Jet Airways : On Time, Efficient : Customer delight!

Not the first time I travelled with Jet Airways but after this time’s experience I thought of putting it in an article as a positive feedback for the company.

The first and the most important factor when it comes to flight especially when your itenarry is relatively tight and you do not have buffer for any delays is TIME – On Time Arrival/ On Time Departure. I am convinced and trust Jet Airways for On Time arrival. This helps is planning your trip properly and do not put you in an unforeseen circumstance at a remote location. The scheduled flight 9W21 from Singapore to Chennai took off little late due to delay in clearance from local control room. Public Announcements were made in flight to communicate about the delay. Since I was to reach Chennai at around 10:15 PM IST nighttime, I thought I will have a delayed landing but we arrived On Time. Full marks.

Check in and boarding was effortless. 30Kg+30Kg+7Kg+7Kg luggage allowance was enough to make us happy while returning back from Chennai to Singapore.

Stewards and Airhostess were presentable and professional enough to take care of us. Airhostess looked at ease, as they did not have to bother about if they were looking young or old or fat or slim! We were travelling back with infant and the in-house flight service was on its toe when it came to our needs.

Food – We Indians are always on a munching spree whenever we are travelling. Be it with Indian Railways, Buses or flights. We were welcomed with a ‘Chatpata’ munching followed by liquor.  Food was good, served hot, fresh and sufficient. For me the highlight was steel-ware cutlery unlike plastic made. Though it doesn’t make a difference but the former enhances your eating experience when you are travelling. Please continue doing so.

Good food with steel-ware spoon, knife and fork!

Touch screen entertainment – It was loaded with latest Songs, Videos, Movies both Hollywood and Bollywood. Business section of entertainment had videos from CNBC Young Turks. It also stored my favorite comedy entertainment – ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ episode. Overall total enjoyment.

Security announcement via an animated video instead of Air hostess doing the drill.

Security announcement via an animated video instead of Air hostess doing the drill.

Entertainment Juke box was fully loaded with latest songs and movies.

Passenger load – I was really surprised to look at the full house in economy class. I have observed that normally flights fly with a 70%-80% capacity load. Though it was Chennai bound flight and I am told the capacity load is always at a higher end but this was my first experience with almost full load flight.

Improvements - Since there is always a room for improvement, two of the points that I want to highlight which management can take up are: Please add Coca Cola in your offerings of non-alcoholic drinks unless you have a tie-up with Pepsi and forced not to add Coke. Secondly, taste of food was far far better in Chennai-Singapore flight as compared to Singapore-Chennai flight. I know there might be supplier constraints and also you cannot satisfy each and every customer but these are things that I thought would have increased my experience. You can try to match taste of food with what is served on Chennai-Singapore flight.

After this experience I checked Jet Airways stock listed on NSE. Though the aviation industry is in trouble for several years now, still the industry is not closing. Talking about India, I find Jet Airways evenly poised providing full service and connected to international destinations. Company has posted losses last year though it was lesser than the then previous year. With stake sale to Ethiad Airways and leveraging on potential synergies from the combined resources and expertise, I would say a ‘Buy’ considering the fact that it is near its 52-week low.

PS: These are my personal and independent views based on past few experiences with Indian carriers like Jet Airways, Air India, IndiGo, Go Air and Spice Jet travels. It easily matches with the standards of non-Indian International carriers. No offences meant, if any.

When I bought my first iPhone…

 

Phone is single biggest medium to get connected and communicate with anyone across the world. Mobile has made life even simpler with calling/ receiving message on the go. Motorola was the first company to demonstrate handheld device called mobile phone. The device evolved over a period of time and newer and fascinating features got added. Yet, primarily mobile phones remained dorky and were used strictly for communication – voice or text.

In 2007, history-defining event happened and the industry never remained the same. Steve Jobs introduced the first ever iPhone to the world. Having played the launch video over and over again on YouTube, I can tell you the crowd and the world were amazed to see what Steve was presenting on large screen. The immediate question that most of them had, “is that for real? Is this a concept or a reality!” The reasons were obvious because nobody ever thought what a multi touch screen phone without a keypad would look like. No company ever before gave so much importance to the design and customer experience. The streets were cautious over the success and competitors had written off the device at the launch itself.

