About INgene blog : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog

About INgene : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog:
This blog explores the detailed characteristics of Young-India and explains the finer & crucial differences they have with their global peers. The blog also establishes the theory of “adopted differentiation” (Copyright Kaustav SG,2007) and how the Indian & Inglodian youth are using this as a tool to differentiate themselves from the “aam aadmi” (mass population of India) to establish their new found identity.

The term youth refers to persons who are no longer children and not yet adults. Used colloquially, however the term generally refers to a broader, more ambiguous field of reference- from the physically adolescent to those in their late twenties.
Though superficially the youth all over the world exhibits similar [degree of] attitude, [traits of] interests & [deliverance of] opinion but a detailed observation reveals the finer differential characteristics which are crucial and often ignored while targeting this group as a valued consumer base. India is one of the youngest countries in the world with 60% of its population less then 24 years of age and is charted as the most prospective destination for the retail investment in the A. T. Kearney’s Global Retail Opportunity Report, 2007. With the first ever non-socialistic generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 250million (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five) and can be broadly divided (socio-psychologically) into three categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural (R1, R2 to R4 SEC) areas with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5% (A, B,C, D & E SEC) and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the creamy layers (A1,A SEC) and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they are strongly growing (70% growth rate). Inglodians are affluent and consume most of the trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart.








Wednesday, February 25, 2009

slumdog(god?) and its influences

When I posted my prediction (posted in slideshare a month ago...pre-Oscar obviously) about the influences that SD will do in global scenario ("great glam slum trip to Dharavi") the viewrs at slideshare mentioned "Really.. Is it a joke??"...now yahoo confirms the hottest travel destination is MUMBAI@DHARAVI.

Read this and more:

"Mumbai is not just about glitz and glamour. It is the heart and soul of India, and Dharavi, is one of it's famed localities. It was in the slums of Dharavi that 'Slumdog Millionaire' was shot. Dharavi and Mumbai are now one of the top Oscar destinations of the season."


Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/photos/slideshow/top-10-oscar-destinations.html


you can check the presentation at :
http://www.slideshare.net/kaustavsengupta/slumdog-and-its-influences-part-one-kaustav-sengupta-presentation

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Interestingly, SD is influencing over the office-lingo too. check it:

'Dear Sir, let's never sign off with Yours Sincerely again. Jai Ho'
Mon, Mar 2 02:46 AM

Once, solar consultant Jaideep Malviya would start his official mails and letters with 'Dear Sir' and end them with 'Yours Sincerely'. Now, he has replaced both standard expressions with one: Jai Ho.

It was destiny, it seems, that Slumdog Millionaire's award-winning song would become an anthem. Corporate executives so smitten by the words that they are now using Jai Ho as salutation and valediction in their e-mails. What's more, the term has captivated even international clients.

"After the movie's success, most of my international clients started using Jai Ho in the valediction. Since the Oscars, almost every mail I got from my international clients had Jai Ho either as salutation or valediction," says Malviya.

One of his clients, Nigel Cotton of Germany, wrote that the only thing he wanted to see after the Taj Mahal when in India was Slumdog Millionaire in an Indian theatre; all he would want to carry back was a DVD with the song Jai Ho on it.

"Namaste was very common, until Jai Ho took over. It's very emotional to get such letters. No matter how different that person is, you automatically relate to him if he uses your language. Moreover, after eight Oscars, the words have a sense of pride associated with them," says Malviya.

Dutchmen Edwin Koot and Johan Trip, now in Pune, are other Jai Ho fans who use the words in all their letters. Trip took his family to watch the movie back home and now prefers to write Jai Ho in every mail to his colleagues or friends, irrespective of their nationality.

Roger Little, CEO of Spire Corporation, US, who has a special liking for India and keeps visiting Pune for business, found it appropriate to replace 'Hi' with Jai Ho in his e-mails and says it's been well accepted.

In India, of course, the youth have almost declared Jai Ho as their anthem. Diwesh Diwakar, manager of Quadrangle (naukri.com), did not lose a day in starting the trend in his office. He calls it the root effect.

"In villages of Bihar, people still wish each other by saying Jai Ho, and thanks to the song the expression is universal now. By using it I also feel nearer my roots as I hail from Bihar. Moreover, my colleagues also liked it and now we have a Jai Ho team in office," Diwakar said.

"The song is full of life and it reflects youth. I got a mail from my sister from Canada congratulating us on the Oscars win and she concluded the mail with Jai Ho. Since then I have been using the expression in all my mail. Even over the phone or in person, we greet each other with Jai Ho," says Harshit Verma, a student.

