beingdesh

Category: MBA

  • The Curious Case of Carter Road

    Over the past year or so nothing as intrigued me more than the appearance, sudden rise, and equally sudden demise of certain eateries in Mumbai. Places like the western suburbs of Bandra and Andheri have seen a sudden surge in the number of places opening up, with one of the key growth segments being that of stores specializing in desserts and confectioneries. As Antonie Lewis points out in his brilliant piece Mumbai’s extreme restaurants which appeared in HT Brunch few days back,

    The sweetest section of the city
    It’s 400050 or Bandra West.Burrp.com lists 86 eateries that either specialise in desserts, confectioneries, cakes or devote a substantial part of their menu to sweet affairs. From mithai to muffins, cookies to cupcakes, Bandra’s got most places to take care of your sugar fix.

    I am assuming atleast of these 86 would have appeared in the year or two. Among these the most prominent category which is attracting equal attention of entrepreneurs, consumers, an investors alike is that of Frozen Yoghurt. According to Burrp there 9 exclusive Frozen Yoghurt shops in Bandra (with others such as Ci Gusta, Quiznos Sub, and Cuppa Joe also serving Frozen Yoghurt)*.

    To be honest, I am not a big fan of the category. This frozen dessert with a pleasantly sharper flavour than ice-cream is usually served in berry or fruity flavors. The tart in the dessert is complimented with toppings ranging from crunchy nuts to fresh and canned fruits. It is obviously a healthier option than ice-cream with its lower fat content, but I am still to acquire a taste for it.

    Personally I have been a big fan of yoghurt since my childhood. While as a kid the thick Kesar-infused Shrikhand or the aamrakhand (Mango Pulp mixed with Hung Yoghurt) captured my taste buds, I discovered the slightly softer matho with a variety of flavors and toppings in Gujarat. I have had the best matho  at Surat but as one of my friend insists, nothing beats Rajkot in matho. One of my favorite flavors of matho back in Gujarat is the American Dry Fruit- a unique mix of chocolate chips, nuts and jelly whisked with a hung yoghurt (I feel matho has a slightly thinner consistency than Shrikhand, which means it has a relatively higher water content).

    And then there is Mishti Doi, malaidar curd which is at its best when sweetened using Date Jaggary, a product popular from those earthen kulhads in Durga Pujas to  Mother Dairy plastic cups on the Delhi University campus.

    To understand the difference between these two distinct usages of yoghurt (eastern and western) one needs to understand the differences in culinary cultures. We as Indians (and lot of parts of Asia including the middle east) have been consuming yoghurt for a long time. But for the western world, Yoghurt was an alien concept. People hardly appreciated its sour flavors and it was difficult to get it. It first gained popularity during the hippie movement as simpler food habits were being encouraged as part of their communes. Later on some genius added sugar and fruits to the sour yoghurt and started marketing what we call “Flavored Yoghurt”. They sold it on promise of health and taste. With the growing consciousness towards healthier foods and emergence of functional foods, brands like Yakult and Danone became household names, and LactoBacillus, a bacteria which makes yoghurt what it is, was embraced for its perceived health benefits by millions around the world.

    You can watch a detailed documentary on the emergence of this category (presented from the perspective of UK markets) and others here:

    Documentary on the emergence of Yoghurt

    I haven’t got to read and watch much about Frozen Yoghurt’s origins, but the Wikipedia entry traces it to New England region in North East U.S.A.

    Frozen yogurt was introduced in New England, north-east USA, in the 1970s as a soft serve dessert by H. P. Hood under the name Frogurt

    So while the western world had to go through a series of manufacturing and marketing innovations to make yoghurt mainstream, we have always had it as part of our natural diet. And hence the opening of Frozen Yoghurt shops (and the stocking of Flavored Yoghurts pods in supermarkets) is slightly confusing.

    Are companies trying to sell us a fancy concept, a new experience, a differentiated dessert or a functional food item?

    I have been looking for answers myself. So when earlier this year I was at B-School in Mumbai helping a batch of students with their placement preparation, I thought of throwing the question to them. Here is a summary of the case study, with a structure to approach the problem, and few ideas from my end:

    I don’t know if I have been able to solve the problem or make it simpler. All I know is that I will always prefer an American Dry Fruit Matho or a Kesar Shrikhand or a Mishti Doi over frozen yoghurt.

    So FroYo makers, do you have anything better to offer?

