Sunday 20 March 2011

Tag is what you make it

Something is happening in the blogworld. The female species which loves to start tags asking such earth shattering questions as "What are you wearing" seems to have vanished. No tags have been floating around for a year or so now - presumably the undying curiosity as to what you are wearing has been satiated. The holiday has now been broken by a tag from the star blogger cum author cum artist Preeti in this post of hers. No choice but to pick it up and as usual twist it to suit an allegedly business blog.

The rules , I am obliged to post, are

  1. The tag has three parts..Movies,Music, Books/ Authors
  2. Write a movie, book and author with each alphabet of your first name. The book, movie or song should be one that you really liked. If you say why it matters to you, it would be great! We will all discover new songs, movies and books this way.
  3. Tag as many people as there are letters in your name. (if your name has 4 letters, you have to tag 4 people and so on)
  4. Mention that the tag originated here and link back to this post :-)
  5. Copy paste these rules :)

Here goes. (sorry Preeti there's no way I can manage the alphabets of my name, but at least there are 6 choices each). All choices are from the 1900s, in keeping with my "image"!!

Movies :

In the business world, movies are the ads - there's a famous definition that every advertising type is a failed movie maker ! Here are six ads that came to mind (no apologies for the retro feel !)

1. Liril : The ad that came in the late seventies is probably the best ad of all time in India. It simply took the country by storm, when it hit the air. The ad was so successful that Levers paid Karen Lunel not to model ever for any other brand - she'll forever be the Liril girl. Remember, those days there wasn't much TV and the ad was aired in movie halls. It has reputedly been seen more times than Sholay !! See the ad here

2. Rasna : If you are from a certain generation, Ankita Jhaveri was a household name. I love you Rasna, or atleast, everybody loved Ankita. Ad's here.

3. Lalitaji : Never liked this ad, but it sold a million cases of washing powder. The lady in the ad, I'd run a million miles from. This is the ad.

4. Amul : Not a TV ad, but this series of hoardings has been going on for some 35 years. Brilliant and everybody in India has seen them. All the gems can be seen here.

5. Apple's 1984 : The ad that launched the Mac in 1984. One of the all time great ads. Watch it here.

6. Ericsson : An old Ericsson mobile phone ad that was the rage at that time. Shows how you can hook a viewer even in 30 seconds. See it here.

Music
:

There are some ad jingles that stay in your mind for years. Here are a few of them.

1. British Airways : The jingle that was from Yanni's Aria. Listen to the ad here. Brilliant tune that helped set one of the greatest commercials of all time. To see the whole rendition of the Aria by Yanni click here. - it is beautiful music.

2. Close Up - The incredible jingle by Walter Navarro - come a little closer baby , smile for me. It was used on the radio in India in the 70s - has me humming it even now. Don't miss this song here.

3. Nirma : The jingle that pitted a David (Nirma) against the Goliath (Levers). The jingle was mainly on the radio those days, but ran as the music for Nirma ads for 20 years. Its here.

4. Gold Spot : Very catchy jingle. See the ad and hear the jingle it here.

5. Nescafe : Come Alive Come Alive Come alive with Nescafe. I can hum the jingle even now , but I simply can't find it anywhere on the Net. A radio jingle from the 70s or early 80s I think.

6. Benazir Bhutto : The famous zong, teer bijan, is actually a commercial made by the Pakistan People's Party for the 1988 elections. Great song. The video is eminently forgettable but the song is brilliant . Watch it here.


Books :

Business books are usually boring pedantic stuff and entirely unreadable. They are usually bought to be displayed, but rarely read. There are a few however that are very nice and that I have actually read ! Six of them are

1. Parkinson's Law : Absolutely brilliant. Small book of only 100 odd pages written long long ago. Incredibly humorous and a must read.

2. Barbarians at the Gate : The story of the 1980s takeover of RJR Nabisco. Told like a fiction novel. You can't put this book down.

3. Punjabi Saga : The trilogy that Prakash Tandon, the first Indian Chairman of Levers wrote. Its an autobiography, but is a fascinating insight into Punjabi Society as well as business. Beautiful book , especially for anybody who has worked in Levers.

4. Who moved my cheese : Again a short slim book that powerfully brought home the message about change.

5. In Search of Excellence : An all time classic by Tom Peters.

6. Control your destiny or someone else will : The unofficial GE leadership handbook that's based on Jack Welch.


In keeping with my usual practice, I won;t tage anybody by name, but all you folks out there - Gils. Zeno, Sandhya, RamMmm, Vishal, Hema, AJCL, ..... , pick it up if you want to. If you do, go to Preeti's post to pick up the true tag - not the improvisation I have done here.

