After a Hiatus

I am back from my hibernation. The world feels changed (it even smells different, Oh wait! Someone here farted), I feel changed. About the world – Everyday we are losing parts of MG Road to the Metro, India coffee house shut down after a lifetime of existence, General elections were held, there was the IPL and then the T20, Michael Jackson died, and Delhi high court in a landmark judgement legalised homosexuality.

On the personal front – I moved from advertising to brand and communication research (I am loving it), I got married, I am moving to Canada, I quit a job I love, I am a wannabe long distance runner - I ran at the Auroville quarter marathon and then at the Sunfeast world 10K, my new favourite brand of beer is Hoeggarden.

Having said this, Some things haven’t changed – I still love the smell of freshly baked bread, I am still a foodie, I still think my first boss was the best boss ever, I love my current job and am traumatised at the thought of quitting it, I still get excited by social media trends, I still suffer from shoe fetish, above all I still love blogging and this is my revival post.

Rains in Mumbai floods Twitter

Twitter saw a flurry of tweets as the rains lashed out in Mumbai for 30 hours. The response was almost overwhelming, as people all over Mumbai and even outside reached out and helped one another by posting tweets (tagged #mumbairains) on water logged areas.

The Mumbai Rain tweets were peppered with news reports and personal accounts. It covered the geographic lanscape of Mumbai and was the trending topic of the day

Twitter Tends http://twist.flaptor.com/

Amrutanjan makes funniest home Video

Aches and pains are hardly funny but Amrutanjan begs to differ. The 100 year old pain reliever brand, with its candid camera style ad, has brought in a wave a of slapstick humor into the category.

Imitating the candid camera genre of unscripted humor, the film opens with a man on the diving board. He accidentally slips and has a nasty, undeniably OUCH’ fall. Cut to a woman at a pool side restaurant. She pulls up a chair for herself, and to her horror the chair slips at the proverbial moment. What follows is a comical picturisation of her struggle to stay heads up. Alas! She goes into the pool, with a table for companionship. The 30 second depicts multiple comic bloopers to emphasize the fact that accidents can happen anytime and one ought to be ready. Ready, in this case means, keeping a pack of Amurtanjan Balm handy.




The comic mishap of the lady falling into the pool really looks like a candid moment while the one with the construction worker, who while passing bricks accidently gets thwacked in the head with one, looks contrived.

The raw feel of a home video convincingly conveys the simple brand proposition - be ready. What’s even more wonderfull, each individual blooper can lend to a small 10 second edit.

Interestingly the ad crafted on a low budget by Mudra Communications, was shot on hand held camera by Footcandles Film to lend it the right amateurish feel.

This ad definitely takes me back in time when old funny home videos of people, falling off slides or landing in funny postures, would make me laugh till my sides hurt. Surprisingly they do manage to garner a decent TRP even today, otherwise one wouldn’t find old reruns and hindi edits of these videos on air eve today. Well, just to give you an idea of what exactly I am referring to here, let me give you an example. A really, and I mean really, old imported comedy show that used to run on DD. Didi’s, or was it Dee Dee’s, comedy show.

Although I have outgrown home videos and may not necessarily find the ad funny, I have to admit that this particular treatment may actually pull off a stunt that could succeed in turning a fuddy duddy brand like Amrutanjan into a far younger brand.

The ad would probably make competition go right back to their drawing boards and figure out something new to replace the run off the mill strategy of ‘we relieve you of your pain faster than others’.

Over all production value: Excellent
Creative strategy: Excellent
Viral capabilities: Too early to tell
Ease of understanding: Average

Final Verdict: Although not ourageously funny, the ad might just work for an otherwise depressing category

Brand IPL on the Blogsphere

Perfectly timed, hogging the prime hours of the Indian summer, IPL gave us more than one reason to stay glued to our television sets. This one sporting event has taken cricket as a game to a whole new frenzy. Cricket enthusiasts have become fanatics, and the cricket fanatics, well the less said the better. Even the grumpy grandfather, who crinkled his nose for crippling the game from the glorious matches straddling over days to a mere 20 overs joke, is smiling in approval. He is also secretly envious of the multitude of opportunities young cricketing talents have today. And with Bollywood showing generous amounts of interest, we as marketers will only be too glad to put our monies on the table without batting an eyelid.

Indian Premier League managed 16, 500 posts in 45 day.

Each of the 8 teams chosen to play, in the past month, has managed to exhibit certain personality traits unique to the team. The teams have managed to create substantial buzz on the blogsphere. Consumer Generated Media has been voraciously following everything about IPL form the fat pay cheques to Sachin’s injury to the skimpy skirts of the cheerleaders ;), nothing is being spared.