Ankit Shah, another student, sets his signature as Jai Ho in his e-mails. "Irrespective of whether the mail is personal or official, I put my signature, Jai Ho, in all my e-mails. I feel the expression is worth celebrating and sharing," says Shah. Jai Ho indeed.

Preeti Srivastav

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090302/804/tnl-dear-sir-let-s-never-sign-off-with-y.html

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The politicization of Slumdog and so on...

Indian politicians will never reform (or far beyond from getting reformed at this age..ahh..as you know, most of them are actually hanging over the grave…and rest are too busy to fill their pockets…).

The politicization of Slumdog being inaugurated by Congress. I don’t know how many of them (the Netas) have seen the movie which is not portraying the “Achieving India” but the darker side (hope they dont consider the darker side itself as achievement) of it and how the grass root Indians are crossing barriers with their own ambition, hope and intelligence WITHOUT the help from Govt. or politicians…

and actually none of them bothered about Rahman or Resul till day before...the achievement of ARR is again a story of Slumdog...and if seen there's million of such stories alive in this country...where the govt. or party proved no hand of help but the sheer determination and struggle of individual…anybody is curious to know why ARR changed his religion?...he was Dilipkumar earlier…

Have a look what Congress spokesperson stated:
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Oscar wins are a proof of "Achieving India" in UPA rule:Cong
Mon, Feb 23 11:19 PM

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) Citing the Oscar wins of A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty, the Congress today sought to claim credit for creating a "conducive environment" that has led to the emergence of 'Achieving India' during the UPA rule. Utilising the Oscar glory to have a dig at the BJP's "Shining India" slogan in the NDA campaign in 2004 elections, the lead party in the ruling coalition also bracketed the achievement with some others during the UPA regime like the Gold medal winning performance of shooter Abhinav Bindra at the Beijing Olympics and India planting the tricolour on the Moon during the first ever unmanned lunar mission.

"This is Achieving India at its best . We salute the heroes," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.

"We are proud that in the conducive environment of good government by UPA with special emphasis on inclusive growth and development, the achievements have been made". "On one hand, we have young India taking us to the height of glory, on the other we have parties and individuals who want us to take back .

" he added. To a query whether the party was politicising the Oscar award to the film and taking credit for it, Singhvi said, "We are celebrating it, not taking credit for the film".

He also listed the Indo-US nuclear deal as part of "Achieving India". The spokesman described the film, which won 8 Oscars, as a "film of India, by India, for India and for a global audience.

" PTI.
Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20090223/1416/tnl-oscar-wins-are-a-proof-of-achieving.html
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soon the fight will begin over the politicization of these kids...the wonderful performers in Slumdog...and in the process their chieldhood will be smashed...

http://in.news.yahoo.com/photos/slideshow/new-kids-on-the-block.html
(few fresh smiling photos)

This blog don’t support or hate any political ideology or personality but portrays the views of Young India.

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Another interesting editorial with a view what most Inglodians are supporting. I personally hated the idea of the protagonist (grown up one) of this movie speaking in absolute British accent though supposed to be belonging to Mumbai slum...err illiterate:


"It shouldn't have won"
by
Sandipan Deb
Tue, Feb 24 04:45 AM

Frankly, I don't think Slumdog Millionaire deserved the Oscar for best film. And even more frankly, I don't think Resul Pookutty should have invoked "my country and my civilisation" in his acceptance speech for best sound mixing. India was not up there in the Kodak auditorium for approval. It was a British film financed by the indie subsidiary of an American studio which happened to be set in India and as a result they could not help but involve Indian actors (including Indian-origin Britishers) and shoot it in India. We crave too much for international recognition. A bit too much than is seemly. Even as all of us go around strutting, pretending to be a superpower.

Other than Slumdog, I have seen only one film out of the other four nominated. But I've read about all of them. The one that I saw is The Reader. The subject is far more intellectually challenging, emotionally moving and morally disturbing than Slumdog can ever hope to be. Not since A Last Tango In Paris has nudity (both male and female) been so necessary to a film's narrative, and so non-titillating and so touching. A film which stretches over 30 years and with essentially only two characters, and yet a film that is as gripping as a thriller. It's a film that, as my friend told me, demands and requires to be seen in one sitting, with no interruption by commercials and visits to the loo.

But look at the themes of the other movies that were nominated this year. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the love story of a man who is born as an extreme geriatric and keeps getting younger and dies as a newborn. Only for a brief period of time are the man and his beloved around the same compatible age. Of course it's an impossible concept and completely unbelievable, but it's a high concept. Milk is about the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States; Frost/Nixon about the first interview disgraced US President Richard Nixon gave, to has-been TV journalist David Frost. For both of them, it is a chance for redemption, for a somewhat sane life. These are all big themes. I am not doubting Slumdog's quality as a film in any way. Danny Boyle is one of the most talented directors around. But comparing Slumdog to The Reader is almost impossible. It's like comparing A Christmas Carol to Great Expectations.

