Short Story: Radhika's Dilemma

‘Ladies’ man’ were the two words that came to Radhika’s mind after getting out of his room on the 37th floor. After heaving a sigh of relief, Radhika went back to her duties.

Radhika had been working at Hotel SpringCity as a Manager for the the last five years. SpringCity was Mumbai’s Island Paradise, a stately 7 star hotel, in the middle of the Arabian Sea. With its 87 floors, 706 rooms and 87 suites, its clientele fittingly ranged from the wealthy, the glamorous and the glitterati the world over. They converged to its lovely rooms whenever they were in the financial capital of India. So bumping into European royalty, corporate leaders, or International film stars was almost a given here.  Jestin Langford, a celebrated Investment Banker was one of them.

Jestin Langford was a regular at SpringCity. He visited India once a month to service his Indian HNIs and to put together the strategies for their mergers and acquisitions. A suave New Yorker, he was a Harvard product, working for America’s number one investment bank – A.L. Stinsons. SpringCity served as his base of operations, due to its proximity to his client’s tony offices at Nariman Point, making his 37^th floor suite indispensable.

Being a regular to Maximum City, Jestin knew all the hot-spots as he strongly believed that a city has not been lived-in truly if one has not seen what it has to offer as its night life. He was clear whenever he was out partying with his clients – to never discuss work. Jestin was an enviable mover on the floor, having learnt salsa for nine years. His lithe body pulsating under strobe lights made Indian women swoon and lust after his agile body.

Radhika was the face of Hotel SpringCity, knowing each regular by name, occupation down to their likes and dislikes. She considered it as an integral part of customer relationship management. There had been instances in the past where a guest was disappointed on not being given the service that was promised and it would take only 10 minutes for Radhika to pacify the guest. A charming personality aside, she was a pleasure to talk to.

Radhika had met Jestin for the first time three years back, at the Front Desk while he checked-in. At first glance Radhika was awe-struck by Jestin;  6’2, debonair, a man with blue eyes, looking dapper in a slim-fit Italian cut-suit. As he greeted Radhika, and asked her for the keys to his suite, a story had begun to brew. But there was something about Jestin that looked familiar. She could not put a finger on it. As soon as she handed over the key, Jestin came a little closer to her and said “Thank you very much. You are a very pretty lady.” Radhika blushed, managing a feeble “Thank You.”

By his next visit, Radhika researched Jestin as part of her responsibility. She would notice sexily dressed women coming to pick Jestin for his evening parties, whenever he was here. While she never discussed him along with the other staff of the hotel, in her mind, she had formed an image of Jestin as that of a ladies man.

Radhika was a 30 year old Mumbai girl, brought up in Bandra. Blessed with beauty, over the years, lots of people had tried to cajole her to enter beauty contests but she was clear with what she wanted to do. After her graduation, she went on to do her Hotel Management course from Switzerland. Upon completing her course, Radhika landed a job at SpringCity - the kind of job opportunity she was looking for. Over the years, her dedication, great customer service and charming personality had earned her the responsibility of Manager of the hotel.

While in Switzerland, Radhika met Steven, a student from an exchange programme, for the first time in the college library a week upon his arrival. They both wanted the same book and co-incidentally asked the librarian about the book at the same time. Both looked at each other and smiled. Steven then introduced himself as some instant sparks begun to fly. Radhika took the responsibility of showing Steven around – the Alps, Interlaken, Jungfra. After their fifth meeting, Steven invited Radhika to one of the college parties which he had organized. Radhika went, dressed in a short-red dress with a plunging neckline, which accentuated her assets nicely. Lot of guys vied for her attention but she was smitten by Steven as much as he was and both of them did not leave each other through the party.

After a couple of Grey Goose shots, they decided to hit the dance floor, and they danced through the night. After the party, Steven took Radhika to the university lawn and under the stars, they kissed each other. Radhika did not know whether it was the vodka or Steven, but she just could not control herself and she gave in. When did passion turn into possession and instantly into obsession, she did not know. The dew on the grass blades merged with the sweat on their bodies and the grass below them got completely crushed with the throbbing, the pushing and the biting that took place between the two. Radhika knew that this is a kind of love-making that one can experience only once in a life time. Steven and Radhika became a couple for the next two weeks that Steven was there. On the day he was leaving, Steven promised Radhika to call from New York, but he never did.

“Can you please send the manager to my room?” Jestin hollered in the phone to the front-desk.

Radhika was immediately called for and apprised of the situation. Jestin’s suite had a different wine bottle than what he drank regularly and this had upset him. So Radhika had to go placate the situation. She entered Jestin’s room along with a bottle of his favourite wine   and a personalized apology card. Jestin’s anger vanished as soon as he saw Radhika but pretended to be really cross and said “I am a regular guest for years now and the hotel does not even remember my most basic requirement?” “I apologize on behalf of Hotel SpringCity for the inconvenience that you have gone through Mr. Langford. This mistake has happened due to a new intern. Let me offer you this apology card and also your bottle of wine as compliments from the hotel and an assurance that you will not get a chance to complain again.”

