This picture was taken at Tirumala Music Center, Begumpet, Hyderabad.
I find the interior design of this very interesting. The reason for the interest has some Indian roots.

Traditionally (and hence, even in Bollywood), we visualized luxurious home (bunglow) as something that has ceiling 3-4 time higher than conventional homes, large staircases adorning either side of the entrance hall and leading to more rooms on top. Till recently, a luxurious home was being showcased this way, in Bollywood as well as South Indian cinemas.

There is something to having stair case on either side of entrance hall. Usually, in Bollywood, this is shown as a curved staircase, red carpeted and flanked by wooden rails... Ofcourse, since such a grandiose cannot be practically achieved in retail space of one of the busiest streets of Hyderabad, the designer chose to go for "Plain vanilla" straight staircases with SS hand rails.

Whether the designer was conscious of the design semantics or not (or whether the client consciously briefed the designer or not), this kind of luxury statement seems to be working. TMC has been one of the most successful retailer in Andhra Pradesh (I'm not sure of the current status).

This picture is not going to surprise Indians.
Its a common practice to tie a red band while the dealer delivers a new car to customers and it stays for a very long time (probably till the mechanic at service station removes it).

However, no body knows why it is being done. This sight surprises many of those who come to India for the first time. Similar element can be found on Trucks, where they tie a black thread or a band with sometimes lemon tied to it.

As we all know, black band with lemons is something thats supposed to ward off evil eye and this is tied periodically (at festivals). The red band on new cars assumes similar form (a triangle pointing down).

Once a professor of IIT mentioned to me that this practice emulates "tying knot" during Indian wedding. I found the argument very convincing and I began thinking, "Why do we tie a knot" during weddings?

Last Sunday in "Satyamev Jayate", a lady spoke about deep rooted belief in Indian culture that Husband almost meant Owner... "Pati" is the Hindi or rather sanskrit word for Husband that literally means "Owner"...

The way owners mark their cattle is also very similar. Its very common to spot cows/ buffaloes with a string around the neck culminating in a bell or a log of wood.

In this context, I'm not sure whether the red thread is a symbol of celebration or tying down!In the larger context, why should women wear a thread around their neck and showcase their "being owned"?

Seen is a woman who is obviously not from Middle (or even lower middle) class, with a bottle of branded drinking water.

Few years ago, I would be very surprised to see such a picture... Most of us used to carry water in a bottle to avoid drinking contaminated public water... Now, we just buy it when we need it... and its true for all classes of consumers. But then, what is the opportunity for manufacturers here?

There is an interesting observation here. If you think that India in general is becoming health conscious, you are absolutely wrong. The same users consume tea on a absolutely road side stall, eat food in Dhabas that are far from hygienic, spit tobacco everywhere ... What we are witnessing is the need for "Chilled" "Drinking Water"... If you are not aware, India has two categories of bottled water. One is called "Packaged Drinking Water" and the other, "Mineral Water". While the first costs around Rs. 10 - Rs. 12 per litre, the second costs 3-4 time the first.

Those who are health conscious actually buy the second, i.e., "Mineral Water", but the numbers of such consumers is very low. The mass buys "Packaged Drinking Water"... They are seeking convenience and comfort in the form of "Rigid packaging" that can be carried and "Chilled" water respectively.

The most important fact here is that "Convenience" and "Comfort" have become affordable and have sort of become commoditized. I really respect the companies that are manufacturing this at that price and have actually made convenience and comfort affordable!

Who says India is chaotic?
When it comes to introducing systems and standards, we are very willing to do anything that supports cultural interest.

Why does Coke need to have Vegetarian mark? Isn't that obvious?

Time and again, things make me believe that India is not "Chaotic" but is "Emotional". Being emotional might some times make you chaotic. From our domestic to international politics, from internal to external policies, from stock markets to national budgets ... Emotion rules over logic and that's precisely why, India seems chaotic.Emotions are subjective especially in a culturally diverse country like ours and that leads to Chaos. What is right for some might not be for someone else!

However, as a whole, does it make sense to be emotional to this extent? It does contain some weaknesses, but does it contain some inherent strengths?

I do not have answers right now. I may come back with some, as I age... or probably India as a whole will come back with the right answers.

