The Cranium

An Idea for a Novel Political Experiment

2006-09-29T01:55:00.000-07:00

To attract investment for a small state, how about organising a worldwide political lottery. The winner of the lottery will get to head the state for a whole year. Prize of the ticket: 100 dollars. The winner should declare faith in the constitution of the state, he heads. He will not have the power to declare war.If the experiment clicks, this lottery can be repeated every year.

An Idea for Tackling Boredom at Work

2006-09-27T02:47:00.000-07:00

Visit officediversions.

An Idea for Mosquito Repellent Companies

2006-09-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Launch 'extra power' mats with the claim: From chicken guniya to chicken gone ya.

Idea for a religion

2006-09-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

So many of the world's miseries are the result of irrational religious beliefs and evil that men do in the name of God. It's time to introduce rationality into our lives in a more tangible form. It's time for people to build temples of rationality. Although I'm not sure who will finance the building of these temples.

An Idea for a New Science

2006-09-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

For lack of a better term, I shall label this as Vitagraphology. Vitagraphology is a science that shall deal with studying life graphs of people. A life graph is the curve you get when you plot a person's fortune over his/her span of life. For plotting, the life graph one needs a lot of information about the person. By studying many such life graphs, we can find out a) What kind of people share the same life graphs? b) Are life graphs repeated at all by the creator? c) Do life graphs follow an equation? d) If so what is the equation? e) If one arrives at such an equation, can we predict the future course of a person?

An Idea for ITBHU

2006-09-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Don't crave to be another me three IIT. Focus on your strengths. Tap into your alumni. Carve your own equity.

Idea for a marina lifestyle in Chennai

2006-09-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Create a life and a lifestyle along the banks of the Covum and Adyar rivers. Turn it into a Corporate Project. Put together a plan. Do an IPO to raise funds. Use the funds to clean up and unclog the water bodies and build economically viable waterside properties alogside them. As a publicly traded and answerable company it might stand a chance of happening.

Idea for a responsible legacy

2006-09-22T01:17:00.000-07:00

Introduce a clause in all wills stating that children will have access to the deceased parent's fund only when they have a job of their own. The minute deposits cease in the heirs' salary accounts, the access to all funds of the parent is frozen.

Idea for a cricket telecast

2006-09-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

Create a character called 'Bet Chod' and plug him as a sideshow for cricket match telecasts. His job will be to give a funny spin on the business of betting in cricket.

An Idea for Low BP Patients

2006-09-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Support the Indian cricket team. Your BP will forever be high.

An Idea for Frustrating Frustrations

2006-09-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just meditate.

An Idea for BCCI

2006-09-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

Take rain insurance cover for the Champion's Trophy.

Idea for bickering lovers

2006-09-21T04:42:00.000-07:00

For each fight you have, write a handwritten letter saying your sorry. You'll get so tired of fighting and writing handwritten letters or you'll so enjoy writing letters that you'll fall completely, crazily in love from fighting. Note: It has to be handwritten.

Idea for a ghostwriter

2006-09-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Pen a book on reverse swing and get the Pakistani swingmeisters to front it.

An Idea for Cancer Management

2006-09-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Not an original idea. Nevertheless, an idea that works. Buy yourself a copy of Louise Hay's 'Heal Your Body' and read up.

An Idea for rain-hit cricket matches

2006-09-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

When it's clear that there's little hope for a full length one dayer, opt for a 11-over cricket match. Basically the idea is every player will have to bowl and bat one over. This is a simple way to determine the best team.

An Idea for Imran Khan

2006-09-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Try and form an informal alliance with Nawaz Sharif. A coalition is the only way you can hope to come to power.

Idea for ICC

2006-09-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

Make the rainy season in countries such as Sri Lanka and Malaysia and other tropical countries, the 20/20 season.

