Sunday at Ambience Mall is OK

Lots of kids so Arushee is having a ball. Lots of pretty girls so that
is good too. Bujju is lost in shopping right now and is slightly
depressed that she hasn't got the right fit.

I bought myself a couple of cool formal shirts called
'Network'. Good thing is they have odd sizes too like 41 and 43. I
haven't seen that before

Generally, it is pretty busy here at the Ambience Mall. Loads of
people all around gives this place a pretty cheerful look.

Arushee has already made friends with a four- and a two-year old. A
girl goes by weeping as she is momentarily lost. Arushee figures that
out and says, she needs her mom. Then there is a small baby crying and
my little one says she needs milk. I wonder at her perception.

Lalitha is still checking out. "Buy clothes for 1250, get clothes
worth 625 free!" This is what is holding up everything. We started
buying what we wanted and ended up with what Reliance wanted us to
have.
And the billing guy has now vanished for more than 15 min because some
of that free stuff is not after all free. So Lalitha is in two minds
now to dump the whole thing and call it quits. Ha ha. The story goes
on... My Arushee has climbed on my head and is pounding her fists
down.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Amazing Gokul-like Chaat in Gurgaon

For all those from Hyderabad, chaat is not what you know it as in
Hyderabad; especially if you are the Gokul-Chaat kinda guy.

Today I discovered a place in Gurgaon that comes closest to it. Sukh
Sagar is a busy shop in the DLF shopping complex on Arjun Marg. They
sell the regular samosa kachori and I tried the kachori with sabzi. I
was pleasantly surprised by the taste. Reminded me of the wonderful
days of gokul chaat in koti, hyderabad.

--
Sent from Google Mail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Its a 1:1 conversation, not a mela

That's one of the finest points made by the Google speaker, Parminder Singh aka Parry yesterday at the Sheraton, Saket. Google KYCS - Know Your Consumer Summit was good. Everyone liked it.

Its a conversation that you have with each person on the Internet. It is very intimate and there need not be much shouting at all by the marketer. Your consumer needs to be just told what real value you can offer her. If you get that, all your online marketing campaigns can be successful.

This single philosophy turns every media plan on its head. A typical media plan consists of mixing a bunch of websites and blasting your banners all across not realizing that your user loves to not just read what is on the net but also wants to touch you, feel you, and talk to you at that very moment. She wants to share you with her near and dear ones. Wants to show you off to be that 'cool' person. This is what your user wants to do on the net. Do you allow her all this? No. You just plaster a banner ad and expect her to remember you and buy from you. Life is not that simple anymore. Sorry. It just got a little more interesting. That is what you always been asking for. More interaction with you customer. So why haven't you taken that opportunity? It is staring in your face, no? - to be continued...

Email blogging

I think this is one of the best things to happen to blogging.

It is so seamless. With a camera, it will be that much more popwerful.

Here's to email blogging. Three cheers!

Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Device

Free Internet in Mumbai Airport

Thanks to UTV Business Channel, free internet is available but only for the first 5 lucky guys!

Here is how the lounge looks like from my mac photo booth.

Though I still like the Bangalore airport as it has free Wifi, this is a good start.

Oh, life without free internet is so miserable...

of dead rats in ac vents

I devoured an avadhi biryani at 2 in the morning and went to sleep. i was woken up rudely by the alarm at 8am. had a hearty breakfast of fruit and danish cakes with a hot cup of coffee.

With a nice feeling, Manish, my colleague and I went off to the Dhirubai Knowledge city in Navi Mumbai. Took us 20 min from the Hotel Park. We entered the visitor's room at the entrance and it was stinking! After we checked in and got photographed and tagged, I told the entry keeper that they needed to do something about the foul smell. The guy looked at me in surprise and in not so hush tone declared that there was a dead animal in the ac vent and they are not able to extract it, and hence the foul stink.

So here we are at the entrance of the modern edifice of the greatest Indian business success story and the first experience is that of an incognito dead rat! Manish and I looked at each other and exchanged glances.

So I always tell anybody who cares to listen that if you want to join a new job, make sure to visit their toilet. It tells a lot about the company and their culture. Believe me, I passed opportunities at companies like E&Y as they did not pass the loo test. I'm going to add one more criterion to the loo test, that of foul smell. If a company has visitor's room along with dead rats' final place of rest, then think twice.