What I liked: It's been for the first time in weeks that I've come across such a crop of reasonably inspiring and fulfilling print work.
What is even more reassuring is that they are spread across a wide array of products and services -- from news to perfumes, it was a pleasure trying to hone in on the best of the class.
The Calzini ad has a nice, interesting display of product despite the fact that it did remind me of the Ruf and Tuf J&K ad.
The Colgate Navigator ad for toothbrushes -- creative, product centric and they've managed to bring a little touch of humour into such a hackneyed category.
The ad for Lanvin perfumes stands out as a clutter-breaker with its delightfully simple no-fuss execution while the Zee News ad quite credibly reflects the harsh reality of the profession without the gloss and the glamour normally attributed to television journalism these days.
Definitely makes you pause for thought.
What I've learned
If you can dream it, you can do it.
I am a whole-hearted believer in Walt Disney's credo. Let me illustrate with two episodes in my life.
In the seventies, this is who I was -- your everyday account executive working in a pretty large advertising agency of the times -- Shilpi. I used to also teach at Bhavan's School of Journalism, Ahmedabad.
My hero, as is the case of most of us in advertising, was Bernbach. And like all dreamers I too nurtured a little dream that one day I would work with DDB.
Clearly this remained in the realms of my own fantasy, because it was the most far-fetched of all possibilities.
DDB, me, in India?!! What was I ever thinking of? I am glad that I was foolish. I am glad I clung to my dream. Because just 10 years down the line, life brought both of us together.
My second ridiculous dream was about another hero of mine -- Amitabh Bachchan. Talking about the superstar status that he held in the seventies and eighties just does not do justice to the greatness of his aura. He was larger than 'larger than life.'
And I, like the millions around me, paid homage to his skills by returning again and again to the same movies. Yes. To work with Mr Bachchan was another little dream I had.
You will agree with me when I say that this dream was so ridiculous that it bordered on insanity.
But yet 15 years down the line, life brought both of us together in such a stunning sequence of events that it was almost dreamlike.
There I was older, wiser, but still awestruck. I was calling him, he was calling me, lunched and dined with him and we worked together. And he was and is one of the most courteous, humble and down-to-earth human beings I've ever met.
All that adulation and stardust seemed to have rolled off him like water off a duck's back. We all have lessons to learn on how he manages to be so rooted at such a high altitude! And. . . there I go again getting carried away by Mr Bachchan.
To come back to the point I was trying to make, it doesn't matter how far-fetched your dream is. The secret is to hold on to it. And life will make it happen for you. You don't even have to try. All you have to do, is not let go.
The Gita expresses it very simply. Have faith in your faith. First have faith (faith in the master, the scripture, in your duty and in your dream.). Faith will then lead to fulfilment of the faith.
What happens unfortunately in these days of instant gratification, is that holding on to a dream seems arduous and a waste of time. So people let go and settle for the immediate.
Frustration then, is not far behind. The beauty of a dream is that it does come true. And everyone holds the power to make it happen. Yes, Mr Walt Disney I couldn't agree with you more -- if you can dream it, you can do it.
A G Krishnamurthy, founder of Mudra Communications, MICA, and Magindia, is currently the chairman of AGK Brand Consulting. The views expressed in the article are personal.