When Steve Ballmer then CEO of Microsoft, considered as biggest competitor, was asked to give his first reaction on the iPhone after its launch he said:

 "Five hundred dollars fully subsidized with a plan! I said that is the most expensive phone in the world and it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard, which makes it not a very good email machine…”

Clearly companies were not looking at innovation. Most of the companies were in disbelief of the features that iPhone was to offer. They thought it would be very high on battery and may not last long in market.

Over the years, the device has become a style statement. It is a lifestyle product now with owners oozing an edge over others when in public. It has redefined the way people use phones. Be it Apps or messaging, communication has taken a giant leap forward.

Today, at every launch, millions of people wait outside Apple Stores to grab the latest offerings. The device comes for a price (read heavy price) but then you cant put a price on the experience you derive from such high end products.

Even I waited for six years to buy first ever iPhone. The feeling was euphoric. I was on cloud nine and I praised Steve Jobs for conceiving such a brilliant idea. Even he would have become happy up there, looking at me since his long term admirer was finally buying his product, two, and not just one. The company stock prices closed up 3% that day on the NASDAQ.

 

I carefully opened the box as if I was handling a newborn baby. Delicate and beautiful with ‘Designed in California’ all over it. I saw it over and over again. I started remembering notes from Steve Jobs’ Biography, book I read in its first week of launch. How much effort and deliberations were done to bring this masterpiece out to the World. Every body part is skillfully crafted giving highest pleasure to the user.

For iPhone and for the innovation, take a bow, Sir, Steve Jobs.

PS: I bought two iPhones for my relatives as I was visiting my native place on vacation. The wait to own one still continues with my wife promising to gift it on my next Birthday!

Mayura Restaurant : Such a delight!

First time I went to Mayura was with my brother-in-law, sister and their two little kids. Just going by the name, it doesn't sound really funky restaurent and doesn't make you feel hungry. Located on the East Coast Road where you would find at least another 20 restaurants if not less, adjacent to each other on the same lane. My brother-in-law parked his four wheeler and we were on our mission. Outside the restaurant, it read 'Mayura : Authentic Indian Chinese restaurent'. As we entered, we were greeted and offered a table.

The ambiance was rather average to good kind I would say. Plain, simple, minimal. Played Bollywood songs. On the menu, you would find host of dishes for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Actually it is a delight if you have such a variety in a typical Chinese speciality restaurant. I only felt that Menu Cards were old and tornout and need some fresh look. We clicked and laughed till the time we were served.

And boy! the food came quickly, in good quantity and hot. The aroma was perfect and we got busy. The dishes were really good. Whatever we tried, tasted awesome. In third bite, I decided I am coming back here again and that was surely a place I can recommend.

As decided, I did visit there again and this time with my better half. The experience was the same - Great! My wife thoroughly enjoyed the food and we had good time. Now, when we think of eating authentic Indian Chinese in Singapore, no other restaurant comes closer to Mayura!

Infact I recommended it to few of my office colleagues also. My colleges had non-vegetarian dishes and they liked it. They liked the food and I was happy that it worked well. I thought as if I was the chef and I won something big.

On Food: Tastes awesome. 

Quantity: Big. One dish for example Gobi Manchurian serves 3 easily. 

Quality: Preparation is fresh, served by heart. 

Price: Truly value for money, you will come out with a happy face.

Ambience: Average

Service: Quick, polite, well mannered.

Rating: 8.5 (It could easily become 9 if they work little bit on the ambience.)

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: The post is all about food and I am feeling hungry now! Hats off to the operator who has a courage enough to serve Indian Chinese speciality at a place where chinese food can be found in abundance!

Colgate: Now that is called an Aggressive Strategy!

I was reading the news and views of Corporate Industry to keep myself updated on the strategies and policies. I came across an article about the launch of Oral-B toothpaste by P&G in India. P&G already has Oral-B brand tooth brush in India and with this launch they are entering the toothpaste industry. Now what was surprising and caught my attention was the article talked more about Colgate revamping its marketing expenditures and less about launch by P&G.

Prabha Parameswaran, the MD of rival Colgate was the one watching it most closely. As soon as the launch was announced by P&G, Colgate was quick to respond in the market to ensure entry for Oral-B isn't as smooth as they expected. Colgate is market leader in Indian Oral care market. They could have waited to see the response Oral-B gets in the market. But Colgate doesn't believe in wait and watch philosophy. I also believe a lost ground is more painful to gain back than protecting and going aggressive especisally when we are talking about sensitive consumer industry like this one.

Madhuri Dixit is roped in as brand ambassador for Oral-B toothpaste.

