Philip Kotler at Great Lakes!

This happened a couple of years back. Came across it in Youtube. I guess the next time I visit college, must ask the library copy of the whole talk

Snapshots from Mumbai Last week

Walking through flooded streets, as you are listening to radio flood updates can be quite an experience!

The Mumbaikar obsession with time, seems to have been displayed too prematurely by PVR cinemas, who's display seemed to show negative numbers.

Some people never like to remove that Kingfisher tag that they got to stick on the bag. Its like a status symbol for the fast moving mumbaikar, in the densely crowded trains. Kingfisher must be smiling all the way to the bank, thanks to the viral brand bulding.

There's this theatre near my house called Gaiety, Gemini, Galaxy.... in the Bandra Talkies complex. Its an age old theatre which has played host to some of bollywood's yestertear hits from the 60's. Guess what game they have in the theatre, to lure kids accompanying their parents? Mario...!!! I guess they should soon look at market trends and adopt Road rash in some time. Just assuming that they are 10-12 years behind a generation that belived that the bow of the Ramayana/Mahabharata was more funkier than guns of GI-JOE and HE-MAN. I suddenly feel old... seeing Mario :-)

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na- My Review

Sometimes you feel good seeing a movie promo on television, and instant impulse makes you to quickly lock the house and run to the nearest theatre screening the movie, to catch a glimpse of what you tend to expect after the promo has lured you to the movie. I did that with ' De Taali' and enjoyed the movie, and yesterday with "Jaane Tu...." and I never could have come back more happier.

Aamir Khan's production house after a near flawless 'Taare Zameen Par', pulls out another instantly lovable movie,with a great script,cast and good direction. There is a certain innocence the movie exudes, and here is where the winner is. The movie is likable because of the way the characters are well etched out and by the time you've come out of the theatre, you dont care if the movie is a Hit/Flop, but you loved it as the movie makes you feel a part of the "gang" in the way they tell the story. There is no one character that dominates the movie, but each person's bit adds to the lovely story!. I loved the garnishing provided by the 'dead' Naseeruddin shah in the small cameo that he does, and another character that acually provides the "topping" for the movie would be Nirav Mehta, the guy who plays the Gujju.

The Movie has a feeling of realness and a -boy-girl-next door feeling, as its extensively shot in areas in Mumbai,very similar to the Tamil movie" Boys", (that was all aboout Chennai) and one could also say that due to the common thread being that Genelia D'souza who stars in both. She has got a better role in JTYJN. and her bubbly,effervescent character against the backdrop of the Bandra fort, makes a few of her scenes really memorable. A.R.Rehman, strikes a chord with the lovely music with each track being hummable. Its running in an infinite loop on my mobile music device and the last time such a feeling happened was during Swades, where the "Yuhin Chala Chal" track was going on and on and on............

Other Updates

'Via Darjeeling' was a nice concept in terms of making a movie, but the ending leaves you seethng at the director, thanks to the innumerable cliched bollywood endings that we love to expect!

Went for a office party at Dio's in Tardeo's and saw what Mumbai was at a night dance party. What did i do? Just sipping Cranberry flavour , and feeling that the lyrics of the song Pappu cant dance was aimed at me :-). Mumbai is upfront about its horny culture, and that's so much a relief from the hypocrite-filled-Chennai culture(but I still love Chennai! )

Had another reunion with GL mates last night at Infinity mall with Vipul,Arunachalam and Navneet. Call it Arunachalam's birthday treat. He was bent on taking us to a place that accepts Sodex Ho food passes, and we ended up having Rajasthani Thalis, and then gossipping in the mall.

Have some weekend office work, so will grudgingly open the office laptop, even as "Pappu cant dance saala, screams in my ears"

Colurful Day at Work

Thats the sight I saw when I came into work.

The office was plastered with Blue and Orange baloons all over. Felt like a child in some dreamy paradise :-)


Thats my workspace and the colours represent our brand's two prominent colours.

