Tag: hyderabad

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Kharcha paani

Mumbai will spend less this Diwali: Survey

City is second to New Delhi in probable cut in Diwali spending; inflation and shaky job situation are the reasons.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Diwali will be upon us in November, but it seems that worried Mumbaikars are practicing thrift already.

A country-wide survey conducted by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and released recently reveals that this Diwali, there will be a 40 per cent cut in most households’s festive budgets, with Delhi-NCR topping the list. The survey sample includes a majority of middle and lower income families.

The reasons given for slashing their Diwali spends were: rising monthly expenses due to high inflation, less job opportunities, shrinking real wages, and staggering costs of food commodities that are commonly used during Diwali.

Titled ‘High prices dampening the festive spirit’, the survey was conducted under the aegis of ASSOCHAM and showed that over 72 per cent respondents from middle and lower middle income families would spend nearly 25 per cent of their monthly salaries on Diwali for shopping, sweets, gifting, apparel etc. Delhi-NCR is on top of the chart projecting curtailment of festive budget thanks to eroding purchasing power, while Mumbai ranks second, followed by Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Chennai.
 The survey was conducted over two months beginning August to September 2013 in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun etc. A little over 200 persons were selected from each city on an average. 
“The skyrocketing prices of essential commodities have left the aam aadmi  hard pressed. Be it sweets, dry fruits, crackers, pulses, dairy products, fruit or vegetables, the prices have registered large increases this year compared to the Diwali of last year. Even gold, the much sought-after item during this festive season, stays in the range of Rs 30,000 per 10 gm compared to Rs 22,000 last Diwali,” said DS Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.
The survey reveals that the high income group remains unaffected from rupee fall, double digit food inflation. However, a large number of lower and middle income groups indicate that they are finding ways to cut back spending now or indicating they will do so in the future, noted the survey. A majority of respondents said that they plan to spend fewer amounts on this festive season as the prices on average of most of the gifts and traditional Indian sweets have gone up by 55 per cent, while the value of saving has gone gown by almost 15 per cent. Revisions in interest rates by banks have also sent their EMIs soaring, further eroding their monetary power, adds the survey.
Most of the respondents plan to cut down on personal expenses or go bargain hunting to keep their festive budgets in control. Over 57 per cent of the respondents will buy only on sale or discounts, 12 per cent will buy fewer gifts and the rest 2 per cent will buy a group gift. Only a small percentage feels that festivals are the time to splurge, even as discounts remain the biggest attraction for most buyers.
Over 76 per cent of respondents said that monthly grocery bills have jumped to about Rs 7,000, compared to Rs 4,000 in the last 12 months. The prices of vegetables and bakery products have also risen in the last few months. Obviously, this will affect the Diwali celebrations. Milk, butter, sugar, dry- fruits, flour and labour charges all go into making sweets. On the other hand, dry fruit and sweets are the most expensive items in Diwali.
The survey adds that the rates of ghee, sugar, edible oils, atta and spices have also registered increases of around 25 per cent to 35 per cent during the past one year.
(All figures courtesy ASSOCHAM. Picture courtesy webylife.com)
Categories
Hum log

When your dreams are in plain sight

Dr Samir Mansuri is visually-challenged, but that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing Ayurveda, selling organic beauty products and conducting research.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Being born visually challenged brings its own set of problems – from having to do everything differently than ‘normal’ people, those without the gift of sight are often hampered in pursuing their ambitions due to lack of support and infrastructure. Little wonder, then, that the country has only a handful of visually-impaired doctors – our educational system also makes it that much more difficult for unsighted people to study medicine or physiotherapy.

And yet, if you have the focus, nobody can hold you back. City-based Dr Samir Mansuri, an Ayurveda practitioner, is proof of this.

Dr Mansuri started his own line of organic beauty and skin products, Ocean Miracle, in 2011, and today, has several celebrities among his clients. We spoke to him about the challenges of studying medicine without the gift of sight, growing up and nurturing the medical dream, and doing all that it takes to realise one’s ambition.

Excerpts from the interview:
dr samir mansuri Being born visually-challenged and then growing up without sight must have been difficult. Can you describe what your childhood was like?
Yes, I was born blind, but I was gifted with a very keen sense of hearing, which I was conscious of since a very young age. Since I could not see, my family sent me away to an NGO-run boarding school for the blind.

