The Art of Living Day

I believe some of you must be aware about Art of Living foundation setup by Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji. Back in 2007 I had enrolled for one of their course YES!+ all because of Pushkar. He wanted to do it again and thought I would be good company. I had nothing much to do except waiting for my CET results so decided to pass my time by enrolling in this course. Back then, I was not at all aware about the course, what's in it for me, why should I do it. It was more like, "kee farak painda hai yaar, kar lete hai". 

As per my guesstimate, the batch was about 100+ members. It was a mix of college going guys and girls, working people, and slightly older gentlemen and ladies. Introduction session which happened on the 1st day was a bit awkward in the beginning; I mean how do you expect to be normal saying "I am [Your name], I belong to you!" to anyone you are talking to the very first time! It was an ice breaker session as later on most of  us were OK with it. Orientation session began and rules were summoned to us. We were expected to be punctual, avoid tea/coffee/aerated beverages for the entire duration of the course and strictly keep away from non veg food. Thankfully it was just a 7 day course so I could give it a shot, otherwise keeping away from tea and non veg food would have made me think if I should continue the course or not :P

The course was going good. It was a good mix of exercise, yoga, activities and discussions. Sudarshan kriya was ofcourse the highlight of this course. It's a breathing exercise which rejuvenates your mind and body, you feel fresh and active upon doing it. We were told that this exercise provides much better results if done in a group, and most of my batchmates did meet once a week for several weeks after the course to jointly do this kriya. Last day of the course was very good. We had the best sudarshan kriya that day. We were also told about the reasons behind keeping away from hot/cold beverages and non veg food, that they take almost 2-3 days to digest in our body thus creating imbalance. Before we all parted, we were given paper plates and markers and asked to write testimonials for everyone. All of us preferred some guys/girls among everyone, so made sure to be the first ones to write on their plates. That way we had maximum space to write something cheeky for that person ;) That paper plate is a nice memento. 

2 weeks after the course culminated we all were asked to meet up at one of our instructors' house in Campacola Compound, Worli. A memorable activity was coming up for all of us. We were asked to form teams of 5-6 people in each. All of us were asked to keep away our cellphones and carry just Rs 10 per person. Our task for the day was to go out and earn as much money as we can and come back by 5 pm. The team which earns maximum wins the competition. The only condition was not to tell the real reason behind doing that activity. This came as a disbelief to all of us. How are you supposed to go out with just Rs 10 in your wallet and earn money? But that was the task and we had to do it somehow!

Our team, we were 5 of us, 2 girls and 3 guys - Anul, Divyata, Manish, Rutwij and I. We came down and started discussing what to do. Rutwij saw a bunch of guys playing cricket. He came up with the idea of betting with them, which seemed good, I mean we believed he could do what he was gonna bet for. We approached those fellows and Rutwij tells them that he will hit 2 sixes in an over and if he does that we get Rs 20, else we pay them Rs 20. They agreed and our guy took guard, while they decided who would bowling. All of us started to cheer for our team mate as their bowler was ready with his medium pace bowling. That free hit over read 0, 4, 6, 0, 4, 0; and we lost Rs 20. 

With Rs 30 left we decided not to take up any further betting and instead find hard work which would pay us. We split in 2 groups and decided to meet again at a particular spot at around 2 pm. Anul joined me and we left in search for some work, so did our team mates. We approached manager of a restaurant called Viva Paschim at Worli naka. Anul told him that we needed some money for which we could take up some work in the restaurant. He agreed and gave us work, I was made to wash dishes and cutlery, while Anul had to set up tables! Each of us did our task for the next 30 odd minutes when the manager came back and asked us to stop. He gave us Rs 50 for the task and also gave us some food to eat. We asked him if we could carry some of it for our team mates, upon which he gave us extra food. He was really benevolent to us :)

With our tummies full we set out for the next task. We wanted to meet up our team mates and share food with them, but no cellphones! Anyways, so our next stop was a Honda showroom. We approached the manager there and asked for some work. But we were not lucky this time around. Dejected, we came out and kept walking until we reached a petrol pump. I approached cars which were there and asked them for some money in return of wiping car windows. Some of them agreed and one guy paid us as much as Rs 50. We collected around Rs 120 with this task. By that time it was almost 2 pm so we set out to meet our team mates. They were happy to see us, but more happy to see that we have some food for them :) It was fun to see them finish all of it in no time! Then all of us went to a nearby temple and spoke to someone about giving us some work. He said we can take care of footwear of devotees in return of few bucks. We did that for almost an hour and had earned peanuts. So we quit, looking for something else.