Ok the Reason for celebration...We turn 2 years. Life in a start up is always fun, than the cliched corridors of one of those industrial revolution like masses of software company.

Lovely weather in Mumbai, expecting a exciting weekend. Would have to choose between Na Jaane Tu.... and Love Story 2050, then planning a walk along the world's biggest slums in Dharavi-Mahim by heritage walks, with my former colleague at Sulekha, Vineet Pabreja. Then probably a long walk along Marine Drive in the rains with an umbrella and a trip to Haji Ali, ....long wishlist.... and ya If High 300+ totals are not being scored, I could tune in to Star Cricket. Saw two of my Dreamjob mates doing well on Television. Jatin Sapru was interviewing some Srilankan cricketer with his kitbag, on Star Cricket, while Shireen Dastagir is partly hosting MTV Wassup at 8 am

Tired!

Mumbai some times tires you, and I am no different. I guess its the long walk from office to Lower Parel, and from Bandra station to Pali hills. I cant take a taxi as the road is jammed with the autos and the taxis and the sea of humanity that fights time. So I prefer taking a walk and that ends up tiring me. What if i were to end up taking a house in Navi Mumbai or Mira Road? I guess I shouldnt invite heart attacks upon myself :-) . Secondly India isnt playing cricket for me to find the fastest route home also. We were thrashed by Pakistan, due to some unimaginative cricket. Today the Lankans seem to be piling it on. It remains to be seen what happens later in the evening(7 20 pm in Mumbai is still evening hehe ). Time to head home! and get set for a long day in office tommorow...err....not really we have a party tommorow at 7 pm, so it means a day where lot of work needs to get done, else I stamp my weekends with the clatter of word and excel files

Happened to chance on a video on WATBLOG about an interview with my company's founder. Hope that helps you to get an intro of the company that I work for. Watch the youtube interview below. The host of the show does get on your nerve sometimes, but thats the beauty of youtube where amateurs learn from their mistakes and better their videos.


One of Cleartrip's advertisments in Television Media :-) Love this ad...

The Mumbai -Great Lakes-Alumni Chapter Meet

A week back I had shot a mail to all the batches at Great Lakes, about the alumni meet this Sunday in Mumbai. The city was having dry weather and the rains hardly existed then... but somehow Alum meets in Mumbai so far have had this rather uncanny way of bringing rain along with them. This one was no different.

The attendees were

Kartik Kannan- Cleartrip.com
Srivas Ramgopal- VGSL( VSNL Global Services)
Rahul Khare(Frost and Sullivan)
Pawan Bhawsar( VGSL)
Vipul Singhal(TCS)
Seema Mohanty(Bayer)
Prakritish Buragohain(Bayer)
Nihit Nirmal(Shaadi.com)
Logendra(L and T)


With 20 minutes left for the Alumni meet to start, the skies opened up and caught me unawares. Heavy rains. The 1 pm start was then relaxes to 2 pm, as people slowly found their way to Nirmal Lifestyle, Mulund. This picture was taken enroute Mulund station to Nirmal Lifestyle.



Rahul Khare shares a funny bone with Logendra and Srivas Ramgopal, who till then was the sole guy with the Great Lakes T shirt.

Vipul Singhal and Kartik Kannan.....fresh after Mcveggie crunch and French fries


Seema Mohanty, finally breaks her silence :-). Seema looked quite lost in the meeting, and spoke to us about her role in Procurement division at Bayer. Logendra tries to look aghast, into a cross talk session happening on the other side of the table


Thats a serious discussion going on between Rahul Khare and Srivas, as Pawan(greyish green shirt) and Logendra(Maroon) are ogling beyond the Macdonalds window at things more interesting to the eye.

Vipul Singhal on " Why Banias rule in Business", while Nihit Nirmal wears a forlorn " I- have heard -this -so -many -times-because I am your room mate look"

Srivas, Rahul and Pawan listen to how Nihit is making hay while beautiful girls register at Shaadi.com . Nihit camouflaged his web flirting act by using MBA'ish words like " I look into Analytics".

