Saturday, March 31, 2012

The forgotten story…




A small nation of 340 thousand with a GDP of around $14B is one turn around success story that has stayed under the radar of the international media. Who would have thought that a country that went belly up in 2008 will rebound and witness a growth rate of over 2%, (vis-à-vis contraction of 0.3% in EU) within 3 years of witnessing the Icelandic version of the Great Depression? In fact, according to The Economist, Relative to the size of its economy, Iceland’s banking collapse is the largest suffered by any country in economic history.

The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace for first hydrogen based economy in the world, Iceland. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, failed and were nationalized, while the Icelandic currency, Kroner, lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy. Sensing the urgency, the self-proclaimed international lender of last resort, the IMF came into the picture. In association with the EU, they asked Iceland to adopt their usual prescription of economic crisis, the austerity measures and taking IMF loan which are tied to Debt to GDP ratio. At that time Iceland’s debt was 900 times its GNP. If Iceland would have adopted these measures, each Icelandic citizen would have to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5%.

The people of Iceland started a revolution of sorts and forced the political leaders to not accept the above deal. While the domestic assets of Iceland’s lenders were protected – costing the state 20 per cent of GDP, according to the IMF – the lion’s share of the collapse was borne by foreign creditors. Iceland skipped on making there international debt payments. It defaulted. The Government was brought down. Of course the IMF and the EU were upset. But the most upset were the English & the Dutch, as the savings of their citizens in Icesave bonds were wiped out. One Icelandic leader said “We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.”

As of today Iceland’s net debt stands at 65 per cent of GDP well below IMF’s target of 100 percent. Iceland remains committed to paying foreign creditors large sums of money following the banks’ collapse, although at its own pace. In August last year, it completed a three-year IMF-supported restructuring program, including loans of $10bn, and has started borrowing again on global credit markets. The government announced two weeks ago that it had repaid the IMF $400m ahead of schedule.

Everyone is watching the miraculous economic recovery of Iceland, but alas no one is reporting. Of course, I am not saying that the US or other ‘big’ countries should follow Iceland’s policy (because Iceland is just too small and doesn’t have the same economic clout as the other ‘big’ economy), but Greece can definitely take a page or two from Iceland’s model.



References:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8a0390dc-78c7-11e1-9f49-00144feab49a.html#axzz1qjXbhc8G


Saturday, March 24, 2012

Asli Swad Zindagi Ka - The Real Taste of Life


History, Nostalgia and the good old days.

Since I am in the zone, I will attempt to write some historical aspects of my early childhood life. Today my focus is on advertisements of late 80’s early 90’s. India’s economy was going through a very delicate phase at this juncture. We were not ‘emerging’ then, but were trying to ‘evolve’ into some sort of market based economy. Hence, the advertisement of 80’s started selling hope and aspirations to an evolving nation. The great Advertising guru Alyque Padamsee once said 1980’s economic India was chained because of the restrictive policies, but the creative minds were not. 

One more trip down memory lane…

Amul: The Company that brought the ‘white revolution’ in India also revolutionized the Indian advertisement industry by its witty one-liners which capture relevant events that have caught the fancy of the nation. Utterly butterly delicious, Amul

Bajaj Bulbs: The funny, bald man describing how his mischievous childhood acts were brought to light by the brightest burning Bajaj bulbs. Although Malavika Tiwari played an older version of her, this commercial was her claim to fame. Jab mein chota baccha tha…

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk: Who can forget the generation defining ad…Kuch Khas Hai Zindagi Mein. While today’s commercial revolves around creating stylistic ads using celebrity endorsements, Cadbury’s commercials, where young, old and almost everyone were shown living and enjoying some lighter moments were like a breath of fresh air.

Dabur Lal Dant Majan: How could one forget the brown stained teeth of Raju’s class teacher, teaching about dental hygiene? Class teacher does notices Raju’s pearl white teeth and gives the famous compliment, “Raju! Tumharei daat to motiyon jaise chamak rahey hain!”  

