Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
Master Bazaar Economics
Master bazaar economics and drive a hard bargain Shoba Narayan Oct 31, 2010 next previous I am driving my Scorpio van with two kids and a Labrador in the back. At 7am, Bangalore is cool and quiet, its roads devoid of traffic. I am antsy because I am late dropping off the kids at school for a competition. My eyes dart to the clock, and boom … my car brushes against another that is pulling out of a parallel parked slot. The encounter is shockingly loud. I stop and get out of my car. The other driver walks up. [...]
Obama and Singh
Obama and Singh meet at crossroads Shoba Narayan Nov 7, 2010 Pity Barack Obama. The President of the US is in India for his first visit and expectations, in terms of symbolism and substance, are sky-high. "Great Expectations to end up in Hard Times," said the former Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh, borrowing the titles of two Charles Dickens novels. Mr Obama is visiting during Diwali, India's largest holiday. He is staying at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, the scene of massive carnage in November 26 last year; and visiting the ashram of his hero, Mahatma Gandhi. In [...]
Maids, Mothers in law, Chores
Maids, mother-in-laws and the Zen of housework Shoba Narayan Nov 1, 2010 It happens to me everywhere - from Dubai to Delhi, from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, from Bahrain to Bengal. Wherever I have lived, when a group of women converge, the topic somehow turns to domestic help. "My maid wants to go back home for her annual leave and my in-laws are coming over at the same time. I don't know what to do," someone will say and release the genie from the bottle. The complaints, and occasional tales of woe, will come pouring out. "My maid broke [...]
Middle Class Car Buying
India's middle class is entitled to cars its new money can buy Shoba Narayan Nov 21, 2010 Car sales are booming all over India. That's the old news. How to manage the upsurge? That's the future. Before I get to the numbers, let me get the questions out of the way: how much should a newly wealthy nation be allowed to flex its muscles? How does it balance the aspirations of a growing middle class as symbolised by buying vehicles with the havoc that 250 million vehicles can cause on traffic, infrastructure and the environment? Doesn't conspicuous consumption play a [...]
Spices Pepper McCormic
McCormick must work hard to spice up Indian market Shoba Narayan Nov 28, 2010 next previous Here is how we make garam masala seasoning in my house: we buy the dozen or so spices separately from a variety of different shops in Bangalore. The black, white and long peppers from MK Ahmed; the cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg and star anise from the wholesale spice purveyors near Russell Market; and the black cumin or shahi jeera from my friend Syed Ibrahim, who brings it all the way from its source in Iran or Tajikistan. We roast these spices separately, cool them [...]
Ratan Tata
The quiet man of Indian big business finds his voice Shoba Narayan Dec 5, 2010 next previous It was a cool day in the middle of last month when Ratan Tata, 73, the chairman of Tata Sons, the promoter company of the Tata group, India's largest conglomerate, dropped his first bombshell. In a public lecture, Mr Tata described his group's plan in the 1990s to start an airline in India in collaboration with Singapore Airlines. They went through three governments and three prime ministers for clearance with no avail because, he said, Tata were unwilling to pay a 150 [...]
Holistic Health Care
Between nature and the laboratory, a cure for all our ills Shoba Narayan Dec 12, 2010 As healthcare debates rage on throughout the world, a heartening event is occurring in my hometown, Bangalore. Backed by state and central governments, the fourth World Ayurveda Congress is being held in the sprawling Palace Grounds. More than 5,000 delegates are expected to attend and present papers. The main goal, according to the organisers, is to figure out a way to integrate alternative medicine (they prefer to call it "traditional" medicine) with mainstream health care. China has attempted something similar with its own [...]
Savings tips for household help
In the new year, a savings tip for hired help Shoba Narayan Dec 19, 2010 It is that time of year when many of us are thinking about Christmas and year-end bonuses for those who help us. Most of us deal with household staff the way Lee Kuan Yew ran Singapore: as a benevolent dictator. We tell them what to do; teach them skills that will improve their work; and try to take care of them and their families. What we don't do is train them on how to improve their own lives; not because we don't want to [...]
Energy, Onions, India
All focus on energy for India but no heat to cook curry Shoba Narayan Dec 26, 2010 next previous Horamavu village seems like an odd place to take stock of the year, but it is in this little hamlet just outside Bangalore that I meet Nagappa, a fruit seller. I am in Horamavu to find a boarding kennel for Inji, my Labrador, during the Christmas holidays. My vet tells me about this woman who takes in strays and also boards pets for a fee. So, here I am, in the dusty lanes of this tiny village, bordered by lily [...]
Tourism Bedside Manners
Tourists appreciate bedside manners and smart service Shoba Narayan Jan 2, 2011 next previous So where did you go for New Year's? For much of Asia and indeed the world, it would have been the Middle East. According to a report by Deloitte entitled Hospitality 2015: Game Changers or Spectators, the Middle East has much to gain from emerging trends in the travel and tourism sector, thanks to 150 million new travellers from India and China and a continued expansion of the highly lauded Middle Eastern airlines such as Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways. The Gulf states, particularly [...]