Oh Monday!

It’s not narcotics and it’s not alcohol.

I love being a writer. Good, bad, average, excellent, creative, insane or exaggerated. My writing style and assignments vary but I do what I love. But it’s not my profession that I am referring to. I have recently discovered that my drug for survival is a day job.

It’s that I have to wake up to make a difference somewhere. I have to push myself and work towards a timeline. I have to put up with good, bad and ugly people. Most of all, I have to rediscover my freedom every day.

There is a kick there.

I get high on the fact that I get things done. I feel fulfilled by being an effective team-mate. I get lost in my workplace, however terrible it might be. It does me good mostly but many times I am in the wrong place, but it’s still right. I learn and move on. Mostly disappointed with the knowledge that I can’t inspire change everywhere.

It’s been 2 months of being out of a regular work life and it’s been a decade since I started contributing to the world with my skills. And I haven’t been this depressed.

You won’t find me sad, you won’t find me unoccupied. Heck, I learn & play the violin, J’apprends le français (I’m learning french) and I run, do yoga or cycle up wherever I can. In many ways, am doing good to myself.

But my withdrawal symptoms cannot be ignored. I am irritable, aloof & I doubt others. If not for my partner, I probably would have withdrawn to a dark shell by now. I get tempted to take up great job offers even though they are big roadblocks to my plans. I have resisted saying ‘yes’. I have pushed myself to say ‘I won’t do’.

I know I will cope up, I will get there and I will be out of this fancy world of performance, productivity and association. But I don’t know if I would like it there, out of the prison.

Oh Monday, I miss your blues.

To listen is to serve

There is a very popular food joint near my last workplace. It has 3 different restaurants under the same roof. This review or blog post is all about how unique this place is both in terms of food and the experience.

If you think I am going to write about the delicacies and ambiance, you really need to read on.

It was a bright sunny day and we were exhausted after the first few grueling morning hours at work. We decided to go for the buffet in one of the restaurants. Oh my, was it delicious?! I have lived in North India for 25 years and I can guarantee that the rotis, rajmas and the jal jeeras were perfect.

On another evening, we decided to sit in the ‘cafe’ in the same place. Turned out that they serve items from all restaurants irrespective of where you are seated. We ordered some chaats & coffee. The person taking the order looked confused and said that he will have to check. He came back saying that he wasn’t sure of the item that we were asking. A little perplexed, we thought it must be a new person who is still getting trained.

The same person was confused almost exactly to the same extent every time we went in the next few months.

One day, my partner forgot one of his notebooks in the cafe. I called the front desk of the restaurant to check. They found it and assured that they will keep it at the reception for me to come & collect. A day or two later, I went to collect the notepad. What happened next took less than a minute. The manager took out the notebook, smiled at me and said “I used it already. So, here (tearing the first 2 pages) are the pages with your stuff and I will keep this as a gift from you.”

I had the 2 pages in my hand, a look of shock on my face and had no idea how I to respond. I thought about it for a second. The pages were torn off and he had scribbled on the notepad. “Should I take it from him since it’s mine? or should I at least let one person use it while it’s still in one piece?” I did the latter. Some people thought that was the wrong decision but how often do people act like this? Eventually, I went and took it back from him since my partner couldn’t deal with the fact that someone just kept stuff that belonged to him.

There were many more perplexing episodes where the owners of the place were supervising the experienced yet under-trained staff, and failing at it. However, this last episode is a story with an interesting climax.

I went with 2 other colleagues for lunch. In first person, here is the order that we placed.

Colleague 1 : Can I have a vegetarian penne pasta with pesto sauce?

Waiter : Sure ma’m!

Me : Can I have a Vegetarian Crepe?

Waiter : Would you like some spicy sauce in it?

Me : If it comes with spicy sauce, why not?

Colleague 2 : I would like some chicken pasta.

Waiter : How about some cream sauce in it sir?

Colleague 2: That would be interesting!

