Dollar Deals

Dollar Stores 49 -99

That may be a cheap replica but most mumbaikars are familiar with this omnipresent logo, sported prominently in most of the malls across the city. The shop is known for bringing everyday american products/brands to Indian shelves. You might have not even heard of most of these brands on display but for a price of Rs. 49/99/149 any thing with that "Made in Amreeka" tag sets your pulses rising!(Like 7 Cans of Stars & Stripes for Rs.99.)

Even though most of these items are also locally available, the sheer thrill of Amreekana is palapable, going by the hep/yuppie crowds that throng this shop! I spent around 2 hours in one of these outlets 9 ( how bored I could have been?) for a customer-product analysis:

Most people buy age defying cosmetics,

many buy beverages & choclolates,

and some, even buy detergents!!

(incidentally most of these detergents arefor for winter clothing to be used with warm water in washing machines !)

On the flip side, considering the fact that the Indian Rupee is currently riding an 9.5 Years high breaching the 39 mark vis-a-cis the greenback, the dollar shop seems to be totally unaffected by this! I eevnasked one of the counter guys as to why the benefit of cheaper import cost is not being passed to customer, to which he cheekily replied- most items were imported half an year ago!!!!!!!!!

I think that sums it all up!!!!!!!

Gandhi Vs Gandhi

Alright Alright..
I have been away (from blogosphere) for a while.., for a long while rather. Sometimes work pressures puncture your zest and zeal to pen your views in the web. Back with a blast now!

The occasion of International Non Violence Day yesterday were marked by several events across the globe. Yesterday, Congress Chief and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi encountered strong protests from various associations of Indian-American community in New York after she delivered her speech in the UN General Assembly. Considering the International History IQ levels of American people and their representatives, it is not hard to understand why this "Gandhi" chose to speak about Mahatma Gandhi!.

On the telly, I could not take my eye off one of the protestors' placard which read :
Sonia :Secret Bank Account of $2B in Swiss Bank Account.
I'm sure our CBI would have turned a blind eye to this ! I'm not sure if they had the required IQ but they never had Q !!!

Elsewhere in Sweden, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation Michael Sohlam made a public apology for not awarding the Nobel prize to 5 times nominated Mahatama Gandhi, saying that the decision not to extend him the prize was a mistake.
"We missed a great laureate and that's Gandhi. It is a big regret," he told a News Channel.
"I usually don't comment on what the Nobel Committees or prize awarding institutions decide. But here, they themselves think he is the one missing," he said.
Gandhiji was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and finally a few days before he was shot dead in January 1948.

In the final analysis, this expression of regret seems to be a greater reward than the award itself , for the World's greatest proponent of Peace and Non-violence !!

Sad Day for Indian Cricket???

After the stream of events that unfolded today in the Indian Cricket/Media , a prominent News Channel( whose prime anchor happens to be a cricket has been) has gone ahead and termed today as a "Sad Day in Indian Cricket". One is quite confused as to what event could have brought about a sudden pall of gloom, as if it were not already enough!

Was it Sachin's emotional outbursts or Greg's packing of bags?

Beats me!, for I thought it was the saddest day when we lost to Bangladesh , or to Srilanka (or what we call in India the Royal Calypso Collapso!)

The News of Greg Chappel's tendering of resignation should have actually brought some lost glory (and relief!) to senior players, for now they have made it aptly clear to all the wannabe coaches that:

1) no coach can ever mess with them
2) no coach can dare question their attitude or fitness levels
3) no coach can question their cricketing or advertisemnt commitments
4) "It my way or the highway" ( Chappell has indeed made the wise choice, albeit after two years of tinkering with the IMMOVABLE pillars of Indian Cricket)

DEAR GOD........

I have never written letters to GOD ( Or anybody else!) but I know that this practice is encouraged in several civilized countries to enable kids to link with the supernatural. If you have seen the movie " Bruce Almighty", you would know what I mean! ...God(a.k.a Morgan Freeman) responding to frustrated outbursts and emails.

I hope GOD responds to these too, soon enough, (that is, after he enlarges these in Photoeditor)

Ash Ba Trash

For the records, I'm neither a fan of Abhishek Rai nor Aishwarya Bacchan but have nothing against them per se.

No offence to Big Bacchanji, but I'm quite apalled by the media coverage of his confirmation of supposed engagement and ensuing marriage of these two darlings of the media. If the news of their "secretive" courting was already in public domain for years, then why should their engagement be such a breaking news? ( ok, except may be for Viviek O or Salman K). I guess it was heart- "Breaking" for the media to have found out an unnatural ending to this relationship..culminating in marriage, instead of a mirage!!!

I don't think anybody really cares whether Ash carries, marries or buries her current/past/future beau. Its the press and the media which have fabricated this into a sensational news , like the Noida butchery, only here ,we are yet to find out who is the butcher!

For almost a week now, all the news channels have been airing the footages from "Guru" or "Umrao Jaan" ad nauseum to corroborate the engagement news! Like this is not enough, we now have the "Shilpa Shetty - victim of racism" controversy.In a country where millions of people who are victims of racism and discrimation in their everyday life never managed to catch the attention of the bosses, Shilpa Shetty's tears from UK changed all that over night?


Why is the Indian media so celebrity crazy?

Secret behind "Mewad ka Ice Cream"

The ubiquous "Mewad ka Ice cream" vendor could hardly miss your eye across Mumbai. His wheeled pushcart is typified by decorative fake flowers, cone hangings, big display of "Mewad ka Ice cream" and English & Hindi. These days some innovative ones also have " neutral ice cream" or " netural flavar" (read natural ) displayed prominently on their cards to catch the attention of modern day health freaks, or may be to put up a bit of competition to the Big players in that market!

What has always amazed me is the fact that for years, these Ice cream wallas have managed to appeal to people of all ages, castes, creed or economic strata! In fact in the buzzing commercial districts like Nariman point, you could see these tie clad, mobile flaunting executives relishing 4 in one I/C + falooda after a heavy lunch. In fact some frequent the stalls so regularly that the vendor prepares the favorite platter at the sight of the clientele descending from scycrapers afar!

While after 20 years in Mumbai I still haven't mustered enough courage to eat in these stalls, I reckon the day is not far.

I wondered about these:

1.The Mewad cart has excellent refridgeration without any power consumption!

2.While hygiene is an issue, the exteriors of cart are neatly maintained.

3. Their cones are very popular, more than other mainstream brands!

4.The origin of "Mewad ka Ice cream" is unknown. Its apparently not trademarked as you can see scoresof vendors across the city.

Mewad, a place of historical significance in Rajastan, is known for its valiant Rajput ruler Maha Rana Pratap ( a.k.a Mewad ka Rana) . I really don't think he or his descendants invented the icecream to earn any royalty from this. SO I URGE the Akhil Bharatiya Mewad ka Iceream Vikreta Association to immediately take needful action to protect its IPR, lest the concept should be hijacked by US!

Happy Lickin! & HNY to all!!