Bye Bye ODI Cricket

21st December 2012 was supposed to be the end of the world, as predicted by the Mayans way back in time. The same has been trending since last few days on Facebook and one of those caught my eye. It said, "The world is not yet over because Sachin Tendulkar is yet to announce his retirement". It was a funny one but little did we know that 2012 will it be when Sachin would do so. The coincidence is phenomenal, and it is the end of the world for me now when it comes to ODI cricket. 

I am an ordinary mortal to comment whether the decision was right or wrong. It was his decision and I simply have to accept it. And he also has to accept that I won't be able to cheer for any ODI cricket match in future. I just have a single complaint, that he did not let me enjoy his last ODI match. Had I known that, I would have celebrated it in the grandest of ways possible. I am still coming to terms with the fact that he will never sport the blue jersey again, how can I? 

It's not just the affinity towards him that makes me say all this. It's also the harsh fact that no one could replace him as a person. My dad stopped watching cricket when Sunil Gavaskar retired. He resumed it when he saw Sachin playing the way he did. In hindsight, I feel jealous of him now. This void could not be filled by any present day Indian cricketer. Yes, Indian cricketer! There are great cricketers still out there but my heart beats for Indian cricket, and none from the present day crop have touched my heart. I fear no one ever will. It feels like loosing one's love forever. Love, how many forms it can take!

To recollect some of his best ODI innings, I rate the 98 he scored in WC match against arch nemesis Pakistan as the best. I remember having my HSC exam going on during that time, and on the next day of that match I had to appear for my Biology paper. Back then I wanted to go for engineering post HSC so Biology was never really studied that much! On that day, me and my family had come to check out our Panvel house for the first time. We reached back home by afternoon and that's when the match started. Sachin's batting that day was formidable. The six he hit to Shoaib Akhtar was unimaginable. True to be a man of action, the way he guided India to victory that day was sheer class! Ofcourse my Biology paper did not go well the next day, unlike Sachin, I scored just 55 in my Biology paper :P 

Hard to choose the next best inning, between the back to back 100's against Australia in Sharjah and first ever ODI 200 against South Africa. Both are formidable cricketing sides. After much thought, I would pick the 200 inning, as it came at a ripe age of 37. That was a flawless inning, in which he commanded everything that was to happen with the deliveries bowled to him. Dhoni just avoided being spoil sport that day! Twin innings against the Aussies were full of guts and glory. Aussies were like the lions of International cricket and only Sachin could tame them. Then, I would pick the craziest of his innings - 175 against Australia late in 2009. I still coax myself for going down to Pratik's home to see that match as just after I reached he got out. I feel I jinxed him and since then I have never watched Sachin live in action except for his 200. That inning (175) was like vintage Sachin, the man we always wanted to see. Talking about my favourite sixes, his hits to Shoaib Akhtar in WC, Andrew Caddick in WC, Shane Warne in Sharjah and Charles Langeveldt in his 200 inning were the best. When it comes to favourite fours, his hits to Brett Lee in CB series, Dale Steyn in 200 inning and Ben Hilfenhaus in 175 inning were the best. 

Sachin's 100th century was equally emotional for me. I said it back then, and I say it now as well - just because it happened against Bangladesh doesn't mean we should take away his due credit. It happened, and all that matters. But it will never happen again, and that's the end of the matter for me. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, I will miss you the most in ODI cricket. And the day you retire from all forms of cricket will be the day this (cricket) world will end for me. For me, you are the best ODI cricketer the world has ever seen. I feel proud to have witnessed your era, proud to be a maharashtrian like you. But more than anything else, I am proud to be inspired by the kind of person you are. You are, and will always be my hero! God bless :) 

The 'Sales' Person life

Before I begin let me confess, I do not have personal grudges against any Sales person in general. It just occurred to me the peculiarity of Sales guys in general, which has transpired into this post. With this caution I begin my post about how I have been perceiving Sales guys. Caution is the right word actually!

Being into client servicing since joining Komli Media, I had to interact with our Sales guys. As you know, every client has a Sales guy who has brought the business and Client servicing/Account management guy who delivers that business. According to me, an ideal Sales person should be aware of what can be delivered and what cant. Honesty is not a virtue to possess if you want to be a good Sales guy, but being realistic is a must. However, what I have generally observed as Sales behaviour is audacity and narcissism. Sales guys always want to have the last word, and confident about delivering anything for the client - even if it means a pregnant women giving birth to a healthy, full grown baby in the just 4 months! Yes, that was too much, but Sales guys at times are really "too much".

When I begin to realize this common trait I tried to figure out why is that so. The only thing it drilled down to was targets. Targets come from top management and Sales guys have to get business worth that target. Ofcourse the Sales guys are asked to give estimates on quarterly basis as to how much business can they possibly bring in, but how can someone predict business demand accurately. And what about the potential of the account management team, can they deliver that volume of business? The problem is not setting the right expectations with the client! The client will always ask for stars but we can't always deliver those, can we? The general tendency seen is let's get the business at the terms expressed by the client and then see how it goes. The problem arises when expectations cannot me met. In hindsight, the Sales guy has lost repeat business. In business, common sense says that a merchant/brand/company starts earning back invested money only when it starts getting repeat business from customers. This foresight, is thus an essential trait for an ideal Sales guy.

