Ripples on the brain

It seems like just yesterday…Feb 28th 2005

Shattered parents’ dreams. Disappointment with self. Decision to make that journey to Mumbai. Co-passengers. The disillusioned brother with renal problems. The advice. Symbiosis. Philip Kotler. Early morning wait. The punjabi taxiwala at Dadar. Chithappa’s house after 2 years. Zilch preparation. Next day morning. Chiththi’s uppuma. Struggle with autowala. IIT Delhi. Maggi at canteen. Presentation. Slide show. Group Discussion. Interview. Foot in one place, heart in another. SMS from Joseph. Karthik Sankar’s success. Tense moments. Back to Chithappa’s place. Tired. Call to Chennai. Disappointment in Mom’s voice. Browsing rediff. Empty inbox. 3 new mails in bulk folder. Happiness after reading the mails. The handshake. Another call to Chennai. Call to friends. Dad’s narration of events back home. Chat with brother-in-law. Journey back home. Central Station (my temporary home again?). MTC bus. Quarrel with drivers. Decision on what/how I’ll tell colleagues. Talk with manager. Happiness all round.

Such moments come once in a life time. Cherish it whenever possible.

It is official now. President Bush will visit the Indian School of Business. There were a group of American security personnel and Hyderabad police in campus today, mostly looking at the security arrangements that need to be made in the campus for his visit.

I have mixed feelings after hearing about Bush’s visit. Seeing the most powerful man on earth will definitely be something great, but I will also be sad that we’ll be hosting the person who also probably abused the power the most.

It is the name of a telugu movie I watched yesterday night in Prasads. A wonderful movie with a fresh storyline. The screenplay can only leave you appreciating the skills of the new director. The hero Allu Arjun looks amazing and he suits whatever he does on screen - action, comedy, dance, romance. He has justified the faith the producer has reposed in him. Genelia, the heroine, lives as the college-goer Madhumathi and the emotions that you see from her look so real. This film will give a big boost to her career. Though Manoj Bajpai has done several path-breaking roles, this film is an exhibition of the potential this actor has. The decision to act in a telugu film would not have been an easy one to take, but the power his role brings to the movie should have been the reason for him to act in the movie.

The director has potrayed a positive message throughout this movie. The talent of everyone from the director to the actors, camera men etc. can be seen in the climax scene. A wonderfully plotted out climax where everyone comes out with flying colours. With movies such as this, Tollywood’s reputation as an industry giving good movies has been enhanced.

P.S: Sorry. This was the only way I could justify the money I spent on the movie .

Paritrana is the website of the political party formed by a bunch of IIT students. More here.

So, It was an ISB show at Prasads! ISB block booked the tickets for a whole show and tickets were on the house for all of us. Most of us (including me), however, weren’t grateful enough to heed to ISB’s request of wearing an ISB t-shirt to the movie. That should have been a good brand building. However, we went to the movie just as it began and there wasn’t any big interval and so I didn’t notice a lot of t-shirts anyway.

Ok, now to the movie. The pessimist in me couldn’t but think about a formula in the movie. Among Aamir Khan’s previous two hit movies - Lagaan was a pre-indepence era movie and DCH was for the heppy generation. This movie combined both of these. I had read in some review about Lagaan movie that it was just another formula film that combined three basic emotions of the Indian masses - anti-British, love for cricket and love for love. From that perspective, this movie wasn’t any different - anti-British, anti-corruption/politicians (we mostly equate the two, as if politicians belong to a different breed than us and they are the only ones corrupt in India) and love for love.

But, the other side of me loved this movie. Such movies have become very rare nowadays and whenever they come, the effort that goes into it, more than the ultimate product itself deserves a lot appreciation. I mean, the director could have very well had another remake of Unfaithful with some heroine stripping in front of the camera or smooching another bare-bodied hero/heroine. The fact that so much thought and effort has gone into the story and screenplay should be applauded. Well done!!!

Among the actors, Atul Kulkarni was the best. I still can’t forget his acting when he recited the words “Sarfarosh ki thamanna hamare dil me hain…” . The skin between his nose and lips shivered as he spoke these lines, which I feel is very difficult to bring out unless you’re really emotional or an extremely talented actor. I think it was a bit of both. Even in other places, like when he joins the gang but refuses to open up - with his folded hands - he has beaten everyone else in the cast. Good job!!! Aamir Khan was his usual self. He has set some standards in acting and makes sure that he meets his standards everytime. When he needs to laugh at some sudden joke or cry silently, he makes it look so natural. Another thing about him is that he’s so comfortable with the co-artists sharing the screen, something you cannot see with an actor like Kamal Hassan. Soha Ali Khan is good . To me every heroine looks beautiful nowadays; is it that they are really beautiful or it has something to do with my age? I don’t know. She inherits the beauty of Sharmila Tagore with the nose of Tiger Pataudi with that characterisitic curve. She doesn’t act so well in the beginning but carries herself well later. I was surprised with the importance new-comer Siddharth was given in the movie. He made sure the confidence in him wasn’t misplaced. Om Puri was, as usual, amazing. It’s a shame he’s not mentioned prominently in the cast. All the other actors played their parts well - an indication of good direction.

