Coz everything that has a story to tell, sells!

Recently after I started working as an intern for an FMCG company I’d got myself into a habit of following the news stories about this sector, any relevant snippets the growth charts of this sector, anything! The fmcg they say is a very dynamic industry where numbers can play surrealistic games at times and amaze you the next moment. I’ve had a good luck of living in these times where media, communication is flaring up all its tentacles to give out boundless amount of information to satisfy any soul. Everyday we are getting fired with these humongous bullets of information from all directions that we literally are impaled by it sometimes. Having said this, I can say I am not a very big fan of Harvard case studies, however getting enrolled in a MBA equals getting married to library package of fat Harvard books churning out the Harry potters of the Management world, giving out indispensable gyaan on companies like starbucks –how its positioning has made coffee synonymous with the name(atleast in the US!), Walmart’s exploitation of its supply chain and distribution network, the exciting turnaround stories of companies like Toyota, Chrysler…u got it right?!..i have really nothing serious against them but the point is that though these are a stack-full of prime knowledge penned down, well documented by “the geeks”(in the good sense) in the legendary Harvard halls after going through a lot of deliberation and data collection, they still don’t fit in the regular conundrum of events somehow, I cannot relate to them, and the reason being they are not custom-fitted to the Indian context.

That’s the catch!...that’s where the real story begins…and hold on to urself…coz this is where my excitement begins!!..India in itself is such huge mass of land of diverse multitudes , the biodiversity, the genographic diversity and blah blah…and all the other terminologies you are already acquainted with- “ the unity in diversity” popular folklore that we regularly talk about. But let me tell you as a marketer this diversity becomes such a crucial factor to explore, that one can base her entire study on this one aspect and make a living out of it(market researcher), and that too a lucrative one at that. The point is that I need to tap into “live” case studies, I don’t want to read millions of years old( well literally, for a marketer the world is changing faster than for the other normal mortals, so a decade old case study talking about a successful turnaround success story of a company, that strategy if used now may completely bring down the company, nosediving it through its ashes..so yeah!...a marketer has to evolve faster than a normal human being, she is altogether a different entity in lieu of the most evolved homo sapiens!...i can prove this bit ..but later!..continuing…)

As I said in the beginning I have been lucky to be a spectacle to events that have been extreme in nature that have shaken up this world and I thank these events under my breath silently, coz they have provided me with such “live feed virus” of pathological significance (just as a metaphor)that a biologist can easily claim a nobel for his reaserch in these ground breaking studies. First the markets tanked in the September 2008 financial carnage, the reason may be- many call them CDOs or some fancy named derivatives , it gave all the intelligentsia around the world such a huge titillation, well arousal is more like it, that everybody seemed fit to form and pass a radical opinion about the whole thing and get the masses talking at the same time. It was wonderful, everyday a new theory would fall from above like a newton’s apple giving a Eureka moment to to every Tom, Dick and Harry!..everybody had a theory about what went wrong and how the wounds going to heal in future. Even a novice like me after reading up a couple of pink papers a day could rustle up a judgment or two and astound laymen which were looking at all this bespectacled drama all this while like a greek odyssey!- illegible yet astounding !... now the story of a marketer begins. She was a pretty happy lady pre this chaos, markets were strong, large disposable incomes insured people bought stuff on impulses and not just for necessity, in short the life was a beautiful dream-like situation where the high rising quarterly results brought that angelic glint of smile and higher aspirations as well! But we know, happy endings are not a part of real life always, some sadist( I always imagine a animated baddie in these kind of situations –the Japanese samurai kinds, emerging from within the dark smoke, with that morbid death freak look…with a long slung katana besides his dark black velvety flowing garb of disparity and darkness …enuf of my imagination, getting out of my funk, well moving on..)had to crook it up and ruin the whole pink floss candy dream and garishly display his devilish acts of despair. Nevertheless I got an opportunity to study a real life grotesque apathy and the brand new challenges which were facing my marketing-mankind!
There was no money to spend- marketing departments’ budgets were saddled down with ridicule. Innovation became a key word to utilize the scant resources in optimum ways. Ways which were never heard of before, be it targeting the rural folks in an effective manner( CK Prahlad-“Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid” became the new GOD in marketing parlance) to keep the sales buoyant or be it exploring the ruffled urban mindset in times of traumatic inflation and other insecurities( which were major sidekicks of this dark devil ). So and as the story goes, the Indian markets survived the worst, the worst of this decade or so, and this story kept me engaged and awe-inspired for a pretty long time. Then came the “dirty” laundry war that caught my rapt attention, two goliaths battling it out like small kids- a minor altercation- my candy is bigger than your candy! Getting to be out an out fist and cuff ugly fight. It attracted so much eyes that people who don’t even use these brands were drawn in by the curiosity. Ugly and a fully publicized laundry drama followed(talk about washing your dirty linen in public..hehe..lolz…well almost literally!!), legal suits, editorial arguments, smearing one another in ad world – all kinds of stuff legendary legendary 70’s Bachchan movies were made of..well almost! Nevertheless, it again gave me a live feed to study. The most interesting mind war I personally went through was, was this whole drama after-all just a pre-meditated “agreement” between the two companies to flare up the excitement of millions and just add to cheap titillation that we are so used thanks to an unending soap saga- thanks to a whole new generation of ekta kapoor “do- alikes”. In this dirty world of detergents where these two biggies, certainly the goliaths, however the mass kings-“garibo ka messiah” is still a slew of local Indian brands like Ghadi, Nirma, Sasa and Fena , which I guess kept them pricking their huge EGOS somewhere ! Until, they decided to join hands against this common enemy to fight against it. Hmm, sounds melodramatic and straight out of an all sweat and tear bollywood potboiler, but I guess I couldn’t restrain myself from having my own metaphor theory weaved around this saga. It was interesting how these two biggies have customized themselves as per Indian tastes and sensibilities over the years. It is so overwhelming that a whole new bank of thesis on behavioral economics can be written, on the psychology put into use to sell FMCG goods. Never before in my life till now had I felt so crucially fixated to never miss out on the small details- they carry the maximum data, the data that may become tomorrow’s biblical truth for the marketer to transform her product from a mere wannabe status to a much touted respectable brand where it becomes synonymous with the product- the epic victory for any marketer!

