Updates from Marketing Chit-Chat: 23rd Mar – 30th Mar’09

Posted these 3 posts on my Marketing Chit-Chat blog last week, would love to see you there...

• Engagement is the key - It’s not about listening, it’s not about monitoring, it’s about ENGAGING. Read More…

• Jai Ho Vs. Bhay Ho: While Congress was quick enough to take rights & create a video out of much acclaimed song “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire but quicker was the counter strategy from BJP to come out with another video based on the same song. Read More…

• Indian Politicians on Twitter Now: How much can marketing help them when the core product itself is not good? Would be good to know it from the readers of this post – do you really believe in current communications sent out by any of these parties? Read More…

Kaha Tum Chale Gaye?

And it’s Thursday again…every Thursday we feel the same! One more week passed without Kishu! It’s surprising to even think that we are actually surviving without him. Not even a single day used to pass without me speaking to my brother & mom earlier. If nothing else, then at least a one liner call from him saying he has reached home safely. And now it’s the 7th week today without him. Neither the tears dry nor the pain gets lessened…it’s a wound deep within, so deep that it may take a lifetime for us to heal. God knows where our beloved got lost!

As I always say some pains are difficult to express in words but I wonder how come the lyricist of the song “Chitthi Na Koi Sandesh” got this pain expressed in the song so aptly…I always used to like this song but when I got to listen to it today after a long time on FM, I couldn’t express how I felt…looks like the lyricist has experienced some pain like this to craft such a soulful song! Whole song has got a different meaning to me now esp. the following two paragraphs:

Chithi Na Koi Sandesh

Jaane Woh Kaun Sa Desh

Jahan Tum Chale Gaye

Is Dil Pe Lagaa Ke Thes

Jaane Woh Kaun Sa Desh

Jahan Tum Chale Gaye...

Ek Aah Bharee Hogi

Humne Na Sunee Hogi

Jaate Jaate Tumne
Aawaz To Di Hogi

Har Waqt Yehi Hai Gham

Us Waqt Kahan The Hum

Kahan Tum Chale Gaye

Abh Yaadon Ke Kaante

Is Dil Mein Chubhte Hain

Na Dard Thaherta Hai

Na Aansoon Rukte Hain

Tumhe Dhoondh Raha Hai Pyaar

Hum Kaise Karein Iqraar

Ke Haan Tum Chale Gaye

Really we can’t believe ki tum sach mein chale gaye!

Moral Policing – Isn’t it getting worse?

Even if I’m too engrossed in my personal life these days but this incident shook me once again. In fact shaken is not the right word rather, “disgusted” is the right word to express my resentment. Yes, I felt disgusted to know of this incident. I was talking to this friend of mine who was at M.G. Road shopping some stuffs & she told that she witnessed a horrific incident last weekend. A man suddenly started beating a woman publicly & nobody came to rescue that lady at all. The worse was that the woman was absolutely clueless about the reason of this assault! Later on got to read this same incident in today’s Times of India (Bangalore edition) with title “moral policing continues". The news also mentioned another bizarre incident where a man was assaulted for wearing sleeveless t-shirts in Bangalore. Yes a man, looks like these so called moral police is so tired of assaulting women that now they are trying their hands on men too. The worse was to note that when the victim spoke in Kanadda & called cops, the group of men left him & ran away considering he was a localite. So, how wonderful this is getting day by day – first there are these group of people who decide to take charge of the whole society & based on the kind of clothes anyone is wearing or the kind of places which one is visiting they decide to assault people openly, then they decide to further add biasness based on location…so if you are a localite you are free to wear whatever you want to but if you are an outsider dare you do so! We are watching you & have got all the rights to beat you publicly! God, this is sickening & is getting worse day by day. Thankfully that man put up a complaint against those men in nearby police station but will such complaints help??? Enough has been written & spoken about moral police in last few months esp. with all the attacks like Mangalore – girls etc. but has some concrete action being taken? Some activist groups did take some actions against such misdeeds but then without the proper support from Govt. & politicians how far can they go? With numerous questions in my mind, all I can think of this incident is - “yet again it happened & will it happen again”?

