MAM
Alexa doubles time with kids: Animal sounds to folktales
Mumbai: From listening to Indian folktales to playing animal sounds, Indian households with young kids who use Alexa at home are two times more engaged than other users. Parents of young kids take Alexa’s help in managing their day-to-day parenting tasks and keeping their kids engaged by asking Alexa for rhymes, stories, games, GK-related questions, and more. Users enjoy the ease and convenience of giving simple voice commands to Alexa in Hindi, English, and Hinglish – making the AI a great aid for parents and a companion for kids.
Alexa’s ability to produce animal sounds through the Wild Planet skill recently helped save a 13-year-old girl and her 15-month-old niece from a monkey attack in Basti, Uttar Pradesh. By asking “Alexa, kutte ki awaz nikalo”, the girl was able to scare away the monkeys.
“Parents often tell us how Alexa has become a companion in their parenting journeys. The option to access a number of useful kid-friendly experiences with simple voice commands makes Alexa a great addition for a family with young kids,” said Alexa Amazon India director and country manager Dilip R.S. “While it is a great learning and entertainment tool for kids, Alexa can help parents manage their day-to-day tasks better. Whether it is controlling smart home appliances with voice while juggling numerous tasks or asking for a bedtime story as part of their child’s daily routine, Alexa’s right there to help them.”
Today, families across India are asking Alexa for information, games, quizzes, music, managing day-to-day tasks, stories, and much more. In fact, weekends are family time with Alexa – last year there was a 15 per cent increase in requests to Alexa over the weekends in requests for music with many of them being for kids’ music. The top five, most popular songs for kids on Alexa are Baby Shark, Lakdi Ki Kathi, Johnny Johnny Yes Papa, Wheels on the Bus, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Indian folktales, like Akbar Birbal, Tenali Raman, and Panchatantra stories, see high interest from customers, especially in Hindi. In 2023, customers asked for these stories on an average of 34 times every hour.
With numerous voice-first engaging experiences for kids, parents can introduce their children to Alexa smart speakers like Echo Dot or Echo Pop that are safe because of on-device privacy settings and control over personal data usage via the Alexa privacy hub.
For young parents looking to introduce Alexa to their children, here are some things to try:
● Improve kid’s listening skills and their attention span
Kids can listen to bedtime stories in both English and Hindi. Parents can just say, “Alexa, tell me a bedtime story”, “Alexa, open Amazon Storytime”, or “Alexa, बच्चों की कहानी सुनाओ”.
● Engage and entertain them with kids’ music, animal sounds, and nursery rhymes
Parents can ask Alexa in English, Hindi, and Hinglish to play popular nursery rhymes including Baby Shark, Lakdi ki Kathi, Nani Teri Morni, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. From kids’ music to mainstream hits, parents can put up songs for their kids to dance, sing, and have fun at home. Introduce them to animal sounds with Wild Planet by just asking, “Alexa, make lion sound” or “Alexa, शेर की आवाज सुनाओ”.
● Encourage curiosity about the world by asking for information
Parents can nurture their children’s inquisitiveness by asking Alexa questions about history, science, general knowledge, geography, sports and more. Asking for information is as easy as saying, “Alexa, what is the capital of Spain?”, “Alexa, how far is the sun?” or “Alexa, how do I spell technology?”.
● Make learning fun with conversational games and quizzes
Just say, “Alexa, open games for children” and choose from a range of games for kids including Animal Game, Chhota Bheem Adventures, Number Guessing Game, True or False, and more. By asking, “Alexa, open 1-2-3 Math” or “Alexa, teach me English”, parents can help kids apply mathematical concepts and hone their vocabulary and grammar.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
