Guy Kawasaki and his Mumbai trip

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Guy Kawasaki recently visited Mumbai to speak at IBM conference. He took some interesting snapshots of Mumbai as well. But Guy is not  Guy Kawasaki unless he writes 10 points about Mumbai. And he did not  disappoint me. He wrote a 10 point highlights of his Mumbai trip, 'Mumbai Guy'. It is quite interesting to read through the list.

One thing any foreign visitor immediately notice in India is the striking differences between rich and poor and traffic conditions.

  • The contrast in living conditions for the very rich and the very poor is eye-opening—and I didn’t see the absolute extremes of either

  • “Traffic safety” is an oxymoron. Luggage isn’t tied down on roof racks. People ride on top of trucks. I saw a family of four on a motorcycle. Having said this, I saw no accidents.

  • Speaking of traffic, it can take two hours to travel fifteen kilometers there. If you have a choice, try to arrive on Saturday or Sunday. Speaking of arrival, I’ve never been to an airport that’s jam packed at 2:00 am.

It seems Guy even bought a pirated 'The World is flat' book at the intersection. The World is Flat is sold at Rs.500 in stores and at special online discount it is sold at around Rs.350.

  • India has its own version of Amazon.com. At two intersections, kids came up to the car to sell us paperback versions of current business books. We bought a copy of The World Is Flat for $3. Not sure if I should be happy or depressed, but The Art of the Start was not available.

    I some how don't understand why Guy is puzzled to see the special price of Rs.300 for Foreign Visitors to enter the Museum. The first thing that comes to my mind, which is quite relevant to the concept of differential treatment to non-residents in US, is college tution fee. Every foreign student pays an additional fee, called 'Non-Resident' fee at most universities and Community Colleges, some times almost 100% more fee than residents. Don't they?

  • I loved Indian pricing strategy: for example, 10 rupees for residents and 300 rupees for tourists at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum.

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    Comments

    Karthick said…
    Haha, this is a good read. Thanks for the link! When is Guy Kawasaki making a return trip to India?
    September 8, 2008 at 11:30 PM
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