To Ad it All Up/ A Summery II/ Thirty Days of Torture/ Internship at an ad agency

There are two kinds of posts: Those you cant for the LOVE OF GOD think up a title for, and those that you have too many for. This is one of the latter.

Let me just mention before I start this post, that one of the purposes of this blog is for me to have a record of all the things I've done. This is so that I can go over it all when Im 74, force my grandkids to read it at gunpoint, and lament weakly over how I didnt do it all better.
However, over these past few months, it has managed to most magnificently fail this very same purpose. As I have mentioned earlier, huge portions of the summer and the misery that was this June have gone completely undocumented.
So what will follow now, is an attempt to rectify this gross inadequacy, through the means of a few small and easy, albeit sporadic steps.

Beginning with the internship, which happened in April-May. It seems like a hundred years ago. Really.

Best parts:
The work. Frankly, I ended up with quite a big portfolio. Which will come in very useful, I daresay, should I choose to take up media in the future. However, since that looks highly unlikely at the moment, woo hoo.

Hark! Here is an example of the work I did:


They gave us a creative brief, telling us the details of the project. I came up with the idea, copy (that's ad lingo for "the words") and had to search for the image (Shutterstock, how I grew to dislike the sight of your webpage during these thirty days). The layout our Creative Director did. I did come up with several less cliche ideas, but this was the one they said "worked best". So okay. There you go.

Then there was the ad shoot mentioned earlier. (I'll never forget what an absolute doll Oshmunch was then). What the hell. I shall put up the pictures even though they embarrass the hell outta me.















Yes, so there was that.
Then there was the Other MM sitting two cubicles behind me. Thank god for our chats and conversation (which we interspersed with small amounts of work). Dunno how I'd have survived without her there. And Osh amusing me with her Circle incidents. I think I was exceedingly rude, poor chap. Bah, but if you have that thin a skin, I cant help you.

Coming up with ideas, I really liked. That was clearly what I was best at. (I was NOT adept at searching for images, which I'd to do a lot of, and found quite frankly, torturous.)
Ideas, I liked. In fact, I shall gloat a little and paste a little note the boss sent around. :)
(Give me a break, it was like the high point of my internship.)

A note from Shenoy
Dear all of you who gave it their best lines for the Infosys faces campaign,
finally six lines have been shortlisted for presentation to the client. And the only ones that made it to the final list are all three from Madhu, and three from me.

Good show Madhu!

And guys, think about why yours didn't make it through. Maybe you were either too busy/overloaded with regular work or just didn't think things through/persist with it enough. Or both.

yours truly,
The 'i-have-infosys-coming-out-of-

my-ears' face of TG Shenoy

*gloats a little more*

People were nice too, some of em. Liked Artsy and Wildlifebuff the best. Oh my god, Oshmunch and I came up with nick/codenames for all of them, to use in our conversations. :D I cannot remember any of them now. Oh wait, Pedophile! And Egg!

We communicated via gtalk, all of us. Osh and I have had a hundred chats at least in those thirty days. We were sitting what, 15 ft away from each other? :D
Osh: Im borrrrrred as hell... what u doing?
MM: Staring at screen. 11.45 we'll go off for lunch ok?
Osh: Godforsaken office.
MM: Egg alert! Egg Alert! Switch window!

The internship had its several thousand frustrating moments also. I remember coming here and reading the bit I'd written in the April Update... and wanting to literally throw up.
Some of my more mundane jobs included editing a Gormless-Lady-type Word Document to make it presentable to the public for an employee newsletter for this company.
Some of the more delectable excerpts from this word docu describing an office party (please read each word carefully):

Sweets were distributed to sweeten the day.

Finally, all too soon, it was time to leave but we look forward to this wonderful experience again, and you people don’t get envious because for that night we were surely the lucky one.

It damn near killed me. I cannot stand Gormless-Lady-Type English. Especially written Gormless-Lady-Type English. Aaaargh. Almost died that day.

To ad it all up, there was good, there was bad, there was ugly. And here are some pics of the workplace.

May Update

Bits written hurriedly over May. ____________________________________________________________________

