armstrongvazblogsfromgoa

Video killed the radio star. Then, video went from large TV screens to smartphone screens. Pedal power went to combustion engines to electric vehicles. Local stores became supermarkets, then went online. Actually, everything went online (sadly even social communication). The point is evolution. Natural evolution, not forced evolution. And forced evolution is what did Godrej Nature’s Basket (GNB) in. Its start, in 2010, was focussed enough - one store, in an upmarket region in Mumbai, selling only premium gourmet food items like artisanal bread, wine and imported cheese. Then came the expansion over the years. To New Delhi, Pune, and other cities. To selling private-label brands and going online.  So far, so natural. Coupled with revenue growth that was picking up. Then came 2016-17, and with it ‘GNB Refresh 2020.’ A marketing tagline that essentially meant the brand took a 180° spin - from a 'World Food Store' to a 'Daily Food Delights' store. It became a neighbourhood...

The AIFF reacting to the joint statement of Hero I-League clubs feel that it is very premature and unnecessary to pre-judge any action of the AIFF, and be commenting on the AIFF Executive Committee meeting on July 3, 2019 in advance. The AIFF as a custodian of Indian Football has always endeavoured to balance to the interest of all stakeholders, and the Hero I-League, and its clubs. To say that the future of Hero I-League, and the clubs will not be taken into consideration for any future decisions of the AIFF would be unfair. As a matter of fact, a decision regarding the Hero Indian Super League becoming a league were also discussed with AFC, and FIFA before it was given recognition, and even for any future decisions AFC and FIFA will be duly consulted. In fact, during the last AFC AGM in Paris, the AIFF asked the AFC General Secretary Dato Windsor John to visit India specifically for Hero I-League issues. Furthermore, while the decision of the AIFF Executive Committee ca...

***WARNING: THIS MAN IS A FRAUD!*** HE STOLE MY MONEY! PLEASE BE AWARE!! The story: His name is NEERAJ CHOUDHARY. He is from Haridwar and operates mainly in Rishikesh and Dehradun. I have known him for 2 years and I was in Rishikesh in October 2018. When I returned to the UK, Neeraj asked me if I would be interested in setting up a business with him: an online booking platform comparing yoga schools, mainly in Rishikesh, and then other parts of India. He told me he would speak to the main ashram owners in Rishikesh to get them onto the website and he would like to have a stand/stall in the INTERNATIONAL YOGA FESTIVAL in RISHIKESH to promote the business. We agreed to go ahead and he said he would develop the website in India. He sent me a couple of quotes on which we agreed. He asked me for 25,000 Indian Rupees = $350 (half the payment for the website and the other half for flyers and posters, which he would then post to me in the UK. I transferred the money to him in November 201...

$550 billion. That's the size of India's grocery market. It's as big as the GDP of a small but fairly well off country (think Sweden).  Some 96% of that, though, is made up of the likes of Prakash and Asha. A couple who ran a tiny grocery store right by where I used to live in North Bengaluru once upon a time. Cheerful, intimately acquainted with every customer, and enterprising to a tee (they never missed an opportunity to extol the wonders of their Amway products), they're emblematic of the Indian kirana store. Or if you'd rather, the "hyperlocal" grocery market that many a tech startup has vowed to disrupt—with mixed results at best. But the remaining 4% or so, the organised grocery segment, is still a respectable $21 billion. That's what e-commerce companies and large retailers—from Flipkart, Amazon and BigBasket to Reliance and Future Group—are gunning for now. And it's been a bloodbath. Over the past four years, nearly 20 online grocers have...

First, a confession. I have not watched a single episode of Game of Thrones... since season 1, not just the last one. But of course, most of the world has. Hotstar, which exclusively airs the show online in India, reported a sixfold jump in viewers for the final season’s first episode. The numbers have likely stayed strong since as viewers stay riveted, undaunted by the stray coffee cup blunders, and Hotstar laughs all the way to the bank. But what if one or more of the 30-odd video-on-demand services in India also had the rights to air GoT? Or one of the cable companies or telecom companies? Not such a fun thought for Hotstar, is it?  However, for a majority of the other VOD companies, sharing their content is slowly becoming the last resort to stay afloat. These companies started out with the same dream—of becoming the next Netflix—and went the same route, spending heavily to develop the next blockbuster. Video streaming was meant to kill cable TV, like in the US, w...

Yet another drowning death in Baga Goa With at least one or two drowning deaths per week Goa is increasingly gaining notoriety for the danger on its beaches. The tourist season is set to roll in at the start of the month in the Indian state of Goa. The monsoon fury at sea is slowly fading away. Beach waves are lashing the shore at a galloping but still much slower pace. The sea water is choppy. Swimming in the turbulent water is inviting trouble. Numerous Indian tourists from various parts of the country invariably fall into the trap of just dipping their feet in the sea water or swimming in the shallow beach waters and end up getting dragged in by the undercurrent, only to be engulfed by the furious monsoon waves. The alarming regularity of deaths by drowning in Goa has been a cause of concern. The small state known for its silvery beaches has gained notoriety for the ills of tourism like drugs, rave parties, sex tourism and mismanagement of garbage. It can now add one more t...