Scrooge won, little Pip lost. But that's the way it has been with the Oscars. Sometimes the nominations reflect the mood of America's liberals, sometimes the winners reflect political correctness. In 2006, the following five films were nominated: Good Night and Good Luck, Brokeback Mountain, Crash, Capote and Munich. Good Night and Good Luck is about a TV broadcaster who took on the McCarthyist witch hunt in the 1950s; essentially about freedom of the press. Brokeback Mountain deflated the entire mythology of uber-macho frontiersmen by portraying a deep homosexual relationship between two cowboys. Crash interlinked several stories to study racism in all its forms and in startling ways. Capote was about the gay writer Truman Capote who travels to the South of the US to write a book on two multiple murderers. Munich told the story of the Israeli agents who hunted down the Black September terrorists who killed Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics, and asked the question: To take revenge, do we become as base as the men who are our targets?

There's a clear pattern: anger over the Iraq war, the stifling of the media, the stranglehold of neo-conservatism, the contempt for minorities. The denizens of Hollywood were simply reacting to their world as they saw it. The other major critically-acclaimed movies of that year were Transamerica, about one man's battle to change his gender, and Syriana, which told Americans that their nation's policies were largely responsible for Islamist terrorism.

Then there's political correctness. Gandhi won Best Picture over ET. The Academy decided that the biopic of a great and influential leader was more "important" than the woes of a cute alien stranded on our planet. (This incensed Steven Spielberg so much that he decided to give the Academy the "important" films they felt comfortable with, and made The Colour Purple - which didn't win any Oscars - and Schindler's List - which raked them in.) Tom Hanks won his first best acting Oscar for Philadelphia, as much for his acting as for being the first major star to portray a gay man suffering from AIDS. In Hollywood, that's called "courage".

So The Reader can't win. After all, its female protagonist is a former Auschwitz guard who let 300 Jews burn alive in a locked church. The film's position on morality is too nuanced for the general Academy member to grapple with with any success. But Kate Winslet can be given the award for best actress. By taking this controversial role and baring her body so naturally for the purposes of art, she has shown "courage". Milk is about homosexuality, so Sean Penn gets the statuette for "courage", but not the film. Benjamin Button, which was co-produced by its star Brad Pitt, is probably seen as too much the case of an actor showing off, while being aided by more-than-state-of-the art visual effects. Frost/Nixon? Who's interested?

So Slumdog has won, and we should really rejoice for the six children who acted in it, for they are the real stars of the film. We should rejoice for AR Rahman, though the music he has got his two Oscars for is not even of his average quality, forget his sublime and exhilarating stuff. But the Academy has decided. But I really think it's a bit too much if we take this as a victory for Indian cinema. It's a non-Indian film which happened to have an all-Indian cast. We shoot entire films abroad nowadays, especially in the US, remember?
The writer is the editor of the RPG Group's soon-to-be-launched current affairs and features magazine, 'Open'.

source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090224/1241/top-it-shouldn-t-have-won.html

Friday, February 20, 2009

awareness study

My Google Insights and Blogpulse survey shows that in India abortion is more common word to search or discuss than safe sex or even condom ! have a look.



Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Youth icons

In global blog-casting football seems to steal the show...

though in India cricket is HOT...and guess what, Sania is going bit ahead of Dhoni and Tendulkar when it comes to popularity in blogs though tennis is still not the "pop sport"







The other survey result using BlogPulse tool suggests that Sania and Deepika are way ahead of rahul Gandhi's prince charming persona :)...though last year yahoo released a survey result stating tht Rahul is the most popular youth icon (you know how all these "happens" in India...buying vote is "normal")




My Omgili Buzz survey result:

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Valentines day :a socio-cultural cold war...

The socio-cultural cold war being already started between Bharatiyas and Inglodians...

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Bangalore lovers offered protection against moral brigade

Thu, Feb 12 02:25 PM

Bangalore, Feb 12 (IANS) Valentine's Day this year will be unique for lovers in India's IT hub Bangalore. An anti-moral policing group has assured youths that its members will protect them from activists of the Sri Rama Sene, a right wing Hindu group that has threatened to disrupt celebrations on Feb 14.

The anti-moral policing group is led by Vatal Nagaraj, head of Kannada Chaluvaligaru, a pro-Kannada party.

Nagaraj, a former member of the Karnataka assembly, has named the fleet of cars he is mobilising for Valentine's Day duty 'Prema Vahanas' (Love Vehicles).

