matter, especially in a city with a population of 75 lakh and which has seen 22 and 19 murders in January 2008 and January 2007 respectively. Moreover, since police cannot guarantee security to each and every individual living in the city, the citizens themselves have to make sure they stay out of harm’s way, Bidari advised. Though the Police Commissioner has assured to start the investigations soon, the promise holds little hope. The file containing a 12-year-old murder case of an elderly couple in Jayanagar is still gathering dust in the police station. Though the police have already launched their investigation in the recent double and triple murder cases in Jayanagar, they give little assurance of safety and security to the residents.

“A peaceful sleep is all we ask for. Who will provide us security to enjoy that?” Raghavendra’s million dollar question hangs in the air. ....Continue

“If I have done wrong, hang me!”

Your popularity is going up among people all over the country. A Marxist MP from Kerala was punished for praising your work. Are you aware that you have fans in all parties?
I am aware of this. Even people who publicly criticise me have noticed my work. But I am really surprised that the Kerala MP was punished.

Looking at Gujarat, many feel that you could do wonders for the nation if you were made the PM.

I have studied political science and know how such talks have ruined many top leaders in the past. I will not fall into this trap. I am content with what I am doing.

So, you do not wish to think beyond Gujarat?
I feel that by serving Gujarat I am serving the entire nation as well.

If ever you are made the PM, what would be your priority?
First of all there is no ‘if’ and ‘or’ in politics.

But you must have thought about something for the nation?
I think of the responsibilities I have, which is Gujarat, and I think of various plans for the betterment of Gujarat.

Any single economic policy which you would like to bring or introduce in India?
In Gujarat, development work is moving in the right direction. I want balanced growth, which means 30 per cent growth for all sectors: industrial, agricultural as well as service. The logic is, if there is famine, the other two sectors can contribute. During recession, the agricultural and service sectors can shore up the economy.

Somewhere you had mentioned that security-related personnel should go through forensic examination to enable the government to know if the candidate has chosen this career to serve the country or not.
I did not say such a thing. I said forensic science labs should do commercial activities. Nowadays, corporate houses study psychological profiles of potential CEOs, because people are constantly switching jobs. So, I suggested that forensic science labs can do this to grow their business.....Continue

Save the last dance

“Since the colonial times, our forefathers have been Kalandars. We too earned a decent living through bear and monkey dance performances. But about three to four years back some private organisations started harassing us. They said that we cannot pursue this work unless we have a license. We went to Lucknow to get ourselves registered and obtain licenses for our work. For some time we could peacefully pursue our work, but soon the same social organisations started taking the bears and their cubs away from us. Close to 2500 bears have been taken away from us and for some, we haven’t even been paid any money. We were also promised alternate sources of income by them, but nothing materialised. They took our bears away and gave us false hopes of a government job and opening shops or buying auto rickshaws. At that time whoever refused this bargain, was beaten up by the cops. Some of our old folks were even beaten to death!

I wouldn’t say that we haven’t got any money at all, but paying the school fees for six or seven months every two years or giving us five thousand rupees for a wedding isn’t sufficient. We haven’t been given any job yet. Around twenty-five men in our family are unemployed and I don’t know how many more are there in the entire Mathura zone. We really don’t know what to do... We sometimes set up small shops (pheri) or take the monkeys around for dance shows but this doesn’t fetch us enough money to run the house. It is not even close to what we can earn from the bears. We kept our bears like family members. Some of our bears survived for as long as twenty years. The animal was feeding our family and we never kept it unhappy. Whenever they had infections or fell ill, we gave them herbal treatment and even took professional medical help. In fact, I want to know about the 2500 bears they took from us. The two centers of this organisation don’t have as many bears. So where are they? People say that they trade their parts to international markets for good money.....Continue

Ehud's Error

Gaza offensive has cost Israel West's unconditional support

If at all one needs to find reason in insanity, then so be it. While the world expresses anger and frustration over Israel’s invasion of Gaza strip; by doing so, one man is happy that he redeemed his pride: Ehud Olmert.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s political career finished, for all practical purposes, several months before his Gaza adventure. However, his tenure will be recalled for most of his misadventures – chain of discomforting corruption accusations and the messed up 2006 campaign against Hezbollah. Clearly, through Gaza he wants to show the Israelis that he is as much capable of finishing wars as starting them, and thus reinstating Israel’s military deterrence. But watch closely and you’ll understand that he has messed it up again. By attacking Gaza and inflicting civilian causalities, Israel wanted to isolate Hamas among Palestinians by proving that it is Hamas that has brought doom on them. However, by doing so, Olmert also proved his total lack of understanding as to how Arabs think. His adventure has made Hamas hero and martyr and Palestinians are huddling around it more than ever. Moderate secular voices such as Fatah and PLO will find it impossible now to win public’s approval to strike a peace deal with Israelis.

