A-star Wacky-Pedia

     The Maruti Suzuki A-Star was unveiled to Indian markets in December 2008; the heart of the new A-star is the KB 10 engine which works on Maruti’s patented K-series technology which makes for superior efficiency and durability. The A-star was created to cater to the younger audience in the market as it represents everything fun and passionate and even fits the budget of a younger person starting at Rs 3.45 lakhs.

     India has the largest population of young people in the world, who are creating waves in various fields ranging from science to music and business to entertainment. The A-star was created keeping in mind the psyche of the younger generation. It oozes passion and youthful exuberance in every aspect. Whether it’s the ‘bug’ shaped exterior, the sleek and stylish interior or the zippy yet controlled handling the A-star truly fits its tagline stop@nothing. It truly represents a generation who firmly believe in the concept of working hard and partying even harder however without being reckless or irresponsible. There should always be a balance between work and play. The A-star is built around the concept of new definitions for a new generation. Today’s generation which has now come to be known as the A-star generation think very differently as compared to older people, their definitions and concepts are poles apart when compared to the ideology of older people. You will see exactly what new definitions for a new generation means in the TVC’s.

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Muchhad Panwala: No Dream Is small

Muchhad Panwala ,alias Jaishankar Tiwari, as the name suggests is person with long moustaches which soon became his brand identity and today he holds a flourishing pan business in Mumbai. He came to Mumbai with his father to earn big money for his family by selling fruits. But Jaishankar Tiwari was not satisfied with just being a mere fruit seller and wanted to develop a full fledge business. He thought of starting his own pan business and used his intelligence to make it a success. With strong determination he started the pan business with a mere investment of Rs 500.

Though he was not a B-School graduate yet he knew, in order to retain his customers and to establish a brand, he needs to have brand identity. Not much to surprise, his brand identity was his long Moustaches. People soon begin to recognize him as Muchhad Panwala and his popularity grew like a wild fire.

Not only this, he did a well research on how other pan business work. He visited cities like Delhi and Kolkata to taste and study the kind of material which was being used as the ingredient. He learned all the tactics of business such as how to serve the customer, what ingredients to put, the right quantity and the right quality. He started serving his customers the best of quality & quantity and the customers just could not help but come back.

He latter increased his investment to Rs 50,000 and today he even has a web presence. He has a long list of clients ranging from Gujratis and Mawaris. He even gets orders from places like Mombasa- the second largest city in Kenya. His business evolved as he continued using his wit and intelligence with having any professional degree. The Story of Muchhad Panwala clearly demonstrates spirit of Stop@Nothing and proves that no dream is small.

Captain Gopinath: From A Farmer To An Airlines Owner

Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath or famously known as Captain Gopinath is one such man who revolutionized the airlines Industry in India. He was a man with a vision and was the first one to launch the low cost airline in India. Capitan Gopinath made it possible for the common man to fly using airplanes. Though he was born in a remote village of Gorur, Karnataka yet he had immense self belief and he simply refused to think small. Captain Gopinath did his earlier education in the village only however he later joined National Defence Academy and graduated from the Indian military academy as a commissioned officer. After serving the Indian army for eight long years, he quit his job and went on to become a farmer. He converted the barren land into proper plantation and even won recognition for it.

Captain Gopinath has been inspiration for many since he fought against all the odds and made his dreams come true with his own efforts and strength. After working as a farmer, he indentified the entrepreneur in himself. During that time, somewhere in 1995, the government of India was encouraging the entrepreneurship and Captain Gopinath got wings to his dreams. With the help of his friend he started his own Helicopter service. He launched his own airline company by the name of Air Deccan. Its main motive was to make flying possible for the common man. Captain Gopinath achieved this by eliminating services like food, drinks and also by increasing the number of seats. This concept was mimicked by a number of other airlines companies and later on Air Deccan was sold to Vijya Malya’s Kingfisher airlines.

However, Capitan Gopinath emerged again with his new company Deccan 360 that works exclusively freight carrier aircrafts. Today Capitan Gopinath is the proud founder and chairmen of Deccan 360.

Prakash Padukone: An Ace Who Stops@Nothing

A former badminton player who hails from Karnataka, Prakash Padukone is a name everyone is familiar with, especially as he is one of the most famous badminton players in India. He has an exemplary record and has won several championships for the country, the most honored being the All England Championship where Prakash Padukone became the first Indian to achieve such a feat.

Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi have founded the Olympic Gold Quest – a foundation which has been built for promotion of sports in India. Prakash started playing the game at a young age when he was introduced to the game by his father who had served as the Secretary of Mysore Badminton Association. Prakash played his first official tournament at the Karnataka State Junior Championship in 1962 and inspite of losing the very first round he did not give up and two years later he won the state junior title.

His playing style graduated to a much more aggressive style in 1971 and he went on to win the national junior title the very next year. Not only that. He also managed to capture the senior title the same year, which is a mean feat by any standards. It’s amazing to note that Prakash went on to win the Indian national titles back-to-back for the next seven years until 1979. Prakash managed to win his first international title in 1978 when he won men’s singles gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. The very next year, he won the Evening of Champions at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He went on to win many other national and international titles as well.

