AND WE ALL STAND TOGETHER...

It's been almost 10 days since Mumbai witnessed the terror strike. The shadows of which are still visible. Nevertheless, efforts are being taken by people voluntarily to cope with what has happened and to try to avert the untoward in the future. The Protest rally on the 3rd of December was one such effort. It was a platform where people could express themselves through painting, elegy, poster, lighting a candle or by being there. People from not only Mumbai, but even Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, stood together in the face of terror.

Blue Lotus too did it's share by contributing in its own way. Here are updates from various Blue Lotus branches across India. Blue Lotus coordinated the drive at 3 places namely, Chennai, Kolkata & Bangalore. Chennai had their drive on 7th Dec 2008.

Mumbai Update:

Being really close to the terror sites, coming to office on Monday, 1st Dec. was not an easy task. Incredibly everyone was in office and were sharing similar unanswerable feelings of sorrow, anguish, anger, etc. An 'Express Yourself' board was put up in the office for all to express and give a vent to what was in their hearts. On 3rd of Dec, 6 pm, Blue Lotus as a whole, participated in the Protest rally. Many people from all over Mumbai had gathered. After the national anthem was sung, Blue Lotus employees led the peace walk.

Bangalore Update:
The vigil planned to be held at Cubbon Park eventually took place at the Mahatma Gandhi Park.

Approximately 100 people would have turned up including office-goers, children, students and few elderly people. People wrote their feelings and thoughts on the vinyl message board put up by the India Today Group as well as on forms distributed. Vigil had banners, placards, candles, flags, human chain, slogans, anger…..

Prominent participant was Capt.Gopinath.
There was no true feeling for a cause that could be seen. People had opinions and were getting angry. There was some apprehension on media also.

I guess people should not respond only emotionally but be practical and intelligent in whatever they do. There was also an interesting thought which cropped up suggesting people to start with the fundamentals – paying taxes, following rules, being helpful, involving in neighbourhood watch committees, participating in civil defence programs, etc. I guess that’s a good way to respond and take this initiative forward.



Kolkata Update:
Around 45-50 people had gathered at Maidan to participate in the rally.

We went there and lit candles and eventually people came and joined us. The people around were of the view that it was shameful for the country that after so many warnings from the IB the government still failed to take necessary actions and prevent the attack.

Everybody is willing to stand by each other and fight against terrorism. It was a pleasant sight at Maidan to see the people of Kolkata coming forward to express their solidarity for the innocent lives lost in the Mumbai attacks and to express their anger towards the system.


Chennai Update:
We have forwarded and informed as many people, including friends in the media, as possible. Everyone from the organising team has contributed by arranging for the banners, candles, forwarding the mail, messaging others, etc. We have requested Chennai Live fm to announce the same, and they will be doing it on their afternoon show.

Chennai's Peace rally was held on 7th of December.

ZAKOLA MIX

Prathamesh Pathak’s ‘Zakola Mix’ dil se reveals how different temperaments working for a common goal can be instrumental in achieving great tasks...

What makes a team cheerful, victorious, friendly, united, happy and caring? I think it’s the understanding they have amongst themselves. No two people on planet earth are alike. Therefore I think that when we create something that we desire we can rarely do it alone. If we do SWOT analysis of each and everyone in the team, we will come across different answers but if we are able to gather all the strengths together, wipe out the weaknesses with understanding we can create a great team. Same is the case with team BLUE PLANET.

Lot of good things has happened in the last six months. We renewed the contracts of almost all of our clients, lost one member but got another and got two new additional clients. Our clients are happy, so the bottom-line is “Sab kuch zakkkassss chalrella hain”!!! But what is the reason? The answer lies in the “ZAKOLA MIX”. I know you all must be wondering what is “Zakola Mix”. It’s just a term created and used by me to describe a mixture of all tastes, colours, emotions and IQs.

All five of us are different and forcing a decision on someone never happens. If an occasion arises, we are open enough to discuss it on the table. Umesh Sir being the TL and Media king, is not an authoritarian, Shikha is friendly and hard working, Vrushali, a quick learner and flexible, Anil, always there to help and then there is me, the administrator of all this!!! The point is, characteristics are different, likings are dissimilar, views are different but one thing is common, the passion in each of us to give more than the client demands and expects.

