Taj Mahal Replica

It is a well known fact that the Taj Mahal mausoleum was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is also equally well known (but unproven) that after the Taj Mahal was built, Shah Jahan ordered the master craftsman's hands to be cut off.

It is said that Shah Jahan decided to take such a drastic step as he did not want the Taj Mahal to be replicated. But did Shah Jahan ever think that someone may create a replica just by studying it closely? 

Has anyone been successful at creating a replica of the Taj Mahal? What was the result? This post talks about that, so read on to know more...

When travelling on the NH4 towards Kalyan Phata from Kalamboli, you can find this structure:

Although incomplete, it is astonishingly beautiful! You can find this structure in a place called Dahisar More Pimpri in Balegaon which falls under the district Thane (not to be confused with the western suburb Dahisar). This is how the Google Earth image looks like:

The similarity of this structure to the Taj Mahal is so evident. The design and attention-to-detail is amazing.

As per the locals there, the construction was halted mid-way due to unknown reasons. The structure now houses a few people who live there in peace and harmony. All they want is to be left alone without any media attention and publicity.

Here are some more pics:

The Amazon-Hachette Battle

As an avid reader, it was quite shocking for me when I read about the Amazon-Hachette controversy.

Hachette is one of the top 5 publishing companies for English language books whereas; Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer. So does it make sense that Amazon decided to stop selling books by Hachette?

Hachette publishes books by 2 very famous authors - J.K. Rowling (a.k.a. Robert Galbraith) and James Patterson. Amazon’s decision also resulted in certain readers saying it's time for a total boycott of Amazon.

The reader in me is able to relate to the feelings of these people. I, being a huge J.K. Rowling fan, could never support this decision by Amazon. I have practically grown up reading the Harry Potter series and I was one of the many people who were eager to get their hands on “The Casual Vacancy” when it was released. At present, I am nose deep in “The Cuckoo’s Calling” and eagerly waiting for the book Silkworm” by Robert Galbraith.

Amazon's main concern is prices for e-books; Amazon wants them lower than what Hachette will agree to. Demands not being met, Amazon stopped taking pre-orders for Hachette books altogether. This step by Amazon has lead to many of its customers running to competitors.

Although this has disappointed the reader in me, the digital marketer in me can somehow sympathize with Amazon. After all, the following statement by Amazon does make some sense:

"Negotiating with suppliers for equitable terms and making stocking and assortment decisions based on those terms is one of a bookseller’s, or any retailer’s, most important jobs. Suppliers get to decide the terms under which they are willing to sell to a retailer. It’s reciprocally the right of a retailer to determine whether the terms on offer are acceptable and to stock items accordingly. A retailer can feature a supplier’s items in its advertising and promotional circulars, “stack it high” in the front of the store, keep small quantities on hand in the back aisle, or not carry the item at all, and bookstores and other retailers do these every day. When we negotiate with suppliers, we are doing so on behalf of customers. Negotiating for acceptable terms is an essential business practice that is critical to keeping service and value high for customers in the medium and long term.”

They also said that they will be informing their customers once the matter is resolved and they start selling Hachette books again.

Hopefully, Amazon is aware that readers are not at its mercy. It doesn’t really matter which retailer we buy from and at what price as long as we get to read our favourite book at the right time. And there are tons of retailers out there who are ready to take advantage of this Amazon-Hachette dispute.

Hindustan Unilever Installs 'Jump-Pumps'

Continuing on the topic of last time... HUL!!

I was in for a surprise when I saw it in the paper early morning on May 6, 2014. But this was a good kind of surprise. I got to read what HUL has done as a part of its promotion for its brand Lifebuoy.

The Mid Day Meal Scheme is a great programme by the Government of India which provides free meals to school children on working days. But most of these kids were not engaging in the healthy habit of washing hands before lunch. This was the case despite the easy availability of soap to them.

The reason behind this being the heavy and cumbersome hand pumps the children had to operate in order to obtain water. What HUL did to overcome this obstacle is worth noting down.

HUL transformed the old and ugly pumps to the more fun-filled 'Jump-Pumps'. A specially crafted rocking horse was installed on the handles of the hand pumps. This was done in around 1500 schools across India. The ‘Jump Pump’ game was explained to the kids, which made washing hands a more interesting activity for them.

HUL has even released a video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hazUOVzqoMs

Every year, nearly 2 million children under the age of 5 die of infections like diarrhoea and pneumonia. This was a great awareness campaign launched by HUL keeping in mind the fact that every 2 minutes a child dies of diarrhoea in India.

India is awaiting more such philanthropic activities. So all other multinationals, are you listening??