At a personal level, Sales guys are always perceived untrustworthy. Whatever they say, we seem to take it with a pinch of caution, isn't it? They may be saying the truth, but we just cant trust them. And their flair of sounding confident about anything and everything they say seems to be just too good to accept. I wonder what take their family has about them. Are they different with their near and dear ones? Surely something worth finding out. What if they are no different? That would be a very slippery spot, isn't it?

At their end, balance is the key. And for that, understanding the potential of the delivery team is absolutely essential. There are things which can be done cent percent, things which have high chances of being done and certain things which just cant be done. Realizing all these and making bets accordingly will decide the success or failure for the Sales guy. And they better keep their 'Sales' persona away when interacting with friends and family, and during casual conversations with colleagues. This will make sure they experience a great 'Sales' person life!

Play it like Poker

I love playing games (take this literally). And this has been since a very long time now. As a high school kid, I was fascinated by video games and when I got my 1st one in 1997 I was ecstatic about it. Summer vacations were always about taking out my Mitashi video game and tapping the joystick from afternoon to evening. Super Mario, Contra, Tennis, Cricket, Duck Shooting, Bike racing and a few more like these - these were my favorites! This fascination then extended to computers, with added flair of being able to play music, watch movies and type on it along with playing games (yes, back then typing was as much fun as other things available to do on a PC). Dave, Solitaire, Virtual Cop, Mortal Kombat were some of the games I played on PC. Then came my 1st mobile, Nokia 3310 (I still love that phone). Snakes was the eternal game on it. By the time I upgraded my mobile to Sony Ericsson K750i there were umpteen number of games available to play on mobiles and computers, like Street Soccer and EA Sports Cricket 2010. Then came my Apple Ipod Touch and I could explore motion sensing games available on iTunes store. As of today, I love to play Angry Birds on Facebook, and Cricket and Tennis games on Stick Sports. And now I aspire to have myself an Android Tablet and a Sony PS3!

Devices changed, games changed but gaming still persists in me. Gaming as an activity is a boon for a restless mind like mine, as it keeps me engaged. An empty mind can be a devil's workshop, they say, and I know how devilish my mind can be without any sensible activity to indulge in. I won't say I like playing all kind of games. I do have a specific taste, tending towards sports (Cricket, Tennis, Football, Table Tennis) and action games (Counter Strike, Hitman, Max Payne), then comes fighting games (WWE, Boxing, Mortal Combat),  then strategy games (Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Chess) and then random games like Bubble Shooter, Run Like Hell and so on. However, casino games were never really on my gaming list, until I attempted Poker some months back. 

Poker is an addictive casino game. Thanks to its virtual availability, you can play it using pseudo cash but the anxiety of losing and the frenzy of winning a poker game is beyond explanation. You hold 3 cards in your hand and 5 cards are laid down, common for all players. The player with the best 5 cards (5 among his 3 cards + 5 common cards) is the winner of that game. And the outcome of the game can be exponential in either way. Now having played it, I understand how exciting gambling can be, and at the same time how devastating it can be. You can win big time, you can loose big time. But what struck me about this game is it's similarity to the way our life is.

What we do, what we pursue, what we work towards depends upon what is currently available to us in life. Ofcourse we work towards our aspirations and expectations, but these are based on what we already have. If you have completed your M.B.A. having specialized in any vertical and you wish to get a managerial job profile, there are high chances of that to materialize. On the flip side, with the same M.B.A. degree if you expect to land a career in Film industry or Army, chances of that becoming a reality are very very less. Not that you can't do it, or it hasn't happened before, but all those instances have been exceptions. And exceptions are rare; you can't guarantee being an exception with as much confidence. Some or all of your 3 cards decide if you will win that poker game or not, and not the cards laid down. You have no idea about the cards laid down until they open up, but the one's in your hand give you a fair indication. 

If you are holding a Queen of Diamonds, an Ace of Spade and a Nine of Hearts, you can bet towards getting a pair of either of these cards which could win that game for you. But when you are holding a Three of Club, a Seven of Hearts and a Two of Diamond all you can do is hope that your challenger has worst cards than yours. More often that not, we worry about things in life - the one's which we can control and even the one's which we cannot. When in a position like the second instance, I can choose to withdraw or pass my bet but I certainly cannot make the other players card come out to be worse than mine, can I? 

