The first thing that strikes about this book is the simplicity with which it is written, everyday incidents, regular folks and monotonous life are the key features of this book, not once does melodrama or brazen emotions creep in to destroy the subtle flow of narration.
Ameen Merchant dwells deeply into the minds of women just like Khaled Hossenni in “A Thousand Splendid Suns” and takes turns exploring the complex thoughts flitting through the minds of young two plaited girls on the threshold of womanhood. It develops a delicate link between obligations to family and self and the childhood lost in the midst.
Set in the sleepy town of Sripuram, the story maneuvers itself through the lives of Janaki and Mallika as Janaki deals with her gifted talent of ‘veena’ to the tragic loss of her mother, her bosom friend and skeletons of her own family along with her responsibility towards her sister and her one decision that changes life altogether for both of them whereas Mallika fights inner conflicts ranging from deep love for her sister to the deep scar she got from her.
Apart from the story what keeps the reader hooked to the book is the intact ethnic feel it has. The liberal use of ‘tamil’ words, the classical ‘carnatic ragas’ that depict each chapter, the rules of tradition, the bondages of the conservative Brahman society all intermingled with the relentless search for individuality comes out in the form of a story where silence is the most eloquent speech.
Definitely a must for all who relish rich reading experience!!!!!
Deepa Nair
MMS 2008-2010
The Silent Raga by Ammen Merchant
Location : 808.83/MER/32594/ FCRIMS RESOURCE CENTRE
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Brand Strategy
Standing out amid a massive chorus of competitors is a challenge for any company in today’s business climate. Want evidence? Look at any magazine, TV show or surf the Internet. The number of offers and sales pitches one receives on a daily basis is simply staggering and increasingly ineffective. It’s no wonder, then, why businesses are seeking new and more effective ways of increasing the influence of their brand strategy in the marketplace. A strong brand strategy can increase the awareness of a company and its offerings in such a way that establishes strong feelings and reactions and a favorable view towards the company as a whole. To create this sort of “brand awareness” in your market, it takes skillful Brand Strategy know-how.
Successfully out-branding your competitors is a continuous battle for the hearts and minds of your customers. The proposition your brand strategy makes must be very compelling, attractive and unique among competitive offerings. The proposition must also be consistently reinforced throughout all phases of an organization, from senior executives to customer service, research and development, business development and even your business partners.
What entails a comprehensive and effective “Brand Strategy process?” That’s a much longer answer than what we have space for here, plus it varies from industry to industry, but here are some very basic guidelines about what makes a good Brand Strategy.
Brand Strategy—what’s the big deal?
Brand Strategy is nothing new. Yet, the expectations consumers have for a product or service they buy is stronger than it’s ever been. This is why companies interested in long-term success must create the most promising, targeted brand experience possible.
Whether you know it or not, you already have a brand, and your customers are having a “brand experience” when they interact with you, whether it be with your products and services or the people in your company. In order to craft this “brand experience” in a calculated way that is beneficial for your company, you must have a strong understanding about what exactly a brand is.
Brand is the Alpha and Omega
In other words, brand is the totality of your company and its business.
“A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly and the off-strategy,” says Scott White, one of the nation’s leading branding consultants and a valued expert companies like Sun Life Financial and Franklin Sports rely on. “It is your best and worst product. It is your best and worst employee. It is communicated through award-winning advertising as well as those ads that somehow slipped through the approval cracks and sank anything riding on them. It is your on-hold music and the demeanor of the receptionist who puts that valued client or prospect on hold. It is the carefully crafted comments by a CEO as well as negative buzz by the water cooler or in chat rooms on the Internet. Brand is expressed through written, audio and visual content. It is interpreted through emotional filters every human being has—where anything can happen. Ultimately, you can’t control your brand. You can only hope to guide it.”
The Road to Branding Success
Building on the inherent values of a brand should be the core of any branding strategy. If they’re not clear, get a good grip on them first. Is the brand about honesty or integrity? Quality? How about excellent communication and customer satisfaction?
Knowledge of a company’s values, at least in a literal context, is typically an internal matter; yet, those values become evident to everyone in contact with the company, from customers and prospective customers to business-to-business relationships and employee relations. Consistency is the key here. If members of the organization aren’t accurately representing the values of the brand, steps must be taken to rectify the chink in the armor. And unlike a brand’s key business proposition, values should never change even though the landscape in which the company operates and even its products may.
Winning brand strategies starts with top-notch research
With values set, a brand proposition is ready to be established. Objective and comprehensive branding research are the keys here. At a minimum, both must be done to establish clarity on the brand’s strengths and weaknesses, the target audience and the competition. If possible, branding research should also be done on the brand’s industry, its history, the status of the market and possibilities for future expansion.
Your target customer will determine your success
If it’s only possible to do one body of brand research, discover as much as possible about your target customer. Find out who they are and what their needs and desires are. Make it your mission to get as detailed information as possible on their age, gender, income, shopping habits (online and off) and anything else of relevance you can determine. If you’re targeting a business market, these criteria will differ, depending on the industry. Understanding your target market and what they want is key to developing a winning brand. Knowing these things should also give you an idea for what communication medium and content would work to engage your market.