Waiter (summarizing the order) : So, it’s all vegetarian & 3 drinks. 

Before we could react, he walked away.

It was over 15 minutes and even the drinks weren’t served yet. We hailed the waiter and when we asked him, he behaved as if he never took the order. In the next 5 minutes however, our drinks were served. After ten more minutes of waiting, the food finally arrived. Colleague 1′s pasta was red in color and my crepe looked anything but spicy.

The red pesto pasta conversation :

C1: Dude! I asked for penne in pesto sauce

Waiter : Ma’m you said Arabbiata and that’s tomato sauce.

C1 looked at me to check if she had placed the wrong order. After a 3 minute argument on what the original order was, the waiter took back the pasta. He didn’t even bring the order slip to check. When I asked him where the spicy sauce in my crepe was, he seemed to not remember that either. After a 30 second pause, he said that it was inside the Crepe.

By now, colleague 2 was smiling at the waiter.

C2: Sir, I ordered Chicken Pasta.

Waiter : No sir, you ordered vegetarian cream pasta.

C2: Excuse me? Do you remember that you had suggested cream sauce on top of it?

Waiter (nodding in negative) : Not really sir!

Vegetarian chicken pasta

We were zapped and instead of losing our temper, we started laughing. In the interest of time, Colleague-2 decided to have the vegetarian chicken pasta and I settled for the hidden spicy sauce in my Crepe.

The truth is that the food was lip-smacking! It tasted so good that we didn’t want to spoil our moods further.

As we were leaving the place, we spoke to the i-wrote-on-your-notepad manager about our experience. This is what I told him “The food was delicious except that the chicken pasta was a 100% vegetarian, pesto sauce had tomatoes in it and the spicy sauce was totally hidden.” Yes, I was sarcastic but to my utter surprise, the guy laughed before he realized he was supposed to look into the matter.

Product v/s Service

The various episodes haven’t discouraged me from having food in this place. But why? I have heard so many people complain about their bad experience and how it drove them to give up on the product. Looks like, sometimes the product does supersede the service by an extraordinary margin. And that is when you ignore the copy and focus on the content. I mean, focus on the food and not the waiter!

A birthday wish

Keep the human spirit alive

My sister asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I realised that over some years, I have almost stopped wishing for anything but inspiration. And for me, nothing is more inspiring than human spirit.

Almost 3 years ago, I saw a marathon for the first time. It filled me with an unknown energy to do things which seem meaningless and find my own meaning in them. Since my first run in June 2011, I have not been the same.

I have a fairly smooth career, an incredible life partner and a box of dreams. Whenever this box seems to be emptying, I quickly come up with something to do so that I don’t run out of my ‘meaning’. For 3 years now, I have run for this filler. I have done 3 half marathons, 4 10/12 kilometre runs and have run around office-campus many times. But even today, I don’t enjoy running regularly. However, I ‘love’ running to reach the finish line. The self-learning that I go through is immensely gratifying.

I still remember that when I ran my first marathon, I felt drugged after the 12th kilometre. It was more painful to stop and I felt my ego splitting into a weaker calling asking me to just sit back & relax. Fortunately for me, giving up is generally not an option. So, when I ran into my partner’s arms in  2 hours 58 minutes, I felt victorious. I was high and I didn’t have to explain it to anyone why.

Running is my way of drinking lots and lots of human spirit along with water. It’s my way of keeping a check on sanity and it’s my way of rewarding myself with a sense of achievement.

So, when some horrible people planted a bomb in Boston on 16th April 2013, splitting limbs at splitting distances and finishing lives at the finish line, I was disappointed with humanity. I had a tear in my eye as my heart was tearing apart at the sight of people running for their lives. I can’t even begin to imagine what some of those brave-hearts would be going through as they lie in hospitals, getting themselves reassembled.

Maybe we can stitch back their limbs but I wonder how easy it is to revive broken souls.

