I wrote this post about a year back, but I always had an eerie feeling about it! Somehow something was wrong......I never could fully connect to the very words I myself had written down- There was something about this post which kept disturbing me, everytime I saw it. Until yesternite, when finally I discovered that perhaps I was just ahead of my time.
Something which I had written a year back makes more sense now than it ever did....to me !
Why is it that we keep nurturing those dreams which we know are never going to come true?When the night stretches too long, and you are still awake. When the roads outside have died out and the night is so silent that you actually hear yourself breathe.It’s so late that the Bacardi has stopped kicking. But it’s still too early for the hangover to clear fully.It’s in this particular aperture, this moment of temporary blankness, when the world stops flashing its images at you, when you are neither asleep, nor awake, neither drunk nor sober that this alternate dream world immerses you in it.She lies beside me and whispers in my ear. I can feel her warm breath on my neck. I can taste the moisture on her lips. I drown in her aroma. I can feel our heartbeats becoming one.
It’s a world where the distances between us had ceased to exist, where unspoken words make more sense and a quiet smile means more than being on phone for hours. I just wish that this was for real and that I never wake up. I can die a hundred deaths for just one night like this, lying next to her in her arms and her, in mine.And then suddenly you wake up with the sound of wings flapping outside your window as pigeons take their first flight of the day and you realize that it’s already past dawn. And all you have is a couple of hours before you re-enter and take charge of the other dream state which we call life!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Pyaar ka Side effect No. 9574
Act: 1. Scene: 1. A class in Brand Management in one of the top B schools in India.
Its still early morning and people keep entering the classroom in silence with ruffled hairs and red eyes, some have just got up from sleep 5-10 minutes back and some didn’t sleep at all for the entire night and will probably do so after the class. Most scramble for the nearest place they get to unload their books and be seated. The smarter among them look for strategic positions where they will be safe distance away from the Prof’s questions and watchful eyes.
Prof: Today we will explore internal branding. But before that let’s first define what Internal Branding is. And who is going to tell me that? (Starts looking around the class and points to a random guy)
Yes! Chintamani ! Tell me what is Internal Branding?
Random Guy: Sir I am not Chintamani. I am Amit.
(Before he could finish the Prof stops him.)
Prof: How does it matter? Tell me the answer.
Random Guy: Internal Branding is branding to your internal stakeholders like for example your employees.
Prof: Perfect! And why do you think such a thing is necessary in the first place?
(And starts explaining to the class)
What happens in Diwali? Or Holi? Your mom makes laddus. And you have to go to the market to get all the ingredients. But what do you get at the end of the day? Only broken pieces, because all the good ones are for the guests.
What happens when guests come to your house? They get tea & snacks in costly cutlery. But what do you get? Tea in a cup with a broken handle or a broken edge.
And why is that?
Because we always believe in giving the best to ‘Bahar ke log--
Hum to Ghar ke log hai…hum-e kuch bhi chalta hai !’
And this is the price we pay for being the internal stakeholder- The Ghar ke log
Arre isse toh acha hai ke we become bahar kaa admi…isn’t it?
(The class nods in acceptance)
And that’s what happens in a corporate environment also. And to overcome that we have internal branding, which means treating your internal stakeholders at par with external stakeholders and making them all ambassadors of your brand and of your brand value & philosophy.
Act: 2. Scene: 1.
Our hero is looking quite angry, standing on his balcony and smoking his umpteenth cigarette for the evening. It’s already well past 11:30 p.m and he has been trying to call our heroine for the last 90 minutes but without any success.
Night time is the only time they get for each other, to talk and to romance. All day they both remain busy with classes and other work and with all kind of people around them it’s hardly possible to spend more than a couple of minutes over the phone. It’s only at night by about 10p.m that they both literally lock themselves up in their rooms and quietly sit talking for …….about an hour.
But the last couple of days weren’t like that. She has been really busy with her project and returning home late, which means having dinner late, which in turn means that she has been retiring to her room pretty late. Add to that the fact that she is not really a ‘Night raider’ like him and follows a strict lifestyle and goes to sleep by 11p.m, after which its really not physically possible for her to stay awake and talk with him.