An Idea for an Unusual Magazine

2006-09-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

Launch a magazine called 'Black & White'. The magazine will have a split personality. Half of the magazine will carry positive, feel good, logical, rational, scientific stuff & news you can use. The other half will carry irrational, emotional, provocative, wild, bohemian, passionate and sometimes utterly useless stuff. There will be two covers. The front coverstory will have a New Yorker / Economist personality. The back cover will have a Playboyesque personality.

Trigger for the idea: Both Sides - a blog by Avi.

An Idea for the Indian Government

2006-09-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

To create a buzz around India, announce a list of brand ambassadors for India from 20 odd fields. Fly them across the world to carry out a cultural offensive in foreign lands.

An Idea for Sanjay Gupta

2006-09-17T06:03:00.000-07:00

Make a movie on the Kimveer Gill saga as seen from Anastasia's point of view. Cast Sanjay Dutt as her dad.

Idea for luxury car makers

2006-09-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

Launch a budget car in India. It's a contrarian strategy worth thinking about.

An Idea for the IITs

2006-09-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Introduce B.Tech courses in Internet Engineering, Sound Engineering & Weaponry Engineering.

Idea for Kiran More

2006-09-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Say no more. Write a book. You were part of one of the more controversial times in Indian cricket.

An Idea for the ICC

2006-09-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ammend the Duckworth-Lewis statute. And announce that D-L will come ino play only when both the teams have played at least 30 overs in a rain interrupted macth. If the teams have played lesser, then the match will be declared a draw.

Idea for India

2006-09-14T04:26:00.000-07:00

Do away with linguistic states. Redraw the country into equal states that can then be governed as economic entities. Not regional vote banks.

An Idea for Futuristic Mirrors

2006-09-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Digital mirrors with reflective LCD monitors that can photoshop your face and present various looks & style options at the click of a button. Also the digital mirror should be capable of recommending the optimal mix and match of colours for your skin tone and mood.

An Idea for Advertisers

2006-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Try out a new form of advertising called Teethvertisements. Pay celebrities to get your brand name marked on their teeth. Every time they flash their pearls, you'll have no choice but to see the brand name. This medium is ideal for unknown brands that want that sudden burst of awareness.

Idea for a retail chain

2006-09-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Simply seconds. For second hand stuff. Well-washed and properly packaged.

Idea for a disaster movie

2006-09-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Do a movie on the River Saraswati.

An Idea for National Geographic

2006-09-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Do a documentary on Indian temples & churches with a thousand year vintage.

An Idea for Earthquake Risk Management

2006-09-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Start a speculative stock exchange called Quakex. Countries, states, cities and towns can list themselves in this exchange. The listed stocks can use the exchange to raise funds for earthquake management. While investors can make money by speculating wildly on stocks that will get affected in case the earth quakes.

An Idea for Pen Inventors

2006-09-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

Invent a paper sensitive pen that will change its tip according to the writing surface.

An Idea for a Bollywood Comedy

2006-09-08T11:04:00.001-07:00

Make a movie based on the life of Kaka Joginder Singh aka Dhartipakad. Cast Rajpal Yadav as Dhartipakad.

An Idea for Jet Airways

2006-09-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

Make an audacious bid for the soon-to-be bankrupt Delta Air Lines. Even if you fail, people will sit up and take note of your existence.

An Idea for Abdul Kalam

2006-09-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Start lobbying for a re-election. The public is with you.

Idea for institutions

2006-09-07T22:01:00.000-07:00

Remove the 'field' in all forms that asks you to state your religion. Over time, the benefits of this will show.

Idea for ITC

2006-09-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

Teach farmers to work together. Look at a way to increase the size of agricultural land-holdings. One of the reasons our farming is not productive is the size of agricultural holdings. Create farmer co-operatives that will make it possible to farm in a more economical manner on a larger land mass. Admittedly, that will take us away from subsistence farming, but it will make agriculture more professional and more paying. Find a way to duplicate the Amul experience in agriculture.

