Aditya’s Blog

I am Thinking...

Dead end for the first ever Indian dream

I love cars! I love them beyond everything. It does not really matter whether they are Ferraris or Mahindras. I just love the idea of a car. It is so much more than a ton of steel, plastic and glass over 4 wheels! It is just a romantic experience for a car lover to own any car.

Indians got the first taste of this experience in a big way in 1983 when the Maruti-800 was launched.


Picture Outlookindia

The one pictured above was the first model of the legendary car. It was small, good looking, utilitarian and did the job. Most of the other cars were the bulky Ambassadors by Hindustan Motors. The 800 was the perfect Indian car. 

Then came the upgrade in design. 


Picture Car Picutres World

My family had this one. The thing about 800s is, that it was the most common first car. It was the cheapest, most practical, most economical to run and not really ugly; basically a proper value for money buy. Which is the most important quality that any Indian looks for, in anything, in everything. 

Then came another major upgrade in design for this workhorse.


Picture via Indiacar

This was to keep up with all the major launches from the likes of Hyundai and Tata. 

Somewhere around this time Maruti also launched the Alto. This was basically to hedge against the people who were growing out of their first cars (which more often than not were 800s) and moving on to other manufacturers.


Picture Rushlane

This was not only more contemporary in terms of design, it was also more powerful, better equipped and a little more car for the little more money you paid. Once this was launched, rumour mills started working that this was the replacement to the over worked 800.

The 800 was never just a car, except maybe now. It was a dream. It was an aspiration for the Indian middle class. Let us not getting into an economics lesson and analyse why it did well for so long, others will do that. This car is a part of our culture and history now as Suzuki plans to phase it out in India. One of the major reason for doing this of course is that the dream of the Indian has evolved now. 

At the same time it is also time for those who could not even dream of an 800 to start dreaming. 


Picture SpeakIndia

But this is not the space to talk about it. Today I reserve a permanent parking space for the first Indian dream. 

I love this car! The original design the most. It was epic!

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Filed under  //   Cars   India   Me  
Posted February 13, 2010
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Are you making a difference?

So?

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Filed under  //   Me   Pictures   Random  
Posted February 13, 2010
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My first blog post

This is basically the first piece of writing that I had ever put down (quite literally on paper actually), titled 'The Facial', back in November 2006. Well, obviously it does have its errors and what not. Here it is, unedited :)

A time comes in every man’s life when he is forced to do things that he would rather not do; he is pushed to foray into the territories where he would rather not go to. This force, as found out by a very popular survey conducted, 99% of the times happen to be a woman. Yes, the other kind, the type of human being with TWO X-chromosomes to be more precise.

Well to come back to the applicable topic, I was recently influenced by such force, to be more exact – my mom (love you mom), to get a…well…a facial done, the reason being a wedding in the family. Having agreed to her, I embarked upon this quest of getting my face cleaned up by someone else. Throughout my journey upto the saloon, which is a very long and exhausting 2 minutes, my mind was still contemplating this decision. When I finally reached there, I decided to get a haircut to start with, which would give me enough time to think it over. This as it turned out was not a very good idea. People generally talk about this little voice they have inside them, the voice that tells them what is right and what is wrong. Well, I did find that little voice, and millions of others that live with it. If I deduce, that one little voice belongs to a little person, then I am pretty sure that I have a whole country of these little people inside me. They also surely will give India a run for its money to become the largest democracy; and boy do they practice their democracy. They made sure that each and every one of them was heard and for the first time I didn’t hear the snip of the scissor going through my hair. They debated right from the facial being expensive to the risk of one of my friends walking in on me. But the majority thought that I should go through it, and hence by way of voting, I decided to do it.