There were so many times I remember Osh saying to me this month amidst much laughter... "Man, that's something that we HAVE to put on our blogs."
But none can I remember.
Was it about the Sharudog at Javacity?
Was it about what a pain Circle was being yet again?
Was it about going to the hospital for your arm, munch?
Was it about the waiter at Lazio?
So much more, I remember there was! I cant remember what. :|
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Ok the modelling thing. Im so tired of telling the story, I cannot tell you. Bottom line is, I went to an ad shoot as an intern to see how the whole thing goes, but ended up being shot for a bill board poster for Bosch Car Service. Photographer said I had a "very fresh face" (I wonder if he knows what he's talking about.)
It was a nice experience, the make up and limelight in the studio and the sound of the camera clicking. Nice feeling. And everyone was supremely sweet.
Actress Sanjana was also shot, and the clients will choose which they like better. I hope to God they dont pick mine, I dont think I want my face splashed around Bangalore, although since I've already signed the model release papers I dont think i have much of a say in it now. :|
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Shopping shopping... Oh how I lurves the shopping. Yay! *does happy dance*
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The weekend before last was supposed to be spent elsewhere, but that didnt happen. So instead we spent it at the Dungeon. I have grown used to the Dungeon. It has become a sort of second home for me and Snum. Osh of course, lives there permanently. Snum and Osh are fun people to have around when you're in a dungeon. :)
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Cant sleep? Watch Chapter 27. Worked on Osh and Snum like a charm.
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Osh lent me She's the Man with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum (said in annoying high pitched voice) which I thoroughly enjoyed. Snum and Osh have been going on and on about this guy for the past month or so and until I watched the movie I was under the impression that they were cooing about a 'Shining Tater'. :| Naturally I just ignored them.
But now I know what all the fuss is about. *sigh*
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This has been a month of those anonymous calls and messages. Today someone called and spoke to me in kannada.
The dude is like in a professional voice and all: Hello. Yes, its me. You wrote your number on my hand in the bus yesterday? *waits for me to continue*
You'll excuse me for being confused, I woke up to the call and was still a bit morning dazed. So I spent a moment trying to remember if I had in fact been on a bus yesterday and written my number on someone's hand. When my brain confirmed that I most certainly hadnt, I realised this guy was a bit of a goof and hung up.

And dont you hate the anonymous messages? They really irk the living daylights out of me. And I've been getting a surplus of those anonymous messages lately for some reason.

Anon: hiiiiiiii!

Me: Hi. Im sorry, dont have your number stored

Anon: Ay.... GESSSSSS huuuu????

Me: I told you, I dont know. Tell me, I'll store your number.

And even 20 messages later-

Anon: No no Uuu GESSSS

At least if they were intelligent or worded well they'd be bearable. But no. Half the time it's some crazy freak, and the other half its one of your annoying friends playing a trick on you. I'd ignore or be rude back to them, if only I weren't afraid that it might be some acquaintance that I'll totally offend. But all I want to say is blah. I dont care. You're a waste of my effing currency.
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I was taking to Taru the other day about how I havent gotten over death yet, but all these med students have. They've gotten accustomed to it. Desensitised. Speak of it in a fairly cavalier manner. I cant. Read his post Mountains in the Clouds.

Taru can also talk of bowel movements with friends without cringing. He's on the path to becoming one helluva great doctor. :)
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And also, I finally SAID what I needed to say.
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Blog Tag Game 1

We've been talking of Blog Tag games a lot lately. The conversation goes:

MM: Ay, you know what we should do, since we have so much time to kill at the office?
Snum Osh: What? What?
MM: We should do those blog tag games!
Snum Osh: What? What?
MM: Like I'll write a post on- 10 things I'd rather be doing now. Or A List of Places I have to see before I die or something preferably more interesting. And then i tag you... and you have to do the same post and tag people and we'll put them up on our blogs so they wont be dead and we wont be dead at the office either.
Snum Osh: Hey awesome! Yeah! Yeah! Cool! Definitely! Yay!

We've had this conversation 17 times.
Nothing's happened.

Until a coupla days ago, Nishant tells me I've been tagged from his post. Woot. So I dont have to come up with anything, he's started it all for us. Here goes.

Blog Tag game 1:

Last movie seen in a theatre:
Death at a Funeral Friday night with the munches and Jay. British comedy. Funny. The thought of Uncle Alfie will forever give me the jitters.

What book are you reading?
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Favourite board game:
Cluedo! Many fun hours spent playing that.
“I’m Miss Scarlet!” (The others looked too ugly on the cards.)

Favourite magazine:
Old Readers' Digests. They don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Favourite smells:
Old books. NEW FABRIC. Mangos. Peaches. Lots of others.

Favourite sound;
Mum’s old bangles clinking together.

Worst feeling in the world:
Rejection. Disappointment.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
This song plays in my head: “Get out of bed coz there’s loads to be done” It’s from a children's programme I used to watch a loooong time ago. Bit annoying actually.

Favourite fast food place:
McDonalds... where GS and I have our heart to hearts! They have a better veggie spread than most. I haven’t been able to stomach non veg despite several attempts. (I can hear my Iyengari aunties gasping at the idea. "Aiyayooo mamso saaptirka MM!")

Future child’s name:
Yes, I’ve thought that far.

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…”
Shop. Then dance around in an ecstatic trance.

Do you drive fast?
I don't like this question and will refrain from answering.

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal?
If I’m at Osh’s.

Storms - Cool or Scary?
Cool. The lightening was amazing the other day was it not Snum? Turned the sky purple.

Do you eat the stems on broccoli?
I love broccoli. Yes I eat the stems. So sue me.

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?
I’d keep it black, thanks.

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in:
London and Bangalore.

Favourite sports to watch:
Blah. If I HAVE to, then cricket.

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you:
Interesting personality, Nishant :) Admire how he’s so passionate about what he does and gave up a high paying job to do what he really enjoys.

What’s under your bed?
The bogeyman.
He says hi.

