Boss In Sartorial Sense At-least….

 Boss In Sartorial  Sense At-least….

Hugo Boss … his suits had a smart cut almost like a uniform.

The 4.3 € Billion company from Germany has two brands… Boss and Hugo…

They have done it all made uniforms for the Nazi party, the German Army and then the SS - Schutzstaffel too. 

After the second world war they made uniforms for the French Army, Red- Cross, Railroads, Post- Offices and the Police.

No wonder the lines were so well defined, a suit that had genetics deep into uniforms…

My association with brand started with gazing at the suits apparel and accessories at Airports… one of my bosses (Sanjay Khanna) had a Hugo Boss suit… again it was sharp..and ofcourse he is too.

My perceptive daughter may have seen me gazing at the show windows at the airports as child a few times, … When she came of age and went to Cambridge one Summer… what do you think she got me.. A Boss Sweater Jacket and the again with her Masters at America University…at Washington DC another exquisite Polo T-shirt as gifts.

By now I was hooked and Dabbled with the brand myself…yes brands are friends, brands with a strong story and brands with a legacy, good or bad make these brands intriguing and interesting…

I may not be a Boss in real life all the time…. but Sartorially yes I can be the Boss all the time and forever.

Soft Serves - Hard Battles

 Soft Serve- Loss Leader 

Mc Donald’s Soft Serve Cone which old timers call Softy… began the surge of the loss leader strategy… 

A soft serve vanilla cone at ₹ 14 and dipped in chocolate at ₹ 21 or so then, which is now ₹ 28 and ₹41 respectively .

The objective was to clearly increase footfalls and then enhance and gradually extend the spend and then finally expect a loyal Customer.

Let’s take a lower middle class or middle class family of four goes today and orders 4 vanilla soft serve cones at ₹112 nearly the price of one decent branded ice cream on a cart. Here the family gets, air conditioning, a table to sit and enjoy the ice cream, clean toilets, pleasant staff and perhaps a photo opportunity with good old Ronald. All for ₹ 112… a premium or even a luxury experience for some…

The story progresses, Junior now eyes the Happy Meal and Sister would want a aloo tikki burger, tired Mom wants a wrap and the hard working Dad would like a Chicken Mc Grill. They postpone it for a  later trip.

However, the seed is planted… when they have the next celebratory surprise surplus they will be back . Each demanding their identified targets. So that’s how it works. We all know that and knew that.

So what’s new…

There is a twist in the tale there is sampling to the loss leader, at ₹10 the small guy you see in the picture… that’s him at ten bucks in a waffle cone yes waffle cone and in three flavors… vanilla chocolate and mango… brilliant… this to induce trial to a trial …

I have always felt and believed in a pricing strategy based on a experience  and slowly inviting engaging and enticing the customers… some examples from my Corporate Life

Invitation Pricing in newspapers as in cover price and Ad rates… Times of India Group

Discovery Channel…, and Star TV free…priced low and the popular pricing for Cable Subscription… and then a tsunami of viewership.

A low hurdle and barrier to Hotels and their Room Tariffs and then extending the experience for the leisure travelers and superlative service for the Corporate travellers and building the brand … I am Lalit (I am the Brand)

Askme.com the 4 th largest e commerce provider exceedingly successful subsequently lost the race as the ecommerce world is “Surviival of the richest and not the fittest”  I could wite another book on that.

With Celebrity Cruises a luxury brand of Royal Caribbean cruises we made it and positioned it as an affordable luxury … experience targeted the mass affluent in India…

So the lesson from a humble Soft Serve triggered and re triggered this post and  a walk down my Corporate Strategy Journey..

Meanwhile both the Soft Serves were extremely enjoyable… Enjoy the Post and the Ice Cream..

Benne - Busted Today

 Benne - The Dosa Story 

I grew up in South India, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and then Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Although a Punjabi born and bred, I grew up with Telugu and Tamil sensibility. So I called myself a Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing (pun intended).

