Celebrating the National Festival - Cricket World Cup Semi Finals - India Vs Pakistan

When all roads were leading to Mohali, how could the traffic sustain in Mumbai. Mumbai seemed deserted today. Scarcely filled locals, less traffic, no taxis, and all eyes glued to screens whether office or homes. Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals, India vs Pakistan, an event at which both countries, irrespective of any discrimination, look forward to. Indeed, it was a connoisseurs delight, a complete powerplay and not limited to a couple of overs. There could be no better combination of Cricket and Commerce which this time went a step ahead encapsulating brotherhood, diplomacy, celebrities and power.


Sehwag at his natural best provided the magnificent punch India needed for a great start. India cheered as he repeatedly forced the ball beyond the boundary. Cricket could have attained another extravaganza and India could have practically scored 300+ if he could have stayed for another few overs. Even the pitch did not like Sehwag's dismissal as it gradually paved way for spinners and India's run rate declined. Sachin could also have followed Sehwag to pavilion had it not been Sachin's luck acting as a blessing in disguise that helped Sachin help India attain a defend-able score. Yuvi couldn't even open his account, drifting away from his consistent batting performance during the series. MS tried his part but it's Raina who needs an extra pat on the back for driving India to 260 in 50 overs. Towards the end of Indian innings, the country had a mixed reaction on the fate of match.


Bowling and fielding both were superb. Perhaps, Indian batting was also at its best but for the changing behavior of the pitch. As the pitch had become slow and favored the spinners in the first innings, once it seemed that India might have made a mistake with only Bhajji playing as a spinner with little help from Yuvi. However, pacers were not only consistent on their line and length but they also used deceptive variations in speed to take wickets. While both Zaheer and Patel kept the Pakistani batsmen under pressure, I am extremely happy for Nehra who at last got the wickets after an extremely spell-bounded  economical bowling. May be it was the haunting criticism that he received for his last over in the previous match that made him put the much needed extra effort. Fielding couldn't have been better and it's appreciable to see it improving with each game.


As India beat Pakistan with 29 runs, all Indians are happy. But there is a South African too who is celebrating it with much joy and contentment. Gary Kirstan would be much delighted to see a complete team India ready for the finals as first India's batting got tested against  Australia and now bowling again Pakistan. In my last blog I had criticized whether Indian team can exhibit a complete cricket. With no better expectations than this in fielding, it's a happier moment to see India attaining that momentum before the finals.

Victory is never smooth. Loosing the battle makes it worse. Afridi congratulated India with lots of grace. Yet, billions of eyes witnessing each moment as naked truth will raise their own questions. I see it as an opportunity lost for Pakistan as you cannot be rewarded for dropping six catches in a single match including four of Sachin Tendulkar. Could a batting powerplay taken when Afridi was charging his skipper innings with Misbah have altered Pakistan's fate? When Misbah could hit those boundaries in the last overs, why did he wait for the eleventh hour?  Alas, whatever you think now, roads are now leading towards Mumbai where India takes on Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup Finals 2011. All the best to both the teams.

Actionable Insights - Rising to change the game

There are those who accept things as they are and those who Rise to change – Any entrepreneur would relate to this tag line of Mahindra Rise campaign. Specifically one who has risen from rags to riches is certain to flashback into his memory lanes. Ironically, RC Agarwal who took 24 laborious years to build Vishal Retail from a small shop in Kolkata to a 170 store chain across the country would not be so happy about it. The company once valued at `2,200Cr is now sold for merely `70Cr in a slump sale transaction.

Vishal Retail was not the only company effected during economic meltdown of 2008. Indian retail industry was adversely impacted in 2008-09 and goliaths including Reliance Retail and Future Group were forced to halt their expansion plans and shut several shops. Subhiksha had to close its nationwide network of 1,600 supermarkets. But then there were those who thrived during the uncertain struggling times and now are gliding the waves smoothly. Recently Shoppers Stop successfully experimented with a well thought of strategy by launching non-metro outlets with full fledged counters of cosmopolitan premium cosmetic brands that were unseen in the region.