    *Specific input from Anuja Deora

  • [Food Documentary]: The Foods That Make Billions

    In the past few weeks I have gone through a wide-variety of food related documentaries. They have ranged across the typical Bourdainian browsing the food-cultures type to weird eating styles to those bashing the American Fast Food culture. I thought it will be worth sharing a few with my fellow food bloggers, readers and marketing enthusiasts.

    The Foods That Make Billions is a three part documentary created by BBC about food categories that have grown from simple commodities to multi-billion dollar brands. It is a stunning lesson for marketers and business students, giving them an opportunity to visualize the so often heard about “Value Addition” in practice. Also it showcases the stupid heights of capitalism, and its ability to change our habits and the way we live life. The documentary is slightly U.K. and U.S. focused, and few of these categories are still evolving in India, but it is definitely worth a watch.

    The first in series is on Cereals. It goes through the history of cereal development right from the early days of Kellogg’s, new product innovations in the category, how multinationals changed the way we had breakfast, the tough activism faced by the brands during the 70s and how the products reinvented themselves to suit the new environment.

    BBC Documentary: The Foods That Make Billions–Cereals

    The second one is on Yogurt. The story of taking a simple milk-based product to a fruit-flavored, sugar induced multi-billion dollar selling cocktail. The story traces the origin of Functional Foods from the days of Dr. Shiroto and Yakult, to Danone and Muller’s reinvention of the category. Given my recent interest in frozen yogurts, I enjoyed this one to the core.

    BBC Documentary: The Foods That Make Billions–Yogurt

    The third talks about a product which I believe embodies the heights of marketing success, Water. To take a product as fundamental as water and to create some of the most profitable brands in the world out of it is a marketer’s dream come true. I haven’t found a full link to the video, so listing all the three parts.

    BBC Documentary: The Foods That Make Billions–Water Part I

    BBC Documentary: The Foods That Make Billions–Water Part II

    BBC Documentary: The Foods That Make Billions–Water Part III

    Let me know your thoughts on these documentaries, planning to share a few others in the coming weeks.

    Note: I have just shared the links from Youtube, and have not uploaded or distributed these videos. I would have liked to see BBC upload such wonderful documentaries on their channel though. They have uploaded a few clips on their official website. In case someone has an issue, will pull them down.

  • MOVE OVER BIG BROTHER, BHAIYYA IS HERE…..

    [Today I came across this mail, my first group work at SP, with the bestest group I ever worked with at SP. I still recall our first meeting, a gyaani tungi, Lal in don’t care mode with his red-white tshirt, Monik shouting at the top of his voice, and Nitika sitting in a pink top cursing her kismat for being part of this ganwaar group. I have copied the entire assignment here :)]

    Daroga Babu I Love You, Panditji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi, Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke … The fact that people go to watch movies with names like these bears testimony to the fact that Bhojpuri movies are here to stay. They started production in the 60s and were thwarted by the more popular love stories and family dramas of Bollywood. Over the years a much more professional Bollywood started moving up the value chain by targeting Urban Audiences and NRIs. Many of the consumers were not able to make this shift thus creating a void. The main reasons were lack of affordability and the cultural gap as perceived by them. The Bhojpuri movie industry jumped at the opportunity and filled in this gap. With its cultural and entertainment value, it projected itself as the perfect substitute for Bollywood cinema. Today, the market for these movies has grown by leaps and bounds. One of the major contributing factors is the migration of labour from Bihar and UP to various states in the country. Therefore, the demand for Bhojpuri movies is almost omnipresent. Using this case we try to ANALYSE the change in demand and the substitution effect for a segment of Bhojpuri audience comprising the rural/small town audience and the migrants.

    MARGINAL UTILITY/ DEMAND CURVE:

    MU/Demand Curve

    FEATURES:

    1. BOLLYWOOD INDUSTRY:

    A) The market size increases up to the 1990s and there is a decline in 2000+.

    B) There was an increase in emphasis on the high end market as the years went by.

    C) There is a continuous increase in the minimum amount to be spent on a movie by the consumer. Thereby a void has been created by the change in price along with cultural preferences.

    2. BHOJPURI FILM INDUSTRY:

    A) The market size moderately increased upto the late 1980s and then experienced a steep decline in the 1990s.

    B) In the late 1990s and early 2000, the industry rose back in leaps and bounds, thereby successfully capturing the market uncatered or left behind by the Bollywood industry and created its own market place too.

