There are no free lunches (or, Wal-Mart is a Wise Old Man after all!)

So, with so much talk on the recession (with even my driver saying – “some Rehman ‘bhai log’ (read Lehman Brothers J) did this to the world, and now everyone is losing jobs!”), and much hoopla by retailers on “Recession proof shopping” (witness OOH advertising by a local Indian chain called Hum Brands); we are now being treated to a spate of bewildering promotions by retailers…

• “Buy 1, get FOUR free!” (where did the good ole’ BOGO go? I don’t like the sound of BOGF – it’s difficult to say!)
• “Buy a mattress, get the BED free!”
• “Subscribe to a magazine, get half an acre of LAND free!
• "Buy a DVD, get the ticket to the movie free!” (OK I am exaggerating, but that’s almost as weird as these offers can get)

I really think, despite the tried and tested appeal of promotions, the offers nowadays are testing people’s credibility (and rightly so). Comments heard:

• “This has to be defective/ seconds’ stuff”
• "The land is not accessible, and nothing can be done there – these guys are just fooling us"

What this really means I that people are beginning to understand that there is a fine print in marketing, either overt or covert – the more amazing the offer, the higher the chances that there is something wrong somewhere.

Early days yet to even judge the balance sheet impact of these incredible offers, but my guess (going by a benchmark of sheer footfalls seen in malls and shopping areas nowadays vis-à-vis 6 months ago) is, that fortunes are NOT being made now.

This trend actually pains my deal loving heart – I have, all my life, all over the world, queued up at the Diwali/ Thanksgiving – Black Friday/ Boxer’s Day etc sales waiting for that great bargain. But I am gradually coming to the opinion that Wal-Mart with its EDLP (every day low price) philosophy actually hit upon the idea of the century, apart from spawning a whole new breed of Retail formats – the Discount Store. Their contention then was, take the money you would spend into the cyclical promos, including all the advertising you would have to undertake to enhance awareness of the promo, and put it into having all year round lower prices. THEN build awareness of your store as the place to come for, for the best prices….this strategy has seen refinement over the years – more in the nature of attempting to steer people’s perception away from “Cheap is always low quality” to, “Better prices can also mean fashion forward/ good value for money”, but by and large, the basis tenet has not changed. Obviously Wal-Mart is doing something right – it seems to have been the only US retailer to have done well in the holiday season where large names have infact collapsed (Circuit City, Tweeter).

I do however think that, like mine, the Indian consumer’s maturity has evolved over time – I remember some 10 years ago, the durables business went berserk in Dussehra/ Diwali in India – upto 50% of the annual sales of most brands occurred then – led primarily by great offers. A look at the scenario now, there are not so many unbelievable offers – more manufacturers are playing the “lowest price” game a la Wal-Mart, and consumers are shop hopping to get the lowest price – I did it too!

The question to answer, then, is – is this just change in shopping behavior due to recession, or a larger, more far reaching trend. Well, I am making no guesses – only time will tell!

Toward Type 1

Lately I was reading this book, “Parallel Worlds” by Michio Kaku and came across the bizarre idea of categorizing civilizations according to their ability to harvest energy. The idea was first proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev back in 1964 and later Carl Sagan modified the scale in 1973. However, Kaku elaborated the idea of Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3 civilizations quite a bit.

A Type 1 civilization is the one which can utilize all of the energy its planet receives from the mother star. At this stage a civilization has total control over its planet. It can literally turn off volcanoes, delay the ice age and control the weather! On the other hand, a Type 2 civilization can harvest all of the energy of its mother star, which is almost 10 billion times greater than the energy output of a Type 1 civilization. At this stage a civilization starts to colonize other planets and develops a multi planetary civilization, confined within the periphery of its solar system. However, on reaching the level Type 3, a civilization goes galactic. It masters the energy from its entire galaxy with an output 10 billion times greater than that of a Type 2 civilization. At this stage it colonizes the entire galaxy, draws energy from billons of stars and resembles the galactic confederation of Star Wars!

Now on this scale, our civilization rates a mere Type 0.7, since we are still dependent mostly on fossil fuels. However, going by the present rate of development we can achieve Type 1 status in another 200 years, Type 2 status in a few thousand years, and Type 3 status in about 100,000 to a million years. So perhaps it is too early to think about Type 2 or Type 3, but we certainly are standing at the very doorstep of our own Type 1 civilization. Kaku described the formation of European Union and invention of Internet as the first step towards a Type 1 economy and communication system. But he was not sure whether we’ll be able to achieve this feat or will destroy our kind long before, leaving a nuclear trail behind. Every now and then he expressed concern over the growing act of terrorism and the rising popularity of the weapons of mass destruction.

Reading Kaku I felt the choice is ours whether to follow the vision of scientists like him or of today’s new-age terrorists. A Type 1 civilization is not only tolerant but also supportive to all its life forms, ethnic groups and cultural diversities that coexist in different parts of the same planet. So probably it’s time for us to join hands and take a united step toward a Type 1 human civilization.

