Deep Impressions

  The United Celebration of India Add Bollywood and Cricket, and you and a super success formula, yet only on two occasions, the formula has reached exceptional excitement levels  ( Also published in  movietalkies.com  )      - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  - - - -  The two big forces that have the potential to connect people across the length and breadth of India and also connect Indians across the globe are Bollywood and Cricket. So, when the two together get connected, it’s no surprise that the excitement reaches a new dimension. Be in Anju Mahendroo/Gary Sobers or Sharmila Tagore/Pataudi or Kohli/Anushka, eyeballs in all generations have been spinning stories. But these have been personal events. On the business front, Bollywood and Cricket have come together on many occasions - All Rounder (1984), Awwal Number (1990), Iqbal (2005) and many more - but the kind of excitement that ’

    Cinemahalls : Reeling A Reincarnation ?   Against its previous rivals (TV, VHS, Cable TV et al), cinemahalls could flex their muscle through technological innovations. But as they reopen, they face a unique rival.              ------- ------- -------   ------- ------- -------  ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- When the first Indian film  Raja Harishchandra    (1913) was screened, the cinemahall had remained silent.    During 1910s, Cinemahalls would face tough competition from theatre – which then had    voice . With talkie films, Cinemahalls surpassed theatre,    as writers could write stories for cinema that could not have been narrated in theatres.     During 1940s to 1970s, Cinemahalls in India, saw a rapid growth. When during 50s & 60s, cinemahalls in US faced competition from television, it was countered through technological innovation called    widescreen formats (cinemascope etc.). Widescreen formats were very cumbersome to watch on TV. In India, cinemaha

        हिंदी के ऐतिहासिक हमसफ़र  :  उर्दू ,  अंग्रेजी और तकनीक   Also published as an opinion piece in  Dainik Bhaskar  on Hindi Diwas (14 th  Sep 2021)       वैसे तो हिंदीभाषा की उम्र क़रीबन  1000  वर्ष हैं पर खड़ी बोली की आयु तो सिर्फ़  200  वर्ष है और अगर घटनापूर्ण इतिहास की बात करें तो पिछले  100  वर्षों अपने आप में एक विशेष स्थान रखते हैं । जितना  ‘हैपनिंग’ या जितना घटनापूर्ण हिंदी के लिए ये  100  वर्ष रहें हैं, उस उच्च स्तर का उतार-चढ़ाव किसी और भाषा ने कदाचित ही देखा होगा।     1920  के दशक में हिंदी की  सबसे प्यारी हमसफ़र थी उर्दू   । असहयोग आंदोलन और खिलाफ़ती आँदोलन के आपसी तालमेल के दौरान, दोनो भाषाओं में प्रेम इतना गाढ़ा हो गया था की बोलते वक़्त ये पता ही चलता था कि कहाँ उर्दू ख़त्म हुई और हिंदी शुरू हो गयी।   बिना उर्दू के, हिंदी भाषियों को अपने हक़ की लड़ाई के लिए ना वकील मिलता, और ना ही हलफ़नामा। और बिना हिंदी के व्याकरण के, उर्दू लड़खड़ा के गिर पड़ती। भाव वाचक संज्ञाओं ( ज़रूरत, मेहनत,  मदद,   मजबूरी,) के लिये जहां हिंदी बे-झिझक उधार माँगने  उर्दू के पास चली जाती, तो वही

    Urban Realty : From Crowd to Cloud     Also published in  moneycontrol.com   Idea in brief : Agriculture economy lasted millenniums, industrial economy for centuries, and within decades of service economy dominance, we have the cloud economy.  The birth of cloud economy has interesting implications for all those connected with real estate sector        ---------------- ---------------- ----------------     ---------------- ---------------- ----------------     One hectare land :   …..When used by Agriculture employs 10 people    ……When used by Industries, employs 100 people   ……When used by Service economy, employs 1000 people     With migration of jobs across sectors, the workplace has secularly been getting densely crowded. However, the new movements called WFH ( Work From Home) and WFA ( Work From Anywhere) have suddenly turned the workplace from    ‘Crowd’ to ‘Cloud’. And this disruption has bought about several interesting nuances :    ·        Agriculture sector remained dom