Games People Play

O’ what games these people play,

Though they are made up of clay,

They rule the earth so they portray,

They are ready to fight and kill and slay,

For tenets that their ancestors lay,

Without realizing they have gone astray,

You are friend or foe, say ‘yes’ say ‘nay’,

Doing this they feel terrorism is at bay,

But a greater threat faces them each day,

For they believe that if you can you may,

While the sun is shining for sure make hay,

Some global warming the wise men say,

Is causing all this change and decay,

And snowfall in the month of may,

Is dear Mother Earth’s subtle way,

To tell us that she is in dismay,

Reduced Carbon emissions the scientists say,

Could give us some time and hope’s ray,

Or else our children would have to pay,

For the damage we are causing to earth today,

And for sure they would curse us and say,

O’ what games did those people play.

BABY CATHERINE

There was a baby cute and small,

She was loved by one and all.

But God had something else in store,

She died at the age of 3 no more.

The reason for her death they say,

Was an urn which was made of clay.

Which fell down from top of where she sat,

From an almarah beside the woolen mat.

An accident it was termed too soon,

They said for doubt there was no room.

But one person who had the nagging doubt,

The mother, she cried 'MURDER' aloud.

But who could it be asked the press,

The answer could be anybody's guess.

The baby was buried in the sacred grounds,

With flowers and trees and grassy mounds.

She wore a white gown with beautiful lace,

She was smiling for the parents' solace.

As time passed by and it became old news,

And when people stopped expressing their views.

The town cemetery man was found,

Dead while taking his night round.

The man he died in unusual ways,

With his head turned round the autopsy says.

The grave of baby Catherine alone,

Was empty with the missing tombstone.

The Father of the Church was afraid,

That foundations for revenge had been laid,

He prayed for Baby Catherine,

Who had by then turned very mean.

She looked nasty with skin pale and dead,

And with her eyes which were blood red.

She had her sweet voice and the drool,

Except it was to make a fool.

Of those who dared to venture late,

She made them meet a similar fate.

The one she had loved like she loved no other,

Was her father's mom and her grandmother.

Catherine would spend hours with her,

Listening to stories of God and Lucifer.

But she never knew being a girl was sin,

And that she would be murdered by her kith and kin.

Her Grandma had wanted a boy they said,

Who would carry the family name instead.

But it was Catherine the girl who was born,

In the winter chill of a december morn.

The grandmother was extremely sad,

Was on the verge of going mad.

While the parents celebrated the birth of their daughter,

She plotted the killing of her own grand daugther.

She won the confidence of one and all,

By playing, story-telling, feeding, et al.

And on the fateful day she placed,

The urn on the almarah, too displaced.

She put the baby on target,

And shoved the almarah with no regret.

It came crashing with brute force,

And landed on baby's head and nose.

She died a slow and painful death,

Like Lady Macduff in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

She could not say her last good bye,

To her mother who was left to cry.

But now she was back to take revenge,

And the miseries of her mother to avenge.

She found her granny and told her how,

She had felt, she would tell her now.

Granny groveled with death on loom,

But for mercy Catherine had no room.

She died in a way both painful and slow,

With her body turned around from head to toe.

The autopsy showed she had no heart,

So true for she had none from start.

Else who could kill a baby girl,

Who was white and pure as a sea pearl.

Catherine went to her mother and said,

O' Mom by death I was untimely led.

I did not get a chance to say,

How lucky I was to come your way.

I would have brought you as much joy,

As I could have if I was a boy.

The mother hugged the child for long,

And sang for her, her favourite song.

She told her that she would want to be,

In each life the mother of Catherine baby.

But for now the baby would have to go,

With angels who appeared sometime ago.

She told her she would love her forever,

And promised would forget her never.

The baby smiled and gave her a kiss,

And told that she was going to miss.

The mother who brought her who gave her birth,

Of love and affection who had no dearth.

The angels took her and made her fly,

Straight into the heaven's eye.

Beautiful mountains, rivers and trees,

In Heaven Catherine now lives in peace.

IMC Journal Part 4

Alas I missed it! :(    I couldn't be the part of the campaign launch. Being the Placement Coordinator has its own drawbacks. I was in Delhi when all fun and preparation for the final presentation was going on. Anyways, I got to contribute in my small way by writing the cover page of the write up for the campaign which i would like to share here. I would be sharing the unedited version (which was later edited by Arko). 

Have you done it yet!!

