02 March 2006

Global Connections

Up until not so long ago, my experience of 'globalisation' was only restricted to the customary visits to McDonalds/Pizza Hut and consumption of fizzy cola drinks.Maybe a few friends working in BPOs here and there.

Had someone asked me 4 months back - " RP what do you think about globalisation?" - I would have given some pre-formatted MBA gyaan on foreign companies coming to India,setting up factories , selling their products ...all the normal MBA blah..the 'world-view' of things - as people call it.

But if someone asks me that question today, I will probably tell them how it feels to work together with people from different countries who share the same office workspace with you.How even though people come from drastically different cultures - they work on the same platform towards common goals. How world level ideas are translated into effective local action.

Its quite an intriguing , fascinating ,though novel and surely a 'global' experience.

01 March 2006

For the Shoestringers

Sometime last year, I'd read an article on budget hotels and how there is a gap to be addressed in the Rs 800-1200 a night hotels.Now I have experienced the gap, having stayed at a few budget hotels in different cities. The one which I really liked , becomes the subject of this post.

A few days back , when I was in Bangalore, I stayed in Indione Hotels . At 975/- a night for a single room and 1175/- for a twin-bed ,it is one of the better bugdet hotels I have stayed at.The USP of the hotel is 'Smart Basics' - every facility/convenience is basic - the idea being - AC, TV,bed, compact bathrooms,and rooms are not unneccesarily large. The idea being - if you want frills , you gotta pay extra for it.

Every room has a table with a water glass and tumbler. If you need water , you have to fill up the tumbler from a cooler which is 10 metres outside your door.There is a dairy whitener ,tea-sachets,coffee sachets for you to make your own tea or coffee in the room.

Room service is charged extra. And if you go to the hotel restaurant, you get a basic menu to choose from- 2 sabjis, 1 chicken dish,dal and maybe a few fast food options.All priced at udipi prices - sandwich@ 20 bucks , dal @25 and so on.

Just a smart hotel with basic facilities that suit a non-fussy business traveller like me.

Hope there are more of these around in the next few years.