By Papri Das

In the land of the Kamasutra, people have finally woken up to the joys of sex toys or sexual wellness products. While Indian laws prohibit the sale of sex toys in the country against obscenity, India?s Gen Z has come to accept and appreciate its use and no longer treats it as taboo, dirty, illegal, pornographic or vulgar.

While education and awareness has brought a majority of this progressive change, a word of thanks must go to the number of e-shops that have sprung up catering to the need gap of the adult product market in India. Sites like IMbesharam, OhMySecrets, Shycart and That?s Personal have given Indian consumers a safe, private and trustworthy haven that caters to their needs of adult and sexual wellness products.

When That?s Personal was first launched in 2013, it created quite a stir in the industry. This new e-shop, which openly sold lubricants, seductive couple games and lingerie, became a talk of the town, albeit in hushed whispers. It's been two years since That?s Personal launched and its CEO Samir Saraiya says that the site has been doing well.

Exec Lifestyle caught up with Saraiya in a candid chat on how big the adult product market is in India, the latest trends amongst the site?s consumers and how Indians are opening up to sex products.

Excerpts:

How big is the market for sexual products in India and how far have e-commerce sites been able to penetrate it?

The market potential in India is huge. The market size is estimated to grow to Rs 9000 crore by 2020. We?ve just hit the upper crust of this huge market where the early adopters have opened up to us. The outlook towards sexual health and sexual wellness is changing every single day. We?re growing at a rapid pace of over 400 per cent over the last year. This is testament to the fact that the adoption of sexual health and wellness as a concept is, now, becoming a widely accepted phenomena.

Recently Snapdeal and OhMySecrets got in trouble for selling sexual products. Have you faced any such legal problems at That's Personal? How do you ensure your products are all legal to be sold in India?

There are no legal concerns in the actual sale of sex toys, apparels and ancillary sexual products. Since these items are not banned for import or sale in India, there is no legal bar for their sale. However, the concern arises only in the manner in which these sex toys, apparels and related products are displayed and exhibited for sale in India.

Under Indian law, ?obscenity? is an offence. Therefore, if any of these items are advertised and / or displayed for sale using any obscene pictures, graphics, display mechanism, or otherwise in any obscene manner, then there could be a cause for concern. Although neither the Indian Penal Code nor the Information Technology Act, 2000 defines what ?obscenity? is.

As long as the products are not ?obscene? and/or displayed or exhibited in a manner, which is not ?obscene?, there is no legal concern on the sale of such products. However, this does not mean that a pornographic magazine or a movie can be freely sold or distributed in India simply by camouflaging its physical appearance. The fact that the content of such a product/ article is ?obscene?, it will fall certainly within the purview of Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code and hence illegal in India. We have a dedicated team who go through the products very carefully and curate the ones, which won?t fall under the obscenity laws and won?t look offensive. They have the right to veto any products they feel are obscene for India socially. Also, we steer clear of sex toys or pharmacy products as well.

How difficult was it to launch the site in India, get it marketed and even get people on board?

We sell only those products, which are completely legal to sell in India. We?ve been very conscious of staying away from products that are anywhere close to the magical remedies act. We believe in the concept of sexual health and wellness and we?ve projected ourselves as a clean, youthful and a fun brand to interact with. This clean positioning and projection has led to the entire system believing and supporting in us.

We get around 50 resumes a day for various openings that we have on our site. Rich talent is attracted and willing to work with us because of the growth opportunity that this sector has as well as the fun, youthful and innovative nature of the work environment that exists within our organization.

Have you ever been accused of 'corrupting' India's culture?

Absolutely not! In fact, we received accolades from everywhere when we launched. We received tremendous affection and support from all quarters where people were keen for a business like this to start. We have a loyal community on Facebook and LinkedIn and a legion of fans on Twitter, who eagerly anticipate the content that we create for them. We receive so many calls and emails enquiring about the products and wanting to know more about how to use them. We also get a lot of hilarious customer queries. For example: One specific query that we receive often is about Gujaratis enquiring if a lot of our products are vegetarian and we have to inform them that all products are purely vegetarian!

Do you think people equate sex store to pornography, and shy away from it?