Clearly blogs and bloggers have their own biases, and some teams have been doing the rounds far more than others.

Despite not qualifying for the semis, Knight Riders managed to rake in maximum number of posts in the blogsphere. Is it the SRK Magic or Kolkatta's ardent support for their team?

Rajasthan Royals, the winner and the least expensive team of the tournament,

got noticed by blogs towards the last leg of the tournament. Fianlly their Stellar performance got noticed!

I made a few observations, some scary, some surprising and some just bowled me over

- A team’s performance alone is not enough for them to tide the blogsphere.
- Although ‘Eat cricket. Sleep cricket. Drink cricket’ still holds true, Bollywood continues to remain the unbeatable baap of entertainment
- An individual gets far more recognition than a team as a whole
- Particular incidents picked up by media, like SRK smoking or spending too much time with his team or Vijay Mallya firing Chaaru Sharma, can spike the trend chart.

The flamboyant Mallya and the bollywood king SRK have made bigger dents on the blogsphere than the shrewd Amabani

- IPL ads have also contributed to certain amount of noise on the blogsphere.

IPL or no IPL cricket will always be a favourite topic on blog. But this one event has created a lot of gossip value for the sport. Even non-cricket bloggers like me are blogging about it. From an extravagant opening ceremony to Bajji allegedly slapping Sreeshant, blogs and bloggers have been reveling in all the juicy details.

Do i need to elaborate this :)

A lot of brands are piggybacking on the noise IPL has managed to stir. It has positive influence on readership and viewership. Media has put the 45 day event on the front page and prime time of news channels. What’s more, it has decided to stay put there for the entire course of summer alluring readers and viewers. Despite all the degraded voyeurism, the sponsors are thrilled, as they are getting more than their monies worth.

Who is the popular Captain?

Thanks to Bollywood, IPL was executed in a rather filmy style full of action, drama, masala, and yeah we did manage to catch a glimpse of good cricket somewhere along the way. Without Bollywood’s fervent support the cricketing fraternity alone wouldn’t have managed to pull off a 45 days fanfare.

Fastrack 2.0: The Social Media Logic

After Axe and Sunsilk, Fastrack has decided to test itself in the web2.0 space. It was the obvious next step for this youth fashion brand from the house of Titan. Fastrack has gotten the chemistry going, they created quite a buzz with their ‘how many you have man?’ campaign. Operating in an attractive price band, Fastrack had vibrant designs at the other end of the buzz, waiting to flatter the eager customer. And none were disappointed.

Today Web 2.0 is a gregarious place to be in. The blogs, forums and communities are bursting with youth and eclectic conversations and a brand that targets them ought to be in it. The density of players in this field is light and most are still grappling with the social networking phenomena. So it only makes sense to make hay while the sun shines. Although some brands have made a brave foray into this dynamic space where the consumer controls the communication, most Indian brands are still reluctant and skeptical since they have no means of analyzing the ROI that web 2.0 is bringing in.

Fastrack has however, struck the right chord with the internet savvy youth. Axe, which clearly set up the first virtual campus, now has Fastrack on its heels. Both the brands specialize in different subjects one borders on the art of seduction and the other on fashion. The spunky new space on the web has made Fastrack a new cool place to hangout while online. The collection displayed in a diary on a chaotic desk caught my fancy. The brand has lunged headlong into social networking, they even have fan clubs on orkut and facebook.

The brand’s foray into eyewear was another strategic move. Fastrack eyewear signed John Abraham as their brand ambassador, a perfect fit for the brand. A biker who endorses bike brands is now endorsing a bikers’ accessories brand. It couldn’t get any better than this.

The new collection of neon disc watches has been a tad bit disappointing. After watching the catchy 15 seconder on air, I went to the store to check out the new line, somehow it doesn’t come across as innovative or new. However, a brand like Fastrack, that has gotten everything right in the past, is allowed a few tasteless slips.

From Sassy to Plain Jane

With this year end I have decided to restore the template of my blog to the standard blogger template. The truth is, ever since I started Travel Tadka, I have been tempted by the easy features blogger templates offer. Grappling with long code turned out to be quite sticky. It would take eons for me to add a new widget for the code had to plugged in seamlessly and all the appropriate tags had to be closed. When something would go amiss, it would seethe to the surface defacing my blog and restoring it would be an excruciatingly painful exercise (clearly a non techie issue here). Finding an easier way out, I sold myself to blogger.