We reached a nearby colony and thought of asking there for some work. We approached few people there and realized that it was a colony of lower middle class people. While speaking to us they thought that we are doing this as a part of a MTV Roadies kind of a show. They were all super excited but were feeling awkward to give us any work. We did some odd jobs for them like cleaning up their courtyard, cutting vegetables, etc but did not accept any money in return. They were willing to give us, but we just couldn't accept it :) Feeling happy about ourselves we left that colony, realizing that it was almost 5 pm. Time to return.

All teams gathered by around 5:15 pm and everyone of us was exhausted, yet had a pleasant face. All of us were discussing among each other what all we did and how was the experience. One team had came back with zero money; they bought some lemons, sugar & water to sell lemonade. They invested their entire corpus in it but did not get a single customer. Other team went to Dadar Parsi colony and asked for money as donation and as we generally expect from benevolent Parsis, they did receive quite some money. Another team went and worked at Copper Chimney restaurant at Haji Ali, where they not only got paid well but also had a good lunch. That team was the winner, with an earning of Rs 2000 odd. 

That was the day I realized the worth of hard earned money. My parents kept telling us about spending wisely, until you understand what goes into earning it. And I did understand it truly that day. Alas, all the money earned by all teams was collected and given away for some NGO. All that is left is the experience and that lovely paper plate :)

Standing up to his name and fame

I had this in mind since a long time but never got a chance to pen in down until today. And it couldn't have been better to write this on the day when first season of Satyamev Jayate ends. Aamir Khan, you deserve a standing ovation from me. This is not because you created SJ, neither because you are such a big star, nor for being a terrific actor and not even for being a good person. I salute you for your endeavor as human being, for there really are very few like you who understand who they are, what they owe to the society at large and make genuine attempts to give it back.

Now you don't get any prize for guessing who's my favorite Bollywood actor, I guess I have made it very obvious indeed! This goes back to the year 1998 with the release of Ghulam. Apart from his acting, the race against the train sequence, "Das Das ki Daud", is still fresh in my memory. That stunt was one of its kind; atleast I had not seen something like that before. When I heard and read that Aamir did it himself I was truly amazed! He had the balls to pull it off and he did it wonderfully, as we all know. He also gave vocals to a song in the film, "Aati kya Khandala", which became hit overnight and soon other contemporary actors followed Aamir likewise. His IAS officer role in Sarfarosh in 1999 had inspired me so much so that I wanted to be an IAS officer myself. I guess as a film star Aamir has never had failure since Sarfarosh; all his films right till today have done very well and his filmmakers have certainly recovered much more than their invested pennies. Today, the hype for his upcoming films Talaash and Dhoom 3 are already so high that producers of these films need not invest in marketing these films. Cinema halls will most probably run house full shows once these films hit theaters. 

Aamir has displayed a propensity to do unconventional things, in his career and his life. He got married to Reena, parsi by religion, at a young age. Few years back they separated and he is now married to Kiran Rao, hindu by religion. In his career things like choosing scripts such as Lagaan, Earth and Rang De Basanti, building up a great physique for Ghajini or shedding all of it for a young look in 3 Idiots, have all been unique. He puts much thought into his character as we can sense from his hairdo, physique, script choices and performances in all his films. His directorial debut with a film like Taare Zameen Par was a master stroke. Such a sensitive yet ignored topic like Dyslexia was presented with such uncanny perspective. Not taking away any credit from Amole Gupte who assisted him in the film, but it feels like only Aamir could have done it as brilliantly as we all know. His performance and it's impact in 3 Idiots is so overwhelming that it has certainly influenced the perspective of parents towards education in totality. Of late, Aamir has shown his genius in marketing his movies to perfection. He's been like Pied Piper when it comes to advertising his films; highly successful in attracting audiences to theaters in huge numbers. He also repaid his debt to his uncle Nasir Hussain by launching his nephew Imran Khan with a bang. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na was a simple film and had it not been for the promotional genius of Aamir, it might had not been as hit as it did. Nasir Hussain had successfully launched Aamir in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, way back in 1988 and since then it was never looking back for Aamir.

