Evolution of shopping in India and the Future!

               

India has traditionally been the country of weekly haats and melas. Our forefathers have known them to be the shopping malls and for large part of history that is where India shopped. The British before India’s independence set up some modern cities – Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Madras – Each of these cities had their own large modern market areas – Hogg’s markets [Kolkata], Connaught Place [Delhi], Fort and Colaba [Mumbai], Broadway [Chennai] and so on.

Then post independence these markets kept thriving and smaller markets started growing. Still largely out of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities Modern Retailing was taking shape in its un-organised and humble beginning.

In fact sometime between the 1990s the One Roof Shopping Arcades with multiple outlets and had become the preferred destinations and the stand alone/ old format stores slowly died out. These Malls or shopping centers as they were often called were changing the dynamics quickly.

The came the decade of Modern Trade Large Format Retail – The Shoppers Stops, Lifestyles, Pantaloon Retail, Reliance Trends, Max in Clothes, Reliance Fresh, Spencers, Big Bazaar,  ABG More, Nilgiris – more small city wise outlets came up as well. There was a stamp of modern retail in almost everything we bought including mobile phones [The Mobile Store], Medicine [Apollo, Frank Ross], Sports Goods [Decathalon]. The mantra for Malls was to empower the customer with choice and provide a shopping experience which was unparalleled and spectacularly different.

Along the way there were hiccups – Expensive Store Rentals, Shortage of Qualified Staff, Inventory cost eventually started taking its toll on the businesses – A few smaller players like Vishal Retail, Subhiksha etc were casualties. Slowly Internet started spreading in India – from desktops to laptops and eventually into everyone’s palms as a smartphone – As more people started getting online they started to buy online – The trends was started by the not so successful Deals Websites in India. This was followed by a plethora of online retailers that spruced up across the country.

The Big Obstacle that came up was that most Indians were without Credit Cards, Online Banking was still taking shape, most people had never done or heard of electronic money transfer. To combat this challenge Indian Online Retailers came up with COD [Cash on Delivery]. COD helped not just in getting the transaction done but also in the winning the trust of the customer.

Online Retailer had cracked the code. Unlimited options for customers, Low Cost, No Rentals, Lower Prices, Offers and Discounts and lots more. The flipkarts, infibeams, snapdeals etc started up. Slowly but surely almost any business worth noticing has online presence. Fashion/ Clothes was supposed to be difficult to sell online – people liked to try and buy – but myntra.com, jabong.com, yebhi.com and many more seem to have cracked the code on this one too. The only real things they needed to invest in were 1. Tie Ups and 2. Strong logistics – In effect online Companies are brick and mortar companies with warehouses instead of showrooms but with a logistics at the heart of its business model.

From electronics to books, clothes to shoes, gifts to stationery, Holidays to car rentals, food to eyewear  – everything under the sun could be purchased online. What this meant was that the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and Towns of India went online to get their stuff. The Swanky malls hadn’t reached there yet. The space was growing so quickly that it attracted funding from all kinds of Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors and Private Equity and what not.

Online Shopping today is India’s answer to low cost retailing. The scape is getting cluttered with new ventures every week. The brick and mortar businesses obviously have the advantage of customer connect and experience and are growing stronger through reinvention but online shopping is here to stay, thrive and grow faster than the brick and mortar shops.

What the future hold is a heady mix of customer choices and shopping options – eventually the fittest will survive.

In India times are changing all the time… You need to move with the tide of get left behind…

The Greatest Manchester United Player!