Growing up, I realised that my family did not want me to return home because for them, I was a liability, a curse. So when I completed my high school education, I moved to Hyderabad. There was no definite plan at that time…I lived on railway platforms, slept beneath staircases, then later began working in massage parlours as a masseur to earn money.

How did you study Ayurveda?

I wanted to study further, and I did, opting to study Arts and later specialising in Ayurveda. Luckily for me, I met an 89-year-old traditional Ayurvedic doctor, Guru Shamshuddin, who changed my life. I consider him my guru because he gave my career a new direction. I learnt a lot of things from him, learnt about making medicines. I had been a good masseuse, and I had a loyal clientele. These people became the first ones to receive my medicines. Guru Shamshuddin had taught me the science of pulse diagnosis and the secrets of herbal connotations and cures. I assisted him for four years and gathered a lot of experience. Then in 1999, I obtained a medical practitioner’s license in Hyderabad in 1999.

How did you complete your education in medicine without the gift of eyesight? What were some of the challenges you faced?
It was a very challenging task, no doubt. But thanks to technology, the visually-challenged have several ‘aids’ which help to convert text into sound – this helps in learning. And of course my friends and colleagues were very helpful and supported me all the way, apart from my Guru, who taught me everything.

When did you decide that you wanted to become a doctor? What prompted this decision? 
I wanted to do something that was considered impossible or unachievable by the visually-challenged, and becoming a doctor seemed like a good thing to do. I started my own line of beauty and skin products and I practice at my clinic in Juhu.

Have you ever faced any hostility or curiosity from patients because you cannot see? dr samir mansuri zenie media (4)
I have never faced hostility from people, but yes, definitely curiosity. For example, once I went to the police station for my passport verification. When I told the police officer that I was a doctor, he was shocked and surprised and asked me how I could be a doctor when I am blind! Even while travelling abroad (and in India, too) I face a lot of surprised questions.

How did you start Ocean Miracle?
The idea grew over time. We have now developed a range of eco-organic, eco-natural cosmetics.

Who are some of your famous clients?
Some of them are filmmaker Subhash Ghai, TV actress and model Reshmi Ghosh, actor Ashmit Patel and there are several others. I cannot mention too many names due to the doctor-patient confidentiality.
Has the market for organic beauty products grown in recent times? 

Yes, the market has grown tremendously. People are more conscious about the entire ‘organic funda’, to put it mildly. Many people do not want to use synthetically or chemically-prepared creams and lotions on their skin.

How do you vouch for the purity of your products?
They are officially and scientifically tested and certified by labs not just in India but also abroad.

You recently conducted a research on fake and spurious beauty and cosmetic products. What were your key findings?
We studied over 500 products available in India, and found that about 50 per cent of all cosmetics and beauty or skin care products sold over the counter in India are either fake or spurious or both, or whose shelf life has expired and are harmful to the human skin in the long run. Then there are many products that do not have the mandatory Government of India manufacturing license for cosmetic products. We also found that about 65 per cent of unbranded products or unknown brands contain harmful ingredients or compounds.

Even more worrying is the fact that Ayurvedic products manufactured by FMCG giants contain ingredients obtained from herbs and plants or plant extracts grown artificially, not organically.

What are you planning to do with your findings?
We have forwarded our findings to the Ministry of Health and the Maharashtra FDA (Food and Drug Administration). It is for them to take the necessary action.

Lastly, any words of advice you wish to offer students of medicine?
Keep trying, aim high and have complete faith in the Almighty.

(Pictures courtesy Dr Samir Mansuri)

Categories
Trends

Your office could be checking you out

Companies have started verifying employees’ credentials in the wake of several crimes –  existing employees are included in the checks.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The recent spurt of crimes, both economic offenses or otherwise, is spurring several companies to quietly check out the antecedents of those in their employment. And it’s not just the ones that companies are hoping to employ that are being given the once-over, a lot of companies are conducting background checks on those working for them already.

Details such as education, residence and personal information are being cross-verified to see if employees have given wrong data on any of these counts. Any misinformation is a potential red flag – companies then probe if the person has a past criminal record.

Employee verification is a routine practice among corporations in the West. Our country has only recently woken up to the threat that a ‘wrong’ employee can pose to the company, in the wake of several crimes being committed by supposedly ‘suitable’ individuals.

