Happy to Help!

Behind every successful executive there is an equally hardworking office assistant. Don't believe me, read on what Vrushali and Umesh K have to share about these rocking boys in Blue (With inputs from Outstation offices)

Happy To Help!

A successful organization does not solely rest on those dealing directly with clients but it rests on every shoulder which is back stage yet whose presence is upfront and critical, just like our energetic and spirited office assistants. They are the backbone of the company, run from pillar to post just to make our work and world less stressful. There has been many editions of Culture curry where we have written about various teams. Therefore this time we take this opportunity to write about our Rocking boys in Blue.
Well to begin with, let’s start with the Sardar of the bandwagon.

Prashant

Just not leader by name, he is indeed a leader by virtue.
Spell ‘Thane media’ and the boy knows it all; he’s almost a champion is handling any media relations related to the sector. Undoubtedly he is hardworking and always ready to deliver, he has shown remarkable interest just not in his own field but strives to know and learn about various issues related to the clients. Though he is amongst the oldest member in Blue Lotus, what makes him a leader is not the years he spends but the contributions he made to the organization.

Last but not the least ‘Prashant your hair style simply rocks’.

Laltu

Five minutes in Blue Lotus and you are sure to hear voices calling out ‘Laltu’. He is indeed the rossogolla of the organization. Every morning the boy ardently remembers his hometown and begins his day by reading the Bengali newspaper ‘Anand Bazar Patrika’. He just not reads he is our reporter too who translates every news with the same emotions in hindi ( btw his hindi is equally good). He is the also the 2 minute Maggie man of Blue lotus, anyone wants to have Maggie just call Laltu. The boy has completed his higher secondary education with flying colors and is now pursuing his higher education from Kalina University.

Laltu you are indeed the ‘brightest smile’ of this family.

Poltu

If not Laltu, the next name that comes to anyone’s mind is the little sondesh boy of Blue lotus ‘Poltu’. Laltu and Poltu have almost become family to this organization. Unlike Laltu, Poltu is the thinking man, who talks less and if ever poked or asked something, he splashes a radiant smile. What surprises most of us is his high voltage energy; the boy runs up and down more than 10 times a day and yet never says ‘no’.

All we can say is ‘Poltu thanks for all the morning coffees’.

Haroon

‘Handsome, Humble and Hardworking’, Haroon is a blend of all. He is ambitious and his strive to rise beyond his normal call of duty is what makes him different from the others. Haroon is highly qualified and is being groomed to join the Media Networking team in future.

For Haroon all we have is our best wishes, ‘Way to go Haroon’ we know you will make it.

Ram

‘He’s a jolly good fellow, He’s a jolly good fellow’…
Our Ramji is absolutely full of life and yes a big time chatter box. He joined the organization as a driver but later was shifted to Blue Point where he proved his efficiency. He is our popular delivery boy, who hops from one end of the city to the other without a question or hesitation.

Though we might say that Ram talks a lot but still we like him the way he is.

Ashok

He is the man by the bay, he knows every move of the sea and if you are a lover of fish, then just call Ashok and he will get you the best fish recipes. He is well equipped about every minute detail about the locality. His light hearted character and ready to help attitude is admired by everyone in office. Last but not the least how can we forget his ‘Bhajiyas’.

Btw, even Mouli sir loves the bhajiyas

Datta

From Latur to blue bytes, his journey was quite remarkable. Datta had pursued his B.A from Nanded (Maharashtra). In 2007 Datta joined Bluelotus Communications as an office assistance in Pune but in a very short span he proved his skill and diligence and graduated to blue bytes as media tracking and operations executive.

Well in him we already can see a budding journalist.

Ramesh Desai - Ahmedabad

Simple, sweet and shy; that’s how Ramesh is. Ask him about his pretty wife and he turns pink. When it comes to work, he is absolutely perfect and probably he is amongst the few who value the miraculous virtue of punctuality. Simple at heart and always ready with a smile, he is indeed a great person to work with.

Chandan Thakur– Delhi

He is funny, he is forgetful, and he reminds you of the movie Ghajini. Ask him to do something and after a few moments, it’s erased from his memory. His name is actually Chandan Chandan CHANDAN!! Now thats because he doesnt ever listen to his name on one call.

Despite all of this, he is a gem of a person and his presence adds to the charm of the office. Be it working late night during events, or getting something to eat at odd hours, he is the man you can count upon.

All we can say is ‘His presence matters more than anything else’.