I think equating a sex store to pornography is now pass? and a belief of the 1990s. The mindset of people is evolving every day and they?re able to differentiate clearly between pornography and sexual health/wellness.

How much money does an average buy make you? How are the items priced?

We have items for all types of audiences. So, we have economy products ranged between Rs 0 ? 1000 and on the other end of the spectrum, we also have extremely premium brands like LELO, which are priced well over Rs 20,000. The average purchase order value is Rs 2600 with about 2.2 products/order. The average order value is three times of any other regular E-Commerce organization, which is something that really puts us in good stead.

Is their any data to support the demography that visit and buy from the site?

The number of male visitors at 61 per cent easily outdoes the number of female visitors who form about 31 per cent of the visitors in India. However, females constitute about 39 per cent of the total purchases as opposed to 61 per cent by men. Essentially, females purchase more when they visit.

However, the number of females visiting our site is rapidly growing and we think we?ll reach a stage within this calendar year where females will be purchasing more than males. The age group between 25 ? 34 years forms about 52 per cent of the total purchases on the site.

As per the site, what are the most popular items on the site?

Massagers are our leading contributors followed by Lubricants and Women?s Sensual Lingerie. The youth, especially, is trying more of Adult Games that we have. The most significant trend, however, is in the gifting category. Increasingly, people are trying to gift their spouse, friends, etc. something naughty or fun for their weddings, birthdays and honeymoon travels. This gifting trend is in fact very popular amongst girls with more than 74 per cent of the gifting orders coming from women.

Where are the items sourced?

We source products from all across the world. We have 32 top international brands that we have exclusive deals with. There are no Indian brands manufacturing these items.

Fun facts:

The market size is estimated to grow to Rs 9000 crore by 2020.

Number of male visitors at 61% easily outdo the number of female visitors who form about 31% of the visitors in India.

The most significant trend, however, is in the gifting category, mostly popular amongst girls with more than 74% of the gifting orders coming from women.

*Survey and assessment conducted by That?s Personal team from their consumer reports

Even in this digital era, when storage is a matter of gigabytes and compressions, there is a different joy in collecting something physically tangible. Cherished over the years, collectibles offer a sense of fulfillment and nostalgia. From movie DVDs, whiskey bottles, stamps -- here is what some of the top media executives love collecting.

By Papri Das

Our memories of ?friendship? mostly takes us back to our school and college days, when we could share a carefree laugh, confide our secrets, or fight and make up quite easily with friends. That concept of friendship most definitely fades away as we grow older and enter the mad race to success. Gradually the endearing term ?friend? takes a back seat and politely makes way for terms like ?colleague?, ?associate?, ?business partner?, and ?client?, especially in the corporate world.

The situation is bleaker for the ones who do succeed. Apart from responsibility and power, executives and top honchos in business are also given a position that keeps them away from most -- a very revered but isolated position indeed. In the cold harsh world of number crunching, boardroom politics and competition, is there any room left for friendship to flourish?

Indeed there is, say several top media executives, whom Exec Lifestyle approached on the eve of Friendship Day, which falls on 2 August.

To the grand old man of Indian media, Madison World chairman Sam Balsara, friends are critical for survival. He simply can?t do without them. ?I value and cherish my friends from outside and within the industry alike, and can?t imagine my life without them,? says Balsara, who enjoys friends amongst a wide circle. ?Some of them started off as colleagues, clients or business associates and eventually got closer over the years. From casual professional greetings, you start exchanging meaningful conversations, which may trail off from work. There is no reason why I can?t call them my friends. They are very important to me.?

When asked about how he maintains friendship with his competitors Balsara calmly replies, ?We are all mature. We may compete in the marketplace but we know how to keep our personal and professional ties separate. Competition never gets in the way.?

Madison Media and Madison OOH CEO Vikram Sakhuja opines, ?There is no reason why executives from the same industry can?t be friends. In fact, it is quite easy to get along with each other due to common interests and the comfort zone of understanding each other. One keeps bumping into each other at industry events and it's strange if you can?t find a single one with whom you can strike a chord. Now, one can?t compare this friendship with childhood friends; it's a different ball game altogether.?

Without naming names, Sakhuja says that while he has plenty of friends in the industry especially old colleagues, times of conflict have tested and strengthened his bond with them.

