No Opposition.... Only Coalition!!!

It all started in that mid winter's day in Bangalore on my way to office. It was absolute ennui out of which this came. Now it’s the season of twenties, so to say. Be it the 20-20 World cup, 20-not so 20 governments etc.

My blog is 20 months old ;-) too. Happy!! You bet I am. Just like a lot can happen over coffee, a lot can change over 20 months. There I was thinking away on my way to work through the tranquility of Lalbagh on cozy afternoons and here I am gasping to catch some breath on the dreadful Hosur Road.

Quite an irony that the pause you take to breathe leaves you with an air of breathlessness. Running stronger is the lone choice available.

Isn't it the case with all our decisions, some leave you with the peace of mind and some tend towards it posing challenges on the way? Ranting too much ... ain’t I?

Talking about other things the state political drama just refuses to die down. It was this topic that formed the central plot of my first entry. And now when similar scenario has prevailed, I thought why not write about it.

The routes I take these days, my work, and personal life have all changed. But the state politics will never change. Stability is something I think the state will never enjoy more so until the kingpin maker HDD is around.

Political drama is selling more than the daily soaps. The way a news channel portrayed old Kannada classics on the episode was absolutely riotous. Imagine classics like “tu tu tu bedappa .. nanna sanga bandu solpa nillapa”, “neene saakida gini” etc., used to echo the state’s political turmoil.

Time can bring in a lot of changes with the common man’s life, but like always some things never change and political prospects in Karnataka is just that.

~Sanj

Bangalore - Outta sight but never Outta Mind

Been long since I sat down to post something new, blame it to the fact that certain places of livelihood don’t let you be yourself. Away from namma Bengaluru, Gurgaon is one such place.

Posting this after almost a fortnight after being back makes me think about the positives and negatives of spending two prime months in a place away from home.
Don’t get me wrong when I say, “anybody who has always stayed with parents, staying alone is surely going to be an experience”, which I myself realized.

Initial Gurgaon days of 40-45 degrees made me realize how vast India really is, though it takes only 2 and half hours to traverse between Bangalore to Delhi. Started feeling proud of the fact that I am from Bangalore, which has an enviable weather, no wonder people who come here to stay, remain stay put. I guess many a times it’s weather that’s the most influencing factor about a place.

We traverse to neighboring states on pretext of work and other reasons, but its not very often you are amazed by the actual diversity on display. Its all fine saying India is diverse based on languages, food, movies, traditions, and what not!!! But the real pulse can be felt only if you are part of the action.

Gurgaon, like you all know is a city growing at an unbelievable rate. You can see nice posh office spaces all around the place, numerous shopping malls catering to different strata of people and also the usual parts of the city which are underdeveloped. Transport is a major hassle here, as you will feel cramped by the sheer quality of the public transport system. Come to think of it, transport scene in Delhi isn’t great either. I won’t talk about Bluelines which I think now is turning red for commuters. Except for Delhi metro and the quality roads, Delhi is yet to get worthy things that a capital city needs to have.

Enough said about the environment. Most interesting like anywhere else is people you get to meet and Gurgaon is no different. I came across many kinds, the talkative, aggressive, humorous, beautiful and normal ones.

There is a knack of studying people and I hope I learn it soon, for it’s an interesting thing to do. Let me share something really pleasant that happened with me in Delhi.
I was on this bus to Connaught place along with my friend, and a girl (Ms. M from now on) boarded the bus with maize in her hand. In Delhi unlike Bangalore bus conductors don’t come to your seat and issue tickets, instead it’s the other way round. So no points for guessing I helped her get the tickets as the bus was crowded. Well we began speaking after that, and that’s when I realized that some people are really blessed with an attitude that makes you envy them. We spoke about our whereabouts and the other usual introductory stuff. But just the way we were opening up to each other, not withstanding the fact that both of us were strangers to one another, blew me away. They say good things don’t last long and how true it is? Suddenly a lady vacated her seat to alight at her stop, and our conversation now took a back seat as Ms.M got a seat.

Call it fate or pure indecisiveness on my part I could not get her contact info as my stop came too quickly for my mind to function.

Bowled over!, well you could say so, but I think I was destined to meet her only once. It was a coincidence that a girl was part of this episode, but in general I think I am starting to like meeting new people.

Apart from all these momentary lapses of reason, you also get to do a lot of sight seeing which I relished during my stay at Gurgaon. Hope my manager does not see this; else he would ask me to go again. :-)

Maybe it might sound as if I'm contradicting myself, but experiences can’t be routines and tourists can’t be locals. Feels good to be back to Bangalore again amongst friends, family and chaotic traffic of course!!!

~Sanju

Brand marketing, bigger than the product ??

Amidst seeing Indo-Bangla cricket series with Live commentary in Telugu and Tamil due to some stupid TV rights problem, I thought a bit more on the ads I saw during the time.

We have some really cool and innovative ads on display out there. For instance take this chewing gum ad for 'happy dent'.

While Googling for the video on youtube, found few more videos which caught my eye.
One of them being for this 'Camlin' marker.

I mean so much creativity for a chewing gum, a marker, is it worth the whole process??? I am yet to understand the kind of stakes on these ads. What might it bring in to the sellers of the product, is it buyers intrested in these products or just provide some arbit source of entertainment on prime time TV. I dont know what other aspects go into promotion, branding and marketing of the product, but i always felt it was the product that led to the rise of the brand. Clear examples being Colgate or even Airtel and Hutch in the recent times.
Shouldn't brands be showcasing ads in order to evoke or rekindle interest in their buyers or even to educate people like me and you for a nobler cause like this one???


I think its a clear case of advertising not utilised to its potential.
What say ???

Sanju

A passing thought...

I was writing a testimonial for one of my friends when i started thinking about a few of them I had written and the time and effort it took me.

Well, might sound like an occupational hazard that has inculcated this kind of thinking in me. But I guess with so much thought put into each one of them, these might make good blog posts. So friends of mine, don't be surprised if you see something about you on my blog.

~Sanju