ECE Bulb: The famous Paintal ad, reminds us of the days when people in the area knew each other. It showed a classic 80’s Indian mid-class family. “Bhool na jaana, ECE bulb laaan”

Fevicol: 3 Idiots fame director, Rajkumar Hirani’s first venture in the entertainment world was through this commercial. “Fevicol aise jod lagaye, aache che aacha na tod paaye”

Gold Spot: One of the first English ads, it talked about a generation that was discovering new crazes. Besides the characters that came under Gold Spot crowns, Gold Spot was indeed a great drink.  And add to that the advertising punch line: “Gold Spot. The Zing Thing”

Hamara Bajaj: This commercial could only come out of a Bombay Club company. One of the most remarkable ads of that time. The ad shows how a scooter is a family treasure. It used ownership of scooter as part of the nation building activity. “Buland bhart ki buland tasveer, Hamara bajaj,hamara bajaj ,hamara bajaj"

India: Mile Sur Mera Tumhara… The un-official anthem of the nation. One of the very few government projects, which was a success. It was launched as a national integration and unity in diversity, campaign using the famous TV, Sports and film personalities.

Jungle Book: After Chacha Chaudhary, Mowgli was the only cartoon we knew…Jungle jungle baat chali hai pata chala hai

Kayam Churan: "Bhavnagar wale Sheth brothers ka Aruvedic utpadan…Kaayam Churn!" This ad reflects the tech-savvy 80’s. Rakesh Bedi in his khaki shikari costume, complete with hat and a gun is trying to kill 3 devils (rakshas) ‘Gas’,’ Acidity’ and ‘Stomach ache’. A sage comes to his rescue and says, “Inka ilaaj goliyaan nahin, aayurved hai”

Liril: It was the first color commercial to be shown on Doordarshan during the start of Asian games in 1982. Liril gave us the first glimpse of the dimple girl, the chulbully Priti; “Laaaaaa…laa…laa…laa…laaaaaa…laa…laa…laa…laa…la…la…la”

Maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce: One of the first 80’s commercials that was launched as part of a series. It starred the famous pair of Javed Jaffery and Panaj ‘Karamchand’ Kapoor. The tag line “It’s Different” was indeed able to differentiate Maggie from its competitors.

Nirma: The iconic, young little girl swirling around in a skirt – the Nirma girl. The official advertiser of the cinema halls across India. All cinema halls always started there shows with the Nirma ad. “Washing powder Nirma, Washing powder Nirma”

Onida: It created larger than life product impact. Released on air during the 1980’s, its tag-line “Neighbor’s envy, owner’s pride” proved successful because it was derived from the analysis of middle-class mentality prevailing during those days J

Pepsi: Then known as Lehar Pepsi, the famous ad campaign starred Remo Fernandez & the kid singer, Penny Vaz. Undoubtedly the right ad of those times. “Yeh Hi Hai Right choice Baby…aaha!!”

Rasna: The simple innocence of a 3 year old, Ankita Jhaveri made the whole nation fall in love with the instant drink powder. Ad agency, Mudra’s classic from mid-80’s, “I love you, Rasna”. 

Surf: First brand icon of the Indian advertisement, Laitaji. Lalitaji was brought to life on television by Kavita Chaudhary with the tag line “Surf ki Kharidari mai hi Samajdari hai”  

Tata Salt: Coming of age of India’s 80’s consumerism, India's first packaged iodized salt brand. It positioned itself as “Desh Ka Namak”, signifying salt with trust.

Uncle Chips: One of the first domestic brands of potato chips. Noted film music director Shantanu Moitra started his composing career with the hit-jingle, "Bole mere lips. I love Uncle Chipps".

Vimal, Only Vimal: …and so the legend goes, ‘Apna’ Dhirubhai was briefing the ad agency and he said, "Only Vimal has the most sophisticated plant." "Only Vimal uses merino wool". "Only Vimal has the most designs". Only Vimal.... And very soon, a bright (or lazy) copywriter came back with the tagline "Only Vimal" which Dhirubhai bought.

And the rest as they say is history.

Woodwards Gripe water: Yes, the now famous question, “Kya Hua?” came from this commercial. The multi generation mothers shown in this commercial is a testament to the quality. And I know this for sure because we use to give it to Ashvy still last year. 