Viacom18 executive vice president Anuj Poddar couldn?t agree more. ?You spend more than nine hours a day in office, and sometimes even more. Therefore naturally your colleagues are the ones you are closest to. I am friends with not just my immediate colleagues, but colleagues of yesteryears as well. Just because you stop working together doesn?t mean you stop being friends,? he adds with a chuckle.

?Take my friend Ashish Patil from Yash Raj Films for example. We have never worked together directly, but over the last ten years of knowing him, I have grown to like him as a person and we became good friends. Very recently, he conducted a training session for my creative team. He is just someone I can count on without hesitating,? shares Poddar, adding that he would do the same for Patil.

Echoing the same sentiments, Patil, who is Y-Films, brand partnerships and talent management vice president, says, ?Anuj is someone I wouldn?t say no to provided I am free and the topic is of my interest, and he understands that well.? Revealing that he isn?t much of a social person, Patil says, ?Over the years, I have made many associations. I have come to learn a lot from them and even approach them for help and vice versa, and this association goes beyond petty profit and loss.?

Another great example of how business partners can also be good friends are Fazila Allana and Kamna Nirula Menezes - the duo who founded and run Sol Production Pvt. Ltd. From boss and subordinate, to business partners and now family, their relationship has molded into many shapes over the years. However, none of it has affected their friendship.

?Kamna and I met over fifteen years ago, when I was working in UTV. I used to be her boss at that time and now she is part of the family,? reminisces Sol Production Pvt. Ltd co-founder and managing director Fazila Allana. When queried as to whether being business partners had ever come in the way of their friendship, Allana says, ?So far (touch wood), we have never faced any challenges maintaining our friendship. It?s because our value systems have been compatible to begin with. We trust each other?s judgment. When it comes to business, difference in point of view is actually a good thing, especially amongst those who respect each other?s opinion. Be it friendship or partnership in business, respecting the other?s opinion and understanding them is crucial.?

Exec Lifestyle further implored how Allana spends time with her long time friend Kamna; whether they go to spa together or shopping? To which, she says, ?We spend a lot of time together. I am more of the spa person than Kamna. We mostly go watch movies together, and dinners... the usual things friends do.?

In this fickle era of backstabbing, dishonesty, cut-throat competition and money mindedness, all is perhaps not lost in the wake of some true blue friendships that have weathered numerous storms of time.

By Papri Das

The industry was grief stricken last Sunday when Bharti Airtel?s 43-year old chief nodal officer and marathon runner Stephen Menezes met an untimely demise due to heart attack on the tracks while running the Run India Run-Total Sports and Fitness 10K Challenge in Mumbai.

According to a report in The Times Of India, Menezes had been suffering from high blood pressure for the last 10 years, which comes as a surprise since he was a familiar face in similar running events that involves pushing one?s physical limitations.

One can?t deny the growing popularity amongst executives in participating in sports and other physically strenuous activities that test their physical limitations. More and more executives are jumping on to the fitness bandwagon; sometimes spurred by the growing popularity of India?s recently crowned ?Iron Man? - Milind Soman. Doctors and trainers are of the opinion that it is increasingly becoming more about setting records and competing than enjoying the activity. While Menezes? case may be a standalone incident, it is an eye opener for many who push themselves too hard. The scenario begs to raise the serious question: How far is too far?

?On an average, a reasonably fit human being is cable of stretching their physical limitations to a certain extent, but it's a gradual process,? says Whatuwant Solutions founder Bharat Kapadia, who has been participating in marathons quite regularly for eight years now. ?When I started, I hadn?t run even half a kilometer in my life. So when I decided to enter special training at the gym, the idea of running even five kilometers seemed like an achievement. I loved the training and the discipline it brought to my life and since then I have been improving my record by minutes every time,? he says.

Kapadia also points out how our mind plays a powerful role in this. ?There are times when the body is ready for the challenge but the mind isn?t. This can prove detrimental to one?s body as well,? he says. ?Fitness isn?t measured as what one can do, but how easily and quickly one?s body can return to normal after being pushed beyond its comfort zone,? he says, adding that the power of mind is often tested in this regard.

According to Kapadia, the mind often doesn?t differentiate between sweating it out for fun and an actual crisis and this leads to a rise in lactic acid within our systems. ?Stretching after a long run or a stressing game of squash is very essential to bring our body to normal,? he informs.