We have a TL who has great experience of PR, Client Servicing and Market Research, but one thing which is missing is the bossing! He is not a BOSS who will leave an impression on his teammates as a dictator. He knows that if he can’t keep his folks comfortable then he is not a good TL and team members will leave. He has a friendly relation with each but controls the reins while work is on. Team members should respect the knowledge and not be fearful of the position.

We face many a crises at Events or even generally. But the best thing about our team is that everyone is well aware and informed about the accounts and activities happening. So instead of one or two, all the five brains are working for one client and this leads to great ideas and alternatives to tackle the crises.

To end my boring write up about the most interesting team I would take help of “Shahariyaar’s” 2 lines…

Jubani daave bahot log karte rehte hain,

junoon ke kaam ko karke dikhana hota hain,

hava ka jor hi kafi bahana hota hain,

agar charag kisiko jalana hota hain!

BLUE BYTES THAT MATTERS

Laxman Amrale, blue bytes, guides us through the metamorphosis of blue bytes...

Exactly two years back, byters were busy tracking news, creating links, making clients’ email, sending email to client using third party mailer, making entry in Excel, making hard copy of news and maintaining submitted hard copy report. They had no time to look at client’s requirements. Now total scenario has changed. byters now use their time to discuss about clients, enhancement in their service, are we able to fulfill clients requirements (especially of time and quality) and simultaneously handling a pretty large number of clients.

Now bluebytes has a substantial array of services. The major tool in this array is PDF/JPG converter. Using this tool, clients can easily download or simply view news in three formats -HTML/PDF/JPEG. Next to mention is the BLUEBYTES TRENDS. Clients have an advantage of easily getting graphical reports of their news. BLUEBYTES TRENDS offers two options for the users. You can either get the news of last seven days or of three months starting on that date, depending on your choice. Once this is done, options are provided to choose from quantity, by size, by media type or by geographic charts. BLUEBYTES BUSINESS NEWS is helpful in getting news across the sectors. BLUEBYTES ARCHIVES facilitate in searching for particular news from a particular period. There is also a provision of Emailing service in the Archives. One can mail news to whomever one wants. MEDIA ANLYASIS is one of the most notable service by bluebytes . It generates reports and charts for given period. Reports can be downloaded in PDF and Excel. One can view reports by Overview, Tonality and Share of Voice.

Hope we are able to make our service more convenient for our clients and many more tools will be added in bluebytes service array.

JUMBO - THE SILENT KILLER

Through this piece, Bapu from Blue Saints, Pune, salutes the contribution made by Anil Kumble to Indian Cricket.

Renowned for his ten wickets haul in a Test innings against Pakistan in New Delhi in 1999, becoming only the second bowler to achieve the feat after Englishman Jim Laker; his best one-day performance was six for twelve against West Indies at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata during the Hero Cup tournament in 1993. He is the leading wicket-taker for India and the third highest in the world with 619 wickets from 132 tests and 337 from 271 one dayers.

Yes, we are talking about Anil Kumble, Jumbo as he was known in the cricket world, who hung up his boots on the final day’s play of the third Test of Border - Gavaskar trophy played at Feroz Shah Kotla.

Kumble had been a true ambassador of cricket. He was famous for his nagging line and length and the lift he used to get on any pitch. Warne could be a great competitor and most aggressive spinners of all times, but Kumble too was not far behind. It was reflected in his 18-years-long international career when he only once pushed his way into the match referee’s room in the infamous Sydney Test. The one-liner statement which he made after the Test in a press conference defines what Jumbo is all about - he had said only one team was playing in the spirit of the game.

His ability to raise the morale of the team especially when the chips are down played a pivotal role in some of the team’s notable performances. Who can forget the 2002 Test against West Indies at Antigua where Kumble came out to bowl with a broken jaw and heavily bandaged around the face or more recently the first Test of the Border - Gavaskar Trophy at Bangalore where after suffering a shoulder injury he came back to bowl just hours later, leaving everyone awe-struck. Further still, he took a catch running back of Mitchell Johnson, caring little for the 11 stitches on his left hand in the third Test at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.

His workaholism was well drafted when he tirelessly bowled 72 overs in a Test innings against Sri Lanka at Premadasa stadium in Colombo, in 1997. The innings ended in a draw.