That’s what I wish for as I enter the 32nd year of my life. I will run a 10km next month and I will be running the Ladakh Marathon in September. And for the first time I will run for a cause. I will be running to reignite the human spirit, not because it’s weak but because I think I understand that it takes a lot to get there, to reach the finish line!

What’s your 5-minute break?

It takes a second for an idea to come knocking and a few more moments for the idea to shape up; but it takes about 5 minutes(personal assessment) for human beings to clear up their brains and make room for that idea. In this blog post, we call it the 5-minute break.

In whatever format your work life is, you & I both have a process to make our output rewarding(unless of course we completely detest what we do). Some of us are best early in the morning while some of us play owls. Some of us wonder about the world for 10 hours and have an hour of productive work; others sit, do and get going. There are many patterns and all effective professionals have discovered their own.

However, irrespective of our methods, we all do something that lets us refocus; something that provides that moment of clarity; something that lets us restart. Something that lasts 5 minutes but keeps us going for hours.

A cup of coffee? a whiff of fresh air? a funny conversation? Or maybe a drag!

I was having a conversation with a friend who is trying to quit smoking. We were discussing addictions when he mentioned that it’s that 5-minute addiction that’s so hard to give up. Yes, it’s not the 15 cigarettes that you smoke during the day that you need to worry about, it’s that 5-minute break which changes your fate.

Our 5-minute breaks eventually become our addictions. It’s something we cannot function without. So, if I need my fresh air to rekindle, I have to get it or I will suck at what I do. It’s unfortunate that instead of finding our own way, many of us start doing what others seem to be operating with; which is okay unless your peers are smoking.

Because “Your first cigarette is a choice, your second one isn’t.” All other kinds of breaks tend to take a while before they develop into a habit and steer our lives. A cigarette smokes you out too soon.

I was almost going to fall victim to this fancy break formula. When you watch 7 out of 10 colleagues getting up & going out for a smoke and then have all conversations you want to be a part of, it’s hard to not give yourself a chance. That chance I took and from 1 drag, it went to a cigarette and then suddenly one day, I saw myself buying it for people who can’t afford the addiction. Fortunately, I noticed the unwanted web that I was getting trapped in and decided to end it one evening. The experiment lasted a week or two but my first & last cigarette of this life are done with.

But 2 days back when I was talking to this friend, it dawned on me that there are very few who get to watch & stop before it’s too late. Coincidentally, last week I had started learning the violin. When I play or listen to anyone play the instrument, I tend to get carried away. I just don’t want to stop. I crave for that slow-moving time where everything seems blissful and my mind clears off. Yes, I feel addicted to the sound of music. But the big difference is that this addiction is anything but harmful. Once I stop, I can reorganize my thoughts, priorities my tasks and if nothing else, I will just be happier.

Something similar happens with writing. I may not write the greatest verse, the most enchanting poem or a heart stirring article, but I write. I make mistakes but I write. And it’s a great way to turn my world around for the better.

As I was telling this to my friend, I realized that our 5-minute break can sometimes add more years to our lives or in case of smoking, take away few.

RAPPing up

11 months, 6 people and 3 brands. This story is not about numbers, it’s about some unforgettable learning.

It began 5 months before I took a desk in this office. I went through my life’s longest interview which lasted for 1hr & 15mins on the phone. But after some long discussions, there was silence for months. And then one day, a deal was made and I was brought on board.

A small team is where I saw a big opportunity. Usually smaller teams have dedicated responsibilities tied to skill sets. However, what I noticed was that things were about to get non-stagnant. There were newer brands pouring in, some never-before opportunities opening up and some extra hard work for me ahead. This also meant that everyone with dedicated tasks will have to improvise and take up problems that they had never solved before.

Having worked in a highly process oriented set up in O&M where I also worked with my favorite art partner for 2 years, I saw a challenge ahead in RAPP for myself. There was a lot of work on everybody’s plate, especially the art people. So, could I expect an art-support when I want to do some ground breaking work? Maybe I could expect.

