Why kingfisher is one of the worst airlines and Mr.Mallya one of the worst business leader?

What makes a great airline; hand-picked stewardess by the CEO of an airline company, red hot glamour image and a top-model to make people believe that they will have good time. What makes a great CEO; imitating the flamboyant lifestyle of another flamboyant but successful leader. That is certainly the mantra of kingfisher airlines and its flamboyant CEO. Even a guy who is rejected from the worst MBA School can tell you that this strategy will just not work.

First the airline – Kingfisher (KFA)

KFA was built on the same concept as Virgin Atlantic and they do compare well side by side

·     Virgin provides top quality experience and service to its customer. KFA does the same except dropping “customers” from its precept.

·     Virgin is profitable from its very inception. KFA has no plans to get there since its inception.

·     Virgin’s market share and profitability has zoomed up. KFA’s debt and losses have zoomed up as well.

In a futile attempt to provide luxury and glamour, KFA has lost focus from the very basics of running an airline, even if we drop the word competitive. Punctuality, basic customer services, attentive and quick response is all but missing from KFA mandate.

I wouldn’t say that other Indian airlines have out-rivaled Kingfisher in terms of the service, but they are at least able to function normally, at least pay the salary to their employees.

Expensive labor contracts, skyrocketing fuel prices and passengers used to cheap cross-country fares are some of the handicaps in the Indian aviation industry, but airline companies in other parts of the world run successfully within similar constraints.

The shareholders and creditors of UB group and KFA have certainly paid the price for vanity management.

Now to the infamous Dr.Vijay Mallya

Mr. Mallya is among the lucky few who are born with a golden spoon, as he inherited the cash-cow from his father, in the form a liquor business, United Breweries - maker of the popular Kingfisher beer.

Mr. Mallya is known to be a person of “high spirits”. Mr. Mallya spends most of his time partying and rubbing shoulders with celebrities and models, cruising around the world in his yachts, burning tyres at F1 races, cheering his cricket team etc.

He has very skillfully made many crap acquisitions, mounted enormous debt and now in the process of annihilating even the healthier business. On one side his airline company is bleeding to death, not able to pay tax dues or even salaries to its staff while on the other side Mr.Mallya is busy picking models for the kingfisher annual calendar.

The guy is a supersonic loss making machine. And he has cloned his super powers in his son as well.

I wish Mr. Mallya had adopted the same principle as Sir Richard Branson of putting a one year limit to succeed in his new ventures or exit the market. In that case he would have had lot lesser things to manage except his father’s inheritance.

Mr.Mallya should also get his biography published like Richard Branson’s “Loosing my virginity”, except his book will be titled “Loosing my sanity”. 

This blog is published by an anonymous author who is not flying good times tomorrow on Kingfisher Airlines. 

Why women prefer security over love in their partner?

Before you get furious from the headline of this blog, let me tell you that I don’t perceive women as superficial or gold-diggers chasing rich guys. Neither is my intention to portray women as such nor am I rich enough to make that statement. I’m not trying to prove any point or making these comments from my personal experience. It may be a very complex issue that depends on extremely personal interest and I may be unsuccessfully trying to oversimplify it.

The fact that women prefer security over love can be understood by the fact that genetically and behaviorally men and women are designed for different purposes. Nature wants male species to propagate its seeds as wide as possible and so men are overly generous to engage in casual relationships and sex without thinking about the future. Female species, on the other hand, has to bear the consequences of begetting a child; so she is programmed to seek security. This is probably also the reason why men engage in more casual encounters and infidelity than women, who prefers long lasting relationship.

Most women would disagree with the fact that they prefer financial security over love because it doesn’t sound right morally. There is nothing to dispise about it though.  Women probably aren’t looking for the richest guys out there, but their million-dollar-wanting heart is definitely looking for guys who can provide a good lifestyle for rest of her life.

We have all heard about the argument “Money doesn’t bring happiness, love does”. Though this statement holds true in a utopian world when men and nature lived in perfect harmony, and men’s needs were few and desires limited. In the new golden age, it is almost the opposite, so even though money can’t bring happiness directly, it can definitely make the journey to contentment easier. It provides women with the freedom from bills, daily chores and all the drama related to it. Probably it is one of the reasons that arranged marriages around the world have had a higher success rates than “love” marriages as element of security has already been factored into the relationship.