Would you like to be born as yourself again?
Boring no? Same things’d happen.

Morning person or night owl?
DEFINITELY night owl.

Over easy or sunny side up?
Eggs make me queasy.

Favourite place to relax:
Home. Homes of friends. I like Snum’s room for some reason.

Favourite pie:
Apple.

Favourite ice cream flavour:
Depends on the mood, but for a while it’s been peanut butter. Earlier it was pista. And I like vanilla, but only if it’s a round scoop served in a silver goblet thing.

You pass this tag to –
PS, Bestest, Osh, Snum, Taru.

Of all the people you tagged this to, who’s most likely to respond first?
Bestest is busy with internals. Taru's in hibernation from internet. Snum Pavan Osh. Im gonna say… Osh, cause she seemed excited when I told her about this. Don’t fail me munch!

Ok so what you guys have to do is copy this tag game, paste, link the person who tagged you (me!) and choose five more people to tag and link them.
Go on, its not that difficult! You can do it! Fly forth my children! Fly forth!

21.05.08
Alright, so everyone's finally finished the blog tag thing. Yay!
Here are the links to their posts.
PS's
Taru's
Bestest's (with Lalitha's)
Snum's
Osh's

April Update

Ok, a lot's been happening. Jam packed. One thing after another. Plus with work everyday I hardly have time to rest and shut my poor tired eyes.
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About the Internship aka Thirty days of Torture. I'm halfway through it now and things are good. I'm enjoying it. I was extremely frustrated the first coupla days since I had NOTHING to do whatsoever. I swear I contemplated running through the office naked in protest.
But lately I've been given some stuff to work on. Our clients are HP, Infosys, Bosch and Reliance, and I finally feel productive and like I'm getting a sense of the field.
I love my little cubicle and feel like I'm settling down. I LOVE the kind of work I'm given, its just what I imagined I'd be doing when I was younger. I love all the wacky characters at the office. I love how The Other MM is just two cubicles behind me and how we're at each other's cubicles half the time talking. I love that I got an idea of what the Client Servicing job entails and know that I so prefer Creative to that.
It's good, it's all good. A proper summary will be put up later.
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FnA's Day was on 30th. Just me this year. She'd a fabulous day, just as she deserves, while I was at work, and then I met her in the evening and we had one of our crazy stay overs. Laughed like hyenas. Fought like kilkerney cats. Got hysterical over nothing. Fun times. Times we'll remember. :)
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Zz's day on 12th. That was during the exams. Fun. Snum was in her element. Read Snum's blog.
Much laughter and craziness. And yum cake and icecream- thanks Zz.
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I'm SICK of the Brigade road area. I have been rotting there for half this month it feels like.
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Osh asked me to blog about our escapade at the RTO... RTO? What 's the place called? Where you book train tickets? Yes well that was a fun thing to do after work. It was late. We were exhausted. There were a gazillion rows of chairs, and these chairs are the line to the counters. So every five minutes, everyone gets up and shuffles along the row till the person in front of them stops, and then just plonks down on the chair they're in front of.
Oh but dont plonk too hard though, some chairs just fall over backwards if you lean on the backrest. I had to grab Osh's arm to save her from slip discs on two occasions.
And all this while your ankles are being feasted upon by throngs of mosquitos. I thought I was going to die from some kind of allergic reaction, I had so many bites, I kid you not. My feet were well and truly eaten.
Not a nice ordeal to go through, that.
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Those mosquito killer bats . Discovered them this month. Fascinating. I annoyed both Snum and FnA quite a bit with my obsession for mosquito hunting when I was supposed to be focusing on them. :D
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The smell of mangoes again. Brings back memories and thoughts. Pleasant, exciting.
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Im sure Im missing out loads of stuff. Done quite a few crazy things this month. Hehe. :) But all that dont get spoken of here at the blog. Shhhh.
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Relief, Sweet Relief

...last week.
I got the internship at Saatchi & Saatchi
In the creative department. Yay!

Big name. So even if its absolute torture (which I'm sure it wont be, Mr Shenoy), I have that on my resume.

Im psyched actually. And thankful. Cant wait.

17 Second Conversation

Today, Birds' Park, me Osh and The Other MM, dying a slow slow death.
We made so many calls I kind of really did not care after a certain point.
In fact I found it difficult not to burst out laughing while this one was going on.

Me: Hello, is it SoandSo of SoandSo Ad Agency?
RudeDude: Yes.
Me: Hi, my name is MM and Im a second year Media Studies Student from Christ College. We're looking for internships over the summer, and we were wonde...
RudeDude: No.
Me: Sorry? We were wondering if we could set up a meeti...
RudeDude: No.
Me: No internships available at all? One slot, two slots? Anythi...
RudeDude: No.
Me: You're sure. You dont even want to meet us. Take a look at our resumes? Have a small chat perhaps?
RudeDude: No.
Me: Thanks, thats nice of you. Have a good day.

Other MM: That was quick.
Me: 17 seconds.
Osh: We could set a record for most number of rejections in an hour.

It is a trying time, this end sem period.