Optimism

My last post was on how I learnt a big lesson in life to never say never. I have been through many situations where grabbing an opportunity has gifted me with new things in life, new friends and new beginnings as well. It’s never easy to understand what effect an opportunity will have on your present and future and thus, there’s no point debating over whether to take it up or not. The key here is to stay optimistic and experience the whole event with a positive outlook.

This post is on optimism and what role it played and continued to play in life. After completing my Graduation studies in Kolkata, my sister suggested that I move to Mumbai for higher studies and that the city has a better scope of work opportunities in the field of communication. We weighed the pros and cons for a while, worked on the financial issues and debated over a few other things. And finally, I ended up going to Mumbai to pursue my post-graduation studies there. The education system in Kolkata and Mumbai are different. If one follows the traditional method of black board teaching, the other used PowerPoint presentations for each subject. If one believed in giving in hand-written notes, the other mailed us presentations to refer to.

The initial few days were a cultural shock. I have grown up studying in the traditional method where, classes and teachers were all about taking notes, memorising them for the exams and write pages and pages of answers. And here I was, referring to presentations to understand concepts, given a free way to refer to any book I want on the concept and prepare presentations on them. Now, our assignments were mostly presentations and interactions and not written tests. It was difficult to give presentations where you cannot just keep saying what you memorised last night. My initial presentations went wrong on many factors: I passed the allotted time limit, I was not clear in explain what I wrote in the presentation, my body language lacked confidence and when it came to interacting with the audience, I failed. These all affected my grades and after a few assignments, I started all my motivation. There wasn’t any positivity in my mind and lacked confidence every now and then.

The miracle that changed my ‘this’ frame of mind, was when a professor called to check if I required any help. He exactly understood what I was going through and suggested a solution. That I should not take these assignments as only ways of scoring marks but as a process of learning. That I should observe why some of the students are always carrying away the brownie points and how they appeal to the audience to listen to them. It won’t help if I starting losing confidence but it will definitely bring about a change if I start being optimistic about these opportunities of self-improvement and development. Confidence comes when you are optimistic about a situation and I had to realise that. True to his words, it worked. I realised that more than explaining the concept, I needed to interact about the concept; I need not spell out every word but explain the concept with its main points only. This paved the way for a new beginning in my life where interacting became easier, confidence was re-built and optimism never left the inner self.

Good or bad, things will be the way they are. The only thing that we are capable of doing is work hoping that it gives the best results.

I am linking this post to A to Z Challenge #Day 15 for alphabet O.

Healthcare Communications

In some of my earlier posts, you must’ve noticed that I have mentioned my career details. I have a Master’s Degree in Communication and Journalism from one of India’s most reputed universities and have been working in the same field till date. I started my career was a writer for an online portal that specialized in healthcare, followed by authoring editorials for a reputed business magazine on retail industry for a leading business magazine group. The third stop of my career was at a reputed healthcare provider company to manage their external and internal communications and now, my role is that of a communications manager for a leading MNC’s healthcare vertical.

Yes. By far, I have mostly worked in the sphere of healthcare and occasionally dabbling in other zones with additional assignments. Although as a child I wanted to become a doctor mainly for the respect that they get for treating people, the same never materialized professionally. But somehow, the urge to work for the healthcare remained within and the secret desire got its approval from God, I guess. Starting from the first job till the one that I am doing now, my involvement with healthcare has been through knowledge sharing.

Initially, reading and writing about healthcare seemed tough and definitely scary. Diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol, calorie management, everything took a toll on my mind and I suddenly started linking everything with healthcare. Of course, my clients were my mom and the entire elderly generation at home and their only response used to be, you are going crazy! For heaven’s sake, don’t take your work so seriously that you end up being crazy. After a stint of one and half years, I took a detour and wrote on retail industry and business. It was then that I realized, whatever I read and learnt in my first job had increased my knowledge on healthcare, made me sane and helped me take informed decisions.

