Apple CEO Tim Cook’s highly anticipated visit to India at a seven years gap coincided with the silver jubilee of iPhone presence in the country. The maestro landed in the Indian financial capital Mumbai on Monday 17th April, along with a jam-packed schedule. The high-profile Apple executive kicked off his day by meeting Reliance Industries supremo Mukesh Ambani and Tata Sons chairperson N Chandrasekaran. Pictures of him leaving Antilia were going viral as Cook was spotted there reportedly.
Here, there is a connection and that is, the newly opened Apple store is inside Reliance Jio Mall. On the same day, he shared his curiousness about opening the biggest Indian Apple store via tweet:
Further, he went on to meet 90s superstar and dhak-dhak-girl Bollywood Madhuri Dikshit who welcomed Mr. Cook with typical Indian street food Vada Paav, later she tweeted commenting “Can’t think of a better welcome to Mumbai than Vada Pav!” On which, he thanked the Indian Diva via a thanks tweet, saying, “Thanks @madhuridixit for introducing me to my very first Vada Pav — it was delicious!”
In the evening, Apple CEO reached the company’s owned biggest iPhone store BKC Apple store for the inauguration, and met almost about 100 odd employees and developers out there. The Mumbai store is an amazing glass façade, like an amalgamation of a unique modern building with a minimalist approach to keep the look natural. The store attributes a dedicated first floor for buyers to look for accessories for the iPhones. At the front, the store prominently lined up iPhone 14 and Pro along with a special section for Apple TV+ and HomePod. Sharing a picture of the newly opened Apple store, Tim Cook shared his excitement saying, “The energy, creativity, and passion in Mumbai is incredible! We are so excited to open Apple BKC — our first store in India.”
Mr. Cook continued his tour by meeting badminton legend Gopichand and ace player Saina Nehwal along with other aspirants of badminton game and expressed his happiness in his words, “Great meeting Coach Gopichand and badminton champions Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi, Chirag Shetty, and Parupalli Kashyap, who has played a part in putting badminton on the map for India. We served, smashed, and talked about how Apple Watch helps them train!”
Mr. Cook met several other people from different fields showing how Apple and Mac are enhancing their work in different art sections including Kiddopia, and after arriving in Indian Capital New Delhi he kept his 5-day-long visit continued to constitutions like, Akanksha Foundation School, Malimanojmusic, the Indian School of Design & Innovation, Delhi’s Lodhi Art District, National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy and kept on sharing their usage of iPhone and Mac in their advancements.
During jampacked Delhi visit, Tim Cook alongside other ministers met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19th April and committed to doubling the employment opportunities for the country.
He shared his happiness through a tween again with the caption: “Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India’s future — from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we’re committed to growing and investing across the country.”
20th April was the day of the New Delhi store inauguration in Saket, where he was surrounded by a flood of green t-shirt-cladded Apple employees in the store delightedly meeting new customers and several influential people from India. The New Delhi store consists of white oak tables at the uniquely designed curved storefront. Like every other Apple store, it is also 100% renewable and carbon neutral. The gate is designed taking inspiration from ancient structures from Delhi and gives like a larger-than-life historic structure. Impressively, half of the employees at the Delhi store are women. Some of the beautiful pictures are circulating on his Twitter handle, here are some:
Meanwhile, Mr. Cook enjoyed the most loved game by Indian people – cricket, where he joined in IPL 2023 live match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) and witnessed Delhi winning in an intense struggle with the opponent. There at Arun Jaitely Stadium, he met BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shukla. Alongside, Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor and her businessman husband Anand Ahuja were also present there to meet him, followed by joining in several other people from different fields. Earlier, he also had enjoyed an IPL cricket match during his India visit in 2016.
Later, Sonam Kapoor showed courtesy as a host via her tweet saying – “@tim_cook and entire @apple team - we hope you’ve had a lovely stay here and leave encouraged and positive on Apple’s outlook in the country. We’re so grateful for the care and attention you’ve given to creating your signature world-class experience here. cc@anandahuja.” To which he replied, “Thank you for an unforgettable evening!”
Yesterday, after a five-day extended visit to India, Apple CEO returned to his country, and ahead of that he concluded his incredible tour in a few words – “What an incredible week in India! Thanks to our teams across the country. I can’t wait to return!” And in this way, his long-awaited India visit came to an end. He gave this country several job opportunities through the two biggest stores in India and a hope that such initiatives by big-shot organizations can help the Indian economy climb above and youth stay in the country for employment opportunities