As I rummage deeper, plunge into this ocean, I take my first baby steps in this radical and overwhelming world of marketing I get increasingly aware of people around me which I wasn’t before. If a marketer cannot observe he cannot become a marketer in the first place- he killed his own dream! I just regret I should have taken up a pre-course on psychology to understand the human psyche better, coz marketing is like being a social anthropologist- u observe people at micro to macro-cosmic grand scales. Nevertheless, I gain a new perspective every time, and I get to enhance and broadbase my studies. And as I save these discoveries I’ve made, and as the next moment another new pop-up of info emerges, I wade through this sprawling database and try to join the dots. Marketing is more of a people science, understanding why something triggers a very specific behavior- this is the underlying basic tenet which is driving the billions of dollars of research every year where companies trying to figure out how do they sell! And how do that they effectively!!...the best part its not an exact science, don’t get me worng, I’ve been poor in maths since binomial theorem and intergartion started playing havoc in my life!..where LHS has to be RHS, it was an unsaid rule I had to make some dumb mistake!..nevertheless, till it is not LHS =RHS I’m good!...coz life is not always like that!...and marketing imitates life so closely, that is why it makes even more interesting to study it more thoroughly!
And as I discover my new found love , I try to stay clear from stereotypes and biases! As humans we are so designed to be form our prejudices subconsciously that sometimes we ourselves not aware of it! But yet I try to find more new awe inspiring insights as I take deeper dives into this beautiful world of marketing- coz everything which has a story to tell, sells!

As my DNA evolves everyday...