 

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end”

 Ursula K. LeGuin

 

The journey of team IMAGINATION was indeed splendid. All the teams under IMAGINATION, i.e., Strategy Team, Creative Team, Designing Team and Execution Team, Marketing Team, played an indispensable part in making the project a reality. The idea of making India a sensory destination, and not just a country of monuments, was well planned. A lot of research had gone into making it a success. We conducted a primary survey which surveyed foreign nationals on their perception about India. A lot of demographic data was also obtained from the survey like the age, occupation, budget and duration for a holiday and the perception about India. We conducted a secondary research on the nationalities visiting India the most. From our analysis, we found that the trend of foreign exchange earnings and tourist arrivals has been on the rise over the years with the growth in visitors from the USA, Canada and Australia being splendid. The teaser campaign saw the team’s creativity reach its zenith. The various posters depicting scenes from across the country surely titillated the five senses, be it dance, music, food, jewelry or simply the image of a warm Indian welcome! This was followed by the event ‘Have you done it yet’ conducted on the first day of the cultural fest at NMIMS, ‘Fahrenheit’. To test the efficacy of the Campaign launch conducted, the target audience was surveyed.

We did a detailed state wise analysis and tried to find out the cultural art forms present in each one of them. We also did an in-depth study of the various institutions with which we could tie up for promoting the dance art form. The whole rationale behind researching the states and the institutions was to use them effectively in the media which would be the backbone of our campaign- the Internet.  Our major emphasis was on exploiting the Internet for promoting our campaign.  The advantages of using this media are many-fold. The Internet, apart from imparting complete information about India and the campaign, would also help in promoting tourism. The website would offer customized packages under the package selector tab for visitors depending on the state that they wanted to visit and the experience that they wanted to savour. Air India and Tantra would support our campaign by co-branding with us. While Air India would sell tickets and customized packages, Tantra, with its wacky and creative designing, would capture the essence of our campaign for all visitors to remember. The website would also capture the experiences of visitors by way of promoting social forums, discussions and blogs. Various other media like print, TV Advertisements and road shows would be utilized to promote the campaign.

With the right use of media at the right phase of the campaign and with the active participation of team Imagination, the campaign would be a huge success which would benefit the tourism industry, thereby revamping the overall image of India.

So, “Have you done it yet!”

Probably this might be the last journal that I am writing on IMC. It was fun writing the journals! Was great fun attending Prof. Rahul Mirchandani's lectures.

 

IMC Journal Part 3

Well I have been planning to write this journal entry for sometime now but thanks to Placecom I could not write it. I was extremely impressed by one of the lectures of Mr. Rahul Mirchandani. The one which I attended before leaving for Delhi for our placement trips. On this day, we were given the task of making towers made out of straws. Each row was divided into a group with one member from each row as their leader. The tower needed to be erected in 20 mins. The rule was that we had to make it stand without any external help. The tower would be judged on 3 parameters, namely beauty, strength and height. All of us tried very hard to build the towers. At the end of the 20 mins., people from each group had to promote their towers by being the official spokesperson of the launch. Then Sir evaluated us on above mentioned parameters. Though our group's tower wasn't very successful, there were a lot of take aways for each one of us. Through this event we were taught various styles of leadership. The leader of each group joined their teams after the construction started and each one of them had been instructed to behave in a particular style of leadership. Hence they tried to either positively or negatively influence the group dynamics.
The major learnings were in the field of behavioural dynamics of teams and various styles of leaderships. The statement of the professor that intrigued me the most were his concluding remarks. He made some simple but amazing observations. He told us that in the 20 mins. we simulated a product launch with all its nitty-gritties. Though the entire class was friends, but still there was a sense of belonging within each group and people cheered for their row and chided the other teams with the major emphasis on downplaying the achievement of the other groups. Hence, if something as small and trivial as creating the supposed tower out of the straws could create so much of drama and action in the class, so much of passion and sense of belonging towards the straw creation, how must it be for a real life product launch? This question left me spell bound and gave me food for thought!

IMC Journal 2

Hello! You might think that I am writing a blog before the day of the submission of the first draft. I guess you are right! But I don't remember any rule that stops me from doing that!! Well now that I have started with the blog, I should tell you that I have a test of IMC tomorrow (actually it is today if u were to check the time)!! And i haven't started studying for it till now. I have very religiously got a book issued from the library though. I plan to go through it. It better be good! So in the test we would be asked 50 OTQs with negative marking!!! (Reminds me of my engg. and MBA entrance exam days!!) We would also be given a media planning exercise. Let us see how does it go. I have also been entrusted with the generation of 15 totally radical, "OUT OF THE BOX!!!" medias that can be used to promote our campaign. Have already thought of few options. Hope am able to generate all 15! There is very little time left for us to complete the whole project. To add to it, I have been keeping so busy with the Placement Cell these days!! Returning back not before 11 pm. for the last few days! I really wonder if I am really equipping myself academically or not! Let us see again what time has in store for us! For now, I guess I would close my blog entry and start studying for the test.

P.S. - Feeling very sleepy! I better study though......

