ACEF 2015 – The dope to CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR has over the past few years, become more than a section in Indian Company’s Act. Technically speaking, the section mandates corporates with a networth of more than five hundred crores to spend 2 percent of their annual profit on CSR activites. However, in the era of cut throat competition, smart corporate have realized CSR too, can be used to gain competitive advantage.

Having been involved in many CSR activities during the span of my career, I have been witnessing this increasing focus on taking CSR beyond just charities. So, when BlogAdda offered us the ACEF 2015 event, I was all eager to get my dose on CSR.

Asian Forum & Awards For Excellence in Branding, Marketing and CSR, or ACEF is an annual event to recognize the best in CSR. Running in its 5^th year now, the event has industry stalwarts share insights on the avenues that can be explored and success stories. This year, the theme of ACEF was “Integrating Brand Marketing with CSR”.

As I landed up early at the ITC Maratha Central on 12^th morning, I realized I was one of the few early birds. However, soon delegates started pouring in, from students to corporate from varied industries and a wake up tea session followed. Allan Rodrigues, VP Hansa PR was at his wittiest best as he opened the event. All eyes were on me as Allan suddenly gave me 2 minutes of fame by highlighting my live tweeting skills!

A morning session usually has people struggling to wake up and get their attentive selfs, however, the opening session from Sanjeev Kotnala, founder and Head Catalyst – The Unconsult Way had the audience listening in rapt attention. His session, “Where marketers need to grow” emphasized the role CSR has in building goodwill for the brand. The focus for any corporate is taking the biggest pie of market share. However, if companies use CSR to build brands, and involve internal stakeholders as well, CSR can be the path from Perception – Preference – Premium.

Saurabh Uboweja, Founder, CEO & Director, Brand Strategy – Brands of Desire took us through the session “Creating Strong Brands versus using CSR to create Strong Brands”. Creating feel good factor for internal and external customers about CSR and link it with branding should be the mantra for smart companies, for consumers trust brands that do more CSR than those who don’t. He also spoke about the relevance of CSR to be taken as an integral part of value system and culture. Taking the audience through many success stories, the session concluded on activist positioning as the next focus.

As growling stomachs were in no mood to compromise anything for lunch, Sangeeta Robinson’s session began on CSR: It’s correlation and impact on the Brand. An expert orator, Sangeeta knew how to keep the crowd hooked, so she kept the session alive by quoting case studies from her career span. CSR is going beyond the business and good CSR can help build relations with community, create shared value and also generate future business. The impact of her session – people who were looking at their watches waiting for lunch as her session began were by the end of the session, compromising their lunch time to take tips from the expert.

Another session squeezed before lunch time, faced the threat of low audience participation. However, the session by Vikas Singh, AVP – Brand Marketing, Dainik Bhaskar Group saw the highest response from the audience. The session, titled “Building a Strong Brand in Cluttered and Commoditized Print Media Space” was full of interesting clippings from successful ad campaigns. The highlight of the session was the #livenonegative campaign by Dainik Bhaskar that focussed on highlighting the positive aspects of news rather than just getting mileage on dragging the negativities.

Amitha Amarsinghe, Head of Neo@Ogilvy Sri Lanka spoke about Customer Engagement through Social Media in Emerging markets. Taking us through many successful campaigns from his agency, Amitha threw light on how Social media had helped brands create the hype and get the competitive advantage.

Next on the agenda was a panel discussion on “Integrating Brand Marketing with CSr & PR”.  Jessie Paul, CEO Paul Writer moderated the event. The panel of experts, Betsy Vincent, VP – General Carbon, Nilesh Jagad, Sr. VP – Indian Centre for CSR, Hasrath Munasinghe, DGM marketing- Commercial bank of Ceylon PLC Sri Lanka, Vaishali Sharma, Sr VP MarComm Sony MAX, Umesh Jhawar, VP Strategy, Arihant Superstructures Ltd, Sangeeta Thakral, Head of Marketing & Communications – Charities Aid Foundation shared their views.

And lastly came the event everyone had been waiting for – the ACEF awards! Mr. Nirav Sanghvi of BlogAdda won the Best partner Marketing Award.

CSR is being increasingly seen as a tool to give a cutting edge to brands. While one may see it as a mere gimmick by corporate to glorify their small mandatory contributions, a lot remains unexplored by which companies can achieve the important Cs – Customer’s preference, Conscious contribution to society, Creating immense brand value.

This post is written for BlogAdda and ACEF.