Colgate has hiked its advertising and promotion spends considerably during the first half of this calendar year. Company is roping in more and more Bollywood stars to promote their product because they know that is one of the best way to capture Indian mind space and influence their buying. It has bought more shelf space in retail outlets and giving better margins to shopkeepers. For consumers, buy one-get one free or money saver packs are introduced. The company is truly going aggressive and sending out the message that it is not a sleeping elephant in this market. In short run, this may possibly hurt margins for a quarter or two but that should be alright in the long run till the time company doesn't loose market share and give space to competitors.

The company has done well when it faced competitions from Pepsodent and low cost Anchor brands. It faced similar situation in Brazil market where Colgate held around 80% of market share and Oral-B toothpaste was getting launched. The company adopted same policy and went aggressive to keep the new competitor at bay.

For Oral-B, I think they should not take Colgate head on to start with. Colgate has around 55% market share in India but there is a good 45% with other players. It should slowly edge out the second and the third players and win space in  large number of Indian bathrooms. It should then challenge the market leader having understood the market and people enough.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: While P&G has all the resources, startegy and good brand in place - they are challenging the market leader. Colgate has been successful in maintaining its dominance in all the markets wherever it got challeneged by competitors but Indian market is always special and different to watch out for. This could an interseting contest.

Sources: Online News

Will this Kolaveri guy change the way we look at Bollywood heroes?

 

Raanjhanaa starts with a frame where Kundan (Dhanush) is shown lying on stretcher being carried to hospital with face all wounded. He starts narrating his story and takes us back to Banaras ki galiyan. Child Kundan is too cute and the movie is full of smart dialogs. You may want to remember them to put it on Facebook as your status messages to showoff, that’s the running trend now-a-days.

“Namaaz mein who thi, par laga dua hamari manjoor ho gayi”

Between all this somewhere the thought of should a ‘better looking’ conventional Bollywood actor be casted instead of Dhanush?, creeps in.

You definitely don’t want to accept the school going Dhanush as shown in the movie, as your mainstream hero who would romance with beautiful lady in a movie. He is not well built in-terms of physic and is nowhere close to the likes of Hrithiks or Shaheed Kapoors of Bollywood industry. Neither he looks chocolaty like Aamir nor over personifying Shahrukh or Amitabh. We were also not expecting him to go Emraan Hashmi way to lure the heroine sensuously and create a niche identity. These are the set definitions for actors in Hindi film industry and if we look at the debutantes over last one year, they fall in either of the above categories.

While all this was going on in your head, you get lost in the plot of the movie. Hats-off to the way story is built. In that madness and clamors of Banaras, is a cute romantic love story. By the time Dhanush receives his 16^th Thapaddin the movie, you start liking him for his simplicity.

“Humein apne gaal pe thappad se zyada uske gaal pe puppy ka sukh tha.”

As the plot unfolds and story starts building, you want to see more of him. There is a sincerity in every dialog, every action. Abhay Deol gives another dimension to the movie and brings some more freshness. By this time you are in love of the music, characters and characterization. You just pray to God that the movie doesn’t end up as another cliche Hindu guy-Muslim girl set formula.

“Tumhara pyaar na ho gaya..UPSC ka exam ho gaya.10 saal se paas hi nai ho raha!”

Everytime the story takes a turn, Dhanush surprises with his acting skills. There is see-saw of emotions. Heart is broken, love is lost, he is ignored, thrown out of his house, media chases, he is beaten, yet his selfless heart wants to see Zoya (Sonam) happy and get what she wanted. Clearly by now, you can guess why he is a superstar of South Indian movie industry. While Kolaveri di song might have made him a star overnight, Raanjhanaa movie sets him as an actor class apart in Bollywood.

The other angle to film industry is the ability to generate commercial success for a movie. I feel no matter how many good movies he gives, he would still remain a second rung actor for the audience in the Hindi film industry.

The first league of actor is dominated by Amitabh, Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir and who are now passing on the baton to next gen to the likes of Ranbir Kapoors, Ranveer Singhs and Arjun Kapoors. Actors like Irrfan Khan, Abhay Deol, Konkana Sen Sharma are not perceived as huge stars by the audience. They somehow don’t move to the first league. While there is no doubt in my mind about the versatility in acting of Konkana, she still cannot occupy place of the current Katrinas, Kareenas or Priyankas.

