NB Blogs

Infrastructure First. Ensure ease in Travel. Tourism will Follow! A Holistic Approach and Understanding have Brought New Growth Opportunities for Indian Tourism, opening new destinations with new found access. As this government ends its second five-year stint in power, much can be said of its push for tourism. Not perhaps as how the industry would like to see it; it embraces the larger picture of which the contours are beginning to emerge. From the very start, PM Modi identified tourism as one of the 5-Ts of his government, well before 2014. Indeed, whether one agrees or not, to each his own. Modi has been consistent with his belief that infrastructure first, ensure ease in travel, and tourism will follow. So, this story in now unfolding. In the last several years, the push has been towards creating infrastructure that provides comfort and speed, both, with safety and surety in travel. There is some that people may not agree with. Like the Bullet Train project, for instance. However,

The Countdown has Begun, and the Dice is Rolling. In the shifting sands, as the dust brings its haze, clarity of outcome remains fudgy, at best. The Dice is Rolling! What number will it settle upon? Is it really going to be 370? It could be more, or less! Only the Heavens know, or in a more practical sense, only the average voter knows. Which is not you and me! We, sitting in our urban cocoons, are not the average voter, that we all know. Any poll, any survey is not likely to tell us the end result. Just look back at 2019. It seemed to be going close but in the slog overs, all the remaining results came in favour of the ruling BJP, and the PM returned from Kedarnath from his prayers, more than answered. This time, with 2024 elections towering upon us, in the last few weeks, if all was understood to be known, some new factors have emerged and what impact will these have, is difficult to tell. The arrest of Kejriwal and freezing of Congress accounts First is the arrest of Kejriwal! Is he

These are excellent times for the hospitality industry. On a personal note, I can share modestly that I have witnessed the hospitality industry from up close from the mid-seventies to now, which is a good span of 50 years, right from the top, meaning even then and now. I have been an editor of a hotel magazine and I’ve had the privilege of knowing and interacting and engaging with the hospitality czars of that time, as even now. So, with that vantage point, I can share or say that hospitality has seldom seen such a good environment to grow. There is no looking behind. I see only an upside, no downside unless we plan our own demise. The market has boomed beyond recognition, the number of hospitality majors then were a handful, now almost a hundred of them. Brands were unknown except just a few, today each brand has its own 20 and more! Hotels are no more ‘oases’ in a land of poverty; today, they are mainstream as part of the social and economic fabric of the economy. The pipeline, howso

This is that time of the year that comes every five years. When passions are highest, often reason takes a back seat. There is so much at stake, as the voter choice will decide who and how the nation will run its course for the next five years. A third term for PM Modi appears the most likely outcome, but then there can be surprises, and how and by whom? Why the 2024 elections are important, even more so than before? Even if we look back to five years ago, at 2019, much has changed. There is a more aspirational India, a Bharat on the rise; stakes are higher for all political parties, some for their survival as this may well be their last year to stay in circulation, for others to break free from old alliances that are no longer relevant, and yet others who have fire in their belly, see themselves as harbingers of a new India. And, it is time to see what is happening to the world around us? Currents around us: we are different and how? Look at what is happening in Pakistan, post their n

After a hiatus, we were back to watching a five-day series, a far cry from the quick fix T20 and its older version of ODI, the 20 overs and 50 overs miracles introduced to the game only recently. Before then, it was only the five days’ matches, tending to become monotonous and long drawn out, tuk-tuk, with the likes of Bapu Nadkarni bowling 26 of his 29 overs as maidens. Easily, looking back, the time had come for a disruption and it did. Another remarkable ‘Made in India’, the T20 brand of cricket. Much like the 2-minute instant noodles that changed the history of how Indians changed the game in Indian food. But, what did we see during these games. As we go into print, four from the five-day matches have concluded. Not long drawn out draws, as we used to encounter long time back, but invariably, not even entering the fifth day! What a change to see and consider. The term ‘bazball’ has been invented with the English thinking they were inventing that form of fast cricket. But whosoever

An awesome ceremony, a rare consecration, an event unlike any other. Evoking the spirit of Lord Ram can be the best deterrent to voices of division and despair, a time to give and take and live in peace and progress. Some thoughts on India going forward at a pivotal moment in time in our nation’s history. Last month is etched in stone, literally. All those concerned, a triple engine development, which would include the centre, the state and the trust put all hands-on deck, leaving no stone unturned, beautifully chiselled in all the mastery that Indian artisans are famous for, globally. From the temples of yore, to this modern-day marvel. With this, the Ayodhya temple issue finally resolved itself, in the inauguration of the Ram temple! Resolved, or entered the next phase, only time can tell. It took a while, starting from the Rath Yatra of LK Advani and the demolition of the masjid. It is now all history, as another chapter unfolded on 22nd January last month. There was no looking back

An ironic statement of unity when the alliance itself is falling apart. If the idea was to come together and put up a joint opposition to the ruling dispensation, this is looking like a pipe dream at present. Was this alliance too idealistic, too presumptuous, and even premature? With such disparate people and programmes between them, a more practical programme would have been simple seat sharing wherever the lead players are eating into each other’s votes. Just that, plain and simple Starting from Manipur on January 14th, we saw the Rahul Yatra 2.0 make an East to West push for an India, free from division. Ironically, as the yatra broke up for rest, in those two days while Rahul was in Delhi, the carpet was moved from under the INDIA Alliance feet. Right under their nose, as the alliance leaders helplessly saw the playing out of the 9th incarnation of Nitesh Kumar as the chief minister of Bihar. The alliance lost yet another of its pillars, after Mamta had declared she would go it al