A.R.Rehman’s music was very good, except that sometimes it reminded me of Ayutha Ezhuthu or Yuva.

Overall a movie worth watching twice !!!

Yes, that’s what it looks like - this placement season. I can feel the stress levels are increasing by the day. It is as if the stress hormone Cortisol is being secreted in good amounts and the anti-stress mechanism has somehow failed to work . There are applications and more applications everyday. Hopefully the companies realize the effort that I put into these applications and short lists me atleast for that alone .

I realized some changes that are gradually taking place at the campus as it gears for the placement season. I finish my classes in the evening and walk back home and the only sounds that I hear are birds chirping and an automobile moving somewhere outside my vicinity. All the students have locked themselves in a room with their respective focus groups either cramming some current information or going through their mock interviews. Dinner time is consumed by conversations about different companies and progress in placements. “12-2-10-0″, somebody says, “who’s bowling figures are these?”, you might ask. It actually turns out to be “number of postions applied-number of applications not shortlisted-number of applications in progress-number of applications shortlisted” . I dread to open my mailbox and see the mail “Dear Karthik Ramachandran, You have been not shortlisted for ___ post in ___ company. Please go to the website and look at the status of the application” and the website hosts an irritating icon that almost mocks at me and says “Not shortlisted”. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. All the effort gone waste.

As usual calls from home come frequently (twice/thrice a week) but the conversations have changed a little. Just before we finish our call, everytime a stereotype conversation takes place:

Mom: Nee nenaikkara vela unakku kedachudum ille da
Me: hmm

Mom: Antha ezhutha aathla ___ oda payyan irunthaane, avan velaikku poga aaramachuttaan
Me: oho, good

Mom: Market romba nanna irukku nnu ellarum solraale?
Me: hmm

Mom: (after failing to get any favourable replies from me) Seri, udamba pathukko. Bye.

:). Sometimes I laugh at how stressed I can become, but sometimes the stress really takes over me and I end up thinking very pessimistically. Hopefully everything will be over in a fortnight.

Here I go. “Har har Mahadev”…

Remember Population Services International’s popular advertisement campaign against AIDS in TamilNadu a couple of years ago? “Pulli Raajavukku AIDS varuma?” (Will Pulli raaja, a hypothetical character, contract AIDS?).

I vividly remember details about this ad which was aired in the state in 2003-2004. In fact, I heard people talking about this ad first and then watched them in the TV and later in the billboards around the city. This was a buzz ad campaign that was launched to create awareness about the use of condoms to prevent AIDS. It was so popular that it formed the topic of casual discussions in many offices in the city. In the place where I used to work, people, including girls, talked about it during work, in the elevators and at lunch. “Who is this Pulli Raaja?” was the question in everybody’s mind.

As in most buzz campaigns, the mascot was given a definite shape after a few weeks. He was shown as a person who indulges in casual sex under different circumstances - with known or unknown women, commercial or otherwise. The campaign was aimed at men with a motive to create a doubt in their minds about their safety.

The major problem faced by PSI and other organizations in TN was that there are no concentrated red-light areas (unlike, say, Mumbai) and so the campaign could not be targetted. In my opinion, a first for this campaign was that it did away with any conservatism its previous ads had. The previous captions used to be “When you have a wife and family at home, why do you seek pleasure outside?” or something similar, where they concentrated on discouraging men from having sex with anybody else other than their wife. This ad just wanted the men to use condoms to be safe and predictably, there was some opposition to the message this ad was conveying.

Nevertheless, the campaign was hugely successful in TN. A study commissioned found that the spontaneous recall for this ad was 32% and a whooping 59% discussed about this ad with others. The percentage of interviewees using condoms increased from 58% before the campaign to 65% after the campaign. [Source - The Hindu]

The success of this campaign led to buzz advertising in other product categories as well - Arogya milk for example (“Arjun amma yaaru”, “Who’s Arjun’s mother?”) - but I guess its success can never be replicated.

Dinner conversations are becoming crazier by the day, thanks to the pressure of placements. There is this company in Chennai which contains a lot TAMBRAMs in its workforce. So, the other day we were discussing the best strategy to get short-listed and finally selected in this company.

First the short-list. I suggested that to get short-listed your Expression of Interest (or cover letter) and resume must be smeared with turmeric powder at the corners (just like auspicious documents like a marriage invitation). The header of the EoI should contain “Kanji kamakodi pidathipathi jagathguru sri chandrasekharendra saraswati yin anugrahathodu…” .

Then the attire for the interview. A guy came up with the following recommendation: Remember the pre-independence plays that used to be shown in Doordarshan not so long ago? Wear a panjagacham (a special way to wear a dhoti) with a black coat on top. Smear your forehead with either pattai or namam as may be applicable to you.

Then answering the interview questions. I liked this suggestion the most. Like in most interviews, the first question will be “Tell me about yourself”. Answer: “Abhivathaye …. thriyarishaiva… gothraha… suthraha… “.

Sure way to get selected.

P.S: Don’t interpret this as a casteist post or one taking a dig at any person or company. This was just a funny conversation that I wanted to post.