Thats me, with a "Turn me On" Message on the T shirt. Unfortunately the Mumbai girls in Mulund were not up to it,

A couple of hours into the meet, a few Vipul one liners later and a couple of I-am-bored looks from Nihit, Prakritish Buragohain(the guy in the middle joined us). He was spared the bill payment, as he came in late, and Macdonalds was about pre paying. By the way, if you are asking why should he pay the bill? He just got married in Assam, without the help of Shaadi.com (Nihit lost a customer!)


Pawan seems to vehemently argue with some one during the meet. Logi sees humor in the argument.

Some of what we discussed were

1) each alum present's company and role offered
2) switching possibilities
3) Book reviews
4) Meeting up with Uncle Bala when he comes in July
5) How can we make it more productive, by discussing business models in next meets
6) generall chit chat, leg pulling and mud slinging.
7) Which movie to watch at PVR...(we went for 'Via Darjeeling' by the way)

We hope to make future alum meets more productive with more people and a more structured approach to discussing things that mutually help us. That was a quick and dirty update from my side.

Tagged again

Jason made this post last week, and it felt really good to know that he likes my blog and follows it.

So here goes

6 unspectacular quirks of mine

I love giving interviews to myself as if I am the head honcho when I walk on cowded streets. I play the interviewer and the interviewee

I love planning trips on impulse. The last 3-4 trips have been planned like that, without worrying about the consequences. There is a certain thrill that I get out of not knowing what to expect.

When I am alone and bored of reading a book, I still play BOOK CRICKET with the same fervour that I used to play with in class 3.

I try and email a long mail to at least 5 friends a week, to get out of the orkut 'scrapping' habit.Makes friendships more meaningful even though it does pain the other reciever recieving long mails from my end.

When I am lazy on a sunday, I dont mind staying hungry, If I can sleep it over. Sleep seems to be my most favourite hobby.(Now who doesnt know that ? )

I dont know to wash my clothes nor do i know to cook. At Mumbai, learning to soak it in water and hit the clothes on the floor 5 times and soak it back in- washed! Dirty me! When I was in Delhi last year, I came all the way by flights to wash a huge set of clothes in Chennai, and also to watch the world cup match on the BIG SCREEN tv on my Home theatre system.

I love midnight beach walking under the moonlight and love to live at the most cheapest places around, and travel by public modes of transport or be on my own with a rented bike. I like lonely travel, as I spend a lot of time thinking about myself.

When I watch cricket, and India is bowling, I also appeal/shout with the bowler in the same jugular vein. Invariably I forget that I am watching it with a group of people. I can never have enough of cricket!

Now that makes it 8 quirks... when only 6 was asked...and as Abhishek Bachan says in GURU.... 2 quirks Munafa! 33% Munafa. Kahani abhi Baaki hain mere dost!

Keep following my blog! Am now rushing to my Great Lakes Alumni meet in Mumbai.

Umbrella Diaries

Its scary walking in Mumbai from the station along the footpath with the mass of umbrella's that stare at you. You see nothing but colurful umbrellas all over and for a moment you feel like celebrating the rains, but the problem comes with people in a hurry with those umbrellas.

The edge of the umbrella either comes close to brushing your eye/forehead or scratches at your umbrella, throwing you out of gear sometimes and at times, exposing you in the heavy rains. You cant even see whats in front as the upper view ensures you see a mass of humanity in holding various umbrella's and a score of Mumbai's ubiquitous Black Fiat Taxis. Below you see footwear and the slush, and cant really plan your way through rain's to carefully tread the slush that lays ahead. More than that, one needs to hold the umbrella at angle so that the maximum regions of the Shirt, Pant and my carry bag, doesnt get wet(Its a got a heavy 3 kg IBM Lenovo lugging behind). So much so for travelling in the rains and singing as the Indian movie industry shows it! You do this twice a day, and I am sure all that love of rainy day songs just remain an MP3 number on your music device and do no special effects when it actually rains.

