Black Coffee- Volume 10

*Trumpets*
*Drum Rolls*

After months and months of hard work, we finally did it. Team LitComm came out with the 10th edition of Black Coffee, the in-house magazine. The link for the launch video for the magazine is given below:

Personally, this was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. To see a magazine that I had worked so hard on finally get published felt really good. So, it wasn't surprising at all that during the first Literary Fest at MICA "Oblique" when the magazine was launched, I was overcome with emotions.

As an outsider with no experience of the magazine business, I could hardly imagine how much work went into publishing a magazine. I always thought that once the content was sent, it would be a real piece of cake to get the magazine out.

It turned out to be so much more! When I break it down into the number of things we did to get this magazine out, only then a fair estimate of the amount of work involved can be gauged. The invitation of articles which took a whole lot of convincing. The editing of articles which took quite a bit of time. The time when we had to think of a theme for the magazine (we came up with the theme of a journey). Thinking of a cover page to go with the theme (which was decided as a modified version of Truck Art). The effort that had to be put in to come up with a cover which looks so awesome (check the video). The task of designing the templates (We came up with a template showing a milestone and a radio broadcasting quotes about a journey). To top all this, the time when we decided to number the magazine in reverse order. As in the time when you travel the distance on a road trip the number on the milestones keeps on decreasing, similarly as you progressed through the magazine the number on the milestone decreased. And of course, this whole process was followed by a whole lot of modifications to suit the needs of the printers!

The difficult part about a magazine is that if you really want to do it properly, like we did, with quotes at the bottom and two columns and all the artwork, each page of the magazine becomes like a poster. This means if you are publishing an 80 odd page magazine, it involves an effort to create about 80 posters from the creative side. Add to this the editing and the logistics and its a pretty tough job.

Finally, with the launch of the magazine, we completed another task on LitComm's checklist for the year. Add to this the successful organizing of the fest which deserves another post, we did most of the things that we had decided on doing in LitComm 2010-11. 

The Keep India Clean Campaign Experience

There are two things that have driven me to madness this year. The first one is my committee work, some of which is still left with the upcoming Lit Fest. The other one is the Keep India Clean Campaign.

It all started in October when I and my friend Abhinit decided that we should go all out to participate in a few events in the 5^th term. So we narrowed down some events based on the kind of things we were interested in. The first and the closest one to both of us was Mycampaign and this blog is about the three month long experience we had while participating in this event.

The entries that were asked were promptly sent. In the first round we sent an executive summary for the “Keep India Clean Campaign” that we had conceptualised, followed by a complete marketing plan in the second round. The results were out soon. We made it to the final 5 of My Campaign. We were going to IIM Indore!!

For the third round of My Campaign, we had to run a blog for 10 days. This round really taught us a few lessons. Firstly, we never thought how difficult it would be to post regular content on a blog. Secondly, our decision to go ahead with two members while all the other teams had three really had us making a lot of extra effort. But we did post good content. Our aim was originality and creativity. We succeeded on both fronts. As this round went along we became more and more involved with the cause. We did research. We did a signature campaign In our college. We did a broadcast on radio. And then we went to the village and met people to find out what their problems are. At the end of the blogging round we were not just satisfied with the kind of work we had done, but wiser with the experience we had just been through.

The fourth and fifth rounds were On-Campus. We went to IIM Indore in an unforgettable bus journey. The lesser said the better. Given the time constraints we had while booking the tickets though, it was something we could live with. On our entry into the campus we were greeted with huge signboards which read “Have you seen 30 judges for 5 teams?? Witness the grilling today!!” And so we got a sense of what awaited us.

We got our presentation ready. The first On Campus round was in front of 30 opinion leaders from in and around Indore. Dressed in Kurtas, we went in and started presenting. We spoke for about 15 minutes. When we were done there was pin drop silence in the room. Then suddenly the entire audience started clapping. The first thing that we heard from a judge in the Q&A round was “I don’t have a question. I just want to say that your campaign emotionally connected with me”. We answered some more questions and when we were done, we were on top of the world. Outside, we met the people from the panel who all personally congratulated us for coming up with such a campaign. Two of them belonging to NGOs said that “We do run NGOs, but not at this level!”