The members of his party will make rounds of Lalbagh and Cubbon Park, the two most sought after places for young lovers to walk hand in hand or cuddle up, and other areas, to keep Sene men at bay.

'We have not yet decided on the number of Prema Vahanas to be put on duty that day but they will be sufficient to keep the troublemakers away,' Nagaraj told IANS.

'We will go to popular places like Lalbagh, Cubbon Park and other areas in Prema Vahanas to stop the Sene men from creating trouble,' he added.

Besides Nagaraj's group, the Sene's threat is also facing opposition from various other pro-Kannada organisations and the Dalit Sangarsh Samiti - a group fighting for the welfare of Dalits in Karnataka.

While the 'send pink chaddis (underpants) to Rama Sene' campaign that was launched on a social networking site has got worldwide publicity for its cheeky idea, other Internet users are also active in mobilising civil society to stand up to Sene.

One blogger has urged women to gather in large numbers on Bangalore's M.G. Road to offer free hugs to people to tell Sene and its leader Pramod Muthalik that women are not scared of his threats.

Rajiv Gowda, a young professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIMB), through his blog bengaluru-unites.blogspot.com, is urging people to join hands 'against moral policing, against attacks on women and for our freedom'.

Responding to his call, students and office goers held lunch-hour demonstrations at around 25 locations in Bangalore Thursday.

'Only cowards attack women', 'Jobless vultures don't teach us about Indian culture', 'Culture okay, vulture yaake (why vultures)' were some of the slogans of the demonstrators.

Though a political activist close to Congress, Gowda said he took the initiative to mobilise people in his individual capacity.

'In my interaction with people I noticed there was disgust, anger and also fear over the attack on women in a Mangalore pub (by the Sri Rama Sene men on Jan 24) and the threat against Valentine's Day. I could not keep quiet and had to act. Hence, the initiative,' he said.

Asked whether one is not falling into a trap by Sene, which has little support in Bangalore and other parts of Karnataka, Gowda said: 'No. What is happening (Sene's Mangalore pub attack and the threat to disrupt Valentine Day) has come as a wake up call.

'It shows how fragile our democracy is, that a group of people can create fear in others. People seemed to be accepting soft fascism,' he added.

Bangalore city police have also assured young lovers protection from trouble makers.

Karnataka police chief Ajay Kumar Singh has said there was no plan for preventive arrest of potential troublemakers 'but we will ensure peace for a fun-filled Valentine's Day'.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090212/812/tnl-bangalore-lovers-offered-protection.html

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

the smart campaign is growing among Inglodians and Indians

This generation doesn’t cry and crib and wait for the political maestros (or spiritual avatars) to save them.
After the dirt-packed moral policing by “oh os fake” Hindutva groups like Ram Sene , the Pink Chaddi Campaign is grt way to express anger, protest the filths and support human right in this “oh so democratic country”.
The campaign states: “You may have heard of the Pink Chaddi Campaign that kicked off three days ago to oppose the Sri Ram Sene. The campaign is growing exponentially (1,300 at this point in the life of our Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women) and that is not surprising. Most women in this country have enough curbs on their lives without a whole new franchise cashing in with their bully-boy tactics. Of course, a lot of men have joined the group as well. Here is what we want to do with the Pink Chaddi Campaign. Join in. Be imaginative, have fun and fight back!”

Have a look:
http://thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com/

the smart campaign is growing among Inglodians and Indians.

Friday, February 6, 2009

TREND UPDATE- YOUTH OF MUMBAI

“Fashion is a form of ugliness, so intolerable, that we have to alter it every six months”.
A mumbaikar completely agrees with this quote and follows it whole heartedly. More so, because to the youth here, it comes too naturally, being very fashion conscious or for that matter, as too many fests like the Navi Mumbai fest, Bandra Fest, etc keep going on continuously.
Most people are other people, their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions, a quotation. Let’s take a quick pick at the trends followed by youth in the dazzling city of glamour, a city of more initiators than followers.

SHE
 Skin fit denims with deep colored (wine reds and browns) pumps coupled with a tote bag or jholas in muslin , streaming aloud the “go green “ message, selected best by her, this season.
 Scoop necklined, solid colored tees or may be with those Tom and Jerry prints, draped with Oh! so nice warm checkered stoles.
 Puffy Shorts in classic whites or beiges with folds or tabbed at the hems.
 Gladiator sandles (ankle length) in different colors, white and yellow seems her favourite.
 Converse is staying back with more graphics, branded floaters never left the scene anyway, have been teamed up with bright patterned socks.
 Chicks with straight hair seem to stay there forever, giving a twist with fringes. That’s it!Time for the “short in short” girls!

