In this great land where virginity does command a premium, Richard Branson does a tango with Tata Teleservices to offer Virgin mobile to the ever growing Indian mobile subscriber population. The mechanics of the partnership has been explained quite well here. For the lazybums, Virgin is globally a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) i.e. it buys spectrum time from operators and then sells it under its own brand name. Thats not allowed in India, so Branson said Tata. Its good for Tata Indicom because even with (or should i say specially because of) Kajol aunty, the youth haven’t quite taken to Chindicom.
Virgin has launched with a dhamaka offer of paying 10p/minute to the customer for the incoming call, which can be used to avail of other Virgin services. Many publications here had a frontpage takeover with a red ‘Zara Hatke’. An offer, they say, will make the competition see red. Me thinks maybe those Eveready guys should get into OEM services for Virgin batteries. Gimme red? 😉
Now that we have the facts out of the way, lets get back to the scope of the blog. The weekend also saw a liberal splashing of the new TVC. Though it reminded me of an old forward, it was done extremely well, and was definitely ‘zara hatke’. It had spunk, a positioning that steered well clear of the regular mobile service provider brand ads and an execution that will easily grab eyeballs. Can’t seem to find the TVC anywhere, so lemme know in case you guys suddenly discover it on you tube or someplace else. They’ve also (in association with Channel V) shot the short movie Andaaz Apna Very Hatke. If you are a Neha Dhupia fan, you can read about her special appearance in it here. Branson and Dhupia almost got themselves a Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty there.
While the Indian mobile market is already in a highly developed state in terms of at least number of players, i think there’s still room left for clever positioning and lots of ground to cover on services being offered. Virgin Mobile interests me because of two of its other partnerships in India
· a minority stake in Fever 104 FM (with HT in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai). At this point only Big has entities in these two hot but diverse entertainment platforms. This is tiny in comparison, but i think, relevant.
· the venture with Studio 18 and UTV Software in publishing, TV, gaming and film. The potential of the last two items on a mobile platform is phenomenal.
If they are able to evolve some kind of synergy on multiple platforms, we’d have some really fun Virgin services.
until next time, lets talk about virgin territories 🙂
The Koramangala version, since the Lavelle road version was highly recommended, but a bit too far from the current residence. To get there, just turn left from Forum on Hosur Road (when coming from MG Road) and you’ll find it on the left. Alterantively, turn right on the intermediate ring road (from Indiranagar) at Sony World and then take a left before the Games village. You’ll then find it on the right.
We got there by around 7.45 and it was a bit crowded. We found a place upstairs (its not covered, so it might be a problem during the rains, but at this time of the year, is absolutely the perfect place to be). We went prepared for a very ‘snacks’ sort of dinner, so the place didnt disappoint. We ordered a Crepes Monte Cristo (I loved the character) which is chicken based, and the Non Veg Club Wrap (its everything thats ‘animal and eatable’ based :)). Aaaand we ordered a Black Forrest shake. Its the stuff fantasies are made off. And it was a difficult choice given the range of stuff they’ve got in that category. The food was quite good, bot don’t have the wrap if you don’t like gherkins. The quantity is sufficient so long as you have a drink like the one above to fill the extra space 🙂
Lets not forget the plethora of shishas that you can puff away if you’re the kind who like hookahs. (pun slightly intended) No, there’s nothing such as a free hookah, but hey, its an experience you know. And now, we come to the finale. We were so stuffed that we just couldn’t find it in our stomach (in our hearts, yes) to have dessert. So we did the next best thing, packed a Chocolate Avalanche Sr. Now this, you must understand, was arrived at after some three gruelling rounds of elimination, each one rivalling those reality shows in terms of grief and heartburn caused when a contestant bows out. If you’re on a diet, you really don’t belong here.
Mocha’s ambience is more of a philosophy than decor. Its soothing, refreshing and very laid back. And I’m not punning on the lounge chairs they have. I heard a couple of people expressing discomfort at those, but i was a happy man. All the furniture has been apparently picked up from flea markets, though i saw something that i thought i ogled at once in Westside. I think i also saw a Sintex tank used as a table, but hell, its a really groovy place. Also, they say if you particularly like a piece, you can buy it.
All of the above cost us a bit over Rs.700. So, will I be back? Most definitely, because its an experience, and as the Mocha philosophy goes, ‘Life can wait’. But hey, i can’t, not for those chocolates.
577, 80 Feet Road , Koramangala 8th Block. 9886750549
is obviously quite good, because we’ve been repeat vistors, although this time we fell for a marketing gimmick – them calling up D and wishing her a happy birthday. 🙂
The restaurant is in the service road (on Hosur Road) opposite Globus in Koramangala. There’s parking available and the best way to reach would be from the ‘National Games Village to Forum’ road and turning left just before the Forum junction.
We don’t book in advance, but it would be better to do so on Saturday nights, especially after 8, since we had to wait once for around 15 minutes. The decor is very Awadh, and the background music is usually very Hindustani, although the TV in the corner does show EPL 😉
The ambience is quite soothing, with soft lighting and comfortable seating. Although I’ve never tried it, the liquor menu does look well stocked. They have a good selection of kebabs. We usually ditch the shorba for starters, though the chicken shorba we had once was quite good. (but no 1/2 ok?!) This time we had the Murg Potli Kabab, which has chicken mince filling. Quite tasty.
For the main course, we wanted to have a Murg Kali Mirch, but they recommended Murg Raseela since we wanted something spicy. Spicy it was, but i liked the Kali Mirch better (from previous visits). They also have a stew which we’ll try sometime. There’s a good selection of rotis, chicken and mutton. Though the dessert spread is good on paper, we have never managed to get the stuff we wanted. This time was no exception.
A meal for two would cost about Rs.700-800 for a starter, 2 main course dishes and dessert. Overall the place is good, and we’ll definitely repeat the visits.