Healthcare communications is a niche genre. It is not only about what or when to eat, how much to exercise or how to avoid getting sick. It is about sharing the core and basic information and logic behind each and every action regarding your health. It is an absolute necessity that we understand our body type and what works on it the best. It is a fact that our health is the most ignored thing and it certainly deserves to be taken care of properly.

Keeping in mind the evolution in the mind-set of the people today, messages regarding healthcare are not communicated in a difficult and scary way. The content today is more reader friendly with information shared in customized manner. There are dedicated web portals for pregnant ladies, new mothers and toddlers, heart or diabetes. You can look for information that you need and stay aware.

If you haven’t started bothering about your health and do not realize the importance of taking care of it, it is high time now. For health is truly the most precious wealth that one can possess.

I am linking this post to A to Z Challenge #Day 8 for alphabet H.

Google, Thank you!

There were so many things that were there in my mind when I was deciding what to write on with the alphabet G. Then, it occurred to me, why not write a Thank you note to my life saver and BFF, Google. So here it goes:

Dear Google,

I never thought I will ever think of writing a Thank you note to you on one of your platforms. It was not because I never wanted but it was because, I was taking you for granted. That you are an integral part of my life and I that whatever I am today, you’ve contributed majorly never occurred to me. With this letter, I want to convey my gratitude and thanks for all you’ve done, doing and continue to do.

My first brush with you was probably in school when we were introduced to the Internet services after having learnt LOGO, BASIC, LOTUS and other stuff in school curriculum. We were told, Google will help you find information that you are seeking and will help you increase your knowledge. I thought, you can’t overdo books, newspapers and other sources of information alone. But, oh boy! You proved me wrong. You have answers to all my questions, have capabilities of solving all my problems that I ask solutions for and never say No! You definitely had your first impression on me as the one who will never ditch me, betray or cheat me.

That I have successfully cleared all my exams and went on to become a communications professional, I owe it to you big time. You helped me with all the information that I need, suggest me thousand things if I ask for one and help me sound intelligent in front of others. The fact that I love the most about you, you are always there whenever I need and provide me information, keep me updated with details and entertain me all the time. And you haven’t for once demanded a thank you for all the effort that you put in to keep me happy.

You make me happy. Truly. I do not think that there can be any other better opportunity for me to thank you ever. So, a big heartfelt thank you! May you stay with me for the rest of my life.

Love and regards,

Me

I am linking this post to A to Z Challenge #Day7 for alphabet G.

Cooking is therapeutic!

Ahh! The third post and another aspect of me!

You know, I have been pampered as a child mainly because of few good reasons: I am second youngest in the huge family in my generation, a daughter and a sister who was not allowed or asked to help in household work unless the situation demanded and given the independent life that they believed I deserved. Now, when your elders say, ‘it’s ok, we’ll manage the kitchen’, you really don’t want to hurt their feelings and stay away from cooking. So it happened in my case. I was only allowed to make tea, instant noodles or sandwiches and not beyond that. It was alright till the time I was at home or was staying with my sister but regretted getting pampered in this case when I moved to Bangalore and started surviving on my own.

One of the very first things that you realise is important when you stay independent is cost cutting and saving. So I decided to cook for myself and in the process, learn the art of cooking. Unending telephonic consultations with the mother about ingredients, basics and survival food recipes continued for about two months. While the curry and vegetables would turn black without telling me, the rotis or wheat flat breads were of different shapes and crisp as biscuits, milk loved to overflow and get spilled and colors of the cooked food never matched the ones I grew up eating. Nonetheless, it was the taste and the desire to cook better that kept me going. I started looking forward to making my own food and improve with each effort. I even took advantage of the discounts that were gifted to me by a popular bookstore on my birthday and ended up buying cook books by Nita Mehta, Sanjeev Kapoor and others. I became a regular visitor to the cookery blogs and magazines and noted down recipes that I found easy to make.

And now, well, I cook them perfect. The salt, the colour, the taste are in place except for the rotis who are soft and nice but definitely not round! Cooking worked like a therapy for me when I was trying to adjust to the sudden new development of staying alone in a new city. Buying vegetables, negotiating with the vendors, picking up spices and sauces, spatulas and bowls, measuring spoons and just the ingredients that the recipe demanded—all became fun activities!  And yes, the mother now boasts about her daughter’s culinary skills and share tips and recipes that are in the range of medium to difficult.

