Painful times

I've had the most horrible last four days. Have been in bed with a non-stop  migraine. Why is this happening to me God, why? In a post not too long ago I wrote that things are looking up for me and that the worst is behind me. I guess I spoke too soon. Migraines are just absolutely unbearable, and anyone who's suffered from them would agree with me. I know a lot of people who suffer or have suffered from migraines, but I've never come across anybody who gets them as often as I do. 

I've had a chronic daily migraine for nearly nine months now. There are hardly 4-5 days in a month when I don't have a headache. It's just killing. Every time I get migraine, I just lose the will to live. It's really that bad. Even in the best of times, my head pains like hell, my body goes numb and I can't even keep my eyes open. The only thing I can do is lie down on my bed. Most people don't understand what I go through, probably because they haven't experienced the pain. They think I'm just pretending the pain, to shy away from my duties. That hurts me more. I feel like a lone soul, with no one to share my pain and sorrow with. Nobody understands. Even if they do, they can't do anything to help me. Sometimes I feel nobody can help me. 

I have developed what the doctors call 'Medication Overuse Syndrome', a condition where one has gets a chronic daily headache, because of having taken too many pain killers. There's no treatment for it, apart from just stopping pain killers completely. That's very hard to do, especially when you're addicted to them, like I am. Every time I get a headache, I pop in a pill. I've taken so many of them that my body has practically stopped responding to them. If I don't take a pain killer, my headache just doesn't go away for several days, and I'm confined to bed. So in order to function even a little bit, I have to take them. And as I do, I only make things worse.  I don't know how I'm going to get out of this rut. 

When I look at people around me, being active, being happy, being healthy, I feel jealous. I want to be like them too. There are so many things I would like to do, which I can't because of  all these headaches. It is like slow poison, killing me slowly. I'm not able to think clearly these days. I want to say things but my mind just goes...blank. Even as I'm writing this blog, I'm not getting the words(if you know what I mean). I can only pray to God that these horrible headaches go away soon. I want to lead a normal life. Please help me God. Please.

Behind the Razzle Dazzle

The Indian Premier League is in its third season, and looking at the euphoria it's creating across the country, I almost felt obliged to write something about it. As everybody with the slightest interest in the game of cricket knows, the first two seasons of the tournament were a massive success. The inaugural edition in India achieved blockbuster success thanks to the exciting nature of the twenty20 format and some brilliant marketing. The second edition in the Rainbow Nation was equally successful, if not more. Now, the IPL is back to India and if the commissioner of IPL, Mr Lalit Modi is to be believed, it is going to be bigger and better. 

It's been less than a week since the tournament started and already, the response has been absolutely overwhelming. The IPL tickets(touted as more important than an election or railway ticket) are selling like hot cakes. Costing more than what an average Indian earns in a day, they're not even the major source of revenue for the organisers. The highest revenue is generated from sponsorship rights(which have been given on a five year basis) and television rights, which have been given on a ten year basis. The sponsors have invested astronomical sums of money and just to give you an idea about the sort of money that's at stake, here are some statistics:

• Sony Entertainment Televsion, the official broadcaster, has paid a staggering Rs 8700 crores to BCCI
• DLF, which is the title sponsor, has paid Rs 200 crore
• Hero Honda, the associate sponsor, has paid nearly Rs 100 crore
• Pepsi, the official beverage partner, has paid Rs 50 crore
• Kingfisher, the umpires and travel partner, has paid Rs 106 crore

And you thought there is shortage of money in India! BCCI, which I'm sure is already the richest cricket board in the world, is going to pocket 20 % of the proceeds. The rest will be shared by the franchise owners, including the winning team. Apart, from the major sponsors that I've mentioned above, there are several other companies promoting their brand(s) through the IPL. The tournament is a fantastic platform for both big and small corporations to promote their brand. I had never heard of Karbonn Mobiles until I saw its ad in the IPL matches. Same with Micromax. The enormous audience base of the tournament gives these relatively new companies a chance to create a brand awareness, a key aspect of marketing. In fact, talking about marketing, I think IPL is a very good practical example of marketing and product placement. As a business and marketing student, I've observed the following marketing aspects of IPL:

• It is based on the twenty20 format, which makes it really popular and thus acts a major platform for product placement. 
• It is offers a whole lot of opportunities for advertising. Companies can choose from a variety of spots/areas to advertise their brand. If you watch the broadcast carefully, you'll realise that the advertisers don't miss a single spot. There is the on-ground advertising in the form of billboards, adboards, pitchmats, cheerleaders costumes, player costumes, Umpire costumes, sightscreen, scoreboard and so many others. One can see some sort of advertising or the other in every corner of the stadiums. I even saw an MRF blimp hovering over one of the grounds. Apart from that, there's on TV advertising, such as the basic between-over commercials, advertisements attached to various broadcast segments such as highlights, replays, Third Umpire decision, Hawk-eye, Super sixes, super fours, best catches and a million other things. It's just incredible. 
• There's the element of segmentation in the form of different ticket prices and advertising(on the basis of sex, income, etc)
• Media selection is another very important aspect of marketing and advertising and IPL because of its wide coverage offers a whole lot of options such as television, Newspapapers, magazines, Internet, Radio, tickets(yes even the tickets have ads on them!), and many more
• Because it is held in different locations across the country, it also offers good distribution and availability options. The venues are chosen strategically to ensure maximum supply of entertainment. 

Apart from what I've discussed above, there are a lot of other business lessons that can be learned from the IPL and its success story has prompted a lot b-schools in India to use it as a case study. Although the tournament is in its early stages, there's already been a huge buzz and everybody, both young and old, male or female, rich or poor, seem to be talking about it. Apart from the broadcasting channel itself, most news channels are full of IPL news. Even channels like MTV and V aren't leaving any stones unturned and are using IPL to boost their TRPs. One thing is clear, the magic of IPL is everywhere and whether you like it or hate it, you just can't ignore it.

Having said all that, a lot of people in the cricketing world continue to raise eyebrows. A lot of people feel that tournaments like these reduce the 'holy' sport of cricket to the status of a commodity. I think they're just being hypocritical. Ask any of them for an honest answer and they'll tell you that they love watching twenty20 cricket more than any other form of the game. I don't agree with those who say that test match cricket is 'real' cricket. Nobody has the right to decide what form of cricket is real and what is unreal. I think every sport must adapt and evolve with the changing times and changing demands. In today's fast life where husbands don't even have time to tell their wives that they love them, you just can't expect people to sit and watch a game for five days. We're living in an age of instant gratification and people like quick results. Tournaments such as IPL are ideal for today's world and should be promoted. Not only do they provide better entertainment but also induce investment, a key to economic development. Moreover, they provide a lot of employment opportunities to people. In fact, I think IPL benefits everybody. The audience get good entertainment from the cricket and the frills, the sponsors get publicity, the franchise owners get huge profits, its helps in the development of grounds and infrastructure, the BCCI gets a lot of money as well so I think everybody is happy. I don't understand what the fuss is about. So be happy, sit back and enjoy the fun! 

Let's join hands - Save the Tiger

I am sure most of you are aware of the 'Save Our Tigers' campaign by Aircel. I feel it's a great initiative to protect our national animal from becoming extinct. According to the latest survey, only 1411 tigers are left in the country. This figure might not be accurate as there may be more tigers killed as we speak. I was saddened to read somewhere recently that nearly 70 tigers have been killed in the last 8 months. However, It is not too late and we can still do our bit to save these wonderful creatures. There are many credible organizations working towards tiger conservation in India, and they need your support. WWF-India is one such organization at the forefront of the effort. Click on the link below to see how you can chip in and help... every little bit helps. 

http://www.wwfindia.org/help/donate_for_tigers/

The donation can be as little as Rs 500, which is a very small price to pay for ensuring the survival of our national animal. I am sure that if each one of us donates even Rs 500, it will go a long way in helping this cause. 

If we don't act now, we could lose this part of our heritage forever. Save Tigers, save our heritage. 

About Schmidt

There is no doubt that Jack Nicholson is a fine actor. His portrayal of dark, often non-conformist characters in so many of his films have touched audiences across the world. 'About Schmidt' is another film which just leaves you thinking - 'What an actor!'. I saw About Schmidt yesterday, for the second time and couldn't help but admire the craft of the man. The movie is very simple, slow and at times, seemingly boring. Yet, it has certain indefinable elements which evoke a lot of emotions. 