And now, after more than two decades of successful career and enough money, he comes up with Satyamev Jayate. It's a wonderful show no doubt, but what has gone into giving it birth and bringing it up makes it even more special. It's content, based on facts and expert analysis, makes it worth noticing. People who come to the show and speak up seem genuine, and not scripted like other "reality" shows. The array of chosen subjects in last 12-13 episodes show the reach of dilemmas we as Indians face. It has a philanthropy aspect to it as well and with Aamir, people are more willing to donate be it through SMS or online/card payments. Then, Aamir decides to broadcast this show on national television as well for maximum reach and at the same time reach people who cannot afford cable/DTH connections. Going on air at 11 am on a Sunday morning, just the thought behind choosing it shows his genius! Audiences did not have a good show to watch over breakfast/brunch. As we sip in tea/coffee on a relaxed Sunday morning, coming to terms with harsh realities bothering our society and being provoked to take action is slightly easier. Aamir created a new time slot altogether, thereby attracting marketers and thus helping broadcasting channels earn additional advertising revenue. Entertainment quotient of the show is maintained as well. Title song is brilliantly written and composed, and the songs performed at the end of each episode have all been very sensitive and soulful. 

But we need to look beyond all this, for him to come up with a show like SJ speaks volumes about his character. It's one thing to be famous and other to use fame the right way. Aamir, as unconventional as ever, has used his fame for the society as brilliantly as for himself. No one can deny that this show is his honest effort to try and help the society at large. His popularity is because of the love and affection of the society and his payback couldn't have been better. We should not compare apples to oranges but still, has Aamir's contemporaries given back to the society as much as he has? I don't want to get into this debate, it can be done in another post. But I hope you get my point. 

Aamir means Leader, and Aamir Khan has lived up to his name and fame like very few. He's often referred to as Perfectionist, and he has earned it by being so consistent over all these years. He ain't a perfect person because nobody ever can. But his effort is no less than perfect, at anything he does. Satyamev Jayate is a golden feather in his cap and in years to come people are going to remember him more for it than any of his films. Hats Off Aamir, for being the person you are!

Suffer Khan

Back in my MBA days I remember our HR professor, Mr. Cabral telling us about common reasons for employees switching over to new jobs. He quoted, "Contrary to popular belief, salary hike is not such a restless reason for job change. Bad boss is!" And I was (un)lucky enough to face this fact in my first ever job upon completing MBA. 

Those were some of the most inglorious days of my life. Global recession had hit people like me high and dry with no jobs. Frustration had crept in and erupted out upon citing the slightest of chances. I was battling on personal front as well. Amidst all this chaos I receive a call one fine day about a job opening in Jawed Habib for the profile of Project Manager. I was so anxious that I did not even find out about the company and went for the interview on the same day. I was low on confidence and so never thought I would make it. But I did; they offered a meager salary and I readily accepted. 

I had no clue what was the profile. I remember day one being spent visiting banks for some paper work for franchisees. I had no clue what franchisee is, nothing about the bank work, nothing about anything at all. It was all on the job training. The summer intern who was handing over his list of tasks and job responsibilities to me was of some help. I got into groove in a few days, thanks to reading magazines about Franchisee business. I was recruited as Project Manager but was working as Site Incharge, Project Manager, Sales Executive, Vendor Development Executive and Franchisee Assistance all at the same time. I had a new set of visiting cards every week. The funny part is, the guy who got my cards printed used to ask me, "So what's your designation for today?" (LOL, LMAO, ROFL)

Suffer Khan, as I shall refer to him to veil his identity, was a ruthless boss, to the core. He wanted employees who will get his job done no matter what. He did not have the time and energy to train his employees, give them enough chances to cover up. He was a Blackberry Boy, always bombarding us with texts to be updated with what's happening at our end. He has made me improve communication over mobile, bothering me at any time of the day, across any day of the week and expecting replies within a time limit of 2 minutes. There were times when he didn't even let me take peaceful shit! But one thing made him more negatively inclined towards me; I was not doing a good job. 