Dinesh – Bangalore

He is new entry to the team, and soon we would discover some interesting facts about him too but for now all we know is Dinesh is a quiet, innocent and an extremely hard working individual.

Gourhari Mondal- Kolkata

Believe it or not, Blue lotus is ruled by the women power who wins the majority in almost every branch, well it might not bother many but definitely it bothers our simple yet adorable Gourhari. He is a confused individual and ‘ma go ma’ that’s how he feels about the power puff girls of Kolkata.


Karthik – Hyderabad

Worked with ICICI BANK as office assistant for a year prior to his association with Blue Lotus Communications. The heat of Global recession had its impact on Karthik too and like many others he was also asked to go on sabbatical by his higher officials in the month of January 09. It was then that Karthik approached Blue Lotus Communications (Hyderabad office) for a job opening; his profile was further reviewed by the HR and approved for induction into team Blue Pearl as office assistant in the month of February.
This is how we discovered our humble, honest and hard working Karthik.

Mr. Kollapuri - Chennai

Enter the Chennai office and the first thing that would greet you, will be a bright and warm smile, so that’s Mr. Kollapuri. He is oldest member of the Chennai branch and therefore he is close to everyone in office. When it comes to work, he is sincerity personified and when it comes to cracking jokes and lifting the environment he is simply outlandish.

Chennai office without him is absolutely unimaginable.

Understanding, Managing and Using Information

This article is penned down by Piyush Jain, our advisory on how to understand, manage and use information

Understanding, Managing, Using Information- Key business drivers for PR.

- An event by bluebytes

There are different ways in which one can fish. One could tie the bait at the end of the rod and wait and wait for the fish to gobble, which is inefficient and ineffective. But a better way to catch fishes would be to spread your net far and wide in the catchment area and look forward to get a bigger catch. In marketing parlance we call this pull strategy, that is, create awareness amongst your target audience and induce them towards you.

bluebytes, as a service, finds great acceptance by corpcomms and PR professionals wherever we are able to showcase it. However the challenge for us is to create awareness, with minimal spend, and reach out to present this service to the entire PR community.
With this intention of creating awareness and building the brand, bluebytes hosted an event that targeted PR community.

PR professionals are amongst the biggest consumers of information, so the theme of the event revolved around understanding, managing and using information.

A sustained pre-event marketing campaign touched base with over 400 senior consultants from 170+ PR agencies in Mumbai (Heck! Even you wouldn’t know so many agencies existed in Mumbai!).

In order to build a high profile for the event, we had Dun & Bradstreet who readily agreed to be our knowledge partner. That added more credence to the event. D & B COO, Kaushal Sampat, took a personal interest in the event and was amongst the star speakers at the event. The credibility of the event was further enhanced with Oracle taking the other speaker slot.
Creating a buzz for the event and for bluebytes was as important to us as that of getting the relevant audience to attend the event. Thanks to Sachin Bhosle we had 5 persons dedicatedly working on datamining, calling and inviting the prospects. Dun & Bradstreet on their part lent their might in managing the entire leads and invites.

The event marketing was focused on creating a buzz about the event and we made extensive use of social media like LinkedIn, Forums etc. I did a dipstick survey with the PR agencies and was thrilled to find people talking about the event and eager to participate. However due to limitation on the number of seats we had to restrict the participation to the heads and senior persons, the decision makers, from the agencies.

Friday, 26th of June was the D-Day. This day provided a rare opportunity for PR agencies in Mumbai to congregate on a single forum and learn how to manage information.
Harish and his team made great arrangements and the venue chosen for the event drew appreciation from all present. The backdrops and standees designed by Team Mustard were simply brilliant and exemplified the theme of Understanding, Managing and Using Information.
Bhushie (Bhushan Gupta) took the mantle to manage the venue together with the help of the beautiful ladies- Shikha, Pournima, Zankruti and Pallavi, all dressed in lovely black saris with gold Zari border, adding the glamour quotient to the event. The MC for the evening was Pallavi, who at a very short notice, did a wonderful job.

It gladdens the heart to see such enthusiastic new joinees- Pallavi and Zankruti along with others who readily contributed much beyond their call of duty. What was also gratifying for me, apart from this event successfully reaching out to over 400 senior PR professionals, was to see the way all came together as a group to help.

