About Raj

Hey Guys, Welcome to my random world where only thoughts matters. We’ll see where it takes us. Atleast I hope it will initiate a debate and probably aid in changing perceptions and opinions. My name is Rajan and I am based in Chennai I am from the advertising world (You would have already guessed it by now) and mainly to do with media planning. It’s a great world out there. I am thoroughly blessed to be married to Sowmea who happens to be my sounding board and my great critic. We have two kids and they ensure that we are grounded to reality and keep up with their quest on exploring unchartered territories with their loads of questions and finding eternal answers. That’s where the idea of Random thoughts was born. The “z” in the thoughts implies a twist in the tale and hopefully my forward outlook! Keep visiting… keep thinking… Have a nice time!

Start something new

So?
Had a tough day in office?
Boss’s attitude is bad is it? He’s not what he used to be…
Old times were better is it?
You best friend, colleague was just fired is it?
No bonuses this year?
No increments too?
You received your month’s salary late is it?
And what about your promotion promises?

How many such cases we have seen right in front of our eyes.

You are planning a sober year is it?

I know, I too rocked and rolled last year. But lessons well learnt this year…

You know what tough times are ahead. Nothing’s gonna come to you. You will have to go and seek them out. All on your own. Times are not what it was like before. I am hearing more sad stories than ever. If one gets going easily for the next few years he’s done it. That’s the situation these days.

You are given an hour maximum to wind up, gather yourself and leave the cubicle… Do they know what goes on in the mind of the employee? Do they care in first place? Ok, our next 2-3 months are secured as a favor by the company… but you know what that’s just a blink and miss and bingo! You have many days left at the end of the money!

You also have had your fair share of searches both with the employers and the people who source out prospects for them… It’s a different story altogether and we will dwell with those issues later.

When nothing seem to work out… something is being planned for you. Consciously or unconsciously… It surely does. That’s the cycle of life. We all have seen the worst of situations but why not search for that ray of hope?

Learn to use your traits. See what you are good at. Find a partner with whom you can jam with. Write a new story. Create a new chapter. Explore the side which you were always reluctant. Hear what you want deep inside.

Plan your actions well. Prepare your mind ahead. Train yourself for the worst (You have seen enough by now!) Pray a lot.

Seek. Dig deep. Bring out your best self. For a change let your heart do the talking.

This 2012… Start something new.

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My digital dilemma

I am a gadget freak.
A music lover.
Crazy about movies.
Awesome photography charges me up.
So does great ads…

And yet to get used to reading e-books

Why am I saying all this?

Well I have almost three-four TB (Terrabytes) worth of data. Movies, music, ads, images and the works. I want to expand more… Have more data on western series (Lost, 24, Dexter, Mad Men etc etc… God why does this list go on and on?) I am also on the lookout for great NGC (National geographic) images. World cinema haunts me. Coz there’s nothing better than watching such finely crafted movies…

But I have an issue. While I understand technology, the minimal space it encapsulates, the speed it delivers and the unsurpassed quality that it promises… It has it’s own share of problems…

I usually sit on a weekend night with my drive attached to my laptop and keep searching for my fave company be it a good thriller, horror, drama or some wonderful world cinema… what it does is that it takes time for me to get used to the storyline and hence I end up watching, skipping, searching, watching, skipping… the movies all over again! I keep doing this and by that time I realize I am already two hours ahead of time and there’s very little time left for me for watch anything of my choice…

Technology has really spoilt myself with choices like these. The collection keeps multiplying every week and I end up buying yet another external hard drive six months later to accommodate the ever increasing titles. Just as it has increased my film viewing habits since now I have a wide collection to choose from, it has also increased my confusion and I am yet to figure out a way out of this madness.

I was very happy during the early days… I was happy with my VCR and magnetic tapes (cassettes) collection. Atleast I stopped buying stuff when the shelf was overflowing… I also used to see/ hear almost all of the them over and over again. They all were well utilized. There were no issues of data being stored somewhere and me searching them till eternity!

During my times in Middleast when I was just starting to earn better than before, I used to buy a CD almost everyday! Yeah, everyday! It was like coffee for me. Like brushing my teeth in the morning. Like having a bath… that normal. Something that I used to do everyday. This almost continued unstopped for almost a year and a half. By the time I saw my shelf raining with CDs I shifted gears to iPOD. iPOD helped me to consolidate all my songs into a digital format and lo! My music collection alone ran into some 30,000 songs… that ran into some 28 days non-stop music (On iTunes if you add songs more than 10K it will display the total running time of these songs in hours and days!) I had all the collection in the world but would always listen to an RD or may be ARR or maybe REM and maximum a Coldplay or Dire Straits…

Digital collections surely helped us get all that we want.
But do we need this?
Do we really have the time for all this?

It’s a good ego massage to say I have this and that… and for all we know, it will just lie in some corner of your shelf that doesn’t even exist. And when it does, you are again generations ahead with some new technology that you don’t really need but want so desperately!

Sometimes you are stacked up so much that you don’t feel hungry.

I guess our digital dilemmas are something like that.


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Brand association – Charlie’s angels

The promos of Charlies Angels are doing their rounds on Star World. So far I haven’t seen any brand associations.

Hope Axe  sponsors this program to create a synergy with what the brand stands for. They recent TV commercial “Axe Provoke” Has the tag line: “Even angels will fall” will suit perfectly with the content of the program.

Just a thought… Hope the advertisers and their agency realize the relevance and brand it soon before an opportunity is lost!

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86-year old lady’s letter to bank

I am really tempted to post this for four main reasons:
#1: This letter is for real
#2: This letter is written by an 86 year old amazing woman
#3: This is so hilarious and eye opening that the letter got published in New York Times
#4: It does bring a smile on your face

Today I thought I would do something different. For the first time ever I’m posting a HumpDay Humor blog that doesn’t have anything to do with anything. Its just classic Humpday Humor. Enjoy:

Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.

Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, — when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH
#1. To make an appointment to see me
#2. To query a missing payment.
#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
#4 To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping
#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
#6.. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home
#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English.

While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?

Your Humble Client

And remember: Don’t make old People mad. We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off.

Source:
http://stephentremp.blogspot.com/2010/03/86-year-old-ladys-letter-to-bank.html
And thanks to Humor Uncensored group in Facebook plus various results from google…

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Think Goa. Think Mario… RIP

Mario Miranda: 1926-2011

No one else possibly portrayed Goa as much as Mario Miranda did. An ace cartoonist with Padmashri and Padmabhushan to his kitty Mario did all justice to the talent he had giving full life to the characters he created. We all grew up watching his cartoons and the style he had was incomparable.

Mario Joao Carlos Rosario de Britto Miranda, popularly known as Mario Miranda passed away in his home in Goa on 11 December 2011.

Here’s a glimpse of his master strokes!


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