Ah Pune!!!
It’s been close to four months that I have shifted to Pune from “Amchi Mumbai”.
I did not expect that I would like the place instantly, since no shift is smooth, especially if it is from Mumbai. However there have been occasions when I have been pleasantly surprised and others when I didn’t really like the place.
Pune as opposed to Mumbai is basically a Maharashtrian city and natives in any city need that push from immigrants in order to work and keep them going.They are complacent,which is why metros are bustling with activity and have a great"working atmosphere."
Pune is growing at a rate which qualifies it to be a megacity by 2010 and the changes are already showing in the real estate prices, the number of cars on the street,the job oppurtunities,the malls and the like.
Some puneites have responded by forming cocoons around themselves.Both the groups(puneites and the immigrants)live in different communities and dont prefer with each other.
For example, places where both these communities hang around are very different.
The difference in attitude is so stark that one can tell the other from just mannerisms,speech and dressing.Most of the cream jobs/businesses are manned by non-puneites.
It in many cases it behaves like city in transit and the change is so fast and unprecedented that the natives are in a state of confusion.
The infrastructure of the city grapples to keep pace with the growth rate just like the attitude.
It takes more than a year for the pune admistration to build a fly over of about 500 metres.The worst part is that they dig up the roads and one never spots anyone working at any given point of the day.Wonder if this ever happened in Noida or Ghaziabad or Gurgaon.After all Pune is another satellite town.
The autorickshaw driver thinks he obliges you by letting you sit in his auto and very conveniently refuses business if he is resting especially post lunch!!!
You can tell a marwadi shopkeeper from a maharashtrian one, coz the maharashtrian shop opens at 10AM and shuts at 8PM while the marwadi opens at 7AM and shuts at 11PM. More often that not the maharashtrian store does not stock what you need,or will not deliver it to your place!!!
Somewhere the puneites need to realize that they are giving away there share of bread way too easily and the way pune is growing it is attracting more people from other cities. If puneites don’t realize this,they soon are gonna close!!!
Most statellite town in the north,Noida,Ghaziabad,Goregaon were formed post congestion/saturation in the capital,therefore they started on fresh ground. Pune is an older city and it cannot afford to not shed its old skin.The choice is but more individual than collective.
A Big House
A long way away from home
Standing on the road
Planning a journey on foot
Half a mile, maybe two
The phone rings
Blurred face of an unknown voice
Thoughts come clearer,
As words precise
I open the door
Bring some light
And loads of delight
To the house “otherwise”
Reflections on the mirror
And I feel a smile inside
“A Big hug to that life inside”
Talk to me...
I don’t consider myself as a typical metro individual and do not believe in working late hours. Despite this, I work (at least sit in office) for about 9 hours a day, travel for about an hour and half back and forth my work place and sleep for 7 hours a day. That leaves me with 7 hours a day to power pack all that I want to do in my life.
All this includes chatting up with my parents, my husband, friends, blogging, surfing on the net, managing my house, watching movies, listening to music. I can hardly manage to do all that I want to do,sometimes I wish the hours in a day were longer or my desires lesser, but as they say, One does not get all that one wants.
The choices that we make in the circumstances that we land in determine the flavour of life that we lead.
I have a television at home and I abhor watching it, switching channels for no rhyme or reason. I picture it as a time consuming monster which eats an important resource like time. To be entertainted I rather talk to my friend, listen to the I pod, watch a movie or read a book.
This problem is not mine alone but hundereds of other individuals face the same situation. I am sure that the problem is multiplied many fold. I also belong to a group, who earn enough to splurge without thinking, am the decision maker for the products that I buy. In short I am the target segment to which all companies,whether in consumer durables, FMCG or builders want to advertise/promote their products to. However the medium through which they reach me needs different from commonly used television.
What then are the options for someone to reach me??
I am always wired!! I read the times on the net, I read blogs on the net, I sit on the BSE site almost all day long and am chatting continuosly with people all over the word.
All these and a word from a close friend who likes a particular brand of toothbrush, or a food processor is what influences my decision to buy something.
The buzz word now is that of the net content developer.If google can find out the sites that I visit and hence do some trend analysis on my likes and dislikes, they can pop ads that are relevant to me. This is a cheaper and a more focused approach to promotion. With the competition catching up and the overhead expenditure under pressure this, I believe is the way forward.
Also, since salaries have grown, the economy on full employment level, I have many choices to make.Milestones like purchasing a house, owning a car, investing in the market with a holding capacity, are being achieved at an early age, I have risen in the Maslows theory.My basics taken care of, I have started thinking of the larger picture of the country. The plight of the have-nots and the like. Any organization trying to promote something which centres around them and communicated to me, is bound to catch my attention. I would probably go deeper in trying to figure out how this benefits the organization and hence the orgazination will occupy my mind space,Any attempt that Is worth while will remain in the memory for long vis a vis a funny/bad/beautiful ad. And believe you me I am a typical example of today’s influencer and the decision maker.
Both the content of advertising and the communication process is undergoing a huge change.