By Arijit Goswami

An Ode to EmPower

Across seven seas, when you were born
Never so bright had the sun ever shone
As a little baby, you were given all care
To grow and give happiness everywhere
And your mothers searched all high and low
For the name that would light the happy glow
Empower, Empower, Empower, Empower!

We walked hand in hand with you
To catch little flowers with the morning dew
And when you ran all along the way
We ran with you, all night, all day.
Together we blazed a trial of light
Of knowledge that has shone so bright
They’ve asked for more, Friends old and new
You’ve stood by each time they’ve called out to you.
Empower, Empower, Empower, Empower!

This day our family is larger still
Brimming with joy our cups are filled
We’ll tell them all to call out to you
For the knowledge you will spread their way
You’ll take your place in a million hearts
And win such friends as will never part
As your name will ring across the world.
Empower, Empower, Empower, Empower!

By Sudhakar D R

Can Plants Read Our Minds?

One of my friends got himself a pet plant. It was a Dracaena. He was very happy with his newly found companion. He told me about it. The plant name made me think. Hadn’t I heard about it before? But where? Oh yes, I remember!

Modern world’s tryst with this plant started on February 2, 1966. Cleve Backster, who was an Interrogation Specialist (an experienced Polygraph analyst) with the CIA back then, had a Dracaena plant in the lab.

One day he was watering his plant and looking at its long green leaves. A crazy thought struck him suddenly (as always when something new is discovered). Instinctively he attached the end of a leaf to an electrode connected to the polygraph.

And lo, the pen started to scribble something on the paper! And to his shock, Cleve Backster noticed that the chart resembled a human response on a polygraph. He felt that it was so similar to a person taking a lie-detector test.

Lie detectors detect any abnormal readings when the subject responds to certain threats.The basic response would be towards “Fear.” So Cleve began to think about ways by which he could threaten the plant. First he tried placing a neighboring leaf in a cup of warm coffee. The plant didn’t show much response towards it. After a few minutes he imagined burning the leaf he was testing. He didn't say it aloud, touch the plant or the equipment. The only new thing that could have stimulated the plant was the mental image. Yet the plant sensed it and went crazy; this was indicated by the pen which jumped right off the top of the chart.

Immediately he understood that something that was previously unknown was going on. There were no other explanations. After this, Cleve talked to scientists from different fields, trying to get some answers. But they didn’t have any. It was new to them. So he started to design an experiment in greater depth to explore, what he called the “Primary Perception.”

Backster noted reactions in plants when even the smallest of cells like Lacto bacilli, were killed in front of it. He also noted that they remembered a person who had earlier done harm to another plant nearby.

Cleve Backster published his research in the International Journal of Parapsychology (Evidence of a Primary Perception in Plant Life, vol. 10, no. 4, Winter 1968, pp. 329–348).

This discovery brought about a craze among many housewives and secretaries and among the common people, who started talking to their plants, watering it and caring for it!

Despite the lack of any scientific support for the presence of plant perception, the idea was accepted by many as not only true but as having been verified by numerous scientific studies. In fact, after many years, parapsychologists coined a new term ‘the Backster effect’ – the power of plants to understand human thought by "reading" a human’s "bioenergetic field".

We Indians from time immemorial believe that plants are the personification of GOD. In the ancient texts it’s written that plants have life and can communicate too. A long time ago at the start of the 19th century, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose showed through his delicate instruments how plants had life.

The book The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher O. Bird is just amazing. I would suggest it to anyone interested in knowing more about the life of plants and different experiments carried out through out the world to prove it. It’s a wonderful book. Go read it!

The next time you see a plant with the dried up leaves, don’t just move on, it might be asking you for some water!

References:
The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher O. Bird
Wikipedia

By Guruvardhan

The Economics of Climate Change

The catastrophe of climate change is inevitable with the floods, tsunamis, irregular rains, cyclones and temperature rises that have been observed in recent years. Many lives were lost, crops damaged, and infrastructure destroyed as a result of the indirect effect of climate change. Studies by IPCC predict the average global temperature to change by 2.33–4.78°C because of the doubling of CO2 concentration. Stern Review puts the cost of failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 5 and 20% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Climate change poses an increased threat to the already burdened ecological and socioeconomic system of India due to increase in population, industrialization, and rapid economic development. Impact of climate change on the economy of India is very much prominent as many of the factors vulnerable to climate change correlate directly to its economic development.