Kumble has broken numerous records in his nearly two decade long uncelebrated career. In 2001, he became the first Indian spinner to capture 300 wickets in Tests and went on to achieve the landmark in one-day cricket just a year later. Earlier this year, Kumble became the first Indian bowler and only the third in the world behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to take 600 wickets in Test matches. The icing on the cake came at The Oval as he put together a well crafted century, a feat which he later described as one of the most cherished moments of his life.

After Sunil Gavaskar, there came Sachin Tendulkar. After Kumble, there certainly is somebody waiting in the wings of his calibre to fill up the void. But sheer calibre and skills will not make him slide into Kumble’s shoes. The successor can only be so called when he plays cricket the way Jumbo played - a thorough gentleman. Let’s salute for the last time this ’silent killer’ from Bangalore for laying down his gun.

BOOK REVIEW : THE ZOYA FACTOR

An exciting plot of Love and Cricket is what Pournima Surve writes about from this book for BOOK Review.

The Zoya Factor- All’s fair in love and Cricket is written by Anuja Chauhan. The author is from Delhi and a Creative Head in an advertising agency. When I bought this book, I thought this was a non-fiction read based on the real life of the author but later realized it was fiction. The writer has merged some personal experience in her book.

The book starts off well. The story line is outrageous, but what really makes this a good one time read is that one can often relate to the language they speak, the scenarios in a working environment and the absolute madness that exists during an ongoing World Cup Tournament. The book is a good combination of romance and cricket. It helps to understand the kind of pressure each player faces during the matches. The book deals with many aspects like luck, superstition, new versus old in a nation perennially obsessed with cricket and the paraphernalia. The book has a modern and contemporary style to it.

This is a story about an Advertising Executive, who is much fascinated by Shah Rukh Khan and gets really infuriated when she comes to know that she has to forego this assignment and move on to the Indian Cricket team’s project. The story revolves around the luck factor associated with the girl and the consequent win of Indian Cricket team, the clashes between the skipper and the girl and of course, the budding romance between her and the skipper which is an ongoing on and off affair.

The book is good one time read. The character sketch of skipper Nikhil Khoda is fabulous. The attitude that he carries until end of the book is of superiority. The other characters too are extremely well etched. The flow of the language and use of Hinglish words are apt for their situation. The idea of putting newspaper cuttings is good but reading the whole thing becomes a bore. Another good utilization is of ‘Page 3 Columns’ and Bollywood to narrate the story. The writer uses this platform to present Cricket, Bollywood and the ad world. The book is quite expressive and assists you to feel and visualize every emotion and expression of the character.

It is simply mesmerizing to read such a fiction.

SPECIAL FEATURE - THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT FRIDAY !

Prateek Shah, PR Executive, Blue Flames Delhi, investigates and puts forth circumstantial evidence to prove that there is something freaky happening every month in Bluelotus PR offices across India...

You may be the most hardworking employee in your company, you may be in love with your office, you may have the best colleagues there could ever be, but the truth is, all week long, we long for that one day. The day when the tiresome week comes to an end, the day which promises us two refreshing ones on the other side, the day time runs a little fast. Don’t need to be a genius to guess this one, it’s Friday!

At Blue Lotus, Friday isn’t an ordinary day, its Freaky!!

Christened and conceptualized by the HR team, Freaky Friday (one in each month) brings along with it loads of fun, frolic and laughter. With activities ranging from Community Lunch to Colour Coded attires to ‘Walking Billboards’, it all happens right here! The best part with this revelry is that it is not restricted to a particular branch or office, so no matter where you are, you can make the most of your Friday with these Freaky ideas. Most importantly, and above everything else, the FF phenomenon helps us all come closer, not just the team members in a city, but colleagues from different offices also get a chance to share their joy with one another.

