Going out of India is easier than going out in India

4 snips

Mar 17, 2025

In this discussion, Shreyas Srinivasan, former Chief Product Officer at Paytm and founder of District, and Sudhir Syal, former CEO of Bookmyshow Indonesia and Middle East, delve into why Indians favor attending live events abroad over local options. They explore cultural shifts and logistical challenges in India's event scene versus international norms. The duo also tackles the shifting financial power in the music industry and highlights the myriad reasons behind this trend, showcasing a fascinating contrast between local experiences and those abroad.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Outbound Events

Listeners traveled abroad for events also available in India, including concerts and even half-marathons.
Examples include Dua Lipa in Singapore, Ed Sheeran in Malaysia, and numerous Coldplay concerts across Asia.

INSIGHT

Convenience over Availability

Indians are prioritizing convenience over availability when attending events.
Improved indoor experiences (e.g., 10-minute delivery) contrast sharply with India's underdeveloped outdoor infrastructure.

ANECDOTE

Dublin Festival

Shreyas Srinivasan attended his first music festival in Dublin in 2008.
He notes the stark contrast between India's advanced indoor lifestyle and its lacking outdoor infrastructure.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Have you made a trip abroad to attend a live event in 2023 or 2024?

Did you have the option of attending the same (or equivalent) event in India?

Why did you choose not to attend the same event in India?

These were the three main questions we posed to listeners of Two by Two in a recent survey to understand the biggest problems with hosting events—big or small—in India.

Then we took all the people who said yes and looked at the events that they said they went outside India to attend, even though options for it existed inside India. It had a lot of concerts, comprising a long list of musicians. Dua Lipa in Singapore, Ed Sheeran in Malaysia and a sea of Coldplay because it's Coldplay season, Coldplay's concert in Singapore, Coldplay in Dubai, Coldplay in Barcelona, Coldplay in Thailand, Coldplay in Bangkok, Ben Böhmer who had performed in India in late December last year but people chose to attend his shows outside India instead. Then we had Indian performers who people refused to attend in India and went abroad, Diljit in Bombay. There was a list of cricket matches in that list as well. Stand-up acts from Vir Das, which people chose to attend in the U.S. instead of attending in India. The most interesting entry we saw was a half-marathon. People are choosing to attend half marathons outside India instead of attending them in India.

In this week’s episode, we get to the reasons why this is the ultimate form of Indians paying for convenience over availability.

Hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan sit down with Shreyas Srinivasan, former Chief Product Officer at Paytm* and founder of Paytm Insider, which has now been acquired by Zomato and rebranded as District, and Sudhir Syal, former CEO of Bookmyshow Indonesia and Bookmyshow Middle East, to understand where India falls short in hosting events at scale.

Welcome to episode 29 of Two by Two.

*Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an investor in The Ken.

–

Additional reading:

The Nutgraf: Going out of India is easier than going out in India

–

Help us find interesting women guests by filling out this survey - https://theken.typeform.com/to/KH0EOLGo

–

This episode of Two by Two was produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.

If you liked this episode of Two by Two, do share it with like-minded individuals who would be interested in listening to the episode. And if you have more thoughts on the discussion, we’d love to hear your arguments as well. You can write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com.