Some women have told me that it depends on the time and age, which may be true. In many cases, women over 40 are career oriented or have inherited family wealth; they wouldn’t care about financial security as much as women in their 30s. However there are reports (including the infamous Newsweek article) that claim that women that are not married by 40 wouldn’t marry forever. We can leave this aside as a separate topic of discussion for another day. Even if an affluent woman did seek a partner, she would be looking more for emotional security than financial; someone who is atleast an equal match to her.

I do agree that it is not always “either security or love” situation. There is always a problem when you select a partner just for money or love, and such relationships always end up at a junction that leads to two different roads.

Women are wise and they know that the probability of making her rich man fall in love is much higher than making her lover boy rich over time. 

Japanese women are super attracted to men who buy government bonds

“What would you like to drink” asked the bartender at one of the most popular night clubs in Roppongi. The 35-something man, dressed sharply in a black suit and tie replied “I’ll have a JGB” looking intimately into the eyes of much younger girl standing next to him, expecting to get lucky tonight. The girl says in a soft husky voice "You have a good taste"

You may be wondering if this is a new cocktail. Indeed it is a cocktail made by Japanese government which has a base of debt, mixed with some security and a dash of low interest rate.

What was the Japanese government thinking when they started an ad campaign to reinvigorate interest in the ever-inflating government debt? Who wants playboys when you can have Jboys? They must have hired some of the best PUA (Pick-Up Artists) or what they called Nanpas in Japan to come up with this brilliant creativity.

They have run the celebrity campaign, the sex appeal focus campaign and more recently gold campaign (where you get a free gold coin on purchase of JGBs). Wonder whats next in the creative kitty of the Japanese Finance ministry.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/06/japan-men-who-buy-government-bonds-are-super-sexy/58249/

Why Japanese restaurants serve the best food in the world?

Cooking is an art and not science. Art can only be mastered by years of practice and dedication. This blends in perfectly with the Japanese culture. No wonder Japan has highest number of Michelin restaurants (247 in Japan vs. 70 in Paris) in the world. I’d go one step further to say that the quality of Michelin restaurant in Japan is way higher than some of the other countries. 

Last night I went to Pierre Gagnaire and few months ago visited Le Bouchon, both in Hong Kong, with two and three Michelin stars respectively. I’ve visited both these restaurants and many others in Japan that has Michelin rankings and the difference in quality is substantial. There is no mention of seasonality or ingredients in Hong Kong whereas that takes predominance in Japan.

So what sets the standard of Japanese cuisine and restaurants so high? Japanese palette has changed dramatically from the ancient Haein era to the modern era, from Buddhist influenced vegetarian cuisine to the French and Italian cuisine. Irrespective of the time and cuisine, Japanese chefs have not only mastered the art but elevated it to next level and in fact preserved some of the cuisine that has ceased to exist in other parts of the world such as pasta with sea urchin (one of the most popular dish from Puglia, Italy).

Japanese cuisine, though very simple combination of staple food such as rice, noodles, soup and okaze (that adds flavor to rice) is an art that can be mastered by years of learning because it is perfect blend of techniques, ingredients, seasonality and presentation.

It is only in Japan where one craves to go back to the tiny restaurant, tucked away in a small ally that can be never found unless you know about. It is only in Japan where you can find 10 dollar lunch set with the freshest ingredients made right in front of you. It is only in Japan that can take gastronomy to the highest level.

The only thing that sets New York and London food scene apart is the myriad number of restaurants that brings flavors from all around the world. Japan has pretty much restricted itself to Chinese, French and Italian cuisine from the outside world. It would be great to see some Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and African food in Tokyo.  Japanese cooking is so interesting that it can easily blend itself with any cuisine from any part of the world and create an exceptional food fest.

Some of my favorites in Tokyo are Quintessence, Sushi Saito, Sushi nakamura, Sant pau, Esaki, gyouza in omote-sando (don’t even know the name), Fuku yakitori, Elio Locanda, Cogito, Le Bourguignon, Suzuki, Teppanyaki Ebisu, XEX, Keyakizaka, Ban Thai, Tonki, Kimukatsu, Curry coco ichiban, numerous ramen, yakiniku, tempura, soba places, ryokans, pension that serves incredible home-made food. The list goes on and on !! With thousands of restaurants in Japan i'm sure I've many more left to explore. 


Life is too short to eat shit food.