    INDIFFERENCE CURVE ANALYSIS:

    Features

    FEATURES:

    1. IC-1 has a flatter slope implying the preference of the people for Bollywood cinema.

    2. An increase in the price of Bollywood cinema along with the change in the style of film making caused the people to change their preferences to Bhojpuri cinema. They assigned more value to Bhojpuri cinema as compared to Bollywood cinema. This caused the indifference curve (IC-2) to become steeper. This shows that the people allocated more of their income towards Bhojpuri cinema.

    Reference:

    Latika Neelkantan, “The heartland values of Bhojpuri cinema”, Himal SouthAsian, October’2006. [Online]. Available: http://www.himalmag.com/2006/october/special_report.htm [Accessed 27th June, 2008]

    Submitted by GROUP 5

  • The Death of Longer format

    Watching the current India-NZ series made me think a bit. Gone are the awesome days of test cricket when there was a patient build up to the innings, each ball was played on its merit and there was a healthy competition between bat and ball. God, Dravid and Laxman are probably the last generation in World Cricket who can play the classical game the way it was played. So what has changed apart from the ho-hullah of T20 cricket, the flatness of the pitch, short grounds and lesser number of test matches due to jam packed T20 seasons.

    I feel test cricket’s biggest change has been the role of opening batsman. Where a Gavaskar or a Boycott labored for the entire morning session without a helmet to take the shine off the new ball, the likes of Sehwag, Smith, Gayle hit it all across the park to take the shine off the new ball. Opening batsman of the past were patient enough to see the new ball off, and pass on the responsibility to the middle order to accumulate the runs. Not that they were not scoring runs, but they usually used to stick around, anchoring the innings. A modern day Test opener wants to unsettle the opposition by thrashing him all around the park, then let the captain spread the field and then accumulate singles. They are fearless (given all the modern day equipment, and the lack of awesome fast bowlers). They want quick runs, so that there isn’t much pressure on the middle order.

    If we look at it both had similar intentions, but the way of achieving it was different.

    Now think about how life has changed around you. Well the pitch has changed, there are lot of opportunities, life is faster now. You want to a good opening in life. Everyone wants quick success. Ask any MBA who has recently passed out and they will say, well I will work till I am 40, and then become a consultant, or work with NGO or do something on my own. Till then I want to earn. Everyone wants quick bucks, quick success. Everyone is secure financially, still they want more of it, and maybe few years from now give their children an awesome playschool so that he /she can enter a good school. Be it career, relationships, friendships, everyone wants to keep things short and uncomplicated.

    Think of the previous generation, they used to labor it for years for getting things in place and give their next generation a better life. They would face the balls coming their way with courage despite much cover, lesser security, play off the new ball and then pass on the innings to their children to take it forward. It was all so courageous but brilliantly simple and happy.

    And I think in between these two generations separating the Test Cricket generation and the T20 generation, we are stuck, the One Day generation- confused and unsure about our existence!

  • Brand or Fad

    Nokia as India’s most trusted brand… naah [Brand Equity Survey]. I mean my last 3 phones have been Nokia and I just love them still I don’t feel for they simply didn’t deserve the numero-uno position in the survey, given the awesome ground players like Micromax and co have covered. Rest of the top 10 are made by the usual list of Lever products along with the red and white toothpaste, the awesome smelling antiseptic (smelled its Chinese version at Apeksha’s home, disappointing, doesn’t smell the same) and everyone’s favorite biscuit brand.

    Some years back at DA-IICT we were debating the difference between a Brand and a Fad. Pumped up from the success of Rang De Basanti and the awesome Legend of Bhagat Singh songs my roomie always wanted to be a rebel, maar daalo he said, anti-establishment had become. I came up with this point on Bhagat Singh being a fad, something which didn’t last, and Gandhiji being a Brand. As per Nitin Paranjpe, CEO, HUL successful brands deliver timeless values, build on them and resonate not just with the immediate needs of consumer but with their larger aspirations.

    Now think of Bhagat Singh, yes he indeed was a hero and he did satisfy the immediate need of the masses, but he or his means were not enough to sustain it over a time and fit into the larger picture of achieving independence.

    Gandhiji lived his life with masses and delivered trust over a sustained period of time (even after his death) and the core values remained the same non-violence, tolerance and respect for everyone. He became much more than a brand, he became a way of life.