This was our first attempt to host an event and surely there will be many more in the near future. Delhi, Bangalore, here we come…

Blue Bridge

This article comes from Sachin Bhosle of Blue Bridge. He takes this opportunity to introduce Blue Bridge as a full fledged Market Research Company.

Blue Bridge

Blue Bridge is already a known entity in Blue Lotus. Since its inception 5 years back, Blue Bridge has been as a support to all the teams aiding only with perception audit of internal clients.
Blue Bridge was fortunate enough to be associated with all the teams across India, to work with their clients from different backgrounds with varied requirements. This experience of working with different clients for Blue Lotus further encouraged the team to dwell deep into the field and take independent clients as well.

Today Blue Bridge is a full service Market Research Company with hands on both Qualitative studies like Concept/ Ad Testing, Product Research, Brand Research, Packaging/ Design Testing & Quantitative Studies like Employee Perception Study, Customer Perception Study, Customer Satisfaction Study, Pricing Study, Brand tracking, Pre & Post launch testing of an advertisement.
The team includes Sachin Bhosle (Team leader), Subhash Dalvi (Research Executive) & Zankruti Doshi (Research Executive). Also Blue Bridge has a strong field support of freelancers across India who are ready to take up a research project at any given time.

Sachin Bhosle, the team leader of Blue Bridge carries with him an experience of 8 years in the field of Market research which made him realized that most Market Research Companies are lacking on the authenticity of data. Therefore this led to the formation of Blue Bridge which started as an initiative to bring back the authenticity by providing authentic and timely data to the clients. Blue bridge was started with an objective of being a trusted Market Research Consultancy amongst clients by Understanding, Implementing & Helping the clients in areas of Market Research.

Blue Bridge as a business generating Group Company of Blue Lotus has started with some big names like iWork Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Lovely Professional University & International Tractors Ltd. (Sonalika Tractors).

Last but not the least Blue Lotus plays a very important role in the formation and growth of Blue Bridge and would expect the same support in future from the teams.

“Ignoring Market Research before creating a strategy is synonymous with firing a shot in a pitch dark room & still hoping that bullet hits the bull’s eye.”

Kailasa Chaandan Mein

Prathamesh Pathak takes us through this melodious journey of the Kailasa...

Kailasa Chaandan Mein…A Musical Odyssey

Kailasa, a name synonymous to quality music, has recently launched its third album “Chaandan Main”. This album has classical, folk, sufi, jazz and a touch of rock. Combining all these genres together in a single album is no mean task, but Kailasa has done it competently. The secret lies in the use of instruments. The instruments Kailasa used to create music are Bass Guitar, Electronic Guitar, Drums, Santoor, Sitar, Sarod, Tabla, Sanvadini, Ektari, Mandolin, Dafali, Flute, Saxophone, Chordphone, Ghungroo and many percussion instruments.

Here once again Kailash Kher steals the show with his amazing earthy voice, charismatic rendition of sargams, soulful harkati in the songs and the touchy lyrics! He has the ability to pick a song on off-beat and complete the circle to meet “Sum (The first beat of taal)”. He makes listeners revolve around the beats especially in the songs like Na Batati tu and Kar kar main. No doubt the title track “Chaandan Mein” remains top of the mind because of its effective use of guitar and drums and percussions to support the beats. There are songs in the album where Kailash Kher comes out as a fabulous lyricist, to mention a couple, Teri yaad and Kar kar main. Check this amazing 1st stanza of Kar kar main:-

“Yu to teri yaad main bhi swad hain tera,
Par aankhoko manaoo kis tarah,
Hothoki majal kya jo kare ye sawal,
Par dil ko main samzaoo kis tarah,
Sat ya asat hain ye main kya janoo,
Jaise saanse tere bina hui goom,
Kar kar main hara har jatan,
Teri tadap terihi lagan,
Parda ye jab hat jayega,
Ambar ko dhartise milaunga main…”

Kailash Kher learnt folk music from his father. People who inspired him to move to Sufi and Classical music are Ustad Nusrat Fateh ali Khan and Kumar Gandharva. And this fact you can witness in his songs Piya ghar awega and Bheeg gaya mera mann. There is an amazing symphony of classical and western instruments to support the solid words. But the USP of the album as the previous remains Kailash, Paresh and Naresh. They succeeded in differentiating what instruments can do for them, also understanding for the particular mood of the song and which instrument will suit it best. Like with the song related to rains, there is a use of Flute and Tabla “Bol”, for songs coming close to Sufi, Mandolin is used with percussions, for songs with Folk touch, Ektari (An instrument like guitar but having a single string) and Dafali is used.