Phew. That took a lot of doing. Blessed with a short name, it was still difficult. Imagine the plight of somebody named Ramasubramaniahariharasubramaniathathachariar !!

Need a strong cuppa ......

24 comments:

Preeti Shenoy said...

Wow Ramesh--THANK YOU for doing the tag! Very nicely handled! I did not know about the PPP song but all other things brought back an 'aaah yes' feel! Especially all the jingles (british airways and the gold spot one in particular) were a pure blast of nostalgia!

The books you have recommended are great list too--but I have read only two of them.Will surely check out others.

I don't know if you were going 'Grrrr' doing the tag :) but I sure am glad I tagged you!
Loved the post Ramesh!

Cheers
Preeti

Preeti Shenoy said...

And Ramesh--what a treasure trove of links!! Thanks so much! Really wonderful of you to provide them all.

And do you remember how every one wanted ankita jhaveri's haircut? :))
And karen lunel used to live in my Apartment complex in Mumbai :))

J said...

Looks like this tag was designed with you in mind! Absolutely loved the "movies" - after ages! You should upload a recording of you humming the Nescafe jingle - what a lame excuse that you couldn't find it online :)

Appu said...

As soon as i Liril i was wondering why not Nirma and it was down there? Any idea where one could get Parkinson's Law? All others should be a easy find i guess.I also like ur usual practice of not tagging :P

Appu said...

Why Why my comments go marked as spam??? :(
Anyways, where can one get Parkinson's Law??

Ramesh said...

@Preeti - Much flattered. Picture me with a expansive smile saying "no trouble at all" :):):) Much tickled that you were a neighbour of Karen Lunel, For us boys of those days the sight of Karen in person would have made us swoon.

@J - If I hum, every single reader would run for miles. Actually we plagiarized the song to be the song of our batch in B school. Massive nostalgic memories.

@zeno - Have no clue why you are being filtered as spam. I'll check spam everyday and "despam" your comment !! Parkinson's Law is a very old book - 1957 first edition. Probably not sold any more. I'll lend you my copy.

Appu said...

Wow So generous of you! How do i get that :) Promising i will return it safe and sound.
Check your mail box for one more book. :)
Would also suggest In line of fire by Musharaff. Interesting read,I would say on Leadership!

gils said...

neenga sonna naalu bookla onnuthaan padichirukken..cheese one...parksinsons law sounds intersting..netla thedi paakren...preeti sollirukaramathiri really a treasure trove of nice links :) engenethu thaan pudicheenga therila. Konja naal munna thaan yosichen..ennada ipolaam yarum tag panrathilayenu :) start paniteenga :D

Ramesh said...

@gils - I didn't start the tag - Preeti did.Why don't you pick it up. Surely this is right up your street.

Ramesh said...

@zeno - Thanks for the ebook. Yes I believe Musharraf's book is a good one.

Vishal said...

Only you can come up with such brilliant act. Fantabulous Ramesh! I did notice the colorful post and wish you a great holi (little belated though)... :):):)

While you took us back in time, I could correlate with few nostalgic memories especially Nirma, Gold Spot, Rasna and Lalitaji. You still remember things of 70s with such minute details... phew! Totally floored! Will try to pick up the tag the next time I update my blog, although last category will be tough to crack.

P.S. - Have sent you an email separately.

Anonymous said...

Wow Ramesh! Finally - i had actually wondered for ages why The Aria sounded so familiar -it was the commercial ... I'd like to tag -on Yanni ... Have you heard Felitsa? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dTt_DnywZ4

Sandhya Sriram said...

Now Ramesh, i am no genius to handle such a beautiful tag and so would choose to stay away from a post on it. but you know what ramesh, let me try and tag some real beautiful pieces which i can recollect from your blog for each letter of your name - these are a master piece on themselves and so i link them here for some of your readers who could have possibly missed them


R - Real Hero Story – told in Ramesh’s own unimitable style – a must read
http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2009/12/great-organisation.html

A - Award to Ramesh !! Yeh Really – he got awarded and he being his humble self – but passed it on to people – no where in comparison to him but fortunate to be his friends!!
http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2010/03/and-award-goes-to.html

M - Memoir Post on one of the most cherished videos >> for many of his fans as well
http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2010/08/two-gems-from-archives-of-indian.html

E - Eight Tag - Ramesh >> Candid at places, Honest at places, just kidding at places, humorous through out – I loved the one on what Ramesh is passionate about!!
http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2009/09/eight-is-auspicious.html

S - Special Post for many a woman … only Ramesh could craft such a beautiful piece
http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2010/01/post-for-friend-and-many-others-like.html

H - H Rated Post Series on our Yuppie – Ramesh Calls this X Rated – I call it H for its “Humour” Quotient
http://indigoite.blogspot.com/2009/11/continuing-idyll-of-our-yuppie.html

Ramesh,
Even if your name were Ramasubramaniahariharasubramaniathathachariar > the collectors edition will still not be complete - that many master pieces you have created. But I stop here given the constraints of the letters on your name :-)

Anonymous said...

