With KWAN now in its 6 month since inception, a great deal has happened in the gloriously large and opportune market of Delhi. Initial phases of difficulty and acclimatization have made way for a certain degree of comfort and confidence in the remaining 3 quarters of '10 where I'm hoping my team and I can single handedly decimate national targets and continue to propel KWAN towards a situation where we are looked at as India's premier solutions providers in the entertainment and sports business. The way we're going, I see that vision turning to reality sooner than later. A couple of days with my colleagues from Bombay that look after the fashion and experience portfolio have reminded me once again, of the phenomenal opportunities that lie ahead.
With this madness ensuing, I've had absolutely NO time to devote to blogging, writing or penning my thoughts down for all of you. The last 180 odd days have been about re-engaging with a life once past and now truly present; brands, strategies, celebrity archetypes and 'pitches' have immersed with man-management, administration and a bunch of other stuff..
The severe lack of time has also been brought on with the busy morning schedule (that inadvertently has me wiped out by 11pm every night) - Squash and badminton have joined the competitive basketball experience leaving me with a great workout but little energy post the workday. I am incredibly blessed to be able to play so many sports at an above average level, big high-fives to parents who gift their children the basics of reading and competitive sports. You're never leaving your child lonely once you've imbibed these fundamentals to a fulfilling life.
In the end of January, with another extraordinary whim (as a bunch of my friends experienced last year), I decided to go off the 'juice' again. This time I stayed on the meats (much to Tara's delight). I found the alcoholic sacrifice remarkably difficult at points. Irrespective, 2 months have now elapsed, and as I write this - I greatly look forward to knocking a few (many) drinks with my home boy GK. In the telly in front of me, The Rajasthan Royals are giving CSK a decent drubbing and look like putting up a decent score. The IPL is unique. Despite the naysayers and question marks on the consumer experience due to brand overkill and viewiing dilution, one has to marvel at the ability of the country to come to a standstill around it. Not until I saw Akhila Blah's flustered/frustrated status message lamenting on the insane length of the tournament that I realized what a pain the damn month and a half could be. Seems to get futile after a bit no? As for the injuries to players, is it not important to draw parallels to international football players who arguably play a more gruelling sport for atleast 2 teams at a time with equally enormous pressures? Mull over that.
The last couple of weeks have also been fun on the movie front. Tara and I went to see LSD on the day of release. Whilst the reviews have largely been focused on the intensity and the dark side of human nature, one cannot help but congratulate the boldness of effort by the directors, producers (big UP to Ekta Kapoor - who knew you could be a rockstar that did more than milk the urban and semi-urban middle class for its love of drama) and string of ensemble characters. I got a bit queasy with the ending of the first movie and my heart silently screamed at the brilliantly captured 'haraamipan' of the Indian male in the second. The third link was rather useless, frankly because I felt disconnected to the story. All in all, I'd say the barriers of Indian cinema have been pushed once again and as Karan Johar remarked in a recent Delhi times article (big UP to him too. Despite making largely crappy movies - the man certainly has the intelligence should he ever choose to use it) .. "movies like LSD prove that Indians can push the envelope, and how!" Tara hated it and wanted to walk out after the first 10 minutes. Rishabh and Chandini did walk out after exactly 8 minutes (although Rishabh told me he was enjoying it.., not sure whether to believe him or not). Niel found it intense as I thought he would and a bunch of my other friends are yet to find time amidst financial year-end and summer holiday planning to check it out :p
The other good movie of this last month was the grimy, action packed and awe-inspiring "Book of Eli". I won't say much except for the fact that Denzel delivers again. The Hughes brothers show us why they are numero uno in this genre. A post apocalyptic look at the importance of a religious scripture in the hands of a desperate human race struggling to attain supremacy of a world run by those with a iron grip of resources. Sounds disturbing familiar doesn't it? A must watch if old school movies like Mad Max (Thunderdome) turn you on. "Eli' is far superior with its cutting edge digital flavor ofcourse. Don't be surprised if you leave the hall with a burning urge to dawn the role of mankind's gunslinging saviour when the nukes are done and dusted...
Whilst I was busting my ass alongside the most awesome professionals in the country (aka my home boys and girls of KWAN), winter gave way to summer. Delhi is now officially in blast furnance mode. Only in summers like the ones we have here can the inside of a darkened room provide so much beauty. My new album of the lost prophets hums tunefully behind me and as I sing "if it wasn't for death, we'd never feel this alive" and I realize - life rules.