    So is Nokia a Gandhiji and Micromax a Bhagat Singh? No, these things are not comparable but yes these brands can learn a lesson or two from personalities and how they managed themselves. Nokia can’t all of a sudden come up with a blast of weird low cost dual/ quadra sim phones, and Micromax can’t come up with the awesome quality which Nokia offers.Gandhiji would have never taken up violence of any form, and Bhagat Singh would have never had the tolerance to tackle the beating of British officers with a smile. But now these brands are trying to find a middle ground, Nokia planning to come up with multi-sim phones and Micromax offering great service through its network.

    Whatever be it, no one wants a rebel around, just think of it, what would be better, a Nokia coming out of your pocket, or a Micromax!

    [Note: It might sound loose, if one has to analyze Nokia, one has to look at a zillion other pressures the company is facing across the globe, I just mentioned a small situation which had stuck on for a few days]

  • Fake it till you make it

    Sometime in mind 90’s I was sitting in my school auditorium with friends waiting for the swamiji to come. He used to come every year and used to interact with us. I don’t recall his name, but his face is so clearly etched in my memory, it had tonnes of happiness sprinkled all over it, and he seemed content with everything. In fact when I read Hesse’s Siddhartha years later I was reminded of him.

    Mamaji of one of my batchmates in school, Swamiji had left his family and a well-paid job as a Chemical Engineer (he studied at Jadavpur University, so many awesome engineers in the country came from there in the mid 70’s, ask a bong and their heart still beats for the place) to join Ramakrishna mission (around the same time DD showed the movie on Swami Vivekananda, in which Paramahamsa was beautifully played by Mithunda, and I also read some literature by both the teacher and disciple).

    That day Swamiji talked on the topic, of Fake it till you make it. He discussed it in the context of shedding away inhibitions, developing confidence and all. I don’t remember exactly what he talked but that phrase just stuck on. And I came across it again during the ethics course at SP, when we were discussing Geeta.

    You imitate something which you can’t do naturally, and slowly it becomes a habit and you are in a comfort zone with it. Like lets say one asks me to talk less for some days, even if I am uncomfortable doing it, slowly faking the habit can actually lead to me adapting and enjoying the change.

    Travel through the markets and you always see these distortions. Obviously many don’t observe it, but look closely and one is sure to find packs of well known brands Fair and Lively, Lux, Colgote, Bora Plus, Ankor swtiches, Paracheet, Detol and so many more. The market for counterfeit/fake/me-too (products which look and feel the same as original, many a times come from Registered companies, the visual elements are same but the names are slightly different) products in India is huge and continues to grow at a similar speed if not more as the real products are growing.

    I remember having this discussion with Sagar, KK and our Professor of Consumer Behavior (one of the best courses I did in the second year) on me-too brands and why does someone buy it. Well in most cases the prices are similar (for the retailer though the me-too brands offer heavy discounting), but the Indian consumer just goes for the colours and visual elements mostly. Like if he visits a small shop and asks for a toothpaste and receives something which is a red colored tube with white font over it and the symbols appear somewhat relevant he doesn’t event think. Same for a cream and a pink and white tube. Although we think its as practice prevalent in smaller towns and villages, how many of us actually check/inspect the products we buy? I even consider the main competitor of Glucon-D launched by a top FMCG company in the country to be a me-too, the visual elements are copied, and only after a court ruling they managed to get the family pic and the font changed (both of them so symbolic of the Glucon-D pack).

    If the appearance is mostly similar, you can actually push through the fake ones, and the original ones despite all their efforts are at loss. But in the long term does it work out for small players, or they just make some money and maybe will switch businesses or disappear over a period of time?

    In the past couple of years I discovered another huge market with a high penetration of fakes in the system, that of people. Although this is a much more complex market, its extremely difficult to identify fakes. Past couple of year I found many people who were experts in the art of faking, being a different person than what you are with many people, turnaround and not necessarily think the same about so many. Be best friends in front of the world and then crib about them behind their backs. You found them all over, from fighting on organizing events, to fighting over the best jobs. Even the hugs at final farewell parties, the singing together of Puraani Jeans / Yaaro Dosti songs (with so many people as if you are actually going to be in touch with even 10% of them over the next year). Talking bullshit about people in hostels and liking them on Facebook pics. So many things, so many instances. But its not bad, its just the way one is.

    And there were few who tried to be honest and conveyed whatever they thought about the person in front of them and mostly landed into trouble. But those who faked had a much better time, they didn’t fall into unnecessary jhamelas. Again not bad, but its just the way one is.