#BlogAdda #ACEF

Movie Review – The Path of Zarathustra

Date of Release – September 4, 2015

Genre – Magic Realism

Director – Oorvazi Irani

Duration – 79 minutes

Cast – Oorvazi Irani, Tom Alter, Rushad Rana, Shishir Sharma, Darius Shroff, Firdausi Jussawalla

Music – Vasuda Sharma

Screenplay – Farrukh Dhondy

My View

Ever since I landed up in Mumbai, the mystery behind Zoroastrianism had me intrigued. At work, I met many people with unusual surnames and found out about the religion and its interesting history. However, since it is a very closed community, non Zoroastrians have no access to important aspects like their places of worship, Tower of silence etc.

It was for this mystery and exclusivity that the moment I was invited to the premiere of this unique movie about Zoroastrian faith and religion, my head immediately nodded in affirmation and excitement!

The Path of Zarathustra is a very unique movie, for it gives insights into the community’s faith, religion and challenges faced. The protagonist, Oorvazi (Oorvazi Irani) moves out of her isolated life after her maternal grandfather, Mamavaji (Tom Alter) passes away. However, before closing his eyes to the world, he gifts her a book which he says will help her find her true identity and answers to all her questions and directs her to go and be amongst her people. There is no belief without believers. And thus begins Oorvazi’s quest to find her roots and true identity in a community that is facing the threat of losing its identity due to a fast dwindling race. 

Oorvazi comes to Mumbai to stay with her maternal aunt Sheramasi and cousin Perseus (Rushad Rana), whose eyes still reflect his love for her. As she begins her journey to discover her true self, she discovers many aspects about her religion and in these revelations; she is guided by imaginary characters from historical past of Zoroastrianism such as Mazdak (Darius Shroff), who was executed for his radical ideas, Mani (Firdausi Jussawalla), and Zurvan (Shishir Sharma). Each character uncovers layers of the mystery surrounding the book. However, just when she thinks she has found the keeper of the book, she is told her search is yet to be over.

Whether Oorvazi finally unravels the mystery behind the book is for you to find out by watching the movie. However, as a curious outsider, the movie is an excellent way to know about the community and its beliefs. The movie also boasts of many path breaking moves, such as shooting in a fire temple.

One has to give full marks to the attention given to each detail. Excellent screenplay by celebrated author Farrukh Dhondy has the viewers transported to a different world of mystic every time one plot blends into the other. The dialogues will definitely hover in your mind hours after you walk out of the theatre. As a newbie, Vasuda Sharma’s job to the background score deserves a round of applause as it compliments the flawless cinematography.

One doesn’t come across path breaking movies like The Path of Zarathustra very often. So, whether you are a Zoroastrian or not, go for the movie as it will definitely provoke your thoughts regarding your own roots,

My Rating

4/5

This review is for BlogAdda and SBI Impresario Pvt Ltd. The Path of Zarathustra releases at a theatre near you on September 4, 2015. Check out the movie’s official website www.thepathofzarathustra.com

Book review – There’s Something About You

Author – Yashodhara Lal

Publisher – Harper Collins

Genre – Fiction

Pages – 254

Price – Rs.175

Sneak from the cover

This is not your typical boy-meets-girl book. Okay, they do meet, but there are some complications.

The Cover

The cover is enough to evoke readers’ interest. Sea, sand and she…lost in her own thoughts, as he approaches her. The cover says, “She was in enough trouble till he came along.” For a moment one wonders who is he – the one who is to solve her problems or the one who created them.

My View

I had heard praises of Yash’s first two books – Just Married, Please Excuse and Sorting Out Sid however, I hadn’t yet been able to get my hands on any of these. So when I was offered to review There’s something about you (TSAU), I was all excited to find out what is it about her books that makes them bestselling.

After reading the book, I feel the mantra is Yash’s ability to create characters and situations that readers can totally relate to. TSAU is the story of Trish. 28, single, overweight, disturbed pretty much describes her. Many of us surely would have met a Trish or two in our lives and page by page, one can’t help getting attached to the protagonist.

Trish isn’t the boring 28 something desperate to lose weight and get married. She lives life at her own terms, even though the terms are plagued by a destiny that oscillates between floating and sinking. Every time her heavy self gets sinking, the fighter in her struggles against all odds to keep afloat – be it pushing against people to fit her heavy frame in a crowded lift, maintaining her Bandstand pad at the brink of bankruptcy or managing her schizophrenic father and a depressed mother.

