Blog@GraceJunction

The loud music coming from inside the huge canopy, huge halogen lights all around, smell of excitement rising above the small stench of animal presence, vendors selling popcorn, wafers, cold drinks, balloons, toys etc, and anticipation and excitement of my elder daughter and even myself are some of the first few things that come to my mind when I look back to the evening a couple of days back. I had never seen a circus for real. There were huge gates to greet us and to make sure people don’t barge in. The show inside was still on and we could hear faint sounds of announcements by the ringmaster rising above the din of music and the murmur of hundreds of people.  Suddenly, they appeared. Hordes of them smiling, talking, some amused, some with a look of disbelief and most only thinking about the next chore on their list. They kept trickling out and I was surprised by the number of people that tent had accommodated! (more…)

 
Dear Investors,

As I write for the final time in this newsletter column through which I have led this company for the last half a century, it’s difficult to steer away from that nostalgic feeling. When I was being driven home this morning in my car and as I looked through those tinted glasses, I was reminded looking at the school going children how my mother would give me a hug and my father would place his hands on my head and pray for me, before I left for school. Those were the strong foundations on which I ran this company and led the employees. Ambitions never overtook character. (more…)

Indian Elections is the event that has made Prannoy Roy and NDTV what they are today and thus also almost responsible for the existence of almost every other news channel in the fray. Indian Elections, atleast in the last two decades, has been the subject of much speculation because of the change in the voting patterns of the electorate, more importance being given to local issues. This of course has kept Prannoy and his boys happy and very soon will make him a media baron! Jai Ho Prannoy? (more…)

Finally Vodafone seems to have found the nemesis for the ‘Pug”. Hutch, the ex-name of Vodafone, was known for its pug, a dog that followed its owner everywhere, conveying the ‘where ever you go, our network follows’ punchline. The pug was such a hit that Hutch couldn’t keep the pug out of any of its strategies and ads! I mean literally, whatever Hutch did, the pug followed! The pug tried to enter the Vodafone camp after Hutch was bought by Vodafone. However, Ogilvy & Mather finally seem to have come to the rescue with a new mascot(s), thus paving the way for the last and final departure of the good old pug ‘Chika’. (more…)

On Monday, the markets across the world reacted positively to the Obama Administrations plan to buy out the toxic assets or debts of the banks. For long it was believed that till the U.S banks were burdened with these toxic assets on their books, it would be difficult to pump in money for fresh consumer lending and hence a prolonged recession due to the lack of liquidity in the economy. (more…)

Son,

I was concerned about the news that was reaching my ears and that is exactly why I am writing to you. In the past six months, our village has lost three of its cherished sons in the U.S. and all of them I believe could not live up to the mounting pressures of life and these uncertain days. I hope this letter will reach you in time, because I know you too are not finding it easier to keep your job, especially after the scandals that have broken out here. (more…)

This is how the 63rd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations began this year. The Secretary General, as usual, addressed the gathering.

“Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: Welcome to the opening of the general debate of the 63rd session of the General Assembly. It is customary for the Secretary-General, on this occasion, to assess the state of the world and to present our vision for the coming year. We all recognize the perils of our current passage. We face a global financial crisis. A global energy crisis. A global food crisis. Trade talks have collapsed, yet again. We have seen new outbreaks of war and violence, new rhetoric of confrontation. Climate change ever more clearly threatens our planet. We often say that global problems demand global solutions. And yet … Today, we also face a crisis of a different sort. Like these others, it knows no borders. It affects all nations. It complicates all other problems. I refer, here, to a challenge of global leadership.”

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