The first thing I felt like doing after reading Onward, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz&rsquo;s comeback autobiography, was to grab a cup of Starbucks coffee.

Starbucks coffee for the soul

Business Standard

So, after years of looking at awe-inspiring photographs of blue skies and lakes in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, and saying &ldquo;Next year, for sure!&rdquo; you&rsquo;ve finally taken the plunge. The leave is approved and the savings are in place. It&rsquo;s time to go to one of the most incredible places on earth &mdash; Ladakh. What route to take? What to pack? What places to see? What would be the ideal vehicle to take up there? We provide the answers.

The Leh-man's guide

Thank your stars that India is not more richly endowed with natural resources. We have a bit of oil and a bit of gas, a few hillsful of iron ore and a few beachfuls of thorium sand, some bauxite under a forest in Odisha and a nice new vein of diamonds in Madhya Pradesh; also, apparently, at least Rs 186,000 crore&rsquo;s worth of coal in the ground &mdash; though that coal is not of the very best quality.

They all profit, except...

In most cases, fluids, rest and paracetamol should do the trick. The popular medicinal counter to AMS is Diamox, which isn&rsquo;t an instant magical cure, so it&rsquo;ll take 24 to 48 hours to kick in.

Rapid-fire round

With factories in India, Dubai, Thailand and South Africa, industrialist Ashish Bharat Ram is lucky that the map of his business interests coincides loosely with the map of his golfing destinations. He is managing director of SRF, a high-technology chemicals, textiles and plastics manufacturer based in Gurgaon.

Heavenly greens

I would like to buy a premium diesel hatchback within a budget of Rs 6 to Rs 8 lakh. I am considering the Volkswagen Polo and the Hyundai i20. In terms of features, the i20 is leagues ahead of the Polo, but I am not able to decide whether to go in for a petrol or diesel car. While safety is my biggest priority, the diesel variant of the car only has two airbags on offer, while the petrol variant has six.

Lifesaver

Whether Air India decides to sell its art or not, the publicity surrounding it has turned the focus on a historically important and little seen collection.

Distress sale?

Delhi resident Dhruv Dhiman (name changed) knew from when he was a child that he had to make it to IIT. After he was born, his mother left her job and was perpetually around, pushing him towards IIT. After every exam, the boy would be taken to temples. Dhiman, now 18, didn&rsquo;t make it to IIT. So his parents paid a hefty sum to get him admitted to a reputable engineering college in the US.

Enter the Helicopter parent

Liquor baron Rakesh Mohan &mdash; better known as Rocky Mohan &mdash; has been executive director of Mohan Meakins, which started Asia's first brewery in 1855. His friends have been known to call him &lsquo;Old Monk&rsquo; or &lsquo;Black Knight&rsquo;.

Scotch treats

By the next Olympics in Rio de Janiero in 2016, Vijender Singh will be 31 years old, Akhil Kumar 35 and Suranjoy Singh 30. Though they will have experience on their side, age will have caught up with their reflexes and perhaps it will be time to hand over the baton of Indian boxing to youngsters. The London Olympics gave us a glimpse of the future and boxers who could take on the mantle from Singh and Kumar.

The stars of tomorrow

The Indian performance at the Olympiads has been unusual so far. Both teams could still hope to take medals. The Open or men&rsquo;s team logged three wins followed by five draws in a row (total 11 points) while the women (13 points) have six wins, one loss (to China) and one draw. The men split points with Israel, USA, Argentina, Serbia and England.

Chess (#1017)

Food Lovers Bangalore Magazine recently undertook a four-month long effort to identify the best restaurants in Bangalore. Titled &ldquo;The Nine Hills Food &amp; Wine Showcase 2012&rdquo;, it culminated last Saturday in a seven-course sit-down dinner for 175 people at the Leela Palace, Bangalore.

Wines to lift the spirits

You know how, when you have the delicious feeling that life is sorted &mdash; bills paid, great friends, good food, lots of tango &mdash; you also develop the creepy feeling that it&rsquo;s all too good to last? Mark that feeling. For it is widely recognised that when life looks really good, you can bet your bottom dollar that a shitstorm is not far behind.

Perspective: an ode

Charlie Chaplin is getting on in years. His hair is grey and there are several extra inches around his waist. But the toothbrush moustache is as black as ever and the striking blue eyes still have the power to look deep into your soul.

Caught in the lens

The girl&rsquo;s face is covered by shoulder-length hair. Her gait is awkward, her fist clenched. The violet floral dress and short hair mean she is young and urban. There are notebooks stacked on a shelf behind her. A black notice board is painted on the wall, but you can&rsquo;t read what&rsquo;s written on it. The dirty white wall seems to have encroached on it. It could be a lowly government office or a small-town courtroom.

Multiple Mysteries

For last few weeks, the backs of Mumbai&rsquo;s ubiquitous BEST buses have been sporting pictures of the dashing Virat Kohli, the 23-year-old cricketer and youth icon, holding a handset of an unknown brand called Celkon.

Star power or starry-eyed?

Quick. What&rsquo;s common to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tiger Woods, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Bill Clinton, N.D.

Brand monogamy

    The trademark of this brand was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1876 and was called the Infant Hercules. This brand is being manufactured and sold in India since the mid 50s. Name it.

The Strategist Quiz (#270)

    Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning which supplied the Gorilla glass in six weeks just in time for the launch.

Answers to last week's The Strategist Quiz (#269)

Many start-ups find that the original assumptions on which they base their businesses don&rsquo;t work. A few have picked up the early warning signals, re-worked their plan and got back to work.

Start.Stop.Start

Whether your audience is children, international business travelers, or local politicians and nonprofits, the challenge of relevance can be difficult. And this is not only because getting people to care is generally difficult.

Forget the hard sell

- Find Specials News, Features, Analysis and more at Business Standard. Full coverage of Goafest 2014

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