The (tor)MENTOR

The Appointment Letter

Jaideep (or “JD”) was elated to receive the appointment letter from Creatiwitty Group. It was known as the best place to start for aspiring creative minds. JD was always fascinated by copywriting. From as long as he could remember, he was awestruck by excellent advertisements; be it print or television. 

He always fancied working with the best minds in the industry – people who could teach him the tricks of the trade and gain the required experience to become one of the leading names in the business. The reason for him being so elated was also the fact that he would be under the tutelage of Samrat Malhotra (popularly known in the world of advertising as SaM.)

JD came home and shouted at the top of his voice – showing off his significant achievement to his family members. Everyone in his family was elated but for Mr. Sumer Singh, his father. However, Sumer did not make this evident.

JD began a new life in the world of advertising. He found inner peace in its chaotic beauty. There was something about copywriting that fascinated him. It never felt like work. He could work on a copy for hours and not feel tired one bit. It came as no surprise then that he was selected for the prestigious “CreatiWitty Superstars program”. The endeavor through the program was to create the brightest stars who could lead the charge in the world of advertising.  The initiative, like many other successful campaigns that came out of Creatiwitty, was SaM’s brainchild.

The program selected ten Superstars to begin with. After the initial four week phase, five Superstars would be selected for five coveted slots in the creative space, which is in copywriting and art direction. The rest would come into account management roles, media buying roles etc. and be trained in the same. SaM was a master at identifying the talent in a person. He believed in the theory that a fish needs to be put into the water to swim and a monkey should be made to climb trees. During the initial four week phase, SaM would not only identify the right talent but also put them in functions wherein they would enjoy their work and flourish.

JD was aware of what SaM would do after four weeks. Among the five coveted positions, he wanted the “Superstars Copywriting” throne more than anything else in the world. He put in his best efforts and created some fascinating copies for the dummy products they were told to market (“market, not sell” as SaM used to put it). However, at the beginning of the fourth week of the program, JD still wasn’t sure if he would achieve what he wanted so badly.  His father, Mr. Singh, has the same apprehensions. In fact, he was more pessimistic than JD himself.

The Termination Letter

Fifteen years is a long time. A bright star from the advertising world was forced to fade into oblivion on this very day; fifteen years ago.

This young star could conceptualize campaigns that invariably met with unparalleled success. He did that for a firm called “Pixelworld communications”. He was the blue eyed boy in Pixelworld and seemed to have a compelling idea for marketing any product given to him.

While many before and after him have been successful, what made him special was that he was nice. His work had a unique stamp of excellence and he received great recognition from the management. He had the need to see everyone succeed and was often seen helping people in the agency. His clarity of thought and problem solving abilities made him a very popular person.

The fact that he became the panacea for all of Pixelworld’s illnesses was a bit concerning for some members of the agency. His opinion was sought in every meeting, his views were sought on projects which he wasn’t directly handling and his suggestions were always giving serious consideration.

This young star reported into a manager who was smart and cunning. While he was very good creatively, he could not fathom the fact that a youngster could be so much better. He did admire the young man but he feared that the young star would take the luster away from his decent career. The young man was happy in his own creative world and was blissfully unaware of such animosity towards him.

Another man, though not his direct superior was a great friend of his young man’s reporting manager and had the same insecurities. The young star was burning the midnight oil working on the campaign for a huge multinational retail chain which was facing tough competition in the market from another mammoth retail giant. Their products were looking for the much needed zing and the campaign from this young star would be a saving grace – that is what they thought and so did people from the agency.

However, two days before the campaign could go live; the competitor came with a counter campaign. The tone and the message were so effective that it easily swept away the potential of Pixelworld’s campaign and also the client’s post campaign plans.  

It was evident that someone had leaked out the entire campaign idea to the competitor’s agency and probably made huge money out of it. The young star was inconsolable. However, what followed was an even bigger disaster. It was established that the young star had leaked out the campaign idea to the creative agency to make a quick buck. Without much investigation or explanation, the young star was asked to leave the job on 14^th of March.

This termination letter came in and he faded into oblivion. Is it a mere coincidence then that every year on the 14^th of March, Creatiwitty selects five new age Superstars? It is easy to establish that the young star who lost his job on that fateful day was none other than SaM.

Life after Pixelworld

The thought of spending even a day without a salary was tough. SaMs termination became the talk of the advertisement world and every renowned agency resisted the temptation of getting him on board. However, “Creatiwitty” was just starting and had nothing to lose. Its Indian founder saw an opportunity and researched a bit about SaM. By the time, he finished his research on SaM, all he had in his notes were positive reviews. He was sure that SaM was an honest man and was made a scapegoat in the much talked about fiasco. He offered SaM a much bigger role at Creatiwitty and it turned out to be the best decision of his life.  