Its comfortable staying in Bandra now, with not too much water logging, but at some stage I would need to stop paying rent and buy a house. On the lookout daily in classifieds to get a house here. That would need a detailed post, so I'l get back later on that, till that try "enjoying" the rains wherever you are!

Dasaavatharam-A Review

I went for the movie last sunday in Oberoi mall in Goregaon. To me, I had great expectations from Kamalahasan after watching Vettayadu Vilayadu. The movie starts of very well with the 12th century scene, and some great screen play. The movie looks like its going to be a sci fi thriller, after the monkey dies due to the chemical. But some dumb direction gives way to some insipid scenes which drag the movie. First of all, God knows how the fake CIA agent gets to know that Kamal has gone to India, and follows him right there. Ok, its a movie, so everything happens as planned :-), but Asin's entry to me is the turning point of the movie. I have never got more irritated than ever seeing Asin repeat the same dialogues again and again in a screetchy tone.

The ending also is slightly numb and crazy and the movie fails in getting across a theme to end the movie with. So to say in MBA jargon, the movie's positioning is faulty. The last 30 minutes are a huge drag and the last scene with K.S.Ravikumar dancing and the so called behind-the-scenes shots are emabarrasing and plays down the story aspect of the movie, by concentrating on the great houdini act of Kamal with his make up.

The make up also looks bad for some characters like the Afghan character, and the false CIA agent. One just feels that the movie is let down only by poor direction, which are like seething holes in bridal wear. The plus points of the movie are its screen play and Kamalahasan's acting. Nothing to beat him in this department. I enjoyed his character as Balram Naidu and the Tamil Orator. The slapstic and situational comedy in the movie are good, and help you forget the drag in the movie for some time. Kamal's versatility does pull along the movie, but movies were never one man armies, and Dasaavataram, if truth be told was like the Indian Cricket team of the 90's(Overdependence on Tendulkar).

Verdict- Watch the Movie Once- Think 10 times before doing that!

Hotel Services :

I found this on a website for a hotel in Kochi

"Other services like chauffer service, travel desk and round the cock room service are also provided."

Of Automated mails!

I hate when people send automated mails that dont make sense at all

Dear Citibank Customer,

Thank you for banking with Citibank. We are pleased to provide
you details pertaining to your Citibank Account.

As on 14-JUN-2008, balance in your A/C No. XXXXXXXXXX is Rs 0. You can withdraw upto Rs 0.

Afridi Ignites Long Lost Passion

The last 12 balls that Afridi has bowled, he has vociferously appealed thrice. All those 3 were very good shouts for leg before appeals against Yousuf Pathan and Raina. Twice it looked out. What was exciting was the ferocity and Afridi's desperate face while appealing. This was what India Pakistan clashes were lacking. Yuvi now responds with a six... and the nelson's scoreline was safely avoided.

117/4 in 19.1 overs... I want Pakistan to feel desperate and I'd love another close t20 like finish with India on the winning side! Back to fanatical cricket nights :-)

What does your "Impulse" say today?

There are times when you are concentrating hard while working, and frustration tends to set in, when a call comes on the mobile about a frivolous matter. Now how do you react to it? Do you curtly abrupt and say” Er…. I am busy, will call later”, or smile across the phone in a phoney manner and pretend as if you enjoyed what’s said and start to make immideate moves to end the conversation “ Oh is it so, that’s good.. but I am busy, I’l speak later OK? “. I did neither.. of them

My mother called up at around 5 pm today from Chennai and was speaking about a reality show, where all Shaan's songs were sung by the reality show contestants and how she was enjoying it. It sounded childish as it came out of nowhere, but it was cute in a way. I let go of my inhibitions to say “later amma” and I was smiling and listening to what she said. I actually quite love the concept of calling on Impulse. Calling out of reason is what we generally do, but lets say, I haven’t spoken to someone or I remember someone suddenly, I just call them to say a “hi”. Or lets say I am watching Television and suddenly I come across something hilarious, I immideatly call someone who I feel would also love to laugh over this. Such spontaneous calls kind of pep you up, rather than the “ I need something calls”. These days due to a hectic workstyle we tend to take calls only if they have some business significance to us or only if its is important at that context. If we were to cut a “impulse call” from the other end, it really dampens the enthusiasm from the caller.