Despite the odds, Trish is a fighter, even if it means endangering her life to save a depressed soul from committing suicide. After a bitter separation from her employer, financial troubles force her to accept an agony aunt column with the same publishing. However, she does that too at her own terns and the readers are bowled over by her characteristic sarcasm of her responses and the column soon becomes a hit!

Just when unemployment, financial and personal crisis hits Trish the most, Sahil enters her life like a gush of fresh air. His own 35 year old self hasn’t been doing too well however, whenever Trish and Sahil meet, sparks fly, literally, as Trish claims…(lol!). Every meeting of theirs is fun to read and you look forward to the next one. One wonders if together, they will be able to untangle each other’s lives. But then, many parallel plots make their way which somewhat dilute the essence of the story – Trish’s over friendly neighbour and the death in her house; Trish’s schizophrenic father and the shocking family revelation. Towards the end, one keeps on looking for more relevance and hidden messages in the additional plots and the twists.

Grab the book for a rather unusual account of the Boy-meet-girl story. TSAU will make you laugh, cry and think a lot about the uncertain thing called life and relationships.

What I loved about the book

·         Readers’ questions and Trish’s responses are real fun to read, for we really don’t get to read such stuff in our regular publications

·         The writing style is drag free and one enjoys to read how the relationship blossoms between Trish and Sahil

What could have been better

·         The sub plots towards the end could have been managed better to give a clear meaning to the readers.

·         The reader expects more from what happens to Trish and Sahil’s relationship at the end.

My rating

2.5/5

About the Author

Yashodhara Lal is a marketing professional and a mother of three children, apart from being a bestselling author. Her first book, Just Married, Please Excuse  is a hilarious account of marriage. Her second novel, Sorting Out Sid is the story of a man having an early midlife crisis and, consequently, a divorce. Yashodhara blogs at yashodharalal.com

This is review for Indiblogger. The views expressed are my own and under no influence.

Airtel 4G!

Blogger, wife, mom, sister, daughter, working woman - my life is a daily juggle of various acts. When one has to manage so many aspects simultaneously, being a smart worker is the mantra. Hence, my smartphone and internet is my life saver.

Like they say for diamonds, look at the 3 Cs, for internet the major aspect one looks at is SPEED. No swanky internet plan is useful if it cannot offer faster downloads. I still remember, when the gift of mobile internet first came into my hands, all I could do was to browse webpages on my phone. With technology my usage too, notched few levels high.

Mobile internet today is my lifeline today and I can’t imagine a productive day when I have no access to internet. However, poor internet speed often is a turn off. How I craved for an internet that could offer me faster speed without affecting my budget!

In comes Airtel 4G – The fastest network ever! With promise of fastest downloads it surely had me enticed.

I am an Airtel customer for the past 15 years and swear by the excellent network. Now I was wondering, how to make my connection 4G?

Its simple…Airtel 4G Sim card is just a tweet away! All one has to do is to tweet #GetAirtel4G and your 4G sim will be delivered to your home free of cost!

I was all excited and immediately started imagining what I could do with my Airtel 4G!

Picture this –

·         Before my paperwalla throws tantrums at my request to deliver paper early, my mobile internet becomes my morning tea buddy, updating me on the latest news.

·         As I get ready to wake up little S for feed, I browse through my parenting apps to read tip of the day.

·         My experiments in kitchen go successful thanks to the various video recipes I view online, for I can view various ways to get the dish just right.

·         Then, it’s time to connect with my friends on social media platforms.

·         I am a blogger on the go and the moment an idea pops up, I wanna blog about it right there and then.

·         Since I am new to the city, commuting is more about navigating than my driving skills. With the fast 4G network, I can ensure a fast navigation and distraction free driving

·         I am a movie buff however, always avoided downloading movies on my phone due to poor download speed. With Airtel 4G, I can get fastest movie and video downloads and can watch movies anywhere, anytime!

“Wow! This is like a dream come true!” I exclaimed and immediately wondered, “But it must be coming at a premium price”

The answer is NO. Airtel 4G comes at the price of 3G! Yipppeee!

Now I know just like me, you too would be eager to get your Airtel 4G!

So, what are you waiting for! Get your Airtel 4G!

Losing my sleep

If I were to ask you, “What as per you are the most important things one needs for survival?” The typical answers would be – Air, Water, food, money etc etc. However, the last couple of days taught me there is something else that we take for granted however, is essential for survival – SLEEP!