SaM got the creative freedom he desired and he used it constructively. He lead Creatiwitty into one of the country’s most sought after agencies in the country. In ten years, SaM became a brand to reckon with and most leading companies were his clients.

Will JD become a Superstar?

Will JD get selected? His father couldn’t sleep through the night as there was less than two days left for JD to know the truth that will haunt him for the rest of his life. His father was sure that JD would not win the coveted “Superstar copywriting” throne. He decided that he should go and meet SaM.

How did Sumer Singh (JD’s father) know? Was it his advertising agency background or his paternal instincts? Why was he being so pessimistic that he thought he required to wield his influence?

With these thoughts in mind, Sumer Singh dozed off only to be woken up by a bad dream. Early next morning, he decided to meet SaM in his office. He reached the office without an appointment.

SaM got a call from his reception and was informed that Mr. Sumer Singh had come down to meet him. “Hello Sir, are you there?” the receptionist repeated thrice. SaM was lost in thoughts but soon recovered. He requested the receptionist to send Mr. Singh into his office in fifteen minutes.

The Encounter

SaM was polite as ever as he greeted Mr. Singh. If there was animosity, SaM did not show it. If there was any remorse, Singh didn’t show it either. In their minds, they were playing the happening of that day fifteen years ago when SaM was asked to leave Pixelworld and Singh, his reporting manager, has to do the hard task of giving him the termination letter.

Singh spoke first in his usual arrogant style. “Look SaM, I was not responsible for your exit from Pixelworld and I am here to say that this shouldn’t have an impact on my son’s career. He thinks you are the best in the advertising world. Do not, and I repeat, do not bring our past into this and disappoint him.”

SaM gave him a patient hearing and then responded. He told him that he would like him to meet one of the key people in his IT team. He called for Raghu and asked him to come in. A man of about the same age as SaM came in. He was furious when he saw Mr. Singh. He told SaM that we shouldn’t even allow this man in our office. SaM explained to Mr. Singh that Raghu had told him how the files from SaM’s computer were transferred into a CD and given to Mr. Singh. The honest Raghu started crying again as he told Mr. Singh that he got him into committing the unpardonable sin while being made to believe that he was doing his duty. Singh had asked him to copy the files of the campaign from SaMs computer to a CD for a presentation the next morning. While Raghu thought he was doing his job, he did not realize that he was unintentionally participating in getting SaM out of the organization. Raghu was very fond of SaM and when he came to know about SaM’s termination, it left him devastated. Everything happened so quickly that Raghu did not even get a change to stand up for his good friend SaM. He confronted Singh and resigned as he just couldn’t focus on work.

While Raghu was at home with no work, SaM was gaining in prominence in CreatiWitty. He had discovered how and why he was asked to leave Pixelworld and decided to talk to Raghu and bring him into CreatiWitty as Director of IT. And he did.

The Revenge

SaM thanked Raghu for coming to his office. Raghu left, but not before giving Mr. Singh the worst possible stare.

By now, Mr. Singh had mellowed down a bit. He told SaM that it would be most unfortunate if his revenge would be in the form of hampering Mr. Singh’s son (JD’s) dream.

SaM laughed. He laughed out loud; much to Singh’s amusement. He told Singh the idea behind starting the Superstars program. He told Mr. Singh that his idea of life was to create individuals who could be better than him and not ruin their careers for being good. He said that he was happy that some of the people heading competing agencies today were his protégés. He told Mr. Singh that when one has talent working for him, it is a privilege and not a right. He said how the same person could become a Mentor or a (tor)Mentor depending on the approach he takes with the talent that works with him.

SaM told Mr. Singh that JD was one of the brightest copywriters to have worked under him. He told Singh that he considered it a privilege to mentor JD and learn things from him as well. As for the coveted “superstar copywriting” throne, he conveyed that JD had just won the coveted position and also told him why they had declared the result a day in advance. He told Mr. Singh that it was only because of JDs talent that he had won the throne and not the fact that Mr. Singh was his father.

SaM added, “The last part now. The revenge. My way of exacting revenge is to make him the best copywriter I can. I am a creative person. My revenge is in creating and not destroying; unlike you. If he is impressed by my skills and will consider me as a mentor, that will be my revenge. You know why? It is because he will then talk about me, every once in a while, and you will keep hearing about me. I am sure you wouldn’t want to hear about me.”

SaM told Singh that he believed JD was a better copywriter than SaM was at the same age. He prophesied that he would play a part in creating one of the best copywriters the country has seen. On that note, he politely requested Singh to excuse him as he had to get back to work.

Singh left the office with a rare emotion. He was happy that his son was with SaM and yet sad that he would keep hearing about SaM. He realized that what SaM said was correct and agreed on the importance of mentoring talent to heights than (tor)menting them to oblivion. Unfortunately, the realization dawned on him at the twilight of his professional life. The attitude of destruction had left him with a lifelong regret.