In the process of shifting or migrating I did loose links to many of my favourite blogs. The good part however is, the damage is not too sever. Thanks to Sakshi (She’s got a blog mine, anything happening on the blogsphere or Bollywood she’s the first to know) I was able to refurbish my blogroll with some really interesting blogs. It allowed me to delete blogs I had stopped following, or those that were outdated, deleted or stopped existing. I even managed to kick out some pointless widgets.

I would, sometime later, look for a template that is crafted for me and my inane musings, but for now and till I can afford a designer its going to be 'Hail Blogger'.

The new look is definitely a whole lot cleaner, chirpier and clutter free. The paper scribble look of the old template was chaotic; it did not support many functions and was not really blogging friendly. However, I do miss the energy and the kind of nonchalance it had. I am also going to miss the ‘oh so fantastic template’ comments. But I am nearly 25 now and my blog ought to stop looking like schools girl’s diaries (I know I am consoling myself). Although I wonder if people who really know would be convinced by a template change:).

The Big Fat Punjabi Wedding

Punjus are a class apart; they are noisy, campy, colourful, flamboyant and loud and have no qualms about it. I envy them for that. A community that is the biggest consumer of practically everything from scotch to mercs has every right to be as cuckoo as them.

A week after attending my best friends wedding I am still reveling in the grandeur an authentic Punjabi wedding has to offer. I landed in the subdued town of Bariley, but subdued is not a word I would use for the wedding and definitely not for a Punju wedding.

The invite read cocktail evening, followed by cocktail and wedding the second day. So I was assured booze is going to be on the house for the next 2 days. The evening was nippy, a distant faint music was getting louder as we drove on and I could hear the music clearly “balle balle oh balle balle… sharabi…” humming along I smiled to myself knowing this was going to be one crazy evening.

When we entered, the party was in full swing. It was only 9.00pm, the Baggas (the bride’s side) and the Batras (groom’s side) had already gotten their guests dancing and tipsy. After a quick round of introductions we headed to the bar and had to fight our way through burly Punjabis. My bloody mary seemed meek amidst all the double large scotch and Patiala shots.

One had to be a Punjabi to drink like a fish and still be able to pull off a graceful balle balle on the dance floor. As the latest bollywood numbers began to reverberate in the hall, thousand rupee notes started flying all over the place. The party went on till the wee hours of the morning, punjus drank and danced relentlessly until they were forcibly asked to stop. The non punjus, well we were no competition, we passed out early on.

I am in the habit of calling my friend Neha, Bagga. When I met her on her wedding I called out to her in a rather girly high pitched voice, and had about 20 baggas turn around and look at me questioningly and then everyone knew me just like that. I loved it, punjus have a big heart and they accepted people warmly. Then all evening I had people fawning and fussing over me wanting to know if I had eaten, or if I was enjoying myself. I found food being sent to our table constantly and my glass being filled as quickly as its contents were being emptied. The buas and the mausies all hugged me and asked them to join me in their dance. In all the alcohol infused haziness guests weren’t forgotten, they made me feel a part of the family, I was truly moved.

Now punjus have an unwritten wedding rule that I unraveled during the course of the 2 days. Alcohol and dancing precedes and succeeds every little ceremony. The second morning I was surprised to find the Bagga family looking fresh as daisies despite having pelted countless double larges. We were groggy and hung over and every muscle in our bodies ached from all the dancing, while the Bagga family went around greeting us and the others chirpily. I was wondering if they were the same people who were wasted the previous night, if they were they showed no signs of it. After a hearty breakfast, I was quickly ushered next to the bride for the bangle and haldi ceremony.

These bangles are a symbol of a newly wed bride. One can spot her from miles away, the bright red colour of the bangles and its jangle always gives her away. To the red bangles the women tie a variety of golden trinkets. She later walks around clapping her hand on heads of young girls of marriageable age and when the trinkets fall on some girl’s head, it means she is going to be wed soon, similar to throwing the bouquet. We then smeared haldi on her face, arms and legs. Haldi has a lot of special properties, one of which is supposed to give the bridal glow. Later in the evening when I saw Neha ready to take her wedding vows I saw her glowing I don’t know if it was the haldi or excitement or both.

Like you guessed, after the haldi we danced again and the liquor flowed freely. This time I chose to stick to orange juice. The lunch had a huge spread and was very rich. Yes there was the butter chicken, dal makni assortment of rotis and rice but there also was the rather succulent mutton, vegetables, salad, raita, pappads and pickle. For dessert I had the yummy halwa and iceream and then decided to hit the sack for an afternoon siesta while the festivities continued. Balle balle was my lullaby that afternoon, I slept to the sound of laughter.