However, I soon realized that even though people were hungry for discussions and their opinions to be counted, logistics went against all that. So, I had to think about reinventing my working style. I had to please myself, convince myself with an idea before sharing it. I had to find out ways to fill in the gaps that brainstorming sessions normally do. I knew that if I kept working on this, I might become an even better creative contributor than I was.

The next challenge that I found was in paying attention to detail. I had done proofreading in my first ad-company where I was enjoying all the extra responsibility comprising creative input, writing and client management. In those days, it was imperative to fix all copy bugs and I would do that. However, in every company after that, there was a proofreading team. So, I could focus on the bigger picture. I could work on ideas, copy writing and my expression. In RAPP, I had to get back to basics to help the team and the company. My CD assisted me in this area by giving me more & more content heavy material to proofread. He would then review it and find more bugs that I would have missed. I can safely say that as of today, am fairly good with proofreading.

My greatest challenge, which is also my life goal, was to make a difference in the lives of the people I worked with. I wanted to help my team change, grow and eventually get happier. I made a lot of conscious effort to do this and whether I managed to bring in smiles, is for me to ponder over and the team to verify.

I am packing my bags up, picking up some pieces and I hope that I am leaving behind something.

0 errors found

I think I suffer from some sort of a hangover of my programming days.

I have been writing advertisements for a while now. I have seen my skills get polished and some areas of my writing skills getting rusted as well. How my writing changes is mostly determined by the client/product that I am writing for, the scope of my job and of course, the guidance of my mentor. However, there is one aspect of writing that always gets the primary focus – expression. But again, depending on the client, my expression might take the backseat as well.

This blog post is not about my expression but about the other pillars of writing – grammar & spelling. And I am here to whine about all the embarrassment that I go through when some bug misses my eye. In the last 11 months, I have worked on my proof reading skills more than anything else. I have put in a lot of effort to develop a laser vision for grammatical mistakes & silly typos.

Grammar

Catching a grammatical mistake is fairly simple if your basics are strong. If you are missing a bug, you can brush your basics and refine your laser vision. As a writer, I find it easy to spot grammar issues arising out of callous writing, once in a while. Careful reading is a good enough way  to filter out these mistakes.

So, except some occasional embarrassments, the grammar nazi inside me is mostly happy.

Typos

What do you do when you type a letter but it’s still missing? What do you do when you mean good but it appears god like? What do you do when someone presses an extr a space? These trivial yet annoying errors happen more often that you would like. The greatest proof readers will catch & rectify these but sometimes even they would assure 99.99% cleanliness.

So, when I proof-check, I try to catch these naughty bugs too. But so often, due to oversight, deadlines and many other reasons, these buggers make their way through. These errors don’t really show on the language quality but are critical to the final output. Because, at the end of the day, we all want mess-free, clean writing.

MS Word does help correct these mistakes but in the advertising world, your words travel more than you do. So, from a text file, it goes to a design document and from a design document, it goes to production. Big organisations adhere to processes. At every level, manual proofreading cleans up the copy. But in smaller organisations, one has no clue where the bug might reappear.

It’s for times like these that I wish for a copy compiler. I wish I could run my copy every time there is a version update  and make sure that it’s always bug free. Whether the content format is text or image, this compiler will extract the text in any form and do a check to find all typo issues.

Error in an ad that’s in production.

The second best healer

“Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. … I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.”  Heath Ledger told Lyall during his short, sleepless life.

As a child, I had zero tolerance for a day without 8 hours of sleep. Even 7.5 hrs will let the missing 30 minutes make me slog through classes and be less attentive in the interactive sessions. However, mid-life brought with itself a new awakening. Emotional highs and lows made my hyperactive brain take over my self-discipline.

I lost sleep every day, with every minute, with every second and with every memory; and eventually, the memory itself.

