Lord of the Wings – Trilogy part 1

It was an interesting night, the wine, the company & a long winding road of memories. I met someone who works for an advertising agency and from there on, doors were opened to the flash back fort. Reminiscing the days of being ‘young blood’ I realized, the enthusiasm for life was general, but the time spent ‘learning the ropes’ in any advertising agency in India was unexplainably more grueling then the young Shoe- Fi- Mafee’s here, who drive their Porches’ to work, order from Saj Express and clock out at 6 pm sharp!
But I’m grateful for the shallow company that night, it made me want to immortalize every memory I built working as a management trainee, thinking, today will be the last….

Warning: any resemblance to a person living is purely co-incidental. If you started off in an advertising agency and (after many many many years) still continue to work in one then, you probably should be dead by now!

Like every other 6:30 in the morning today felt no different. Life outside whizzed into the dawn, while I struggled to balance on a feet and a half. My body still ached from the taxi drive home three nights before. Shower and a marathon to the railway station (I could easily prepare for a tempo run, as the mile record gets better each day).
My breath was still catching up with me as I glimpsed at the distorting faces onboard the train, which was fast disappearing into void. Today, yet again the railway punctuality caught me by surprise! Time seemed motionless. Finally, after waiting for eternity the next train arrived a whole 4 more minutes later.

As I braved 40 other women through a 4 feet narrow cabin entrance on a 3 sec stopover, a familiar *rriiippp* momentarily fazed me. A safety pin now secured into my kurta, I found myself slowly, slipping into comfortable slumber, sometimes with only enough room to balance on one leg, a stranger’s umbrella prodding into my stomach, the strong smell of coconut oil from gypsy wayward strands and the familiar stench of fresh fish on its way to the morning market. The chaotic whispers, the group Bhajans, the antakhsri’s, the chuk chuk of the train, in concert they all lullaby me.

As the train pulls into the station, a bright new day & fresh new challenges await, starting with trying to conjure up profound reasons for being a half hour late. As the outlook page unfolds, I excitedly stare into the 14 inch like a mother, anticipating her first born to walk. Just then I’m distracted by sounds of pointed footsteps. Hoping, like the train this morning, it too will whiz pass.

Lord of the Wings – Trilogy part 2

“The client had asked for the logo to be .0874% bigger and its not!” Though initially this may not seem like a concerning issue, however, in the bigger picture as you soon learn in advertising, the decision could be a reason for a dormant volcano to suddenly come alive.
The coffee machine breaking down, the fax machine not working and papers being stuck in tray 2 is not helping either (cross departmental training, very important, if you want to appear lucrative in the corporate world). After shining through challenges the day has pitched up (no battle is too small) I’ve now returned, like a bride on her wedding night, not sure what to expect, from her loaded outlook page.

One rule however, that I was quick to learn - if the morning has gone past a little too unexpectedly, the afternoon expectedly never fails to make up for the lack of excitement. The fifty third option of the layout that was presented is still not what the client had in mind. Reason - that’s why multinational agencies are hired, to decipher words of wisdom like ‘hmm.’ ‘Ummmm’ ‘Kuch…mazaa nahin aaya ’.

*Sigh* Off I go to try a different pantone for blue, or air brush a chicken’s breast and make it worthy enough for an award winning line ‘I’m Juicy Eat Me’(arrived at by the Client, out of deep brand understanding). After the tribulations of turning a short lived chickens life into a super models dream, I suddenly become conscious of the 4 other clients, neglected since. Every day to buy time, I try the same line ‘but I’ve sent you the email already, my server is a little slow’ and everyday my client retorts with a standard ‘but the deadline was an hour ago’. We have an understanding. I slip away from prying eyes and don my wonder woman costume.

I return! Successful. Tired, but not stirred, just in time to be informed by the boss of another earth shuddering event. After a few lekin.. magar mein… suno to… I’m off again, reciting (as loud and in the head mostly), on all the reasons I wanted to relentlessly pursue an unglamorous career in a glamorous industry. Cadbury, Coke, P& G…I begin to smile.

At times like these there can be no greater sin than questioning the sanctity of a cigarette break. In an unrepeated corner on the balcony, finally a spot you can call your own, your shelter from the world behind those doors, your haven, only for you…. and the other 10 account executives who feel like they’ve just prevented a mini tsunami. As I stand gusting into the sunset, everything around me fades away. Familiarity meets conscious as I draw on the last puff. “Tough day huh?” and heads shake in concurrence. In that moment, you’ve suddenly reached out and bonded.