She

She is the warm July,
Your silver sun
But in the middle of the night
Rotten and burnt

She is one step late
Too often too much
She is cold in the dark
in her lonely search

She is the outdated honey
that's just grown sweeter
but stayed servile
in times you'd think of

She is the long lost lullaby
that wishes it could flow
through the carress of your lips
And rise above
Over that brow
Or at least die down
in your patient hearing
As you close your eyes
and stay in love
For long in your slumber

Wanderer

Here's to you, Nish! You are the inspiration.

Have you gazed at an ocean for long?
At its insurmountable vastness
The grandeur of its armed maneuvers?
Have you cautiously marveled?
At its ignorance of
the silent witnesses
in a thousand many stars
that conspire a
mystical dance
But appear from a distance
contained and settled

Think of the hungry tides
that with a fresh daily vigour roar ahead
At the highest height
blanket the dark
But with mournful thuds
Keep crashing into a
million little pieces of
unarmed sorrow
against the mellow uninviting
clusters of sand
And assume a violent death
Till they rise again.

La Dolce Vita- the sweet life

Dedicated to Rejil-

Till the music plays
Under the moonlit sky
To the rhythm of the night
We raise a toast
to the sweet life,
to the sweet life.

A symphony of the dancing dew
set to the tunes of the careless sway
of a million hordes of grassy strings
On hazy quiet mornings
that surrender naked, yet ooze alive
with thick blankets of foggy pads
And last in moist droopy nights
for young tender love and longing anew

Tap of the toes
to the rhythm set aloud
by the bursting crowds
Of a thousand thoughts
that rush to stay
and make their way
between the silken sheets
of only thine
mind and heart
One over another,
and back again
they shift and fade

Cut to the melodies
Of the olden days
Of an impulsive chuckle
of little timid legs
thumping all the way
Of the notes of the
nightly clouds
When they pour aloud
moist yearnings and merge
within the unending vastness
of the silent sky

For the music to play
Under the moonlit sky
To the rhythm of the night
When we raise a toast
to the sweet life,
to the sweet life.

A mile too close, an inch away

When I peer through your wide misty eyes
that glance with trepidation at
the shivering sprinkled million little
pieces of bursting lights
that twinkle in the distant dark

Monumental strong structures of stone
that stand tall
from vision too close
But shrink with unassuming shame
on driving too far
and appear so shaky, unsure

From a million miles
away and apart
In the soothing stories of our hopeful hearts
We see love and it never dies
An inch closer
and we forget
Of the loving embrace
lost and left
in the memories of time
in the oceans of eyes

Metamorphosis

Muddle of clouds
when they roar
and mournfully scatter
they leave around
teary hordes of victims that drown
in a sinking abyss as they thud
in reproach on the ground

And what seem like the known noisy bylanes
that chart their way
and set them forth
are just aimless gushes of
the careless volumes of windy sorrows
rearing to find
a place of their own
in the world never known

Homecoming

Its homecoming, my dear friend,
In the fleeting glance
that your eyes
Cast on mine
In the words of remorse, of pleasure
of the vintage sorrows
that we swallow
once or twice in a long while

Its homecoming, honey,
When together our hands sway
in an ignorant bliss
of the long journeys
We make in our minds
in the dreams of our longing nights
When in love we lay

Its homecoming , dearest,
When there is no other way
than to sink in the dark
valleys of our love
Together in our dearest dreams
Awake and away

As I walk

Its been such a long dreary
lonely night
Distant in the sinking corners of my mind
from the countless many stars that
shine in the dark demon
of this lonely night

Its been such a long unending
lonely walk
With a few stumbles upon
some glinting stones
pebbles beneath the corners of my heels
otherwise that lay
quietly caressed
In the carpet of
the careless gushes of the wind
Now hit naked
left on their own
abandoned and sore

Though now the night's gone
to silently sleep in the blanket of mirth
There would be just another day,
when leaving its mournful slumber
it would rise again
into another walk
another dream that's broken
another faith that's shaken
in another stretch of abysmal solitude

As love travels

And as love travels,
through the darkest of its nights,
it hides behind
those gnawing spaces
you made in your mind
Like the morning sun
the father of the dawn
takes refuge from the face of the earth
in the house of the grey
mournful huddles
of the nightly clouds

And as you move
in the blanket of your
futile indifference
The routes and the signboards
of our stairway
Seem to recede everytime we step forth
You raise a million questions
To the lonely lamppost
Erect amidst a dance of mist
Now drenched with moss
Once was laden with
a thousand narrations
of our dying story,
that remains untold.