Today…I had this queer…beautiful, a splendid evening…which surpassed all my expectations I had from this city…I was lookin for tht small soul touchin place..whr I have a my loud awkward snorty laugh without being stared to ignominy and as I boarded on this unending quest to unearth this place I bumped into this place…yea I’m nt gonna mention this place..i wanna keep it to myself and my special frens(yea..dnt smirk! )..i’m selfish( excuse me for my blunt confession) though I have been living in this city for almost 6 months now…I still hadn’t found my solace..the plce whr I cn just be myself…then I found this plce….here it was it with its almost no frills …no flaunts…plain cute l’il lamps ..a ethereal almost gooeeily romantic…..yea!..also had the GOOEY here!....ummmm!...
The “partner in crime for tonite” was equally interesting..and provided a lot of thot for matter in my almost vacant mind….for soo long I had been thinking a lot bout the times gone by…bout the people I’ve lost…so much so that that It almost made me choke with discomfort…distracted me …precipitating out those ugly feeling on to surface until they brought out the devil inside me.. I thot incessantly bout the love tht almost came into my life..things done in love..for love ….i thot bout the people I love so dearly… those for whom I was soo possessive bout tht I almost smothered them underneath my tight grip!....literally….hehe…
But yeah.. today I’ve discovered a very interesting thing bout all the people who have come and gone out of my life…and those who have stuck…nd who will do so till the end….it is their small things tht they teach us tht leave behind, their deep almost indelible marks on our soul…( hummin tht UB40 track under my breath makes so much sense-evry hour evry day learning more….the more I look around I learn more…hmmm)….it almost a kaleidoscopic vision as I imagine it..held against the light comin from sun…tht beautiful inter-weaved intricate pattern …rainbow colors tht they leave behind..the warm gushing flood of memorabilia stickin out their perky inane heads as I flick thru those pages of my messy grey cells..when i look back and smile sometimes or frown the other times…. over some crude random memory..but mostly its the gooeey mushy good times that get me filled up….. this brilliant kaleidoscope unfolds everytime in a unique way..leavin me awestruck…every-time it turns round and round….my imagination also runs round and round weaving its intricate random patterns around the memories gone by.
Moi fren called these special people and this is the part I love( thanks a million times Tunna …”they become a part of our DNA”…hmmm…Yea!..they do…nd they become so inseparable tht everything then we do eventually just reminds of them in a understated…subtle way…tht just leaves tht faint yet strange innocuous smile on our faces…..the small things they teach us…..i’m almost a completely different person as I write ths today….wat I was back then..back wen I never knew these awesome people…
The love they brought into my life…the weird things they did…the wierd lil things i do now…coz somebody else did them so often tht it got embedded in my “DNA”…hahaha..it almost makes me smile..it brings a tear down my face the other moment….nt deliberately though….it just comes soo effortlessly tht it almost surprises me infact….nd as I wipe it off..it just leaves me drenched in its wet damp aura…as if its just happening even as I breathe….the time is caught in the warp….as I replay it again in slow motion….it plays out tht beautiful symphony of my soul…just hittin the rite notes everytime…
These moments are large….come awashing me almost everyday…playin those childhood songs like MLTR…”someday”…..”i’ll survive”…again and again as if the old vinyl record stuck on its pin….as if they deliberately try to sync the background of those ohh soo effervescent feelings…and on my deep inside I’m overwhelmed …so agog with a galore of emotions tht I start feeling dizzy..till tonite I used to feel tht those feelings were haunting me …bringing back those memories unnecesarrily…almost leaving me feeling empty somewhere inside and tht void is always so hard to fill…until tonite…when we talked….rather when I just listened…its rather surreal how simply listening to someone else’s stories u can just weave the web around your life…just find your answers like they were just lying around until now…wen u decided to find them deliberately….almost with a childlike curiosity…however…u just bump into these facts …they just hit ur face…nd u cnt save urself as they smear u again with their overbearing perpetual existence….just very naively tellin you tht u can never run away from them…
Now I dnt even wanna run away..i somehow…wil smile wholeheartedly wen I rem bout those beautiful exquisite moments….unlike wen I used to refrain myself from the sweet pleasures…smothering them under my dumb smog of self professed guilt trip…I will always reminisce those past days coz…they are embedded in my “DNA” ..i can’t erase them……my DNA just keeps evolving everyday….
….”the time of my life….i have never felt this way before”..as I quote a few lines out of this beautiful song….i realize one thing fer sure….the messages of life are cryptic….as memories go into the realms of time and stand tall like an old palace ruin staring into the everchanging world besides it..the palace -it is stuck there still…frozen …almost helpless…as the millennia pass away…however the ruin still stands tall in its past glory,….wen it relives all those legendary times gone by….it knows it cannot live by it forever…yes and it looks at the generations as they pass thru those same hallways...it wakes up to the reality…and starts livin in the present…. Yess…I live in my present with my beautiful esoteric past “embedded in my DNA” (m just lovin this phrase!!.....thnks TUNNA !- ofcourse the copyrights reserved with ya…u get the royalty for this once I get paid for this :D….)