I have been following Manchester United for 15 years. Sir Alex was a great manager – in fact easily the greatest manager in all of England and arguably in all of Britain and perhaps the world at a club level. Over the years Manchester United has produced the best and most gifted players – in fact SAF has over the year created winning team after team with new players and old. When I read about the players who played for United from the time before I started following the club the obvious names that come up are –

Manchester United Greats before I was born:

George Best, Bobby Charlton, Dennis Law, Duncan Edwards,

Since SAF took charge at Old Trafford:

Eric Cantona, Bryan Robson, Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce, Denis Irvin, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince, Jaap Stam

Since I started Watching:

The Good Players: Edwin van der Sar, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, van Persie

The Best Players: Ruud van Nistenrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Peter Schmeichel

All time Greatest

To my mind the all time greatest for United has to be Ryan Giggs – forget for a moment that that he is the most decorated player in the history of the English game – He has given more than 20 years to the club and till date whenever he comes on to the pitch he puts in the paces like he did in his debut season. The only other players that I can compare Ryan Giggs to are some other one club greats greats like Paulo Maldini and Francesco Totti.

The Team [Manutd’s best team [according to me] – Since I started watching!]

Peter Schmeichel

                  

Gary Neville         Jaap Stam         Nemanja Vidic    Patrice Evra

    Roy Keane

                                                          

C Ronaldo                                                                 Ryan Giggs

Paul Scholes

                   

Wayne Rooney                        Ruud van Nistelrooy

Bench – Edwin van der Sar, David Beckham. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Andy Cole, Rio Ferdinand

Looks like Inside United also thinks Ryan Giggs is the all time greatest – My only regret is that I never watched King Eric in action – Truely the person who played a critical role in changing the mindset and fortunes of Manchester United!

Glory Glory Man United! As the reds go marching on on on!

The Indian Entrepreneur – of Salaried Jobs, Marriage and Buying a Flat!

 

India is the hub of humanity. The world’s 2nd largest population in a vast and geographically diverse country  . India has the world’s larget population below the age of 18 in the world – ahead of China. After about 67 years from independence India has been at the threshold of becoming a Global Super Power for quite some time. With the young population hungry to do make a statement in the world and with increased confidence India would be expected to deliver a large number of successful entrepreneurs who would be hogging the limelight globally.

India has a large number of entrepreneurs. However the entrepreneurial ability of most Indians is confined to traditional businesses or family business or in the most common form – being traders. In a country which has seen an exposition of engineering talent in the last 30 years. More and more talented people are coming of of the schooling system in India but they get into Jobs instead of Entrepreneurship. I am also an engineer – while i still want to be an entrepreneur – crack a big idea – create a start up – get venture capital funding etc has just remained a dream.

I was thinking the reason for the same? It struck me that though Indians are probably talented enough to start up and become entrepreneurs we are mostly 1st, 2nd generation into this kind of life. While we are successful we are also defensive and are mostly consumed by the thought of ‘earning more than i spend’. We are not brought up as risk embracing individuals.

First you have to complete the customary college degrees [Steve Jobs / Mark Zuckerberg would get get enough respect in Indian Society if they were to say they are college drop outs!]. In India you need to finish school – write exams – complete with millions of people – to get into elite colleges – get a education that only few in India and dream about. once you are out of college Indian Culture’s 1st Truth of Life – Find a Job and work there and earn money. In case you do get into a PSU [Public Sector Undertaking] or any other respectable organisation that your parents and uncle/ aunts are familiar with then you are expected to do that job for life. Too bad you wanted to become an entrepreneur – In India a secure job is more important – Why? – The reason to this are many fold including the 2nd truth of life in India which I’ll come to in a bit. In summary once you finish studying you are expected to take up a job. Earn money. Repay the loans if any. Contribute to the family etc etc.

By the time you feel you are settled and can probably look to get into something you really want to do – like starting up – the Indian family/ culture hits you with the 2nd Truth of Life – marriage. Since you are educated, doing a decent job, get salary every month hence its time to marry of the boy/ girl. There is nothing wrong with the concept of marriage except for the fact that it is a overtly done affair after which you are expected to shoulder more responsibilities – become serious in life – basically come out of the cavalier lifestyle that you otherwise would have liked to pursue. With the added responsibility early on in life the distractions get eliminated and again the average Indian is in the race of daily life – only this time with a wife in tow and soon some kids – forever jeopardising his/ her desiring to take a risk and starting up.

