INGENE: September 2010

About INgene blog : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog

About INgene : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog:
This blog explores the detailed characteristics of Young-India and explains the finer & crucial differences they have with their global peers. The blog also establishes the theory of “adopted differentiation” (Copyright Kaustav SG,2007) and how the Indian & Inglodian youth are using this as a tool to differentiate themselves from the “aam aadmi” (mass population of India) to establish their new found identity.

The term youth refers to persons who are no longer children and not yet adults. Used colloquially, however the term generally refers to a broader, more ambiguous field of reference- from the physically adolescent to those in their late twenties.
Though superficially the youth all over the world exhibits similar [degree of] attitude, [traits of] interests & [deliverance of] opinion but a detailed observation reveals the finer differential characteristics which are crucial and often ignored while targeting this group as a valued consumer base. India is one of the youngest countries in the world with 60% of its population less then 24 years of age and is charted as the most prospective destination for the retail investment in the A. T. Kearney’s Global Retail Opportunity Report, 2007. With the first ever non-socialistic generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 250million (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five) and can be broadly divided (socio-psychologically) into three categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural (R1, R2 to R4 SEC) areas with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5% (A, B,C, D & E SEC) and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the creamy layers (A1,A SEC) and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they are strongly growing (70% growth rate). Inglodians are affluent and consume most of the trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Indian youth is changing the work place culture/customs in India

The Gen Next in India is changing the very notion of "being at office/work" as envisioned by the Gen "Grey".
Here's an article:

Source: Business Today, September 19,2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Drug addiction is raising among the youth in Kashmir

Due to mental pressure, insecurity, frustration and physical abuse, the drug addiction is raising among the youth in Kashmir.
Here's a report from PTI

Friday, September 10, 2010

knockoff online games to lure the Indian youth

After the phenomenal popularity of Firmville among the youth in India the ‘knockoff’ games are floating in online gaming scene @ India… the quick survey got one reply among first 100 youth I had a chat: “simply crap! We hate copycats!”

Thursday, September 9, 2010

"petomania" is growing among the youth in India

pets are becoming more important in the life of youth...online and offline.

An article about the pet industries in India can be read here

cycling is becoming "cool"

for more information about cycling clubs in India Bharani Shivakumar and Sarath Raju can be contacted in their facebook page :facebook page (Bharani), facebook page (Sarath Raju)

family is most important, then career

Unlike Canada, where [currently] happiness,compassion, integrity and optimism are most important than career( http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/295180) , Indian youth are more focused on family and career. They wants to "prove themselves" to their family and parents to become the best among all:

bisexualilty and youth in India

In "gen next" India, bisexuality is an "accepted" sexual trait.

Read this article: http://in.news.yahoo.com/248/20100907/1582/tnl-the-third-paradigm.html

Source: yahoo news

Sunday, September 5, 2010

desi online games are ON!

after the hooping success of "earning pumpkins" and "gifting" in Firmville (late night "non adult" craze in Facebook among the youth in India) the Desi (with very Indian theme) online games are appearing in net.

Source: http://mu.ibibo.com/

more about Firmville: Yahoo answers
Desi and 'semi-desi' online games: http://www.kreeda.com/
http://www.gamekhel.com/

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

the "desi quest" is growing

as I have stated earlier, the "self confidence level" of "being desi" is growing rapidly among the youth of India and following the clue, a range of products are appearing with "indianized" features (...the new insignia for Rupee/ Indian currency is also one of these products; or else, why the hell the GOI will wake up to get a face for Indian currency after 60 years of independence!)...the Casio calculator with Indian comma marker and the Pine mobile with Hindi and Muslim Calendars are the latest add-ons in "desi quest" of youth in India.

Aniketh's comment

Avid blogger and SNS+gadget enthusiast Aniketh ( Aniketh D'souza) wrote in his blog "I believe and would recommend you going through this presentation by Kaustav Sen Gupta. All his presentation, his research has found relevance in what we see around these days. His insight into the youth of the nation is far advanced than any study conducted in India over the web."

the page capture:

You can reach Aniketh at Facebook or add him in Twitter (@anikethdsouza )

Awards & Honours:

Kaustav has been invited by Lenovo- O&M youth insight roundtable to share his "insights" about Youth in India.
He has been in colorsIndia conference as guest speaker, in Mobileyouth salon as guest panel of speakers, in Retail-jewelers India as a guest speaker, been in Asian Paints color 2013 panel as expert.

Jury member of “Shilpa Guru Award- Govt. of India”- selected to be the jury member for 4 consecutive years

(2006, 2007,2008,2009)

jury member of “Co-optex handloom design competition- Govt. of India”-2007, 2008

Jury member of Lineapelle, Italy design competition, 2006, 2007 (arranged by CLE).

Publications and Lectures by Kaustav Sengupta :

Interviewed by BBC, UK for the programme "secrets of the Superbrands". Watch the video here

Presented paper in London College of Fashion -2011. Read his paper

Speaker at TEDxYouth 2011. Watch the video here

Guest speaker at FICCI conference 2012.