IMC Diaries

Hello! This is my first IMC diary entry! The subject so far seems very interesting and I have had a good time attending the lectures of Prof. Mirchandani. He gives very good examples which helps in understanding the subject better. The initial classes revolved around understanding what IMC is all about and what are the various factors infulencing IMC. The class has been very interesting with impromtu assignments and video cases! We have already submitted an assignment on Campaing Dissection, wherein we had to dissect any campaign for a product. Vishal and I had chosen Virgin Mobile campaign which was very interesting and 'Think Hatke!' for us! The TATA Ad which was analyzed in the class was very thought provoking. The IMC class is by far the most participative of all the subjects that I have taken.
The Project of IMC is very challenging. At the same time it is very interesting and it would help us in understanding the nitty gritties of the subject. The whole class has been divided into two functioning organizations following proper hierarchy and with roles defined. The organizations are expected to launch a promotional campaign on the lines of 'Incredible India'. I have enrolled in the creative team. I plan to sing for the jingle and the advertisement. Lets see how the campaign comes up! Hope it comes up well!

For now i end!
Would post soon!

Delhi Diaries: Weekend!

My first weekend in Delhi was absolutely memorable. My dear friend Avijit Bhaiya came to pay me a visit. Here a special mention needs to be given to his beloved Priya Scooter. I had never before seen a scooter having a life of its own. Very loyal to her master, she seemed to be extremely reliable and comfortable to ride on! With the international locking mechanism, I guess the most hardened criminals too would fall flat trying unlocking her. So Avijit Bhaiya (Kathore Praani) arrived in the peak Delhi (Noida to be exact) heat with the promise of expecting a nice lunch. But to his great dismay and bewilderment, there was no lunch left!! What a welcome! Well Pizza Hut saved the day and in the evening we decided to go to the Great India Place (presumably the largest mall in the world ;-) err.. in the north of India I mean!). It also houses an amusement park. Shocked by the obnoxious rates we had to pay for the entry ticket, we decided to more than double the ROI (‘Return on Investment’, for the lesser mortals ;-)). With this final goal in mind, we entered the park with the determination of a 10 day hungry tiger going for a kill. (I must at this point tell you that the rides were extremely good and state-of-the-art and I had not seen any such rides at Essel World). We sat on the free fall ride that takes you up a 100 feet and then lets the gravity do the talking! We sat on a grossly mutated cousin of the Tora Tora which kept us throwing in all possible directions. The most entertaining ride was the bumping car, although here the cars had been replaced by some futuristic vehicles resembling hover crafts. We sat twice on the ride with the sole intention of maximum collateral damage! And we sure as hell succeeded! J Then came the seemingly fun ride which seemed to be a cake walk. You just had to sit in one of the cars and it would go around like a caterpillar. While we were sitting in the car, a divine voice (coming from an old timer girl who had sat for like a 100 times that day on the ride) warned us against sitting together in the same car because of some fictitious forces they call the centrifugal. Not completely ignoring the advice we sat with the healthier (read Rohit) victim sitting on the outer periphery. It took only a few seconds for the doomsday prophecy to come alive and even to this day as I write, I bear its symptoms (Read aching rib cage, bruised arm, et al.). As if this wasn’t enough, the cars started rotating backwards at a never ending pace as if seeking revenge for underestimating their brute force. Stirred but not shaken, (with the lighter victim thanking his fortunes as he stood alive!) we decided to go. But like THE RING which would get attracted to evil Sauron’s power (Courtesy LOTR), so were we attracted to this menacing looking ride. I was having second thoughts but then our undying aim came into picture and we decided to take the tiger in his own den. What a ride it was!! We were warned against wearing spectacles and keeping anything in our top pocket. But we had not at all anticipated what was in store. The ride in itself was poetic justice for having dared too far, it was like the ride understood that people were greedy for achieving or over achieving their ROI and was there to teach all of them a lesson. Only the truly determined chose to ride. The ride took us very high and then turned us upside down and waited till our things started falling down. To facilitate objects falling from our jeans pockets, it started tossing us like wheat is tossed to remove the impurities. I saw something fall down and my heart skipped a beat. Thankfully it was the sandals of the lady sitting beside us. The ride reminded me of the mean machines like trucks and steam roller, that Stephen King defines in his short story collection ‘Night Shift’, which had inadvertently gone nasty. It was literally punishing us for having chosen to ride on it, tossing our bodies like fresh baked popcorns! Finally the ride came to an end and at that moment I was willing to sue the ride owners under charges of manhandling and physical abuse! Well then we went to the mall and had a sumptuous dinner followed by the newly released movie ‘Bhoothnath’. The less we say about the movie the better. The return ride in the beloved Priya was very eventful with us losing the way and heading many kilometers off course. Such was my first weekend in Delhi, thanks to Avijit Bhaiya! You Rock!!
For more Delhi Diaries (not at all inspired from the Munger Diaries) watch out for the same space. You wouldn’t be disappointed! ;-) Until then keep safe!