50 places to visit before I enter 40's club

Traveling is addictive. So many places to see with limited amount of time, money and miles you have. It is interesting that there is no universally accepted stats on the number of countries on this small planet and the best answer is somewhere around 195. Do you think anyone has visited every single country? Am sure there must be some free-spirited soul, who has wandered the globe to step his foot on every single country but unfortunately most mediocre souls like myself is busy building up retirement pension, and we still believe that we will be able to get some benefits when we grow old and feeble. 


I came across an interesting website recently http://mosttraveledpeople.com/ whose members claim that the world is made up of of 872 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces. To visit all 872 would be to go everywhere. How many have you visited?


I think traveling is fun because it accumulates memories that can help us live in peace and die with a smile. Most materialistic things such as bags, cars, houses etc bring momentary satisfaction for individuals that believe in collectivism rather than Objectivism (as Ayn Rand defined in her book "The Fountainhead"). Lets leave philosophy aside & keep it simple!! Traveling provides wholesome experience to all  our senses. One can not only experience the sights but also the food, culture, traditions, festivals etc. Everything seems to be new and exciting (except the horrible cattle class on airlines). It is truly a complete package of pleasure . 


Mark Twain summed it up "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover"


I'm now compiling the list of countries (or rather places) that I'd like to visit in next few years to complete my 50 places bucket list before I enter the 40's club. Any interesting ideas? My next trip is to the pink city - Jaipur in India. I've been there many times but still looking forward to it especially the food. More on follow after the trip.

Blue mosque, Istanbul

There are very few places on this planet which provides a unique architecture, history and spirituality at the same place. Blue mosque is one of those places. From outside you can’t stop admiring the size and majesty of its structure until you step into the courtyard which is as big as the mosque itself, but the true realization of its grandness happens as soon as you step inside the mosque that is adorned by the blue tiles, from which it gets its western name – Blue mosque. It is considered as the last great mosque of the classical period and it always will be.

Naturally the place ranks at top in any guide book on Istanbul, so it often gets crowded with thousands of tourists that visit the mosque everyday. This is one of the occasions when I really feel the power of the politicians of the world when the mosque is vacated for their visit. You can’t get luckier than that. Since I didn’t have the power I tried creating my own luck and visited the mosque at 6am even though the hotel concierge said that the mosque opens at 9am. I couldn’t believe that the mosque opens that late as there must be people offering prayers much earlier than that so I tried to use my bit of intelligence and luck; and I was truly rewarded with the peace and serenity inside the mosque.

Certain things in life are to be enjoyed in sheer silence to feel the space and moment like the blue mosque.  

You sit there in silence and you can feel the power

You sit there and you can’t stop admiring the sheer beauty of the dome, the minarets, and the myriad number of designs on the beautiful blue tiles

You sit there and you flee away from your darkest fears

You sit there and you want to pray, to believe in God

You sit there and you want to embrace life and for all that it symbolizes

You sit there and you just want to sit there forever

It is truly a remarkable place. The only other place where I felt the same was at the Lotus Temple in India.

An interesting bit of history is the mosque was built by its leader without any symbolic victory and just out of public funds which lead to controversy and criticism by the Ottoman population. If the ottoman population could only see how public funds are used in modern era to save disgraced banks and companies they would have praised their leaders for at least creating something symbolic that would be admired for centuries to come.

I think the Blue Mosque is everything and lot more than what I expect from a symbolic structure like it. 

ipad2 vs. galaxy tab

My first blog and i thought I'll keep it simple.


Lately life has been not very exciting. Its already 2 weeks since my last holiday and normally the best way to uplift your dull mood is to go shopping, so i decided to finally buy a tablet. After being a die-hard fan of apple for many years i gave up on apple since they started launching iJunk every month thereby putting themselves in the same position as Microsoft. Yes, the visionary Steve jobs said it "2011 be a year of copycats" and Apple has unknowingly copied the Microsoft model. So i thought i should look at the known copy of iPad, the Samsung galaxy tablet, but couldn't make up my mind.


When confused i use my sixth sense to reach a decision. My sixth sense is all around me in different shapes and sizes. So i asked couple of friends who all gave me their own view on why i should buy one over the other. Some played safe saying Apple is a long term story while some said that galaxy is cool and you can do lots of interesting things. I also got an intelligent piece of advice from my wife "You don't need either"


After all the insights from my sixth sense, I've finally made up my mind that I'll buy Samsung galaxy tablet and I've a strong argument for my decision - for some reason i just don't like apple, especially now that the visionary Steve Jobs won't be able to do anything but watch from above the fate of Apple. Rest in peace Mr.Jobs.


Life is too short to have an apple everyday.