Three Years and A Lifetime of Memories

I have no words, and that's a first because I generally don't shut up.
Three years of college have gone by, with the best year obviously slipping away so quickly, that I never got to just sit in class. I still keep thinking that it's July. Except it's not, and March is coming to an end.
When I first joined Francis, I never quite thought I'd feel this way, I never ever thought I'd miss this place, or cry over the fact that it's all coming to an end. But that's just the thing.
It's the people I met here that have changed it all and made college so brilliant.
Whether its sitting outside the language staff room and eating the canteen food with two of my best friends, or bunking class on 'work' with the COFEE gang, or meeting my Gemini 'twin' for a hurried stupid crisis, or studying in the car at 8 am for the exams with my marketing partner, I'm actually going to really miss this place. I'm even going to miss the green classrooms, and the stupid exam forms, the annoying certificates and the bad-vibes library. Third year especially has been absolutely brilliant with the best lecturers, so much work, so much bitching, a little studying, a fantastic organisation that can just about make anything happen, a Kotler seminar, a management fest, two marketing orientations and two absolutely epic farewells.
If I had to live it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!
Because in the end, it all turned out okay. More than okay.

Because It's Not Just An Organisation

COFEE 2011-12 comes to an end today, and I simply can't believe it. It has been a whirlwind journey, and I will miss every single moment. Time, as usual has flown away way too quickly.
Whether it was dying editing Vantage, writing out scripts and certificates, planning every small detail and always losing the page we wrote it in, cribbing about everything and everyone, crisis management for backdrops and laughing hyperly, without any worry, at the end of it all, COFEE will always make up some of my best moments in college.
To the team that made college truly special- I'll never forget you guys! Wish we could live it all over again!

Fading Away

The flame dances around and fascinated I silently watch. Slowly, it begins to fade and die. It's quiet here, silent almost even though I'm surrounded by people. Turning my attention to what lies outside, I look out of the glass at the city that lies below and beyond me, the city I have fallen in love with. I see the perfectly cloudless night sky and an enchanting golden full moon gliding away quietly and quickly. I see the roads full of cars, as expected on a Saturday night, all in a hurry to get somewhere else. Everyone, everything seems to be in this hurry to get away from here, to go somewhere else. But where? Where were we all headed?
Sighing, I give up on my thoughts. And when I look away from the view of the endlessly curving roads and the constantly moving spots of light, when I look into the glass, I see the reflection of a girl who is not me. I see a girl I don't recognise anymore.

Invisible Much?

Where has Pepsi gone? They’ve just disappeared. Post the ‘Change The Game’ campaign they undertook in April for the Cricket World Cup, I haven’t seen anything new. And they haven’t reacted to what Coke has done- it’s dropped its prices by 2 rupees just ahead of the scorching summer. And Pepsi still remains quiet which leaves me wondering if this is just the lull before the storm…

Brand Equity came out with its list of ‘India’s Most Exciting Youth Brands’ and surprise surprise Coco Cola trumps Pepsi. Now a company that once used the line ‘Yeh hai youngistaan, meri jaan’ and played only to the youth, seriously needs to do some reworking and rethinking, if it’s biggest competitor is upping it in youth popularity polls.

Ironically enough, Pepsi was the first brand ever, to associate itself with its consumers, saying 'Live in the Pepsi Generation' in the 70s. In India, Ranbir Kapoor was the celebrity endorser for the brand and given that Rockstar has been declared a hit with critics and masses, it is strange that there is no campaign featuring him. Pepsi’s last campaign, ‘Change the Game’ was largely targeted at the youth again because it used cricketers like Dhoni, Raina, Kohli and the others. Contrastingly Coke has used Imran Khan, who some might say doesn’t rank as high in youth popularity polls as RK. The new Coke ad, for the new year only features the spirit of happiness, a sentimental concept and a catchy hopeful song.

Given all of that, it is surprising that Pepsi is still keeping a low front.
I know ‘Hindu-TOI’ are the new Pepsi-Coke, but I really miss the days of the cola wars! ('Nothing Official About It' is one of the most epic lines ever!)

On a happier note, the big guys in Telecom are simply making my week.
Love Vodafone’s newest ad featuring the pug again, despite the fact that I hate the pug. Its simplicity of thought is what I like best and of course being the sappy romantic I am, I love the line – “Just you, just me. I think that’s all we need” And Airtel- with your new promotional campaign, “talk to us one-to-one” you leave me grinning, because that is just such a smart idea!

Two Much

A big thank you to my lovely Zoya, who has to put up with me and my stupid opinions, and to the infuriating Karan, who after so many debates, finally has a surname. TUCS would be nothing without your delightful chemistry, and you two make me want to write your story. And you make not really having a life somehow worth it.

To K3G (and the amazing SRK entrance scene) for being on TV every Sunday afternoon- it's just what I need to get into my writing mood.

To Alan Bennett because Chronology really is a deterrent. (And such a bitch!)

And to everyone out there who still remembers what TUCS is, you guys are the best! Thank you for putting up with me =)

It's been two years and I know I need to forget the world and just sit down and get it all out of me. And I will.
Soon. 

If I get to Goa that is.

Waking Up!

Talk about being original! :)

The DNA ad came out in August 2011.
And The Hindu ad - January 2012

And all I have to say for The Hindu-

If TOI is below your class, stop chasing its readers. Hey, maybe we want to know what Hrithik's petname is and whether Abhi-Ash had a baby boy or girl. I for one do.
Because maybe sometimes you're fed up of the miserable reality the world has to offer with corruption, rape, wars and a never ending economic crisis being daily items on the menu. So maybe we want to read something fun and inane. And yes, I LOVE the advertisements, especially seeing the first entire page ones.
And dear Hindu, if you do decide to indulge in an ad war with the newspaper that happens to be the largest circulated English language newspaper across all formats in the world (the TOI), at least find an original concept. And better actors. Really.
Also, for a newspaper that claims to be 'above the rest' because 'oh my god we are SO goddamn intellectual' how are you selling your soul? The Hindu's front page today (as I was informed by a Hindu reader who coincidentally had a very difficult time staying awake today) had a full page Vodafone ad- the same as on the TOI.
Perhaps the end of the world really is near, because copying the DNA ad wasn't enough, The Hindu is now adopting TOI policies too? My, my I never thought I'd live to see this day!
Must be a result of "waking up" and a restructuring of their top level management.

Make it Work

"You think yours is the one that's going to make it" 

                  - Grey's Anatomy

Well obviously you do. You always want it to work out, you want that happily-ever-after. You always do.

But how on earth do you make it work?

Communication.

That’s all it really comes down to, doesn’t it?

For it to work, you have to say things out loud. Because no matter how similar or dissimilar two people are, or how long they’ve known each other, no one can read minds. So irrespective of how harsh, hurtful or selfish it sounds in your mind, you have to find the courage from somewhere inside you, and say what you want as simply as you possibly can to the one that matters. It’s the only way.

But sometimes saying things out loud can hurt you, it can end relationships because words once spoken can’t be taken back. So a statement said to spite someone, something hurriedly uttered in anger or a sarcastic jibe can just spell doom.

So what then?

How do we know when to say and when not to? How do we know what the right thing to say is? How can we possibly know?

So at the end of the day, life comes down to this gamble? This matter of chance and luck, that what you say won’t hurt the other person? That the two of you won’t be selfish and mad on the same day? That one of you will have the good sense to step back and stay silent?

How does it work?