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Life 2.0: kid to dad

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It’s unwavering eyes were staring at me with intensity. The forehead bore marks of indignation. It’s demeanour revealed nothing but pure antagonism. It’s hands were ready to grasp anything they could with an iron grip. In some places, it was covered in a gooey muck. Strangely, I was not at all gripped by fright. In fact, the anxiety that had bubbled up inside me was slowly dissolving. A new feeling was pervading - something where words won’t do justice to describe - a melting pot of elation, love, relief, responsibility, anticipation, overwhelm, a mild scare, some positive nervousness and what not. Literally every emotion wrapped up into one moment. That’s because this person was telling me in no uncertain terms, “I’m completely vulnerable, I need you.” Yes, it was a person, not some monstrous creature! This was a baby, my baby boy...MY SON! This was the moment that changed everything in a jiffy. Until then, I would always relate to the child when seeing a father-child com...
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Marketing - The Neglected Child

Marketing - The Neglected Child Recently, Coca Cola decided on scrapping the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role after the incumbent retired. Also, the same day, I read some interesting finding that rarely do CMOs become CEOs. That got me pondering. So folks, will you answer me? What do you think of the Marketing team in your company? More often than not, ‘marketing’ is viewed as the glamour function with visions of various media, celebrity models, graphics, creatives and all sorts of brouhaha associated with it. However, from where I see it, I would beg to differ. There is a general lack of respect for marketers. That’s why, I’d go on and like to call Marketing as the neglected child. Especially in the B2B enterprise services industry, it’s probably one of the necessary evils that an organization needs. So why is it that marketing is looked down upon? For starters, marketing is one department that always seeks money. Most of this is for branding, advertising, creating assets,...
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Why Sport Thrills

Why Sport Thrills It was 30 March, 2011. A Wednesday evening. It was a regular working day with no holiday or a long weekend. In fact, it was a day close to the end of the fiscal year (in India). But the streets were quite vacant. Lot of office goers were huddled up in their homes, either having taken an off, a half day or working from home. Malls, restaurants & cinemas wore a deserted look. The smaller proprietary shops had even shut down. Even a large number of VIPs & celebrities had taken a break from their otherwise busy schedules. It was definitely not a war situation. Was there a strike? Or a natural calamity? Or something else? What was it that had brought a nation to a standstill? To answer it simply, it was just a game of a sport called cricket. But from an Indian perspective, it was the game of cricket. Precisely, the Cricket World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan. Need I say anything more? I am myself a huge fan of the game and had returned early ...
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Turning 30

Turning 30 I just turned 30 and it’s amusing that I’ve had people making a huge deal out of this march ahead into a new decade. I hear my peers sympathising over “30," saying it in whispered tones and with the feel of something that shouldn’t be named (sounds like Voldy , eh?) Well, ‘30’ is probably one of the most intriguing milestones in one’s life. It is kind of an inflection point (math & stats experts would love this metaphor!) where you might witness a sharp change in your fortunes, be it from bad to good or the other way round. Financially, you might be going above the ‘X’ axis but your body graph starts going below it! ‘30’ is hard to classify as old or young. For starters, you may be perceived as ‘old’ by the bunch of kids playing in your housing society or by the group of college-going students in a hangout place. However, the professional industry will still think you as a greenhorn or newbie since you would be having less than 6-7 years of work exp...
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The Notice Period

The Notice Period                 The much awaited offer letter lands in your inbox and after going through the particulars, you eagerly send your acceptance of offer. There is a sense of elation and you are now eager to convey this to your immediate supervisor/manager, colleagues and friends. And finally, after discussions with your manager and triggering the resignation in your system, here comes the ‘notice period’.                 Notice period is an intriguing period of time in your corporate life. While some companies let go their employees very quickly, others tend to ensure that the associate has served his entire notice period. So here, let me walk you through a typical separation period.                 This is a period where you are neither here n...
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Indian Cinema - Indian Cinema- Entertain and Educate?

Indian Cinema- Entertain and Educate?             Indian cinema has always been in the news, more so for the wrong reasons than the right ones. Reports of underworld links, money laundering, carrying arms & drugs, promiscuity & affairs, lack of morals, sleaze, illegal hunting, rash driving etc. have always portrayed cinema as a vice. All this tends to obscure the other side of cinema and this is what I’d like to discuss today.             “I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained. “ – This is what the great Walt Disney quoted. It’s so true that entertainment revives your soul and educates your personality. Right from India’s first motion picture by Dadasaheb Phalke to the recent releases, Indian cinema has never failed to entertain the classes & masses alike. At the same time, consciously...
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Morning Walk

Morning Walk                 A morning walk would generally be viewed as a monotonous activity. But if you observe carefully, it has its own potpourri of various events.  I am not aware of other cities, but in Pune, a morning walk is like a cultural thing. It’s an important part of one’s life.             The drama begins to unfold even as you step out of your home towards the place you walk, either a walking track, hill (tekdi) or a ground. The neighbourhood is full of activity as newspaper delivery boys are busy preparing their stack of papers and scurrying around the lanes while milkmen, too, are busy with their routine. You’ll see the streets empty but the side-walks are abound with people in sports-wear and shoes. Somewhere, sleepy-eyed kids with their parents are waiting for their buses. Street dogs, either sleeping or scratching, are also a ...
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The Groom in Waiting

The Groom in Waiting   Disclaimer: This is a generic point of view in response to numerous posts on fb regarding the feelings of newly wedded girls. Any resemblance to real life is strictly coincidental   :)                   Until now, I was always the kid of the house, but with marriage getting fixed, I was overnight catapulted to the status of a grown-up. Marriage has always been perceived as a romantic dream, an aspirational life-event. Movies, books & TV have glorified this union. And in all reality, this is true. You get someone who you can call your own. But this dream comes with its fair share of nightmares. The world has always sided with the girl, the would-be bride, for her sacrifices, adjustments and the world she forsakes. But it doing so, it has neglected the situation that boys, the grooms-in-waiting, have to face. So much that it’s almost like the entire humanity is prejudiced in its opinion that the ...
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