Then it started, my man, the barber, started off by first applying something on my face and thoroughly rubbing it in, making sure that every inch of my skin was covered with it. For some reason, he had taken a liking to my nose and preferred giving it the maximum attention and rubbing it like it was no one’s business. He kept doing it as if he was extracting some heavenly pleasure out of it. He then left me for a few minutes and came back with something new and slapped it onto my face and the rubbing resumed, there goes my nose again. Though by this time I had got used to the cold in the air conditioned place, he kept applying things that were getting colder and more difficult to bear, sending my skin into shock every time.

Then I guess it was time to bring out the big guns, and out came some thing that actually looked like a gun. I for a second thought I had mistaken a dentist for a barber and was ready to bail out. He plugged it in and thrusted it onto my face. Again maximum attention was given to the nose, which was sure to be the shiniest part of my face at the end of this ordeal. After this gun got done with, out came a machine which was breathing out steam from it. And boy was it hot. Fifteen minutes of steaming later, I was wondering if I had been mislead by my country of little people, when suddenly on my face came a towel which was wet and so cold, it felt like it was on fire. One thing for sure, if my skin can withstand such drastic variations in temperature, it can go through anything. Off came the towel and a minute later, when I thought it was finally over, the man comes in with a brush and starts painting my face with something as I later found out is called a mask. After this I was left by myself to literally dry out and mull over life’s irony. How can we trust a stranger with our hair and our face….HOW? Talking of ironies, while I was left to dry, my man switched on the TV, and was watching a movie with our old friend Jackie Shroff in it. And the irony here, if you are wondering was, Mr. Shroff was trying to get a plastic surgery for himself in the movie. Though I certainly was not getting a surgery done, I surely was expecting a result which was comparable to the same. After drying me, and my skin feeling as if it was being pulled from different directions by the same little people, the man comes in and starts spraying water onto my face, which sent a sizeable amount of jolt through my skin. Then I suddenly heard the sound of ice being taken from an ice tray, and to my worst fears, the man comes in with an ice cube and rubs it onto my face. This sealed the argument, making me want to bomb the country of little people inside me.

Finally, to finish it off, as per trend, the man goes ahead and applies something that burns the tissue out of my skin, making sure that I am not doing this again and making me want to bomb the country again. The question that you would now be asking is, was all this punishment worth it. Am I more pleasing to the eyes of the onlooker? Well I guess the only way to find out is by risking using your own eyes. Till then CYA and take care.

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Filed under  //   blogging   humour   Me  
Posted February 7, 2010
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Blog with me.

Dear Friends,

It delights me to know that quite a few of my friends read my blog. So, it means one of my friends is reading it right now. So, I will make this post in second person (you being the second person). 

The thing is, I like writing. I think it is one of the easiest things one can do and get appreciation for just being true and simple. I have encouraged quite a few people to blog and a few of them actually started. Most of them then stopped after their first post. To all of them, I request you to please begin again. Just write; then post.

I want to go a step further and tell all of those who have never blogged, to start. I know you are apprehensive about doing it. But start.

I have been quite inspired by the3six5. It is a blog which is attempting to give 365 different point of views in the year 2010. It invites bloggers from across the globe to submit a post about a day in their life. 365 days, 365 points of view. I really like this idea. And I want to attempt something using this idea.

I invite all of my readers - each and everyone of you - to write a post, for my blog. You can write about anything you want to and mail it across to me. I will post it on my blog, anonymous and unedited, regardless of the topic. Once posted, I would want all the other readers to comment with their honest views on the post (this will encourage the author). The name of the author need not be revealed till the author wants to. This is primarily to encourage those who are apprehensive about what or how they have written. 

A second reason for doing this is: I have a lot of friends who are fellow bloggers. I like the way they write and each one of them has their own way of writing. I would absolutely love it if they could write a post for my blog. It would be kind of an honour for me. 

I do not know if this is going to work. I do not know if you will take this seriously and actually submit a post. I would be delighted if each and every person who reads this post mails me something. Even a paragraph would be just awesome. 

With Love,

Aditya Kandala.