Prakash Padukone retired in 1991 and after that he served as the chairman of the Badminton Association of India for some time. He also coached the Indian national badminton team in the years 1993 and 1996. Among other coveted honors, Prakash was the esteemed recipient of the Arjuna Award in 1972 and later on the Padma Shri in 1982.

Ratan Tata:A Jewel So Rare

Think Ratan Tata and one gets the image of a humble man who, despite hailing from a super rich family, continues to remain a symbol of strength, simplicity and humility. Born in 1937, it’s been a long battle of making a unique place for himself apart from his family’s heritage. Ratan Tata is the present chairman of Tata Sons and thus, Tata Group which is India’s largest corporation founded by Jamsedji Tata. He is also the present Chairperson of major companies under the stable of Tata such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, to name a few.

The famous Tata family belongs to the Parsi family and undoubtedly Ratan Tata was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. However, such is his greatness that he never let this family tag come in the way of working hard and carving a niche for himself in the world. Jamsedji Tata’s grandson, Ratan’s life was not one without its own set of struggles. He had a difficult childhood and his parents separated when he was a mere child of seven years. He had to see his mother leaving the family and both Ratan and his younger brother were raised by their grandmother.

Ratan Tata is a dynamic and vibrant businessman and is considered to be one of the best managers and is well-known among business circles to never compromise on ethics and customer care. A businessman par excellence, Ratan joined the Tata Group in December 1962, soon after turning down a job with IBM on JRD Tata’s advice. He went on to work at Tata Steel in Jamshedpur where he worked along with other blue-collar workers on the factory floor, shoveling limestone and handling the blast furnaces. He is regarded as a shy man who is renowned for his simplicity and generosity despite the vast wealth that he has amassed over the years, adding to the family’s fortunes, most of which goes into philanthropy.

He was the recipient of the 2010 Business Leader of the Year Award at the Asian Awards in 2010 apart from featuring in TIME magazine’s 2008 edition of the World’s 100 most influential people.

JAVED AKHTAR

One of the most renowned Hindi/Urdu poet, lyricist and scriptwriter from India, Javed Akhtar is best remembered for doing the screenplay of famous Bollywood films such as Sholay, Anday and Don. The script-writing duo of Salim-Javed has probably been the most revered in Bollywood.

Born in 1945, Javed Akhtar lost his mother at a very young age and his father used to juggle between Bombay and Lucknow frequently. This is a huge reason why the young Javed and his brother had to stay with relatives most of the time. Not many know that Javed’s original name was Jadoo, which was taken from a line in a poem by his father. His lineage can be traced back to seven generations of writers. Some of his most prominent work was completed in the late 1970s and 1980s with Salim Khan as the other half of the award-winning Jodi.

Arriving in Mumbai in late 1964, in his early years of living in Mumbai, Akhtar managed to pen down dialogues for a minor film for a meager amount of Rs 100. Infact, he often used to work as an assistant as well while trying to gain a foothold in the industry. He also managed to get a job as a scriptwriter for Yakeen. However, the movie bombed at the box office! His successful association with Salim Khan ended in 1980 after which he also wrote some scripts of his own. However, he was most effective in writing lyrics for Bollywood movies.

Javed Akhtar Stopped at Nothing and has infact been honored with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 1999 and has also received the Padma Bhushan later on in 2007. A successful lyricist and script-writer of Akhtar’s stature is yet to be seen. It’s amazing to know that Akhtar has won the Filmfare Award fourteen times, seven times for the Best Script and seven times for penning the lyrics for the movie 1942-A Love Story. Akhtar has won the National Award five times for Saaz, Border, Godmother, Refugee and Lagaan.

Jawaharlal Nehru:Leader Extraordinaire!

Jawaharlal Nehru is probably one of the most well-known freedom fighters that India has seen and known. An Indian statesman who was the first Prime Minister of India, he was one of the leading figures of the Indian independence movement.

As one of the members of the Non-aligned movement, he was also a very important figure in the international arena in post-war international politics. Famously known as Pandit Nehru and Panditji, Jawaharlal Nehru was a great scholar who was also very famous because of his love for children.

Nehru joined politics at a very young age, becoming a leader of the left wing of the Congress party. The son of a wealthy barrister Motilal Nehru, Jawahar went on to become the Congress president under the gentle mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi. A charismatic and radical leader, Nehru advocated complete independence from the British Empire in the long-lasting struggle for India’s independence. He was a key player in the independence movement; Nehru was also understood to be Mahatma Gandhi’s political heir. An advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector as a means to overcome long-lasting challenges of economic development, he firmly believed these could play a role in overcoming the challenges addressed by poorer nations.

Nehru completed his education from India and abroad, studying at the Harrow and Trinity College at Cambridge. He hoisted the flag of independent India in New Delhi on August 15, 2010 when India gained independence from the British rule. He was a firm follower of the principles of parliamentary democracy, secularism and liberalism. These coupled with his concerns for the poor and underprivileged are said to have guided him in formulating socialist policies that influence independent India even today. In fact, these also reflect the socialist origins of his worldview. Jawaharlal Nehru was also later followed by his daughter Indira Gandhi and his grandson Rajiv Gandhi, becoming the Prime ministers of India.