Jestin showed that he has cooled down and said “That’s ok..Radhika right? I guess I over-reacted for such a small thing when I know that you guys have taken great care of me always.  It’s just that today has been a bad day. We missed out on two deals and I had put my heart and soul for the last few months in preparing it and so I was disappointed. Anyways, would you like to join me for a glass of wine? I could do with some company today.” Radhika was taken aback by this offer but she kept a calm face and said “Thank you Mr. Langford for the offer, but I am on duty and so I cannot drink with a guest.” “That is my bad luck then. Maybe some other time? Hey, how about on a day when you are off-duty? We can catch up for dinner outside SpringCity. What do you say?” asked Jestin. Radhika turned red on hearing this as no other guest had ever asked her out before this. She said “I am sorry Mr. Langford, but that won’t be possible. Now I would like to take your leave.” With this, Radhika left his room quickly on the 37^th floor, and her mind just kept saying “Ladies man.”

Two days later, Jestin met Radhika in the elevator and he candidly asked “Is not going out for dinner with guests a policy of the hotel or yours?” Radhika was a bit stumped by this straight-forwardness and replied “Well, Mr. Langford, I am uncomfortable going out with someone who is a guest in our hotel.” “Let me tell you, I do that all the time with my clients and I don’t feel awkward about it because after business hours it’s not about protocol with clients anymore. I am leaving tomorrow. It would be great if I can meet you at the Thai Pavilion tonight by 9. I hope that is fine with you?” “After a minute of silence, Radhika finally said “OK, lets meet at 9”.

Throughout the day, Radhika was cursing herself to have agreed for dinner. Thoughts kept clogging her mind with questions like “Why did you say a yes knowing that he is a guest and also knowing  the kind of person he is?” Thrice in the day, she thought of calling him and telling him that the dinner was off but she thought that would be rude and could not muster the courage to do that.

At 7.30 pm, Radhika ended her day and headed home. She kept thinking what would she wear, how should she come across to him, he should not get any wrong message. After 15 minutes of going through her wardrobe, she finally said to herself “What the heck. He will be gone in a day. I might as well dress myself and enjoy my dinner.” She took out a lovely black strapless dress and her mother’s vintage pearls. She tied her black high heels, and suddenly felt like a diva. She reached the Thai Pavilion at 9.15 and Jestin was there waiting for her, dressed in a monogrammed black blazer, looking absolutely irresistible. He came to her and said “So you sizzle not only in a Sari, but everything you wear. Thank you very much for coming.” Radhika managed a slight smile and said “Thank you Mr. Langford.” He turned around and said “Please don’t make me feel like a 75 year old man out for dinner with a young girl. Call me Jestin.”

Jestin had booked one of the best tables at the restaurant overlooking the beautiful Arabian sea. He pulled her chair and allowed her to sit before sitting himself. “What would you like to drink?” He asked. “A glass of Sauvignon Blanc please”. “That’s a good choice Radhika.” They sat there for three hours telling one another their stories, their dreams and aspirations. To an outsider they would have seemed to be old friends reuniting after decades.

Finally, she said “I need to go now. It’s getting late” and he gallantly offered to drop her home. He made her slid into his black BMW, which he always used whenever he was in India. Just a little before reaching her place, he stopped the car, looked at her and said “I must tell you that I have never seen anyone more beautiful than you in my life.” Being slightly tipsy, Radhika managed to say “You must be saying this to every woman you go out with. I have noticed different women coming to pick you at the hotel. You are a ladies man.” “Well, I appreciate that you have noticed me going out, but let me tell you that all these women are clients thinking that going out with me will help them in their business. There is nothing else beyond that.” Having said that, he leaned in closer and kissed her lightly on her lips. “I fell for you the day I saw you Radhika, but I just did not know whether it would be appropriate to ask you out. I thought yesterday’s wine incident is a good opportunity to call the manager as I knew that would you.” He smiled, leaned in and kissed her again and this time she reciprocated with a longing kiss and blurted out ‘So both of us need to thank that intern for goofing-up” as they continued kissing. 

Suddenly, Jestin’s mobile rang and the name that flashed on screen said – Steven Langford- Brother.

#4linepoetry - Themes: Week 3

Theme: Perseverance

He had climbed half the peak when he felt like quitting,

But then he remembered this as what he dreamt of always - sleeping, standing or sitting.

Perseverance took the better of him and he went ahead to climb the peak,

Today, he feels proud that he did not let that moment make him feel weak.

Theme: Blues

Monday morning blues, everything seems like a pain.

What further pisses off is the traffic jam caused by a bit of rain.

Come closer to Friday and you start counting hours,

You start making plans for the evening to hit a few bars. 

Theme: Lights

Every year, It brought with it a glimmer of hope,

And help Raju when he thought, he would slide down the depression slope.

Looking at all the lights around him on Diwali made Raju jump in glee,

Begging on the streets of Delhi made him feel bonded and he wanted to run free. 

Theme: Grace

They kept waiting for ten years,

Every passing year was just adding to their fears.

Finally a miracle happened and brought them lot of joy,

By God’s grace, they became parents to twins – a girl and a boy. 

Theme: Colours

A shade of grey is how he defined his character,

According to him, playing such roles was a true mark of an actor.

It is amazing how colours can define who and how you are,

People advise that if he is a shade of white then be close to him and if he is a black character then just go far. 

Theme: Vision

The goals seem virtually impossible at the start,

Converting it to something achievable takes gumption and heart.

A visionary brings such a belief amongst all,

And then everyone gets ready to face the pessimists like a wall. 