Presented at ColorsIndia-2011 & 2008 conference arranged by CMG USA and Freedomtree in Mumbai (www.colorsindia.com) .

Guest speaker at Confederation of Indian Industries(CII) Conference –2007

Guest speaker at Department of Handicrafts- Govt. of India- Trends of Handicraft Design

Presented Paper in Indian Institute of Technology 2007

Guest speaker in Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce 2008’

“colors of Youth”- Article published at The Smart Manager-Nov, dec 08 issue

Article published at The Hindu(being republished at the Jetwing magazine)

read this article

Testimonials & Quotes about INGENE :

O&M

"Meanwhile, trendspotter and Fashion Professor, Kaustav Sengupta, predicts that ‘eco-cool’ will be of growing importance to young consumers."

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Centre for Asian Studies

"This is a blog, so it is ever changing. However, the focus is on the trends of the youth culture in India, including information on fashion. One can look for items of interest (for example, movies) by using the blog search feature in the upper left of each page."

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Mobileyouth reads INgene:

"If you’re interested in youth marketing trends in India check out our recommended links and blogs:* Youth Curry* Ingene* Priyanka’s Blog* Gauravonomics"

* “Study well” : still the top priority among Indian youth (INGENE)

10 Facts: Youth India

3) Youth drive the tech revolution
Interesting article by Ingene here.
......................................
9) Indian Youth are rediscovering their own youth culture
In some respects, Indian youth are still learning the ropes when it comes to picking up on global trends. Coffee culture, Vogue and MTV may have led the way but now Indian youth want their own. Bollywood can stand on its own two feet globally and to be “desi” now is to be cool and it’s a local offering with global variance rather than a local variant of a global offering,

Youth and Social Causes 14 April 09

* Youth are becoming socially responsible (INGENE)

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Rubypseudo

RUBY READS:Ingene [Indian Youth]

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Future of Learning

" While undertaking research for my blog posts, I came across Ingene, which calls itself the “first-ever Indian youth trend research blog” (http://ingene.blogspot.com/2008/08/indian-youth-lifestyle.html). Here is how the researchers in Ingene categorized Indian youth:
“with the first ever non-socialistic generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 250million (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five) and can be broadly divided into three categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural areas with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5% and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the creamy layers and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they are strongly growing (70% growth rate). Inglodians are affluent and consume most of the trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart” (http://ingene.blogspot.com/2008/08/indian-youth-lifestyle.html).
I am quoting this characterization at length because in spite of its obvious commercial slant, it speaks to a challenge of writing about new media practices among young Indians. This group encompasses several hundred million people, and is marked by geographical, socio-economic and gender differences. It is therefore impossible to study, or talk about, them as one group."

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Youth Marketing

"Friday, 23 January 2009
Indian youth survey statistics
Source : INGENE'Over 70% of Indian youth never heard of globalisation'Posted: Dec 23, 2008 at 1336 hrs ISTA study on Indian youth finds out that attitudes towards globalisation etc haven't changed much.New Delhi: A section of Indian youth are still conservative in making friends outside their religious circles and more than a two-third have never heard about globalisation, said a report released in Delhi."

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Blogged.com

"Queer and loving it"
INGENE ... on his face, the waif-thin Amrit held a 1 foot by 1 foot placard - "Queer and loving it" - and blew kisses at his male "friend". With a pair of translucent, sky blue ... of others who had gathered at the Barakhambha Road-Tolstoy Road junction Sunday evening to participate in the Delhi Queer Pride '09 parade. The "gay" parade, an annual event organized by a coalition ...

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Beta Share Everyone

"After surveying the social networking sites found the new wordings among Indian youths…Tym Bro, Nu, D, Surfin, Hez, Coz, Bt, Lyk, Goin, Lolz, Nd, Nyway, Hw, Frndz, Bout, Da, Ppl, Lyf, Nu, Shez, Vry, Senti, V = we, Wid = with, Plz, Gr8, I c = I see, Luv ya / u = love you, Dis, Singl 2gethr, Lettin’, Fav / fev, Fk u / fuk u, G2g, Watvr, Mwwahh / muuah, Evn, Wzzup, Herez, Wid, Ma = my, Evn, Muzik, Gal, N = and, Wid = with, Jk = joke, V = we, Cud = could, Breaking alphabetic orders like : PrIyAnKa …nExT, Coll = college, 2 b contd = to be continued , Yap /yeh, Nup / nops, Gud = good, K = ok, Tk cr / TC = take care, In2 = intoBRB / brb = Be right back, 4got.....and this list will continue...(a detailed report can be requested to Mr. Kaustav SenGupta: kaustavsengupta@yahoo.com)"

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Global Communities

"Great data from Ingene about social networking trends and attitudes among Indians both in India and abroad.It turns out Orkut isn’t only beloved in Brazil, it’s also the most popular branded social network in India — a staggering 94% of Indian youth have an account with Orkut. Facebook comes in next at 57%."

