What is this life?

What is this life?

A culmination of minutes and hours, days and years.

A culmination of endless searching and life long wait.

What is this life?

A culmination of ambitions and aspirations, defeat and despair.

A culmination of sending resumes and waiting for that all important call.

What is this life?

A culmination of rents and EMI’s , landlords and bankers.

A culmination of life and living, if there is a life at all.

What is this life?

A culmination of friends and family, enemies and competitors.

A culmination of judging and being judged by one and by all.

What is this life?

A culmination of loving and being loved, hugging and being hugged.

A culmination of a lonely heart and a lonelier life that is all.

-          Akash Mohanty

Brand Speak : When a Package Drinking Water Bottle Tries to Strike a Conversation

Being an advertising guy, I have always been a big fan of Cafe Coffee Day and its brand promotion strategies.The way the brand has established itself has been the subject of many a case studies across B - schools and ad agencies across India.

While I was visiting the CCD at Xavier Square, Bhubaneswar ( my favorite CCD of the town) today, I could not help but notice the new packaged drinking water that is sold at the CCD. The drinking water bottle has had a complete makeover and it looks fantastic.

As I was admiring the packaging design, I could understand that a lot of smart thinking has gone behind this new packaging design for the humble bottle of mineral water. I actually like what they have done with the the bottle. It gives the bottle a cool, clean and minimalistic feel. The matte finish gives the bottle some resemblance to the packaging design of the cult vodka brand  ABSOLUT Vodka. 

The ‘Coffee Day’ in bold, large , red font gives the brand a strong and unique identity and a touch of youthful rebel. This is a very smart move as the brand has now become a lot more prominent and is clearly visible even from a distance. By distinguishing its packaging, CCD has played it smart by giving the bottle of water a very youthful and lively look.

But that is not all. What struck me instantly and inspired this blog is not just the new packaging design but the copy on the bottle of water, “Get acquainted to the fountain of life in a bottle.In between that go - get - it, just - missed - it, just - for - fun moments,pause for a quick recharge.Sip it or swig it, this water is for the hearts unabashed and souls who dare to love, to enjoy and to dream...”

The brand is capitalising on every opportunity to interact with its primary TG - the youth. Be it the menu, the ambiance or the humble bottle of packaged drinking water, brand CCD is in a constant conversation mode with the young and the restless and for good reasons. I don’t know about other cities but young college goers  and young professionals comprise for almost 70% of customer profile across CCD’s 10 outlets in Bhubaneswar. The very lingo of this beautiful and pacy copy is testament to fact that CCD takes it customers very seriously and hence such keen attention to details.Be it Mumbai or Moradabad,Bangaluru or Bhubaneswar, Delhi or Dhanbad - brand CCD has managed to create an entirely new definition of a good hang out zone.

Kudos the the agency and especially the brilliant copywriter for coming up with such a pacy and relevant copy. It feels as if the bottle is speaking to you, one - on -one. Great job !

Its so damn difficult to say Good Bye

  

Good Bye. That’s what we say when we see someone off. This phrase comes from “God be with you’. It has been shortened over the years since 16th century. The substitution for good for God seems to have been mainly due to the influence of such phrases as “Good Day" and “Good Night."

While saying Good Bye to someone comes naturally to most of us and I must have used it thousands of times in my life, yet it was particularly difficult to say when I said those two words today. Of course I wish that God be with her in every step of her life – watching over her and protecting her from all the troubles that she might encounter in her life. But today, for those few seconds, it felt as if good bye was the most difficult thing to say in my life. It almost felt like an eternity.

Why was it so difficult to say in the first place? Someone had once said, “You know you are in love when the hardest thing to say is good bye”. The guy was darn right. This feeling is very difficult to describe. For or a moment it feels as if you are underwater and the only place that you are going is down. You can’t breathe and you can’t see a thing. You feel as if you are going to die right then and there. It’s nauseating.

I wish I could meet her. I wish I could tell her not to leave. I wish I could look straight into her deep and beautiful eyes and tell her that she is the only thing that matters to me. I guess no such thing was supposed to happen and she left. Just like that. I wonder what’s more difficult. Coming to terms with the reality or challenging it? I know you don’t know what to say. Well just don’t say anything. Just listen to my silence and answer back in silence. Perhaps if we can ever do that then that would be the best conversation that we have had so far. Don’t say it. Just feel it.