HE
 Baggy jeans are out, guys are more into slim fits and denims-slightly tapered at the ends.
 Tees have become longer and high waist trousers are back.
 Waist coats have become more of a casual attire now, classic black and beiges are very prominent in Mumbai- the twist- it’s over tees and kurtas now.
 Converse is with everyone. Trend of flip-flops is common, but guys generally prefer more of graphics-EdHardy like prints.
 Puffiness and spikes are in for hair styles with guys. Long hair is out. A clean look for the “dandy” kind of guys. The other category coming under “bollywood madness” are following the Aamir’s Ghajini look..chopped hair and fine lines.
Not to forget, when we talk about the fashion conscious mumbaikar youth, the only thing worse being talked about is not being talked about.

Reported by VIBHUTI AND JYOTI
(Copyrights to Vibhuti, Jyoti and INgene)

youth in Pune- A report

WHY DOES THE YOUTH AT PUNE LOVE THE CITY AND WHY THE OTHERS MUST VISIT IT ONCE!

Pune is one city with a large figure of youth population, almost 65% to its credit. Yes, the highest in India. Not only this, it is growing everyday with a number of malls building up in and around the city at prime locations, the same goes for restaurants, lounges, five star hotels, B-schools and universities amongst others . Why not if big constructors and groups like the Hiranadanis, the Kashyaps, KSL, SGS, Rahejas are based in mumbai, why will they not spread the same charm to the city closest to their native Mumbai? More obvious when one market is saturated.. we move to saturate another and then yet another. No, don’t doubt, Pune isn’t saturated yet. You’ll get a lot of air and space for your entrepreneurship venture and still get the “metro” feeling.
What? That’s what a college going wants!!!!A city with too many choices for a date.. the best of eating joints.. too many malls and high streets from the J.M . Road to Koregaon Park to Kalyani nagar.. Whats with names if the girl gets a designer wear for Saturdays at economical rates coz of other girls who got into short term fashion designing courses, opening small boutiques for a test drive- if any of the ten “Symbiosisez” in the city was not enough for them, or rather if they realised earlier what they had to do or what was it that they could do better. Hmmm..you can say that girls in pune are either studying or not studying, working or they are not working.. none waits idle. As far as the guys go, for that extra heavy pocket to impress the girls they do part time jobs, just like any other metro..get into call centres or selling for private brands like Levi’s , Lee, Pepe, Nike, Adidas ,Puma, Lacoste etc found very prominently in the city.
There is a very famous phrase , that they use in Indian Context.. “pati ke dil ka rasta uske pet se hota hai”.. I opine that the scenario has changed now.. I would like to put it like this.. “patni ke pet ka rasta bhi uske pet se hota hai” .. Keeping aside the humour, youngsters in pune love to eat out.. from “kuku de paranthe” to the “sanjeev kapoor’s”..you find it all there.( Girls love to eat too!!! Whats with the “figure thing”!! I doubt its existence in pune.. yet you’ll find sleeks and slims..I’ll tell you the secret here. Don’t under-eat and don’t over-eat. The extra calories anyway get exhausted in the part time work a pune youngster does.) The best of lounges.. And if this were not enough,there are umpteen number of places to party, just too many; more so because even the mumbaikar couple turns upto pune at weekends.. First there is this extravagant mumbai-pune highway- a 3 hour long drive, I assure you, you would love it, and then the not so expensive weekend like Mumbai. To add to the charm, there is this all the year round, “I will not leave you alone” weather, not chilling.. not hot.. just the way a youngster wants it, or anyone for that matter.
To sum up, you’ll simply love Pune’s weather, food and weekends. No one cooks there on Fridays and Saturdays. All , Mind you , I mean “all” when I say all, restaurants are queued up at weekends and if you do not have a prior booking, you better plan something else or come early and wait for a couple of hours , if waiting doesn’t bother you much. But even waiting is worth it, for sure.
That’s all that is required for a localite to love pune and a student from outside to come in and love it. I should not forget to mention , here, that , though a youngster dreams it real big, but this happiness that he/she gets in parts.. enjoying every moment.. every day.. gives the motivation to inspire, admire and achieve.
Cheers.


