Why Mumbai erupted in joy after Pujara’s dismissal
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If ever confirmation was needed that Mumbai’s psyche
is wrapped in denial, and not in sync with that of India and the world,
last fortnight provided it.
Three events, and the way Mumbai took part in them, are ample testimony. Bal Thackeray’s demise, Ajmal Kasab’s execution and ‘Uncle’ Sachin Tendulkar’s debacle at the Wankhede have exposed that Mumbai refuses to accept that times have changed, that it is no longer India’s pre-eminent metro. I think it was media personality M J Akbar who delivered a sharp rebuke more than two decades ago that Bombay should establish “diplomatic relations with India”. That was when Bombay’s reputation as the capital of everything – media discourse, fashion, culture, high society lifestyle, corporate games, market moves, prime property, art, films, fast-and-efficient city commutes and what not – was secure. That made Bombayites so full of themselves. Bombay was the world. The world did not exist. India – what/where was that? Oh, wasn’t it incidental that, politically and geographically, Bombay was part of India? Last fortnight has shown things have not improved much. Mumbaikars may still rise to the national anthem at cinemas, but deep down, they resent that all their ‘glory’ has been lost (or stolen by Delhi, Bangalore and other cities), I think. But they wish to delude themselves, or make others believe, that they still matter more than others. Although India and the world at large do not figure much in Mumbai’s collective consciousness, Mumbaikars seek them from time to time to show the metro still exists, that it matters. So events like Bal Thackeray’s funeral or 26/11-related hanging (even if it took place in Pune) are milked dry, to deflect national and international attention on to the metro. After all, the annual monsoon mess, of late the only event that brings copious media attention to the city, had given a miss this time. When other cities skip Test cricket, Mumbaikars descend in thousands on the Wankhede as much to reinforce their fame as aficionados of the game as to root for their favourite but furiously failing ‘God’. If ever faced with a ‘Mumbai or India?’ quandary, the choice would be easy for Mumbaikars. Witness the way they reacted to Pujara’s dismissal in India’s second innings. They welcomed the new batting sensation to the crease alright with almighty loud screams of “Pu-ja-ra, Pu-ja-ra...”, but the moment he got out, signalling a probable defeat, there was a louder, deafening applause! What gives? Why, ‘God’ is in next; Mumbai is in, celebrate – never mind India could be out; never mind if this is an India-England match. (By the way, Hyderabad has thrashed Mumbai in Ranji; Mumbai is no longer the cradle of Indian cricket. Even films and books are set elsewhere.) Thackeray, Tendulkar and the Terrorist – in a sense, all of them belong(ed) to the past, but Mumbaikars needed them to feel significant in the present. That begs the question: Why is Mumbai in denial? I can only theorise that denial and the attendant make-believe help Mumbaikars to cope with the pain of having lost their pre-eminence and the shame of now having to negotiate sub-human conditions and sub-optimal infrastructure in the metro every day. Both denial and make-believe, I suspect, are attempts by people to take others along with themselves from reality to fantasy. But, doesn’t that perpetuate the status quo and trap one in a rut? |
Mumbai: When a brand exits a high street, it typically indicates the retailer is in trouble, say experts.
In August, Tashi, a premium shoe brand from Tata International Ltd,
shut its store on Linking Road, a high street in Bandra that gets
customers not only from all over Mumbai city but also visitors from
other parts of the country and abroad.
A high street is a generic name given to the primary business street of a town or city.
Linking Road is the second-most expensive high street retail destination in India with a rent per square feet of Rs.850 as on June 2012 after Khan Market in Delhi with a rent of Rs.1,250 per sq. ft, according to a Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) report released earlier this month.
Tashi was launched by Noel Tata after he took over as managing director of Tata International in 2010. Prior to that, Noel Tata headed Trent Ltd, which runs the Westside departmental stores and Star Bazaar, a hypermarket chain.
At the time of the launch, the company had planned a
rollout of 15-20 stores in Mumbai and Delhi and hired a senior team of
executives led by Deepak Deshpande who came from Bata India Ltd.
The plans for the rollout have been curtailed. Deshpande and his team, too, have been replaced by a new management.
This was first reported by Financial Chronicle on 19 August.
“The company envisaged a launch plan of 15-20 stores in
two trial regions—namely Delhi and Mumbai, to test market the concept.
Based on the results of these trial stores, it was felt that changes
were necessary in store location and product pricing strategy. A new
management team has been put in place to make these changes. The brand
will continue to operate in these two markets with eight operational
stores and through shop-in-shop stores, including Westside, while
evaluating the relevance of the changes in strategy,” said a company
spokesperson.
Footwear retail is a $8.5 billion market of which
organized shoe retail is 30%. The overall market is growing at 18% per
annum and has over the last five years seen more than half-a-dozen
international brands and at least 20 domestic brands launch here,
according to Harminder Sahni, managing director, Wazir Advisors.
He said that international brands are, on average, priced between Rs.1,800 and Rs.2,000 whereas domestic brands are half of that.
Tashi’s pricing of women’s shoewear between Rs.750 and Rs.4,700 and men’s shoes between Rs.600 and Rs.7,000 was comparable to prices of established brands from the US and UK like Nine West, Aldo, Puma and Steve Madden.
“I find the brand expensive and can buy other
international brands for the same price,” said Amit Rathod, an engineer
working with an IT company in Mumbai.
Tashi’s trouble on the Linking Road high street is just a case in point.
Following the global downturn in 2008, many brands like Gini and Jony, Converse, Wrangler, Lilliput, Spykar’s kidwear brand Oyo, Dockers downed their shutters on Linking Road.
While some of them are struggling to turn profitable,
others have eventually exited from the retail business, pointed out
experts.
“Retailers usually look at establishing a presence on a
high street like Bandra to build their brand and brand experience rather
than mere sales push. If a brand is committed to the retail business,
they stay put there even if the store is not really profitable,” said Santosh Verma, director, IDFC Capital Ltd.
“There are two ways of showing that you are committed to retail for the long term,” said Sanjay Vakharia, director marketing, Spykar Lifestyles Pvt Ltd. Retailers, he added, need to have the gumption to be able to sustain operations on the high street and create a pull.
“It is most difficult to get consumers to walk into your
high street stores. In a mall, people anyway come as it’s a congregation
of brands,” said Wakharia, explaining that for a brand to survive on
Linking Road it needs to do business of Rs.75 per square feet per day.
Spykar had planned brand extensions in 2008 for launching a hi-end denim brand Voto
and kidswear Oyo. For these new brands, the retailer moved into a store
of 2,500 sq. ft store on Linking Road. Following the collapse of the
Lehman Brothers, however, the company did not launch Voto and eventually
exited from the kidswear market. It now has a smaller store of 1000 sq.
ft on the street.
Linking Road is a key benchmark for demand for retail
space which rose 24% over the past year, higher than the overall average
growth rate of rent at 12.5% across India, according to the same
C&W report.
“There is limited good retail real estate in India
whether it is high streets or quality malls. Hence brands have to have a
presence on both the high street and malls in India,” said Jaideep Wahi, director, agency, retail services, C&W.