    Couple of them I knew very closely were what we called experts in faking, they had the ability to change the way they behaved with different sets of people and sometimes just kill the real feeling, brilliant they were! The visual elements were mostly same, so was the outer appearance, but the product was not the original one.

    So is faking worth it? I don’t know about that but certainly being honest is surely not worth it.

  • Simplicity and Chaos

    From the time is was a Rs. 6 green fatty-boxed luxury, to the Rs. 10 yellow slim box regularity, Frooti has been one of my favorite brands. Why do I love it? No it’s not the usual nostalgia I associate with so many things; it’s just because of its simplicity. There have been many changes to it with times: the fat green box (Rs. 6) to green long boxed Yo! Frooti (Rs.8) to Rs. 10 yellow boxed one (it spiked to Rs. 12 one summer, evoking concerns from fans like me). But Frooti’s soul remains same, being Mango. At core it’s the same simple mango drink, and its packaging might change, or the price, but its soul (read positioning) remains just the same.Super Shimplu! (For SP marketing junta, recall one of Ashita mam’s classes,when Pooja and Nitika gave this presentation, I was super excited and we had a nice discussion on Frooti). Frooti has become a routine for me, I don’t care much, I just pick it up, I know it’s my Frooti, and it always will be.

    Then there is always the other extreme. Remember Liril, the superb refreshing lime soap (the la lalalalalaa lalalala laaa classic ad featuring Karen Lunel created byAlyque Padamsee is still so refreshing). But Liril somehow became confusing.It used to be my favorite soap, but they tried out too many things. They came up with what I recall as India’s first shower gel, different variants to core Liril (blue Liril) and finally disappeared. And then it came back, in a disappointing way as Liril 2000- aloe vera soap with an element of freshness.It felt like Ekta Kapoor took it from Unilever, performed a plastic surgery using another actor known as Levers 2000 and re-introduced the character. It was disappointing for a true Liril fan. The simplicity of freshness was replaced with chaos, and finally what emerged was something without its soul in place. Maybe a lot of people won’t relate to it, but a true Liril fan would just know it. But what power does a consumer hold, finally it was Liril who wanted to change, did they really care for a loyal consumer? But still sometimes I buy it and try to look for my old Liril, maybe I will find it.

    One tends to fall for simplicity, it’s always comforting,and it gives you peace of mind. You get a sense of oneness with it, simple things click, they are long lasting and consistent with what your mind desires.Be it simple things or simple people, life is much better with them around.

    And chaos is disturbing, trying out too many things,thinking about too many things, and trying to hide your simplicity with randomness. One might try to change a lot, feel a lot different, but a person who knows, would always spot the difference and then try to disassociate from chaos. But chaos has its own fans, and they are very different from those few who desire simplicity.

    What happens to the entity under change, what is its identity now? Well it’s for them to change, it’s their choice and person who knows the entity so well should also respect the change, whether it works for them or not. Still one tries to reach out for the simplicity which is still there, but hidden.

    I would always desire simplicity, and for things which move away from it, I will hope for them to be simple again.

    [I messaged Shaik and Dolu to find out a few brands which have had a chaotic rise, they couldn’t come up with anything major, stupid they are :), but I super miss having FMCG discussions with both of them. The discussion featured Dolu- the marketing guy, Shaik- the sales and distribution expert, Desi- the fact, figures and insights guy and harsh- the listener. Well all this is a bit unrelated to the post.]

    A bit more from earlier times on simple things,

    Hrishikesh Mukherjee – Simple movies, Simple life (http://beingdesh.blogspot.com/2006/10/hrishikesh-mukherjee-simple-movies.html)

    Who Enjoys It? (http://beingdesh.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-enjoys-it.html) (This one written somewhere mid SP days)

    Simple Things again…(http://beingdesh.blogspot.com/2010/07/simple-things-again.html)

  • it waSP

    Remember talcum power, packed in those nice Cuticura boxes and pink Ponds dabbas. Throughout the year we just loved to sprinkle tonnes of it, for many mothers it was a medium to shower tonnes of affection on their kids, for many people it was their only experience of make-up, for many a fairness product. It was a remedy for rashes, itching and unnecessary sweating and the nycil dabbas to kill the deadly ghamori during summer. Another usage was of using it instead of boric acid as a carrom board smoothie 🙂