“It is counter-productive. You cannot have peace with Fatah and Palestinian Authority alone. This is collateral damage,” said Robert Malley, head of the International Crisis Group's Middle East programme, while talking to TSI from Brussels. So, in fact, Olmert has once again sucked Israel into unrealistic expectations and a conflict it cannot win. Also, some of its acts in this strife have heavily dented Israel’s otherwise unconditional support in the west. Its attack on UN school – although it had coordinates – and use of artillery shells, with the incendiary agent white phosphorus, on civilian population has led to protests all over the world, including in countries like Norway, Denmark and, yes, Germany.

As the conflict entered its third week, the death toll has touched close to 900, most of them civilians. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, have been killedin retaliatory attacks. And while Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, claims to be running “day and night” to bring in an armistice, it is pretty apparent that the Bush administration has provided Israel broad latitude to crush Hamas on the cost of civilian lives....Continue

Gag Disorder!

Who said comedies need a script and great punches? If you ask Rohit Shetty, the director of Golmaal Returns, he would tell you to just spoof some already unfunny movies, go to the internet and pick up some age-old one-liners and if it is a sequel, then pay a tribute to the original, and the movie is ready! It seems as if No Entry, Golmaal, Hungama and Welcome amalgamated to produce the disaster called Golmaal Returns.

The story is of K-serial obsessed Kareena Kapoor who suspects her husband when he spends one whole night on a yacht and cooks up a story to save his skin. Add to that a murder mystery, some villains and a dollop of confusion and you have the hotchpotch of a plot ready.

Even if you overlook some technical errors like the dead guy visibly blinking and the hideous and done-to-death scenes, you cannot discount great actors like Arshad Warsi (he laughs even before delivering the dialogues) and Ajay Devgan (he just looks bored) goofing up. Kareena Kapoor is back to her Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai days and overacts to the hilt. Shreyas Talpade does a decent job but one tends to miss the presence of Sharman Joshi who was brilliant the first time around. But the man who steals the show is Tusshar Kapoor in what is probably the role of a lifetime for him where he has been amazingly consistent in both movies.

The movie has nothing original, lacks wit, chemistry and innovative gags. Even if you left your brains at home, you might have a lopsided smile but nothing more than that. And to think that they are coming up with a third sequel… Aarghhh!!!.....Continue

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“Be aware!”

“Be aware!”, echoed both masters. Here, it would be pertinent to note that both have been responsible for giving extensive close quarter combat (CQC) training to various law enforcement agencies, the military and some of its elite units. It seemed a generic directive, but as the South Africans proved, it was the one trait – being aware of one’s environment (moving away from glass areas, fire, checking for exits, and finding resources for barricading an area) that saved more than a 100 lives.

“Secondly, you should always stay low – you might escape both bullets and heavy smoke”, urged Vicky Kapoor. “Krav Maga (used by the Israeli Defence units) was designed to counter hostage situations”, he elaborated, as he showed us how he would’ve handled armed hostage takers even if handcuffed “and while most Israelis would’ve made difficult hostages because they’ve served in the army and trained in CQC, most of us Indians are neither trained nor aware. Even if you can’t get army training, every school, RWA and organisation should run programmes that run basic first aid. Doctors trapped in one of the hotels saved the lives of a wounded few with basic first aid techniques. Perhaps many others could’ve been saved. Teach people what to do incase of a fire or an earth quake. Offices have fire extinguishers but who knows how to use them? In case of a fire or explosion, more might die in a stampede. Simple evacuation drills could save lives. Martial skills could be infinitely useful, but the rest is basic and should be mandatory training for each and every Indian. Wake up, and take charge of your lives. No one else would do it for you”, he concluded. Incidentally, Vicky Kapoor has been training security teams in some prominent hotel chains in the aftermath of 26/11. Kanishka echoed the same thoughts. “We’re usually too busy walking like zombies to notice our surroundings. Why is that man so nervous? Whose bag is that? Where are the exits? Which is the closest hospital? I’m not saying you should be in a state of paranoia 24/7, but be aware of your surroundings. And be careful before you start a self defense course to prepare yourself for hostage situations. They work…” he said as he demonstrated how even an unarmed hostage could, at the right moment, “with the right training”, disarm an armed assailant and get out alive “… but you must understand that combat martial styles, like Kali (a martial art used by the Filipino Marines) begin where most martial sports (Tae kwon do and sport Karate are sports which’ve banned lethal techniques, focusing instead on scoring points) end. Their aim is to train to finish the opponent (even if armed), not score points and this distinction is very important when you choose a martial art for self defense. Presence of mind, common sense and even the ability to engage hostage takers in a conversation, a negotiation, could save your life. If that fails, train the mind and the body with self defense skills and you might still come out alive.”

