Consolidation among corporates seems to be in the air at the moment. The publication division of VRL group, which owns Vijaya Karnataka and Vijay Times, was taken over by Times of India group (Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd) recently. The story of Vijaya Karnataka is amazing. They entered the Kannada press industry at a stage when the industry was very mature and the existing players, like Prajavani, Udayavani, etc had long established their hold on the readers' mindshare. Nobody thought it would be possible to come up with a new newspaper at this stage and make it successful. It is like coming up with a new brand of soap today. It is easy to achieve phenomenal success in new areas by becoming pioneer in that area. Examples are AT&T, Vaseline, IBM, etc. However, entering a crowded market and winning customers over is not easy at all. But this is exactly what Vijaya Karnataka did. It is the largest circulated Kannada daily in Karnataka today.
With this aquisition, TOI group has immediately obtained reach to almost all parts of Karnataka through Vijaya Karnataka, unlike TOI which is popular only in Bangalore. Though this may turn out to be beneficial to Vijaya Karnataka, it is surely not good for me because I was subscribing to both TOI and Vijaya Karnataka. There is not meaning in reading two newspapers from the same publisher. I will have to change one. I guess I will move to Deccan Herald.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Travelling on the Mysore highway
I drove down to Mysore last weekend on the old highway (probably the only highway we will have, with BMIC getting into controversy). With most of the work of making it a 4-lane road finished, it is a pleasure to drive on the road now. Compare this with the situation even a year back, when you would choose to rather be whipped than driving to Mysore in a small car. There are a few precautions to take on this road, though.
First, you will want to know which side of the road to drive on, the left or the right. The answer is "either". However, remember that if you are driving on the right side, you must have your head lights on :-)
Second, remember that the tractors have the highest right of way on the highway. It may be belonging to a farmer and a former Prime Minister may not take it lightly if you even honk at a farmer. Tractors need not turn on the head lights while travelling on the right side.
Third, how fast can you go? Answer is "depends". If you are within 10Kms distance of any village, be cautious about people crossing the road at their own sweet pace, cattle resting on the road, etc. All the time, keep a watch for vehicles coming directly at you (their right side), with their lights on. There is no exhilaration like travelling at 120kmph and suddenly realizing that there is a huge truck heading right at your car and you may be dead meat any moment. When you reach Ramanagar, be watchful for potholes. Small cars can get lost in some of them. Also, a handful of speedbreakers are intelligently placed in places where you least expect them, so watch out. I guess politicians promise for each village, apart from water, hospital, etc, two speedbreakers.
Should I overtake from left or the right side? Answer is "whichever lane is free". It is common to see trucks/autos travelling at 20kmph on the right lane and they don't intend to shift to left lane at all, so there is no meaning in sticking to rules.
Finally, where do I eat on the way? Answer is "Kamat Loka Ruchi". It is almost a unwritten rule that all cars must stop at Kamat to experience a urban, sophisticated feeling they are most used to in Bangalore - lack of parking space. After you manage against all odds to get a place to sit, you will be surprised to know that food is expensive, but not good! Masala dosa sucks big time. Coffee is not worth the Rs.12 they charge. I know this place used to be good, but I guess they have too many customers now to care about quality anymore. I hope it is so only on weekends.
First, you will want to know which side of the road to drive on, the left or the right. The answer is "either". However, remember that if you are driving on the right side, you must have your head lights on :-)
Second, remember that the tractors have the highest right of way on the highway. It may be belonging to a farmer and a former Prime Minister may not take it lightly if you even honk at a farmer. Tractors need not turn on the head lights while travelling on the right side.
Third, how fast can you go? Answer is "depends". If you are within 10Kms distance of any village, be cautious about people crossing the road at their own sweet pace, cattle resting on the road, etc. All the time, keep a watch for vehicles coming directly at you (their right side), with their lights on. There is no exhilaration like travelling at 120kmph and suddenly realizing that there is a huge truck heading right at your car and you may be dead meat any moment. When you reach Ramanagar, be watchful for potholes. Small cars can get lost in some of them. Also, a handful of speedbreakers are intelligently placed in places where you least expect them, so watch out. I guess politicians promise for each village, apart from water, hospital, etc, two speedbreakers.
Should I overtake from left or the right side? Answer is "whichever lane is free". It is common to see trucks/autos travelling at 20kmph on the right lane and they don't intend to shift to left lane at all, so there is no meaning in sticking to rules.
Finally, where do I eat on the way? Answer is "Kamat Loka Ruchi". It is almost a unwritten rule that all cars must stop at Kamat to experience a urban, sophisticated feeling they are most used to in Bangalore - lack of parking space. After you manage against all odds to get a place to sit, you will be surprised to know that food is expensive, but not good! Masala dosa sucks big time. Coffee is not worth the Rs.12 they charge. I know this place used to be good, but I guess they have too many customers now to care about quality anymore. I hope it is so only on weekends.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Google's software
Google seems to be in overdrive to release products. I am a sucker for Google products, so it is no surprise that I have been an 'early adapter' (AKA guinea pig) for a number of their products. I have been impressed with calendar, spreadsheet, page creator, firefox add-ons, Googleearth4.0 for Linux in the last couple of months. Gmail and Google have always been very useful. The only Google prodct that seemed to be a bad idea was the Firefox browser sync. Every time you start your browser, it first contacts Google's website and restores some information like bookmarks, saved sessions, etc. If you are on a slower connection, you need to wait for a good part of a minute for the browser to start. Browser sync also lets you store passwords, but that is a scary thing to do. I like the fact that they are coming out with Linux versions of their softwares. I tried Picasa for Linux. It runs through WINE, so it is not that good.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Thursday, June 08, 2006
About Presiden't speech
I got an opportunity to listen live to our president, Dr Abdul Kalam recently. In the past I have wondered why he is such a popular person. But after listening to him, I know why.
Though he cannot be counted among the greatest orators, he seemed to be able to connect with his audience extremely well. His down-to-earth nature and genuine interest in the topics he was talking about, unlike politicians (I know he is not one), were the reasons for people instantly liking him. He had brought his own powerpoint slides for his talk (his choice of colors for slides was gaudy, if I may humbly add). It was clear that he had spent time specifically preparing for this presentation. He answered a few questions from the audience so nicely and promised to answer any question we may post on his website. If our politicians want to find a role model, they don't need to look too far.
Though he cannot be counted among the greatest orators, he seemed to be able to connect with his audience extremely well. His down-to-earth nature and genuine interest in the topics he was talking about, unlike politicians (I know he is not one), were the reasons for people instantly liking him. He had brought his own powerpoint slides for his talk (his choice of colors for slides was gaudy, if I may humbly add). It was clear that he had spent time specifically preparing for this presentation. He answered a few questions from the audience so nicely and promised to answer any question we may post on his website. If our politicians want to find a role model, they don't need to look too far.
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