When Apple CEO Tim Cook landed in India on his maiden visit, expectations were sky high. Partly because Cook has been repeatedly talking up India as a priority market. So far however, we’ve had to make do with an iOS app development and design centre in Bengaluru and Apple’s first-ever Map development centre in Hyderabad.
But Cook’s PR team certainly managed his India appointment book like a boss - a trip to Siddhivinayak, hobnobbing with Bollywood and an IPL match thrown in. Here’s how they nailed it.
Namaste from Apple
The app design and development centre was announced shortly after Cook arrived in the country. He namaste-ed the cameras outside his hotel in Mumbai.
At the Siddhivinayak Temple
Within hours of landing, Cook headed for the famous Mumbai temple, keeping photographers busy. Brownie points to him for the exotic tika and scarf.
Of Course There Was Bollywood
While in Mumbai, Tim Cook mingled with the who’s who of tinsel town. From a tour of a famous studio with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt to a casual dinner with King Khan, Cook did it all on his India trip.
Shahrukh Khan shared this picture of Tim Cook on his Twitter handle.
When Apple Met IPL
Cook arrived to watch an IPL match between Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders in Kanpur, with the IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla in tow. With the entire nation engulfed by the IPL fervour, visiting a match venue was another smart move. Win-win for Gujarat Lions and Tim Cook.
According to biographer and coloumnist, Pranay Gupte, this is how Tim Cook described his experience of an IPL match:
Inaugurating Technology Centre in Hyderabad, the Indian Way
Hyderabad saw Tim Cook lighting the traditional diya for good luck and posing with the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to inaugurate the Apple technology centre in Hyderabad.
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