The evening of the wedding was the same as the previous evening, only 3 times more grand. There was a long queue of starters and snacks stalls that housed everything from pani purri to the Punjabi version of masala dosa. I obviously didn’t spare a thing, except the dosas, coming from the land of dosas I was only too happy to skip its punju version. The booze counter was bustling with activity when the groom arrived on a white horse. The dancing barath of the Batra clan were welcomed by the Baggas with garlands and host of refreshments and beverages. So you can say the drinking started at the gate only to stop at the mandap at 2.00 in the night.

The Baggas, the Batras, the Mehtas, the Chopras and the Aroras did what they knew the best, danced and drank away joyously to the music and enjoyed every moment of it. I reveled in the festivities and was left in awe for the punjabis. By the end of it I was ready to become a bagga or a chopra.

As the night wore away the crowd dwindled till only close family and friends, i.e., us, remained. In the presence of these few the bride and groom took their wedding vows - the Sath Phere and then the bride left to her new home. The Baggas were in tears, so was I to see my best friend married off.

This blog has been really long for it is not the insipid Tam Bram wedding that can be captured in lesser words, it’s a carnival, it’s the big fat Punjabi wedding.

Peacock Trails

Grandmum’s tales would be insipid without the brave maharaja, the wily snake charmer or the playful elephant, and so will our mythology itself. These tales, so much a part of every Indian child’s growing up, are still echoing in the quaint streets of Mylapore. Be it the thriving temple economy or vibrant kolams adorning door steps or the colorful gopuram of the Kapaleeshwar temple, each has its own share of stories to tell. And what better way to savour the city than through its stories. One such story teller is ‘Peacock Trails’, a journey of unraveling these little traditions and customs that makes Chennai so kitsch.

The trail, starting outside, the Kapaleeshwar temple in Mylapore traverses many myriad rituals associated with the temple, the teeming life that has stemmed around the temple. It takes you to the tomb of the St. Thomas, the apostle who brought Christianity to, Santhome and ends with a grand breakfast at Saravana Bhavan.

A lot caught my fancy, for one the Jennal Hotel (Window hotel). It has been around for the last 50 years (like a lot of other stores in Mylapore), dishing out piping hot sambar and idli in the morning and a tiffin (light evening snack) in the evening. Living up to its name, the restaurant has no tables or chairs. It is not even what you would call ‘a stand and eat joint’. It’s an old Brahmin serving food from a window. The tradition has been handed down from father to son, and what’s more, the prices still haven’t changed much since then.

Ever noticed the intricate patterns decorating the threshold of houses? It’s what we call a ‘Kolam’ in the south, Rangoli in the north, but unlike the Rangoli the Kolam is not just for cosmetic value. It is an indication that all is well in the house. Incase of a death in the house the family stops putting kolam outside their homes so passers by would know they are grieving. The rice flour used in the kolam also serves as food for ants. The otherwise white kolam comes alive during temple festivals with the women of the house trying to outdo others with huge intricate patterns splashed with colour.

They have a story for everything – why do we have so many gods to why we go clockwise around the temple. Story Trails will even tell you the right place to get your ancestral veena repaired to how to drink your filter coffee. They believe stories show you the way of life. Flavoured with traditions, these stories have grown and evolved with civilization, dynasties and people, and continue to remain relevant even today. Vijay (founder of Story Trails) and Vishna (our storyteller) are like Scheherazade of Arabian nights. They have a thousand and one stories to tell, one just has to keep listening.

With a riot of colours, seasoned with the idiosyncrasies of the tam bram community, the wafting smell of filter coffee mingling with incense, the journey is exhilarating and intoxicating.

Technicolor Dream

Totally over the top and completely bizarre is Farah's new found signature style and with the success of Om Shanti Om I am guessing it's for keeps. The movie is totally bling with its giddy music and psychedelic colours. It was a complete treat to the senses. After a seismic speculation I've decided not to get in to the glaring loop holes in the plot or reviewing the complete lack of story line. But I must say, I loved the movie. So what is the plot? You're clearly reading the blog this is just film appreciation.

The film was a celebration of the 70's as Bollywood painted it, a world of flashy make up, elaborate hairdos. The film has glorified all Bollywood stereotypes - the ma, the sindhur and the dialogues are cheesy, but really funny. The lines were oozing with melodrama and kiran kher has done full justice to it with all the necessary overacting. I would have never known you can keep the audience enthralled for three hours without a story!