Undoubtedly, with its people and resources, Mumbai is the front runner when it comes to celebrating these occasions, but the network offices are not too far behind. Let’s see what they have to say about this phenomenon. Chitra Poojary, from Blue Saints, Pune, says “Freaky Friday, the new phenomenon at Bluelotus has changed the face of our weekend at work. From Team Lunch to Diwali Celebrations, we have liked it all.” The Pune team decorated their office with Diyas and Rangoli during Traditional day, and even performed Arti for everybody’s well being. Chitra also recalls a funny incident related to one of these days - “When we were celebrating the Red and Black dress code day, suddenly we got a call from one of our clients in Pune and both me and Ishani had to rush for this meeting. On our way to the meeting did we realize that both of us are in same ‘uniform’! It was fun and we enjoyed every bit of it. “

Sruti, from Blue Flytes, Kolkotta concurs – “These small gestures help us in sharing our feelings with each other. It also acts as a time when we get to know more about each other and thus strengthens our bond”

But the lack of ample workforce in some offices acts as hindrance to some. “Freaky Friday is an interesting idea to have fun in office with a difference every month, but unfortunately its just four people in Chennai office. It’s still really nice to see everyone having a blast. So we end up enjoying too” says Poornima, Blue Diamond, Chennai.

The mood is same across all offices, Freaky Fridays are a hit, a success worthy of its praise. It’s an occasion to help us momentarily forget our daily chores, and make the most of what we have at hand. Jasleen, Blue Flame, Delhi sums it up befittingly - “It’s a great concept, which helps in building team spirit and brings you closer to the organization. It is such initiatives which make Blue Lotus the unique organization that it is.”

Couldn’t have agreed more..

INTRODUCE YOURSELF- ME, MYSELF AND PARTHIV ! !

Let's update ourselves with Parthiv and his experiences at different places over the years and know how his new stint with Bluelotus shaping up...

I started my career decades back, initially as a freelance journalist in my college days, with publications like The Daily newspaper and magazines like Showtime, Jetset, TV and Video World and Playback and Fast Forward. This was unique and I will always consider it as a hobby rather than a profession because one rarely got paid! And if I was lucky once in a while it was about Rs.65 per article! Naturally being such bad pay masters these publications have subsequently all closed down!

Thereafter, with a decade in journalism with more “stable” newspapers like Financial Express and Afternoon, I joined Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) as the Corporate Communication Manager and thus started my journey as a PR professional.  My media contacts, which I made during this stint, have proved useful in the various PR agencies I have been working ever since, including Concept PR and Clea PR.

My hobbies are travelling, movies, reading, eating out, and watching TV. Also love to have a snooze in the afternoons on holidays.

It’s been a month since I have joined Blue Lotus and the experiences have been pretty good; professional induction, helpful staff and a pleasant working environment and a good ambience. Also professional administration and HRD departments (my previous jobs in the PR industry never had an HRD department!). Only if we had a larger pantry, we could all eat together on the second floor. 

Looking for a long innings here. Ironically I was interviewed first by our CEO in March of last year (2007)! Guess he took some time in selecting me!

NKOTbB- NEW KIDS ON THE BLUE BLOG

We have a totally new breed of NKOTbB this time around. These 'kids' have their kitty full of experience and their contributions have already started showing colours...

Harish Chomal

Date of Joining: 1st Nov 2008

Designation:Assistant Manager- Administration, Blue Point

I have recently joined our very own Blue Point as an Assistant Manager –Administration and was nicely inducted by Blue Lotus' colleagues.

I like the team-work at Blue Lotus and this will be a great strength to grow in coming times. I would like to see Blue Lotus growing and blooming in coming years and I should feel proud to tell others that I work for Blue Lotus.

I dislike back office gossips and people with ego, who are unable to handle some times.

I prefer to focus on my work and mind my business rather than pointing at others.

-*-

Caleb David

Date of Joining: 1st Nov 2008

Designation: Principal Consultant for Blue Mischief, Bangalore

After 15 months of unhappiness and mistakes choosing a career, I got into PR in 1999. Had no clue whatsoever in the beginning, but have got to like it and consider myself most fortunate to be still in the business.

I like to travel, hanging-out with friends, enjoy nature especially early morning or setting sun, like to watch cooking and travel shows. I love my daughter, soft music and home-cooked food. Read autobiographies at times.

I do not like people who fake, who show arrogance and indifference. Auto-rickshaws irritate me a lot. They cheat and are uncivilized on the roads.

In my spare time I wash clothes…watch TV…visit siblings…occasionally cook light meals…

The last few weeks at Blue Lotus have been interesting.

-*-

Parthiv Kamani

Date of Joining: 1st Nov 2008

Designation: Principal Consultant, Mumbai