Zadu Baam: The 80’s baam that took the avatar of Munni badnaam in 2010, still heals people’s backache and heartache! “Zandu Balm, Zandu Balm, Peeda hari balm”


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Discovery of India – Part II


Our beloved first prime minster Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wrote the original ‘Discovery of India’ during his imprisonment, between 1942 and 1946 in Ahmednagar jail. In the book, he presented a broad view of Indian culture and history through the eye of a liberal freedom fighter. He gives a lesson on history from the days of Indus valley civilization to the then British Raj.

No, I am not giving any history lesson here, but given the current socio-political state of India, I am trying to add my two cents and re-make the great book by Pandit Nehru into a short story…Discovery of India-II (DI-II). His original book examines the effect of the various people who came to India and influenced Indian culture, society & philosophy; mine will throw some light on how the current corrupt politicians (I hate calling them leaders) are infecting our youths and society as a whole.

In The Discovery of India, Pandit Nehru argued that India was a historic nation with a right to sovereignty. In DI-II, I will argue that India is a ‘mature, democratic’ nation and is high time that India and Indians should act as one and take back the nation. The dream of a free democratic India that was foreseen by our great leaders has since long become a pseudo-democratic nightmare. The free and healthy democratic principles have become some fancy phrases. Heck, the original copy of the constitution, which has the signature of the 285 leaders, is gathering dust on some shelf in some library in the city of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

The current crop of leaders has made a mockery of our democratic principles. The person, who has four sever criminal charges against him, is given bail and is allowed to run for a democratic election. The joke doesn’t end there; he wins with the help of his goons and thanks to the ‘party high command’, he is made the minister of the Prison’s. So the very same prison that should be inside, is now governing them ‘all’ from the outside. One minister who tries to bring some economic rationality to the money loosing, Indian railways, by revising the price of the tickets (unchanged since last 10 years) to stabilize the budget is politically massacred in the full public view on the very next day.

Gandhiji encouraged regional politics to bring stability and make the nation a true democracy. But little did he knew that the current crop of corrupt, cunning, class-less SOB’s will twist and turn the system in such a way that heads or tails they will be the winners and the ‘Aam Janta’ will always be on the losing side.

Panditji wrote his Discovery of India during the British Raj, I will write during the Corrupt-Poltic-Raj. His Discovery of India saw the bright light of democracy after the release, I will be happy if mine sees even a glimmer of a ‘true, free, open democracy’.

Here’s to the Hope…again!!

Friday, March 16, 2012

My 'Malgudi Days'


I always thought that TGIF was an overrated phrase, but since last couple of weeks, I have known the ‘emotional importance’ of that term.

After another hectic day (& week & month), I returned to my casa…to say, the moment I entered was blissful, would be an understatement. Thanks to Facebook, I got the news of our Little Master’s century of century, so watched his video. I still remember his first game against Pakistan. He was only 16 in 1989…and I was 11!!

Those were the days of Ek…Do…Teen and One Two ka Four. Those were the days of Hero Rangers and BSA-SLR bicycles. Those were the days of lying at home to playing cricket, at every nook and corner of the street and any available open space. Those were the days of sitting with friends and discussing the strategies for the Indian Cricket team. Those were the days of ‘trusting’ your friends to ‘lie’ for you in school & tuition for the ‘sick’ days. Those were the days of doing your homework from Guide books & Digests, which were frowned upon by both teachers and parents. Those were the days of riding triples and friples (quadruples) on a Bajaj Chetak, Luna and Sunny. Those were the days of ‘not’ riding the bicycles when entering the school premises, but walk along with it. Those were the days of skipping the school/tuition to go to watch a movie with loose change (coins). Those were the days of your ‘first’ love. Those were the days of (excuse my language) ‘Maal’ & ‘Dao’. Those were the days of tagging along with a friend for hours, just so that he could have a glimpse of his ‘soul mate’.  Those were the days of taking a friend along to talk to a girl. Those were the days of going to the Convent & Rosary fun fare in the best possible wardrobe. Those were the days of exchanging the audio tapes of the latest Bollywood chartbusters with friends & neighbors. Those were the days of the family trips to Ajwa Nimeta. Those were the days of celebrating a friend’s birthday in Kamati baug.

Those were the days of unintentional friendships. Those were the days of innocent eyes dreaming to win the world over. Those were the days…Those were the days…

Pal, Rahe Ya Na Rahe Kaal…Kaal yaad Aayege ye Pal!!