Every professional who follows Singh’s lead would be left with a lifelong regret at the twilight of their careers. Everyone who would follow SaM’s lead will have planted some great seeds in their respective fields; seeds which would give them recognition and more importantly, a sense of accomplishment in the twilight of their careers.

Playing it her way…for Sachin!

Humble Beginnings

My grandmother was born on 25^th December, some years before India achieved its independence. Her love for India is unparalleled. She was born into a family with scarce resources hence she could only educate herself till pre-school. Her love for knowledge and passion for learning puts me to shame. Once her education was stopped, she had to do odd chores in many houses to make ends meet for her family. Not once, did she complain. She made sure she worked much harder than kids her age but never compromised on self-esteem or asked for money. 

She was married off at 16. Her husband did small jobs but she had to work really hard to raise her family and her five children. Life did not change much. In spite of not having good formal education, her thoughts were way ahead of her times. This was evident as she ensured that all her children, four of whom were girls, got the opportunity to go to school. She did this when India wasn’t particularly fond of educating the girl child.

Her children grew and started becoming financially independent. This helped her a bit but they hadn’t still come out of poverty. On one of these days, she asked her nephew if he could buy her some rice and vegetables for dinner. She gave him the money after he agreed.

Cricket – A religion in India!

This incident might have happened somewhere in the mid eighties. The boy took the money and went to the shop. On the way, he passed a field where some boys were playing cricket. He forgot what he had set out for and started playing cricket. He enjoyed the game but lost the money somewhere on the field. He was completely scared of what would happen to him but decided to tell his aunt the truth. He pleaded with her to not tell his mother or he would get beaten.  She assured him that she would not tell his mother and the boy was relieved. She wanted to know how he lost the money. Her nephew answered that he saw his friends playing cricket and started playing with them. In the process, he forgot about the task she assigned and while playing he lost the money.

Nine out of ten, perhaps all ten, women in India would have given the boy a piece of their mind. She was different. She wanted him to tell her what cricket was. He explained the game to the best of his knowledge. And therein began her love for this great game!

By this time, she had become a grandmother. She was a grandmother much before her own half-century in life. This fact, coupled with all the hard work, ensured that she was in great physical shape and used to carry her grandson (not me, my cousin brother) and go for long walks. She would spend most evening watching the boys play cricket in the nearby fields. She would cheer every six and boundary and her joy knew no bound when she watched this game. If cricket was a religion in India, she had found the religion to practice. If she hadn’t found something, it was an idol.

Schoolboy plays for India

Thanks to her primary education; she could read in Malayalam, her mother tongue. She would devour the newspapers in the morning. Her lack of education never quenched her appetite for learning.

She had started reading about articles on Indian cricket and secretly nursed a desire that her nephew should play for India. Yes, the same nephew who lost her money a few years ago!

It is on one of that morning that she read about a schoolboy, her nephew’s age, making waves in India’s domestic circuit and getting selected to play for India.

Watching him on T.V.

She had never watched Television in her life. The device caught her fancy. She saw people watching cricket on television. Three years passed since the schoolboy made his debut. The schoolboy had become a force to reckon with. He had become the mainstay of Indian cricket team’s batting line up.

The year was 1992 and she still did not have TV in her house. At that time, she was at her daughter’s house. The daughter had delivered a baby boy. This house was in another village, about 100 kilometers from her house. Her neighbor there was a lady who she had a good equation with. She had bought a Television recently. The cricket world cup of 1992 was going on down under and India had not done really well till then. India was going to play Pakistan on that day and she had to convince/cajole this neighbor to watch the match. The lady of the house was her age; she was a good friend as well. However, she hated to watch any sport.

After much convincing, she ensured that the neighbor would watch cricket with her. She enjoyed every minute of the game and to her delight, this young schoolboy had scored a timely half century. The neighbor grew curious with all the cheering and asked her who this boy was. “He is my my brother’s son, my nephew’, she said and beamed with pride. The lady, who in all likelihood, had never been out of the village did not even know that Sachin Tendulkar was not even from Kerala! My grandmother played it her way, probably lied for the first time in her life, only to catch a glimpse of the God to millions of followers who followed the same religion as she did.

I think it would delight many cricket enthusiasts to know that she even taught the neighbor and some other ladies in the area what cricket was all about!

Lost and found!

As her children had moved to Mumbai and settled here, my grandmother could come to Mumbai, closer to where Sachin lives. Her love for cricket only grew with age. She had a lot of energy for her age and wouldn’t agree to just rest. She went for a walk after a family function one evening and didn’t return after an hour. Family members got worried.

She reached back very soon, much to our delight. When asked where she was, she said she was at the playground watching the boys play cricket.