Over and out from the waning days of the marchness of march. I'll be back.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Making Of Aamir Khan's 'Samsung Guru' Ad
Actor Aamir Khan, director Anurag Kashyap, lyricist Gulzar and music director Amit Trivedi come together to show a heart-warming story of how mobiles can reduce distances. Catch the making of the 'Samsung Guru' mobile ad in this video.
Oh, and why is this important? KWAN manages Anurag Kashyap, one of India's most brilliant creative minds. He's also the director of what I think is the boldest and most awesome movie of the past decade - DevD.
Oh, and why is this important? KWAN manages Anurag Kashyap, one of India's most brilliant creative minds. He's also the director of what I think is the boldest and most awesome movie of the past decade - DevD.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
brilliant article
Much too long for me to post directly but worth reading for anyone perplexed by the insanity that is Delhi's underbelly.
http://www.granta.com/Magazine/107/Capital-Gains/1
http://www.granta.com/Magazine/107/Capital-Gains/1
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Urban Habitats Forum Fellows Programme
•Are you between 18 and 35 years of age?
•Are you interested in the developments that take place in 'your' community and city?
•Have you ever wondered how key decision makers address issues that matter to you, the citizen?
•Have you wanted to make an impact on the way you live, work and play in your city, but didn't know how?
If the answers to any of these questions is 'Yes', then we invite you to apply for the URBAN HABITATS FORUM FELLOWS PROGRAMME. A programme that offers selected candidates a 100% scholarship to attend the 1st Habitat Summit, 24-26 September 2009.
Visit www.habitatsummit.org/fellows for more details or write to us at fellows(at)mirabilisadvisory(dot)com
•Are you interested in the developments that take place in 'your' community and city?
•Have you ever wondered how key decision makers address issues that matter to you, the citizen?
•Have you wanted to make an impact on the way you live, work and play in your city, but didn't know how?
If the answers to any of these questions is 'Yes', then we invite you to apply for the URBAN HABITATS FORUM FELLOWS PROGRAMME. A programme that offers selected candidates a 100% scholarship to attend the 1st Habitat Summit, 24-26 September 2009.
Visit www.habitatsummit.org/fellows for more details or write to us at fellows(at)mirabilisadvisory(dot)com
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
quotable quote
On Vineet Jawa's gmail signature:
"The corporate website is an unbelievable collection of hyperbole,
artificial branding, and pro-corporate content. As a result, trusted
decisions are being made on other locations on the internet"
-Jeremiah Owyang
"The corporate website is an unbelievable collection of hyperbole,
artificial branding, and pro-corporate content. As a result, trusted
decisions are being made on other locations on the internet"
-Jeremiah Owyang
Friday, July 17, 2009
of weekend trips and a thankful existence Part 1 (Mumbai)
6 months had gone by since I had allowed myself some respite. 4 months had passed since I had consumed the juice or the nucleus. I was just about finding that thin line between passion and cool objectivity. It was time for a break.
Bombay was everything and more- as it has always been. That Friday (the 19th) I checked my watch a few more times than usual over the course of the day. T was already in the maximum city living it up with a frenetic energy that would surprise anyone who knows her in D-town. Her excitement of jumping from one set of friends to another, one pair of shopped shoes to another and one exciting plan to the next had me smiling on the 6th floor of the climatically cooled environ of my india habitat centre office. I was also relieved with the knowledge that the creators would be together as I returned to the city of dreams for a weekend of unabashed relaxation. As I look back, we ended up doing a heck of a lot of things in the short period of time. I headed to the Blahs' right after landing in the now super cool bombay airport. A quick auto ride was accompanied by shrieks of ' get here fast' from a now 'well past her capacity 2 drinks' -T. It was going to be a long, fun night. Reunions with vesky, himank(an old @ friend) and ofcourse akhila along with a couple of jds were followed by a sprint down to HRC. Undoubtedly my favorite place in Bombay, the place was packed to the core. T's friends are an extremely warm and engaging bunch. I realized on this trip how lucky I was to be inducted into this 'scene'. Pure gems. When we finally wound up at the vintage, a bunch of us zipped off to a hotel in the vicinity for some midnight grub. There is nothing more pleasing than pulling off a 20 hour day in between cities with a club sandwich and comedic conversations. Plans had already started to get made for day 2.