I am not here to debate on the management mantras of these companies varying extremely in their numbers. But for sure the businesses want to see their numbers growing in the positive sides. For any industry such as Retail, FMCG, Banking, Insurance, Telecom, Aviation or Railways for that matter that has millions or billions of customer records, it is imperative to have actionable insights into customer behavior. One size does not fit all and customers look forward to individualized experience. It is vital to identify key customer segments, understand deeper into the most profitable customers and then take small but strategic steps to attract them through focused campaigns or specific merchandising moves. Although you cannot follow your customer within your shop, you can track your customer in this technologically advanced social world. Furthermore you can even get into the head of your customer to understand his buying behavior in case you have relevant data available.

Gone are the days when Information Technology was merely a support system. With cutting edge analytical solutions available, Information Technology is playing a key role in formulating business strategies and driving major decisions over pricing and promotions. If one segments and promotes top 10 percent of the products that are attractive to its most profitable customers and simultaneously attempts to reduce 10 percent of least attractive products, it’s more likely that revenues and profits will have positive impact. Such an attempt with proactive personalized campaigns build more loyal customer and strongly position the brand in a specific target segment. No wonder that analytical approach and fact based decisions are greatly influencing the changing face of marketing.

With emergence of Facebook and Twitter, social media has evolved as a platform that no marketer can afford to ignore. Leave apart the business houses or celebrities, it’s now the political parties leveraging the power of social media to target netizens. Can anyone afford to neglect the impact of Facebook which provoked the uprising in Egypt? Customers are increasingly getting prone to evaluate product features and customer feedback over the web. Any positive or negative media sentiment not only significantly impacts the brand positioning but can also impact the stock performance. Fortunately there are powerful tools available to listen to the masses and respond accordingly.

Actionable insights, targeted personalized campaigns and the power of social media are the surest tickets for marketers to reap economic value out of customer information and prevent a business moving from boom to doom.

Can Mumbai learn from Japan Earthquake ?

The world is witnessing as Japan is dealing with the massive devastation after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and a powerful tsunami. Thousands of people have died and coastal cities have been swiped away by the natural calamity. According to the Internet media and the news services, the destruction could have been much enormous had it not been the strict building norms and high level of preparedness. The high rise towers in Japan contain extra steel bracing, giant rubber pads and embedded hydraulic shock absorbers to make the concrete structures the most stalwart for any major earthquake. 


Nature has its own ways of either showering its blessings or showing its anger. It has nothing to do with any specific country, community, religion or else. It does not discriminate amongst the rich and the poor. The big question is if by any chance any such disaster happens to Mumbai, will the city be able to breathe the next moment? Are our concrete jungles capable enough to handle even a bit of it? Given the massive population the city is home to, can we ever imagine the number of lives at stake?  


There are so many lessons to be learnt by the political powers and real estate lobby running in the Mumbai city. The way projects are passed and executed, it would not be a surprise if most of these buildings are not capable of handling such disasters. To add to the miseries, mangroves which are of vital importance in maintaining the ecology are being cleared to pave ways for high rise towers. According to marine environmentalists, Mumbai is one of the best examples for the mangrove destruction due to urbanization. 


Given the fact that Mumbai is a peninsular city, shouldn't we be more cautious towards the dangers of such developments? Isn't the high time that the civic authorities and the government take the bold decisions and much needed steps in this direction?

When would we demonstrate a complete cricket?

There was a time when Indian fans used to wait for slog overs as Indian batting graph usually had an exponential curve with most thrills ending the show. It was somewhat the opposite today at Nagpur. I remember some early comments from the players that they won't mind winning the cup for Tendulkar as it is the only shortfall in the list of his credentials. Well, Tendulkar contributed his part fairly well. Could team India do a fair play in totality?