Article by INgene team member Vibhuti (copyright to Vibhuti and INgene)

be positive - when the ground is in fire- Indian mantra

“Kahani abhi baki hai dost”

They say India is still shining, youth is still looking for their dream jobs, the priority is still to get a degree and earn money and more money. Are we away from reality? I agree when it is said that India is less affected by recession may be because India is progressing and the youth of the country forms 40% of the total population and I being part of the youth of this country feels that it is hard to sustain your dreams. Dreams, those are catalyst and provide food for thought to do what you want in life. So, somehow you feel that you have been cheated when you touch base with the reality. When I ventured out in this big bad world looking out projects for me, I noticed few things which I would like to share. One, have patience and a lot of patience. Two, build your rapport, coz this is the only thing which can get you ground for putting your first step. Last but not the least, always believe in yourself coz there are still some people in this industry who would take you even if you don’t have any contacts. (this is where rule one is applies coz to find such people you need patience). So, today again, India is still shining for me, coz it is she who’s letting me dream and keep the hope and faith that I will make it through all the hurdles coming my way. Like they say “koi cheez agar dil se chaho to puri kaynaat tumhe usse milane main lag jaati hai” and “end main sab theek ho jata hai aur agar nahi hua to samjho kahani abhi baki hai dost”
(at the end everything resolves...if not, remember, this is not the end of story)

An article by INgene team member Prerna from Delhi.

A little bit about Prerna " well i have a commerce background..did a diploma in fashion design..and doing masters from NIFT (www.nift.ac.in), love to read abt fashion trends and keep up with whats new..love to expriment with looks and like styling."

Indian youth remains positive- even in this meltdown worldover

Even in this time of "melting dream" and the nightmare of being "pink-slipped" Indian youth remains positive. The unique value of family bonding and social support has saved India earlier also...during the invasion and devastations in Mughal and British period. Check the reports below:




Indian colour of a pink slip
Sandipan Deb
Fri, Feb 6 04:35 AM

What does it feel like to be on the way home from work one evening, preparing yourself to tell the family that you don't have a job anymore? I have friends who have been through this, yet I can only vaguely imagine what goes through a man's mind in the moments before the inevitable confession to wife, child, parents. No one who hasn't gone through that moment possibly can more than vaguely imagine the feelings: the anger, helplessness, guilt, shame, fear. If one had a choice, one wouldn't want anyone to go through that experience. But I am also a person who has personally sacked perhaps two dozen people during my career. In the last three months, I have let three people go, on grounds of incompetence.

But today, we know what the reality is, what the rules that run a market are. I have known young software engineers switching jobs thrice a year just for more money and nothing else, their minds devoid of any concept of employer loyalty or job content. The times were good then, grand. The times are bad now, as they were inevitably supposed to be at some point of time. We have seen real estate developers on reckless building sprees, charging prices that look like phone numbers for apartments clearly worth much less in the long run. The party couldn't have lasted for ever. And yesterday's hot shot who got fired last week should have known that fast careers come with risks attached. Always.

The good part is that we are now socially educated enough not to attach much - I would have loved to say "any" - stigma to a pink slip recipient. We have progressed since the days when dismissal was seen as career cancer. We know that the reason for dismissal may have nothing to do with performance. A friend of mine got fired twice, both times because of global-level mergers and consequent decisions taken by men sitting in New York who had never visited India and decided to close down their businesses here. The first time, he landed at Delhi airport, fresh from honeymoon at Phuket, picked up a financial daily and found he had no job. The second time was brutal. His entire division was called in, and told to clear out with their belongings within the next half hour. Their competence was not in question, their performance had not been criticised. Men in Manhattan had decided to close that damn division down, not worth their time.

When you have no option but to fire, you have to. But. One, CEOs are programmed to attack salary costs and manpower before they take any other action when their companies fall on bad times. The US Senate Committee asked the chiefs of the Detroit Big Three: "How many of you have flown here in your corporate jets?" All three had. Forget corporate jets, a senior manager travelling from Mumbai to Delhi ten times a year on a low-fare airline instead of full-fare business class would be enough to keep four low-level employees on the roll. Two, when the best of times change to the worse of times, hardly any company says: Let's take pay cuts and go on. Given their salary levels, the top one lakh executives in India could easily take a pay cut of 10 per cent and feel no pinch at all, and save a crore jobs. I am sorry if I am sounding like a woolly socialist, but the few times I have seen top managers take this sort of decision, the organisation has become stronger, morale has gone up, and people have worked harder.

But in the massive majority of cases, it's the small fry in a company who get shafted, and they are left clueless about what they did wrong. For instance, right now in India, the job loss problem, to a significant extent, is due to the irrational exuberance of top managers. They thought the boom would last for ever, and hired many more people than they needed in anticipation of riches that have turned out to be a mirage. In management jargon, that's poor market projection. Let's put it in simpler terms: You screwed up. But these men, I think (I hope I am wrong) are safe in their jobs, blaming the sub-prime crisis for the woes of the thousands of people they have personally rendered jobless.