All in all a very good album to listen to and to have at shelf as a classic collection. One can surely say this band did not disappoint us and gives value for money.
So guys, Monsoon is here, stand at window, smell the rains, have a hot coffee at hand, and feel “Kailasa Chaandan Mein”…… amazing combination.

P.S -

Songs you must listen in Monsoon:

1. Bheegi Bheegi Raton mein- Leslie Lewis- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV2wfemKjgc&feature=related
2. Rimzim gire sawan – Manzil (1979) http://www.dishant.com/album/Manzil-(1979).html
3. Rimzim Rimzim Rumzum Rumzum – 1942 A Love Story (1994) http://www.dhingana.com/1942-a-love-story/movie/songs/hindi/latest/280
4. Ab ke Sawan aise bares- Shubha Mudgal http://www.dhingana.com/shubha-mudgal-ab-ke-sawan/movie/songs/hindi/pop/5058
5. Barse kyun barsaat – Khoobsurat (1998)
6. Chak dhoom dhoom – Dil to Pagal Hain (1997) http://www.dhingana.com/dil-to-pagal-hai/movie/songs/hindi/latest/831
7. Sawan bares tarse dil – Dahek (1999) http://www.dishant.com/album/Dahek.html

Enjoy the monsoon.

Experiencing 'Farm Life'

Pournima Surve describes the ‘rawas’ experience the group had at the office outing at ‘Farm Life’

Experiencing ‘Farm Life‘

It has been long time since we all got a chance to venture together anywhere from office. However, we still have fresh and fond memories of our last general offsite. We all eager enthusiasts therefore, decided to go for a picnic. This meant communing with nature at a place full of incredible beauty accompanied with good food. In our planning stages, we circulated a sheet of paper to know who all were interested in coming with their pocket expenses. We were surprised to know that the same fire for an outing and adventure was burning in many hearts. Our recce was in the form of browsing through many websites and virtually trying to find out the locations, which were near Mumbai and in our budget. After several days of browsing through several destinations, we finalized on a place in Nerul called ‘Farm Life’.

The appointed day for our picnic was the first Saturday of June. We left office at 12.30 pm to catch the 1.42 pm Karjat train. Only a few people had lunch and rest had to manage with the Vada–Samosa Pav at the station. We purchased second-class tickets for all and as soon the train arrived, we jumped in and took our seats. Mouli took the third seat. We asked him to sit on the window or second seat but he kept on insisting, “I m fine, I m fine”. The journey was two hours long, which I am used to, but for the rest of them, they kept on asking me how much time more to reach. At Thane, Piyush joined us and immediately the atmosphere changed. We followed his initiation and then started cracking jokes to the enjoyment of all. With the chitter-chatter and jokes we finally reached Neral station, where a car cum tempo was awaiting our arrival to take us to Farm Life. We were 16 in number and along with our luggage we were wondering how on earth we all will fit in. Even though we were unsure, the driver was confident about the capacity of his vehicle. A little adjustment here, a little compromise there, finally we all were inside the vehicle and on our way to our priced destination, a 20 minutes drive to Farm Life.

Our first impression of Farm Life was that of shock. A culture shock of sorts in the form of something which did not at all resemble anything that was on the website. We kept asking ourselves whether we are at the right place or the pictures on their site were from somewhere else. Shikha and myself, we were both horrified. There was no scope for anything to be done now and we finally decided to stay.

It was a good decision we thought later. Though the place was not up to our expectations, it was not that bad. The time we spent there was enjoyed by all of us. Our aim of having fun was achieved. Our childhood memories were refreshed when we played Pittu, Chain-chain, etc. Pittu was fun; everyone made their own rules. We set two teams with Shikha the captain of one and I the captain of the other. But the mess was so much that nobody knew in whose team they were. That gave rise to the best game of Pittu everyone must have played ever. We really had fun with bit of harmless banter and cheating. After the two games, we were completely exhausted and just wanted to jump in a swimming pool. We enjoyed and had fun at the same swimming pool, which was not looking that appealing earlier. We sang songs in the pool and were there for almost 3 to 4 hours. The highlight was Archana’s melodious song and the happening rap by Sachin.
Once out of the pool, we satiated our appetite with delicious Chicken and Bakri, cooked on the chulha (wooden stove). The food was amazing with smoke taste. The major part of the night was spent in the pros playing ‘Teen Patti’ and the other enjoying or attempting Dumb Charades. Sachin was the winner in Teen Patti. The only loss was the breaking of a chair at the end of the game. He introduced us to two new words- ‘Rawas’ and ‘Fancy’ which we came to know meant nice. So, whenever we met Sachin, we greeted each other with, “Hi Rawas…how’s everything…ekdum Fancy na….”