An Idea for Rural India

2006-09-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

The Government of India should work on creating a rural real estate boom. This can be done by creating a nodal agency (call it Dharthi)that will have the powers to a) Launch an ad campaign explaining how real estate in villages is far cheaper than metros. b) Create a web site for rural real estate deals to attract investment from NRIs. c) Cut the red tape to ensure rural real estate deals go through as quickly as possible. d) Educate the villager on the pros and cons of selling his land. e) Help the villager with investment ideas on what to do with the real estate money.

An Idea for Resizing Images

2006-09-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Wanna resize images at the click of a button? Download Pixresizer for free.

An Idea for a Pressure Cooker

2006-09-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

How about a pressure cooker that whistles songs of your choice? The chip that powers this aspect could be activated by steam.

Idea for population control

2006-09-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Incentivise it in the form of tax breaks and subsidies for people who choose not to have babies. A lot of people tend to have babies for economic reasons and for the security of having someone who might take care of them when they get old and feeble.

Idea for big cities

2006-09-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

Raise the limit for the height of buildings. India needs more skyscrapers. It'll reduce the outward spread of cities and set things up. There is more space in the air than on the ground.

An Idea for Development of Smaller Cities

2006-09-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Government of India should unveil a new concept called 'Spotlight Cities'. Basically 'Spotlight Cities' are small cities chosen randomly for rapid development by the Central Government. A 'Spotlight City' will get a cheque of Rs. 1000 crores and all possible help from the Central Government. The smartest personnel from the Central Government will be made available for overseeing the utilisation of this amount. The thrust will be to create a sustainable economy in that city. Every 'Spotlight City' will be picked by lots by the President of India on Independence Day. Every year we'll have a new 'Spotlight City'. Since this project is bound to attract media attention, the government will be forced to deliver in these cities. No State Government will oppose this concept as the moneys are too good to refuse.

An Idea for Telco

2006-09-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Buy out Reva. Redesign the chasis. Lobby with the government to switch to electric cars. And launch the car at a 2.5 lakh price point. Also implement the suggestion by fellow ideator Avi.

Idea for an Intelligent Potty

2006-09-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Create a potty that can do a stool test while you're taking a crap. The results can be flashed instantly on a digital display wired to the cistern.

Idea for Reva

2006-09-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Consider launching a rent-an-electric-car fleet in a city, as a test case. Position it as an alternative to autorickshaws and other forms of bad public transportation. It also has green credentials.

Idea for Dabur India

2006-09-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

Launch a Sanjeevani herb based Chyavanprash. Call it Hanuman Chalisa. Market it as something with 40 Ayurvedic herbs. And target the 40-plus users.

An Idea for the Jewish Lobby

2006-09-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

Rename all Jewish cemeteries as Hitler cemeteries. Lest we forget.

An Idea for a Photo Book

2006-09-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

A massive photo tome that chronicles the cradle-to-grave potrait of a person. Every page of the book will capture the mood-of-the-month of the person chosen for study.

Idea for jewellery

2006-09-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

Tastefully designed bling for India. Rings, necklaces, bracelets and the like that simply say 'Indian'.

Idea for a comic book

2006-09-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Munnabhai and Kkrish series. They could be like the Lothar and Mandrake the Magician of India.

An Idea for Hasbro Inc.

2006-09-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

Launch a Hindi version of Scrabble. See how it goes. And then roll out the Tamil version.

An Idea for Blood Donation

2006-09-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

To increase the base of blood donors, the Government of India must announce a tax concession of Rs. 2000 for every bag of blood donated.

Idea for the Middle Class

2006-09-04T00:34:00.000-07:00

Let's rename it the 'Upwardly Mobile Class'. This might be an interesting way to push the people in this class out of their conservative mindset. Research has proved that positive naming cues can have implications on what a category of people do.

An Idea for Andre Agassi

2006-09-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Milk your age-defier equity by writing self-improvement books, offering motivational lectures and endorsing wine, watch & sports brands.