This is how life has to be played, based on what you already have, and what can you most likely achieve with what you already have. Outcome of things that you can control will depend upon what you already have. I aspire to have a self owned house in south mumbai and there are two approaches to achieving it. One is luck shining on me in some form of contest or will or dowry which gets that for me. Other is to work towards getting to Senior Account Manager, then Group Account Manager or Brand Manager and eventually reaching upto mid management level and in the meanwhile making sound investments (in property and gold, as these are ever appreciating assets). If this happens, I can liquidate my investments and fulfill my aspiration, and chances for these events to happen are far more realistic than luck simply shining on me. Not that I won't be happy being lucky but the happiness regarding fulfilling my aspiration by employing the 2nd approach will be much more filling, isn't it?

Life is a game of poker. Depend more on the cards in your hand. Hope for other cards to turn out your way, but make the most of the cards you already have. Those cards will give you your wins with highest probabilities and even higher satisfaction :)

Ek Hota Tiger

I know it's cliche to use this kind of title to describe the man this post is about, but honestly I could not come up with anything else. And I don't feel the need to come up with anything else, as this title truly describes the man who passed away today - Shiv Sena Commander-in-Chief Shri Balasaheb Thackeray.

For starters, I must admit that I don't know much about this man. By this I mean that I have not followed his political career as closely as I have followed Sachin's cricketing career. Having said so, I am writing this to portray my respect for the command of this man. I don't see anyone from political or social-economical background who exhibits the kind of command this man did. Probably, Adolf Hitler and Netaji Subhashchandra Bose were people who had similar kind of command. A friend updated his FB status saying "Love and Respect come out of love. Command comes from fear.". And as there are exceptions to everything, this man got his command from his people out of love! Such was the caliber of this man; he was truly exceptional!

You hardly find such multidimensional personalities anymore. A witty artist, a thought-provoking writer and editor, an inspirational orator and an audacious leader. Man with a great sense of humour. I am sure to have missed some facets of his personality but the point is clear - there were very few like him and there will be very few. 

His influence on state politics was so magnanimous that it almost felt like he was running a parallel government. So many people from different walks of life depended on him to bail them out of difficulties. He was like 'The Godfather' for so many people. His speech rejuvenated the audience, so much so that they were willing to do anything he asked without question. Much like the Pied Piper, he controlled the minds of his audience. We people, very often, look out for someone to follow and when that person is like this man, you can't ask for anybody else, can you?

Some of his perspectives don't go down too well with me. And it's not that you can't have difference of opinion with your leader. But what I shall miss is the impact of this maharashtrian personality on state and Indian politics. Being a maharashtrian, it feels great to know some people from my community standing out from the crowd. Shivaji Maharaj, Lokmanya Tilak, Veer Savarkar, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar and a few more such individuals give me the feeling of pride. And Balasaheb Thackeray is among the top members of this list.

The day Sachin retires from cricket, it will create such a void for me that I may not watch cricket anymore. Today, after this man's 'retirement' from life, I sense a vaccum left behind in me to look upto any state or national politician. The current crop of top level politicians and bureaucrats lack the general vision which he had about running this country. The vision of managing this country just as Shivaji Maharaj ruled Maharashtra in his time. And I am afraid that vision will never see the light of the day ever, coz we have lost the visionary with that lifetime objective. Balasaheb Thackeray, we have certainly lost you but your personality shall remain among us. You preached, "Every man for his motherland, every man for his community!" and we hope someone turns up to do just that. May your soul rest in peace and inspire future generations. 

All hail the 'Hindu Hriday Samraat'. All hail the original Shiv Sainik - Shri Balasaheb Thackeray!

The First time

This Gandhi Jayanti I am gonna fly! We at Komli are going to Goa for our annual offsite. We will travel to n fro by air, and it's my first time :) I am so very excited about it. My fantasies about air travel are about being able to spot clouds, passing by them, observe how miniature would buildings look. I might be in for surprises here, or maybe all this has no chance of happening. But I don't mind, it doesn't dent my excitement a wee bit.

 

I remember being similarly excited about the best phone I ever had. Sony Ericsson K 750i was simply superb and it was worth 16 grand back when I bought it. I recollect the research I went through to decide which phone to buy. On day one, I went through it's product guide to figure out every available feature. And now, when I had to buy a new phone it wasn't the same kind of excitement. Yes, the research still did happen but it just helped in narrowing down the decision.

 

The same thing happened when I bought my first car, left for a road trip to my native place in my car, first trekking experience, first Goa trip, and so many such 'first' things. How many of these am I still excited about? 

 

Well, I don't have a count for that! There are a few things which I feel excited about doing again and again. And these things become hobbies or interest activities. But there are high chances that these hobbies, while doing these for the first time ever I had been super excited. If I had shown the same level of excitement while trying anything new I would have had much more' hobbies'.

 

Excitement is good, really good. It's like a power booster, adds up to your desire for doing anything. But don't get bogged down when someone says that you need not be so exited, it ain't that cool. Probably they weren't much excited while doing it their first time. You are your best judge. Be super excited, experience it and then decide if it's worth being excited next time around. My Goa trip certainly is :)

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