As you fight with your desires and your responsibilities – life gives you another opportunity a little after you are married – the last opportunity for you to actually go out there and chase your dreams. With the money you have saved you can try and start up. Instead the 3rd Truth of Life in India is about to hit you – Buying a House. Every Indian married man or woman is expected to have a house – mostly a flat these days – where they pour their life’s savings and take up expensive loans from willing banks and sit on EMIs for the rest of their lives. The savings that go into the house take with them your dreams of doing something of your own and the EMI of the banks doesn’t allow you to think down that road again.

I still want to start up one day – Don’t know how I will beat the system and the Truths of life – Till such time … Dream On!

Mars Missions – Malgalyaan [MOM] and MAVEN

Space Missions have been the flavour of the last 1 month – 2 Mars Missions – The Indian Mars Orbital Mission [MOM] – Malgalyaan, The American MAVEN [Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution] Mission and on the heals of it the Chang-e 3 Mission from China to the Moon. While the MAVEN Mission was launched on 18th November its already in its inter planetary journey while the Indian MOM is still orbiting the Earth and is scheduled to start its inter planetary journey only in the wee hours of 1st December despite having being launched about 2 weeks before MAVEN on the 5th of November.

Why did MOM [Mangalyaan] follow a different path than the MAVEN. The answer to this is in the type of launch vehicle used, the amount of fuel used and lift off capability [Launch Mass]. While the MAVEN uses the much larger Atlas V rocket. The blast off launch weight of the Mangalyaan [MOM] is only 1360 kgs and the projectile is powered by the 4 stage PSLV rocket which had been previously used for the Chandrayaan I mission to the Moon in 2008. However the difference come after this stage.

The MAVEN [2500 kgs] is powered by a High Powered Centaur Upper stage engine. Once the MAVEN was fired by the Atlas V rocket it was placed into a low altitude earth orbit by the Centaur. After about 27 mins it fired the engine again and at the periapsis to inject the MAVEN into a interplanetary trajectory towards Mars. NASA effectively used larger rockets and the High Powered Centaur to reduce the complexity of attaining the escape velocity to effectively break out of Earth’s gravity.

ISRO [Indian Space Research Organisation] on the other hand depended upon its proven PSLV technology. The MOM is carrying a much smaller engine than the Centaur on the MAVEN. So what ISRO does is to fire the engine again and again at the periapsis [Nearest point from the Earth]. The ISRO will follow the technique of repeated burns of small duration in what will result in creating higher speeds for the MOM and at the same time lift the apoapsis [farthest point from Earth during the orbit raising procedures] of the MOM.

Why is the orbiter given the thrusts from the engines at the periapsis? The answer is simple. The orbiter is at its highest speeds at the periapsis and any injection of energy will result in a higher velocity which will help the orbiter gather more momentum to eventually break Earth’s Gravity.

Once the Magalyaan leaves the Earth on 1st [as estimated] the craft will follow a similar trajectory to the planet Mars – like a free fall in inter planetary space – often firing the thrusters to ensure course corrections at regular intervals.

Both the missions follow the Hohmann Least Propellant Transfer mechanism. Which means that they will get precisely one opportunity to enter the Gravitational Field of Mars and the lower their orbits in a series of orbit reduction mechanisms  to eventually getting captured by the Mars’ Gravity.The Hohmann’s Transfer for a Mars’ Mission comes up every 26 months. Once the MOM reaches Mars on 24th September 2014 it will weight about 1100 kgs since it would have used up some fuel in the process of leaving Earth. The MAVEN will weigh nearly equal to its blast off weight of 2500 kgs and will reach on 22nd September 2014.

ISRO’s $69 million Mission to Mars is based on a shoestring budget compared to the ~$700 million.NASA mission is a great story in itself.