Looking all dolled up was the debutant Deepika Padukone. She was a decent actress and good dancer although I must admit she didn't have a crucial role, she made her presence felt with those perfectly timed and dimpled smiles. It's a movie reveling in everything typical to the tinsel town – the red carpet stroll, award ceremonies, gossip and bitching.

What's worth a mention here is the filmfare awards ceremony, my personal favourite sequence. 'we are just good friends' haven't we heard that a zillion times before but Farah's movie has a different take on it. SRK, Akshay and Abhishek starring in films like Dhoom 5, Return of the Khiladi and Phir Bhi NRI are competing to clinch the best actor title, this one is a laugh riot. One can find the clip below.

After the super fun first half the second half was a tad stretchy. After all we are on real time again, but the song and dance sequence salvaged it. Ok, what Farha is really known for is here creds and for that let the drums beat and red carpets roll out, and let the real heroes take the stage. It's worthy of another post.

All said, it's a fun colorful film, and that too coming from a person who is not an SRK fan. I am sure that says a lot.

On a break!

There is going to be a lull at coffee and conversation but let me assure you It is only till the 11th of december. Then the blog post will be pouring in with renewed vigour. I off to Uttranchal and on the way manage to catch a colourful Punjabi wedding loads of yummy food, restaurants, jim corbett, chole bhature and experience on road. I'll have something to feed my new blog Travel Tadka as well...:)

Cheers

Bollywood on the Blogsphere

Bollywood is probably the most bizarre, the most melodramatic, the most unprofessional and the most unorganized industry and yet between their song and dance sequence one could learn a lesson or two on marketing. A lot of debate has been brewing on the web about the big banner movies hitting the box recently, and I was curious to find out how much Bollywood has impacted the Consumer Generated media (CGM).

The results were surprising at times and predictable at most others. The cumulative marketing efforts by production houses and films had a trickle down effect on the blog. For instance Om Shanti Om(OSO) had started doing the rounds in the media almost a year before its launch. To top it all there were a zillion promotions, interviews, contests, 70’s line being launched at Shopper’s Stop and hype leading up to the day of its premiere. News like the release of the film across an unprecedented 2000 plus screens worldwide, and the Manoj Kumar fiasco further drove the film towards a box office success.The chart indicates the presence of both OSO and Saawariya in the blogsphere over the past 6 months and clearly OSO has had a head start over Saawariya. My guess would be the latter is here only because of the former.

Three month tracker of OSO and Saawariya starting almost 2 months before release on November 9th till 20th of November.

OSO and Saawariya have managed to get over 50% of their blog posts in the last month alone, a time little before and after the launch.

One can only applaud the Integrated Marketing Campaign since its ROI has been tremendous. Despite the lack of any real story the movie has been a box office grosser and it’s a buzz on the blogging space with a total of 7669 blog posts only over the last 3 months alone. Some say, a great story doesn’t need over the top marketing, but I say it wouldn’t kill it either.

Its rival Saawariya hasn’t been doing too badly either. My guess would be that the two big budget films were pitted against each other by the media and the drama that followed was exciting and saw a nail biting finish for both. The numbers also indicate that despite a more sober marketing campaign the media hype saw Saawariya to a great start and still sees about 53 blog entries a day. The Razzle Dazzle of Farah’s Om Shanti Om still rules the roost and the blog pulse is an indication enough.

Another flick, Jab We Met by Imtiaz Ali that hit the silver screen on 26th October manages to scrape an average of 38 posts. The film with its fantastic story line and music tracks came only third to Om Shanti Om or Saawariya.

In the last 3 months Jab We Met has lesser posts than what OSO had in the last month alone.

The Maduri Dixit starrer - Aaja Nachle has been averaging 10 blogs over the last 3 months, and this month alone the average has been 13 plus. Now I hope there is a change of tide and the numbers are just as racy as her Jhatkas Matkas. Not only is she looking better than where she left off personally, I feel she hasn’t lost her edge despite competition. Madhuri’s return and her being the mother of two is causing quiet and uproar. She has everything going for her; great looks, dazzling smile, and what seems like a great story. What better come back could the Ek, Do, Teen gal look forward to?

Aaja Nachle is likely to rake in more posts as its edging towards its release. One can only wait and see if it challenge the astronomical numbers of OSO.

