sophistication ,or the lack of it?

As I complete one month of being in a government job,working in a not-centrally-AC office and staying in a village,to my surprise I find little reaction within me towards these changed circumstances.The change was not overnight though...I was an IT-professional once working in big state-of-the-art facilities,amongst an young crowd
& attending office-parties in banquet-halls.But,is it my stint as an mba-student in a govt b-school that has made me prepared for a de-galmourised lifestyle or I've matured€ as a person on a whole with increased tolerance & openness??But,the that's what management education imparts inclination towards taking up new challenges,exploring new opportunities and having a broader & unbiased perspective.It's equally intriguing how priorities change for an individual with time.At 21,when I decided to take up an IT-job was lured just for the taste of earning raw money,irrespective of the amount & also by the hip-lifestyle of an MNC-worker.But,5 years later ,equipped with a post-graduate qualification,my primary satisfaction lies in getting the ROI of my education,and not offices with glass-doors & AC-cubicles or an all-young-work-group with whom I could party on weekends.But,then is the temptation of leading a so-called glamorous life an illusion of early 20's?? I can't help borrowing from one of my rare same-age-colleagues,who said,"Glamour is within me!who cares what the surrounding is like?" Indeed,these are signs of growing up...when one realises that there's more to the meaning of life than what we often perceive when fresh out of college.Especially,working in a village makes one experience what rural India is like & what being in poverty means. For me,the starting month itself as a govt employee was eventful...had to manage a visit of 18 IAS-officers at our plant....also got the chance to interact with an young officer who incidentally has done his engineering & mba from premier institutes & then worked in a global consulting firm in a happening city like mumbai before cracking the civil services exam which has landed him in a remote village in bengal ,yet he seemed pretty chilled-out about all of it.Meeting him kinda' inspired me...to take on the ordeal I'm facing for the times to come...afterall,a challenge is a challenge & it's all part of the bigger world,where all of us live!

Customer-branding:the new face of 'Service-Marketing'

Post Employer-branding & Employee-branding, here comes a new concept in Service-marketing..."Customer-branding". Customers or end-user's are really the people who build a business's brand...by dint of satisfactory results & feedback.....& branding of the individuals with such results has become an indirect way of branding your own business.
Visit any big hospital & you'll find walls adorned with smiling faces of cancer-survivors who got treated there along with a write-up of their stories of recovery.
Go to any Entrance Exam Coaching institute...passport-size photos of toppers produced from there, lined up on the walls will welcome you...almost with an indirect affirmation that 'You've come to the right place, baby!'
Or just travel through the busy city-roads...you are bound to be distracted by hoardings showing happy family-portraits with a picture-postcard residential complex in the backdrop & a bite from any of the family-members mentioning how wise a decision they have taken in buying an apartment in such a complex.
Now, it’s not that models were never used earlier to advertise products but they used to be celebrities or professional models. But, over the years, we’ve come to an age when being a celebrity has become relatively easier….& people have realized that it’s no longer a ‘taken-for-granted’ thing that celebrities advertising products will make them sell. Rather, it’s the age of creating celebrities out of common people …the age of ‘reality Show’s where an apparently ordinary person can become a star overnight….it’s all about creating heroes out of people in the crowd &,thereby entice the crowd….which actually has led to so much importance being adhered to the concept of ‘Customer-branding’…that has made the ‘Service-marketing’ landscape undergo a paradigm-shift.

Pleasant Pains

Recently I read in a facebook post about a yoga-teacher asking his trainees to feel the 'pleasant pain' while exercising. Now, that's an oxymoron indeed. Pain is supposed to hurt us, not please us!....But, must say in our times, it has become a luxury, a way of celebrating 'how tough you are'. Otherwise, why would youngsters flock towards gymn's & tattoo-parlours....or reality-shows like 'Survivor' ,'Fear Factor' & 'Roadies' notch up such great TRP's. It's all about how much pain you can endure....that defines your 'Toughness Quotient'. But,at times it's also about lack of strength…& vulnerability. I remember, some time back, during one of my post-breakup post-mortem's, I was told by a friend that ,it was the 'Pleasant pain' or 'Meetha dard' of reminiscing about my ex that was not letting me get-over my past affair.I have also heard some people say that 'tension' & 'anxiety' works benefecial for them before exams & suchlike. I guess in such cases, we create pains for ourselves as it makes us believe that it will make things our way…& such pains are worth tolerating I believe…as they not only help us getting the work done but also prepare us for such pains when they actually happen in the future. As wise people say,’Today’s pain is Tommorrow’s gain’.

The lesser-known 'gems' of Maniratnam

In a country like India where national cinema is synonymous with 'Hindi Films'....it's no mean feat for any regional language film-maker to make his presence felt across the country by having his films known about,if not shown throughout the nation.Satyajit Ray,Mrinal Sen,Tapan Sinha,Adoor Goapalkrishnan,Buddhadeb Dasgupta,Gautam Ghosh,Rituparno Ghosh,Aparna Sen have done that... through subtitled prints/dubbed versions(Chokher Bali,Antarmahal,Khela)/hindi remakes of their bengali originals(Zindagi Zindagi,Sagina).
But all of them have been from Parallel or Middle Cinema.But,in the last three decades,a South Indian mainstream film-maker has been able to do it in style....none other than Maniratnam.I'm calling him a mainstream film-maker only because unlike the others I mentioned,his films have songs,dances,action and all other elements of popular cinema.But,still he's one film-maker who has been able to make superbly-crafted & socially-relevant films within the ambit of commercial cinema for more than 30 years,as a result of which his films much like the films of Ray,Tapan Sinha & Rituparno Ghosh have been well-received by audiences & critics alike & have also won accolades at national awards & international film festivals alonside breaking box-office records.
And,when it comes to box-office, going back to where I started,it's imperative to mention that his films have not just been limited to tamil/telugu audience....but dubbed versions of his films like 'Roja'& 'Bombay' have been seen,loved & appreciated by audiences all across India....to such an extent that They have become 'Cult' films in the history of 'Indian Cinema'.However,there are some earlier films of his as well which were dubbed into hindi or subtitled & got some viwing outside South India.I saw three such films recently 'Nayakan',Geetanjali' & 'Anjali'.Though I liked all,still can't say they reached the excellence of 'Roja' & 'Bombay'.Only,'Nayakan' can be said to be very well-made & well-crafted film where action,drama,social commentary,humanity were all wonderfully interwound into a magnum 'biopic'.Supposedly based on Francis Ford Coppola's 'Godfather',it showcased one of the finest performances by one of the fines Indian actors,kamal Hasan & is included in Time magazine's list of 'All-time great 100 Movies'.
The other two films 'Geetanjali' & 'Anjali' are relatively softer films devoid of too much action & emphasizing on human relationships. 'Geetanjali' shows the romance between two terminally-ill people....shot in the picturesque 'Ooty',it featured action-hero 'Nagarjuna' for the first time in a romantic role.'Anjali' tells the story of an autistic chld who changes the lives of people around her....it is regarded as one of the best Indian Children's films ever made.
All these films & also 'Roja' & 'Bombay' showcase Maniratnam's mastery over the language of Cinema,his eye for innovations & his concerns for under-served people & his ability to tell their story in simple & engaging way.According to me,he is also one of the best directors of child-artists as is evident from the performances of children in his films like 'Nayakan','Geetanjali','Anjali','Roja','Bombay' & 'Kannathil Muthamittal'. Watching a Maniratnam film is always a heart-warming experience & I eagerly look forward to watching more of his films.

Mumbai darshan

Yeah,as the title suggests,last week I had my first trip to Mumbai,the city which I had just seen in Movies & I wanted to visit for long.But,since I went for an interview,didn't have the bandwidth to travel around much.All I went to was Marine Drive & Inorbit mall...but within the short stay,I was bowled over by the tremendous glamour of the city.While going across the Sea-link,the worli-skyline looked akin to Dubai from a distance & felt the same from marine-drive as well.While CS-staion was like a heritage-spot, LTT station resembled an airport...it does come across as a city with contrasting features.Moreover,the sheer cosmopolitan nature of the city's crowd made me feel like I was in Kolkata only,but 10 years ahead.Indeed,the bustling of the traffic,the breeze from Arabian Sea,the smell of Vada-pao...all such nuances make the composite hodge-podge called Mumbai.....a city so much like other metro's...yet with a character oh her own!

The only constant

Change.....one word which immediately steers a variety of emotions in one's mind....excitement,apprehension,fear,restlessness....& so much more!
But,then its also probably the most universal phenomenon in our life.Change means moving on & 'Lack of change' implies stagnation,something highly undesirable.
People seeking variety in life as much as possible, are actually obsessed with density...ie "How much one can squash in into a life-span of 60-80 years"....in terms of experiences,learnings & takeaways.But,where do we take it to?....is there anything at all called 'After-life'?...It's doubtful....so all we are aware of is 'This Life'. Hence,reaffirming the thought "One lifetime,One chance"....Whatever one has to do...this is the time...drink upto the brim.
However,variety & seeking new experiences is as enticing as much it is challenging.It brings with it the baggage of fear of the unknown,& threats to the existing comfort levels,if any.Human beings are generally bound by status-quo,all we look for in life by default,is happiness & once we get hold of it in some form,its difficult to let go.But,then 'life is not a voyage just about sticking to one particular shore,not because we have live & loved enough there,but maybe for the sail flows better in another direction'.If this had not been true, then people with cushy jobs would not have taken the plunge to become entrepreneurs or writers or hitchhikers.The transition phase is tough actually,you lose your safety-valve,your schedule goes haywire & you get into a life of uncertainty.One struggles in such a phase,but comes out stronger.
To get something,one has to lose something & that's why it is said,"Today's pain is tomorrow's gain".

Variety was his spice

If there was any Indian film-maker who never repeated himself,someone who’s awe-inspriringly wide body of work can only be compared with someone like Satyajit Ray, someone whose repertoire spans 5 decades & 40-odd films to his credit ,he is none other than Tapan Sinha, the grand old man of Indian Cinema.
Though it remains a catastrophe, that very few people actually know properly about this master of movie-making as is evident from the lukewarm celebrations today, ie his birthday. However, this lack of awareness can be attributed to his long ouvre of work itself & the lack of branding of the same done by the connoisseurs of cinema that leaveas an audience confused whether films like Kabuliwala, khaniker Atithi, Jhinder bandi, Nirjan Saikate, jatugriha, Galpo Holeo Satyi,Apanjan,Sagina mahato,harmonium,Safed haathi,Bancharamer bagan ,Atanaka, Ek Doctor Ki maut,Antardhan,Wheelchair,Ajob gayer ajob kotha all belong to the same director. Writer Nabanita Deb Sen has rightly said,”Perhaps we like watching his films, but somehow forget the man behind them”.
But it’s not just the audience, but the critics have also perhaps failed to categorize him as a film-maker sometimes he’s included in the same bracket with Satyajit Ray,Mrinal Sen,Ritwik Ghatak ,some other times with his more commercial copunter-parts like Tarun Majumder,Ajoy Kar,Asit Sen while some other times in neither of the two. The reason behind this probably is that Tapan Sinha is the real father of “Middle Cinema”, films which are thought-provoking & entertaining at the same time ,a genre which unfortunately is credited to someone like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who has actually been a plagiarist of Sinha’s films at times, yet managed to win the Dadasaheb Phalke Award 10 years before Sinha.
Tapan Sinha was not just a man, an institution. Not just a film-maker, he was a music-director, lyricist, script-writer & story-writer as well. But, it’s really disheartening to see why even after his demise he has not got his deserved respect & recognition.