Feels so refreshing to b an 'INDIAN'- Indians all over

Hope 1 day i make a mark for myself... here's why

Washington, April 30 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen are among nine Indians who figure in Time magazine's annual list of 100 most influential people, while Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan tops its 100 Alumnae list.

Manmohan Singh finds himself in the 19th spot in the Leaders list headed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with US president Barack Obama in the fourth place.

As India's finance minister from 1991 to 1996, Manmohan Singh 'released India's potential for the benefit of its people. Now, as prime minister, he is guiding India into the ranks of the great powers', wrote PepsiCo's Indian American chairperson Indra Nooyi.

Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar gets the 13th place among 25 'Heroes' headed by former US president Bill Clinton who is recognised for his work as a fund-raiser and anti-poverty activist.

Writing about Tendulkar's double century in a One Day International match, new age guru Deepak Chopra says: 'To millions of Indians and countless fans around the world, this act, which caps a career of record-breaking feats, arouses a sense of awe.'

'The Alchemist' is the favourite book of Time Alumnae Aishwarya, who lists 'certainly my mother and father' as the two people who had the most effect or influence on her.

Sixth placed among heroes, Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy, 70, was recognised for performing cataract surgery at the Aravind Eye Care Hospitals since 1976 and having treated 3.6 million surgeries to date - a new one every 15 minutes.

Indian entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw gets the 16th spot among 'heroes' for donating $2 million to support health insurance coverage for 100,000 Indian villagers and another $10 million for creating the 1,400-bed Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre in Bangalore.

A paramedic from Toronto, Rahul Singh in 22nd place is recognised for his relief work in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit the poor Caribbean nation Jan 12. In 1998, Singh founded GlobalMedic to provide disaster relief using volunteer professional emergency workers.

Chetan Bhagat, author of bestsellers, 'One Night @ the Call Centre' and 'Five Point Someone' is the lone Indian in the list of artists headed by extravagantly outfitted singer Lady Gaga.

'I've seen the effect Chetan has on his readers,' writes Academy Award winner Indian composer A.R. Rahman. 'He often writes about following your dreams and not bowing to others' expectations. That isn't easy in India, where family opinion matters and some professions are regarded as more serious than others.'

Economist Amartya Sen is 20th on the 'Thinkers' list. 'Occasionally loquacious, often ironic, usually genial, always brilliant,' Sen's notion of measuring human development is now central to the work of the UN and the World Bank, notes Harvard University history professor, Neil Ferguson.

Indian-American doctor and Harvard professor Atul Gwande is fifth on the list of 'thinkers' for his contribution to medicine. 'In this historic time for health policy, the need for smart, creative thinkers is greater than ever. Gawande certainly is one and it is equally certain his influence will grow,' wrote former US State Senator Tom Daschle.

Humanitarian worker, Sanjit Bunker Roy's Barefoot College has trained more than three million people for jobs in the modern world, in buildings so rudimentary they have dirt floors and no chairs, Time said. 'Roy combines humanitarianism, entrepreneurship and education to help people steer their own path out of poverty, fostering dignity and self-determination along the way,' it said.

Intimate Apparel- A brief overview

The Intimate Apparel Industry

Globally

Source: Google Search. *Based on sample size of 175,000

 

Designers and retailers

A number of major designer labels are renowned for their underwear collections, including Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana. Likewise, specialist underwear brands such as 2(x)ist, C-IN2,  Ginch Gonch, Lord and Obviously are constantly emerging.

Specialist retailers of underwear include high street stores La Senza (Canada), Agent Provocateur (UK), Victoria's Secret (USA), and GapBody, the lingerie division of the Gap established in 1998 (USA). In 2008 Abercrombie & Fitch opened a new chain of stores, Gilly Hicks, to compete with other underwear retailers

Domestically

Overview

For years, purchasing of undergarments has been very standardized and behind closed doors with not much emphasis on fashion unlike west. Demand for mute colors eg White, black, skin and grey have been bought without any second thought.

