August 21, 2000

Socialite, lawyers and Cola wars

Socialite and “diamond dripping” Nina Pillai has filed a criminal complaint against the multinational Coca Cola claiming a stake in the business. That alone gives the story enough of glamour and power to hit the front pages. But add to it the old rivalries and vendetta of the other dramatis personae and the matter could be well on its way to be a Bollywood block buster. So far, many of the characters remain in the background, but are bound to surface when the case hots up. For instance, there is the flamboyant industrialist who revels in corporate warfare. His decade long fight-to-the finish with a business house would top any list of deadly corporate wars — and could have even cost him his life. His role is through his quiet duel with the late Rajan Pillai over Coke and Britannia. The background of Pillai’s lawyer is equally interesting. Satish Maneshinde, now a well-known criminal lawyer, learnt his trade with the master Ram Jethmalani. The Jethmalanis again are close to the industrialist mentioned earlier, and since Maneshinde’s parting with the Jethmalanis has not been particularly amicable, the legal point-scoring promises to provide an interesting sub plot to the main drama.

NSE’s new chairman

The Indian press seems to get only as much news as corporations and institutions choose to give it. Take for example, the notoriously publicity shy National Stock Exchange. Two weeks ago, NSE’s board cleared Ravi Narain’s elevation as managing director after Dr R H Patil’s retirement. The matter became public only when the securities regulator gave its assent to the appointment. The meeting also made another significant change. Former IDBI chairman S H Khan, stepped down as non-executive chairman and was replaced by present chairman G P Gupta. This is in line with the policy that the chairman of NSE’s main promoter, IDBI, will head the exchange.

Splitting hair

Here is another one on Indian insurance companies habit of denying legitimate claims. Six weeks ago, Ahmedabad experienced torrential rainfall on a single day. The flooding and water logging was so severe that many basements and ground floor establishments were severely damaged. Cars were entirely submerged and inundated with muck even when the water drained away. Naturally, shops and car owners staked a claim for insurance. But that was easier said than done. The first reaction of insurance officials was that the policies covered flooding and not water-logging. This time though, better sense seems to have prevailed and the claims have not been rejected outright. In some cases the debate on the validity of the claim continues.

At the Crossroads

It is arguably the swankiest shopping mall in the country starved of fun places for people to gawk at or to simply hang out. Piramals’ Crossroads, turned controversial on its launch when desperate shoppers clogging up all streets leading up to it and created serious traffic problems. It now turns out that non-car owners are a bigger problem for the mall than those creating traffic jams. Window shoppers and gawkers throng the place by the thousands merely to ride the escalators and stare at music videos. With nearly 40,000 people visiting the Mall on Sunday and almost half of them mere window shoppers, the management has opted for a drastic solution; one which may lose the mall its PR (public relations) battle but could well help it win the bottomline war. On Sundays, it charges an entry fee of Rs 60 redeemable on any purchase, except if you own a mobile phone, credit card or a driving license, in which case you walk in free. The move has deeply offended a cross-section of the customer base, but so far the management is unfazed at the negative publicity it has generated. It does not seem to have much of a choice either it does not cut out window shopping crowds it may have to watch its shop owners walk away. Since Crossroads is the first mall of its kind, it remains to be seen whether the publicity makes it lose business or in fact improves it.

Exit Shyam Ahuja

One of the biggest jolts to Crossroads has been the exit of Shyam Ahuja, the big brand name in dhurries, shawls and home linen. Under a year after the launch of Crossroads, Shyam Ahuja has decided to walk out. Already one of its four shops at the mall has shut down and the others will go in phases. Ahuja’s problem was his expensive designer dhurries, silks and pashmina shawls being mauled by the grubby hands of non-buyers. So desperate was the shop to avoid window shoppers that even when it had a 50 per cent discount sale, it kept the fact a secret. Several buyers who actually picked up an item were told about the discount bonanza only after they made a purchase.

Updated weekly.

The author's e-mail address is: suchetadalal@yahoo.com

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