Crashed at Niel's and woke relatively early on Saturday. His collection of nonsensical but inanely enjoyable magazines kept me occupied while he had his 4th dental check up in as many days. Note to self: take care of your teeth! The pain and suffering of future issues just isn't worth it (plus it's friggin expensive). We then proceeded to Bandra where T joined up for what was a brilliant and extremely filling lunch at Five Spice (we never miss this when we're in Bombay together, the last time around it was right after a crazy night with these guys and a gracious night spent at her place). The brilliance that is this restaurant can be defined by its location (across totos and at the descent of pali hill), its gargantuan (is that a word? is that spelled correctly? Do I look like I care?) servings and its relaxed ambience. The lunch was increasingly pleasing thanks to a huge reunion with old mc bro - aalekh. His stories from the modelling/acting world (aka tinseltown bombay) were enjoyable to say the least. It was good to see that he hasn't changed a bit :)
From Five spice, T and I split from Niel as we head off to meet with her gang and the much awaited tattoo experience. Now I'm an inked up grandmaster as you guys are well aware but the fact that she wanted one had me slightly jittery. Not because I dont think she can pull it off/handle it but because she does have sensitive skin and getting a tattoo needs to be a bit more of an experience. Needless to say this was mocked quite vociferously :P . T's best friend J took us to this big indian dude (ben?) who spoke like a crack dealer from ghettoville queens. He wasnt too convincing with the tatoo advice but it was the most entertaining 40 minutes of the day. I left in splits hoping that the next tattoo parlour would prove to be a bit more comforting, given the fact that the girls wanted to get inked in a place that didnt look like a 3x3 shanty with a delapitated dentists' chair in the centre. Proceeding back to bandra with 5 of us squeezed into R's redmobile, the conversations ranged from the inability of mumbaikars to speak in our national tongue and the uncelebrated qualities of trust company. R and I bonded like crazy over musical tastes the entire weekend. It never ceases to be a soul connection amidst people that found answers more often in an inspired riff rather than a textbook. The trip to avengers, a night at R's full of random card games and sneak peaks at India's best death metal band displaying their talent finally wrapped up around 4am. With a content *sigh* I fell asleep under the soft humming of the air-con and the delicate reminder of mumbai's oncoming monsoon outside my window. If there was ever an image of tranquility, it would be of a room full of friends - asleep in their knowledge of what they have, and whom they share it with.
Sunday went by in a blur. We woke up pretty late - greeted by groggy faces all around us. The plan was quickly made (thanks to A and T) to jet towards town for the awesome sunday buffet at Not Just Jazz. A perfect setting for the closing hours of my bombay getaway. R & I dropped the girls to A's houee, after which we spent an hour at Niel's as I packed my things. I felt bad about not spending more quality time with him but I knew he understood. Will be making it upto him this weekend when he's in town on work. Not just Jazz turned out to be filled beyond capacity so we decided to dine in the semi-outdoors Pizerria which proved to be excellent. We were joined by T's old school friends, one of whom is an up and coming south-Indian film actress. Loads of jokes, boisterous laughter and discussions around south vs. the rest of bombay ensued. I was not looking forward to this brilliant weekend coming to an end...
As the hours wound down, I slowly began extricating myself from the buzzy sense that was the weekend. J and I knocked a quick beer at a roomy (read empty) restaurant next to the gateway whilst T continued to lament on how she'd love to shift back to bombay someday - soon. She voiced this desire repeatedly on this particular trip. Whether it was having her closest friends in a proximity unmatched the previous 3 years or the sheer freedom of roaming unabashed along the winding streets close to midnight, I'll never truly know. When you love someone, even giving them everything sometimes seems inadequate. I found myself yearning just that little bit more too.
I boarded the delayed flight with a sense of bitter-sweet happiness. My terrible phone connection ensured that my goodbye message to T's gang ended up being delivered 17 times. It probably looked a bit desperate :) but I didn't care. I had to thank them for what was the perfect 48 hours after what seemed like a lifetime of sacrifice and toil.
Bombay was everything and more- as it has always been. That Friday (the 19th) I checked my watch a few more times than usual over the course of the day. T was already in the maximum city living it up with a frenetic energy that would surprise anyone who knows her in D-town. Her excitement of jumping from one set of friends to another, one pair of shopped shoes to another and one exciting plan to the next had me smiling on the 6th floor of the climatically cooled environ of my india habitat centre office. I was also relieved with the knowledge that the creators would be together as I returned to the city of dreams for a weekend of unabashed relaxation. As I look back, we ended up doing a heck of a lot of things in the short period of time. I headed to the Blahs' right after landing in the now super cool bombay airport. A quick auto ride was accompanied by shrieks of ' get here fast' from a now 'well past her capacity 2 drinks' -T. It was going to be a long, fun night. Reunions with vesky, himank(an old @ friend) and ofcourse akhila along with a couple of jds were followed by a sprint down to HRC. Undoubtedly my favorite place in Bombay, the place was packed to the core. T's friends are an extremely warm and engaging bunch. I realized on this trip how lucky I was to be inducted into this 'scene'. Pure gems. When we finally wound up at the vintage, a bunch of us zipped off to a hotel in the vicinity for some midnight grub. There is nothing more pleasing than pulling off a 20 hour day in between cities with a club sandwich and comedic conversations. Plans had already started to get made for day 2.