I felt good on not spoiling my mother’s “impulse call”. She being alone in Chennai(as my dad works in Karur), must be thinking a lot about how her son must be doing in Mumbai. Is he eating well? is he sleeping well? Is he drinking boiled water? Does he wash his clothes properly? ……blah blah …and when one thinks so much about an other person, a natural impulse is to call the person who is being thought about at the slightest opportunity. Now to take or not take the call, during work is quite a tricky question, as it depends on our nature.

I actually felt pretty good listening to her about how good a certain debojit sings a song, even though I don’t really watch any of those music based reality shows. It just felt good sparing my 2 minutes whole heartedly to listen to my mother, which I otherwise have learnt to avoid, as I would be with work. This reminded me of the Airtel ad where the young girl calls her dad who is busy working at a railway site, and the dad shrugs first at the call, and then lovingly talks on the phone about the various stars constellations in the night sky. Only thing different in my situation was that it was an all Vodafone call : - )

And before you ask it, yes this was an “Impulse Blog Post”.

School Days!

Its raining cats and dogs in Mumbai, and my office being in a low lying area, I need to wade through the stagnant water. I hate doing this over the years given that I was twice marooned in my home in Chennai, and just that the whole thing is something that spoils my mood. Not so long ago, I loved doing this. Wading through the waters to reach school, and discovering that its a holiday, literally had me in seventh heaven. There was no greater pleasure than that, in those days. My school in Adayar(Chn), had this rather crazy policy of awarding a holiday to students whenever it rained between 7 and 8 am on school days. They would take a decision that since its raining heavily, it would continue to do so, and students may suffer. More often than not the sun god would suprise our school management, by showing its face after 8 am, while we exhuberantly keep spreading the word around that " Yay! Its a holiday", through the new found sexy gadget of the yesteryears-The BSNL Landline telephone(1992-98 around that time).

Rains have ceased to bring that streak of adventure in me anymore. I have begun seeing it as a chore to wade through waters and try my best not to get wet. The other day, I had left my umbrella at my doctors clinic in Bandra, and I had gone back from home to get it, and never imagined it would rain. But Mumbai being highly unpredicable, let out a roar through the skies and I realised that I anyway have no option but to get wet, so instead of rushing to a shop nearby and competing for inchspace I was the only one who seemed to be smiling and getting wet. People were thinking I was mad, but I enjoyed getting back to being a child in those few moments.

Monsoon in Mumbai

The first spell of Pre monsoon showers are on. This was taken near the place I live on.
Turner road is what they call it here, enroute to Bandra Station. Images of tiled roads, Red buses, scores of umbrellas and a mass of humanity that chugs into stations. Thats the image that I have seen of Mumbai through television. Lets see If I am able to ad something more to it, over the tenure in Mumbai.

The MID-DAY news paper has predicted that there would be 19 days like the erstwhile July 26th 05, this monsoon, so its going to be quite an adventure this monsoon to crawl to office. The other night on Friday(or early saturday morning) at 12 45 am, I found only an inch space to stand in the dadar Andhri train. Damn it was midnight and the competition and the brawl for spaces still continue.

I found this unique sight at a Pizza Hut shop in Mulund, in Nirmal Lifestyle. The waiters were dancing to some music that was playing in the mall, and were egged on by the PYT's at the store. Customer Delight! Or what do you call it?

PVR Cinemas does believe in adding some glam to the cinema experience. It has 2 screens where you can log on to the inernet. 1 screen would never work, and the other would have a passable internet connection. I found a few girls checking on some "ORKUT FRAAND REQUESTS"( In a Delhi'ite language :-) ) . I guess its quite a gimmick to get youngsters check on Orkut and be in a good mood while they wait for the screen to allow people. I saw a guy who was complaining that the PVR team has no regards for customers, beacuse it was 3 minutes beyond show time and he was still cooling his heels buying popcorn. Hehe... People in Mumbai seem to be paranoid about time!