And I move on nt stuck in my past…but everything trenched deeply in my soul …to look at the clichéd light at the end of this not so dark tunnel….(figuratively its not dark, or dingy…m just a spoilt person lookin for adventures in my life everyday…yea m greedy for life nd m lovin it…!...so wat else we got on the menu! …haha..muaaAH…cheers!!! )……………………..
BTW…..hmmm just waiting to go back to ths place again…the starry lamps and the low slung fan creaking its way to glory with the humid sweat cuddling my skin as I dig deeper into my plate……and run into someone else other than Lola Kutty..yeah my fren had a field day …..the WORKS!!!....yea..the works!
“Sure ain’t the first time..hope ain’t the last time..we see what we’ve become ..two of the lucky ones”

German Bakery....the days of glory shall live on!

German Bakery: Love of mine…one day u’ll find urself resurrected…!

German bakery!!! ……….ummmm!!! this place always resurfaces those mixed feelings of comfort and good fond memories of unpretentious laughter and moments of madness spent over those cups of coffees and brownies or Tiramisu “accidentally” discovered as a last resort for a birthday “cake” for a friend ….as unassuming and inconspicuous the place seems, it was just as much loved and popular with its patrons and anonymous strangers just getting lured by its lonely planet guide status alike…..this place din need any ratings or status in some travel guide…the lovely thatched roofs, the awkward small stools, the inadequate tables always falling short of space to occupy our never ending orders of those delectable yummy food trays, until the cute chinky waiter gave us the cheeky smile and we reciprocating him in kind to set up an extra table for our extra orders, ofcourse the place is jam-packed with no vacant stool let alone a vacant table and we eventually smugly hold our food in our hands as we happily devour it slowly, giggling and chatting the good times away…..hmmmm….just adds to all those memories where people just kept pouring in this small quaint hippy kinda place hugging, reminiscing, reading books all by themselves, the colored, robed, the quirky, the yuppies, the pranksters, the sobos, all givin their special touch to this small colorful, rather strange boho place…….

German bakery is not just a place but an actual melting pot for all humans of all kinds and colors, a travesty standing modestly tall to roof everyone and feedin and welcoming everyone who is in a mood to experiment and ready to make some strange friends….those strange smells of weird looking world cuisine which we dared never order until some firang orders it and we mentally patted our backs of our ability to save ourselves from disgrace of eating and throwing up there!.... I certainly had strange , funny slightly rough, wonderfully romantic, quirky, slightly high, those wet moments with a hot cuppa of coffee tightly clasped in my hands providing all the comfort and all solace in those times…..

German bakery was a very modest establishment not at all a fancy at that one, it was not a restro, nt a bistro nor a café, it was indeed very difficult to box this place into one category, with its colorful beaming posters proving wat lil color to its bamboo hedge kinda walls, the reality is tht the faces from world over, just added enuf color to this place tht no other swanky wall hanging or poster could replace, just looking at all those faces and u could relate to being a part of the world as a whole nt just any one religion or community and this is wht German bakery symbolized and Pune put together…..

Reminiscing on one of those lonely slightly introspective evenings when I head out to clear my head, an intriguing paperback clasped tightly under my arms riding my modest “phatphatiyaa”( I miss u my fren of good times…boo hooo!!) at breakneck speeds, (ya MJ I knw its nt Ferrari…its just the way I drive it …ahemm) I finally enter this cool commune of Koregaon Park, me and my frens fav hangout area….i’m nt too sure whr m I goin, when I just m bout to proceed German bakery, I just make a undecided stop and think bout havin a coffee, also the sky is clowded, looks like it gonna pour, so I take a decision, I march inside, just in the peak hours, 7 in the evening, when the place is beaming with loud people and overwhelming smells of food wafting thru the air, I feel so tiny in this crowd yet somewhat a feeling of belongingness and familiarity makes me stay back, but now I cannot find a place to park myself, just then as I start reviewing the place once again silently praying to find an empty table, also it has already started to pour outside, making it the perfect time for a strong caffeine shot, I gaze across as a bunch of colorful firangs as they move across , showing a small neat table tucked up in the corner with a maroon robed rather intelligent looking, slightly stuck up, multi-ethnic person sits there on the rather awkward small stool, infact quite comfortably for his stature all alone, all eyes on his Coelho, I rather sheepishly proceed towards him realizing I rather have to share a space rather than stand like a fool all along…..as I go upto him I gather some courage to ask him permission to barge into his beautiful space created by his paraphernalia of empty coffee mugs and his rather quirky chunky keychain and other amusing, weird stuff lying rather unattended as if on display telling me a certain bout him, but I rather stick to ‘the” question hopin he lets me share his space…. As I pop out the quintessential question, he looks up at me, rather not quite happy to be disturbed from his journey thru the Coelho wisdom, although he indicates me reassuringly to sit down, trying to clear his stuff much to his dismay but nevertheless shortly returning back to his paperback friend, I then sip onto my coffee and bite into the muffin listening to the songs on my I-pod as the rain drops get heavier and just making the pleasant wooden smell stronger, a sure shot recipe to kindle those feelings of desolate yet comforting solitude, the affirming truth of being loved, strengthened by the strong hob- nobbing of faces and smiles, leaving you mesmerized and feeling all that more mushy and gooey!......

