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…)

“One life. Why so serious?”.. Goes the latest ad campaign for the much awaited hatchback from the Honda stable, Honda Jazz. Let me take you thru a small history of this car. The car was launched in the year 2001 in Japan and in Europe, US and some other markets the car is known by the name “FIT” and in singapore, and some other markets its known as “JAZZ”. (more…)

On most days, a racist attack, anti-abortion riots and a crucial national health plan would have automatically been the important news of the day. But June 11, 2009 was not one of them. Donald Trump, who owns the rights to Miss USA, the beauty pageant announced that Carrie Prejean, crowned Miss USA runner up was being sacked for breaking her contract with him and the furore that followed has divided the United States of America into two. (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…)

June 2009, Beijing, China.

Unlike its sassy sister cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong, where an energized nightlife rocks into the wee hours, Beijing seemingly slumbers early in the night. But, like in most of China, its parks and plazas spring alive to greet the rising sun with taichi, ball room dancing, croquet, Chinese martial arts and other sports! China has surely come a long way since Deng Xiaoping. The ultramodern skyscrapers in the backdrop of a booming economy, the mind blowing pace of development of infrastructure and other amenities and the dead earnestness and meticulousness of the Chinese technocrats and businessmen can put any other counterpart to have a complex. (more…)

Australia, they say, is a whole new world packed into one continent, packed into one country. Unarguably, it is one of the most picturesque land masses on the planet with a variety unparalleled. If you are in Australia you can bush walk in the deserts, ski in the Alps, stroll on the Gold Coasts, bungee Jump in the gorges, snorkel in the barrier reef, or simple keep gasping at the amazing sights all around. (more…)

The government has floated three town planning schemes for an area called Bopal in Ahmedabad but has not been able to implement any of these as Bopal has witnessed haphazard and unplanned construction activities for the last two decades. The layout and the utilization of the spaces in this area is so bad that the government is wary to start anything. The government wishes that it had shown foresight before approving plans for the area. A regret, that will remain unattended for decades. (more…)