Theme: Small Joys

A toffee, a balloon, a game of ludo with my grandfather. These used to be some of the small joys.

Today, happiness is what I search for even after buying the most expensive toys.

As a kid, I always wanted to grow up soon.

Today I would love to go back to those times and enjoy a cartoon. 

Theme: Salsa 

He was mesmerized when he saw her burn the dance floor,

He thought he would never get tired and would always want to see more.

Salsa was her soul, her second skin. It was her life,

She never imagined that he will force her to stop dancing after she became his wife. 

Theme: Woods 

Sitting by the bonfire, singing countryside songs.

Bonding and camaraderie on the rise with everyone dancing along.

All of them will remember this night as the best of their times,

Let me now end this poem as all of this rhymes. 

Theme: Fear 

Today, darkness sends a chill down the little girl’s spine, 

Because two years back her father left her. Once, she used to tell people “He is only mine”. 

Loneliness brings with it an unexplained fear, 

The only comforting factor for her is when her mother’s lap is near. 

Theme: Party 

Music was blaring, the party was at a full blast,

Everybody was dancing to the beats, sometime slow and sometimes fast.

This style of partying was the first of its kind,

Where the iPods were plugged to their ears and people were grooving to the grind.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 5

Theme: Taste

It seemed like a case of murder for robbery, but the autopsy report revealed poison in his blood. The police found no evidence of poison in the house. They didn't check the wall plaster that was coming off. His brother knew he loved the taste of chalk from childhood and hadn't given up as yet. 

Theme: Words

He got into a relationship early in life. It was game of scrabble which led to the initial sparks. What followed was knowing each other more. Love blossomed further while graduating in English Literature. Its been years and they're still going strong. As a writer, today, words are his addiction and his companion for life. 

Theme: Alcohol

Being a car race driver was a thrill and a passion for him. Every win was celebrated with a success party with a glass in hand throughout the evening. Soon addiction took over and now every loss also follows a similar pattern. Only difference is that the word 'success' is missing and he parties alone. 

Theme: Seduction

Ice cubes: Check

Strawberries: Check

Honey: Check

Chocolate sauce: Check

Ragini was pleased with her shopping list. Rajan looked at it and smiled. "I am impressed sweetheart and am looking forward to a night of passion and seduction".

"Oh Shut Up Rajan. This is for the birthday party of our four year old." Rajan sighed. 

Theme: Fight

8.01 am. The fast local to Churchgate was packed. A push here and a shove there was leading to arguments and fights. This was the kind of opportunity Suleman looked for. Picking pockets in such a scenario was pretty easy. He did not know that CCTVs had been installed last night on the Western Line. 

Theme: Possession

While playing, Jhanvi hurt herself. Her mother took her tears in her hand and said "These are pearls. Don't waste them."

Few days later at the mall, Jhanvi innocently went to her mother and told her "Mom. If Papa is not buying you that pearl necklace, please use my pearls that are in your possession." 

Theme: Irony

Growing up in a middle class family with limited means had made Michal stingy. This nature of his caused a lot of stress in his marriage to a girl who liked to live the good life. Michal has changed now and he indulges and pampers himself often. Ironically, this change happened after May left him. 

Theme: Taste

It seemed like a case of murder for robbery, but the autopsy report revealed poison in his blood. The police found no evidence of poison in the house. They didn't check the wall plaster that was coming off. His brother knew he loved the taste of chalk from childhood and hadn't given up as yet. 

Theme: Games

It was raining heavily and Sonu was getting bored. His father made a paper boat in front of Sonu and put it in the puddle. Sonu saw this as an exciting game. When it rained next, Sonu made many boats while his father was asleep. He thought the money in his father's wallet was paper.

Theme: Name

He was being felicitated for his phenomenal work in cancer research and he dedicated his prize to his mother who had succumbed to the dreadful disease ten years back. But even after such success, filling a form that asked for a father’s name made him cringe. Living the life of a bastard was a curse. 

Theme: Bollywood

"Were you a barber in your past life?" asked the brawny actor.

"What? No! I mean how do I know? Why do you ask?" said the famous action hero.

"Because you love using the scissors a lot on the editing table!" said the brawny actor and walked off.

The action hero was stumped and speechless. 

Theme: Distance

Adnan proudly posted his half-marathon pictures on Facebook, and there were 55 comments. Adnan running a distance of 21 km was unexpected. People asked him when his philosophy - ‘Live to Eat’ had changed and how had he managed the weight loss. The word Liposuction was not mentioned even once by him in any comment.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 4

Theme: Obsession
Fifteen years had passed since they met last. They were inseparable in college. Binge drinking on graduation night followed by the bike ride home turned fatal. Rajeev lost his vision and his love. Today, he knew she was sitting next to him in the flight. He knew that smell. She always wore Calvin Klein Obsession.

Theme: Suitcase
He saw his parents slog for 25 years and letting go off all their joys to pick up a rat-hole in the suburbs of the city that was bursting at the seams. He knew his path since then. When asked, ‘What do you do?’, ‘I'm a vagabond’. ‘Where do you stay?’. 'Always in a suitcase'.

Theme: Wish
The phone beeped once again. Nirvaan rushed towards it. 'Hey dude! Happy Birthday. Have a blast. Cheers!'. Another birthday wish but not the one he was waiting for. Just one message from Ria is all he wished for. When together, they had dreamt and wished for many things. Divorce was surely not one of that.