Again, at the risk of sounding like a bleeding-heart liberal, if you do have to let people go, it's all about how you do it. The Jet Airways firing fiasco is an object lesson in how not to do it. This is India, not the US. All human activity works in a cultural context. In fact, forget cultural context, there is also something called respect for human beings. People need to be given warnings, people need to be told that this could happen to them, people need to be given the big picture, they need to be told what other measures the company is taking. And they need to be given humane terms of disengagement. All this must apply to cases that don't have to do with incompetence. There, only the warnings part applies. With dishonesty, not even warnings. But if it is not incompetence or dishonesty, the pain should be shared from top to bottom, and a bit more at the top than at the bottom.

Bull runs end. Bear runs end. It's about how to manage the transition. My twice-fired friend, when he got the exit order the second time, took it in what I believe is heroic fashion. It was just a week before the soccer World Cup of 2002. "I'm free," he told me. "I'm going to watch every World Cup match and then think of looking for a job. This is good." He watched every match, living for 40 days in T-shirt and shorts. We watched the finals together. He works for a giant multinational out of Singapore now.
The writer is editor of RPG Enterprises' soon-to-be launched weekly features and current affairs magazine express@expressindia.com

Indian youth are still against "kissing in public "

Young Mumbai doesn't want kissing in public
Fri, Feb 6 01:20 AM

Worried globalisation is corrupting the minds of the youth? Well, don't be. This week the Supreme Court set a precedent after ruling that a married couple kissing in public did not amount to "obscenity", but Mumbai's GenNext are horrified.

They say kissing in public is against Indian culture, offensive to elders and an imported western custom that should be banned. At Mithibai College in suburban Vile Parle, Priyanka Patil (16), a first year student at NM College, from Kandivli, said kissing in public could corrupt the minds of young people, while Sonali Shah (18), a student from Borivli, said it would hurt the sentiments of elders.

Esha Shah (18), a student at the Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering, from Goregaon, said it was "western culture". "We want to keep Indian culture.

We don't want to be western." Sitting on the steps outside Fun Republic, a multiplex in suburban Andheri, Class XI Hemangini Deshmukh (16), said: "Its against sanskar (the right way to live) to kiss in public.

I would not like to see anyone doing it." His friend Keyur Buddhdev (17), also from Andheri, said: "You have to show respect to older people.

" Sohit Sarkar (25), a creative head in a TV company, added: "It will take time for India to digest this thing." The older business crowd was also appalled.

"We want to save Indian culture. This is what westerners do," said Kirtishwar Kishore (29) a marketing professional from Chembur.

"The most important aspect of Indian culture is giving respect to elders." But the youth agreed it should not be a criminal offence.

However, there was also the odd detractor. "I think kissing in public is fine.

It is against Indian culture but I don't mind," said Prerna Singh (15), a student from Sathaye College, who lives in Andheri. "I kiss my girlfriend in public," said Rahul Pandey (18), a first year BSc student at Mithibai College, also from Andheri.

"And I've never been arrested. I kiss her in the middle of the street.
Obviously you should not go further than a kiss." However they were in the minority.

The one thing students were unified on: they did not want to see Valentine's Day banned. Avani Jain (16), of NM College, who lives in Andheri, said: "Valentine's Day is about the people you love - your friends and family. It's not about couples.".

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090206/1053/tnl-young-mumbai-doesn-t-want-kissing-in.html

Thursday, February 5, 2009

debt is trendy

Publication:Times Of India Mumbai; Date:Feb 5, 2009; Section:Front Page; Page Number:1


More youngsters awash in debt

Rucha Biju Chitrodia | TIMES NEWS NETWORK

l Atul, 28, borrowed more than Rs 25 lakh to invest in the commodities market. He lost the entire amount.

l Raghunath, a young banker, took loans totalling Rs 18 lakh to trade in shares. His investments came crashing down when the market plunged.

l Abhijeet, just 23, had a good job in an IT company. He went overboard, taking loans of Rs 10 lakh to finance stock purchases. Now he has lost his job in the economic slowdown.

It’s a sign of the times that an increasing number of young borrowers is walking into debt counselling centres. Many of them had borrowed heavily to invest in the markets during the boom. Their predicament owes as much to the sudden economic slump as to a poor understanding of the workings of new age credit options. Now they’re grappling with huge debt, which debt counsellors say is the result of trying to repay one loan with another.

Debt counselling initiatives—commonplace in the developed world but relatively new in India—advise borrowers and offer credit restructuring assistance to those caught in a debt trap. The services are free, and cover diverse categories of debt, such as credit cards, personal loans and home loans. Says Nutan Lugani of Disha Financial Counselling, Delhi, “Many youngsters are excessively leveraged. They live well, but don’t believe in saving. If they lose their job, or if the market crashes, they have nothing to fall back on.’’

(Names have been changed to protect the identity of debtors.)