P.S. Mail me: mail(at the rate)adityakandala(dot)com. (Please do, I doubt I have ever wanted anything else to work as much as this before :))

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Filed under  //   Blog With Me   blogging   Me  
Posted February 4, 2010
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Therefore I am

via reflectionof.me

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Filed under  //   Me   Pictures  
Posted January 24, 2010
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I Ran

I ran in the dark.

I ran in Bandra.
I ran on The Linker.
I ran with the rising sun.
I ran in Worli.
I ran along Worli Sea Face.
I ran looking at Ducatis, Rolls Royces, Land Rovers and Jaguars.
I ran alongside Mahalaxmi Race Course.
I ran near Haji Ali.
I ran on Peddar Road.
I ran on Marine Drive.
I ran in Churchgate.
I ran in CST.

It was an experience that everyone should go through. Running on the streets of Bombay. Will not happen otherwise. Saw Bombay like I have never seen it before.

The best sight for me however was watching the African contingent running in sync with each other at sprint pace while we were jogging along. It was like watching horses galloping down the road, all in matching yellow shoes. Absolutely beautiful!

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Filed under  //   Marathon   Me   Mumbai  
Posted January 17, 2010
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Run Mumbai Run!

I finally got my running number (14330) bib from WTC today. Yes, I am still running the half marathon. Although I did not write anything in terms of updates on my preparation for race day after the first post, I have somewhat done some training in the past week and more (ya, I know it is not enough). Anyway, the bib collection counter was at WTC (Cuffe Parade) at the Get Activ Expo. I had no clue what this was going to be. 

I went there half expecting to see just a few counters handing out the bib and my goodie bag :). However, it was a whole marketing machine at work there. The Expo was an entire hall at the WTC and all the sponsors had their own stall. The bib collection stall was at the absolute corner to make sure you pass each and every stall on your way to collect your bib. The bib collection itself took a couple of minutes and then later I was directed to get my time chip verified and collect my goodie bag. I did not stop at any of the stalls as all of them were a bit crowded. There were quite a few deals on running equipment by Nike, Reebok and the event sponsor Basic.

Coming to the goodie bag. Every year SCMM gives away goodie bags to all the participants when they collect their bibs. This goodie bag contains all sorts of stuff that a health conscious or a self conscious person would require for their daily needs. This year, the goodie bag is bigger than ever with goodies worth Rs. 450! So, effectively, you can pay Rs. 300 as entry fee for the Dream Run and get goodies worth 450! I however have paid Rs. 500 for my half marathon.

This is a very nice way of giving away free samples. You as a marketer are assured that the person getting your sample is someone who can spend a minimum of Rs. 300 on what is basically a pleasure activity. In a country like India, I doubt there is a better way of distributing free samples. Also, you are assured that a minimum of at least 75% of the participants are those who care about their health. The target is acquired. Apparently, Marico and HUL have spent around Rs. 14 and Rs. 27 lakh each with Piramal Healthcare spending a massive Rs. 50 lakhs on free samples. Only time will tell if it is really worth the money spent for the brands. My money spent however is totally worth it :)

The following are the items that I found in my goodie bag:

1 Packet of Aliva Crackers (Classic Salted) worth Rs. 12
1 Water Bottle sponsored by Kingfisher
1 Trial-pack of Sugar-Free Gold
1 30 gm trial-pack of Quaker Oats (Strawberry)
1 20 gm pack of Kuber namkeen worth Rs. 5
2 Nasal strips from Breathe Right
1 15 gm pack of Hippo chips (thai chilli) worth Rs. 5
1 20 gm pack of Bingo Mad Angles (Achaari Masti) worth Rs. 5
2 Sample sachets of Volini Gel
1 100 ml bottle of Clear Anti-dandruff shampoo worth Rs. 69
1 400 ml bottle of Minute Maid worth Rs. 20 (with a free Kitkat worth Rs. 5)
5 Mint-o Gol Mint Chew worth Rs. 2.50
1 Sunfeast Marielite worth Rs. 5
1 bar of Nature Valley's Cruncy Granola (Oats and Honey) worth Rs. 15
1 RitBite nutrition bar (Merry Berry) worth Rs. 15
1 Parachute Advansed aftershower gel worth Rs. 35
1 Lacto Calamine Classic worth Rs. 11
1 Lacto Calamine Aloe Moisturiser worth Rs. 32
1 Sample sachet of Nivea for Men Moisturiser
1 Dabur Gulabari gulab jal worth Rs. 12
1 Pack (8 capsules) of Supractive Complete energy supplements from Piramal Healthcare
1 Fridge magnet from Standard Chartered telling me to get my eyes checked
4 Information leaflets. One each from Quaker Oats, Lacto Calamine, RiteBite and Nature Valley

So, on to tomorrow when I attempt to complete my 21 KMs. Yes, that is all that I am trying to do, complete it.

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Filed under  //   Brands   Marathon   Marketing Gyan   Me   Mumbai  
Posted January 16, 2010
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Where was I at NYE?

                 
Click here to download:
Where_was_I_at_NYE.zip (12711 KB)

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Filed under  //   Me   Pictures  
Posted January 2, 2010
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A New Year - A New Beginning?

Only people who know how my life has taken shape in the last decade, will understand fully what I am going to say in the next few lines; rest will just understand.

This decade has been the defining period of my life; and it coincided with me turning 18 at the beginning of this decade. Right from choosing a career path and then changing the path midway and finally settling down, 'assuming' that I now know what I want to do the rest of my life. This decision, turned out to be one that has not only shaped my career, but also me.

I wish I could compare the kind of person I was in 2000 and the man I am in 2009 as we would compare my pictures from then and now. And both comparisons would never cease to surprise me. I am sure this is the case with most people, but I am not really concerned with most people. For me, this past decade has given me experiences that have left its marks forever, friends that will stay forever and memories that will make me smile forever.

Every person is shaped by the experiences that he/she goes through. With that in perspective, I have been shaped quite a lot and I am more than happy with the result of this sculpting. But I am not yet satisfied. No one can be. No one should be. 

This past year has left its indelible mark on history. This new year is a new beginning for a lot of people, a lot of organisations and a lot of countries. For me however, it is a part of the old beginning.

As I read this post, I realise that even though I am really connected to this topic, it is not the best written; it does not even have a proper flow. It only has a proper beginning, but I really can't find the middle and the end. Well, I am surely in no hurry to find them. I am loving the beginning. 

I have only just begun! :)

Happy New Year!

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Filed under  //   Me  
Posted January 1, 2010
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Lost in transactions

It is that time of the year, when all the conversations are about slots, packages, profiles and locations. You keep hearing terms like PPT, JD, CTC, LPA etc. This is the time that students across the country go to B-schools for. All their effort, right from the time they started preparing for their battery of entrance exams till they gave the last of their submissions in college, boils down to this. Or so they believe.

Yes, the first job out of a B-school is extremely important. This is the first step of your new and hopefully successful management career and you do not want to get it wrong. But, what is right? I understand that this is a totally subjective question and cannot and will not be the same for everyone. But you can generalise at some point, can't you? Generally, people worry about package quite a bit; quite a bit more than they are supposed to. This is usually the priority for a lot of people, and I don't agree with that.

I have always believed, that if you do what you want to do, do what you would love doing and do what you see yourself doing forever, money will never be lacking. I might sound philosophical, but I do believe that you loving what you do is important. The logic is, if you love whatever you are doing, you will be best at doing that, and no one can not pay the best. This logic is believe has been lost in the cacophony of transactions.

I know I could have done a better job at writing this down. But maybe I am not really loving it that much at present.

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Filed under  //   Me   Random  
Posted December 30, 2009
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