Theme: Leather
Simran's promotion party at her penthouse was at its peak. Kamini dropped her glass of red wine on the plush white leather sofa at Simran's house. She didn't know that Simran loved animals and never bought real leather. Simran didn't know that Kamini did this because she was the other contender for the same role.

Theme: Mad
At the age of ten, it was evident that she possessed talent that even the 16 year old did not have. After few concerts, she knew this was her calling. Her first album itself was a platinum. She gave the nickname herself when she told her first interviewer "Don't call me Madonna. Call me MAD!".

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 3

Theme: Vintage

It looked like a scene from the 30s’. Amer Fort looked radiant and decked up like a new bride in its bright lights. Sherwanis and Jodhpuris adorned proudly by the erstwhile princes. Tonight was the annual bash after the Polo Cup, where Cadillacs and Buicks gave the Princes a chance to relive the vintage era. 

Theme: Dysfunctional

By the time Jonathan reached fifth grade, he was cracking the mathematics problems of ninth standard. On his 19th birthday, he was felicitated for getting an IIT degree and finishing his doctorate in Applied Physics. He loved his nickname ‘Einstein’. Ironically, people called him Einstein even after he was detected with Alzheimer’s disease at 35

Theme: Chemistry

Rajan was confused. He asked Sanjeev with a puzzled look "Please explain this article. 'Shahid Kapoor and Nargis seen together in Goa! The chemistry between them was evident.' How can that be? When two people come closer, it's the force of attraction, which is physics and not chemistry. Isn't it Dad?" Sanjeev didn't have an answer. 

Theme: Deception

Gareth was a VIP at Casino Royale. Blackjack was his game. It was his seventh visit and he had lost 10 lacs till now. The House loved such clients. If only they knew that he was nicknamed Lucky Seven in the Las Vegas circuit as that's when he would swipe the House clean in one night. 

Theme: Aliens

Krish joined work after a break of ten days. He had taken to seek psychiatric help as he had been dreaming of UFOs since the past few weeks. Today everyone was heading to Blue Frog and asked him to join. Alien Chutney was performing there. He did not want to go anywhere near aliens anymore. 

Theme: Hotel

It was past 2 am and the party ended abruptly. Neighbours had complained and police had landed at the door. People started leaving reluctantly when suddenly the speakers started blaring ‘Hotel California’. Saif wanted to have the last word as this was his success party and Chhote Nawab did it in style before getting arrested. 

Theme: Spices

"Why did you kill him?", asked the lawyer. "Because he loved spices." Everyone in the court room were bewildered to hear this. "What are you saying Ms. Dalal?". She spoke nonchalantly "I caught him in bed with his secretary. When I asked why he did this to me, he replied 'Variety is the spice of life'." 

Theme: Cafes

I finally got the collage ready. Choosing the best ones from the lot was quite easy.

The day I held her hand for the first time, my first appraisal in my career, and my meeting with her parents to ask for her hand. Yes, this was a perfect collage of the memories that I had collected at various cafes.

#4linepoetry - Themes: Week 2

Theme: Faith
Fired from his job, lost his love, met with an accident and yet they told him to keep the faith alive,
He was not surprised with what they said but rather by his own will to survive.
He knew he'd have to start from scratch and it won't be an easy ride,
But then it is only the courageous who overcome all odds and sail the tide.

Theme: Attire
The proof was clearly visible from his attire and his boots,
That this city was clearly not where he had his roots.
Getting used to this lifestyle will be tough,
But then even a diamond is initially pulled out from the rough.

Theme: Painting

The canvas came to life with a stroke of a brush,

What followed next was a lot of patience and very little rush.

The masterpiece made after two years of efforts got its due,

When at the auction the bid was being made by not one or two but quite a few.  

Theme: Rose

Whether its a poetry or a prose,
Everything looks beautiful when the subject is a rose.
No wonder it is the king of flowers,
To see its serene beauty, wait for the showers.

Theme: Courage

Big words have no meaning if you don't walk the talk,
Staying true to your works is never a cake walk.
Grit and determination have to be your friends,
These are qualities which these days are not very popular trends.

Theme: Teenage

Now that I look back, I think teenage was the age to be,
Stress was a word in the dictionary and the mind was completely free.
A bit of tantrum and parents would take care of all you need,
Even though rebellious streak made me not pay any heed.

Theme: College

New found freedom, class bunks and proxy attendance formed a large part of college,
One never realized that in between all of this, you all picked up lot of knowledge.
If given a chance, one would always want to go back to those days,
Where the road was not very clear but yet we were all trying to form our own pathways.

Theme: Time

He tried everything. Locking it, holding it and even grabbing it in his hand,

But every instance, it just flowed out like loose sand.

He forgot that possessing time cannot be achieved by anyone,

Because time and tide wait for none.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 2

Theme: Job

"My job sucks man!" said Divakar while gulping his peg of whiskey. "Yeah man! Crazy hours, pathetic pay and a moron boss" chipped in Tulika. While heading home, they saw an old man without legs, at the signal and Rhea spoke "He is working in this condition, at this hour and we complain our work sucks!"