Author’s Note: I have used two tools to do the tracking one is IceRocket and the other BlogPulse (a service of AC Nielsen Metrics). I liked different features in each of them and hence have used both. In Ice Rocket the results are neatly tabulated and indicate average posts per day, average percent of all blog posts and total posts till date. Where as, Blog Pulse allows me to see a trend over a longer period of time. However, what both the tools lack is the ability to track really old data, so one is unable to track the growth or trends that have impacted the blogsphere over a couple of years. These tools are really useful nonetheless.

Art Attack

Sprucing up my blog was always a big challenge for me. At coffee & conversation I can’t let the caffeine levels dip or the interesting conversation dry out.

I am constantly looking for alternatives to keep my blog bursting with energy and voila! I found another one of those small tools that’ll salvage it from monotony – Sketchacast! A fun way to animate a doodle and bring alive an idea or just add that little zing to your blog. So if you thought blogs were all about text, think again.

It’s simple and really cool to use. Just register, doodle and publish! There are very few tools to deal with, which makes in simpler. One could add audio as well while drawing and explaining something hence it conveys the message better than a long prose. A sketchcast can be embedded Youtube style on your blogs or the URL could be shared.

I attempted 2 such sketchcasts. I admit they look retarded and my creativity should not be judged based on these. The first one is ‘faces’, oh it was a struggle to keep the pen on the canvas.





The second one is a scoop of popcorn and a film reel which I intend to use for all the movie reviews.





There’s more to come soon. But in the meanwhile, you can review my doodling. I should try a yoga sketchcast that would depict the yoga asanas Well that’s for another rainy day.

Feed a mouthful

I am skeptical about writing product or service reviews even if I find it particularly interesting. Simply because reviews are viewed as paid-for promotions. I have been accused in the past for doing so (If only people knew how difficult it is to make money out of personal blogs). There is this one service that caught my attention www.freerice.com a program launched by www.poverty.com to battle hunger and starvation.

The rules look pretty simple, it’s a multiple choice of synonyms and the idea is to choose the closest fit. For every word you get right, 10 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

The points are indicated by a bowl that collects rice. The words are challenging and it gets tougher as you advance. This is perfect for GRE and CAT aspirants and the best part is you don’t need to register.

You can also extend your support for the cause by plugging in one of their assortment of banners into your blogs and websites. I am hoping one of my more technically adept friends will help me do so.

Salt n Pepper Generation

For a long time fifty meant edging towards peaceful retirement, turning to Holy scriptures and planning endless pilgrimages. But today 50 marks a beginning. It’s time to catch up with life, no more worrying about kids, no more work pressures… and the salt and pepper generation are totally living it up. So what if they couldn’t travel or scuba dive or learn to cha cha in their youth they are signing up for them now. The 50 plus are ready and raring to go and their age, oh they have made peace with it.

At my dance studio a couple past their fifty enrolled for salsa. They were extremely graceful and energetic on the floor and if I may add very funny as well. A lot of dance schools and gyms have special programs and course plans charted out for the 50 plus generation.

“It’s my time and there is so much I want to do. I am not restless or insecure. I have no worries about competition and I don’t have to worry about getting somewhere in my career all the time.” My 55 year old aunt told me and boy was I jealous or what.

My yoga instructor herself is woman on the other side of fifty who runs Yogarakshana, a yoga school. She started the school only a decade back and works there from 8.00 in the morning to 6.00 in the evening teaching Yoga and Vedas to both young and the old alike. Her Yoga also takes her across geographies and she does get tired when she has foreign student visiting her for a crash course, and it’s only then that she allows herself a days rest.

Travel portals are also working over time and no they are not booking tickets to Varnasi or Kasi or Rameshwaram. The fifty plus are signing up for nature treks, adventure trails and jungle resorts in both local and international destinations.

This generation had to also grapple with technology, having to learn to use the internet and the mobile only in their forties. Today they are adept with web services like email, online ticket booking, blogging, uploading photographs, or checking out travel portals. They have no intentions of being left behind.

There are lots of interesting people still popular in the media who show no signs of tiring despite being way past fifty - Shobha De, Amitabh Bachcchan and heck the grand old Zohara Sehgal.

Here is a generation that is waiting to be explored, pampered and indulged. The Silver scalps know that happiness is not the monopoly of youth. Despite having to deal with the inevitable signs of aging and the changes it brings with it they are probably living their most creative, productive and dazzling era of their lives. They are on a high and living each day with wisdom, zest and that thing called fun. Mark Twain rightly said "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

Image Source: Cartoon Stock

Agony Aunt 2.0

The WWW has been around for a while, and has grown to become our pillar of support of sorts. Our best friend (as corny as it may sound) to be precise. Its incredible how one can turn to the net to complain, to whine, to celebrate, to connect, to reach out and to make a difference. And, in return, the internet has shown its relentless support by listening. Sadly marketers haven't explored its potential, they haven't been able to put their finger on the thump that is getting stronger and louder.