Crashed at Niel's and woke relatively early on Saturday. His collection of nonsensical but inanely enjoyable magazines kept me occupied while he had his 4th dental check up in as many days. Note to self: take care of your teeth! The pain and suffering of future issues just isn't worth it (plus it's friggin expensive). We then proceeded to Bandra where T joined up for what was a brilliant and extremely filling lunch at Five Spice (we never miss this when we're in Bombay together, the last time around it was right after a crazy night with these guys and a gracious night spent at her place). The brilliance that is this restaurant can be defined by its location (across totos and at the descent of pali hill), its gargantuan (is that a word? is that spelled correctly? Do I look like I care?) servings and its relaxed ambience. The lunch was increasingly pleasing thanks to a huge reunion with old mc bro - aalekh. His stories from the modelling/acting world (aka tinseltown bombay) were enjoyable to say the least. It was good to see that he hasn't changed a bit :)
From Five spice, T and I split from Niel as we head off to meet with her gang and the much awaited tattoo experience. Now I'm an inked up grandmaster as you guys are well aware but the fact that she wanted one had me slightly jittery. Not because I dont think she can pull it off/handle it but because she does have sensitive skin and getting a tattoo needs to be a bit more of an experience. Needless to say this was mocked quite vociferously :P . T's best friend J took us to this big indian dude (ben?) who spoke like a crack dealer from ghettoville queens. He wasnt too convincing with the tatoo advice but it was the most entertaining 40 minutes of the day. I left in splits hoping that the next tattoo parlour would prove to be a bit more comforting, given the fact that the girls wanted to get inked in a place that didnt look like a 3x3 shanty with a delapitated dentists' chair in the centre. Proceeding back to bandra with 5 of us squeezed into R's redmobile, the conversations ranged from the inability of mumbaikars to speak in our national tongue and the uncelebrated qualities of trust company. R and I bonded like crazy over musical tastes the entire weekend. It never ceases to be a soul connection amidst people that found answers more often in an inspired riff rather than a textbook. The trip to avengers, a night at R's full of random card games and sneak peaks at India's best death metal band displaying their talent finally wrapped up around 4am. With a content *sigh* I fell asleep under the soft humming of the air-con and the delicate reminder of mumbai's oncoming monsoon outside my window. If there was ever an image of tranquility, it would be of a room full of friends - asleep in their knowledge of what they have, and whom they share it with.
Sunday went by in a blur. We woke up pretty late - greeted by groggy faces all around us. The plan was quickly made (thanks to A and T) to jet towards town for the awesome sunday buffet at Not Just Jazz. A perfect setting for the closing hours of my bombay getaway. R & I dropped the girls to A's houee, after which we spent an hour at Niel's as I packed my things. I felt bad about not spending more quality time with him but I knew he understood. Will be making it upto him this weekend when he's in town on work. Not just Jazz turned out to be filled beyond capacity so we decided to dine in the semi-outdoors Pizerria which proved to be excellent. We were joined by T's old school friends, one of whom is an up and coming south-Indian film actress. Loads of jokes, boisterous laughter and discussions around south vs. the rest of bombay ensued. I was not looking forward to this brilliant weekend coming to an end...
As the hours wound down, I slowly began extricating myself from the buzzy sense that was the weekend. J and I knocked a quick beer at a roomy (read empty) restaurant next to the gateway whilst T continued to lament on how she'd love to shift back to bombay someday - soon. She voiced this desire repeatedly on this particular trip. Whether it was having her closest friends in a proximity unmatched the previous 3 years or the sheer freedom of roaming unabashed along the winding streets close to midnight, I'll never truly know. When you love someone, even giving them everything sometimes seems inadequate. I found myself yearning just that little bit more too.
I boarded the delayed flight with a sense of bitter-sweet happiness. My terrible phone connection ensured that my goodbye message to T's gang ended up being delivered 17 times. It probably looked a bit desperate :) but I didn't care. I had to thank them for what was the perfect 48 hours after what seemed like a lifetime of sacrifice and toil.
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