Theme: Paper

It was his fourth attempt. He tried his best but still found it difficult to manage it. He tried using various books, surfed the Internet to get tips to improve, even asked friends for help and guidance, but the result would just be the same. He never knew writing a love letter would be so difficult. 

Theme: Cafes

I finally got the collage ready. Choosing the best ones from the lot was quite easy. The day I held her hand for the first time, my first appraisal in my career, and my meeting with her parents to ask for her hand. Yes, this was a perfect collage of the memories that I had collected at various cafes.

Theme: Spices

"Why did you kill him?", asked the lawyer. "Because he loved spices." Everyone in the court room were bewildered to hear this. "What are you saying Ms. Dalal?".  She spoke nonchalantly "I caught him in bed with his secretary.  When I asked why he did this to me, he replied 'Variety is the spice of life'."

Theme: Hotel

It was past 2 am and the party ended abruptly. Neighbours had complained and police had landed at the door. People started leaving reluctantly when suddenly the speakers started blaring ‘Hotel California’. Saif wanted to have the last word as this was his success party and Chhote Nawab did it in style before getting arrested.

Theme: Aliens

Krish joined work after a break of ten days. He had taken to seek psychiatric help as he had been dreaming of UFOs since the past few weeks. Today everyone was heading to Blue Frog and asked him to join. Alien Chutney was performing there. He did not want to go anywhere near aliens anymore. 

#4linepoetry - Themes: Week 1 (Mar 15 - Mar 22, 2012)

Theme: Beaches
I asked her preference 'Beaches or Mountains?'
She responded 'Waterfalls and fountains'.
I told her compatibility will then be an issue.
She was crying but I walked off after handing her a tissue.

Theme: Chips

A packet of chips and a bottle of beer,
Sachin's 100 100s needed everyone to cheer.
All the celebrations went out for a toss,
After such a glorious moment, it was painful to see India's loss.

Theme: Terrace

It was on the terrace when he first saw her.
That she was married was a thought that did not occur.
Dreams of a life with her, he started to make.
Without realizing that knowing the truth is something he won't be able to take.

Theme: Soul

He came to the city to earn lot of money and fame. 

A successful business got him all of this and a huge name. 

Achieving all of this had its effect and took its toll.
In this process, he just did not realize when he lost his soul.

Theme: Mirrors

“How could you do this to me?”, he asked her. 

She could execute such a devious plan still seemed like a blur. 

“Don’t be surprised. After all that you had done, I had to save my honour, 

So what I have done is nothing but shown you a mirror.”

Theme: Memories

The paper had become yellow and crinkled,
Similar to his face that had become pale and wrinkled.
But the memories that they brought out were as fresh as dew,
Reflecting various moments of his life as he grew.

Theme: Lips

I clearly remember it was a rainy night,

We were drenched completely but I still embraced her tight.

Our lips met and it was magic.

Four years later, when we separated, it was tragic.

Theme: SMS/Emails

The year was 2002 when not all of us had a cell phone.
The STD booth on campus is where we would go to hear our mother's familiar tone.
Today, SMS is free and emails are easy.
But I am not sure people's relationships are so breezy.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 1 (Mar 11 - Mar 18, 2012)

These are my #55wordstory of this week on various themes:

Theme: Wicked

It was the last day of the circus. Two months and not a single day of applause for him. All the applause was for the ring master and all he could manage was a few guffaws and some sniggers. He was sick of being the clown. He had a wicked plan...to open the cage.

 
Theme: Letters

"What will you do now?" she asked him. "I don't know. This is what I have always done. It's not their fault." 

"They fired you from your job of 37 years and you say it's not their fault?" "Times have changed. People dont send letters anymore so what's the use of a postman like me."

Theme: City 

Having an office that gave him the view of the entire New York City from its 105th floor was a dream come true for Rohan. Today was his second day and he was enjoying his cup of coffee, looking out of the window when he saw the plane coming towards him. He was staring at death.

Theme: Bottles

It was the last day of campus life. Two years of late nights, projects, group work, parties, sports, bitching, placements and all the razzmatazz had come to an end. They wanted to celebrate all this with bottles of beer. Only thing they did not know was that their bootlegger in this dry state had been caught!

Theme: Apples

The body was burnt beyond recognition. Police could not establish the identity of the woman found dead. The tea-vendor saw the news and recognized her unique shoes. He approached the police station and told them that she worked at the office which has apples at its reception. There was some questioning to be done at Leo Burnett now.

Theme: Gods and Demons

I started dreaming in the 60s. My dream was to upstage the leader in all the big industries. I started seeing success in automobiles when I became bigger than USA. Soon, I earned the wrath of Gods and Demons and I was struck by earthquakes followed by a terrible tsunami last year. My name 'Japan' soon lost its power.

Theme: Water

In a cruel and ruthless city like Mumbai, this was his only confidant. Happy, sad or depressed, he would find his answers here. 

Always by his side, ready to listen to his pains and anguish and advising him whenever needed. The sea, its waves and the horizon in the distance had its language, which he understood.

Experiences - They vary

All of us know that no two fingerprints are the same. Maybe, we should add one more saying ‘No two experiences are the same’.

Just think about it – You must have had instances when two different friends had uploaded pictures of their holiday to Paris on Facebook, but the pictures of the two would be completely different. The pictures would be different in terms of their posture, their emotions and their expressions, etc. In fact, don’t be surprised when you notice that both set of pictures have been clicked at the same place, like the Eiffel Tower, but yet, the description put by the two people are as different as chalk and cheese.