There was nothing wrong with my dedication or hard work, it's just that I was not meant for that job. I was a mis-hire and I was coming to terms with it. He was not. I remember him sending me out to one of our franchisee outlets and making me work there past midnight, also expecting me to reach office on time the next day (Mall was at Vashi and I reached home early morning at 5:30 am and this guy expects me to reach office at Andheri by 10 am!). My colleague and my only good friend to share all this with was Harman and he knew what I was going through. He used to comfort me, giving hope and confidence to do well. Later he started asking me to look out for a new job but I wasn't getting any. He told me one day that he heard Suffer Khan saying, "I don't want employees who cannot perform. If they don't go on their own, we will curse them out!" I had nothing much to do except to keep improving and keep going, simultaneously looking out for another job. But my efforts were not enough, as I was a mis-fit for the existing job and unlucky to find any new job.

Till that time I was constantly telling myself to improve, become good for the job at hand. But it suddenly changed over one rainy evening. Our office boy was on leave and it was just me and Harman working at office. Suffer Khan comes to office and tells us a prospective franchisee is on his way. I dug out the required paper work, so did Harman. The party came and were sitting in the conference room. Suffer calls at my desk, asks me to order some snacks for the party. I order snacks which are delivered almost instantly. I took it to the conference room and was about to leave when Suffer says, "Where are you going? Who's gonna serve this?" I was taken aback, didn't know what hit me! I took it back, served it on a plate and was about to go back in the conference room. Two drops of tears rolled down my cheek when Harman saw me. Looking at me, he tightened his right fist portraying, "It's OK. Buck up!" I went in, served the plate and was about to leave when Suffer passes a remark I could never forget; "Now that's like an MBA!". 

I came out to my desk totally disheartened. I didn't even have the courage of resigning then and there because I had landed up in that job after so much waiting and couldn't blow it up like this. I did not mention this incident to my parents as I knew they would want me to leave the job the next day. I was too ashamed to narrate this to my friends. I gulped down all my anger, ego and everything else and just passed it off. But I had made up my mind that day about one thing; the day I get another job, no matter how good or bad it would be, I am leaving this goddamn job!

I guess even He could not take that shit anymore, so He brought a good job opportunity to me. I went for the interview, got through to the final round. After a week or so, I received a call by Mr. Anshuman Misra asking if I was ready to join Logicserve. The package was better than my then current package, plus weekend off. I had no reason to rethink, nor did Suffer Khan when I sent him my resignation email. He replied, "It's OK. All the Best." the next minute!

And today I am venturing in the field of Digital marketing with such happiness. Professionally I am doing good, touch wood! My work is appreciated and I am being paid decent enough as well. So I should also thank Suffer Khan for cursing me out. Just one thing, Suffer could have sat down with me and told me, "Dude, it's not happening. You should leave". Trust me, I would have done that. I am sensible enough to accept it and move on. Point is, it''s always better to tell someone such things by words and not by actions, it's much clear that way!

A Song to Remember

As a music enthusiast I like to carry my entire playlist with me every time. Commuting to office is often crowded, so hardly get a chance to read. But accompanying music is convenient, with two small earphones plugged in playing my favorite tracks. As the playlist sifts through one song after another, it lands up on a track which rings a bell in my mind. It may or may not be your most favorite track but your mind locates how did this track end up in your playlist. You remember the person who passed it to you by bluetooth transfer or usb drive or a cd/dvd maybe. So here goes a few songs which flash in my mind the person who gave it to me.  

Thanks to Viraj I could experience the phenomenon of Pink Floyd. It's the most different kind of music I have heard till date, not to mention the fantastic lyrics as well. "Wish you were here" and "Time" are great in lyrics and "Shine on you crazy diamond" stands apart in music. I became more fond of Rafi sahaab than I already was because of Pushkar. He gave me quite a few songs by Rafi sahaab but I distinctly remember the track, "Apni toh har aah ek toofan hai". Tushar had set up this track as his caller tune during our 2nd year MET days and I felt so relieved listening to it every single time. It was Annie's song by John Denver, a.k.a. "You fill up my senses". I also got the romantic instrumental "Havana Sunset" by Govi from him. And how can I forget "Ghita" by child artist Cleopatra Stratan passed on to me by Chirantan during summer internship at Tata Chemicals.