You

You house unassuming tenderness
And warmth amidst
Those sea-laden mournings
in even the most passing gaze
of your infinite eyes


You are a mystic
you steal a thousand eyes
you let off magic in the dark
everywhere that can be seen
you prevail but before its known
you disembark

You set love free
in usually the most rare
unsettling of life's vagaries
And you surmount the dark
In every path
that through the dawn the windows chart
You continue to breathe alive
Even when the light in itself
No longer lasts.

(Inspiration: Sonnet XXXIV : Daughter of the sea- Pablo Neruda)

The night's angel

And before the night meets its dawn
Before the distant sky glows with glee
night maketh the beauty amidst
the silence of the dark
and whispers to thee

Thou who sinks in
the depth of the night
the warm and comforting
silence of the solitude
Night adorns thine srting of thoughts
as thou succumb and delve deep
into the blanket of the dark
the silent seduction and the eternal longing
Of the umpteen hours that
are held within the heart
and those that never really seem to cease.

Windmills of her mind

She looks at the bright blue sky
starry eyed, and wonders
She thinks of the countless many twinkles
she blinks an eye
and there they go,
lost in the dark
in the nights of her mind,
in the stories of time

She turns a few leaves
in the pages of her memories
she comes back and pauses
on the crossroads of her history.

She takes a turn
moves ahead
But everyday she does
She comes back again
comes back again.

Battles of your mind

As round and round the world goes,
thou still never stop to see.
While you're moving on,
in a hundred hordes
thou might nowhere really reach

In the pursuit of unknown
nameless and silent vision of thee
Leave behind a million paths
that might have led to the unseen

Even as you are here today,
and if you celeberate victory
There still are a million defeats
A thousand cries
In the battles of your mind,
In the battles of your mind.

Shine on you

The princess of yesteryears
the forgotten, the wounded,
the soldier of her only enemy of solitude
the whisper in dark nights
the song, the lyric and the lullaby

On a long road, taking the route forbidden
On a long night, amidst a world of strangers
On a dream unborn, but always together
On an unfaithful demise, of hopes, of pleasures.

The billion little stars that still twinkle in her eyes
the million hopes that refuse to die
Though the night's gone, in spite of the day
the stars still stay, the starts still stay
There's more to come, more of love, just on her way.

Of mist and the haze

Long , and silent
My last walk in the woods
Full of unknown faces, and a few others,
my past few days in the woods
a partner of melancholy, and
a stranger to desire,
that long drawn time of vicissitudes
Of mostly the unknown
ways and the world
trips and the turns
Of the one last walk,
that breathes alive
till what seems to be forever and more.

National Cyber Media Conclave, 2009

The Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC) is organising National Cyber Media Conclave ’09, a media seminar on the 28th of March, in its campus at Lavale. The event will explore various aspects of the cyber medium and its vast potential. A first of its kind initiative by any educational institution, NCMC aims to bring together stalwarts from the cyber world on a common platform where they can address enthusiastic young minds interested in cyber media.

The National Cyber Media Conclave has been conceived and organized by a 5 member team consisting of our media trainees from the mass communication and the communication management programmes. The seminar is meant for undergraduate and post graduate students from all over India, who are interested in pursuing careers in the cyber media, giving them a chance to interact with the best in the business.

The Indian cyber media industry has evolved over the years and is today replete with innovative ideas and ventures. NCMC is one such avenue which will allow students and aspiring media professionals to explore such opportunities. Interactive sessions with stalwarts and pioneers from the industry will provide the students with valuable insights, thus influencing and moulding future careers in the field of Media & Communication.

The National Cyber Media Conclave will host two panels of speakers on the potency of cyber media for knowledge sharing, social change and networking; and the emergence of the web as a medium for branding and marketing. This would be followed by a workshop conducted by Mr. Rajesh Lalwani (Founder and CEO, Blogworks.com), and ‘Web Wunderkind’, a contest on the presentation of a business plan for the cyber medium. The winners of the contest would get cash prizes worth Rs. 15,000/-.

Eminent personalities expected to attend are the event are Mr. Kiruba Shankar (Co-founder, The Knowledge Foundation), Mr. Jasmeen Bhateja, (Founder, The Blank Noise Project), Mr. Shivam Vij (renowned blogger, Delhi), Mr. Atul Chitnis (Senior Vice-President, Geodesic Information Systems), Mr. Namit Bimbhat (CEO, Switch Media Services India Pvt. Ltd.), and Mr. Shiv Bhaskar (CEO, The Viewspaper).