Wish both ISRO and the NASA all the best in their respective Missions!

“Keep Calm and Go to Mars”

Welcome to Manchester David Moyes!

When David Moyes took over from Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of last season everyone knew it was never going to be easy. David Moyes stepped in backed by the man himself and with the firm commitment of the Glazers [6 year contract]. He got a thunderous ovation at his unveiling at Old Trafford. Since then a lot of water has passed under the bridge and life at Manutd for David Moyes has been anything but easy. David Gill leaving united at almost the same time did not make his life any easier with the transfer window already open and a change in the management made things tricky.

Early on in the transfer window there was talk of getting Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Fabregas, Thiago Alcantra was supposedly a done deal. When none of this was working it was Baines and Fellaini… At some stage it looked like Manutd were only going to get Osman!

The entire backroom staff was changed. Experienced coaches was removed from their positions. In came the Moyes team from Everton. Criticism started coming in thick and fast. Moyes had apparently never won a game at Anfield, Emirates or  Stamford Bridge. Then Manchester United had a torrid start to the season. At some stage united was in the bottom half of the table for successive weeks. Then Moyes got in his former Everton player Fellaini – albeit  after paying over the odds due to signing him after his 23mn buyout clause expired.

Obviously the team was the same… plus the addition of Fellaini… but the results were staggeringly different… The pressure mounted on Moyes… He kept calm… To be fair he inherited a team with a few non performers… his failure being not able to add quality to the team over the summer transfer window… In fact even after 3-4 months of the new season the team looks fairly unsettled… changes every week… players in and out… a lot of shuffling and changing…

Anderson who featured early on is nowhere on the radar now… There was a long leash given to Ashley Young… Cleverly comes in intermittently… Good players like Chicharito, Kagawa, Welbeck barely got chances… Also extended runs to Ryan Giggs… Playing Fellaini as a CDM, Kagawa on the left wing… Moyes has been leaving out Rafael on the Right Back positions… A lot of changes… Nani has had a few look ins… Overall Manchester United is still missing a settled team… Proper Wingers… Our current Winger can’t cross a street forget crossing the football! Soon retaining talented players like Chicharito, Kagawa, Welbeck will be challenging in the coming days!

The few players who have made significant contributions so far are – Rooney has been outstanding – Imagine the fans were ready to let him go… Others like van Persie, De Gea, Evra, Januzaj and a few more have made positive contributions… Way too little from the others… Manchester United needs more and with a massive international fan following the results at this club do matter… As of now Moyes is not yet completely settled… More than 25 matches in the premiership are left… but it Manutd miss out on a Champions League Berth it will be Catastrophe!

I am a massive Manchester United fan and i believe Moyes will eventually prove to be a great manager at United. The early days can always be tough… Sir Alex also went through it… Its just that inheriting a Champion Team from Sir Alex and getting results from day 1 is not the easiest thing. All the Best David Moyes! Hopefully we will strike silverware at the end of the season!

My Manchester United Team [are you listening David Moyes]

De Gea

Rafael – Evans – Vidic – Evra

Carrick – Fellaini

Januzaj                               Welbeck

Rooney – Van Persie

Super Subs: Chicharito, Jones, Cleverly, Smalling, Valencia

Spectacular Rise – Spectacular Fall! – Mikoyan, Sukhoi

   

Post WWII when the USSR and USA plunged into the cold war – head first – air warfare was just developing. Russia had massive disadvantages going into this era. Russia air force was spineless and the fighter jets they produced were not good enough in comparison to the USA and UK. In the background of this Mikoyan Gurevich (MiG) started producing some of the world’s some spectacular fighters – mass produced across the world! Today we discuss the Spectacular Rise and the Spectacular Fall of the 2 Cold War Russian Fighter Jet Manufacturers – Mikoyan Gurevich and Sukhoi both founded in 1939!