Abirami gave me a few songs of which "Cry" by Rihanna and "Gumm summ gumm" from the movie Paa I vividly recollect. Shweta, an ex-colleague, had given me "When you say nothing at all" by Alison Krauss, before which I always thought that the same track sung by Ronan Keating in the movie Notting Hill was the original number. Pratik Khot and Pratik Sabnis have shared some great Aatif Aslam tracks with me of which "Aadat", "Woh Lamhe", "Ehsaas", "Jal Pari", "Tere Bin" are all my favorites. Ameya passed on some memorable marathi tracks from one of Sandeep - Salil album like "Ayushavar bolu kahi" and "Gadi sutli".

I feel remembering someone with a song as reference is perhaps a good kind of memory. Every song in a person's playlist is there because he or she likes it in some or the other way. There are songs which are mood specific and songs for all moods. But when some of these remind you of someone, they generally end up bringing up a beam on your face. I hope some geek mind takes a cue from this and builds up a Facebook app around this. It certainly is a good way of remembering people and being connected with them.

 

Why (not) so Social?

As promised on my Facebook profile, I am back with a blog post about an experiment which I did a few days back. I shall call it a social experiment as I did it on my social media profile. A few days back I got this crazy idea of testing the reaction to a change in my relationship status. It had been a while since I had posted any update which received substantial likes and comments. Besides, I had been reading and hearing a lot about the coming of Social media and how it has started affecting us and so on. It was fodder enough to just go ahead with the idea.

Since I set up my Fb profile, my relationship status had been 'Single'. Few days back, I changed it to 'It's Complicated'. I wanted to know what happens. Who takes notice of it, what would be a general reaction by those who do, who would call me up to discuss it and so on. Statistics people would understand this, that I had an idea of the outcome of this initial hypothesis even though I did not draft it down. To put in simple words, I kind of had an idea who would be the people who would take notice. But, surprisingly, the hypothesis was wrong. As an after thought, it ain't a surprise that it was wrong.

So the results of this experiment are as follows. Very few people 'liked' the status change but hardly any one commented. However, none of them were people I expected. Two of my friends, who I thought are not so frequent on Fb, happen to call me asking details about it. One of them had not been in touch for a while, so it was a good point for him to catch up with me. Another friend called me shortly after the update to know more. When I told her it was fake she did not accept it, took a while to convince her. Another friend, who's a colleague, did not 'like' or 'comment' but did ask me about it. 

Stage 2 of that experiment was to switch back status to 'Single'. For this update, comments were more than likes. One of the comments was about me being confused, by an acquaintance I barely know. My sis, who had noticed my status change, did not comment until I declared all this being an experiment.

Conclusion from all this is that man being a social animal since the very beginning, has always been curious about what's happening around. People around you are more often up to date with anything substantial which happens in your life (Just observe how many people like and/or comment when one of your friends updates relationship status to 'Married'). People just love to be updated about you; they may or may not speak to you about it but they would always like to know. And there has been no other platform like Facebook which has made all this so simple for us.

From the entire gamut of Social media platforms, I would separate out Facebook and keep all others aside, simply because of the impact it has on us. You can be in touch with people you are interested in, get a grasp of a person looking at their profile, check out vacation and wedding pics of your friends, and their friends. With the fairly new ticker addition, at the top right, you get a real time update on what's happening with people in your friend list. You can express your views, let out your feelings there, to get attention and sympathy, taunt someone in particular (I have heard about some couples fighting over something like, "Magar tune Facebook pe woh post kyun dala!").

Facebook is also excellent at generating influence. You see an ad on the right side talking about a funky tshirt, with a caption saying Mr. X liked it. Now this Mr. X happens to be a person of interest, or of good regard for you. So you go ahead, click on that link, check out the funky tshirts on offer, and may well go on to purchase a few.

Facebook has already acquired much attention of marketers and becomes a bigger rival to Google each passing day. Demographic targeting is perhaps it's biggest USP. In Google Search advertising, Google cannot show any ads until a user types a search query. The initiator is the user. However, in Facebook, if a user's profile matches the targeted set of customer, that guy will start seeing ads right away. The ad format of Facebook is touch better than Google text ads. A good graphic element is eye catchy and the follow text does the remaining task. Add to that the average time spent on Facebook compared to Google Search; it is much higher thus gives marketers more time to get a conversion! (sale, form fill up, or just user noticing something).  Mr. Zuckerberg certainly has a winner in his hands, isn't it? No wonder Facebook has done so well at the Wall Street, becoming the biggest Technology IPO in history.