Now why would a picture taken at the same place by two different people look so different (other than the Eiffel Tower in the background looking the same in both the pics!)? The simple answer to that is because the picture is actually telling you about the experience of that person in that moment at that place. And the reality is that the experience of each person is different due to a number of factors and place is just one of those factors that plays a role in building that experience.

In fact, if you think deeper, you will realize that not only are experiences of different people different, but even the experience of the same person is different on different occasions, even though the place may be the same or the event may be the same.

An experience is a summation of various things that are part of a given moment that come together and form what we call an experience. What that means is that even if one of those various things is different from the earlier experience, the entire experience would be different. Confusing?

Let me try and simplify. According to my hypothesis, an experience is formed with the help of a number of factors – place, time of day, your own mood and mood of others, friends/relatives who are there with you, the kind of music in the background, the quality of food and drinks being consumed, the kind of weather, the occasion, the kind of customer service being offered. (This is not an exhaustive list and one can easily add more factors that play a critical role).

The point here is that if any of these factors change either for you or for someone else, the experience will also change. Often, one hears the use of the term ‘A sense of déjà vu’. What this means is that what  one is witnessing or experiencing is coming pretty close to what one has seen or experienced before (may not necessarily be exactly the same). That is when one immediately comes up with this as the human mind knows that it is very rare that you get to experience the same thing again and again (unless it is a Monday morning blue!) and if you can manage to do that, either you are lucky or you need a change!

Demand Forecasting for Valentine’s Day

Seeing all the hearts, red colour and Valentine’s Day sale ads in the papers got me and my marketing mind thinking. One of the first thoughts that struck me was that Archies was the pioneer in India in popularizing the concept of Valentine’s Day. All others took the bait and followed suit a few years later and today everyone has jumped onto the bandwagon as it is a commercial opportunity that cannot be missed. So be it a florist or jeweler or a retail chain or a pub/lounge, everyone is out there to make a kill and rightly so….after all if you don’t take that opportunity, someone else would.

While for most others, there is not too much of a need to change their merchandise mix too much other than packaging the entire concept in a different way, but when it comes to the pioneer itself – Archies, the game changes a bit.

For Archies, planning for this activity would be a mammoth task, starting months in advance, deciding on what all gift items to procure, in what quantities and from which vendor/country.

This is where the big challenge comes in – Demand Forecasting. This is also the core idea behind my blog as I got intrigued by just thinking about it.

I mean how does one forecast for such an event?

One cannot apply a simple formula like other companies, where you assume a certain growth percentage. It does not work like that in such a scenario. Following questions are hovering in my mind:

• How does one know how many people would be in a relationship next year and how many would not? How many people who are in a relationship this year may not be in one by next year and may not be celebrating?
• How does one know how many people would have found that special someone, with whom they would want to celebrate Valentine’s Day?
• What is the number of married people who would want to celebrate this one day of love?
• Even if people are in a relationship/or have got into one, how do we know whether they would be keen to celebrate this concept or idea or not?
• How does one figure out that what is the amount that those people who are celebrating this day would be willing to spend?
• What is the number of gifts/cards that they would pick up?
• How many soft toys with love messages should be ordered? Similarly how many love or Valentine cards should be ordered?
• How do you further plan this for each of the store for each of the city? How do you know which city or which area will have more people flocking to that Archies store to pick up something for their Valentine?

The counter response to some of the questions that I have raised above could be that, the same is true for any other category or occasion. To some extent, that is right, but in most cases, the merchandise can be used even later or after the occasion is over, but unfortunately that does not work mostly in such a case.

I don’t have answers to the questions raised above, so if some of you know it, please do let me know and I would be glad to figure this out. And if you guys are also intrigued and are looking for answers to these, then maybe this is an interesting material for a case study to decipher how Demand Forecasting is done for Valentine’s Day.

2012: A Year of Four Es

This is a blog that should have been out much earlier in the day… or rather in the year but taking the adage of ‘Better Late than Never’, I have gone ahead and put this together even now.The thought for this blog came to me when I was hearing a number of people talking about their New Year resolutions and how they can’t sustain it and it gets broken every year.

I sat back and thought that I don’t want to make any resolutions, which when broken have no meaning left to them and then you miss out on the rest of the months, waiting for the next year to return, to start with the same set or new resolutions once again. But yet, I wanted to put some goals for myself for this year so that I could push myself to achieve those.  

That is when I thought that a resolution gets broken only when you put a constraint or leash on yourself (Eg. – I shall not eat pizzas – Broken as soon as you enjoy one slice of it or I shall exercise daily – Once again broken the day you miss one of the days of workout). I said to myself ‘What if this was flipped around and I put a goal for the year, which cannot get broken because the more I do it, the more I gain out of it?’.

This helped me in putting a clear strategy for myself and I put a framework, which I call:

The Four Es for 2012: Exploration, Experiences, Extraction and Entertainment

This is how this approach works:

1.Exploration:  The idea is to venture out and see new places/new cities/new countries and explore  

India/world.

2.Experiences: This is all about coming out of the comfort zone and trying out new experiences of life. It could be a new adventure, a new skill, a new course. As long as it is something I have not done before, it will go as part of the experience.

