The business capital of Delhi, Connaught Place, is all set to become a no-traffic zone from 1st February. While some may dismiss this decision as juvenile, it seems like a very calculated move to attract media and attention. Is there a need to control traffic and its movement in CP – YES. But the solution being proposed it […]
Rich getting richer while poor suffers – this is considered a key evil in the society. This is what keeps us from providing equality. But what’s the cause?
The constitution declares India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. But we have done little to achieve a better socialist society. Socialism here means equal opportunity, equal rights and equal ability to be able to live well, NOT equal pay. It is equal pay based on work done irrespective of all other factors.
If looked closely, socialism would essentially mean that rich shouldn’t be able to get richer just by the virtue of being rich and because we as a society provide equality. However, India, as an economy, suffers from an extremely high interest rate problem. A high interest rate means rich can live out of just being able to lend money and earn more. Money attracts money. It also makes it more difficult for businesses to flourish and makes entrepreneurship more difficult.Continue Reading
In the last blog I talked about how demonetization looks like a TRUE socialist movement or policy created in independent India. The last 3 weeks has indeed been a rollercoaster ride for all of us. As politicians, activists, common people discussed, debated, criticized and accepted the move, memes, conspiracy theories and obnoxious WhatsApp messages and Facebook statuses spread like wildfire.
Even today the nation stands polarized and the good, bad and ugly about the move has rented our peace of mind.
After much conversation, coffee and analysis, my point of view now has some fineprints*. No, I am not releasing videos revolting against and abusing nor am I stupidly relating it to being anti-islamic (yes, high-end functioning brains have called it so), I am simply making amendments to it. The move is first in the line of some major changes we will see soon but for it to be truly impactful it needs to be followed up with some major reforms.
Before I jump to plausible reforms, let’s first look at demonetization at the base level followed by the effect it will bring around in various aspects.
Perhaps the biggest change in India since I have been born has been what we have seen in the last 4 days. It’s not the change that amazes me… It’s the ferocity with which it has happened. For years and decades, cynics like me have been calling for an almost dictatorship like rule in India […]
Its been an amazing last 36 hours. The world has changed more in the last 36 hours than it does over decades. 9/11 and 11/9 are 2 dates that the world will remember for a very very long time to come. If you are Indian, its even more special for you. More on that in a separate […]
I wrote this piece right after the first Delhi Odd-Even experiment but never published it since I thought its problem over. But considering this is coming back in April, I wanna publish my thoughts. Let me preface this article: I am not an environment unfriendly person. I do my bit. I may not be an […]
As the digital world continues to expand, brands world-wide are left with one daunting task: to integrate digital and traditional medium with no compromise on the success of marketing.
This was more worrisome for marketers and advertisers in the Indian market considering various reasons such as internet penetration, digital education and awareness and digital as the first preference or choice of people to consume the content.
While firms, brands and agencies had a difficult time in figuring out and deriving the rightmix of media pie, it was the white khadi kurta-payjama clad clan that showed us the way.
Yes, I am indeed talking about our politicians.Continue Reading
It is the first time that a party other than Congress reached a vote share of 30% in Indian elections in the last 67 years. It’s the first time that a party has secured a majority after the 1984 elections (and the first time in the history that a party to secure majority is not Congress). It is the first time that the number of seats of the Congress Party has been reduced to 2 digits. It is the first time that BJP has won all 25 seats in Rajasthan and has also won a majority of seats in Uttar Pradesh diminishing the once-upon-a-time regional giants. There are so many firsts in these election results that it’s nearly impossible to list.
Even with all the firsts, the election results did not come as a surprise. The comprehensive marketing strategy followed by BJP and its flawless execution has been visible for months now and has helped them get out of their worst fear – coalition compulsions. BJP had hit the bullseye with its communication strategy of mission 272+.Continue Reading
In my post about ‘All that is wrong with Arvind Kejriwal’ (https://www.kapilgupta.in/blog/all-that-is-wrong-with-arvind-kejriwal/), I had talked about what he is missing. That was done with a conscious assumption that he has the right intentions. Today, I want to not constraint myself with that assumption.
A closer look at the events of the last few months somehow tells me that Kejriwal is self-centred, power hungry and not afraid to misuse people’s trust. Please note by no means am I claiming that’s where he started, I am suggesting that’s where he seems to be now. If someone had asked me in October, I would have given him a thumbs-up on honesty and integrity.Continue Reading
Decoding Narendra Modi 2.0
He must be the most unique personality of the post independent India. Nobody has gained as much popularity during this time, much bigger than Anna and AK, perhaps bigger than JP Narayan, perhaps as big as Indira Gandhi. He has become the symbol of non-corrupt, developing Indian, a true statesman. Even his biggest critics can’t take this away from him. The only true statesman of significance I can think of in the last 20 years. Anna may be in the list but was very short-lived & hence insignificant.
But the confounding question is: Who is he and where is he headed? To answer this question, we perhaps need to delve deeper into the human psychology and the past of Narendra Modi.
Let’s start from the beginning. Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician. He comes from a lineage of megalomaniac Indian politicians who have spent their lifetime working their way through the dirty milieu of corrupt and extremely complex Indian politics. He has trampled over bodies, he has broken, bent and misused laws and everything he could muster. He has been part of an amazing crony-capitalism that stands in India. Truth being told, you can’t reach to where he is without going through all this. It’s a part of the process. Let me take it one step further: I am sure he was part of the Godhra riots. I am sure he was one of the core participants back then. Everything that he has been blamed for before 2014, he has done.
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