Goa Trip over the Weekend-Divar Island, Old Goa

This trip was my first trip around part of Goa which is east of Panjim into Old Goa. 5th Visit in 27 months, sure does prove how crazy I am about visiting this place. I am too tired to guide picture by picture, but am willing to provide my thoughts on the place and some travel tips around Divar Island in my next post. Till then enjoy my pictures

Basic Facts

Old Goa has 2 islands around it, namely Chorao and Divar. Divar island is home to 1 big resort called Devaaya Ayurveda Resort, where we stayed for a couple of nights. It is suprisingly home to 36 bars within that small area of an island. It seems those bars compete on prices so fiercely, that they offer lower rates for alcohol than other parts of Goa. I found this out during a random enquiry on cheaper hotels in that area. To answer more specific questions on cheaper alcohol and rooms in Divar Island, please contact Augustine Fernandez, who is the proprietor of Step Inn Bar and Restaurant at 9881889348.

Pro's- Very peaceful place, ideal for lazy morning and evening walks.

Con's- The place is cut off from the mainland in case the connecting ferry has some problem, and ferry service exists only between 6 am and 12 am. Not many options for a comfortable housing apart from Devayaa resorts(Approx per pax per night). But if you are game for some rough shack like acco, you can search around the place or contact Augustine Fernandez( number given above in this post).

Part-7 The Andamans Travelogue

The view over the garden was excellent following the rains. I heard that its best to be here in off season. Its good when it rains, as the place around you has different colours. When it does rain, there are violet/dark blue skies, light bluish-green water, white sand and green rainforests. The disadvantage is that you wont be able to see the corals in elephanta beach(adjacent) as the corals become slushy in the rains

Thats the reception of Barefoot!

Kirti decides to explore the library as we wait for our order of omlettes and Tea( That was Lunch :-)


The tea was refreshing, and all we did with that extra dose of energy was to get out to the beach again and start playing in the water.

Some more posts coming up! keep glued on

The Andamans Travelogue-Part 6

Wondering where this post came out of the Blue?

I was updating this from Chennai, before I came over to Mumbai. I had done about 5 parts and then got busy with work. Check the earlier posts on my Andamans trip here.

Part 5
Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1
Link to Pictures Album




Kirti and I had played in the azure waters long enough, and retraced our footsteps back inside the forest to "Barefoot at Havelock", the only decent resort in Radhanagar beach. Time for Lunch- 2 pm

Here we arrived, in a place that was nestled in between a forest, amidst sylvan and greenish surroundings.Add to that rain droplets, the green colour of the place looks all the more appealing.

Obviously if a place is so well lit up, and looks like the ideal place for relaxing, wouldnt it come with a price? We were here only for the lunch, we werent staying here, but some of the prices on the menu suprised our "student budget" of 13000 for the trip as a whole.

We ended up having 3 rounds of omlettes, some warm tea, some french fries and 2 juices to refresh us. It took us 150 minutes for this procedure, as we lazed about our order.

The place looked the part where you just wanted a break to escape out of the mundane competitive world. "Barefoot at Havelock" should be a place to stop over when you visit the Andamans.

Updates from Maximum City!

The red buses and the cemented roads are so much entrenched into brand Mumbai. Took this while shifting my place last week.
My mother has been with me for a week, so I was lucky about the neat packing and the moving in, didnt have any problems

The IPL frenzy seems to have got to every one. I see a bunch of people gazing into a shop at Hill Road in Bandra West, where I went for some shopping of basic household implements.

When I saw this painting on a wall, the font reminded of me of the colours painted in Taare Zameen Par. Its a nice getsture by the school to allow their students paint on the wall, rather than commercialising the wall for advertising, or sticking- STICK NO BILLS all over.

