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The Fishermen and the NRI: #KeralaFloods
It is rare that I get to hear stories of heroism first-hand. It isn’t about men in capes or daredevilry and you may find this story a tad ordinary. But it’s to be told. A friend’s friend and his family were on their annual vacation visiting their old parents who lived by themselves, like many… Continue reading
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#Nike, Kaepernick and the list of Indian brands that take an unpopular stand
Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” That’s a powerful statement, even without a context. Add the context to it and it’s on steroids. The context is Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback. In 2016, Kaepernick knelt down during the customary US national anthem ahead of a NFL game in protest… Continue reading
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Demonetization: One Year Later
There are events, and then there are events that get etched in your memory forever. Do you remember what you were doing when 9/11 happened? Or when the 26/11 attacks happened? One such momentous event took place on the eighth of November, 2016, or 8/11. We first got the news via a Whatsapp message from… Continue reading
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Ten Reasons Why You Should Use Paid “Influencers”.
You read that right. I’ve crossed over to the dark side! Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would have seen discussion and debate on “paid” hashtags – trends that are achieved via spam-tweeting scr ipted tweets. These simulate popularity, and trick the Twitter trend algorithm into believing that the hashtag is a genuinely… Continue reading
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Demonetization: Stories from the Street 2
Over the past few days I’ve had the opportunity to listen to people who are coping with the big 8/11 cash reset. The only point I’d like to make is that life, uh, finds a way.” You can draw any conclusion you like from the stories below. It’s a rather long post. The Parsi Chai-brun Place There… Continue reading
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Demonetization: Stories from the Street 1
To better understand the impact of 8/11, I interviewed a few people who I had the opportunity to meet over the past few days. I’ll leave it to you to arrive at your own conclusions. The Punjabi lady nearby: Her husband and son run a chicken-tandoori-tikka shop, half-legal, and probably a Grade III outlet as… Continue reading
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Demonetization: Switch to Cash
Counter-intuitive, right? Irrespective of your political standpoint – you may believe that the 8/11 demonetization is the best thing to happen in India after independence, or you may believe that the government considers the unbanked as collateral damage and expendable – the fact is we are in a soup not of our making. Sucking out 86% of… Continue reading
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A Li’l Bit Of Influencer Marketing Never Hurt Anyone… but…
Somewhere in an urban area in Tamil Nadu, a man receives a call from a familiar number. “Saar. You thought of me, saar! How can I serve you saar!” “Yenna thambi, how are you? All well? Family well?” “Yes saar! Everything is fine saar! How can I serve you saar!” “Well, a very important thing.… Continue reading
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Nothing Like a Little Bit of Influence
Somewhere in an urban area in Tamil Nadu, a man receives a call from a familiar number. “Saar. You thought of me, saar! How can I serve you saar!” “Yenna thambi, how are you? All well? Family well?” “Yes saar! Everything is fine saar! How can I serve you saar!” “Well, a very important thing.… Continue reading