Offerings of FMCG & Vijayawada....

It was a breezy cold night at Darjeeling, where I was enjoying my holiday with my parents and sister when my mobile screamed “Lose Control.......”. It was Ramani, my friend and to be colleague, he said “macha, me posted in Lighting @ Kochi and U in consumer care @ Vijayawada”. I literally lost my sleep that night because I was expecting a posting at Hyderabad, where language wudnt b a problem for me, i rate myself 3.5/5 on hindi and just 1/5 in telugu. I said to myself “Chalo beta, jo hoga so dekha jayega” and slept like a wooden log as usual.

Joined @ Bangalore on 5^th May 2009 and the first week was fantastic with recruitment formalities and initial pampering with classroom sessions, the first shock was that v had to undergo the medical test on a Sunday. L. The second shock was that the HR team cudnt arrange neither a flight nor a train for me n put me in a Volvo to Vijayawada from Bangalore. Its a 14 hour journey and I had a tough time reaching Vijayawada.

Guess wat welcomed me @ Vijayawada, scorching sun @ 43 deg, startled I checked my watch, the time was jus around 9.00 am. With sweat dripping all over me, I reached the hotel and expected my guide to give me half a day’s time to relax and later come down to the office, instead he said “Son, please get ready within half an hour and reach the market  (One town, as it is called) in another 45 mins”. Sum it up, my expectations were broken into pieces.

After a week in Vijayawada, with the usual formalities of finding a place to live and other necessities completed, I sat down in my rented house and I was deeply thinking whether I had made a wrong choice of making it to FMCG... Jus then my inner conscious spoke to me, (remember the tamil movie, FEB 14^th).. It said:

“Dai macha, everything in life has two sides, the positive and the negative – c wats that the FMCG industry and Vijayawada has offered, then make ur conclusion”

The positives:

1. Opportunities to learn the market dynamics by being in the market for a considerably long time, Meeting new and different people, I shud tel u this, I haven’t met such namoonaes in my life before, each one is "one big item (crazy creature)"
   
2. Moreover these hard times in the early part of ur career where u don ve a spouse to pamper or to b pampered, ;-).
3. Loads of time for ur friends and family bcse u get posted in a place where U mite not know another soul - as in my case.
   
4. Learn r refine a language that u already know.
   
5. Adaptation to uncertainty and unfamiliarity.
   
6. Loads of time for urself, ur interests and hobbies.
   
7. Most important, almost not a monotonous life because it involves people and people doesn’t behave identically, Finally taking things with a smile. Like this J
   

Some negatives:

1. Neither AC nor fan, wander in the market @ 45 deg making sales, no office r desk work.
   
2. At times, make u think whether is this wat u ve done ur MBA for??
   
3. Physically isolates u from ur friends... bcse most ppl get placed in a s/w r financial institutions which are located in tier I&II towns
   
4. Adjustment and accommodation becoming an absolute “pissing off” factor.. some are Public transport, long distance travel, Lunch @3.30-4, screams and rubbish from retailers etc.,
   

To be continued.....

The Man - The Music - The MAGIC

AR Rahman - The word on every Indians lips... Many people wud ve and will keep writing abt him. So i refrain from writing abt him.. But still, his music is so much a part of me and my life that I am not able to control it - primarily because I grew up with him and his musical compositions.. I still remember the huge poster I purchased from Rajpath during his concert @ New Delhi prior to the Republic Day celebrations.. I was all tears watching him sing Maa Tujhe Salaam, especially the Tamil version "Thaai mannae vanakkam..."

I owe a lot to him because its his music that has brought me out of stress and loneliness, kept me moving, made me smile and wat not.. I was all excited wen he won the oscars - many ppl mite say that Slumdog was not his best one and there are many other compositions of his which deserve the Oscar.. I feel that the issue was not alone with the music - the film, the universal recognition and the blending of the music with the storyline is also important. Nevertheless, Rahman victory is an example of the saying "Good things comes to people who wait - Patience rewards..." Is it not???

I believe Rahman is a very strong brand - in a marketers language.. The brand that stands for commitment, compassion, excellence, determination, patriotism, humbleness, humanity and achievement... The words that he spoke after winning the oscar - "dedicated to MOM", "God bless", "ellam pugazhlum iraivan oruvanukae" conveys what he is.....

Similar to how Rahman is always a part of my heart, his music a part of my life, this post a cherished part of my blog....

Congrats Rahman Bhai - I believe that every composition of his right from Chinna Chinna AasaI to Arziyan & Rehna Tu deserves a oscar... koduka maateenguraangale pa.. :-(

Trip to the GODs own country – Part I........

It was during the first week of Jan’09 that me and my group of friends had a thought of reality. The last chance in our college life to go on a trip together was then, as some of them had their joining dates immediately after college. It was then v decided that the best place to plan for, in a short span, to relax and to booze (for some of them) was “KUMARAKOM”. As in most cases, responsibilities were assigned and everything was planned. Since some of us hailed from the Coimbatore, w e decided to start our journey from there. Friends accompanied us to our homes and the van was planned to start the pick ups from 23.00 hrs on 7th Jan 2009.

The van started from RS puram, then Gandhipuram and headed to Singanallur where some of our friends had jus landed after their exams in the afternoon. The van then speeded towards Harish’s home where a bigger group was waiting. Our photo sessions began at his place. After completing the photo shoot we went to the famous RAMBA bar (opp railways station) where Mr. JUS 10 (JK, aged 29), kaBEER (Mahe) and MG were already on a high. It was already 00.30 hrs and we set out towards our destination. The journey saw two pit stops – one at the famous Vadakanchery and the other on the outskirts of Chalakudy.

Hmmm, @ the early hours of the day – 06.00 hrs, when most of my friends were fast asleep we entered the town of Kumarakom. There was hardly a soul out on the roads. We finally reached the office of the Boat house @ 06.45 hrs and relaxed just to find out that our boat house will be available only @ 11.00 hrs. We were wondering as to how to spend the next 4 hrs. Like in most trips we set out on a walk to explore, as always, accompanied by photo shoots.

It was almost a quarter past 8.00 hrs when the owner came and invited us to his place for breakfast. A very kind person at heart, he made arrangements for all 18 of us to refresh and have a nice breakfast @ his place. We thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality. It was jus around 09.30 hrs and we had a good 2 hrs in hand to spend. Ther is a bird sanctuary in Kumarakom and we decided to explore the same. We never had an idea of what was waiting for us.....

We started walking and found that they were literally no birds in the sanctuary. Finally v saw a bird sitting alongside the lake. Unaware of what it was, v decided to name it a MYKA.. wondering wat it means?? It is a hybrid of Myna (Cuckoo) and the KAKA (Crow).. After reaching the side of the lake, our group of 18 split.. Some of us decided to take a ride on the row boat into the backwaters of Vembanad Lake, having a glimpse of the resorts in and around Kumarakom – a one to mention is the TAJ resort...

V then regrouped at the parking stand and set out towards the banks to board the INDRAPRASTHA boat house (a real big 4 bedroom one) in which we wud spend the next 24 hrs..................

To be Continued..........