I visited Karnataka as a Child, was acquainted with Udupi style food but missed the Benne bus…

Launching the Mint newspaper … I was stationed at Church Street… Life there is another story for another time , and another post…lets stick to Dosas..and the Dosa story 

I was exposed more to Bangalore cuisine by Rajesh Kannan and gang…among a million places we visited MTR was bowled over till I went with the family to Vidhyarthi a legend and sorcery of dosa making.

Slowly my Dosa footprint got bigger and stronger.

All over India, on my travels with a companion and partner in crime or without I seeked the thick Bangalore Dosa and the Workshop Idly ..

With a million misses I would find one hit. Later in my hometown Delhi before the surge of South Indian restaurants I somehow found solace at Udupi at ITO, at the Karnataka Bhawan at Motibagh and then ofcourse Many times at Carnatic Cafe.. often called Benne Dosa, Davangere Dosa, Bombat , Malleshwaram again some hits and misses…

Then came the third Wave.. Amudam, Sangeetha, A 2 B, Gokulam, Rediscovered Chidambram so the Sunday morning for 30 odd weeks was at South Indian Tiffin…place

Then about 8 weeks ago Benne opened in my neighborhood.. lines as long as 100-200 people.. on a Sunday, every Sunday… we laughed at the waiting patrons we we drove past , sometimes taking a picture and saying Bhandara or Langar.. but deep down I wanted a piece of the pie.. sorry dosa..

So there was breakfast life which was BB and AB  (Before Benne and After Benne at the Delhi South Indian breakfast scene) quite similar to BC and AD in History Chronology 

Sagar, Naivedhyam, Dosa & Coffee albeit strong Chains were losing their prominence and mindspace with me slowly 

And then the night will fall bringing peace to all … I called Benne and figured there low turnout periods… I somehow extracted it from them by charming them and disarming them..( you can do the same to know the secret from me).

Finally, this morning after the prayers at the  Gurudwara..we landed up there .. walked in like a breeze ordered on the video wall quite like Costco food wall , well mannered staff, unassuming, polite and almost charming, despite their huge success and recent crowds and incessant performance…

The food very nice, crisp benne dosa, Podi workshop idli and Bunz.. from Mangalore and Konkani breakfast ( which I was inspired to have at Cafe Bhosle- Porvorim Goa - our second home..though the original recommendation of  Sachin Tendulkar was Cafe Tato also in Goa)

The Bunz was good …here too..

Would we again absolutely.. not only for the experience the food and the staff but also need to experience more of their repertoire…

Cheers to Benne Bunz and Bullets..

The Story of the Tally Counter…

 The Story of the Tally Counter…

Many moons ago I saw Swami Premanand talking about a digital counter to be used for chanting.

I chant nearly everyday sometimes without the discipline… I would ideally desire. I wanted the counter saw it  online and elsewhere and forgot about it. The design was ungainly I thought.

Cut to my daily commute from Haiderpur to HauzKhas on the metro..I met Sharif a quiet small built man. We got talking I was reading the Hanuman Chalisa and he was chanting the Kalma on his counter.

After a while we got talking after his initial hesitation, the plurism of religion and many paths to one goal in very simple language. We both smiled and agreed. 

He works at a fruit merchant at Azadpur Mandi and boards every day nearly my time and heads to Chawri bazaar carrying some nehmat as calls it for his family as it’s Ramzan for the evening Iftari meal… dates, fruits, milk supplements  and sweets etc.

I am a Professor of Practice in the Outskirts.

We usually acknowledge each other and smile…

Yesterday I asked him to get me a tally counter… he was very keen and excited .. he tried to synchronise my train timing for today.. called me a few times. Finally, he handed it over to me today .. I paid him and got busy chanting and so did he until Chawri Bazaar… He walking away with his goodies. And I continued my journey of chanting with my new pluralistic device to meet and one day glimpse and experience the almighty…

Kingdom of Bhutan - Paradise Regained

 It was somewhere circa 2002-3, Vivek ( both of us then from Star TV) and I flew into Paro Airport, from possibly… Kolkata..from Kathmandu… We checked into a Hotel near Druk Hotel (everything was Druk… the airline.. the beer.. the cannery etc all owned by the royalty)… Our appointments were to start the next day…

Shooting the breeze… on the busiest street in Thimphu with 4 cars and 14 pedestrians… we walked into an open air bar and drank imported beer .. Tiger ..possibly imported from Singapore.