India-England (World Cup 2003)

I vividly remember this incident which happened during the India v/s England game in 2003. It was in South Africa and matches went late into the night. I was very tired and dozed off which watching India bowl. My father was to come in a bit late and his knock on the door woke me up. I opened the door. All this while, my grandmother was sitting in the same place, not moving once.

My father asked how the match was going. I told him India was doing great and that Ashish Nehra had picked up four wickets. “Six”, she shouted. My father and I were stunned. She said correcting me again, ‘Ashish Nehra has taken six wickets’. Both my father and I laughed but we were in awe of her passion for the game, her concentration when the game was on and her desire to see India win. How many women her age would be awake at 1 a.m to see cricket matches LIVE. I don’t know any other woman.

During any match, if we would ask her how much India needed to win, she would say that with runrate calculations as well. She never understood a word of English and commentary was an alien language to her. Yet, she was spot on with the game’s latest update.

One Century = One Coconut

I used to go to temple on Tuesdays. It was a practice I followed while I was a student. On one such Tuesday morning, I saw my grandmother up and ready. She said she wants to go with me. I enjoy her company and was more than happy to take her along.

In the temple, she asked me to buy a coconut so that she could offer it to Lord Ganesha. I did that as well. After the offering I asked her why she had done it. She replied that Sachin had scored a century the previous day and it was her way of thanking God for it.

Every time Sachin scored a century, she would religiously ensure that a coconut was offered to God. Sachin made life very difficult for her by scoring 100 international centuries!

First Double Century

Sachin scored the first double century ever in One day internationals against South Africa. She wasn’t well during this day but couldn’t take rest. She was in the living room cheering each run like a teenager. She had her anxious moments and offered prayers to Lord Ganesha after Sachin reached the landmark. I asked her if a double century meant she would offer two coconuts. She looked at me as if I asked a stupid question and said, “Ofcourse”. She added that she had been doing this every time he scored a double in a test match.

A few years later, Sehwag became the second Indian to score a double hundred in One day Internationals. He also overtook Sachin’s score and recorded the highest score in ODI. To our surprise, my grandmother was very upset with Sehwag and made it clear that he did not do the right thing.

Tennis Elbow

When Sachin was down with tennis elbow, it became national news. Every newspaper covered news about his tennis elbow, why it may require a surgery etc. She read one of these papers. One of her daughter’s, my aunt, called during this time and asked my mother if she could speak to her. After talking for a while, my aunt enquired with my mother if she was fine and why she was crying. My mother told her that it was nothing but Sachin’s tennis elbow and surgery which were bothering her. She convinced my aunt that my grandmother was in very good health.

Critics’ nightmare

My mother is a teacher. She teaches a lot of students at home in the room adjacent to the hall room where we have the television set. One of her student happened to come during a One day international when India was put into bat and Sachin was at the crease.

He was sure about Indian citizens right to freedom of expression and said that Sachin was not in great touch and would get out soon. He had never seen fury in the form of an old lady before and literally ran to the other room to save his life. My grandmother would have absolutely no qualms in giving him a whack!

Even relatives wouldn’t be spared if they chose to criticize Sachin. My uncle, father’s brother, once happened to visit us when we were watching a match. For some reason, he skirted around Sachin’s form and said that Sachin plays for only his century and never wins the match for India. My grandmother made her mind to slap him. Fortunately, she reigned her anger but not before strongly reprimanding my uncle and telling him in no uncertain terms to never repeat it.

The Swansong

Sachin Tendulkar’s last test match in Mumbai was one of the events that media had extensively covered. India won this test match and Sachin’s farewell speech was one of the best farewell speeches the nation had heard and seen.

My grandmother can do chores such as cutting vegetables without even having to pay full attention to the task. The learning curve with all the practice allowed her that liberty. While Sachin was delivering this speech, she decided to multi-task. She watched television and cut the vegetables simultaneously. She cut her finger in the process. Sachin had sure, shed a lot of blood and sweat while making India proud. In his swansong Test, she did shed some blood – only due to her own concentration lapse.

The next morning

The next morning was the end of an era for many cricket fans. For her, it was the end of cricket itself. She read the papers in languages she understood. She even read the English dailies though she did not understand the language. She may have been able to comprehend what was written due to the supporting images. She doesn't watch cricket anymore. She doesn't go to temples anymore as well!

Parting note

I am a huge Sachin fan myself and couldn’t wait to get hold of his book “Playing it my way”. Today evening, when I met her and told her about what I read, she said she wished it was translated in Malayalam. She then told me a lot about how cricket happened to her. My mother suggested that I should write this.

I think my grandmother’s story deserves to be told and cricket enthusiasts deserve to know about it. I believe this December 25^th, when she celebrates her birthday, all Sachin fans should send her birthday wishes. The icing on the cake (pun intended) would be if the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar wishes her, atleast on TwitterJ. That would be the best birthday gift.