Brands
Colour Pencil draws first experiential store in Chennai
Vani Bhojan cuts the ribbon on India’s playful learning playground at Skyhub.
MUMBAI: Learning just got a serious upgrade and this time, the classroom has no walls, only wonder. Color Pencil, the Chennai-based early-learning whiz, has sketched out India’s very first kids’ experiential store at Skyhub on GST Road, Kilambakkam, turning shopping into a full-blown adventure playground.
The flagship space threw open its doors on 15 February 2026, with popular actress Vani Bhojan wielding the ceremonial scissors amid a cheerful crowd of families, partners and little explorers. Far from your average toy shop, this vibrant destination fuses curated learning zones, hands-on play stations and immersive discovery corners – all built to make young minds tick through doing rather than drilling.
The launch doubles as the debut of Color Pencil’s fresh brand identity, a visual refresh that mirrors its shift from screen-savvy apps to real-world magic. Founded in 2022 under the rallying cry “How Simple!”, the company has already built a tidy ecosystem, the Play Pixo learning app, Play TVO games, Vedic Maths books, flash cards, and more all crafted with IIT Madras to blend solid pedagogy with child-friendly fun.
Color Pencil founder P. Narayanan kept it delightfully straightforward, “From day one, Color Pencil has been driven by a simple but powerful idea to make learning simple, joyful, and truly effective. Our experiential store is an extension of this philosophy into the physical world… Chennai is where this journey begins, and we are excited to take this model to multiple cities across India over the next two years.”
Color Pencil CEO Meena Chhabbria chimed in, “This store represents a new chapter… With our new brand identity, we are reinforcing our commitment to screen-smart, play-led, and research-backed learning. Our growing ecosystem comes together in this experiential format to create a truly holistic learning environment.”
Vani Bhojan, clearly charmed, added, “Today’s children need learning experiences that are engaging, joyful, and meaningful. Color Pencil’s approach of combining play, visual learning, and real-world interaction is a wonderful way to nurture curiosity and build strong foundations in young minds.”
This Chennai outpost is merely the opening chapter six more experiential stores are pencilled in for key cities over the next two years. In a world where kids bounce between screens and schedules, Color Pencil is betting big on the timeless power of play, get them touching, exploring and laughing, and the learning happens almost by accident.
So if you’re in Chennai (or headed that way), pop into Skyhub. Who knows you might just watch a child discover gravity, colours or even themselves, one joyful scribble at a time.
Brands
Annu Gupta joins Haldiram as CEO – international business
Former Britannia executive to drive overseas growth and manufacturing footprint
DUBAI: Haldiram Snacks Food Private Limited has appointed Annu Gupta as CEO – international business, reinforcing its push to expand beyond India and build a globally scaled food brand.
Gupta joins the snacks major after a 13-year stint at Britannia Industries, where he most recently served as CEO– international business and played a key role in expanding the company’s overseas footprint.
Announcing the move on LinkedIn, Gupta said he was “humbled and excited” to take on a new challenge at Haldiram, citing the brand’s eight-decade legacy and its ambition to evolve into a world-class global player. He said the focus would be on building strong local operations and manufacturing facilities across international markets.
With nearly 28 years of experience in the FMCG sector, Gupta brings deep expertise in scaling businesses across the Middle East, Africa and other global markets: regions central to Haldiram’s international strategy.
Earlier in his career, Gupta held leadership roles at TGI Nigeria Limited, Iffco, Dabur India Limited and Colgate-Palmolive.