That’s when the penny dropped, we should eat at the most expensive restaurant in town at obviously Hotel Druk…

We sauntered into the red and ordered the most traditional dish .., Ema Datsi and rice .. ( cheese and chilli broth) we kind of liked it..

Cut to the internet influencers age .. and Deepika Padukone and her dog are talking about it . I mean Ema Datsi..

I neglected the chatter as been there done that and worn the t shirt..

Today on a Holi Evening with the quietness around me decided to replicate my memory… made Ema Datsi at home enjoyed it with buttered bread this time.. memories revisited after 23 years..

The Story of the Two Bulbuls

 The Story of the Two Bulbuls:

My mother let the Madhumalti vines grow across her window, sacrificing fresh air and a view. For many months months several sets of Bulbuls visit and sometimes rest and nest in the vines.

Every morning having tea with…Mom..I could see her excitement, when the bulbuls chirped and played around…. I ask her have they done your morning meet, she would gleefully smile and be pleased with their morning and evening banter. She slowly began to grow an affinity towards them..

They would keep her company all through their day’s work and Mom was pleased with their periodic Haziri…

Now they’re also some unwelcome resident cats who eat sleep breed and sometimes mess the furniture on our front porch ..the porch has access to the ledge with vines and Mom’s windowsill too.

Now the cats got to know about the nest of bulbuls in the Madhumalti vines by her window. And perhaps the nest eggs had turned into nestlings…

The cats attempt to attack the nest and Mom hobbling hissing and cursing shops the cat away sometimes with her walking stick or asking maid Manoo to chase the cats with the floor viper rod. She has taken it as a mission to protect them.

So far the nest is intact we consider it the two bulbuls affection to Mom and vice verse and sometimes divine providence…

This  morning a young kite… got interested in the young nestlings and as usual the bulbuls call out and create havoc chirping… they forget to sing.. and today again they were rescued as I got into the game..

The bulbuls cry out and rescue arrives… we often philsophise and wonder how long will Mom be able to protect them and then we almost reconcile to the laws of nature.. the birds are prey to the cats and  kites also created by the same God…

Today on Dad’s passing away anniversary the Bulbuls and nestlings are fine and so is Mom to fight another day…and we will discuss them and their banter as always

One May in America : Four

 Hot Pot in Rockville filled my pot 

A 15 min Metro ride got us to Twin Brook on the red line towards Shdy Grove..

A short walk and we’re in Hot Heaven. Daughter Ananya orders merrily on the all you can eat in an hour and a half… and twenty percent penalty if you don’t finish anything you order…

So in comes a pot of soup she chose the chicken and the meats- lamb- pork, bean curd, tofu, Pak choy, various kinds of elegant mushrooms…. Enoki and the like

Pots come to a boil we inserted all the goodness got our sauces… choice of 10-15 sauces and condiments…then began the food meditation and silent sweaty mindful eating and heating up.. the slurp of the soup the bite of the meats the flash of spice gave us a complementary sauna.. sips of beverages… we went on.. 

I added shrimps sea basss and spinach… and another bowl of Tom yum soup.. the stomach was screaming no the greed and brain said more. The heart was satisfied..

The Robot Waiter served us dessert.. fruit, cheesecake and Coconut milk- Sago and the robot had nonchalantly spoke I gotta go now…

Outstanding meal with most outstanding eating partner Ananya… who introduced me to this wonderful format of dining…

We were offered a complimentary ice creams after all this debauchery.. she chose a watermelon iced lolly and I chose an ice cream sandwich all from Hershey’s…

Phenomenal experience… Hotpot .. the restaurant is Urban Hot Pot very Asian… South East Asian … Originally Chinese…

We finished in an hour…