True the internet has propelled a whole lot of things, but it has also been a favourite medium for grouse. I did a rather juvenile search ‘hathway sucks’ (now that would clearly spell out my intentions). There were some 100 odd groups bitching about the service provider, while I was contemplating which one to join I searched for many other such angst portals. There are like a zillion of ‘this is terrible’, ‘that is horrid’ websites. However, there is not a single platform trying to play aunt agony. There are too many conversations but no one listening.

Today almost any service provider promises a great customer experience that is for keeps. I often wonder if ‘customer delight’ is their chosen pursuit or is it just a sexy term straight out of a management textbook. There is hardly any delight in dealing with the customer care officers, for starters they rarely ever get on the phone, which is extremely frustrating (especially if you have to lend a ear to the tireless electronic voice). And when they do get on the phone they are rude and insensitive.

Blogs, social media and communities are mushrooming all over the internet and consumers are splashing the pages with their angst. It has become critical for corporates to hear what is being said about them more than just pretty PR articles. I chanced upon a BusinessWeek article that made me write this blog and conduct many childish searches. A brand like DELL truly found itself by listening to blogs. The ROI of blogs and social media has been proved without a doubt, atleast in my head. All corporates need to do is put a little money and ear on the thump to plug the hole.

Image source: We Blog Cartoons, Geek and Poke

The Great Indian Brat

Just the other day I was having a really quite nice date at a swanky restaurant in Bangalore. It is a charming restaurant on the thirteenth floor with a lovely panoramic view of the city. This is the last place one would bring their children to. Somehow Indian parents insist on bringing children to late night dinners at expensive restaurants and wreck everyone else's privacy.

'Aunty, what is this?' I turned around to find a little kid tugging at my skirt.

'It's nothing baby. It's just a fork,' I smiled and turned to concentrate on my date.

'Aunty, is this your mobile?' the cuteness was fast fading for this brat had pulled out my mobile from my hand bag.

'Yes it is and now would you be a good boy and give it back to me?' I forced a smile.

After much deliberation the kid dodged me and ran with my mobile to his mother who was sitting two tables away. Politely but firmly I asked the mother if she could get me my mobile back as it was important. Instead of being apologetic she tells me kids are like this only and that I ought to be more tolerant.

I mean seriously, as much as we feel proud that our little Bunty is an active child bursting with energy, or love to see our little Chintu sing "Twinkle Twinkle", the rest of the world is under no obligation to indulge them. Parents should stop thinking they are entitled to some special rights.

Even at the movies I happened to get seats next to a boisterous family who had bought all the junk available at the multiplex and the kids were fighting over it all through the movie despite several refills. Also each kid by turn kept wanting to go the washroom, and each time he would have to cross me. I don't think I caught a word of what Captain Jack Sparrow was saying!

I don't know what we are proud of. We make monkeys of our kids. Feed them all the junk and make the world listen to them singing Jack and Jill a zillion times over, and force them to clap and cheer. So we all have sung Baa Baa Black Sheep, it has been the most natural part of our growing up, cute as it may sound it really is no rocket science.

So I think it's time to impose a few rules, Children below the age of 13 should not be allowed to

-Fancy restaurants at dinner. Even if they do allow children it should clearly mention they are 'child-friendly' or whatever, so that the rest of us can stay away.

- At the theaters for all shows from the evening show. The parents can rent the DVD and watch it later.

- At the beauty parlours where I like to get a my head massage done without having to hear pesky kids running around and trying to handle the equipments.

I don't have kids of my own, I am not even married. When I do I'll ensure they follow all these rules but right now I don't want be deprived of a good movie or a great dinner.

Published first at : Desi Critics

TVC Hots & Nots - Parachute Advansed

I totally love the new 'Parachute Advansed - Gorgeous Hamesha' commercial that has been on air recently. The ad doesn't directly talk about the product yet the intrensic benefit of the product comes through very clearly. Its feel good track and simple execution makes this commercial an example of great advertising, that helps build strong brand vaules for the company and phenomenal recall for the product.



The ad resonates well with its consumers, with its base line 'Gorgeous Hamesha' this ad makes me (their target consumer) feel really good about myself. And the whole stickness and phobia associated with hair oil is very clevery masked.