The last couple of months have been somewhat torturous on my sleep. The last trimester of my pregnancy, coupled with the humid sultry summer of Mumbai had me waking up in the middle of night not knowing what to do.I would simply roam around the house like a zombie, have a glass of water, feel the kicks of the baby and plug into some good music that would help me sleep. Initially, everyone would wake up with me to offer me a glass of water and suggest ways to get a sound sleep. But, soon as this became a daily phenomenon, their sleep too preferred to keep them away from giving me company.

As I would crib about my sleep issues over morning tea, mom in law would try to comfort me by telling me it was perfectly normal and soon I would be able to get back to my normal sleeping routine. I would count the days to my due date, smile and say, “ok….x days to a good sleep”.

I still remember the time when I was about to be taken to the Operation Theatre. I told my mom in law how tired I felt due to sleep deprivation and once the baby would be born, the first thing I would do would be to have 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep! She smiled and told me, “Once the baby is born, all you will do is rest, rest and rest!” What could be better best! I wondered.

However, if everything goes well as planned, life wouldn’t be so exciting, isn’t it? Since the day little S was born, I haven’t been able to manage even the basic 6 hours of sleep! Mom in law and I have become such a pro at these midnight jagrans that I once even suggested her we can open our own jagran mandli! The baby, it seems is a true nocturnal, for all formulas to make him sleep at night fail. However, in the morning, when it’s time for us to get up and get going with the daily chores, little S makes up for his sleep, even without us having to make an effort. So the moment he is asleep, even if we are starving, we rush to take a nap coz we never know when the volcano erupts!

 I have tried to keep curtains drawn in the morning to give an impression of night. Still, he knows its daytime and he has to make up for the sleep loss. When kids are basically innocent and not knowing anything, how do they understand whether its night or day?

Did some googling on sleep and found this interesting chart on how much sleep do we actually need

Also found this interesting link on how sleep affects our body…

https://sleep.org/

So for all my friends who are ready to welcome the stork in their homes, I offer an advice my friends too offered me but fell on deaf ears – Make the most of the sleep time you have coz once the little one arrives, you will find sleep more precious than any other thing!

P.S. I was telling mom in law how great it would be if we have a sleep God. We could appease him to make our kids sleep at night! Need I mention her reaction? Lol!

Breastfeeding and working

Motherhood is the most beautiful phase in a woman’s life. Like all moms to be, I too had been googling on parenting during my pregnancy since I knew that post delivery, the baby would be my priority. However, once our bundle of joy arrived, I faced an issue I had not expected even in my wildest dreams!

Since mine was a C section, little S and I couldn’t be together during the initial 2 days as I was still recovering from post surgery blues. The third day, when I could finally move, I was all excited to breastfeed my baby. I had read about the advantages of breastfeeding and wanted to ensure the baby didn’t miss out on the Colostrum which is packed with immunity. As I took my baby in my arms and tried to feed him, a strange issue came up. Because my baby had been bottle fed the initial days, he was no longer willing to latch.  And thus began an ordeal where anybody and everybody showered me with their opinions on getting it right. After almost a month and non stop struggle, my baby and I felt exhausted and frustrated, however, I was still not wanting to give in to a formula feed diet for my baby.

It was then that a friend of mine came as an angel. She suggested I try an electric breastpump, since latching or baby mood issues were no excuse to deprive baby of the benefits of breastmilk. Since I am a working mom, I also wanted to ensure that once I joined office, I manage my work and home well so that my baby could have the benefits of my breastmilk. I had heard that lactating mothers who join work gradually lose their milk supply and didn’t want my career or my baby to suffer.

Mr. Hubby and I did our research on the options available in the market and zeroed upon the Medela Swing as it offered the following advantages –

• 2-Phase Expression Technology  - Using this technology, the breastpump simulates the natural infant sucking behaviour at the mother's breast. The electric breastpump feels very comfortable to use - almost like breastfeeding itself. Its faster let-down and maximum milk flow significantly reduces pumping time
• Comfortable: A range of vacuum levels and settings
• Easy to use: Easy to assemble, use and clean
• Quiet and compact design, ideal for daily and discreet pumping

However, we also found few pain areas -

·         Spare parts – While sterilizing, I accidentally burnt a milk storage bottle however, I was told that the spare parts were not available at the retail outlets and one has to contact the company

·         After sales service – With a little baby and a thing as crucial as a breastpump, ease of service should be the top priority. A home service for any issues would be most appreciated by moms like me.

My Medela Swing has made life much simpler for me and my baby. Not only is my baby able to enjoy the benefits of a breastmilk only diet, he is gradually becoming more comfortable with the latching, thanks to the Medela Calma feeding solutions.

