Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Quintessentially and its use in India: The National Abu Dhabi
India's super-rich a quintessentially complicated bunch Shoba Narayan Sep 26, 2010 I have a request for Paul Drummond, the boyish co-founder of Quintessentially, the UK-based luxury concierge service: can he get me into elBulli before it closes forever? If he can, here is one Indian who will sign up for his company's services on the spot. Mr Drummond was in India recently to drum up (sorry, couldn't resist) clients for his bespoke concierge and luxury lifestyle group. As a fast-growing economy, India is "a very serious market for us", he said. To that end, Quintessentially has tied up with [...]
Indian Pharma
A dose of Indian state support will keep drug firms healthy Shoba Narayan Oct 3, 2010 Indians are not pill poppers. Or so I thought until a report in the Lancet Infectious Disease Journal linked an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" to India. In a somewhat dubious compliment the new "genetic mechanism" is even named after us: New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1 or NDM1. The report, published in August, caused uproar in the Indian and international medical community. The Indian health ministry has appointed a committee that will frame and monitor policy on antibiotic use. Hard as it is to believe, India really [...]
Indian Pharma
A dose of Indian state support will keep drug firms healthy Shoba Narayan Oct 3, 2010 Indians are not pill poppers. Or so I thought until a report in the Lancet Infectious Disease Journal linked an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" to India. In a somewhat dubious compliment the new "genetic mechanism" is even named after us: New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1 or NDM1. The report, published in August, caused uproar in the Indian and international medical community. The Indian health ministry has appointed a committee that will frame and monitor policy on antibiotic use. Hard as it is to believe, India really [...]
Oberoi Hotels
White knight to old man's rescue when black-tie party's over Shoba Narayan (Writer) Sep 4, 2010 next previous Hotel insiders in India have been wondering about the fate of the Oberoi hotels group for some time now, given that its octogenarian chairman's succession plan appears to have failed. In a recent press conference in Kolkata, Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi, or Biki Oberoi as he is better known, conceded as much when he indicated that his son and nephew, both joint managing directors of the company, would not work together after him. "So what happens to the Oberoi hotels after the [...]
Indian Exuberance is misplaced
Indian exuberance is misplaced Shoba Narayan Oct 10, 2010 The odious comparison comes up all the time, especially during the recent run up to the Commonwealth Games. Every time a walkway collapsed or an official complained about filthy toilets, India collectively sighed and mutely acknowledged the elephant in the room: the Beijing Olympics. Across the globe, in Indian blogs and usenet mailing lists, Indians engaged in a collective, heartfelt and oft-repeated comparison between the two most populous nations on earth. As I prepare to spend 10 days in China, I wonder if the Chinese indulge in as much soul-searching [...]
Indian Exuberance is misplaced
Indian exuberance is misplaced Shoba Narayan Oct 10, 2010 The odious comparison comes up all the time, especially during the recent run up to the Commonwealth Games. Every time a walkway collapsed or an official complained about filthy toilets, India collectively sighed and mutely acknowledged the elephant in the room: the Beijing Olympics. Across the globe, in Indian blogs and usenet mailing lists, Indians engaged in a collective, heartfelt and oft-repeated comparison between the two most populous nations on earth. As I prepare to spend 10 days in China, I wonder if the Chinese indulge in as much soul-searching [...]
For The National Abu Dhabi on tiger safaris
Finding peace on the trail of the tiger Shoba Narayan Oct 16, 2010 It was, in the end, a media brouhaha, but it did crystallise our travel plans. Earlier this year, there were a series of reports stating that India was planning to phase out tiger tourism, something that the environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, eventually denied. Startled by the reports, I called Ravi Chellam, the Wildlife Conservation Society's director for India. He told me: "To say that tiger tourism is going to be banned from the core areas is plain incorrect as tourism was never allowed in core areas [...]
Newly Affluent Have Wool Pulled Over their Eyes
Newly affluent still have wool pulled over their eyes Shoba Narayan (Writer) Oct 17, 2010 My Chinese tour guide has not heard of this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner. I am in Beijing and have just read the news in the lounge of the Fairmont hotel in Beijing. The tour guide who takes me to the Forbidden City is a young, bubbly lifelong Beijinger named Sharon. She has a two-year-old son and works part-time as a guide, she says in fluent English. She is 29, educated, clearly bright and throws out statistics with the virtuosity of an archer shooting arrows. [...]
US China relations
US and China must forge mutual trust to end currency war Shoba Narayan Oct 24, 2010 It was at the Expo 2010 Shanghai that I encountered Song Hongbing's bookThe Currency War. I was with a few Chinese acquaintances, introduced to me by mutual friends because they had access to the expo. Busloads of Chinese tourists were everywhere, led by loudspeaker-toting guides. People standing in the long lines that snaked around the hot pavilions created by countries including the UAE, UK, US, France, Canada and Denmark, had to wait for up to five hours to gain entry. For some reason, [...]
Tourist Traps
I'll buy my share of tourist tat, but skip the hard sell Shoba Narayan Nov 14, 2010 next previous The first time it happened was in Egypt. I walked out of the Pyramids of Giza, dying to buy a souvenir. My mother had specifically asked for a miniature sandstone pyramid inscribed with hieroglyphic writing. She said it attracted positive energy and wanted to keep it by her bed. I was determined to take one back for her, perhaps two. I wanted to buy several other souvenirs for all my friends. I was, in other words, an easy sale. The [...]