Other research you might want to do is find out what your competitors’ offerings are like. How do your offerings stack up? What can a customer get from your product that they can’t get from anyone else? Find out these things, and you have the seeds for a winning branding strategy, not to mention great fodder for an ad campaign.
What does your brand promise?
The brand statement, often called the brand promise or proposition, is a derivative of branding research. It states the benefit of buying and using your company’s products or services. For clothing, it could be about style or comfort. For a car, it could be about safety or reliability. Whatever it is, it must be clear, engaging and presented in a context relevant to the customer. One example of an effective brand promise is that of BMW’s. It’s stated right in the company’s tagline: The Ultimate Driving Machine.
Your promise should be golden
If your company’s products and service don’t live up to their brand promise, new customers will become lost customers and loyal customers might leave, too. Simply put, your deliverable, what ever that is, must follow through on the promise—in fact, it would be best if it actually over-delivered.
Your promise should be unexpected, but welcome
Don’t reuse something a competitor has already promised even if it works for your product or service, and don’t be vague in trying to position your company favorably against your competitors (such as saying you’re “the best pizza in town.”). Be specific because specific is exponentially more memorable. Besides, people expect you to be good. Otherwise, they wouldn’t give you their business.
Hearts and minds first, wallets later
Creating a positive emotional association in your market for your product or service is key. It can create want and desire by the mere mention of your brand, product or service name. Needless to say, that’s powerful. For instance, the mere mention of Ben & Jerry’s conjures up images of numerous unique premium ice cream flavors and with the anticipation for your favorite (in my case, Cherry Garcia). Such positive emotional associations are built over time through good branding practice and a time-tested relationship between you and your customer based on intrigue, trust, understanding and support.
To create a brand promise that creates such emotional connections, it should be:
1. Grounded in the brand’s core values
2. Clearly relevant and engaging to your target market
3. Able to create some sort of positive emotional attachment beyond just being “good”
4. Repeated internally and externally within your organization
5. Adaptable to the business climate
6. Continually reinforced
7. Consistent across advertising and marketing mediums
8. Known and echoed by business partners
- Atul Jain
MMS 2008-2010
Successfully out-branding your competitors is a continuous battle for the hearts and minds of your customers. The proposition your brand strategy makes must be very compelling, attractive and unique among competitive offerings. The proposition must also be consistently reinforced throughout all phases of an organization, from senior executives to customer service, research and development, business development and even your business partners.
What entails a comprehensive and effective “Brand Strategy process?” That’s a much longer answer than what we have space for here, plus it varies from industry to industry, but here are some very basic guidelines about what makes a good Brand Strategy.
Brand Strategy—what’s the big deal?
Brand Strategy is nothing new. Yet, the expectations consumers have for a product or service they buy is stronger than it’s ever been. This is why companies interested in long-term success must create the most promising, targeted brand experience possible.
Whether you know it or not, you already have a brand, and your customers are having a “brand experience” when they interact with you, whether it be with your products and services or the people in your company. In order to craft this “brand experience” in a calculated way that is beneficial for your company, you must have a strong understanding about what exactly a brand is.
Brand is the Alpha and Omega
In other words, brand is the totality of your company and its business.
“A brand is the sum of the good, the bad, the ugly and the off-strategy,” says Scott White, one of the nation’s leading branding consultants and a valued expert companies like Sun Life Financial and Franklin Sports rely on. “It is your best and worst product. It is your best and worst employee. It is communicated through award-winning advertising as well as those ads that somehow slipped through the approval cracks and sank anything riding on them. It is your on-hold music and the demeanor of the receptionist who puts that valued client or prospect on hold. It is the carefully crafted comments by a CEO as well as negative buzz by the water cooler or in chat rooms on the Internet. Brand is expressed through written, audio and visual content. It is interpreted through emotional filters every human being has—where anything can happen. Ultimately, you can’t control your brand. You can only hope to guide it.”
The Road to Branding Success
Building on the inherent values of a brand should be the core of any branding strategy. If they’re not clear, get a good grip on them first. Is the brand about honesty or integrity? Quality? How about excellent communication and customer satisfaction?
Knowledge of a company’s values, at least in a literal context, is typically an internal matter; yet, those values become evident to everyone in contact with the company, from customers and prospective customers to business-to-business relationships and employee relations. Consistency is the key here. If members of the organization aren’t accurately representing the values of the brand, steps must be taken to rectify the chink in the armor. And unlike a brand’s key business proposition, values should never change even though the landscape in which the company operates and even its products may.
Winning brand strategies starts with top-notch research
With values set, a brand proposition is ready to be established. Objective and comprehensive branding research are the keys here. At a minimum, both must be done to establish clarity on the brand’s strengths and weaknesses, the target audience and the competition. If possible, branding research should also be done on the brand’s industry, its history, the status of the market and possibilities for future expansion.