The film is about Warren Schmidt, a retired insurance salesman, whose life starts falling apart after the death of his wife. He looks for comfort and love in his daughter Jeanie, but she is not able to give him time because of her impending wedding to Randall, a pony-tail wearing, dodgy water bed salesman and wannabe businessman. He is disapproving of her daughter's choice and tries everything to talk her out of marrying him. His undying attempts continue to fail and Warren after a series of insults from her daughter, starts realising that he is a useless, insignificant person and doesn't have an impact on anybody's life. One day, he stumbles upon a television advert about a foster programme for African Children. He enrolls in the program and receives a package about his foster child, a Tanzanian boy called Ndugo. He starts mailing him some money every now and again, along with letters about his life and his feelings. He feels that the boy is the only he can talk his heart out to, as he thinks nobody else cares about him. 

He decides to journey across the country in his caravan to see his daughter but his daughter refuses to see him and asks him not to come until two days before the wedding. Distraught, Warren makes a trip back home and en route, visits many places from his past. He arrives in Denver, and stays with Randall's mother, who turns out to be very sexual and open, much to Warren's discomfort. After meeting Randall's family there, he becomes even more sure that Randall is not suited to his daughter. Once again, he tries to dissuade Jeanie from marrying Randall, but she is not ready to listen, and insults him once again. He attends their wedding with a heavy heart and goes back home dejected and failed. Upon reaching home, he finds a pile of mails lying in his empty house. He opens a surprise letter from a nun in Tanzania, who looks after Ndugo, and writes to thank Warren for his generous contribution and tells him that warren receives all his letters and feels his pain. Warren finds attached a sketch made by Ndugo, showing two stick figures, one tall and one short. Warren, breaks into tears and realises that somebody has benefited from his life after all. 

I found the movie extremely touching and was able to relate instantly to Warren's lonely and empty life, which I found in some ways, mirrored my own. The movie also makes a point that nobody's life is worthless and that selfless deeds don't go unnoticed. Sometimes, even complete strangers understand us and care about us more than even our closest relatives or friends. Jack Nicholson was simply brilliant in the movie, and single handedly transformed what would otherwise have been an insipid movie, into an intriguing and poignant one. Hats off to him!

Funny resume statements

These are taken from real resumes and cover letters and were printed in Fortune Magazine:

1. I demand a salary commiserate with my extensive experience.

2. I have lurnt Word Perfect 6.0 computor and spreadsheet progroms.

3. Received a plague for Salesperson of the Year.

4. Reason for leaving last job: maturity leave.

5. Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial institutions.

6. Its best for employers that I not work with people.

7. Lets meet, so you can ooh and aah over my experience.

8. You will want me to be Head Honcho in no time.

9. Am a perfectionist and rarely if if ever forget details.

10. I was working for my mom until she decided to move.

11. Failed bar exam with relatively high grades.

12. Marital status: single. Unmarried. Unengaged. Uninvolved. No Commitments.

13. I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse.

14. I am loyal to my employer at all costs... Please feel free to respond to my resume on my office voice mail.

15. I have become completely paranoid, trusting completely no one and absolutely nothing.

16. My goal is to be a meteorologist. But since I possess no training in meterology, I suppose I should try stock brokerage.

17. I procrastinate, especially when the task is unpleasant.

18. As indicted, I have over five years of analyzing investments.

19. Personal interests: donating blood. Fourteen gallons so far.

20. Instrumental in ruining entire operation for a Midwest chain store.

21. Note: Please don't miscontrue my 14 jobs as job-hopping. I have never quit a job.

22. Marital status: often. Children: various.

23. Reason for leaving last job: They insisted that all employees get to work by 8:45 a.m. every morning. Could not work under those conditions.

24. The company made me a scapegoat, just like my three previous employers.

25. Finished eighth in my class of ten.

26. References: None. I've left a path of destruction behind me.


If you're not in splits already, here is a sample resume that will surely have you laughing your ass off!!

(Click on it to enlarge)