His last recorded time for completing the 21km half marathon in January 2015 was 2 hours and 12 minutes as opposed to his first ever record of 2 hours 39 minutes. It clearly shows that patience and consistency is the key. Concurring with him is Grey Group India managing director and chairman Sunil Lulla.

?All of us who live life on the edge know fairly well that consistency is the key,? says Lulla, who is an avid Squash player and extensively takes part in several marathons. ?Athletes and professional sportsmen undergo rigorous training to increase their ability to push beyond limits each time. Their records are a result of that training and not a feat achieved in a day. If a regular executive expects the same result, their body will simply not obey, or worse, will break down,? Lulla simply puts.

Lulla stresses that it's extremely important to build up this consistency before every major event that requires you to be at your physical best. ?Well before a week of participating in a marathon, I practice running to get myself in the groove and also follow a strict diet,? Lulla says, adding that it prepares his body for the physical exertion that his body would experience during the marathon. ?These days I have been traveling a lot, which leaves me very less time to practice running and play Squash etc. Therefore, every time I do play, I deliberately cut down on my time so that it doesn?t become sporadic.?

For some it may be a lack of consistency, but there are others who just can't help it and one such person is celebrated TV personality Cyrus Broacha. ?I used to play Rugby earlier and now only lift weights almost obsessively, to the point that my family has given up on me,? says Broacha.

?Some people have this obsessive compulsion to keep at something until they are unable to carry on, and at the cost of sounding victimized, I am one of them,? he adds. Throwing light on the signs to identify that one is obsessed with a certain thing to an alarming level, Broacha says, ?When people are unwilling to adjust their practice times, refuse to take any breaks and often get angry when interrupted, it?s a sign they are obsessive over it.?

When asked how he ensures that he doesn't take his obsession to a point where he may fall sick, he says, ?I spend less time in the gym when I have work so I guess that's one way to keep me off it.?

Lost Boy Production?s Vikas Gupta plays badminton and football quite regularly and believes the importance in maintaining one?s health through extra curricular fitness activities. ?Living a lifestyle where most of our hours go either sitting in front of the computer or consuming fast food, it is essential to engage in some sport. It maintains your health and also keeps your mind fresh,? says Gupta, who strikes a fine balance between work and play.

?I make sure I don't over exert myself at work on the days that I play a sport. Sometimes people work for 16 hours a day and then expect to push themselves for four more hours in after work activities like sports. It is not a healthy practice,? he says, warning executives of their ?wanting everything all at once? attitude even towards sports.

In spite of having erratic work schedules, Gupta maintains his ?me time? on weekends. ?It is hard to schedule your life amidst shootings and other official responsibilities. But I try to have 12 hours a day with some exceptions and on weekends I completely switch off for a couple of hours. It?s usually then that I indulge in sports,? shares the producer.

Often what pushes an otherwise perfectly healthy person over the edge is undiagnosed ailment and latent injuries, which is why both Gupta and Kapadia recommend a general health check up at regular intervals. Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon Dr Tushar R Jimulia has over a score of frequent visitors who regularly take part in extensive sports and athletic activities. ?About a dozen of marathoners and executives who play sports often seek my help before they have a big event coming up. Moreover, two of my orthopedic friends are majorly into trekking and thus keep needing regular checkups before their trips,? says Jimulia, who was earlier with King?s Mill Hospital in Mansfield, UK.

Jimulia?s advice to executives is simple: Not to forget that their engagement in these activities is for fun and they can?t compare themselves to the professionals. ?More often these business leaders and executives spend their early twenties and thirties in building their impressive portfolios. By forty when they have some time for themselves, they suddenly jump into extreme fitness regime, forgetting both their age and lack of any proper training over the years,? says Jimulia, assuring that it?s possible to push one?s physical boundaries after proper training within the limitations of age and other health factors.

?A proper health counseling is a must before anyone takes part in a serious sport. Our body is like a car with many gears. If one is to skip the first couple of gears and directly runs at fourth gear, it will naturally cause an accident. Similarly, those who want to participate in marathons must undergo basic training, then start their jogging, and move on to sprinting before building up their body to handle marathons,? signs off Jimulia.