HOW COUNSELLING CENTRES HELP

They can analyze your finances and educate you about the fine print

They can help you figure out what payments you can keep up, and help you negotiate with lenders to restructure loans and waive charges

They can help you list assets—property, shares, mutual funds, gold, and the like—and advise you on selling non-productive ones

They may suggest ways to increase income streams ‘Debts getting bigger, debtors younger’ Mumbai: Until a year ago, the clientele of debt counsellors consisted largely of middleaged people who found themselves in a spot because they had made unfortunate career decisions or who were unable to repay money borrowed for medical expenses or for a child’s marriage or education. The size of debt was lower too.

Today, debts are more substantial. “We get people with very high levels of default. Earlier, they would come to us with debts of Rs 10-15 lakh. Now some cases go up to Rs 25 lakh or even 50 lakh,’’ says V N Kulkarni, chief counsellor at Abhay Credit Counselling Centre in Mumbai.

Mumbai has two debt counselling centres. One is Abhay Credit Counselling, an initiative of the Bank of India, and the other is Disha, an ICICI Bank venture. Both are creditor-neutral, that is, their services can be used by anyone, not just those who have loans from the Bank of India or ICICI Bank. Besides Mumbai, Abhay has centres in Chennai, Wardha, and Gumla in Jharkhand. Disha has centres in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kolkata and Ludhiana.

Kulkarni says that until recently, the Mumbai centre got about three people a day, but that number has doubled now. Centre staff attribute the increase in part to rising awareness about such initiatives.

While debt counsellors welcome stricter credit laws, they say that credit education should be mandatory in schools and colleges so that young people learn how to avoid the debt trap.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

lifestyle predictions- review

The prediction I have posted in this blog last year March(http://ingene.blogspot.com/2008/03/lifestyle-trend-prediction-2008.html) are now "happening"...

the eco-cool to eco-living transition...
system sucks...
americamania leading to hateism
gadget is becoming robotic
do it yourself is already "hot"

Indian Youth Lifestyle - my article in CQ mag

An article of mine came in CQ mag:

eco consciousness in India

I have posted the INgene survey on eco consciousness of Indian Youth in my blog earlier(http://ingene.blogspot.com/2008/12/eco-consciousness-among-indian-youth.html) . My Google Insight survey also shows that Indians are more conscious about the “eco trend”(to remain popular or impress the peers) than “eco consciousness”…the recent boom of data search on global warming at Google Insight proves it….and the eco consciousness or green revolution is less preferred in search…



A state wise survey :

sports and icons

Sania Mirza is the most popular icon.
Sachin is still holding the crowd...dhoni struggles...



Cricket is still the most popular game in India…my Google insight search proved that…again.



Survey tool : google insight

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

politics and youth

Who's the most hated people in India (Bollywood sadistically makes remakes and re-remakes the movies which portrays this images….)?????ya u guessed it right: the netas (political leaders...99% of them actually) and policewalas (cops)…
But the white clad charismatic mr “cool” Rahul Gandhi is trying to lure youth to accept politics as another carrier opportunity…professional indeed.

He is right; politics is the best career option in a democratic country where the politicians enjoy benefits of autocracy…the king remains king even if the kingdom changes its name or the king becomes the leader of aam janta…only, instead of one king, we have thousands and more…

Check what Rahul said :


Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMDkvMDEvMzEjQXIwMTIwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom


to be clear, this blog dsn't support or hate any political party / movement in particular and intends to present a view what is prevailing among youth in India.

Monday, February 2, 2009

social network...trend buzz

the “Inglodians” are whizz shifting to facebook (ahh actually not shifting but increasing “presence” in facebook than orkut) … the bubbling presence of influencers in facebook again proves my theory*. “Adopt” differentiation from “amm admi” (mass population) to remain cool…since the mass is flooding orkut now…
and suddenly the oldies (umm u know whom I mean…the potbellied 50ups) are also swimming in facebook to be “cool”….I found them scratching the “wall” in similar passion as the wonderful young India : )…finding the “oh lost friends” in facebook is again the same crap they r repeating when they entered in orkut…

INgene is keeping his eyes “wide open” to tuck this trend.


My Theory of Adopted Differentiation states that Indian youth (mainly Inglodians) “adopts” certain “Looks, Attitude, Lifestyle & Lingo” to differentiate themselves from mass population of India (The aam admi & Bharatiyas) and their peers; which sometimes may not be “so cool” as per the global standard of “coolness”. And sometimes, even it may not appear so younger too (eg. Wearing the colors black, grey and white rather than the bright and neon)…chk my slideshare presentations for further details :

http://www.slideshare.net/kaustavsengupta/young-india-the-attitude-inspiration-openion-kaustav-sen-gupta-part-one-presentation

The Google Insight shows tht orkut is spreaded all over India...but stagnating...whereas, facebook is showing upward trend: