What Men Want?

Every time I want to buy a gift for a man, I am so lost. Be it for my dad, or bro or a friend I just cant decide what’s that perfect gift that I can buy for him. It always feels that it’s so much easier to buy a gift for a woman (you have got so many things to choose from!) and it’s so difficult to think of a gift for a man (you just kind buy him a bunch of roses for his birthday!)
I was not sure if I was the only person (err woman) to think like this. So I got together with a few other women for a brainstorming session – after all gifting was an important part of life and we wanted to feel good at the end of each gifting session. However, more we talked, more we understood that we are not at all helping each other. So “why not ask men directly?” was what came out of our brainstorming.

Smart iDeAS (www.thesmartideas.in), a Market Research & Marketing Consulting Company, has conducted a research, well, just on this subject. They have asked men within the age group of 26 to 44 years in cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Colombo, Singapore, London & Sydney (pretty international, huh!) on what they would like to get as gifts. And they got some startling responses. Also, the responses seemed to be quite similar across all the cities making us to believe that men mostly think alike (so, if you are dating a guy from London or Italy, don’t freak out, you can still use this info).
Here is a summary of the research and the gifting ideas from the horses’ (oppss!) mouth:

If you are planning to gift something to The Man in your life and it’s his birthday, this is what he wants – Books, CDs, wrist watch, Scotch, Dinner cooked by you, a holiday planned by you, pen, perfume, i-Pod, or bean bag! So pick your choice… if you wanna laze around at home on his birthday and cuddle up buy him a bean bag, else go by your budget.
Interestingly, for weddings, most of the men said they don’t want anything from their wives. Some said it’s enough if she promises a long life together. But some responses were Books of poems, or articles of emotional value. Now, you can build it up from there.
If it’s an anniversary, most men prefer (from their wife / partner) a bottle of spirits - beer, wine, whisky – you name it. The other popular choices were electronics gadgets or a surprise holiday.

From his friends, he mostly wants books, sports gear, music, party, scotch, chocolate (!), guitar & aftershave for his birthday. So if you are gifting to your male friend, chose a gift based on his hobbies and passions. But of course, a whole night party is always welcome.
For his wedding, be prepared to buy him some home appliances like crockery or electronics kitchen appliances or even home furnishing. See, he is getting ready for new life!
If it’s his anniversary, buy him some computer accessories. Even books, music and spirits are welcome.

There are some other special occasions like say a house warming, or promotion etc. In such cases you can buy him some wall hangings, special collectables like knives or paintings, camera, digital photo frames, etc. Looks like the men has got real good taste.

Between gifts with emotional or utility value, there were almost 50% responses on either side. 70% of the men said they will never want to have cash in place of gifts. 64% said they don’t want the purchase bill in case they need to exchange the gifts later, and only 7% of the respondents said they would prefer to get the bill. When asked, if they would like to be asked by a gifter before hand about what he wants, 68% said that they wouldn’t like that – its much fun with that surprise element in a gift.

So, I guess that gives a fair idea about what men want. So next time onwards if you have problem finding a gift suitable for a man, you know where to look for. Go, make those special moments even more special for him.

Corporate Dressing - Do we understand it?

There is an age –old saying” man is judged by the boots he wear”. But is it only the boots? Well if you ask the corporate, then boots are not enough. The employee has to be “presentable” and should dress “right”.The dressing protocol is not limited to any single industry but has spread its wings all over. Different sectors have different set of rules for their employees to dress. The reasons given for the same may be ranging from culture, atmosphere to ethics. So what is the right dressing code? It is true that the dressing style vary according to the industry to reflect the culture and work ethics of the workplace. Since the atmosphere within certain business communities, for e.g. an ad agency tends to be informal, the attire of the employees reflects this outlook. On the other hand, protocol of corporate dressing in sectors such as hospitality, IT, banking etc, is more conservative as it reflects directly on employee professionalism.

Mind it that the attire of an employee of a particular industry speaks volume about the company’s work ethic, image and culture. It adds an impression of professionalism, intelligence and commitment that enhances the overall credibility of the company. Similarly, non –adherence to a dress code can send out a message of discredit and incompetence.

But now, many organizations have now realized the fact that younger employee of today is more fashion conscious and experiment a lot with style even with his formal wears. The companies are also waking up to this fact and are flooding the market with formal yet fashionable attire.

So, keep in mind that your attire reflects your inner self, and helps you to see confident. So, while you dress according to your corporate dress code, style it up in a way that gives you confidence with embarassing the others around you. Also, dress should be worn depending on the occassion - dressing right for interview is as important as your personal performance. Also, if you are meeting with a Japanese client, its not a good idea to wear balck tie as that represents mouring.

Along with dressing, personal hygiene is also very important. Use after-shave if you are a man, and definitely use a soothing deo. If you are a women, apart from deo, if you are using any perfume, pls keep it mild and subdued.

Shoes needs to be polished and clean. No white color socks for men, use lighter shade if you want to, but brown or black is always the preferred colors. Buy a few pairs of expensive socks, which will not lose its elasticity and will climb down your legs. Fresh socks daily a must.

Please rememeber that you as a representative to the company, is actually a brand ambassador for it. Therefore, how you dress, behave or carry yourself influences your customers / clients impression about you and your company; and am sure you dont want to lose that million dollar order just because you cared less how you dress!

How to beat the heat and stay healthy

I have this friend of mine who works with HSBC Bank in Kolkata. She was telling me a couple of days back that in her branch, which is Kolkata, they have started keeping Glucose water, Glucovita, etc, because they have had quite a few incidents during the last few days when a customer walked in and fainted!

Customer Care! Guess, they had to when the outside temperature is 42o C with 88% humidity!!
Not only in Kolkata, but in most Indian cities it is proving to a case of an early and difficult summer thanks to global warming.

But how do we survive this heat, particularly if we have to go out in the scorching heat to work? Here are some tips for you:

1. Take bath at least 2 times in a day with just about luke warm (yes!) water
2. Wear ONLY Cotton Clothes - lose fit, light shades like white, light blue, cream etc.
a. Absolutely NO RED, BLACK, BROWN, DARK GREEN, NEVY BLUE & ORANGE colored clothes even for the evening
b. No synthetic material for your clothes / avoid silk. Tusser is OK.
3. Wear a Cap, if umbrella is too cumbersome to carry. Some of you may feel funny wearing a cap, but think this way – cap on head is better than you on the road, fainted.
4. Carry a bottle of water – (keep a 250 ml bottle, it is easier to carry) with little glucose / sugar; and re-fill it and keep it in your bag if you have to travel from one office to another.
5. Don’t eat any oily food and avoid all Junk food; eat fruits and vegetables and plenty of water.
6. Tray to wake up around 5 AM in the morning and take a 30 min walk, that’s the only time it will be little cool outside. (you can come back and sleep again if you want)
7. Avoid going out of home between 12 noon and 3 PM
8. Use a Sun Screen Lotion with a SPV (Sun Protection Formula) of min 20 (there is one from Biotique which is really good).
9. And if you don’t want to tan yourself, wear full sleeves cotton shirts or tops. This will also help to protect you from heat


Now a bit for our environment too –

1. at home if you have an AC, keep the temperature fixed at 24 o C, you can use your fan if you want it cooler.
2. If you have to go out of home, or catch an appointment during the day, try to do that during mornings or after 3 PM, in between is the time when it is too hot, and your car will need extra cooling.

Is this the right time to invest in Real Estate?

Thank you all for all the responses I have got.
This issue, I am answering a question about real estate investment, which has been asked by Ms. Rajni from Jaipur. She wants to know is this the right time to invest in Real Estate? And if so, then where?