Thats my mother watching the Aarushi Talwar murder case on NDTV, as if she were watching a soap opera-totally involved and glued to the television. My mother left last sunday night, so this week, its all about practising how one can make the stomach not-so-empty with the combination of bread, milk and sugar. My mother has suggested quite a few do-it-yourself recipes, but I guess lazy me would still prefer to buy at a hotel. Also to add to my woes, I'd have to wash clothes and fill water, things that I havent been exposed to at my home in Chennai. Mumbai's teaching me quite a few things :-)

By the way, I am leaving on an office trip to Goa, Divar Island tommorow. Should be fun in my 5th visit to this wonderful state in the last 27 months.

The Week in Pictures

Thats quite a useful service for public transport in Mumbai. It combines the Local bus system along with the suburban trains

Look at the Name- Decent Florist- reminded me of the brothel in "Jab We Met"- Hotel Decent :-). Found this in Bandra, on the road Sachin and Aishwarya rai live. By the way, I live pretty close from here. I will be moving in to my flat tommorow in Bandra.


I go for a morning jog sometimes, and the guesthouse where I stay(Bhakti Park,Wadala(e)), has great landscaped gardens and open spaces for a jog, a game of cricket and some places for children to run around.

Orkut being advertised in the local buses here :-). Testimonial for Orkut... :-) Found this on route number 45 from Wadala Imax to Dadar Railway station.

2 Good ads for the weekend!

The weekend arrives, and I have just stepped on two quite hilarious advertisments of Cleartrip.com on Youtube. The advertisment is perfect in conveying the positioning of this online travel company. Find the ads right below

Dream "Job"? Think Again

Kartik Kannan posing on the sets of Dream Job 2

I see that these days, there are too many reality shows on the numerous channels that keep popping by the hour. Indian Idol certainly had a first mover advantage in terms of spotting talent to recycle in the music industry, but other shows have also done well like "Sa re Ga ma", "Star Voice of India". Bollywood seems to be providing the leading thrust in terms of reality shows for the TRP, but other than that Niche reality shows really bite the dust, if they dont innovate or market themselves properly. MTV Roadies has got cult following now in terms of brand recall given the unconventional advertising that they have done over the last 5 years. If you are a "Roadie", people look up at you as its quite a tough thing to be a roadie. That way as a niche show, they've done pretty well, to connect with India.

Another show that I was immensely interested was in Clinic All Clear Dream Job on ESPN-STAR last year. The show did manage to elicit quite a lot of responses for the auditions in the 4 cities, but somehow the TRP's didnt seem to set the Yamuna on fire. I guess if ESPN had done some marketing for the show, along with T20, and some of the other shows and included some travel/road shows, more so dividing India by the geographical region(as is done with IPL), Dream Job 2, could have been a success.

Today even though the winner of Dream Job 2 was given a contract with ESPN STAR for a year, his compatriots on the show, Medini and Akshob, have done some excellent work, much better than the winner. It hasnt probably changed the winner's life totally, making him a television celebrity. I think ESPN really needs to go back to the drawing board and ask itself what they need to deliver to make people interested in Cricket/Sports a better deal. They sure are proffesionals and know what they are into, but a little more careful interospection would reveal that they could handle the consumer interest towards the show much better.

Medini for one, works for cricinfo and daily had podcasts of a show with the likes of Ravi Shastri, Geoff Boycott and Ian Chappel. Akshob, worked for the official IPL site and has met almost all the bigwigs of the various IPL teams and has some great interviews published on the IPLT20 site. The winner of the contest, Jatin is still not really flashing across Star Cricket, and it is here ESPN needs to understand where are they providing the extra value to the winner over the other contendors. To me, Jatin was an outstanding presenter and I feel he should be given more oppurtunities for the 1 year that he is there, as that would be the stamp on which he would have to decide his career.