A clutter breaking ad that has all the right ingredients to strike the right chord with its consumers and to build a great brand.

F-C-U-K Fashion

The attention-grabbing marketing ploy of naughty-but-nice British fashion retailer French Connection, reborn in 1997 under the brand "FCUK" borrows shock tactics in equal measure from 1970s punk rock group the Sex Pistols and rival clothing retailer Benetton, The controversial campaign was an enormous success for several years

French Connection is a clothing company first established in United Kingdom in 1969 and was mainly aimed at the youthful demographic. Over the last decade it has reinvented itself for the new generation shoppers and has now evolved to be a cult brand world over under the name FCUK which they claim is the acronym for French Connection United Kingdom. The company has recently announced the 'fcuk' label is to be phased out.

Their communication is a ...

Word Game

Misspelt words - whoever said one has to know his spellings

Attitude

Their advertising oozes with controversial, rebellious, and blatantly kinky attitude. Be it enormous billboards or their store display the brand has tantalized and infuriated people with words. It raised the bar for young advertising professional.

Setting up a President

In India, politics has always been a drama that helps in sustaining competitive TRPs for news channels. The new issue that is gripping the nation is the rat race for the highest chair of honour. Who is going to be appointed as the next president of India? There seems to be a surge in jingoistic spirit and everyone is feeling compelled to contribute his 2 paisa worth to this issue.

Politics for me has been a source of entertainment, being a silent spectator I have thoroughly enjoyed the nastiness enveloping it but this one event triggered me to write about it.

Our domestic help called to say she was not coming to work. My mum being irked by this asked her to justify her reasons.

‘Madam some lady who is going to be the next president of our country is going to be in town. I am going to get fifty bucks and food for sitting through the ceremony. A bus is coming to pick up people from my slum and will drop us back when the function is over. If I take my whole family I’ll get more money than you pay me for the whole month!’

50 bucks and a plate of chicken briyani is all it takes to climb the Indian political ladder! The UPA and left will go any length in setting up their candidate, Pratibha Patil as the country’s next president and guess who is talking about it.

Bangalore Bloggers Meet Part 1- Prelude to the Barcamp

With two bloggers meet being organised simultaneously (initially, both oblivious of each others existence) the blogging junta found itself in a confounding situation, clearly questioning the motives of both these meets. Nonetheless, this confusion lend itself as an ice breaker for the bloggers meet on Saturday evening, the gathering had a good laugh over it.

Before we were through with that we found ourselves in an even funnier predicament. The venue, café coffee day flatly refused to accommodate the overwhelming response we received from the blogging community. As people started trickling in it was evident for an impromptu meet the number was looking really promising. Then we did a little walk to Koshy’s and finally settled at Koshy’s Chill out (yes not the best of places, but we were getting a little desperate after having spent 40mins hunting for a place).

This meet was a prelude to the Barcamp Bangalore 4 (BCB4). So after initial round of introduction, Hari, BCB4 organiser introduced many of us to the Bar camp concept. He further went on to explain that this year a bloggers collective was being introduced at BCB4 and that it was upto us to take it forward. Bangalore Mirror, July 8th 2007

There were a lot of concepts thrown back and forth. One thought in particular that hogged most of our time was how the bloggers need to probably be more socially conscious. Sridhar on that note suggested we start a web NGO. Interesting, the idea could be explored and would probably even get support from many non bloggers.

Also how Non tech bloggers like Sanjukta and myself be given a few lessons about the web and the various tools we could probably use. I agree with this one, I find so many bloggers doing really neat stuff with their blogs and would really like to use a few on my own.

We had reporters from the Times Group - Niranjan & Balanarayan attending the meet besides the following bloggers.

Sanjukta – who also organised the meet
Hari, Prayank, Sridhar, Anand, Sukumar, Ram, Jothi Vel, Amith, Vinu, Cipson (I hope I haven’t missed anybody)

Like expected I was a part of the minority one of the only 2 girls and one of only 2 non techies. However, Hari did go out of his way not make us non techies feel a little more important..

I was amazed how 13 strangers had so much to share and discuss. Frankly, I loved the attitude of these bloggers everyone wanted to use this medium of blogging to bring about a positive change. And in my opinion that’s a great start. Thanks Sanjukta for organising this one

The next meeting on July 21st at Brewhaha will be to freeze the agenda for the barcamp, we are hoping to see a lot more people.

To join kindly edit this wiki page – http://www.bangalorebloggersmeet.pbwiki.com/

I will update photographs once people send it across to me but I have put up what Bangalore Mirror had to say about the meet.