He had called her up today at 9p.m when she reached home. She had asked him to call her up in an hour. But when he tried calling her up then, there was no response. She might still be busy with her dinner or other chores- that’s what he had thought and waited for another 10 minutes.
But by 10:10 her phone was busy, he kept on trying initially after every 2 minutes, then every 5 minutes, and then every 10 minutes. But it was still busy. Generally she doesn’t waste much time with other calls at this time, hardly for a couple of minutes, but its well over 90 minutes that she has been with this call now. And even if she calls up now, it’s only going to be a courtesy call with just about enough time to squeeze in a ‘Good Night’ before she falls asleep.
Finally his phone rings at 11:56pm. It’s a missed call from her asking him to call back. But he doesn’t move. The phone rings a second time. He responds this time, calls her up.
Hero: Hello!
Heroine: Arre my school friend called up...
Hero: You must be feeling asleep. Go to sleep. Goodnight. (In an angry tone)
Heroine: Arre ! why are you getting angry on me? Did I say I wanted to sleep? Or I am sleepy? I called you to talk to you. But if you don’t want, then it’s okay. You always get angry on me.
Hero: Yeah I know. Within two minutes you will feel sleepy. You are already yawning. And if you are really not sleepy, then talk to me for half an hour.
Heroine: It’s true that I am tired and sleepy but I am still talking to you na? What can I do if this is the only time I get with myself?
Hero: I have been trying to call you up for the past couple of hours. Didn’t we have a pact of keeping this time only for ourselves?
Heroine: What can I do? My school friend called up after more than 3 years. She is getting married and she called me to invite. She was so excited about it that she just kept on talking and talking and I couldn’t say her NO.
Hero: Thik hai I understand. But what for 2 hours?? Couldn’t you finish it by half an hour or so?
Heroine: She wanted to talk to my folks and her folks also came online. We grew up together and are family friends so she started talking and personally inviting everyone and then she handed over the phone to her folks. It was really not possible yaar!
Hero: Hmmmmmmm…!
Heroine: And it was really not possible for me to disconnect the call in any way. I couldn’t just tell them that ‘please call me later; I have an important phone call to attend from my boyfriend, that I can leave everything in the world but not him!’
Hero: Oh I see! Great! You did right. Absolutely right. Anyways Goodnight.
Its still early morning and people keep entering the classroom in silence with ruffled hairs and red eyes, some have just got up from sleep 5-10 minutes back and some didn’t sleep at all for the entire night and will probably do so after the class. Most scramble for the nearest place they get to unload their books and be seated. The smarter among them look for strategic positions where they will be safe distance away from the Prof’s questions and watchful eyes.
Prof: Today we will explore internal branding. But before that let’s first define what Internal Branding is. And who is going to tell me that? (Starts looking around the class and points to a random guy)
Yes! Chintamani ! Tell me what is Internal Branding?
Random Guy: Sir I am not Chintamani. I am Amit.
(Before he could finish the Prof stops him.)
Prof: How does it matter? Tell me the answer.
Random Guy: Internal Branding is branding to your internal stakeholders like for example your employees.
Prof: Perfect! And why do you think such a thing is necessary in the first place?
(And starts explaining to the class)
What happens in Diwali? Or Holi? Your mom makes laddus. And you have to go to the market to get all the ingredients. But what do you get at the end of the day? Only broken pieces, because all the good ones are for the guests.
What happens when guests come to your house? They get tea & snacks in costly cutlery. But what do you get? Tea in a cup with a broken handle or a broken edge.
And why is that?
Because we always believe in giving the best to ‘Bahar ke log--
Hum to Ghar ke log hai…hum-e kuch bhi chalta hai !’
And this is the price we pay for being the internal stakeholder- The Ghar ke log
Arre isse toh acha hai ke we become bahar kaa admi…isn’t it?
(The class nods in acceptance)
And that’s what happens in a corporate environment also. And to overcome that we have internal branding, which means treating your internal stakeholders at par with external stakeholders and making them all ambassadors of your brand and of your brand value & philosophy.
Act: 2. Scene: 1.
Our hero is looking quite angry, standing on his balcony and smoking his umpteenth cigarette for the evening. It’s already well past 11:30 p.m and he has been trying to call our heroine for the last 90 minutes but without any success.