Students interested in participating in this seminar can contact the student coordinators: Hamsini Ravi (09011021853) and Deepali Pavagadhi (09765897445) for further details. No participation fee will be charged. Also visit www.ncmc2009.ning.com for further details and updates.

La mia signora bella

Dedicated to the lady in whom I found myself. Dedicated to one of my favorites: Aarti Boriya!

Here's a hug to her,
The one who frequently passes by
Though never without
Leaving a few smiles
Then returns to wipe away the sorrows
Never away,today or tomorrow

Here's to the one who never forgets
To leave behind a lasting trace
To mark all the roads
Through which she makes her ways
For others to follow,
Though never in the same pace

Here's to the one
Who cannot fail
To bewilder me
Just when I am thinking straight!
And who can travel miles
Just to leave a note
At times happy ones,
But unfortunately a goodbye
This one last time

Here's to the one
I will meet again
Here's my love
And all that I have
To my lovely lady
That I have had
The pleasure to have known.

That was when I thought of you

They spoke of silence last night,
Of how it swallows
What you think you need to say
Of how it teaches you
To let go and wait
And that was when I thought of you.

They spoke of happiness too
Of how there are a few
Of those moments that you wish
Never went away
Of how you hold onto it
But how it quickly runs away
And that was when I thought of you.

They couldn't miss talking of love
Of how it makes the world go around
Of how you can't forget
what it is to let it be
a part of you
And that was again I could'nt help
Just another thought of you.

Even when you move away

Without a shudder, without a sound
I look around,
to find you there.
Without a place ,
that needs a name
ITs in you that my world
finds its space

I sit to see
To watch and go
If I could ever
Just move behind,
and not run ahead
to cross this time

To go through again,'
All the smiles and pain
To not only be
in this silent haze,
To break free while
I plan to stay,
To stay for a while
Even when u move away.

Penetration of the Indian market by the FMCG giants

Mohan, a resident of the Kandoshi village of Ratnagiri district, kick starts his day with branded toiletries, packaged milk in the breakfast, grocery from the nearest kirana shop, and commutes to his workplace on his recently purchased two wheeler.

This is a typical account of the rising aspirations of the rural India, and its entry point into the superior world of the ‘Indian branding story’. Research on the buying practices show that the Indian rural consumer is taking a leap directly from the traditionally used ‘datun’ to the more convenient toothpaste, instead of attempting to use the intermediary toothpowder.

He is shifting his buying practices to support his enhanced lifestyle, brought about by increased levels of disposable income, the gradual development of infrastructure like power and road connectivity in his village, and accessibility to the traditional advertising media and messages, that bring to his small house a mammoth chunk of information, of the various brands available, and their newly-introduced customised variants. The result is an unprecedented growth of the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector in the rural markets despite the daily heart- crunching hikes in the inflationary figures. According to ASSOCHAM, the FMCG sector will be witnessing more than 50% of its growth in the rural and semi-urban segments by 2010.
The FMCG sector consists of frequently used low priced products like hair care oral hygiene, jam, body oils, skin care, etc. Since they are sold at a cheap price, marketers in this sector usual rely on cumulative profits generated by high sales volumes instead of considering absolute profits in isolation.

Though India houses a storehouse of raw materials that boosts the production capability of the FMCG sector, the per capita consumption level of India is far below the per capita consumption level of these products in United States, United Kingdom, and China. Therefore, there is clearly a lot of untapped market potential in India. However, given the saturation of the urban markets with multifarious brands for a single product category, and the neck-to-neck competition between various multinational giants, marketers find it imperative to probe the relatively unexplored rural markets in order to continue making huge profits. Predicting the same trend in the early nineties, Hindustan UniLever brought into perspective a term called ‘nano marketing’ and introduced variants of its different brands (across all the product categories) in smaller and convenient packages, priced at lower rates, for the rural consumer. Given the increasing saturation of the urban markets, and the price sensitivity of the rural folk, cutting down the selling cost is the smartest and the most effective route that the FMCG marketers are taking. That’s precisely the reason why -be it the small sized shampoo, ketchup and dish powder sachets, to even the mini oil pouches- small has become the way to big!

However, this keen interest in the rural areas is not an impulsive afterthought resulting from a few reports showing positive growth numbers, but a careful analysis of the changing economic and social milieu of majority of the Indian villages. Despite rural sales involving a high distribution cost as compared to the urban selling, there is a persistent investment in the rural areas given the gradual improvement in the rural infrastructure like power and road connectivity, disposable income with farmers, investment by the government in the rural sector, the recent loan waiver, and the absence of taxes levied on farming incomes. Such factors indeed play a major role in determining the overall buying practices of the rural folk. In the year 2003, the growth of profit margins of the FMCG sector were lower than expected in the rural markets because of the low agricultural productivity. This makes the prediction of the buying trend very difficult, as a majority of people in the rural areas have fewer savings, and many are dependent on monsoons that lead to agricultural productivity, and therefore, income.