Holding or breaking down?

Sorrow you can hold, however desolating, if nobody speaks to you. If they speak, you break down. ~Bede Jarrett

Read this quote on a website yesterday morning & thought of posting it on my blog but for some reason didn’t do it. When I read it today yet again I couldn’t resist myself from sharing it here. I find this quote to be so relatable & so very true. I am trying to overcome the pain but somehow find it to be too deep to overcome. Rational mind says that I need to hold my tears back but there is this emotional force deep within which always overcomes my rational mind these days. Colleagues & friends around me say that there is no point in being silent and I need to speak it out…& that silence is the refuge which cowards or depressed people take, the courageous ones speak & fight it out! But then they don’t know that speaking has its own disadvantages too. I think if I am silent, I can still manage to hold back my sorrow but if I speak esp. to my closed ones I can’t help myself from breaking down. I understand that I can’t keep on crying in office & I try to keep myself composed as much as possible but despite me trying to avoid this colleague of mine with whom I am close, when I met her last week I couldn’t hold back my tears at all. Yesterday some close friends visited my place & again despite N convincing me & me being mentally prepared to not cry in front of them, I couldn’t stop myself from breaking down…when they sat near me or touched my hand I just couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s my own weakness / cowardice or the proximity which I share with them which made me do so but then there are certain behavior to which no logic or rationale can be applied. It is true – “you can hold your sorrow if nobody speaks to you but if they speak you can’t”.

Cynicism

I was dreading this day since last one week…it’s Holi today and as expected our day started with both me and mom getting up in tears. No, I don’t have the courage to console my mom today when I am myself feeling so dreadful. First thing which this holi reminded me of was all the planning which we did just a day prior to that fateful day when Kishu left us. For last few years, I have not spent holi at my place, I was either at my job location or with my in-laws. This year since I had just made a trip to my in-laws place in Jan, so we decided to gather up in Mumbai for holi at my brother’s place. Some long planning sessions were done between me and my mom about how we all can meet up this time and have holi together. But well, we never knew what was in store for us next day! Forget about knowing, we never even could have imagined it then that something like this was waiting for us…and they say to believe on saying “whatever happens, happens for good”. REALLY???

It’s all festive and colorful around me, people in office are playing Holi and I am HATING it. For the first time, I think I am not liking anything colorful and bright around me, today for the first time I do not repent office being open on a festival, I thought at least I will have some respite from all the festivity around me, for the first time I am really not liking everybody smiling , enjoying & dancing around me. People insisted so much to at least join for the lunch outing today and maybe I could have done that, but here I am sitting on my desk alone typing this post as I really-really didn’t have the heart to go out on lunch… I can’t and I don’t feel like! My rational mind says if I am not celebrating holi, this does not mean everybody will not play holi. They have all the rights to enjoy their life and I should at least smile on their requests if I can’t join that celebration. But don’t know why, I am finding this smile also very difficult to come today. Isn’t it wrong to behave like this? Am I being too cynical? I don’t know…

It pains, really pains!

N insists that I should try to get back to normal life slowly…I have resumed back work but he wants me to divert my mind to those things which I used to enjoy earlier like painting, blogging, cooking etc. Even my closest friend insists me to do so & I know both of them are saying it for my benefit only. It’s for their sake that I started to write this post today…but don’t know what to write. I think I opened a blank page in the morning but all I could feel is blank and numb. Trust me N & T, I don’t know how to get back to life again…I am trying, I really am but it is difficult…difficult & difficult. I know its 31 days today, almost a month since Kishu left us but tell me, is it possible to overcome a life-long association in just 31 days? It pains, really pains deep inside, something which I can’t express in words…I can’t divert my mind to anything but to think as to how am I supposed to live my whole life without my brother without whom I couldn’t have even imagined one day of my life? Why did God decide to take such a young soul away and how am I supposed to react after seeing my stone-eyed mom who had to bear the worst pain of her life without any fault? When I could not get over the death of my friend since last 8 months, how am I supposed to deal with a loss as big as Kishu? It is excruciating & unbearable…& cruel & ... words fail!