3.Extraction: Instead of putting reading as one of the goals, I have broadened the concept and put extraction as the objective. This would then allow it to mean reading, writing, blogging and surfing.

4.Entertainment:  This one is pretty simple. This is all about movies, videos, TV Shows and the works. There are quite a few old movies and seasons to catch as well, so that gets covered here.

What is very interesting,  which I realized after putting this together was that each of these Es are interlinked in some way or the other. While I am indulging or achieving one of the Es, there is a strong chance that in some way, the other E is also getting achieved.  For eg. – If I am exploring a new city and I try out a new dish, it also means that I am experiencing something new.

Furthermore, there is no fear of this getting broken during the course of the year because the more I do any of the Es, the more I enjoy and gain and hence there is no fear of this getting broken.

The only hitch that I see is that to follow this approach of Four Es, I need to indulge in one more E and that E is the E of Expenditure! But that is the harsh reality so without bothering much about that, I would just say ‘Let’s do Eeet!’

TRUST – It Comes and Goes at Unknown Places

The thought of this blog came after a few messages that got exchanged between a friend and me on Twitter. It made me thinking and I thought that the word/feeling/emotion called ‘TRUST’ needs a more detailed probing and thinking, and rightly so, as this small but powerful word plays a critical and crucial role in relationships, businesses, partnerships, negotiations, and any other human transaction one can think of.

For the purview of this blog, I would like to keep relationships out of this deep dwelling as presence of trust in that is a given and is a mandatory. It would be interesting to explore the dimensions of Trust and how it acts up in non-personal situations.

Let me start with an incident that happened a few days back and which further strengthened the idea of putting this blog: I had gone to the petrol pump to get fuel filled in my car and the attendant asked me to check the zero sign before he started filling the tank. Since I could not see the digits while sitting in the car, I got off the car to check the zero. What struck me there and then is that trust is the first thing that goes out of the window as soon as you enter a petrol pump. You will perpetually go and check the zero sign every single time even though it may be the petrol pump where you go regularly to get fuel filled.

This made me sit up and start thinking about places where trust is at the lowest level and then there are also places where trust is the highest. Let us talk of another example where trust is high.

Ever tried opening a new email account or signing up for a new account online. Chances are that as part of the registration process, you are asked to accept the terms and conditions which run into a few pages. No one and I repeat no one ever bothers to go through the fine print and immediately presses the ‘Accept’ button.  This happens despite the person on the other side being a stranger and an unknown face and the risk being higher that what you are accepting may not exactly be what you agree with. So how is it that trust in such a situation tends to go up significantly? Is it lack of time, the hurry to get the registration done with or difficulty in understanding the legal language? If you sit back and ask yourself, the answer is none of these and it is our inherent trust that stems from the fact that if a site is online, it has to be reputed and hence can be trusted. Not necessarily true but the reality.

No matter how good a human being and truthful a real estate agent may be, the trust that you put on him while doing a property deal is never rock solid and it is always wavering. You are always hoping that you get what you have been promised at a rate that does not make you feel that you have been fleeced or cheated. In this case, trust gets governed not by the individual but by the perceptions that have been formed.

The word SALE often used to conjure doubt in the minds of shoppers, atleast till a few years back. One would often hear comments like “This must be their rejected goods” or “They must have increased the prices first and now they are showing it as discount”. Thankfully, due to the presence of more and more organized players, such perceptions have changed for the better and people trust Sales and Discounts to be genuine nowadays.

Every time you hand over your car keys to a valet, whether in a 5 star hotel or a small restaurant or a wedding venue where valets have been hired, you are not only handing over the keys but you are also placing implicit trust in the valet with the assumption that not only will he park your car safely, but you will also get your car back the way you gave it.  

I think the above-mentioned situations should give you a drift of what I am trying to say. I am sure there would be many more such incidents in each one’s life where trust tends to go up or down depending on our experiences, our perceptions and our own approach to life.

Are you the fourth in line?

Imagine this situation happening on the road in Bengaluru: 

Girl on road at Koramangala: Will you go to Old Airport Road?

Auto 1: Yes, but I will charge Rs. 90/-

Girl: But the fare till that place is only Rs. 50/-

Auto 1: Your call. I will charge Rs. 90/-

Girl lets go of the auto and stops the next one.

Auto 2: I will charge Rs. 90/-

Girl tries to haggle but with no result, she lets go of the auto and stops the next one.

Auto 3: I will charge Rs. 90/-

Girl tries to haggle but with no result, she lets go of the auto and stops the next one.

Auto 4: I will charge Rs. 90/-

Without any discussion, girl sits in the auto and ends up paying Rs. 90/-

Now you can imagine the situation by assuming any city that you want/where you live. Instead of the girl, you can imagine yourself. And instead of the auto, you can imagine a cab, a street vendor or any other person you can think of.

Chances are that you would have also experienced a similar situation and by the time you reached the fourth guy, you would be so tired and frustrated that you would just give in and end up paying the same amount that the first guy was asking for.

Now sit back and reflect at this situation and you will see a few insightful things emerging out from this:

1) There was no fault of the first guy to ask what he asked for (ignore the overcharging part). He was simply unlucky to be the first in line but he set the context for the amount that you would pay.

2) You obviously knew that you are paying the fourth guy the same amount of money that the first guy was asking for but you are frustrated enough now to go back to the first guy nor is there any need for you to do so.