The journey started MiG 15 and MiG 17 – Sub Sonic capabilityes, No Radar fighters weak and susceptible in Dog Fights.However this was followed by the world most produced fighter jet the second generation MiG 21 – Supersonic with primitive Radar functionalities and Missile capabilities. These planes were significantly aerodynamic, with a larger engine – More powerful, Higher lift capability and adept as an interceptor and in Dog Fights in the Korean and Vietnam Wars! The MiG 21 was the premier fighter jet in the early days of the Vietnam War with the American Phantoms being heavy and less Manoeuvrable vs the MiG 21s. The MiG 21 was manufactured and sold to 50+ countries across the world – 10000+ MiG 21s were produced making it one of the most successful Fighter Jets in the world!

MiG 21 was followed by MiG 23s the Swept Wing aircraft. Mounted with a improved Radar,  a Massive Cannon this aircraft was the 3rd Generation Fighter Jet and it was ahead of the American Gighters in the same era. The MiG 21bis and MiG 23 MLDevolution put the Americans on the backfoot.

At the same time Sukhoi another aircraft manufacturer from USSR started producing some of the world’s faster Fighter Jets – the interceptors Su 7, Su 11 and then the Su 15 interceptor – In fact the Su 15 was in the Russian Airforce for longer than 30 years. MiG 25 which was a contemporary of the Su 25 completed the USSR interceptor force and were best 3rd generation aircrafts!

Both MiG and Su fighters were at this time being exported to friendly countries and Mass Production was carried out. These Fighters were the pride of USSR during the Cold War,

The American”s Hit back with 2 4th Generation Jets – Truely remarkable fighters – the F/A 15 and the F 16. The age of air superiority was here.The USSR hit back with 2 similar Jets – the Su 27 Flanker and the MiG 29 with Extreme HIgh Speed capabilities, Super Manoeuvrability – These Jets and their many variants continued the dominance of USSR airspace companies through till the 1990s. For the first time the famous Cobra Manoeuvre was executed and these plane with Thrust/ Weight > 1 took USSR to their peak of their airforce capabilities. Russia exported the Su 27 flanker to many countries including India as the Su 30 MKI – The air superiority fighter in India. In fact a look at the Indian Airforce Fighters tells the story of the Huge influence the Russians had starting with the MiG 21, 23, 25, 29 and The Su 30 mki and the Naval version of MiG 29.

This was followed by the Stealth Generation/ 5th Generation Fighters – This is when the  the Cold War got over with the demolition of the Berlin Wall and the erstwhile USSR split up of into Russia and  CIS countries. The patronage to Mikoyan Guervich and Sukhoi came down. The 5th Gen Jet projects MiG 1.44 and the Su 47 Golden Eagle Projects ran into delays and funding crunch leading to both being scrapped eventually.

As of todat Lockheed and Boeing have taken pole position in the Fighter Jet Market. European Jets like the Eurofighter, the Rafale, The Grippen have super ceded the Russian Jets due to lack of fundings and a stalling of development activities.

The next major Developments are the Sukhoi PAK FA  T 50 –  the 5th Gen Fighter Jet and the Mikoyan MiG 35 which is also under development. Also the Russian Government has now formed a Combined airspace company the ‘United Aircraft Corporation’ – where Sukhoi and Mikoyan have been placed under Defence Development.

The 2 companies that ruled the skies in the Cold War era are today shadows of their older selves. There are several major companies that have faced the ignominy of a Spectacular Rise – Spectacular Fall! The Russian Mikoyan and Sukhoi are 2 more in this list. Their decline could be because of external factors but nonetheless today they have both retreated into the twilight.

Why you should vote for AAP in Delhi Elections?

Come December and the dance of democracy begins in Delhi. The elections to the Delhi State Assembly are happening. In the fray are national level biggies 1. Congress 2. BJP and political newbie 3. AAP [Aam Aadmi Party].