Today, every time I’m home alone, my energies are put to test. I fight for one good night’s sleep. I run, bike, exercise and do a lot of it to exhaust myself and sleep; but every theory fails when my brain starts dancing and shows me all sorts of creatures. The emptiness of the house becomes a dark social gathering. But somewhere between the madness, when I do get some sleep, I sit & analyse to arrive at a reason.

Looks like love, care and affection are integral to my sense of security. I can’t sleep unless am assured that everything will be fine. It’s the warmth of guard that gives me some peaceful sleep. You might think that I need someone ‘close’ for this. Well, only people I trust can give me cover. It’s like being a baby who needs a comforting lap, a lullaby and some patting in rhythm to fall asleep. And every time someone comes to comfort me, I upgrade them to the level of an angel.

Having said this, it’s not that I’m sleeping enough even with my angels around. I have slept on an average of 4.5hrs for the last 1 year and I can see the insomnia taking a toll on my health and productivity. I have decided to learn to shut the brain up and let my body rest for long enough.

To begin with, I have stopped keeping an alarm for the past 1 week. I am going to learn and follow few more things from this great research report : http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm

There is so much more sleeplessness to fix. But for now, I am writing after a comfortable 7 hour-sleep last night and I’m reminded of someone telling me this long ago,

“Sleep is the second best healer, the first being love!”

Sleep well

Shoes inspire Penny

Last night, Leonard, Sheldon and Penny were involved in an idea challenge. While Leonard teams up with Raj & Howard to work on an idea, Sheldon decides to go -solo- . Penny meets him on the stairs and offers to help. And then she comes up with an idea which requires people to scan/click an interesting shoe that someone is wearing and an app will help them find the nearest store that has the same shoe.

As usual, Sheldon insults her thoughts.

However, my eyes lit up. There is this idea which can get so many women excited in this world. When I say so many women, I don’t have to look far. I wish I could build an app for DJ, two of my friends who love shoes. In fact, D seems to find inspiration on her feet.

If I ever get this app up, it will be dedicated to these people.

I WANT

THAT SHOE!

Roadblock – We need to build a shoe store network beyond USA, to make this work well.

Idea clones

Few months ago, I was talking to a friend about how I badly want the road bumps and the potholes in my city fixed. During the same conversation, I shared this idea that I had of an automatic road bump updater which will collate all data and send it to the concerned authorities. As we continued the discussion, I figured that an accelerometer can help do that. Soon, I realized that if only I could get this idea implemented, it will be a start to solve one of the biggest traffic issues in my city.

And I have just found out that an exact implementation exists for the people of Canada. Did someone say “If more than one person thought of the same thing, it’s most probably a good idea”?

The sweet smell of success

It’s strange how we work towards achievements.  Haven’t we all been told that excellence is worth chasing, success will run after you anyway? However, as of today it seems like excellence will make you more valuable as a human being but without occasional success there’s this pit of emptiness that keeps making loud void sounds.

Excellence will probably make one extremely secure, content and much wiser. However, the euphoria of achievements, milestones and great success is a feeling that’s unmatched. You can sharpen the knife and make it the sharpest; but unless it cuts through the edge in the finest way, your sharpening skills are unacknowledged, under appreciated and wasteful.

Such is work, labor and doing for many. You think, work, create ; but whether you do make a difference rests largely on your energy being transferred. It’s not even an applaud that we are talking about here, it’s the right kind of rewards that we are dealing with. Being brilliant is not enough, being effective is priceless. But what does one do if despite the best efforts, they are going nowhere?

Some may say, change the way you do things. Some would say, take a break and think afresh. Some even say, you are just looking at the wrong side of things; keep working, it will bear the results. But how does one know which one of these really apply to your problem?

You could be just unsuccessful all your life while believing that you have always done your best. Would that mean that you will get used to the emptiness? Will you stop chasing? Will that be settling?

That’s my question. Is greed really that sinful?