Next round we faced 3 judges. My experience with the first spot during presentations has generally been bad. You don’t know what to expect from the judges and the judges have not gauged the level of the competitors, so they tend to experiment on you. Although, I personally think we did better this time, one of the judges didn’t think so. We got a cold response from him. Sadly, after 5 rounds of the campaign, we had managed to convince 32 judges. But we didn’t convince the one that mattered. We came in third. I personally think we were good enough for the first spot.

But the whole experience was unbelievable. By the end of the campaign, we had shot 5 videos, more than the total videos I had shot in MICA before. We had made numerous print ads, written articles, designed a mascot, logo, created facebook and twitter pages and most importantly raised awareness about this cause among a lot of people. We were sad that we didn’t win, but the experience we gained was worth a million dollars. And no snooty judge can take that away from us.

YouTube Links for Keep India Clean Campaign!

Consolidated YouTube links for the videos:

Village Campaign

Signature Campaign in MICA:

Honk it Out!!

What's the Point -

Final Pledge Campaign

Our Campaign for IIM Indore Event- MyCampaign

Find below the social media links for a campaign that we are running. It is called the "Keep India Clean" Campaign. Do comment on it as it is an issue that concerns all of us..

Facebook Link
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keep-India-Clean/171835362843990
Twitter Link:
http://twitter.com/#!/keepindiaclean

Hope you like the posts..:)

Absolut Love!!

This is my Second Video- It's a short film with product placement!

Credits:
Director: Me
Story: Abhipsa Gaur
Actor: Keats Sukumar


 a.Why the product: 
Drinking is a social as well as an individual phenomenon. At times of depression or frustration some people prefer drinking alone. There are some who are very brand conscious and particular about the drinks they choose, in order to go with their position and lifestyle. The drink that fits the character on which the movie is based is Absolut Vodka. 


b.Concept of the film :
The protagonist suffers from depression despite being bestowed with all the money and affluence, etc in the world. The film shows how this man who has been deserted by the love of his life, in an extreme state of depression, has an outburst against the unfairness of it all. His tone changes from sad, to frustrated to accusatory to pleading. The final scene of the movie with the dialogue "My love for you was absolute" shows the concept of the movie as well as hints indirectly at the product being placed. 


c.Relevance of the product in the film: 
Where does a young, single, affluent professional go after his day at work when something that mattered most in his life no longer exists? In a metropolitan city in India, he might not want to go over to a friend's place as most of them are preoccupied with their personal and professional lives. He does not want to stay at home because he is sick of its monotony. An upmarket place gives him a sense of self worth in the sense that he can still afford/ has the spending power to command some things in life, while brooding/ lamenting over his miseries or troubles. A good brand of alcohol helps reaffirm that sense of self worth. It shows how even in a state of depression he is still brand conscious.


d. Inspiration: Devdas.. Primarily the story of the film was driven by logistical constraints that we face in the hostels with regards to arranging props for films.. So we(me and my sister) thought of a story, which minimizes both the number of characters and props required.

RAIT

Getting nostalgic while I'm back in Mumbai and close to my engineering college. This post goes to the place where I spent four really important years of my life!

The first time I went to RAIT was when my sister was giving her engineering entrance exam there. It was a huge college. A part of the D Y Patil empire, you got overwhelmed by how huge the place was. The campus had everything. I said to myself, "Dude, this is the kind of college you want to get into!". Call it destiny or whatever, but 3 years later when my engineering entrance time came up, I got into RAIT!

