www.bharatplanet.com -- Desi services for non-desis

Sanjiv Shankaran

WHETHER it is the promise of a better lifestyle or more job opportunities, the lure of the West seems to get stronger by the day.

Almost everyone is headed abroad. But first-time emigrants are unlikely to get away from India completely.

Bharatplanet.com primarily caters to the needs of non-resident Indians (NRIs) who need the services of an agent in India to handle their travel, shopping and healthcare.

The site started off as a free mail service for NRIs and then went on to add other services to capitalise on the opportunities thrown up by the traffic generated by the mail services.

Site layout: The site's homepage is clutter-free. The masthead indicates that the site caters to NRIs and the modules list the various services offered.

Content is minimum. This is not a site for people seeking extensive information on places to visit, health facilities in India or any other detailed information.

Mail service: The site provides a variety of mail services. The most interesting are as follows.

Scanmail which uses the scanning facility to send handwritten letter in any language to a registered e-mail user. A letter written in Tamil, for instance, when it arrives at Bharatplanet, is scanned and the image sent to the registered addressee. The free facility was designed to allow people who may not be able to write in English to quickly communicate with NRIs. The system is also available for e-mails bound for people in India.

If an NRI wishes to write to a person in India, Bharatplanet's mail system can be used to send a mail to the company's office. The company, subsequently, takes a copy of the mail and posts it.

Another interesting aspect is the multi-lingual mail system. Users can send mail or greetings in Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Marathi. Unlike the usual multi-lingual mail, the recipient need not enter Bharatplanet's site to view the mail. The mail can be viewed by simply opening it; it can be received on the user's machine, even those without an Internet connection.

Another interesting service is one by which a message from an Indian caller can be placed with Bharatplanet. Subsequently, the voice is relayed to a registered user abroad.

Mart: The site's Mart page is like the pages of a magazine or a website -- it offers bargains on some products. Mart modules on the web seem broadly similar: Gifts that may be made at the click of a mouse.

Travel: The travel page is one of the more interesting ones in the site. It is purely functional -- the wrong place for anyone looking for history and geography. Bharatplanet offers ticketing service too. It is a page aimed at people looking for an agent to take care of their travel plans, a taxi at the airport to a pilgrimage, such as to Tirupati.

People travelling to the US may also find the segment useful because it offers help in collating documents. For instance, it displays sample letters for different kind of visa applications.

Health: The health module mimics an insurance package. The company has a tie-up with Oriental Insurance company and Sedgwick Parekh, through which it provides cover for families of NRIs.

While the health module details the kind of cover for family of NRIs, the concept seems to work on a combination of a facility that mimics an insurance package and offering personal attention to the ill. The latter makes the deal interesting because anyone who has been hospitalised would know that it is almost impossible to manage without somebody running around doing the odd job.

A useful measure undertaken by Bharatplanet to combat anxiety among NRIs when a family member is ailing, is by making available medical documents through the Internet.

Other modules: There are other modules -- astrology, cuisine, greeting cards and baby names -- that seem incidental to the main modules.

Cuisine, actually, has more content than the main modules with a brief write-up on important items for a wholesome diet. Other than that, the module contains recipes of popular Indian dishes.

Baby names, greeting cards and cuisine are probably not the biggest draws in the site. There are other sites, the specialised sites, that provide exhaustive content on names, recipes and cards.

Astrology, on the other hand, may attract more hits. While the basic content such as predictions based on sun signs is similar to other sites, Bharatplanet also provides exclusive consultation for registered users. Registered users have the option of taking recourse to an astrologer who consults for Bharatplanet.

It is not just service buyers who may visit the site. People willing to participate in marketing some of the services may find viable opportunities.