3) The fourth guy probably does not know that he is the fourth guy that you are encountering and that you have already crossed the limit of your patience and your negotiation skills. Had he known that, he would have probably quoted Rs. 100 instead of Rs. 90 and chances are that you would have even agreed to pay that much. So that is an opportunity loss for him due to lack of information (Though he is still earning/charging more than what he should).

4)  Had you known that you would still end up paying the same amount of money that the first guy was asking for, chances are that you would not have wasted so much time and energy and negotiating and waiting for a better/reasonable deal.

5) If you had the energy and time to negotiate one more time, who knows, the auto guy would have reduced the price by Rs. 10 or 20

So what emerges from the points mentioned above is a classic case of economics where other than two critical factors – demand and supply, there are two more dimensions that come into play. These two dimensions are: Time and Energy

Often we tend to ignore these two critical dimensions when it comes to striking a deal – small or big, but they play a critical role in the sub-conscious minds of ours.

It is not the question of an auto guy or a question of Rs. 50 vs. Rs. 90. These two dimensions play an important role across all deals and the best negotiators will tell you this that one of the tricks to get the deal in your favour is to stall it till the end, knowing fully well that the other party will give in when either he is short on time or short on energy.

So if you are the auto guy (to be read as the guy wanting to strike the deal), try and be the fourth in line and chances of getting a good price and the deal will increase significantly. If you are the victim (to be read as the guy who has already negotiated earlier and is in a hurry to close the deal now), then either try and increase the energy and time you have to negotiate the deal or just close the deal with the first guy and move on as it will give you lesser heart burn.

Ranbir Kapoor – The True Rockstar!

5.00 pm on a Sunday outside a multiplex in Delhi and I see the board of Housefull. I am there to buy tickets for the 6.30 pm show but I am told that the 6.30 pm show is also Housefull and hence I end up buying tickets for the late night show for Rockstar.

While heading back home, I was thinking about the career of Ranbir Kapoor so far in the Hindi film industry and following films and their fate come to my mind in the same order:

1.   Debut film: Saawariya: Super Flop
2.   Raajneeti : Super Hit
3.   Bachna Ae Haseeno: Average
4.   Wake up Sid: Hit
5.    Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year: More than Average
6.    Anjaana Anjaani: Average
7.    Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahaani: Hit

I could not recollect any other movies of Ranbir, though I feel that there are 2 – 3 more films in which he has appeared.

What was also surprising me was that I had seen all of the above movies of his (yeah yeah including Saawariya but thankfully at home and on a DVD!) I had done this without any plan of watching each and every movie of his and had never even thought about it till yesterday and there I was, once again buying tickets for another one of his movies.

I gave this a little more thought. This guy has not delivered a hit after hit. This guy does not have the biceps like Salman Khan or the intellect of Aamir Khan or the wits of Shah Rukh Khan. When I saw Ranbir on screen for the first time, I did not rate his looks too highly and I had my doubts about his stay in the industry.  In fact, this guy gave us one of the most boring movies and a super duper flop in the form of Saawariya, which could have meant doom for him and a complete good-bye to his career but yet there are people like me who have come to see one more of his film.

I tried to analyze a bit more about this phenomenon called Ranbir Kapoor. Here is a guy who is not on any of the social networking sites the way other celebs are. He does not come and talk about his movie on each and every channel nor does he kill with a marketing overdose. This is a guy who likes to do limited work and let his work do the talking. He does endorsements where also he plays different roles.

Coming from the illustrious Kapoor family, Ranbir has got things easier, without any struggle. As lot of people would like to say, he was born with a silver spoon and that would make lot of people jealous of him and his achievements. But I must admit that I have never ever read jokes or pot shots directed at Ranbir (other than his romantic life) on any of the social medium the way people rip apart Abhishek Bachchan or Udit Chopra or even Shah Rukh Khan.

What has worked for Ranbir is the kind of roles that he has played and the realism that he has brought to those characters. The role that Ranbir played in Wake Up Sid allowed lot of youngsters to relate to him. Similarly, his role in Rocket Singh as a Surd was as realistic as it could get. The role of a shrewd politician with shades of grey in Raajneet further showed his caliber and versatility and also made people compare him to Rahul Gandhi.

With the aim of digging deeper into the success of Ranbir Kapoor, I left my thoughts at that point and headed to watch Rockstar. Once again Ranbir proves his mettle in the movie and does complete justice to his role of Janardhan Jhakar aka Jordan. Ranbir has got powerful and emotive eyes which allow him to straddle from the role of an innocent boy to a romantic lover to an angry man to a drunkard to a spaced out rockstar in a span of a single film. It would not be wrong to say that the entire move is carried on the shoulders of Ranbir Kapoor and whatever success the film garners would be due to the performance that Ranbir gives in the film.

Ranbir Kapoor actually has the versatility of Raj Kapoor, the spunk of Shammi Kapoor, the charm of Rishi Kapoor and the eyes of Neetu Kapoor. With all of this, he has amazing confidence and absolutely no inhibitions of letting go completely towards his passion. All of this makes him a complete Rockstar and I think now Ranbir has made a permanent mark in the film industry with a stamp that says ‘Jeena Yahaan, Marna Yaahan, Iske Siva Jaana Kahaan’.