Ahh! Down the emmory lane...
Nice set of ADsa nd Jingles.
Remember Rasna, Liril, Lalitaji.
Gold spot was really the zing thing!! And the unforgettable
"Washing powder Nirma"...As kids, our tag to it was " Iyer veetu Kurma":-)
Tagging to my name is becoming a force fit.
I would just go by " These are a few of my favourite things..." Some quick names that come to my mind:
Books:
Illusions by Richard Bach
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Clan of the cave bear by Jean.M.Auel
Who moved my Cheese by Spencer Johnson
And many of Jefferey Archer thrillers
Movies:
Fannah - Hindi- Aamir/Kajol-Kunal Kohli
Moonram pirai - Tamil- KamalHasan -Balu Mahendra - sob! sob!
Sindhu bhairavi - Tamil - K Balachandar - nice music, interesting climax
Ben Hur - 1959 - Amazing movie
The car - Would love to see it again. Saw it as a teenager
Sound of Music...

gils said...

ultimate compliment to thalai by sandhya madam :) kalakitaanga :)

Ramesh said...

@Vishal - Belated holi greetings to you too. mailing you separately

@Anon - Yes the piece was an obscure part of the opera Lakme, until British Airways popularised it in their commercial and Yanni of course made it hugely familiar. Yes, have seen Felitsa - am a fan of Yanni's music.

@Sandhya - Awwww. I 'm totally floored. What have I done to deserve such kind comments. Thanks so so much.

@Hema - Very nice taste in books and movies. Despite being a complete movie ignoramus, I've seen two or three of the movies on your list !!

@gils - Oh yes. It is the ultimate compliment indeed.

kiwibloke said...

Nice collection of ads, especially the Brit Airways one, I remember it for the stunning visuals rather than the music (In my opinion, Yanni was a lot of overhype and the 'purist' in me does not accept what he passes off as classical)
Strangely the lifebouy jingle which has morphed over the years but the theme/leitmotif remains pretty much the same?

Ramesh said...

@kiwi - Oh yes, Lifebuoy jingle is another all time classic one. Slipped my mind.

Of course Yanni is not purist classical. Still I like his rendition of the Aria - bit like T20, but what the hell !!

Venkat said...

I enjoyed this post. your style of writing is so attractive and humorous. when i read your name taged in preeti's blog i was guessing how you r going to convert that into businees post. my guess was like you may rate the films and musics and come out with the kind of businees they made over the period from your age to this age. but you surprised going beyond that and listed the 'ADS'. Actually 'AD' makers call it as 1 minute or 30 seconds film which has lot of scenes and stroies within its time. A story has to be conveyed to audience within its time which is tougher than making a movie.

Nice list of 'ads' and links. It brought me back to my childhood. my father and grandfater was being part of HLL family for more than 40years (which is rare in HLL history). every product launch of HLL was a festival for us in our childhood. as i read this post i remembered my photos with wheel, 501, Rin, Pepsodent, Lesancy, lauches and hamam display contests.

One more 'AD' music of my age which i loved is 'Titan Watch' i dont know wether it was late 80's 'AD' or older one but that was an attractive one.

Ramesh said...

@Venkat - Welcome to this blog and thanks for your comments.

Hey - what's your dad's and grandfather's names. Being a long timer HLLite myself, I am sure to have known them.

Venkat said...

They are not employee, they were being a distributor for HLL at ponnamaravathi (TN).do you know them?

RamNarayanS said...

That was a twist with a flourish! Nostalgia indeed. :-) And Sandhya's fitting retribute... superb!

Reflections said...

LOL as usual u turned it around and made into something purely business-like in ur signature-style.
And I'm crushed, why didnt u like Lalitaji....I dont know if u remember, she used to come in a serial called 'Udaan' with Shekhar Kapoor. My friends & I idolised her during that phase;-D

Ramesh said...

@Venkat - Oh I wouldn't know since I wasn't in sales, but what all of us who have been Lever alumni know is this - on the relationships with families such as yours, was our life made. I am honoured to have you as a reader.

@RamMmm - Nostalagia is the last refuge of old bandicoots such as me !!

@Reflections - Isn't she scary ??? We males run a zillion miles from such strong women :)

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