I think a lot has to do with how Bollywood has evolved and the way audience perceives their Hero and Heroines. We have audience who has always worshipped Dharmendra, Jitendra, Rajesh Khanna and the gorgeous Madhubala, Hema Malini or Madhuri Dixit, etc. It is always about the look, about the charisma. Larger than life portray of beauty to rule million hearts.

With passage of time and with more maturity in the views and perception, I think this trend may change in a decade or so. Box Office opening is one of the key parameters that movie pundits use to categorise a movie as Flop/ hit/ Super-hit. Good opening means movie will be screened for a longer duration of time and thus generate more revenue. A Salman Khan or a Ranbir Kapoor starer guarantees good opening and then movie may pull more crowd if the reviews are good. But for actors like Dhanush or Irrfan Khan it is the other way round, at-least in Bollywood. Box office opening depends on marketing and if the reviews are good, people may start going to theaters.

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: Can Dhanush change the way we look at Bollywood heroes? Can his star quotient rise enough to get houseful opening and super-hit box office collections in Hindi film industry too?

“Mere seene ki ye aag ya to mujhe zinda kar sakti thi ya maar sakti thi...
Par saala ab uthe kaun... Kaun firse mehnat kare - dil lagane ko, dil tudwane ko...”

Helping is Inspiring!

I am very strong believer in ‘whatever you do, comes back to you in a bigger way!’ The earth is round and it constantly revolves around itself. If you do good, sooner than later something good will happen with you too. If you do bad same will come back to you in a bigger way. The return for doing good is limited but for bad, it can be anything.

This also does not mean that you should be doing things in order to get something better in return. You should not be expecting to get a thousand rupees automatically in your pocket from skies if you give 10 INR to a beggar. The intentions of doing good or helping others should be pure selfless. Somewhere it will benefit you or keep the evils away.

The other thought is if somebody is asking for a help, don’t deny. The one who is asking for help knows that you can do it and that is why you have been selected from his list of known people. Always try to help if the request comes to you. It may not be entire cent percentage of fulfillment of request but whatever fits in your principle, you should do that. I am careful to use word ‘fits in your principle’ here because I don’t intend to mean that if somebody asks your help to rob someone, you go ahead. It does not fit morally. A lot of times we get to hear that a friend has taken loan on his name to help somebody else. Well, I would say that there is no harm in doing that but you should always be ready to pay the liability if the need arises.

A numerous times when I board metro, I see people happily seated with their known ones getting up quickly when they see an old man or a pregnant lady entering train with no empty seat to occupy. That is a real act of kindness I must say. People are really generous in helping a pregnant lady. They will pounce on picking up any stuff that a pregger might have dropped on floor by mistake.

I think when somebody asks for a help you should feel lucky and fulfill the request. With my experience I can say you would soon be in a situation where you will need same help. If you are traveling by airplane and find elderly people struggling to find a way or dealing with any process, go ahead and extend a helping hand. Soon your parents or ill grandparents might be in their situation. They would definitely get helped. If you see an aunty with grey hairs standing in a public transport, offer her your seat with a smile, sooner or later you might be in a situation where your mom is with you and you would wish if somebody could get up and offer a seat to her.

In a way helping is contagious too. If a kid falls, two people will quickly response and move towards that kid to help. Few others may also then realise and look to provide help. Mostly people will wait for someone to begin the kind work first and then they would join. You be that first person. 

Try and help your juniors or cousins in making proper career choices. With your experience, guide them what is the trend in market, what options they can explore. Enlighten them as much as you can. Someday, when you are lost in the rat race and not sure where to head, you will get answers without putting much efforts. No help goes waste. And in any case no body has ever become poor by giving!

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: If you receive a request to look for job openings or put resume in company’s portal, do it. Be a facilitator and try to be as much accommodative as you can. Because God help those who help others!

Ankho Hee Ankho Mein...A Love Story!

"I reached metro station and saw Train schedule board displaying '1 min'. Metro train which I was suppose to board was already on platform, ready to depart in a minute. I rushed to escalators, the door closing light started to flicker. I rushed into the train. Took a sigh of relief.

I turned back and through the windows of metro train I saw a beautiful lady sitting on the platform bench. I thought I knew her. In that split second she looked at me and we had eye contact with each other.

"Do I know you?", I enquired her through my eyes.

"Why are you looking at me?", she stared back.

"You are beautiful", I gave a gentle smile.

And the train accelerated to reach high speed in seconds. I kept on looking at her through the windows, till she was visible.

