We Are One - Happy Republic Day!

It's January 26, 2012 - our 63rd Republic Day and like always I feel great pride in seeing our Republic Day parade on TV. When I turn on our National channel - Doordarshan, the first question I asked was "Who is our Chief Guest this year?"  This year, I felt happy to see Thailand's first woman Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra as our Republic Day Chief Guest. I read about her last year how she came to power at the age of 44 and it was indeed impressive. There's always something to learn and take from young politicians who are committed towards their nation's growth and development. We all have become busy in our lives but I still believe that the Armed Forces parade, brave children waving their hands and cultural representation of various states is something that emotionally connects you with India, a priceless feeling.

Three ads that makes us smile - Hero, Coca Cola and Volkswagen

I was at home on New Year and an came on TV to which my Father immediately asked me in excitement "Have you seen this ad? It's very good!" I turned around to see and it was the Volkswagen Think Blue ad which even I liked since the first time I saw it. So what exactly happened here? Why did my Father especially mention about this ad out of nowhere? What made the ad click? These are some questions for us but actually an 'achievement' for the Marketers and Ad-maker of that TV campaign. As a Marketer, I find it exciting to observe, analyze, learn and pick up those 'little things' that help differentiate a successful campaign from others and allows them to become successful solely on the basis of word-of-mouth. Trust me, wanting people to talk about your brand is a Marketer's dream.

OMG! The @HuffingtonPost has been hacked!!

It's midnight and you're signing out of your Gmail and social media accounts and as you are about to sign out of twitter, you see some strange tweets from a very well known account.
First reaction: "Am I dreaming?"
Second reaction: "Holy shit! This can't be! The @HuffingtonPost has been hacked!!!"
Yes, the reputed internet newspaper blog 'The Huffington Post' which is read by millions and has more than 14.5 lakh twitter followers was gloriously hacked last night Indian time. I read the HuffPo (short form) for its diverse coverage and I really like their photo posts but when I saw the tweet "Sup bitches???" last night - it was a complete shocker as I've never seen the HuffPo use such a language.

Failed? Pick yourself up and start afresh

2011: India won the ICC Cricket World Cup against Sri Lanka and there was huge celebration across every corner of our country.
2012: Today, India lost their third test match against Australia in the ongoing Agneepath Test Match Series and eventually lost the series at 0-3. Now, only one test match remains but that will help little to restore the lost pride. The entire nation, every news channel, critics, etc are busy analyzing about the causes that led to this humiliating defeat. Whether it was the team's sight seeing or go-karting incident - they are being touted as the primary reason for the failure.

Welcome 2012 - new, bright, more @maktion

Dear Friend,

Wish you a very Happy New Year 2012! :)

Despite all the predictions of the world coming to an end, let's just welcome 2012 as it brings along with it hope, positivity and newness in our lives. It's an occasion to refresh, resolute and recharge at an individual level. Like we had in schools, 'the waiting period' for the last exam to get over so that we could start something new, the arrival of the new year too is such an occasion wherein we ought to leave our tough moments and move ahead, give more for better.