An Idea for Channel V

2006-09-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

The North East is full of gifted guitarists. Launch a Heavy Metal Talent Hunt there. Put together a metal band with the available talent. And promote them bigtime with roadshows & music videos. There is a fat chance that we might end up discovering our first world class metal band. The payoffs for Channel V - greater viewership in North East & high voltage brand ambassadors.

An Idea for a Radio Channel

2006-09-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

Start a radio channel that uses only syndicated podcasts from across the world. In essence this will be the radio version of Youtube. All that needs to be done is to give the radio some structure and templates.

Idea for upping sports consciousness in India

2006-09-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

Make sports a credit subject at all levels of the educational ladder.

Idea for schools

2006-09-01T23:27:00.000-07:00

Create intranets and eliminate the need for text-books, school bags and paper.

An Idea for Inventors

2006-09-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

Build a 'Complimenting Machine' that can randomly shower a person with encomiums. This will be a huge hit with people as all they want to hear is good things about themselves.

An Idea for Malayalam Manorama

2006-09-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

The Week magazine is going nowhere. It's hit a plateau. The problem - Northies see it as a Southern magazine. And the Southies don't think it's Southie enough. The solution - relaunch The Week as a national tabloid. Make it racy, spicy and dish out national masala. Basically occupy the territory vacated by yesterday's tabloids Blitz & Current. And don't carry any ideological baggage like Tehelka.

Idea for Anil Ambani

2006-09-01T02:09:00.000-07:00

Launch India's first Mobilephone TV channel. You can call it CellTV or some such thing. Sahara could be a possible partner.

Idea for a New Paper

2006-08-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Why not use the newspaper in its current format to introduce stories and push people to go online for the rest of the story. It might be a good way to, slowly, promote the online properties and expand the readership.

Idea for a 'Fight Club'

2006-08-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

Start a club where people can come and yell at each other and let out steam. It might be a venture with much therapeutic use. Moreover, these new-fangled cures for stress are quite in vogue now. It could also be spun off into a TV channel.

Idea for Janet Jackson

2006-08-31T19:42:00.000-07:00

Write a book on Whacko Jackson and call it 'Jacked'. Your singing career is pretty dead, anyway.

Idea for a Richard Branson

2006-08-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Start the world's first space cemetry. After all, cemetries are desperate for space. It might also fuel his venture for commercial space travel."

An Idea for New Indian Express

2006-08-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Merge with Deccan Herald. Rebrand yourself as Deccan Express. Go in for an IPO.

An Idea for Barack Obama

2006-08-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

Don't enter the presidential race in 2008. If you do, you might end up playing Veep to Hillary.

An Idea for Educationists

2006-08-31T10:42:00.000-07:00

Today's kids are smarter than the previous generations. So let's do away with 12 years of school education and make it 10 years instead.

An Idea for Metropolises

2006-08-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

Ban burial grounds and cemeteries in metros. Build more electric crematoriums instead. This way, we can use land for the living and not the dead.

An Idea for TI Cycles

2006-08-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

Launch a designer cycle rickshaw specially built for a tourist experience.

An Idea for Nike

2006-08-31T05:15:00.000-07:00

By using only the 'Swoosh', you are wasting millions of dollars spent on building the name 'Nike'. So have two brands - Nike & Swoosh. Use Nike for apparel. And 'Swoosh' for sportswear.

Idea for Anil Ambani

2006-08-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

Find an honourable way to rethink your close links to Amar Singh and his gang

Idea for Sourav Ganguly

2006-08-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

Announce your retirement from Test cricket and focus on ODIs. If you make a comeback to Test cricket now, people are bound to attribute it to influence and that will, surely, undo whatever good feeling the people of India have towards you.

An Idea for Eric Schmidt

2006-08-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Work with Apple to create a portable GPS Locator. You can call it a Goople (google + Apple) Compass. Apple can contribute to the aesthetics. Google can help with the search technology.

