Three years ago, the then-new Hyundai i20 set many people thinking &mdash; is it going to go the Getz way? After all, despite being positioned as a Maruti Suzuki Swift rival, the Getz never seemed to topple the little Suzie from its top spot. Or do phenomenally well for itself, either.

i for detail

Business Standard

Abdul Rahman Siddiqi was an Indian and a Dilli-walla till he was 23. Then one October day in 1947, he became a Pakistani. &ldquo;I am one of the last of a vanishing breed&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We are not endangered yet, but vanishing fast.

Vanishing breed

I am looking for a good city car for my commute. However, it will only be used around 10 days in a month. The car will be driven on the highways occasionally, but not too often. As I am looking for a sedan, I am considering the Maruti Suzuki Dzire and the Honda City.

Heavy pet-ing

I wonder whether those who employ words like &lsquo;gone rogue&rsquo; or &lsquo;loose cannon&rsquo; to describe General V K Singh understand the meaning of such terms.

The method in his madness

Military history is a useful hobby for any CEO or corporate strategist. The Battle of Trafalgar, for example, was one of the turning points of world history. Napoleon Bonaparte was poised to invade England in 1805 and the only thing that stood between him and his prize was Horatio Nelson&rsquo;s naval fleet.

Down with dilbert

The 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France, opened the floodgates for Olympic mascots by giving the world Schuss, a cartoon character that became known as the &ldquo;Skiing Sperm&rdquo;. All manner of misshapen creatures followed, from Waldi the multicolored Dachshund (Munich, 1972) to Magique the star-shaped snow imp (Albertville, France, 1992).

Not very British

Languages die every day. Many die because there is nobody left to speak them. Others die in effect, because they can no longer help those who speak them make sense of the world. If you are a typical reader of this paper, you will think you have nothing to do with such an unfortunate language. Don&rsquo;t be so sure.

Volume is no guarantee

When FC Barcelona came to India in a tie-up with a Gurgaon-based football club, not many noticed. When the FIFA (football&rsquo;s governing body) president visited India this February to kickstart India&rsquo;s campaign to host the under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017, the expected cheers were resoundingly silent.

Two for one

January to May is the festival season in Kerala. It is also the time for music and the classical arts, like Kathakali.

Fire & shadows

Let me preface everything by saying what a proud moment it is for all of us citizens of Bengal, and actors and technicians in Tollygunge, that our homegrown and Banga-nurtured Soumitro has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

Take two

The pre-requisite for &lsquo;Wine Tourism&rsquo; is there should be wineries which have visitor facilities, and which are accessible from one of the metro cities: face it, that&rsquo;s where most present and potential wine consumers are still located.

Hot-spots for wine 

The vagaries of daylight saving time (DST) had a major impact on the Euro Championships at Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Europeans push their clocks forward (0900 becomes 1000). The idea is to have longer hours of evening sunshine.

Chess (#995)

Soumitra Chatterjee shared a great chemistry with filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

'He always does his homework'

It offered every opportunity to be the most publicly celebrated moment of triumph and pride for India. Millions sat glued to their TV sets, hundreds uttered silent prayers, scores tweeted and reams and reams of newspaper columns were devoted to the feat after it was done. Sachin Tendulkar&rsquo;s 100th century has come and gone.

What about the masses?

The top 10 business bestsellers

Though advertisements weren&rsquo;t exceptionally creative, they were very likeable.

A mixed year for creativity

    This beverage was launched in the mid 60s and its inventor added lemon to it in order to mask its urine flavour. Name it.

The Strategist Quiz (#234)

Faced with competition from low-cost locations and inefficiencies associated with unwieldy growth in head count, Indian IT companies are exploring non-linear growth strategies.

Moving up the value chain

    The founder of the Leela Hotels, Capt.

Answers to last week&#39s quiz (#223)

Mobile marketing campaigns that can engage, go viral and become a sensation for mobile consumers are now benchmarks for digital marketing.

The anatomy of a successful digital campaign

Much has been written about the power of social media and how marketers can use it successfully. The trick is to make sure one doesn&rsquo;t go overboard.

Make the right connect

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

Page 1313 - Supplements