India's start-up scene in technology has seen a massive boom over the last few years, with the much needed funding rush last year. While well known brands like Zomato, Practo and Flipkart continue to rule the brand game, there are a number of unique tech start-ups that you must keep an eye on.

Here?s a list compiled by Exec Lifestyle:

1. BugClipper:  BugClipper is an in-app tool designed to make reporting bugs very simple, smarter and more efficient. By using this tool, one can reduce miscommunication and spend time on fixing issues. Currently, it is available for iOS with over 650 installations.

2. Hipcask: Hipcask is India's first and only wine & spirits smart phone app. It is a consumer platform to discover and learn more about wines & spirits. A knowledge repository of both Indian and international wines & spirits, Hipcask is a focused mobile application to discover and learn more about wines & spirits. As of now, they have up to wine and food suggestions in over 50 restaurants across Mumbai and Delhi. They are also targeting Singapore and Dubai in the coming months. Hipcask aims to capture the $258 billion Asia Pacific alcoholic beverages market.

3. LivingTree: LivingTree is a hierarchical and contextual social network that aims to harness the best technology in order to enable schools, districts, communities, and families to truly partner in developing children. It emulates the natural organisation that exists in a K-12 educational system and connects people who raise, develop and educate children. It has 800 school communities on board and is targeting 10,000 institutions by the end of 2015.

4. LogiNext: LogiNext is a real time tracking platform with high tech data visualisation for the logistics industry. LogiNext aims to help logistics companies improve their day-to-day operations, provide superior customer service and optimise their delivery networks. They promise to give 15 per cent reduction in delivery time for each time.

5. Mocept: Mocept is a video dictionary and builds education videos for mobile and tablets. The video dictionary is available on all major mobile platforms. The app makes use of animated videos and actual conversations to explain the meaning, context and usage of words. So far, the video dictionary covers 20,000 words and 105,000 videos have been watched. Additionally, the Illustrate Video Platform (IVP) is also an innovative, scalable video platform that has been developed by Mocept. It makes it possible to create HD videos that stream at less than 2MB per minute. This ability to stream high quality videos without consuming too much data makes videos ideal for smart-phones and tablets.

6. Outsy: Outsy is a discovery platform for local events. It is the easiest platform to discover the most interesting and fun things trending in the city. One can use Outsy to find out about the kinds of events happening in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Singapore. You can choose from a range of activities that include food & drinks, music & nightlife, shows & entertainment, classes & exhibits and fitness & outdoors. Outsy provides a handpicked list of going out experiences in a timely and visually appealing manner. The app has more than 5,000 downloads on Android. The company is focusing on Android, iOS and the mobile web.

7. Papertrell: Papertrell creates award winning digital book applications for publishers and authors around the world. So far, there are 15 publishers in the portfolio including HarperCollins and Hachette. It has more than 400 published applications. Papertrell presents a new way of experiencing books and content. It has worked with publishers and authors to release book apps for Apple iOS devices, Google Android devices, Microsoft Windows devices and for the web.

8. PickYourTrail:  PickYourTrail is a trip planning start-up that helps you ideate, plan & book experiential international vacations. It helps to craft experiential vacations and personalised holidays across 30 countries and 24 Indian states based on the consumer?s desires. Currently, they have approximately 175 customers from 10 countries. The company claims to have clocked revenues of over Rs 1 crore in six months.

9. Roomys: A consumer product that helps you to find roommates in any city based on your preferences. Roomys helps you find roommates in a city for a permanent, long-term or temporary, short-term stay. You can browse through profiles of various people and their interests who are looking to share a place or offering a place. Till date, there are 2000 users and 600 successful connections have been made so far.

10. Kryptos: Kryptos Mobile is a mobile app technology company, which provides high-end mobile apps to the schools and colleges along with a self-service mobile app creation platform called Kryptos AppMaker. More than 100 universities, schools and colleges across United States, Canada and Australia use Kryptos Mobile as their official app to provide information related to student grades, holds, courses, account summary etc. on the go. So far, the application has over 80 clients with 1.5 million students being active on the application. Kryptos AppMaker allows individuals and organisations to create cross-platform apps without writing any software code. It is a cloud-based, self-serviced, cross-platform mobile app creation platform.