Having said, the intimate apparel business in India off lately, has been witnessing demands for stylized offerings. Though still in a very nascent stage as far as style statement in intimate apparel is concerned, age old brands like VIP, Amul, Lux to name a few have positioned themselves categorically in the lower income segment of our society. The mid premium and premium grids are taken care by brands like Jockey, Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, Levis, Calvin Klein, Playboy, Under Colors from Benetton etc. The first three cater to the mid premium, what follows later, cater to the super elite.

Retailing in India is still considered to be driven from unorganized sector which is expected to control approximately 96% of the market. The remaining comes from the organized sector which is primarily operated by players like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Westside, Debenhams and Central-Future Group. 

The major difference between the two is, the unorganized functions on outright basis i.e sale and purchase whereas the organized functions predominantly on consignment i.e sale and return; note: this may be variable depending on the brand, its volume generation etc.

A very accepted observation to which I too abide, Indian economy is like a glass of Champagne where the brim is fizzing out with prosperity and the base depreciates further deepening the financial crisis. The brim symbolizes the rich and the base symbolizes the poor. Interestingly, the chord symbolizes the middle class who are majors’ in middle-lower and upper-middle category. It is this section of the society that the companies like to focus since they are the real drivers of our economy and by far the potential consumer base for any brand.

Business

In the mid premium segment, jockey has categorically established itself as the most acceptable and recognized brand. It enjoys maximum brand loyalty both at consumption and distribution level. Other players in the same grid are Hanes and newly launched Fruit of the Loom, both of these brands hail from America and are recognized global

Jockey being present into India since 90’s always had the first movers’ advantage. Having a larger share of the men’s wear market it now plans to spread its wings to tier II and III cities. In this sphere jockey faces competition from its global competitor’s i.e. Hanes and Fruit.

In the women’s wear jockey shares space with brands like Lovable, Triumph and Enamor who have an expertise in catering to female demands and cater to mid premium and premium segment.

Jockey currently is present in 1600 stores across 1100 cities, a number which is surely envious and at the same time desirable for others.

For new entrants and recent brands business generation is not easy since it is such a kind of a commodity which one would not like to readily experiment with. Hence brands usually try to excite the distribution rather than the consumption lines by offering greater margins and promotional schemes. Such kind of business model is likely to grow in future as well creating a win-win situation for both the distributors and consumers with the option of multi brands. As for the new entrants, they get an equal opportunity to rub their shoulder with the more established brands.

The premium segment is disintegrated into many names, substantial numbers amongst them going to Levis because of its huge brand name.

Trends

Off lately, there has been a paradigm shift in taste and preferences of the consumer which earlier was quite standardized, now looks for vibrancy in offerings.

Earlier purchasing of undergarments was more of a quiet affair but with the surfacing of departmental stores it has become more experimental. The reason is being, modern point of sales offer affable shopping environment and flaunt western taste which always was extrovert.

To top it all, domestically we follow west and as the exodus of brains continue, more they get exposed to global tastes.

The same bug has affected the buying behavior for intimates as well. More often now brands come out with various stylized offerings to attract youngsters. India being a young nation has also spurred off such a shift in preference an d it cuts across all product grids, be it from innerwear to outerwear, household items and you name anything.

To conclude, buying patterns are changing considerably with brands moving into the groove to satisfy the demands.

What's Wrong With Knight Riders...

Started on a winning note, somehow KKR has lost its way to finish well and win games. They should understand that 20-20 cricket and that too IPL, a commercial pot boiler for players involved,  rates of each individual appreciates and depreciates according to the performance. Sourav as usual, a crafty skipper is lacking on execution level which bring him to a loose ground, thus effecting his leadership skills and authority within the group. He needs to first get his record play correct, which in turn i feel consolidate his ground to dictate terms to his team members.
Hope Dada does well today. My heart goes out for SRK's KKR.