Sports broadcasting is tough to break into and even if you get there barring all the competition, given the clutter with so many channels telecasting matches, you need to be better than the best in business and ring a bell when the viewer sees you. You may also realise that its not too remunarative, and it would take a few years to get down to a comparable salary level as your engineering and MBA waale friends. Harsha Bhogle made it big, by taking the risks in an era where Television coverage was rare, but had an IIM MBA degree backing him. Today he is seen as a management consultant, a great Historian on Cricket and a numero uno commentator. Where are the rest? You dont remember any other Indian television broadcaster( Charu sharma, may be! ), who did not play Cricket for India, who's made the cut. Even if these reality shows on sports broadcasting do happen, its going to take doing to get through the clutter, but with the proliferation of more channels, come more oppurtunities. The latest I hear is Zee Cinema has jumped into the fray with the telecast of a India-Pak-Bangladesh series in June.

Secondly in the face of reality shows, the producers hardly seem to want the best and just competition, but are more inclined to add masala. Women in Sports Presentation- They may not be as good as some of the guys on the show, but their feminity and ability to keep viewers glued in works a big way in them making the cut. No this blog post is not against the fairer sex, but just a reflection of the truth.
Every tom dick and harry, can give an opinion on cricket. The roadside tea wala would say that Dravid made a blunder by batting above the order in the t20 match, so when cricket is so common place in India, the women on the show have a distinct advantage with their looks and as long as they can do flawless english delivery, they are almost home. Women, frankly dont need to know much about cricket's intricasies which we guys know. Just have the right structure and assets in place, get the language flowing, you've got people watching already. I have known only Zoe Goss and a commentator from the West Indies as the only sports commentators who really know their stuff. Another woman who seems to have got my vote from India would be Mayanti Langer, who hosts football shows on Zee Cricket, and was asked to co-host the IPL without she being a cricket expert. When the likes of Mandira bedi have made it big, its time for more women to be inducted to make the whole presentation saucy. Frankly I would prefer to watch Mandira bedi in her noodle straps than watching a Dream Jobber guy talk :-) . So looking at all this, as a guy, you are up against big odds and really need to be somebody who can sweep people off their feet.

Why am I writing about it?

I too was a finalist last year, and finished in the Top 8 in the country, before Mandira Bedi decided that she had enough of me, and it was time to vote me out :-). I was reminded of Dream job, when somebody at work pointed out that line in my Linked in Profile and asked me about it.I thought I'd make an alternate career, part time as a television Jockey, but later gave up on the dreams as I had to make a career out of my MBA. Right now, no complaints, I am working for an online travel company, and am enjoying the space, getting decent money and a glimpse into Mumbai. But if Dream Job 3 comes up, I dont think I would want to bet my career on that, I'd be happy making to the final 4, being on television for 2-3 months and make new friends. Post an MBA Its frankly tough to give up on a career growth and a well paying job, for doing something that may be your passion. For me Cricket and Travel are my biggest interests and I am happy choosing the latter for a career. I still would'nt mind doing the odd television show, but would never want to bet my career on television.

Interview with Albie Morkel

Albie Morkel seems quite a recognisable bowler operating in International cricket as part of team South Africa and the Chennai IPL Team. He was quite unkown when I interviewed him last year on my mobile. I found it through some random search on Youtube.

Check out excerpts of my interview with him

Memories! A Fortnight Later

Here I am in Mumbai, getting busy with work, getting used to travelling in crowded trains, hit and bully people into getting my inchspace while travelling. However, as I found some time during lunch into checking some pictures on my mobile, I was reminded of B school life at Great Lakes a fortnight back. I had made this as the final video on the evening of the convocation day.

Enjoy it!




Some of the other Videos made during the year were

More Images from Mumbai

Sitting on Marine drive near the rocks

The Western side of the Marine drive, left of Churchgate Station, towards Brabourne stadium

Mumbai seems to have a lot of olden day buildings all worth in excess of crores. If a few crores had a speck of dirt in it, would its value diminish? I'd say no :-). The floodlight between the building is the floodlight of the Wankhede Stadium.