To be or not to be.. a Samsung

Samsung Mobiles have always repelled me. To be honest, I have never owned a Samsung smart phone. Reason being that, I never buy a product that is extensively marketed. To me, a product must sell its way, on its own, straight to the heart. Samsung never gave me that chance. They just keep pushing models after models, with loads of variations, in to the Indian market. It was like junk food. Now Samsung mobiles are everywhere  It would be difficult to rout their market share position, in the Indian mobile market.

The other mobile manufacturers never see India as a major opportunity. Apple has always been the last ones to arrive in the Indian market. Motorola as a mobile manufacturer never had a stable foot in the Indian market. HTC and LG are lethargic in introducing new models in the Indian market. The Nexus mobiles and tablets never come to India. Nokia and Sony are trying hard for a comeback, but failing to win the heart of Indians. And then there are these numerous small time mobile brands who have made use of this opportunity and bombard the market with mushroom models. These mushrooms are cheap in price, build and quality, short shelf life and have  poor service backup. They have scavenged every-bit of market share that was left between the gap of Samsung’s share and the rest of the mobile manufacturers.

A person aspiring to buy a smart phone in India, has no other option, but to buy a Samsung. He can’t buy the latest Apple, because its either over-priced or the latest model is not available in India. He can’t buy a HTC, Nexus or LG, because of the availability. He doesn’t want to take his chances with Nokia, Sony or the cheap brands. He has to buy a Samsung.

But I must appreciate Samsung for learning the market potential of Indian Cellular industry. They seem to give very high preference to the sales figures from India. They know the likes of the new urban Indians. They understand the rural market trends. They have done their demographic study well. They have the right marketing and sales team across the nation. They are setting up a sophisticated service backbone. When all the other manufacturers are either neglecting or exploiting the Indian market, Samsung is the only one who sees the live opportunity. Their naming convention could be confusing. Their designs could be flawed. Their mobiles may not make heads turn. But they are available and reasonable to the uber Indian Mobile market.

Bond subtitled

I was watching Skyfall, the Bond movie of 2012, in a theater with friends. This is not about the movie but its about the conversation between a family, sitting just behind me and trying in all possible ways to spoil the movie watching experience of everyone around. Normally I am not a fan of fake English accent speakers and this family was one gang of it. In the opening scene when Bond was shot, the mother let out a shriek “Ooo shit”. That’s when they got my attention. Then the kid asked, “what happened?”. The mom went on to explain, “The police aunty shot the police uncle”. Mr Bond, you are officially old. Its your 50th film and people must actually be calling you Granpa. Instead be happy that you are “Police Uncle”. The fun didn’t end there. The mother and another lady near her went on explaining every single scene and dialogue to the kid, in the kid’s own understandable terms. And then there was general loud comments, shrieks, laughters, which was quite annoying to me. Here comes the interesting part. When Mr Bond got intimate with his girl in the shower, there was an eerie uncomfortable silence. Then on the gang was relatively quiet. Mr. Bond you have silenced yet another gang.

This kind of public behavior irritates me, but then its public. Everyone is different and I have to live with it. If I can’t, then I must arrange for a private screening which I can’t afford yet. So in the end, its all fun. See you next year Uncle Bond.

Idly halts a coach

I was waiting for my train in a platform in Madurai Junction. That’s when I overheard this cute conversation. Its customary for passengers to check with vendors about train arival time, platform and coach location. You don’t get to see railway employees around with a helping mentality. To us passengers, these vendors are first point of contact for information. This incident involves one such vendor. He was standing on his regular spot selling Idly, vadai, chappathi, poori, etc. for dinner. I was seated somewhere nearby, warding off the pestering mosquitoes and playing temple run on mobile. A passenger passing by the vendor, stopped and asked him “annae, S2 coach enga varumnae?” (in a typical madurai slang: brother, where will be S2 coach come?”). This vendor replies “Idly vaangina inga varum, (pointing to a place where the coach will halt) vaangalana enga varumnu enakku theriyathu… (shrugging his shoulders)” (Translated: If you get Idly the coach will halt here, if not I am not sure…)

The passenger was lost for a minute and then he got the intended pun. They both laughed. He got an Idly packet from him and walked away still laughing.