I remember a friend calling me to ask about this experiment. I told her the truth and then she came up with a crazier idea. She asked me to update the status from 'It's Complicated' to 'In a Relationship' before coming back to 'Single'. That would have been more devilish I guess, but it wasn't required. All I can pass on from doing all this is that people in your friend list are more or less aware about you and you can do such things to grab their eyeballs from time to time, something like below. It has to be creative though, and never repetitive :)

 

In pursuit of next inning

Logicserve Family

After 2 years and 8 months of a wonderful professional stint at Logicserve (LS) I am now moving to Komli, albeit with nervousness and excitement. Good time passes swiftly, a cliche which does hold true. My time at LS was nothing less than a great experience. Today on my last day, I can't stop expressing my gratitude and feelings for LS, the people and the learning I have gained here. The journey has been full of highs and lows creating memories for my lifetime. 

I came across LS thanks to my batch mate Prajakta Mahajan. She happens to be a relative to our CEO Prasad Shejale who through her reference came to MET for campus placements. It was recession time and I wasn't getting through anywhere so applied for this opening with high hopes, with no clue about the business of LS and profile on offer. I was shortlisted, called for an interview at Mahape office. I didn't know such a place existed close to Mumbai. Prasad sir conducted my interview and I felt it did not go that well. So, when our then VP - Sales and Marketing Anshuman Misra called me asking, "When can you join Rohan?" I was totally flabbergasted. It was a difficult time for me from both personal and professional perspective so getting through was so much relief. I took the offer without any hesitation and joined on 3rd August 2009.

Pushkar, Me and Pratik during initial LS days

I was allocated to Broadplace PPC team which managed PPC campaigns for UK based clients. Sheetal Patil was my team lead and I had heard about her being very strict and a tyrant. I was a good lad I guess, coz she did not bother me much. I learned as much as I can and got to work on live accounts soon, still unaware as to what was I actually doing. 2 months into the job I was fed up of not knowing the exact nature of work and feedback from superiors. I decided to speak to Anshuman sir about it. We did speak, and he said, "Feedback will find a way to you, so never ask for it". Pratik and Pushkar also joined LS at around that time and I had actually started learning since then. 

Offsite at Palas Resort - 2009

Pratik introduced me to the business of LS - Digital marketing and I realized how cool it was. Since then, it was never looking back. I knew I was in the right vertical and made up my mind to make up my career in it. This renewed interest probably showed up in my work and thus I was nominated for Best Emerging Employee award, which I won, having spent just over 3 months in LS. Pratik, Pushkar and I used to discuss about our accounts, what new we learned and tried, which news and companies to follow and so on. Very soon we found our way in apt sub-departments. By February 2010 I was offered the profile of Team Lead which was a pleasant surprise. Our then COO Hemant Manglani and George sir were responsible for this.

My SEM team at LS with James

Diwali celebrations at LS

I took over a team of 6 and by the time I moved on to other department, our team was 12 member strong with a good mix of SEM Specialists and Executives. Together we managed high number of accounts and moved ahead from strength to strength. The tussle between Comms team and our team was again a good learning experience, as eventually we understood their side of story and so did they. Weekly review meetings with Anshuman sir and Prasad sir were the best reason to be in constant touch with senior management to discuss matters of concern, progress and more learning. It was a great sense of achievement when our team crossed the milestone of managing over 50K GBP worth fees every month.  

Offsite at Zoia resort - 2010

After spending close to 2 years in SEM department I was feeling a bit bored because of the routine. I wanted something new to do, to learn. During our offisite I became aware about the plans of Web Properties team headed by Vikram Chande for 2011. I was genuinely interested to be a part of it and I approached Anshuman sir who was by then Senior VP - Operations and Sales. He was happy about my decision but asked to create a resource to replace myself before heading to Web Properties. I had a good successor in Cyrus, so I could switch very soon. And thus I joined the best team at LS in 2011 - Web Properties.

Chilling out at Dapoli with Web Properties team

It was a lonely period when I joined Web Properties. Pratik and Pushkar, my best buddies, had recently left their LS jobs. Thanks to Sushant, I did not feel lonely for long. I was accepted as a part of the team very soon. Web Properties was the best department to learn and execute ideas. Interaction with Vikram and Prasad sir was so damm interesting that I was sure I was doing something really happening. Here again the team grew from just 3 to 11 when I decided to hang my boots in LS. I am proud to be a part of this team which is so very close to me. Our entire pack is full of interesting lads who are good at work as well. More than that, the kind of fun we all do is most amazing. The best part though is other departments envy us, which is so damm exciting!