Most of the times I have noticed one thing bout this place, people might be in whatever moods outside but the moment they enter this place there is this quintessential smile , a sudden feeling of warm welcome one feels as one enters thru its rather small, shaky bamboo entrance, it doesn’t matter where one comes from coz you will find something for your weird queer senses, those strange organic merchandises giving it a look of those small quaint small speciality shops tucked somewhere in a tiny hamlet , somewhere in remote Europe, and when me and my frens used to gaze in absolute awe as some people bought out these rather strange merchandises conjuring up the images of their strange origin and why exactly someone would waste their cashola on things we din even know what are they used for…this was German bakery…. the place was strange yet friendly ….the sudden rush of running into someone whom u haven’t met in a long time, and there goes another hour just like that…..but yet one more beautiful memory in the making for some other time to reminisce bout , to get nostalgic bout, just the stuff I love bout German Bakery!......with all its l’il world charm, for all those friendly chinky waiters, for all those endless hours of gossips and coffees and tiramisus, the stopover before the pub hopping begins for the nite, the place where all the plans were made for the future, the “kaash yaar kamaate toh ” talks…..the giggles, ……the mindless talks , the best times spent with my best of friends-books and people I love …..

German bakery is much more symbolic of those beautiful moments spent in this quaint shack …..of being comfortable around people from all over imaginable places than some random self loathing schmuck who blew up this harmless beautiful place just going under some religious psycho frenzy! I am downrite sure that this place is going to be up and running very soon also up with it will be the spirits of this potpourri of cosmic wok where everybody who enters thru its humble entrance does nt remain untouched by its sheer honesty and vibrancy for long…..a crossroads where along with the overwhelming wafts of a lot many sunny sides up and the lasagnas as it wades through thru this jungle of beautiful people wading in and out of this happy place, you would find people laughing, hugging, reading to themselves, exchanging awe-inspiring anecdotes frm everywhere while biting into their scrumptious food, which just forms the understated theme to this “not just another” food place….coz here memories are created not just a passable joint where u drop in for some quick bites, but where you love to spend ur lazy Sunday afternoons or just unwind over a cup of soothing green tea with ur bunch of hooligans(tht’s what I call my frens…lovingly ofcourse!!)….coz people who have been here wherever they’re now, will always remember this place to be a place where they’d been for the love of it!....they love the energy of this place….the pulse it sets!......the fond memories they had over here….the laughter rising above any type of sensible conversation doin the rounds…the Sunday morning brunches, the “the” monsoon days hangout for its ethereal backdrop and its beautiful mixed aromas of wet bamboo, coffee and baked cookies-all intertwined into one , where one can imagine the retro stuff like Johnny hates jazz shattered dreams or the lovely inside-out of bryan adams (if m just feeling extra mushy) playing in ur mind as u while away ur time besides those warm wooden smells filling u up..ummm…..btw did I tell u bout the last time I went there….so well here it goes!!...was hungry and was waiting up for a fren and then……..

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,
You and me in paradise

-Phil Collins

P.S. > This post does not have any fullstops coz there aren’t any fullstops in life too and for German bakery also…it just has come to a brief halt, up it will be soon! …Amen to that!!