Given this uncertainty, the FMCG marketers have taken the onus of improving the buying capabilities of the rural men on their shoulders, so that the penetration of such markets becomes easier, and more profitable. Examples of such interventions are the ‘Project Shakti’ , conceptualised and implemented by Hindustan Unilever Limited(HUL) and ‘E-choupal’, successfully carried out by ITC’s Agri Business Division.
Under Project Shakti, rural women are enabled to function as direct-to-home distributors of the various products of HUL. The aim behind this project is to provide entrepreneurial opportunities to rural women, enhance their living standards, and ultimately improve their buying capacities. Through this project, HUL aims to enable 1,00,000 Shakti entrepreneurs, who will cover 5,00,000 villages, and touch the lives of 600 million rural people by the end of the year 2010. (Ref.: Project Shakti’s official website-www.hllshakti.com).

Likewise, the ‘e-choupal’ project carried out by ITC, is a successful application of Information Technology in the rural areas. Under this, ITC has designed and set up internet kiosks called e-choupal in villages. The objective is to create internet access for global market information to guide the production and supply decisions that are taken by the farmers. In addition, the farmers get access to operational information, developed by ITC experts, pertaining to cropping, seeds, fertilisers etc. ITC has also set up its first rural mall near Bhopal, where it distributes products of other FMCG majors as well. Hence, incomes generated through e-choupals will be targeted by the FMCG major to drive their product sales.

Apart from these initiatives, there is a spurt of organised retail in rural and semi-urban areas of India. Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar runs a total of 180 stores across the country. Its a pioneering micro level effort by DSCL (DCM Sriram Consolidated Ltd.). ITC has already set up a total of 23 stores in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Giants like Reliance, Spencer’s and Subhiksha have omitted the role of middlemen in agricultural transactions, and are constantly expanding in the Indian rural vistas.

However, along with this expanding FMCG growth graph, there are a lot of persistent grey areas that this sector grapples with. Unless factors like a heavy dependence on weather, seasonal consumption of certain agricultural products linked to harvests and festivals, a large number of rural daily wage earners, and still weak road and power infrastructure are dealt with in a more organised fashion, along with progressive changes at the policy level, the FMCG sector would grow, but only at a snail’s pace.

Ref.:
www.ibef.org
www.naukrihub.com
www.rediff.com
http://www.assocham.org/prels/shownews.php?id=1337
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2003/02/06/stories/2003020601520200.htm
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Cons_Products/FMCG/Rural_markets_beat_cities_in_FMCG_sales_growth/articleshow/3806368.cms
http://www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=446&art_id=21044&arc=show
http://www.zeenews.com/business/companiescommodities/2008-12-10/489873news.html
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=329974
http://fmcgmarketers.blogspot.com/2008/07/fmcg-growth-drivers-and-category-trends.html
http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/19/stories/2005071904941900.htm
http://fmcgmarketers.blogspot.com/2008/07/fmcg-growth-drivers-and-category-trends.html
http://www.assocham.org/prels/shownews.php?id=1156

Christmas bash at Maher!

Maher, a NGO established in 1997 for destitute women and children, recently celebrated Christmas by organizing a fun filled and memorable party for all the inmates. ‘Vatsalayadham’ in Wagholi, that is a house to mentally disturbed women, was the chosen venue.

The entire event was organized and supported by the Rotary Club of Riverside, Inner Wheel Club and Rotaract Club, Pune. Ms. Sheetal Kharka, a volunteer at Maher, took charge of the whole event, and made it a resounding success.

The celebrations began by praying to the Almighty, followed by reading all the major scriptures. The highlight of the party was the performance by the orchestra of blind children. Apart from that, the children at Maher thoroughly enjoyed the camel rides and other games.

Food was both cooked and served by the Club members, and their support helped make the party more enjoyable. Friends of Maher across India, from UK, Italy, Austria, Germany and Dubai also joined to celebrate. The party was preceded by the marriage ceremony of a girl at Maher.

It’s a tradition at Maher to celebrate all the major festivals of India, with its housemothers and the children. Even though Maher constitutes of people with different faiths and religions, it brings together all of them at a single platform, to celebrate life, love and humanity.