Like most women, I too had been worried about balancing my profession and motherhood, however, with my Medela Swing, I am confident about getting back to work without affecting my motherhood.

Benefits of breastfeeding –

·         Breastmilk contains all your baby needs: proteins, fats, lactose, vitamins, iron, minerals, water and enzymes in the exact amounts required for the optimal growth and development.

·         Breastfed babies are healthier. Breastmilk contains substances which prevent harmful bacteria from growing in intestines and causing gastrointestinal and diarrhoeal infections.

·         Breastfed babies have fewer middle ear infections, fewer respiratory infections and a decreased risk of developing allergies, cancer, childhood diabetes and obesity.

·         Breastfed babies have a decreased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

·         Breastfeeding a premature baby decreases his risk to develop necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

·         Breastmilk is clean, free from bacteria and has anti-infective properties.

·         Breastmilk has the right temperature and needs no preparation. It is readily available whenever your baby needs it.

·         Breastfed babies are less prone to develop diabetes, heart diseases, eczema, asthma and other allergic disorders later in life.

·         Breastfeeding enhances brain development. Research shows there is better visual development and visual acuity in breastfed children.

·         Breastfeeding is more than just food. It enhances the emotional bond between the child and the mother and provides warmth, love and affection.

World breastfeeding week is being celebrated from August 1-7, 2015.

You can explore Medela’s range of breastfeeding products at their website

#World #Breastfeeding week #motherhood #baby #parenting 

Mummy knows best!

Having been recently blessed with a baby, I can say that motherhood is one of the best gifts a woman gets from nature. The feeling of holding your little bundle of joy is more precious than any precious thing in the world!

However, I have also realized that with the power of motherhood also comes a great responsibility. Even before the child opens his/her eyes in the world, the mother has to ensure all goes well. I have never been as careful with myself as have been during my pregnancy – be it with respect to food or movement etc. And that very moment when our angel is handed over to us in the delivery room, the feeling of responsibility increases manifold, for here is a little one totally dependent on the mother.

As a mother, I want everything best for my kid. And the research to get that actually began even before my little one was born. The internet was my key to finding out what was the best for my kid and I checked out any and every article about caring for a newborn.

One such concern was choosing the right massage oil for my baby. I have seen many friends use fancy baby oils to massage their kids. However, I have always believed on using natural products, so I wanted to ensure I know exactly what I was using for my little one and what are the advantages and side effects. During my research to find the perfect massage oil for my little one, I zeroed down on these oils which are natural and safe for babies –

·         Coconut Oil – A friend of mine has been using coconut oil to massage her kid and recommended the same to me. Coconut oil is a great way to keep the skin moisturized

·         Olive Oil – Olive Oil is very light, non sticky and provides essential nourishment to the baby’s skin. Since babies have very sensitive skin, it is very important to keep the skin nourished

·         Almond oil – During winters, I swear by Almond oil for my skin as it’s a great way to protect and nourish the skin during winters. Almond oil is known to provide essential moisture to the baby’s skin, making it soft and supple

While the research to find the right oils wasn’t a hard nut to crack, the main dilemma was – only one type of oil could be used at a time. So, how could I combine the goodness of the right oils for my baby?

I soon found the solution to my dilemma in Dabur baby massage oil! Dabur Baby Massage Oil is a unique blend of premium natural oils like - Olive & Almond which provide the baby the required nourishment. My concern to avoid artificial additives was also addressed, for Dabur Baby does not encourage the use of any form of artificial colours, paraffins, and parabens. Dabur Baby as a Brand focuses exclusively on products developed using natural ingredients, which are safe and provide nourishment to babies. These products have been created through extensive research by understanding the essential need for babies tenderly skin and hair.

I have been using Dabur Baby oil for my little one and I swear by the many advantages the oil offers –

·         Goodness of natural oils like Olive Oil and Almond Oil

·         Olive provides nourishment to the baby’s skin

·         Almond gently moisturizes baby's delicate skin making it soft and supple.

·         Paraffin free

·         No artificial colours

·         Dermatologically tested

·         Regular massaging helps strengthen bones and muscles.

·         Attractive and playful product pack helps engage the baby while massaging.

Thanks to Dabur Baby, I am a tension free mom when it comes to the right massage oil for my kid. Goodness of natural oils without harmful ingredients, Dabur helps me give the best to my baby.

 I am participating in the #FirstLove activity at BlogAdda in association withDabur