Next day we all woke up late and had sumptuous breakfast. We all entertained ourselves with some time pass till lunch time and then left Farm Life. We came back with fond memories of Farm Life and the wonderful time we had together.

NKOTB

These New Kids on the Blue Blog seem ready to rock! Let’s get to know them better...

NKOTBb

Shalini Sasi
Starting off with a general intro about myself; I, Shalini Sasi, joined Blue Lotus on 22nd of June 09 in the HR Department. Prior to Blue Lotus I was working with Reliance Money in the HR Dept and have a total work exp of 3.4 yrs. About my Educational Qualification, I have done my Graduation from S.I.E.S College in Commerce stream and opted for Diploma specialized in HR from Welingkar’s.
I am basically from Kerala
, but born and bought up in Navi Mumbai. My family consists of my papa, mom, elder sister who is married and is blessed with a baby boy. As a person I am friendly and fun loving. My hobbies include Outdoor sports like volley ball, throw ball, basket ball. I love to travel but most importantly music. Because, it’s my life!

Annie
My name is Annie. I have completed my Masters in Public Relations from Stella Maris College. It's been exactly 11 days since I have joined, and so far I have been having fun because I have still not got entangled in the web of deadlines and client demands.
To say a little more about me, I'm a 100% Chennaiite, my idea of chilling out is to hang out with friends at the Beach on Saturday evenings. I listen to a lot of music and I love to dance, which I'm just learning now. I'm simple, straight-forward and there are two things that I believe in.
1) Good things come in small packages because I'm just 5 ft, and 2) In life whether I win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.
As a fresher I'm hoping to have a good learning experience here at Blue Lotus and earn some money.



Samantha
Samantha Audrey Natasha Andrade (do forgive the exhaustive name!) am delighted to have been given the opportunity to introduce myself to the ever-so-ebullient lot of Blue Lotus.
I have a background in Biotechnology (Mount Carmel College, Bangalore) and a keen interest in PR, essentially for the healthcare industry and public health. I hail from Mangalore but I’ve spent most of my life in the lovely island of Bahrain, which is where I had my upbringing.
Singing, dancing, reading, eating, acting crazy, laughing loudly, complaining occasionally and listening to intelligent people- all feature on my hobby list…Oh I missed out on one more. Side excursion. You know the thing that happens when someone’s talking to you and your mind wanders elsewhere? Yeah! Exactly.
The one thing I dislike the most is the flavor Butterscotch (I cannot fathom why the world immortalizes it!)…The other thing I abhor is a male chauvinist. I get irritated easily and it is more often than not triggered by myself so I’d rather not delve into that.
Spare time calls for spare treats and I don’t think twice here! I always hit the sack for a nap and the 40 winks first graduate to a 1000. This goes on increasing exponentially until I am “REST assured”!
I love the work environment at Blue Lotus and I am amazed by how amicable and open everyone is, right from the office boy to the CEO! It’s a constant learning process for me here that is always made so interesting with the occasional perky antics of my light-hearted colleagues and team leader. Oh…May I also mention that I’m thrilled with the fact that no one has ragged me yet (I so hope this isn’t an invitation for trouble!!)
Looking forward to every minute here in BL, exploring and growing with every professional adventure and challenge, giving its endeavours my very best and formulating my own interesting perky antics to add a feather to its charm!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here.

Petrina
Petrina = Rock. Yes, that is what my name means. Also the feminine form of Peter, Petrina is a person who loves variety and change. I am drawn to the fast paced electric life of Mumbai city but also like to return to my nest – the quieter, calmer Navi Mumbai that I call home.
My likes: Rock climbing, Sunsets, the Sea, chocolate, hazelnuts, music, dance, weddings, the monsoons!
My dislikes: 4th seat in the crowded trains!
My experience so far at i9 Communications Pvt Ltd. has been a very fruitful one. My cooperative and very patient team is helping me understand the P of PR and making each day a new learning experience. I believe my experience here will give me a head start to a successful and rewarding career.

Photo Feature

Ramesh Desai

Gourhari Munda

Dinesh