Night time is the only time they get for each other, to talk and to romance. All day they both remain busy with classes and other work and with all kind of people around them it’s hardly possible to spend more than a couple of minutes over the phone. It’s only at night by about 10p.m that they both literally lock themselves up in their rooms and quietly sit talking for …….about an hour.
But the last couple of days weren’t like that. She has been really busy with her project and returning home late, which means having dinner late, which in turn means that she has been retiring to her room pretty late. Add to that the fact that she is not really a ‘Night raider’ like him and follows a strict lifestyle and goes to sleep by 11p.m, after which its really not physically possible for her to stay awake and talk with him.
He had called her up today at 9p.m when she reached home. She had asked him to call her up in an hour. But when he tried calling her up then, there was no response. She might still be busy with her dinner or other chores- that’s what he had thought and waited for another 10 minutes.
But by 10:10 her phone was busy, he kept on trying initially after every 2 minutes, then every 5 minutes, and then every 10 minutes. But it was still busy. Generally she doesn’t waste much time with other calls at this time, hardly for a couple of minutes, but its well over 90 minutes that she has been with this call now. And even if she calls up now, it’s only going to be a courtesy call with just about enough time to squeeze in a ‘Good Night’ before she falls asleep.
Finally his phone rings at 11:56pm. It’s a missed call from her asking him to call back. But he doesn’t move. The phone rings a second time. He responds this time, calls her up.
Hero: Hello!
Heroine: Arre my school friend called up...
Hero: You must be feeling asleep. Go to sleep. Goodnight. (In an angry tone)
Heroine: Arre ! why are you getting angry on me? Did I say I wanted to sleep? Or I am sleepy? I called you to talk to you. But if you don’t want, then it’s okay. You always get angry on me.
Hero: Yeah I know. Within two minutes you will feel sleepy. You are already yawning. And if you are really not sleepy, then talk to me for half an hour.
Heroine: It’s true that I am tired and sleepy but I am still talking to you na? What can I do if this is the only time I get with myself?
Hero: I have been trying to call you up for the past couple of hours. Didn’t we have a pact of keeping this time only for ourselves?
Heroine: What can I do? My school friend called up after more than 3 years. She is getting married and she called me to invite. She was so excited about it that she just kept on talking and talking and I couldn’t say her NO.
Hero: Thik hai I understand. But what for 2 hours?? Couldn’t you finish it by half an hour or so?
Heroine: She wanted to talk to my folks and her folks also came online. We grew up together and are family friends so she started talking and personally inviting everyone and then she handed over the phone to her folks. It was really not possible yaar!
Hero: Hmmmmmmm…!
Heroine: And it was really not possible for me to disconnect the call in any way. I couldn’t just tell them that ‘please call me later; I have an important phone call to attend from my boyfriend, that I can leave everything in the world but not him!’
Hero: Oh I see! Great! You did right. Absolutely right. Anyways Goodnight.
Internal Branding Lesson for our Heroine:
We all know that you want him to be understanding and sensitive to your feelings and consider him to be your closest friend. But don’t punish him for being an internal stakeholder. Don’t hurt him for loving you. You cannot expect him to be understanding until and unless you yourself are understanding and sensitive towards his feelings and needs.
Internal Branding Lesson for our Hero:
Welcome to the club. You are a boyfriend and that means you are an internal stakeholder now. You will never be treated at par with others, and will always get the raw deal. But that’s part of the package, if you want your love; you have to be understanding and a bit flexible.Don’t be so demanding always And girls really don’t like angry young men anymore!
Either you be her boyfriend and wait for her call every night and talk to her for 5 minutes or be just another friend and call her up once in 3 years and talk to her for hours- The choice is yours!
Epilogue
Now out of all the couples in this world, our Hero & Heroine should have known about Internal Branding, coz they both were MBA’s. But perhaps they didn’t or even if they did, they failed to apply it to their relationship.
And as our Hero (Really don’t know how the Heroine feels?) later realized that perhaps it’s really these weird marketing concepts which decide whether you end up in a comedy or in a tragedy.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The Horseshoe Nail Salesman
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
So Always keep a healthy supply of horseshoe nails with you.
Just FYI (For your Information)
During World War II, this verse was framed and hung on the wall of the Anglo-American Supply Headquarters in London, England.
:)
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