There's a feline connection somewhere
in this tangled skein, surely. Thread one: Sunil Alagh, the
52-year-old CEO of the 80-year-old Britannia Industries (don't look for a
story in the ages; there isn't one), counts Tiger among his most
profitable biscuit brands. Thread two: his company is sponsoring a 'Save
the Tiger' project, in association with environment magazine Sanctuary.
Britannia also organised a 'Kids for Tigers' event on Children's Day
(November 14) at Chowpatty, Mumbai, to reinforce the message of saving the
T. Both are bound to have a positive rub-off on the 'Tiger' brand. Alagh,
who makes all the right noises about conservation, says: ''We are
interested in profits, but we have always taken social responsibility
seriously.'' Thread three: the man admits he's addicted to children's
channel Cartoon Network and identifies Tom & Jerry as a source of
inspiration. Do these have anything to do with putting the roar back in
the company's balance sheet? Smart pricing, a slew of launches, and a
catchy health and nutrition positioning have seen Britannia gobble up a 40
per cent share of the Rs 2,000-crore (branded) biscuits market. And the
dairy foray, with Milkman, has been an unqualified success. The
salt-and-pepper maned CEO wouldn't say anything beyond the fact that he
wanted every third Indian to be a Britannia consumer by 2003. But we have
a feeling that his recent successes have left the man grinning like a
Cheshire Cat...
Toastmaster
Trivedi
He makes a good host! Anish
Trivedi, investment banker-turned radio producer-turned TV
personality, shot to fame with the whacky request show Mangta Hai, which
he co-hosted with petite model Meghna Reddy. But now this ex-partner and
country head of Oppenheimer & Co, will host something more up his
street: CNN indiadotcom, a half-hour weekly show on infotech, slated to
appeal to both the tech-savvy and the tech-novice. Says Trivedi, 39, who
also heads Banyan Tree Communications, the largest Indian radio production
company: ''The programme will be personality-based and interactive and
hopefully, I can leverage my background to make it interesting.'' This
ex-food editor of Elle magazine-the man is a gourmet cook, no less-is
surely going to have his plate full...
Wayfarer
Extraordinaire
He does not believe in fading gently
into the sunset! un Consultant Prakash Narain Agarwala read history
under A. Toynbee and Will Durant at Oxford before becoming the first
Indian to graduate from the Harvard Business School in 1948. Then, he
joined the Indian Diplomatic Service, on a direct recommendation from
Pandit Nehru. It was on one such posting to Iraq in 1955 that the idea of
tracking old trade routes came to him. And he journeyed across 60
countries over 30 years, tracking 21 civilisations including the Phonecian,
Greek, Mesopotamian, and Indian, to compile his magnum opus, a
comprehensive history of Indian business from 3,000 B.C. to the new
millennium, slated to come out in a revised format this year. Says
Agarwala, 74, who has many more achievements-like setting up of ONGC-to
his credit: ''I have always had a fascination for history, culture and
travel, and this book combines all.'' Well, he has travelled through life.
Teeing
Off, Skyward
His India posting was foreordained! Michael
Purchon, the newly-appointed General Manager (India) of Chicago-based
$16 billion aviation behemoth United Airlines (UA), had a
great-grandfather who owned a coffee plantation in South India and a
grandfather who set up the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai. Now, Purchon,
here to oversee the resumption of the round-the-world UA services from
Delhi from April, 2001, wants to make the most of his India 'adventure'.
Says Purchon, 33: ''The economy is robust and outbound travel has
increased. With so many airlines expressing interest in India, it should
be a real challenge for us. I am looking forward to it.'' Well, this
self-confessed India-lover, who is also a keen golfer and amateur scuba
diver, is looking forward to more than that: namely good golf and a
flourishing social life. A high-flier all right, this Mr. Purchon...
There's a feline connection somewhere
in this tangled skein, surely. Thread one: Sunil Alagh, the
52-year-old CEO of the 80-year-old Britannia Industries (don't look for a
story in the ages; there isn't one), counts Tiger among his most
profitable biscuit brands. Thread two: his company is sponsoring a 'Save
the Tiger' project, in association with environment magazine Sanctuary.
Britannia also organised a 'Kids for Tigers' event on Children's Day
(November 14) at Chowpatty, Mumbai, to reinforce the message of saving the
T. Both are bound to have a positive rub-off on the 'Tiger' brand. Alagh,
who makes all the right noises about conservation, says: ''We are
interested in profits, but we have always taken social responsibility
seriously.'' Thread three: the man admits he's addicted to children's
channel Cartoon Network and identifies Tom & Jerry as a source of
inspiration. Do these have anything to do with putting the roar back in
the company's balance sheet? Smart pricing, a slew of launches, and a
catchy health and nutrition positioning have seen Britannia gobble up a 40
per cent share of the Rs 2,000-crore (branded) biscuits market. And the
dairy foray, with Milkman, has been an unqualified success. The
salt-and-pepper maned CEO wouldn't say anything beyond the fact that he
wanted every third Indian to be a Britannia consumer by 2003. But we have
a feeling that his recent successes have left the man grinning like a
Cheshire Cat...
He makes a good host! Anish
Trivedi, investment banker-turned radio producer-turned TV
personality, shot to fame with the whacky request show Mangta Hai, which
he co-hosted with petite model Meghna Reddy. But now this ex-partner and
country head of Oppenheimer & Co, will host something more up his
street: CNN indiadotcom, a half-hour weekly show on infotech, slated to
appeal to both the tech-savvy and the tech-novice. Says Trivedi, 39, who
also heads Banyan Tree Communications, the largest Indian radio production
company: ''The programme will be personality-based and interactive and
hopefully, I can leverage my background to make it interesting.'' This
ex-food editor of Elle magazine-the man is a gourmet cook, no less-is
surely going to have his plate full...
He does not believe in fading gently
into the sunset! un Consultant Prakash Narain Agarwala read history
under A. Toynbee and Will Durant at Oxford before becoming the first
Indian to graduate from the Harvard Business School in 1948. Then, he
joined the Indian Diplomatic Service, on a direct recommendation from
Pandit Nehru. It was on one such posting to Iraq in 1955 that the idea of
tracking old trade routes came to him. And he journeyed across 60
countries over 30 years, tracking 21 civilisations including the Phonecian,
Greek, Mesopotamian, and Indian, to compile his magnum opus, a
comprehensive history of Indian business from 3,000 B.C. to the new
millennium, slated to come out in a revised format this year. Says
Agarwala, 74, who has many more achievements-like setting up of ONGC-to
his credit: ''I have always had a fascination for history, culture and
travel, and this book combines all.'' Well, he has travelled through life.
His India posting was foreordained! Michael
Purchon, the newly-appointed General Manager (India) of Chicago-based
$16 billion aviation behemoth United Airlines (UA), had a
great-grandfather who owned a coffee plantation in South India and a
grandfather who set up the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai. Now, Purchon,
here to oversee the resumption of the round-the-world UA services from
Delhi from April, 2001, wants to make the most of his India 'adventure'.
Says Purchon, 33: ''The economy is robust and outbound travel has
increased. With so many airlines expressing interest in India, it should
be a real challenge for us. I am looking forward to it.'' Well, this
self-confessed India-lover, who is also a keen golfer and amateur scuba
diver, is looking forward to more than that: namely good golf and a
flourishing social life. A high-flier all right, this Mr. Purchon...