Remembering Steve Jobs

Dear Steve,

First of all let me pray for your soul and may your soul rest in peace.I am 26 & have never owned an Apple product in my life.But your impact and vision goes far beyond the products that you have envisaged & help design at Apple.What I found was most compelling in you was that fact that you saw a future most of us hadn't even thought of & had the courage & conviction to work towards it & achieve it.

For me, you were not just a technology entrepreneur but also a visionary who had the courage and the conviction to follow his gut and in the process change technology and our lives - forever.

Thanking you for doing what you did and only you could do what you did.

My deepest condolences.

May you soul rest in peace. :(

I am also adding a Link to on my all time favourite Ad by Apple for its Think Different campaign titled "Here is to the Crazy Ones" as I realize that you were crazy enough to have the audacity and had the sheer conviction to change our lives for ever.

Plz click on the links below :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE

Apple's Home Page after the day Steve Jobs died fighting pancreatic cancer :

http://www.apple.com/

Wired Magazine's Home Page on www.wired.com paying its tribute the original maverick who knew he could change the world :

http://www.wired.com/

Popular technology Website CNET's Home Page on 5th October,2011 :

http://www.cnet.com/

I am tired...

At this very moment, all I can say is I am tired.And it's not just physical fatigue,it's mental fatigue  as well.


I feel I am tired of the way things are going on in my life - a life which I choose to live but so many external factors and circumstances are entwined in each and every decision that I have to take. I am tired of trying to prove myself to this world and to myself that I can be something.I am tired of not being loved, of not being able to love the one whom I so desperately want to and not being able to get the same affection in return.


I am tired of comparisons, that people draw between me and others. I am tired of living up to the expectations of my parents, my family, my friends, my office and the whole world.I am tired of deadlines and plans, tired of reports and reviews and evaluations and calculations.I am tired of all the meetings and discussions that I get involved in every day when I don't have slightest clue as to where they are gonna take me to.


Frankly, I am all too tired of life and too tired of being a failure.This fatigue within is killing me.I pray God that He either gives me enough strength to live through this phase with with hope and determination, else give me enough courage to finish all this melodrama and end this bloody life.


For I am too tired of not being able to be myself.

Thinking about her....

I have been thinking about her for quiet a while,
And her name is enough to bring about a smile.


We have been friends since I was in school,
And I think she is really cool.


There is no doubt that I enjoy her company,
Her charm,my friends,is canny.


I don't realise since when I began liking her,
All I realise,is this bloody life, would be too difficult to live without her.


I always told her that our friendship is close,
But am afraid to say, that what I want from her, is to be really close.


I am not sure if she loves me,
All I want from her is to understand me & be with me.


She told me that her parents were looking for an ideal match,
When I heard this, my heart got a permanent scratch.


How thee I tell you that I am in love with you,
That this life of mine,would be meaningless,would simply be meaningless without you.....

Nayan Tarse,Nayan Tarse.......

Its kind of strange but no other song has had this kind of impact on me as this on from DEV D has.I personally think Amit Trivedi has done a fantastic job....

Nayan Tarse

Nayan Tarse

Daras Na Mile

Nayan Tarse

..

Nayan Tarse

Nayan Tarse

Dono Se Bahe Dhaar

Nayan Tarse

..

Haare Ye

Path Nihar

Nayan Tarse .. Tarse .. Tarse Re …..

..

Bisar Gaye .. Bisar Gaye .. Kitne

Bisar Gaye .. Bisar Gaye .. Kitne

Biraha Mein jal jal, Pal Woh Gaye Badal

swaha swaha swaha .. hey hey .. hey hey

..

Bisar Gaye .. Bisar Gaye .. Kitne

Bisar Gaye .. Bisar Gaye .. Kitne

Sunahre Yeh Din, Kaali Raat Mein Gaye Dhal

Raama Raama Raama Raama Re ….

..

Saawan Barse .. Saawan Barse

Tapish Ki Phuhaar

Sawaan Barse

..

Saawan Barse .. Saawan Barse

Chubhan De Hazaar

Sawaan Barse

..

Gaali Si Lage Malhaar

Sawaan Barse Barse Barse Re ….

Its somehow strange that no matter how hard you try to run away from your past it somehow hits you in your face in some form or the other.This particular song has done the same for me in a painful yet meaningful way.....no matter how hard you might try to forget that face can never forget it and your eyes keep searching for it but in vain... :(