Considering opinion polls and the public opinion the AAP is not really a political flyweight in this fairly even triangular contest. With its origins in the IAC [India Against Corruption] Movement and Jan Lokpal Bill Agitations the AAP had strong public support. It was the way for Arvind Kerjiwal to offer a real alternative, a political alternative, to the allegedly corrupt system and their politic masters. How often have we heard that – ‘you need to be a part of the system to change it’! Arvind Kejriwal took the plunge.

Some detractor say Arvind Kejriwal is an opportunist. That he always had political ambitions and used Anna Hazare as a pawn in a larger game plan. Some say the source of funds in his party are dubious. A recent sting operation has accused senior members if AAP of allegedly accepting donations in cash through illegal means for the party. A person also spilled black ink on Arvind Kejriwal during a public address.

All this and also the fact that AAP might eventually cut votes in such a way that it leads to a Hung Assembly is making the News Channels go overdrive. Some people have also been a bit put off by the recent allegations and charges. However I think there is still reason to believe that AAP has its heart in the right place and some of these accusations are either not in the right spirit or are construed by political opponents for electoral advantages.

I am not from Delhi. I don’t have a vote in the upcoming elections. However if I had one I would probably go and vote for AAP. The reasons is simple. We all complaint of corruption, bureaucracy and red tape. In so many years we have never had someone who offered a viable alternative to this malaise. The flip side is that we don’t  we will be discouraging another movement like this and condemn ourselves to cribbing for a few more years.

My only point is if we do not support this party this time it will be years till someone else come about with the same vision and manifest. Every time we pick one of Congress or BJP – and we are not happy with what we get – why not give the alternative a chance. It take a lot of courage to stand up and if we are really fed up of the system its the right time to open up to the AAP. If it pays off we could be at the threshold of something even bigger – a movement across the country!

 ‘Is baar chalaenge Jhaaro’

The End of an Era in Chess!

The game of chess was born in India as Chatrang-  taken by the arabs as Shatranj to Mesopotamia and then it went across the world! The game of 64 checkered boxes and 32 pieces never had a more popular Indian player than Vishwanathan Anand. Vishy as he is more popularly known as is the archetypical champion. The first real chess prodigy from India in the modern era – world champion in a hyper competitive era – he is held in immense esteem. However as we watch him lose the World Championships in Chennai to Magnus Carlsen this year one though comes to mind. Will Indian Chess again go onto the back burner again. Is it the end of an era in Indian Chess- There are no noteworthy chess champions from India apart from Vishy and for some reason Chess did not pick up in India like it did in America after Bobby Fischer rose to World Champion.

If we look back at the greatest names in world chess over a century we find a domination across eras by Russians. Through in the odd exceptions like Bobby Fischer, Jose Capablanca, Laskar Chess in Russia has been driven by supremacy and popularity generated by champions like  Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Botvinnik, Anatoly Karpov , Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Alekhine and others. Its an institution that has been built over a century with strong foundations.

So what went wrong with Chess in India despite Anand’s reign in the upper echelons of World Chess. We as a country are just not focused enough on sports. We love cricket. The geeky boys who are perhaps not cut out for outdoor sports are clued on to academics. The ecosystem did not develop enough to produce another chess mastermind. There are chess clubs in all major cities however the progression of a player is not a clear path. Sponsorships? – Thanks to Anand sponsors have not been a challenge so far for Indian Chess players. However with the second line not being able to replicate the success of Anand the sponsorships for chess might dry up.

To be fair Anand has done his bit. He rekindled a tradition of Chess in India. I remember playing chess as a kid. My idol was Anand. However what we needed was a second champion. Anand has done his bit and now as we stand at the threshold of a new era in world chess someone else needs to pick up the baton in India.

Thank you Vishy. You are the best! 5 time world champion and a true legend of world chess. You have rekindled interest for chess in India which will hopefully produce the next Vishy. Hope you keep going and perhaps reclaim your title again.

Till such time though welcome to the Carlsen Era!