25th Birthday celebrated at LS

Personally I achieved a lot in LS, right from iPod touch, mobile phones, microwave to buying my first car and 1 BHK flat. I have met some people who are friends for a lifetime, like Abirami, Rewati, Sushant, Ajeet, Pooja, Sandeep Dhar and a few more. This is apart from all the learning and industry experience which I've gained. Knowing and working closely with people like Prasad sir, Rohit sir, Ajay, Anshuman sir, Vikram, George sir, Sam, Vidya and Ashish has been superb. I can't neatly express my gratitude to LS for all this. I turned 25 here in LS and it was the best birthday for me in a long time.

Everything except my exit from LS has been the best. I expected my exit to be better than it was. I have no regrets though, as I understand the circumstances in which that decision was taken. As a professional venture, LS was my first love and thus it will always be special to me. The decision to leave LS was not an easy one but I knew time had come. Just want to appreciate everyone's effort in making my experience at LS worthwhile. And I sincerely express the fact that I have not done anything which could harm LS in any way from rivals. All ideas and secrets are safe with me, so please do not worry. I expected a bit of trust though from LS about it, but as I said, no regrets! I will always be among those who are eagerly awaiting continued success for LS and in all probabilities I would love to have a second innings at LS for a much broader role in future. In order to shape up my Digital marketing career I am moving into Komli to learn new things and work in newer markets. It would be great to utilize all the knowledge I gain over the period for LS. For now though, I am moving on to my next innings. I hope it is atleast as successful as my first innings. I am sure of your best wishes for the same :) Thank you all my LS family, will miss you!

Celebrating Facebook success of Couponraja

Paradox is the way of life

Consistency in academics was a prime concern for my father in my school days. He used to be really upset with me if I scored lower than my previous test results, even if the difference was minor. My cousin, who was also my tuition teacher, made sure my father is aware if I am not focusing enough on studies and when complaints were constant, my dad used to beat the shit out of me. Once I got my test results in which I performed poor than my previous test. My cousin told me that she informed my dad and he was very angry. She said, "Be prepared. Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad!" That scared the hell out of me.

My dad being a Police man, his beating was rough and painful. All the while in the bus commute back home, I was getting petrified of getting hurt, and go school the next day with swollen face and bruised back. With heavy steps I reached the entrance of my building and suddenly all my fear was gone! I wasn't scared to face my dad's beating any more. I was totally prepared for it. But (And) my dad did not beat me up that day!

Now switch back to recent time. I was trying to get into a company since second half of 2011. But for some reason I was not even being considered for the job on offer, even with relevant experience and skill set. After almost 6 months of trying hard to just get an interview call nothing was happening; I gave up. I thought it was not meant to happen. Just a few days later I got that interview call, in February this year. I was asked to work on an assignment as well. I did all that but really had no hopes at all. But (And) I got that job in April this year!

My new employer wanted me to join within a month. That wasn't possible as official notice period at my ex employer was 2 months. I negotiated my notice period with my new employer, to join in 45 days. But I didn't imagine being relieved in this much time, because of handovers and transfer of responsibilities. I expected my ex employer to make me serve entire 2 months just to trouble me or get more time to try and retain me. But (And) when I approached my super boss regarding resignation I was relieved from my duties on the same day!

You get late to office at times and try to hurry up. There's chaos on display with you missing out on few things on the way. Sometimes you just give up the idea of reaching in time. But (And) those are the times when you somehow manage to reach on time without getting late remark! Is this a common observation for you? Am I over analyzing these random experiences?

Maybe God's act is at play in such cases. Some wise-guy once told me, "Never give up, you just might win! ". But when you really give up maybe God works out his magic. When you are actually prepared for the worst, just then it doesn't happen! This may not apply always but I believe it will apply for everything in our destiny. But (And) we can't fake it, I think. You really need to be prepared to loose out on it if you want it to happen; quite a paradox, isn't it? I hope I have unraveled this mystery of life correctly, and if so, I know now to be prepared for the worst for the best to happen!