Now as I entered first year, I realised that there are three types of engineers. The first types are those who really love their machines. Second who learn to love machines while they do engineering. And third, the ones who just want to have fun and get a degree. I fit in the second category. In fact, most of my friends did. I really didn't know about the first category till I met Ishminder Singh Dhanjal, a.k.a. Changa!! The first time I met him, he got started about some C Program that he had developed and how hacking Windows 95 was his favourite activity. I was taken aback and to be frank, i thought he was really weird. Through my 4 years at RAIT, he was my teammate in most of the Robotics events I participated in and one of my dearest friends. Another one of my friends to be poached by Uncle Sam, hopefully he will get his wiring fixed there!

Some of my other weird friends included Jitin 'Oh, I'm going to the church again" Jacob, Abhishek "We're just friends" Dubey, Jayant "Results aa gaye!!" Gholap and Atul "My dog is a Wolf!!" Jadhav.

College life was good! I didnt know half the stuff that was going on, yet there was too much to keep one occupied and happy. There were two cultural fests, the smaller one was called Akarshan. I still remember how beautiful the scrap paper looked when it was showered down from the staircases of the four floors to the stage on the ground floor. At first I was amazed at how something so simple could look so beautiful. We got used to it later, but it still looked almost as good in our last year, probably more since it was the last time that we were going to see it!

The mega-fest was called Horizons. It was a huge thing. One of the biggest in Mumbai. In some ways, the identity of RAIT. I could write a whole blog about the fest. But there are some things that I really have to mention. The Jal Concert in the second year was one such thing. I still remember how we broke the barricades that held us back on the bands request and ran right up to the stage as we witnessed one of the best concerts ever. The crowd, the noise, the madness, and the dust in the air (yeah, that too!) as we listened to them play one great song after another. The best part was I fell in love with songs I heard there for the first time("Teri yaad!! Sigh!"). Other concerts from Strings, DJ Aqeel and the fashion shows, etc were really good too. Four amazing fests in four years, truly!

So what did we do when we were not attending fests and 'studying'? We watched cricket! Live! One of our professors informed us in the first year about a new International Cricket Stadium that was going to come on campus. Of course, I didn't believe it! It stood before us a year later. With imported grass from South Africa and some of the most lavish VIP rooms, I was amazed to see this 'thing' inside my college!! Holy Wow!! We watched I dont know how many matches there. One of the benefits of being a student at RAIT- passes were never an issue. I missed out on the IPL matches held there though. Pity! But it was due to the stadium really that I found another person to really respect- Vijay Patil. Our Director and one of the sharpest young people in India today.

The last two years of my college life were spent for MBA preperation and Placements. First came the placements. I got through Infosys first. A huge company to work for and the package was decent too. One of the interviews where you just know you are through when you walk in. I chatted for about 15 mins with a really sweet HR recruiter about Puzzles, Jodha Akhbar and its cultural implications(believe it!!). Next day while I'm with a doctor getting eye drops for Conjunctivitis, I got the message that I had landed with my first job offer!! Always a proud moment!!

Another offer I landed up with was with the Indian Navy, the defence! It is easily the best interview I have ever given. I was literally fighting with an experienced defence person and strangely, both of us were enjoying it. Two of his subordinates seemed to be enjoying it as well from the smiles on their faces. I was really proud to be invited to join the defence services! I missed this opportunity though as a side effect of having a barely higher eye power than what the eligibility criteria specified.

Finally I gave my MICA interview and got through a college which in a very strange way was nothing like my home, but felt exactly like it! Another place where I said the same words "Dude, this is the kind of college you want to get into!". And another placed where I would eventually go to!! I guess some things in life are just meant to happen!

My first ad film

This was the TVC me and Abhijith Shetty (Bapu), from MICA, came up with for the client Hungama.com. Consider the fact that this was our debut. 

Thanks to:

Me(!) : Story , editing and acting

Bapu: Direction, camera work, hair, makeup and costume

Ashish Sharma, Rohit Goyal and Neelu : Cast

Annamalai and anubhav nanda: Technical expertise

Charu Chopra/GK/Aaron : Location

Taaze: For the CD's

Mani : Cassettes

Aparna : Micavaani props

Abhinit: For your undying moral support