I couldn't get her reply back. I became restless. I tried to recollect. "That face is a known face...!", I told myself. In that restlessness I got down at the next station. I went to otherside of the platform and boarded metro train that would take me back to same place where I saw that lady. The thought of she might have gone by the time I could reach there, never came. Somewhere my heart knew she would be there.

I reached platform.

"Hi, do we know each other?", I asked her hesitantly moving slowly towards her thinking hard where I saw her earlier.

"Sorry, you are asking me?", she asked me with a puzzled face, grabbing handbag from her side and keeping it on her lap.

That question made me feel sad and I thought probably that eye contact conversation was my imagination and she never conversed with me.

"Are you Nishita?", I suddenly remembered her name stored somewhere in my subconscious.

"Yes....and....are you Jeev?", she asked. She was right.

Few moments passed in silence. Her face was filled with anger. She yelled at me, "How could you do this to Reema, my best friend? Why? It all looked so perfect! We never met yet I was so impressed with you by whatever she use to tell me about you!"

Commuters looked at us. I offered her if we could sit in Starbucks which was on the platform itself, 50 meters away.

After we sat in Starbucks, possibly her anger had cool down a little. She apologized for shouting but maintained that she was very angry.

"Why did you ditch her when all looked perfect?", she asked looking straight into my eyes.

I felt as if somebody has placed a revolver on my forehead and I need to spell out my bank account passwords.

I sipped coffee. I took one more sip and tried to rearrange my thoughts. It all came as a surprise because I had never thought that I would ever have a hand shake with my past in my future. Nishita, the girl whom I met on platform was best friend of Reema, my ex-girlfreind. I had never met Nishita in person because she went abroad for studies. But I always saw her photos with Reema and heard lot of stories about her.

I was looking at the paper napkin kept on our table. That Starbucks lady in green looked more beautiful that the story I was about to share. Nishita was still looking at me waiting for an answer.

"I loved Reema. No one knew me better than she did. We were madly in love and our stories were famous amongst our friend circle. Two years ago, on December 15th, I got a call from Reema at midnight. She told me that her parents got to know about their relationship and wanted to meet me. I was little surprised because it was early according to our plans.

I couldn't sleep that night. I was nervous but confident. Even IIM A college admission interviews did not make me so nervous. It was about my life. I went to Reema's mansion the next day. I was expecting some tough question-answer rounds with her grandparents and parents based on what Reema use to tell me.

We talked about cricket, about movies. We had a good lunch. I was happy that it was all going smooth. It was 2 hrs and I was about to leave. Her grandfather told me to accompany him for a walk in their garden.

"What do you expect?", he asked.

"Only Reema. We like each other and I will keep her happy." I talked to the point because Reema always told me that her grandfather liked that way. To the point and no arguments.

"You are not rich. You dont look as smart as anybody else in my family. It would be a misfit."

I got hurt after listening to those comments. I smiled and said, 'I might not have a bungalow but have bought a house on loan. I am IIM A college pass-out and have a growing career. As far as looks are concerned, they are gifted. I cannot change it and I am happy the way I look."

"We have atleat two dozens of IIM A graduates working for us in various companies."

I knew that their was no point of argument. Logically I could have defeated him but I wanted to win hearts emotionally.

"Gentleman, you may leave now. I hope this remains between us."

I never looked back at Reema again. I knew she loved her grandfather most. They were bigshots and I never wanted to create any scene involving her family. I moved to Singapore for a new assignment without informing anyone. It has been more than 2 years now and I know among the friend circle, the talk is that I ditched her, to which I don't care. I have moved on."

"You are exactly the same as Reema use to narrate me.", Nishita said with a lump in her throat.

"I know you will have many questions. Why you did not do this...that? I do not have answers to them. I just told the truth and did what my heart told me to do at that time. I am above those circumstances now and do not wish to recollect or justify."

Nishita was very much impressed by my nature and personality since the time she came to know about me. She liked my simplicity and maturity. We kept on meeting on weekends and sometimes after work. The frequency increased and we discovered that we were in love with each other. We got married following year and are living happily since then. That's it. That is my story!"

That was Jeev's story. He was sharing his story at one of his book launch event. He has quit his job and has become a full time writer with relationships as his genre. This was his second book launch after a very successful first one!

fOoD fOr ThOuGhT: Looks and money does not matter. In the end it is the person's heart that matters. You should try to find a soul who could love you more than you love yourself. Life is beautiful. Be open and receptive. Keep it simple and enjoyable.