Agriculture constitutes the single largest component of India’s economy. It contributed 22% of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2003–04, and India’s agricultural activities fully depend on the weather. With the change in weather pattern due to climate change, crop yield may decrease, resulting in rise in price of essential food crop, thereby affecting the lower income groups of the society more adversely. Increase in surface temperature will also bring about plant diseases and pests, thereby further declining the crop yield. And since the farmers (both men and women) need to produce more crops as a result of the greater demand by the ever increasing Indian population, they will spend more hours toiling the farm. Women are responsible for around 65% of household food production, and due to reduction in crop yield, more time would be spent in gathering food that directly relates to lesser time for education, personal and family life, and her overall development.

The impact of climate change on water resources will affect the already water-depleted parts of India. Increase in surface temperature will lead to rise in the snowline, increasing the risk of floods in North India. The coastline erosion will happen due to rise in sea-level, resulting from melting of glaciers in the Himalayan and Hindukush ranges.

The major direct health impacts of climate change would be an increase in heart-related diseases and illness, thereby increasing the cost of heath and social well-being.

According to the estimates made by Fankhauser (1995), annual losses due to various factors would be around US$200 billion worldwide.

Solutions

Ever since human beings discovered fire, their need for energy has increased. India being on the verge of economic upliftment requires huge amounts of energy from all sources.

In the present context, India’s major energy need is being supported by its vast reserve of coal. About 74% of all electricity generated comes from thermal power stations fueled by coal. But coal is also one of the major green house gas emitters. So a need for a renewable source of energy becomes much more evident. Solar-, wind-, hydral-, etc. based power plants hold good promises for energy-starved India.

India imports almost 90% of all its fuel need that costs about Rs. 2,72,700 billion, and with rise in crude oil price, this amount may increase in the future. The rise in crude oil price is directly related to the cost of essential commodities, so a reality check on the same needs to be done. India cannot depend on imported fuel for long. It needs to come up with alternatives like biodiesel, algae-derived biofuels, and other transport-specific energy solutions.

The future of the Indian economy depends on the alternate energy and the Indian Youth should be the driving force behind the change so desperately needed by India.

By Gunajit

Is Print Media Dying a Slow Death?

There is a fundamental shift in communication and consequently in media as our daily mode of talking, writing and speaking has become increasingly dependent on computers. The fact that you are reading this on a computer endorses this change. The same is happening for businesses and enterprises as the news they get from the main stream media and newspapers is moving towards the online world.

The first act of a day for an analyst in an organization like ours is checking email, and opening up a browser. On this browser page, whether it be Yahoo, Google, or another, the news is one of the first things that they read. And slowly, we find our own ways to keep abreast of all the local developments through the Web – be it bookmarking our favorite news sites and subscribing to RSS feeds or alerts and customizing our preferences.

There is a silent but steady shift of viewership from traditional media to online media, blogs, RSS feeds, Newspaper and Television Websites. But still there is significant need of traditional media for certain industry verticals.

News headlines across the Web and print media flashed several announcements from leading news agencies and newspapers including USA Today, Associated Press, Gannett, Los Angeles Times, Star-Ledger, The Washington Post, and even The Wall Street Journal, about newsroom job cuts ranging from 10-20 percent of workforce. The job cuts reflect the huge losses incurred by the print business of these agencies which implies that traditional media is facing stiff competition from online/new media and losing some ground.

Contrary to above, there is interesting development in another communication realm where companies are increasingly investing intellectual capital in developing brand relationships and business-to-business marketing efforts – the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Blogosphere is suddenly turning out to be the most solicited place for corporate brand building. However, this will be a gradual transition, as people and companies have different learning curves for the social media.

Having said all that, I still have a strong feeling that people are tactile creatures, and they like to touch the newspaper and turn the pages, flip them over and eat and sleep on it. The sense of accomplishment that you feel once you have read the entire newspaper is unfathomable. For me, reading a newspaper is a different experience on its own and I have my own reasons for NOT staying away from it. My newspaper has never crashed. I can carry my newspaper or my favorite clipping anywhere while traveling, I do not need a WiFi connectivity or laptop. I don’t have to go through registration/signing in/customizing my newspaper. My newspaper is not made up of toxic un-recyclable material. And my newspaper provides correction updates with explanations, and it is not sneakily applied to the original story after I have read it. These characteristics of a newspaper would certainly reinforce my loyalty towards print media forever.

By Debanjan

An Ode to the Earth – My Home

I forget what it is to feel the first rays of the sun,
I live under the glare of artificial lights.

I forget what it’s like to feel the rain on my face,
I am too busy trying to avoid the next pothole.

I forget what it is to feel the earth beneath my feet,
I see only paved concrete wherever I go.

I forget how blue the sky can sometimes be,
I can’t see past the skyscrapers any more.

My flat is in the heart of the city,
My heart is still searching for my home.

I ache to be free from within, I ache to belong.
I want to feel in my soul, the bliss of being in my own home.

I lose you everyday in a thousand different ways.
And I can’t take it any more.

I will fight to keep you healthy, not for a coming generation or for a cause.
But because, you are me and I can’t let you go like this.

By A Geeta