I know what you’re thinking? What good are martial skills in the face of a bullet. Well, if someone wants to shoot you, he will and there’s nothing you can do about it. But in a hostage situation, escape if you can. And if you can’t, wait. There might be a moment when the terrorist comes close enough for you to act. I hope such a day never comes, but if it does, you might as well be prepared… See you in the dojo then… PS Mr CEO(s), do remember to organize fire safety, first aid and evacuation drills in the office. It might save more than just one life…....Continue

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Star Cruise !

The routes of these ships keep on changing and there are a lot of cruises one can choose from, like Blues Cruise, Star Cruises, Royal Caribbean etc and the cruise packages also vary. The one I journeyed on, stopped at the Langkawi Islands and Phuket Islands for half a day each and I got down at Phuket Islands, the best and the cheapest place to shop. The beaches at Phuket were beautiful and I couldn’t resist trying out para-sailing, where I was perhaps the only one who was made to brush through the sea water for at least half a minute – perhaps the best moment of my life! I also tried driving a motorboat and later, after a Thai massage, I made my way back to the cruise.

Evenings can occupy one with a variety of activities. The ‘games room’ hosts talk shows, game shows and dance classes. A staircase from there leads to the Captain’s Bridge Viewing Gallery where passengers can watch the Captain toil over the complicated consoles. Then there is a ‘picture house’ that screens movies. The cruise liner also has a discotheque and an Africa-themed karaoke bar. So not only did my days pass by in a jiffy, but my nights were just as much fun. However, as they say, there are no free lunches in the world; most of the activities came with a price tag!

The last night was really special as the Captain and the crew joined the party with the passengers. There was music, dance and dinner... It could not have ended on a better note, leaving me with a lot of memories to be cherished... until I set sail, yet again.....Continue

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SECURITY DISASTER

A Defence Ministry report of March 2007 stated that there is real danger from sea. Quoting from the report, Defence minister, A.K.Anthony, informed the Lok Sabha that ``there are reports about terrorists of various tanzeems being imparted training and likelihood of their infiltration through sea routes..." When further queried by a MP whether "maritime terrorism, gun-running, drug-trafficking and piracy are major threats that India is facing from the sea borders of the country?", Anthony’s reply was a categorical `Yes, sir.’

At the Fourth Regional Security Summit in December, 2007, at Manama, National Security Adviser, M.K. Narayanan – now in the eye of the storm – told those assembled that "there are now certain new schools that are being established on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which specialise in the training of an international brigade of terrorists to fight in many climes...According to our information, recruits from 14 to 15 countries have been identified as trainees there... —``.

This is no ordinary threat either. The Ministry maintained that ``studies had been conducted about important targets, with regard to vulnerability, accessibility, poor security, absence of proper counter-terrorism measures, etc. The sea route, in particular, is becoming the chosen route for carrying out many attacks, even on land. ''

Despite overwhelming evidence and warnings, no lessons have been learnt. In 2000, in the aftermath of the Kargil war, four task forces were set up. Of them, one was dedicated to border management. Defence doyen K.Subramaniam, who authored that report warned that "the long coastline with its inadequate policing makes it easy to land arms and explosives at isolated spots on the coast." He recalled that this was the route taken to smuggle explosives into Maharashtra in 1993 before the Mumbai blasts. "The situation, if anything, has worsened over the years with activities of the ISI becoming more widespread along the coast…Such coastal areas must be particularly kept under surveillance." That, sadly, is the last thing that the security establishment did. ....Continue

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Oh, brother!

For a limited cast of only five characters, “Sorry Bhai” is a markedly refreshing departure from standard Bollywood fare. The movie plays around with a simple theme of sibling equations as influenced by the catalyst called the elder sibling’s fiancée. The script is a typical take on the ‘dysfunctional-family-comes-together-for-a-cause’ mould. Harsh (Sanjay Suri) has been away (in Mauritius of all places!) from his family, while his younger brother Sid (Sharman Joshi) tries for a research grant for his latest hypothesis (a cranky idea involving a wooden dog!). When Harsh decides to get married to Aaliyah (Chitrangada Singh), he pleads his younger brother to get his parents, especially his mom for the wedding. The fun in dysfunctional is put in by the antics of the parents, played with superb chemistry by Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi.

Sharman Joshi does a pretty good job keeping up his boyish yet mature image while Chitrangada Singh essays a role that perhaps doesn’t present her as much of a challenge as her debut one did. For an actress of her potential, this is just about par for the course and she is underutilised. On the brighter side, the scenes shared by her and Shabana Azmi deserve special mention. Sanjay Suri exudes quiet confidence as usual and it fits his big brother persona perfectly. The slow narrative (you sort of expect that with a limited cast of characters) is a dampener though the locales of Mauritius do provide a picturesque background for the well shot scenes.

“Sorry Bhai” deserves a watch, at least for being far better off than the apology of a movie that other comedies have become.....Continue

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