    A Ponds ka pink dabba used to be a common fare in our regular grocery shopping, but now visit any supermarket and the shelfspace for it is almost gone. Visit someone’s house and observe the products in their bathroom ( I do this frequently, tells you a lot about the person, recently I took someone’s case when I found them stocking rival company’s products :)), it has disappeared. Clearly the days of talcum power are over, and we have moved onto newer things such as deos, perfumes, fairness creams, summer cooling lotions, itch guards…

    Remember SP, we just loved to be there, few of us hated to be there :), but it was something which kept us busy, super-occupied and surrounded by few awesome people. Unlike undergrad, not everyone was awesome in everyone’s eye, but everyone had found the awesomeness in a bunch of people. People laughed, partied, cried, conspired :), did loads of bakwaas, but they were never lonely, they always had few people to fall on to. And we were used to it, it became too much a part of our system.

    But then we have moved on to our jobs in different locations, and few of always feel like they should go back to SP ( I don’t want to ), they just miss the SP routine so much. The feeling of being among people all the time is lost, now one comes back home (or some lonesome hotels in few cases) and tries to do the same things but with lesser loved ones around. Clearly, we should realize the days of SP are over, we should look out for newer options to keep ourselves occupied and happy.

    [Note: People might argue with the actual sales figures of Talcum powder, this is just my perception :), rest of it stems from a few discussions with dost log over past couple of weeks]

  • Lonely Nuts

    Consider a pack of peanuts, crunchy roasted salted ones, the kind of which are awesome with alcohol, or the kind of which come from Bharuch in Gujarat, not very dry but the slightly greasy types without the chilkas.

    And then open the pack, divide them in a few parts and send them to Mumbai rains, Jaipur’s market, Delhi’s shopkeeper lanes and coaching centres, Howrah’s gullies, Pune’s garages and the sort of places where the really shiny good quality peanuts wanted to end up.

    Peanuts are comfortable, mostly their future is secure, just that it seems these peanuts have lost their crunchiness. They get soggy is Mumbai/Calcutta’s humidity maybe, or develop a powdery coating in the Delhi/Jaipur’s heat or get too greasy in Pune garages.

    And then there are few of these lonely nuts, who have ended up in places like Bareilly, I mean maybe they show that they don’t care, they have always shown that they don’t care but even these nuts would lose their shine soon.

    And some had the courage to go far far away, to U.S. and they too seem to have lost out on their munchability index.

    Work, money, comfortable life, tough life, lonely life, losing awesomeness, developing tan, talking too much, not talking at all, having fights, making new friends, losing friends, losing heart, losing faith, losing patience, losing weight, gaining weight, drinking, drinking alone, stopped drinking, work is good, work is bad, work is the same…

    Nuts have gone nuts!

  • Bachpan ka Hawww, Bani Jawani Ki awww…

    Remember when we were kids and,

    • Someone fired an abuse like the dreaded S Word
    • Someone’s pant dropped by mistake
    • Someone choked up after going on stage

    Or when we were even smaller kids,

    • Someone wetted/soiled their pants
    • Someone forgot the multiplication table of 6

    we all used to say Hawww…followed by a handsome serving of shame shame, and even pappi shame.

    But as kids become older, and become much more mature, and much more facebook-ish, they found newer avenues and awww… came into being

    Awww… for me and a few others is the most irritating expression ever invented, it smells, sounds & looks very artificial. My first tryst with awww… came during the much forgettable days at vyapaar school, where ever pic on facebook was celebrated as an event of great victory & awww-ness.

    Then there were always those awww… girls, or awww… sisters as someone called them a few days back, they connected with a bond which ran through their cheeks, all the pics were loaded on facebook, cheek to cheek, neck slightly tilted, and a firey grin to top it up, and then followed up with a zillion aww-full comments. I think this is something which runs across all the b-schools as I have recently noticed.

    Awww moments are not only female centric, they can be a male phenomenon as well, where supposedly cute n hot girls click pics with sincere and honest guys (our yearbook describes everyone in the batch like that), and then people post the same aww-some comments.

    Some people like it, some dont, I certainly don’t, its sometimes like the screeching sound of thermocol, or that of fingernails on blackboard for me, but everyone is free to use whatever they want to, people might the same about my pet MAHAAN, so its ok.

    I am just trying to point out a trend, that’s it…awww…kay.

    p.s.: name is inspired from a famous writing which shows quite a lot on the wall paintings from Gwalior en route to Delhi on Indian Railways 🙂