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CSCOUT trend agency reads INgene

"astro being trendy among Indian youth (INGENE)"

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youthpicks.com

"Study well" : still the top priority among Indian youth
Source: INGENE

Studying well and aspiration for a better career(better than the last previous generation) is motivating Indians (in India and abroad) to succeed better than their global peers... a report from UK reconfirms the same...

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Indian youth remains positive- even in this meltdown worldover
Source: INGENEEven in this time of "melting dream" and the nightmare of being "pink-slipped" Indian youth remains positive. The unique value of family bonding and social support has saved India earlier also...during the invasion and devastations in Mughal and British period. Check the reports below:

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causeandconnect.com

"Fakoconsciousness" is cool
Source: INGENEAmong Inglodian* & Indian youth* the Fakoconsciousness (copyright Kaustav SG 08) is cool...Fakoconsciousness means a method to create an impression that one is "attached" with an ecological or sociological cause...that can be just wearing a green tee with quotes as "go green"!

Youth are becoming socially responsible

Source: INGENE

After the smart pink chaddi movement the trend of social awarness is spreading faster...and most of these movements are spreading / communicating through internet.various micro groups are forming through social networking sites (facebook & Orkut...essentially).

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Blogger.com

Love, relationship and Indian youth - A survey
INGENE Oct 1st 11:01 pm

... to find the recent trends in Love & relationship. The details being given below. Kaustav SenGupta INGene 73% of the people believe commitment as to be the first and the foremost part of love when asked in a ... decide to marry each other, definitely people become choosy about their partner but once decided they will become very much possessive. Copyright : INgene & Gaurav, Chennai-India

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Global-Swarming:

the "new look" of indian youth

looking "cool" = looking different = looking "ugly" (to the "aam admi..gosh)...that reaffirms my theory of adopted differentiation... check how wonderfully the Indian youth (the Inglodian* segment) are redefining the meaning of "being beautiful@cool"...

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indiaprblog.com

"There is a very interesting report on Indian youth trends at Ingene. What stuck me the categorisation of the Indian youth..."

I got a "virtual thank you" note :)

Thanks to Ingene (the blog that covers youth trends emerging in India) for the heads up on this (and Ruby Pseudo for helping me find Ingene… this could go on) . The Bicycle Project is an initiative designed by a few peeps to collect and repair old bicycles to give to children in villages so that they don’t have to walk such long distances to school. Above all, it is to encourage them to stay in school, to help them secure a brighter future.
It’s really positive to see that new approaches to social welfare are picking up pace there.

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few comments came through mail:

Hi Kaustavji, I loved some of your insights and I feel we have much in common.... I look forward to getting to know you in days to come. Your understanding is spot on, as far as Indian youth affairs go....
-Sunil Robert V
Author - I will survive

“Googled- culture, trends, India, youth - to land on your blog. A neat, insightful peek into
the 'we are like this only' culture. Kudos”
-Kartik Mani
Merry Men, Founder & Creative Head

“Many regards from Ogilvy & Mather, Delhi - not just as an opening for this mail, but also for the many insights you share with us & others through your blogs.”
-Anoop Menon
Planning Director
Ogilvy & Mather, New Delhi

"i just happen to visit your blog and read a few things about you and your team in it which inspired me to write you an email. u have talked about the Indian youth trend research which is a wow.... it is a first of its kind i came across.... great going"
-amitesh mukherjee
Student

"I’ve been reading your blog and found your thoughts and studies into eco-consciousness really interesting. I especially like the way you use the phrase, ‘Eco-trendy’, What a good phrase! "
-Marty
currentmedia.com

“Thank you very much for a wonderful blog and site. I was told about you from some of our many authors - and we have a lot in Indian - and very happy to see how you give value and a strong voice to young people in India. Bombadil Publishing is a global youth to youth publishing company, where young people write books for young people.”
-Marianne Rugård Järvstråt, PhD
Bombadil Publishing AB
Sweden

“I had gone through your blog- http://www.ingene.blogspot.com/ and found it quite informative. We want to publish your content while mentioning the relevant information like your blog's link so that our readers could follow it up and check your blog out.”
-Anjita Lal
Associate Editor,
ODE-Of Distinct Expressions

"I am a university student in the United States. I am working on a research paper about the influence of western culture on India, especially fashion with youth to college aged students. I have come across your blog and I find it very useful!"
-Melissa Madden
Student

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I support Udhavum Ullangal Illam (Free Home for Orphan and Helpless Elders)

Udhavum Ullangal is a free home for orphan children and helpless elderls organized by a team of retired people which is functioning in Chennai for past 8 years.

The children home functions at Adambakkam. Whereas, the elders cum children home is functioning at Maraimalai Nagar.

This home provides free food, shelter, medical care and other basic needs of life to the inmates, besides providing school education to orphan children of the home.

All the services provided by the home is dependent upon the support offered from kind hearted and helping natured people like you, for managing various expances of the home...

I support them through small steps...and U?

Contact them at : udhavum2000@yahoo.com
website: http://www.helpingheartshome.org/
address: No. 9, West Karikalan 2nd Street, Adambakkam, Chennai-600088
Phone: +91 044 22672236 and 22673338