Idea for Nita Ambani

2006-08-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

When you're thinking of doing an advertising campaign for Reliance Retail, consider putting yourself in the ads. It might be a path-breaking idea.

An Idea for Luerzer's Archive

2006-08-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

Start an art direction awards. Only entries that make it to the Archive will be in consideration. The shortlist & the winners can be announced through an Awards Annual.

Idea for shampoo manufacturers

2006-08-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Launch a shampoo meant for the scalp. Balding people who don't use that much shampoo might be tempted to start buying more shampoo.

An Idea for UGC

2006-08-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

Set up a University of Indian Languages. Name it after Narasimha Rao, the best known Indian polyglot.

Idea for an interactive video game

2006-08-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

'Whodunit' is a cricket game where the objective is to find out who the match-fixers are and how the matches are being fixed. The degrees of difficulty will be determined according to the kinds of fixing chosen. Choices will include 'fancy fixing', 'run fixing', 'sponsor fixing', 'injury fixing' and the like.

Idea for a resort

2006-08-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

Start a 'Farm Resort.' People pay to come and live there to farm. Promote the idea of taking a week off every year to experience basic living. People come there, work on the farm and eat what they grow.

An Idea for the United Nations

2006-08-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Apply the 'Pluto Principle' to nations and re-designate small countries as dwarf states. This might put an end to the demand for separate countries in places like Kashmir, East Timor, Eelam & Chechenya.

An Idea for the Birlas

2006-08-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

Start a 'Ganpati' museum. And take it national. It will become a huge tourist attraction.

An Idea for Darrel Hair

2006-08-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Write an autobiography titled 'Hair Raising Tale' and blow the whistle on ICC. Sell the rights to News of the World or The Sun.

Idea for ICC

2006-08-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Don't agree to the demand that the Ashes have English and Australian umpires. It will lead to the collapse of the Elite Umpires Panel, which might lead to the collapse of the ICC. Imran's idea of third-country umpries was one of the best things to happen to world cricket.

An Idea for Karunanidhi

2006-08-27T02:59:00.000-07:00

Take a flood insurance policy for the state of Tamil Nadu for the period 2006 to 2007.

Idea for winners

2006-08-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Let's celebrate December 31st as International Winner's Day. The rationale: Few people will remeber the day and it'll be a good reminder to the winner's of the world of the temporal nature of winning.

An Idea for Losers

2006-08-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

Let's celebrate the International Losers Day as a tribute to all of us. I propose February 29th as the International Loser's Day (ILD). The rationale: Even if we move the sun & the moon, we cannot host the ILD every year.

An Idea for Penguin

2006-08-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Get a respectable poet to tranlsate Sahir Ludhianvi's works into English.

Idea for healthcare

2006-08-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

Introduce a 'Fat tax'. India's next prosperity-induced problem is obesity. ( I'm 135 pounds.)

Idea for a short story

2006-08-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

Pluto.

Idea for advertising agencies

2006-08-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

Do an ad campaign for Pluto.

Idea for a Biography

2006-08-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Pluto has had an eventful life. Can someone inventive write about it in the form of a biography?

An Idea for a Toy Company

2006-08-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

There's a huge sympathy wave for ex-planet Pluto. Ride the wave by launching an alien dwarf toy named Pluto.

Idea for Michael Noer

2006-08-23T22:19:00.000-07:00

Go write an autobiography. Your experiences are spilling into something that's meant to be a little more objective."

Idea for Mani Ratnam

2006-08-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

Start a blog on the selection process. It would make for a good reality show. Or turn the selection process into a reality show.

Idea for Mani Ratnam

2006-08-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Stop asking for a picture as part of your application form. The work should speak for itself. You're not asking for wannabe actors, are you?

An Idea for Wannabe Directors

2006-08-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Mani Ratnam is looking for an assistant director. Go here and apply.

An Idea for the MS-Office Have-nots

2006-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

If you're not into piracy and you crave for an MS-Office equivalent, try and download Openoffice. It's free.