in vacant or in pensive mood

CSR is very big word in many companies. It's not enough that it is mandated by the government but things that are done in the name of CSR are pretty lame most often. CSR activities are also used as a branding technique - a loud whisper to tell consumers that you care. And when the CSR is done backing a govt initiative - one really wonders its authenticity. What is good CSR one may ask. Let me start by saying clearly what its not. It's not ephemeral. Just talking about women empowerment in an ad and donating a percentage of sales as a one time action. No - if you commit to something - live with it. Live with it much like how a brand must live with its product. Make it better on the way. Make it a living entity too - meaning, carry this activity like a branding activity - not an activity that must be done. Do it like you mean it. And CSR is the opposite of the business you are in. Every product - no matter what it is - is feeding to consumerism. But CSR isn't shoving s...

Can brands be humans? Brands have made products in to people but can they really become human beings? Is it a westernized thinking? Did it take an indian or eastern thinking to put a soul in the brand with the belief? Is it required? Accountability in advertising Political campaigns are 99% bullshit. It's tom toming all the things you really don't care about and extremely whimsical, ephemeral and false promises. Problem is, is all advertising guilty of this? Making false promises, saying things that consumers know you are trying hard to sell? One example is a brand saying "Best ever" for their products. Really? And yet, a year later, you've bettered the product? After 15 years of supporting fair women, Fair & Lovely suddenly talks about empowerment and does so in a very shallow way. If you were guilty of something, why not come out of the closet and really change your perceptions? How come for the women it's about empowerment and for the guys, it...

I can rant about this topic not for hours but days, but what I currently and suddenly felt is that we advertising professionals are like a marriage portal. Marketers are the bride that come to us to write their profile. Consumers are the bride groom, and their profile is crafted by the planners. All advertising agencies do is to try and get a get marriage going. And buzz words like engagement, brand love, married to brand, relationship, one night stands being used in advertising reiterates my point. And the role of researchers are marriage counsellers. They try to reconcile a shaky marriage and learn from strong ones. It's strange that from feeling like a magician who could hypnotise an audience, my view of my profession has become the current one.

There's a heavenly bond between mother and daughter. It cannot be explained but can be experienced and seen in some small actions. And it starts right from when the baby is in peaceful sleep in the mother's stomach. For right from there, they feel what their mom feels. They eat what she eats. And they hear her heart, right from the inside. Which is why when they are born, it feels like a miracle. A small being, inside for 9 months. Floating. Drinking. Feeling, hearing and sensing the outside world. But the most divine moments are yet to come that reflects this bond. It's the feeding time. Bang in the middle of the night, after a hectic day with the baby, deep in sleep, all the mom needs from the little one is a small tap from those tiny hands. No matter how deep the sleep. It's just that one small tap that can wake her up and feed the baby. And it's this celestial inexplicable bond that makes mothers connect with the kids even when they are away. And as for m...

Who knew that pairing great whiskey with rustic vetthai kuzhambu can hit that spot that very few north Indian pairings can match...

Hi Myra, So officially, your name will change from Vijayalakshmi to Myra. And no, I have no problem. As your mom said, my amma will be with me forever. Since I wrote last, so much has changed. You are taller, heavier and far cuter than before. And you are teaching us something everyday. Only one thing is more accentuated is your uncanny answers at the right time. You still love songs and us singing to you to put you to sleep. And now, you dont go to sleep, we almost always PUT you to sleep. You demand it. Singing lullabies, rocking you. You still can't take being swayed around - your eyes yet get fixated to one spot in order to avoid being disoriented. You are learning to turn on your tummy slowly. You almost turn till your stomach but can't yet move the far hand out. You are peeing more, and less. Your kaka frequency is less and more or less timed. You love to have a support for your legs and hands while you sleep. You throw a lot more tantrums now - you cry for attent...

With the advent of nuclear families, there is a death of good old time spent with relatives. Uncles and aunts are distant, nieces and nephews are connected through social media making us have relatives but devoid of relationship. What's happening instead is that we seek out this joint family love not by blood connections but instead with work colleagues. It reiterates the importance of relationships for the development of the self. In the pursuit of independence, we broke away from joint families, but what's happening now is that the very thing we broke away from, we seek from external people. Which is very ironic :)