The cricket fans and followers were delighted by Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir. With 142 runs for first wicket partnership followed by 125 runs for second wicket partnership, Indian Cricket fraternity was all happy for MS Dhoni who had earlier commented that the team needs to make a fresh start. Indeed what could have been better than this after witnessing the early fall of wickets in the previous matches. When score board was tickling 267/2 in 40.1 overs, it seemed that India is going to offer a mammoth score of 350+ to SA for a tiring chase. Alas!!!! who could have thought that the team wouldn't even be able to stand for 50 overs. 9 wickets in 9 overs could hardly add up another 28 runs to finish with a score of 296 in 48.4 overs. South African dressing room was captivated to chase 297. 


South Africa played a mature, calm and composed innings and confidently grabbed a 3 wicket win. Perhaps it was our luck that favored India during India-England match, otherwise that wasn't much different a scene. A tie in Cricket World Cup ODI is a rare situation. In that match too, Indian batsmen did miserably in the slog overs wherein the competitor performed just the opposite. Remove the last 2 overs from both the innings of India - England match and the result turns upside down. Is this the pressure that's haunting Indian players in the slog overs?


A win usually spreads cheers but a struggling win against a fledgling team raises a question. And now, we also have a loss in our records. Each match has a new drama which impels MS Dhoni to counter the media. Sometimes, bowlers, sometimes front-line batsmen, sometimes middle order line-up and then the fielding problems are omnipresent. However, if a mistake learnt from one game is overcome and not repeated in another, it would reflect that the equation is trying to achieve an equilibrium. Hopefully it happens soon that we see an all round Indian team to demonstrate a complete cricket and appear as the most deserving team to sweep off the victory. After all, its THE WORLD CUP!!!!!

Extremes Apart .... Yet...

It was a pleasure watching India - Ireland World Cup match. Though India had a comfortable victory, it had to prove its mettle as Irish did commendably well in all the areas. In spite of losing two early wickets, Ireland teased Indian bowlers for its third wicket partnership. Their total was not too great but enough to keep Indians on toes. Both MSD and Yuvi agreed and acknowledged the strong defense put in by the Irish team. Thanks to Pathan's  magnificent sixes that slog overs appeared as dessert after supper. 


Bangalore witnessed India putting in all its efforts to keep the huge expectations alive that the team is really a contender to make the country proud. Simultaneously, Mumbai is witnessing another team devastated into ashes and yet struggling for its existence. One team struggled to save its pride while the other contending to bury the shame. 


The slum pockets of Garibnagar and Behrampada in Bandra (E), Mumbai, have a history or fire breakouts. The one that broke two days ago, collectively ravaged thousands of shanties and  nobody is willing to take responsibility to help the poor who are now used to such incidents of baring their livelihood. while both Railways and BMC are keen to offer the land ownership to the other party for the matter of compensation, state government states that as per the law the compensation can only be awarded in case of natural calamity or riots. The much needed help and support provided by the NGOs and the local people are thus far better than the assurance of one thousand bucks per person and a maximum of five thousand per family announced by the CM. The poor was never more poorer.


Then there are those who are back in action amidst all these tantrums. I was touched to see a newspaper photograph depicting a little girl searching her books in the ashes. While Slumdog Millionaire fame Rubina Ali lost her prestigious awards, Alisha is more bothered about her SSC exams than this routine problem. There are many who lost their everything but hope. While politicians and corporate lobbies will keep on finding their ways, its the efforts and everyday struggle of these unfortunate people which prevents the shame of thousands being homeless. Is this the spirit that keeps Mumbai alive?

A New Beginning

Is it the same like each Sunday afternoon or is there a new element today? Each moment we witness so much around in our homes, neighbor, society, sports, entertainment and what not. At times we ponder over things, think for a while, make it a gossip point and then gradually the thoughts fade over a period of time. It happens with everybody I think. And so it happens with me too. 

This afternoon is somewhat new. Today, I thought of formalizing my thoughts and capture them in an organized way rather than letting them lose their identity. Well, who knows this thought may also fade over time as it usually happens with our new year resolutions. Yet, I am content I am giving it a try and will strive to maintain it over regular intervals. However, I know that I wont be successful until I get the support of all you friends to share your comments as we move ahead together. Are you with me :)