A recent survey by the Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) found that nearly 52 per cent corporates in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dehradun and Hyderabad have been verifying their current and prospective employees at all levels. The verification was conducted by the Human Resource departments of small, medium and large businesses, the survey found. “Companies are fast realising the benefit of doing background checks of prospective employees or risk hurting their brand image in a fraud case. Screening of job candidates at all levels, and even vendors and contract staff is preferred. Previous employment details, academic and professional certificates, identity, criminal records, and credit risk, among other information, are checked thoroughly for authenticity and veracity,” the survey says.

Corporates are certainly becoming more careful and cautious when they are recruiting for the junior, middle and senior level positions, highlights the ASSOCHAM survey. “Many companies hadn’t done any background checks before hiring an employee, mainly at junior levels. The horrendous rape case in Delhi has certainly led to the need for carrying out a comprehensive scrutiny of employees at all levels.”

The survey majorly focused on broad sectors such as BPO, IT/ITes sector, financial and other services, construction, real estate, hospitality, tourism, FMCG and infrastructure, media and advertising, manufacturing and textiles, logistics, transport operators etc. Those companies that cannot conduct checks on their own are outsourcing the work – nearly 25 per cent of the companies surveyed had outsourced the verification work to specialised third party agencies. Under the most intense scanner were jobs that entailed working with children, or in healthcare.

(Picture courtesy www.eharmony.co.uk)

Categories
Diaries

‘Hyderabad’s best-kept secret is its weather’

Berges Malu moved to Hyderabad last year. There aren’t many pretty girls in Hyderabad, he says, and regionalism supersedes development there.
Part III of the ‘Away from home’ series

I’ve spent over 20 years of my life in Mumbai. I was born in Mumbai. I studied at St Xavier’s School (at Fort) and then at KC College. I’ve been in Hyderabad for over a year now.

I left Mumbai last year, in July, for Hyderabad to pursue my Masters Degree in Political Science. I got admission in a central university, which is among the best in the country.

The initial move to Hyderabad happened almost overnight. I got admission on July 16, 2011 and I was asked to join class the very next day. So I didn’t really have the time to think about the move, and that I was leaving Mumbai, so much. The one memory I do have though, is at Mumbai airport; my flight was delayed due to the rains and the rains in Mumbai were massive that day, you could barely see the wingtips! But Hyderabad was sunny and fine!

My first week in Hyderabad was crazy! Thanks to the delayed flight, I didn’t get a hostel room for all of the first week. Then began a few days of the Telangana strikes, and I had to spend the next few nights with friends who worked at Google. I wasn’t very excited about that.

Hyderabad is a great city, it’s got the charm of a small town but the features of a major city. The food is good as well, but Hyderabad’s best-kept secret is probably it’s weather. Save for the summer months of April and May, Hyderabad has a very moderate dry climate, it’s very pleasant. Which makes me very whiny when I get back to Mumbai and find how sweaty it is!

But there’s not much to hate about Hyderabad. Sure, this city literally shuts by 11 pm, the lack of cabs is unnerving for the first few months you’re here, and there’s a serious lack of pretty girls here! But nothing serious enough to incite dislike.

Oh yes, I surely do miss Mumbai! The fact that I can walk around south Mumbai at any point in time, I have some really close friends there and there’s an entire atmosphere of having fun and being carefree that isn’t quite present in Hyderabad. Mumbai is brilliant! Its people are so energetic, its culture is very warm and its politics, very intriguing. There are multiple issues out here in Hyderabad, especially the development issues which are sidestepped and instead regional or religious issues are given more attention, that’s a bit disconcerting.

If given a chance to shift outside of Mumbai permanently, I would certainly accept it. Mumbai is a great city, but I often find exploring other cities is a lot of fun, and it widens your horizons. I’m going to get done with my MA degree and look for a job before I move to another country to pursue another degree.

Berges Malu is a south Mumbai resident. He is currently pursuing an MA in political science at the University of Hyderabad. When he isn’t pretending to study, he tries to be the neighbourhood superhero. 

 

 Diaries is a weekly series of stories on an issue. The ‘Away from home’ diaries are stories of Mumbaikars who have left the city for a space of time.
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