Paneer Bhurji

Egg Bhurji

Matar (peas) Pulao

Flavored Rice

Orange Kheer

Few things that I cooked!

And as a follow up thing, my next effort will be to start a food blog soon!

So, that’s me and how cooking brought about peace and change in my life!

I am linking my post to the A to Z Challenge for #Day 3 alphabet C.

Beat the Boredom

The second post of the A to Z Blog challenge and the second thing that is about me.

I am not a very restless person, can get idle in the real sense if I wish to and do nothing. It happens on certain days like the first day of a long weekend or a holiday. I just tell myself, Girl, you need a break. So enjoy and sleep. But the moment of sleeping glory is difficult to sustain. So, I get back to doing this and that to beat the boredom. Following are the things that I do and enjoy doing:

a.   Clean my room: It is the most effective way of beating boredom. The room and the cupboard turns into a mess starting Monday and I end up cleaning and arranging the room on Saturday nights or Sunday afternoons. The best part of this activity is that I find the many things that I thought I must have lost or the clothes I forgot that they existed. So, it’s like a treasure hunt at times.

b.   Turn into a bookworm: I love reading and thus, have started keeping a separate amount reserved for buying them. I simply love reading romance and thrillers. So, mushy romances and thrilling chases are two types that you’ll definitely find in my book shelf. Oh yes, also the cooking books. More on this in my next post.

c.     Movies: I have always been an onscreen entertainment fanatic. Like watching movies and television serials and sitcoms. While going and watching a movie in a theatre is kind of restricted to a few chosen ones, watching them in my laptop has become a habit.

d.    Creativity: I paint and I knit. Two good things but not so regularly. I have a professional training in painting from one of the most reputed art academies in Kolkata and knitting is kind of a passion to make something new. I have now started taking these up regularly. Once a few good pieces are created, you can check them out at my Pinterest boards.

e.    Take a lazy stroll in the nearby supermarket: Yes I do this to beat my boredom. Whenever I am anxious or bored or I seek solidarity, I go to the supermarket, laze around and check out stuff that I wouldn’t need.

So, that’s me when it comes to Beating boredom! Hope you’ve like reading my post and will suggest other good ideas to beat the boredom.

I am linking this post to A to Z Challenge #Day 2 for the alphabet B.

Advertisements: The Art of Story Telling

Wow! The first post of the A to Z challenge is ready and here it goes.

This series will be about different aspects of me as a person and for alphabet A, I have chosen advertisements. You love them, yet you hate them! You want to watch a handful of your favourite ones, and yet wish they don’t hamper or eat time out of the other favourite one running along because it appears more important.

Also termed as television commercials, these are those 30 second stories that can either sweep you off your feet with their concepts, leave you asking for more when it unravels its story in sequels, or simply tell you, it was a mere promotional activity. I have grown up watching these advertisements from childhood and would wait for the commercial breaks. Advertisements have been my source of entertainment as I would enact the lines from the popular ones in front of the mirror and get to know of the new products. But what advertisements have really contributed in my life is the sense of story-telling in a very crisp manner. How to build a story for a brand with an appropriate message for the public and is high on entertainment value.

As a professional in the field of Brand and Business Communication, my mind always craves for the good creative ideas and what better than commercials: print, electronic or digital.

Some of the brands whose advertisements which I like are of Tanishq (jwellery retail from Tata Enterprises), Cadburys, Surf Excel, Vodafone Zoozoo, Tata Sky and Flipkart. You can watch some of the funniest advertisements for Indian brands:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6CC1E58FB4DA3842

This post will remain incomplete without the mention of Amul’s print ads. Check them below:

So, that’s me! A post on how advertisements keep influencing and entertaining me and what I gain out of them.

I am linking this post to A to Z Challenge for Day 1 for the alphabet A.