I certainly hope so...

I, being from South (and married to a North Indian), like to celebrate in both styles. Image above showcases south indian style of celebration (especially in Andhra Pradesh). Womenfolk celebrate it by arranging dolls (traditionally made by local artisans and arranged in indigenous fashion) and displaying it for 3-5 days ending with the tenth day. What I really love is that there are dolls in the collection that refer to professions that date back few centuries (and some of them exist even today)... Black smith, for example!

In the North, it is celebrated as a victory of Good over Evil (God Ram killed Ravan on the tenth day of Dussera). On the evening of the tenth day, people would gather at a ground (Ram Lila Maidan) and would witness Ram Lila (play, skit or sound system) where the story of "victory of good over evil" is told and effigies of evils are burnt with fire crackers (the sight is usually spectacular).

Coming back to the image attached, it has dolls that represent tribal activities, palanquin bearers, black smith, gold smith, traditional business man, snake charmers, traditional wedding setting, Dashavatar, Kuchipudi dancer, Krishna leela, Raasa leela, traditional musical instruments, kitchen utensils, et al. It takes weeks of meticulous planning to execute something like this. This is of particular interest to womenfolk and children (girl). Usually, neighbors visit each home, get together around the arrangement and chit chat over the dolls, themes, myths, stories and topics around this... it could go from minutes to hours and usually ends in consuming snacks (or prasad) and bidding bye-bye!

Whats interesting here is that in places where affluent people live, these items are bought by maids of household whereas in middle class areas, these are bought by consumers themselves. Hence it can be understood that this kind of market doesn't have any class difference in terms of consumption, but there are differences in the way things are bought...

Another interesting fact is that almost everything is sold this way... from household cleansing items (such as above) to appliances (brands such a Godrej have been setting up temporary kiosks in streets to book orders for products like washing machines), from financial services to household petty services (such as pest control, appliance AMC)... everything can be and is being sold this way!

Though its almost impossible to project any statistics here, I believe that this market would be atleast a couple of billion dollars.

What will be interesting to see is whether somebody will tap this opportunity or whether it will be killed by large format retailers... Or will it evolve itself?

When I think further, I wonder why we Indians love night life so much... even when we are looking for weekend getaways. Weren't holidays meant for chilling out?

Not essentialy so. A lot of Indian tourists flock to South East Asia and Middle east. Distance and cost of travel apart, I think it is because of the night life these destinations offer. I'm personally not very different in terms of this preference... I usually prefer Europe when I have some work there and spend a day or two extra to chill out. I definitely find a lot of places boring because of the lack of active and vibrant night life!

Cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Banglore back in India have plenty of night life to offer. Despite adversities, government has been constantly pushing the closing time of shops upwards... Currently most of the shops in Modern retail close at 21:00 during weekdays and 22:00 during weekends.

Young people of India increasingly prefer to work in Metros... and I think the prime reason for this is that, apart from offering plenty of career opportunities, cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Banglore offer active and vibrant night life!

So, why do we like night life?

In my opinion, this preference has got a lot to do with our climatic conditions. Excepting a few places, India is predominantly a Hot country. Those who come from cold countries say that India has only two climates: "Hot and Very Hot". It is true across geography of India, from Punjab to Kerala and from Maharashtra to West Bengal. Nights are relatively cooler and tend to be comparatively more comfortable than days... Till about a decade ago, Air conditioner was not a common product in Indian middle class household. Traditionally, families used to gather outdoors during evenings for a chit chat. Festivals like Diwali and Dussehra have activities during night time... Before technology pervaded solutions to cool our homes, Night meant Comfortable to us!

Hence, even today, night carries a sense of "comfort" to us. I'm not sure if this is going to change in near future or if it will change at all!

(BTW, the picture above was taken on Mall Road of Mussorie and the wheel is rotated by humans, not engines)

Updated on 16/07/2012
Indian festivals often have "Navratras" before the actual day of festival. Navratras means "Nine nights" of celebration. Here too, there are references to celebration during nights. Also, traditional Hindu calendar (followed even today for festival dates) is based on phases of moon, again with reference to nights. Hindu dates are as per 15 phases of moon culminating with Full moon day and New moon day!