Dear Rajni,

Thanks for asking that question. I think quite a few people might be having this same question in mind, but are confused about the answer, more so after reading all kinds of reports in the newspaper. Let me try and help.

Based on my experience in Real Estate industry in India, almost all real estate developers were, so far, earning a ridiculous margin of ~30%. Nowhere in a developed nation, does a developer earn such a huge margin – typically there the margin varies anywhere between 8 – 12%.

Therefore, what the global recession & meltdown has caused is that it has actually brought the Real Estate pricing in India to a more realistic level. However, it is also to be understood here that the Indian developers, who are so used to taking the Indian customers for a ride, for so long, will still find out some very ingenious ways of fooling people.

Therefore, when you are looking at buying a real estate property, please ensure that:

1. You have done enough study about the financial condition of the developers in the market before you have zeroed on a couple of them
2. You need to read the brochure and all documents carefully, more so the fine prints, and show that to a lawyer who deals with real estate. More often than not, a developer only sells a bare shell apartment without even the door frames or switch boards, but the buyers don’t understand that as they are given a very different picture by the developer in the form of brochure and model apartments.
3. And most importantly, do proper due diligence of the project, ownership of land, viability of completion as mentioned, financing structure, etc.

Now, going back to the question - is this the right time to invest? Yes, it is. But not without a proper negotiation. All developers shall give you additional 10-15% discount on price quoted by them if you can negotiate well, without any changes in the payment terms.

But what are the markets that you can invest into? Based on the question I am assuming that you are looking at Real estate as an investment and not for residential purpose. In that case, Bangalore is looking quite good. Sobha developers, and I strongly recommend them, has come up with some new projects that fits perfectly into our bill. Chennai, particularly the OMR side, is again a good option – all major developers here have slashed prices like anything. Gurgaon is also a good option, so is NOIDA. I would suggest that you stay away from Delhi though, since the land price here would be quite high.
Another good option is Kolkata - this is one city which is not much affected by the recession in terms of its real estate, though some segments like Rajarhat, New Town, is quite badly hit. Areas to invest would be South 24 Parganas, or along the Hoogly river.

Among the 2nd tier cities, Bhubaneswar is a good option. Leave Cochin, but can bet on Trichy. Jaipur is avoidable, but Indore is a good option.

All the best.

Where is your next Adventure?

St. Augustine had said that “the world is a book and those who do not travel have only read a page.”
Similarly, if you love to travel and holidaying, but you have never lived in a tree-top, then may be, you have still not seen the world around you.

Well, I am talking about Tree-houses which are just a few great escapes from the concrete world around you. Its also an ideal escape for nature lovers, or for those who want to experience diverse and new things in every sphere of life.

There are however, only a very few of such Tree-house resorts in India, and they all vary on categories and amenities. A tree-house is either built amongst branches and around or next to the tree trunk above the ground level. They are built on a minimum height of 20 ft and can also go upto a height of 50 ft, which only adds to the excitement in mid-air.

One such Tree-house destination lies just 5 hrs away from Bangalore, who have highly customized and luxury refined tree-houses inside a jungle, little away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
If that sounds like excitement, do surely get in touch with Indus experience at info@indusexperience.com.
Bon Voyage!


If you know any interesting travel destination and want to share it with us, pls email me at chandramukhei@gmail.com

Or, if you are searching for a destination for your next vacation and don’t know where to go, pls send me your question to chandramukhei@gmail.com We will be happy to help.

The Help

Everyone needs some kind of help in some point of their life, be a man, a woman or even a child. We have different kinds of help requirement - emotional, financial, social, family related, etc. We also seek parenting tip, to decide on the course of study, to find out best B-Schools, the nearest SPA, or a help to create your next destination vacation.

Sometimes, we also need to provide help to women in abusive relationship, or men who are confused about their sexual preferences, or even a child who feels lost seeing her parents fight day n night...

We always need some help, we always can extend our hand to help others.


This is one platform just for that.

For all your help need, please email us at chandramukhei@gmail.com