Your target customer will determine your success
If it’s only possible to do one body of brand research, discover as much as possible about your target customer. Find out who they are and what their needs and desires are. Make it your mission to get as detailed information as possible on their age, gender, income, shopping habits (online and off) and anything else of relevance you can determine. If you’re targeting a business market, these criteria will differ, depending on the industry. Understanding your target market and what they want is key to developing a winning brand. Knowing these things should also give you an idea for what communication medium and content would work to engage your market.
Other research you might want to do is find out what your competitors’ offerings are like. How do your offerings stack up? What can a customer get from your product that they can’t get from anyone else? Find out these things, and you have the seeds for a winning branding strategy, not to mention great fodder for an ad campaign.
What does your brand promise?
The brand statement, often called the brand promise or proposition, is a derivative of branding research. It states the benefit of buying and using your company’s products or services. For clothing, it could be about style or comfort. For a car, it could be about safety or reliability. Whatever it is, it must be clear, engaging and presented in a context relevant to the customer. One example of an effective brand promise is that of BMW’s. It’s stated right in the company’s tagline: The Ultimate Driving Machine.
Your promise should be golden
If your company’s products and service don’t live up to their brand promise, new customers will become lost customers and loyal customers might leave, too. Simply put, your deliverable, what ever that is, must follow through on the promise—in fact, it would be best if it actually over-delivered.
Your promise should be unexpected, but welcome
Don’t reuse something a competitor has already promised even if it works for your product or service, and don’t be vague in trying to position your company favorably against your competitors (such as saying you’re “the best pizza in town.”). Be specific because specific is exponentially more memorable. Besides, people expect you to be good. Otherwise, they wouldn’t give you their business.
Hearts and minds first, wallets later
Creating a positive emotional association in your market for your product or service is key. It can create want and desire by the mere mention of your brand, product or service name. Needless to say, that’s powerful. For instance, the mere mention of Ben & Jerry’s conjures up images of numerous unique premium ice cream flavors and with the anticipation for your favorite (in my case, Cherry Garcia). Such positive emotional associations are built over time through good branding practice and a time-tested relationship between you and your customer based on intrigue, trust, understanding and support.
To create a brand promise that creates such emotional connections, it should be:
1. Grounded in the brand’s core values
2. Clearly relevant and engaging to your target market
3. Able to create some sort of positive emotional attachment beyond just being “good”
4. Repeated internally and externally within your organization
5. Adaptable to the business climate
6. Continually reinforced
7. Consistent across advertising and marketing mediums
8. Known and echoed by business partners
- Atul Jain
MMS 2008-2010
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Superphones
Over the last few months, every time I have taken a vacation, I have taken along my Acer Book, thinking, well, you never know when you might need to check schedules or emails or something else. Given the nature of my profession, it has taken a lot of self-control to limit my Internet usage and, thus, deal with Internet Anxiety Disorder while on the go.
And despite my best intentions, I end up checking the news, writing one or more posts, and generally spending time answering emails, working, chatting and therefore missing out on hours of an opportunity to gaze at the beauty around or simply soak in the billion shades of India.
Apparently, I am not the only one who has this issue. Folks from LogMeIn recently conducted a survey over on LinkedIn. The question they asked was: “Do you plan to stay connected during your summer vacation?” A surprising 85 percent of small business workers said they planned to stay connected during summer vacation, and 60 percent intended to check email and voicemail at least once a day.
I bet now that we have superphones such as Apple’s iPhone or T-Mobile’s MyTouch and Palm Pre, we will be even more connected. I wonder when in the future the notion of vacation will be less about beaches, golf or mountains and more about no connectivity. (P.S. Lately, I have been experimenting with no computer usage for 6 hours a day. That self-imposed Internet diet is helping me think clearly.)
Amit Shethia
MMS 2008-10
And despite my best intentions, I end up checking the news, writing one or more posts, and generally spending time answering emails, working, chatting and therefore missing out on hours of an opportunity to gaze at the beauty around or simply soak in the billion shades of India.
Apparently, I am not the only one who has this issue. Folks from LogMeIn recently conducted a survey over on LinkedIn. The question they asked was: “Do you plan to stay connected during your summer vacation?” A surprising 85 percent of small business workers said they planned to stay connected during summer vacation, and 60 percent intended to check email and voicemail at least once a day.
I bet now that we have superphones such as Apple’s iPhone or T-Mobile’s MyTouch and Palm Pre, we will be even more connected. I wonder when in the future the notion of vacation will be less about beaches, golf or mountains and more about no connectivity. (P.S. Lately, I have been experimenting with no computer usage for 6 hours a day. That self-imposed Internet diet is helping me think clearly.)
Amit Shethia
MMS 2008-10
Thursday, July 30, 2009
One Day
Little did i knew One Day would be growing up....
Running Behind Something ....
Many people behind for...
Little did i knew One Day when life would be sad....
Crying the way when i was born...
Little did i knew One Day when life would come to an end...
People staring at me without any me...
Little did i knew One Day on the doors of heaven...
Pushed to the doors of hell...
Little did i knew One Day
By
Chintan Gala
2008-10
Running Behind Something ....
Many people behind for...
Little did i knew One Day when life would be sad....
Crying the way when i was born...
Little did i knew One Day when life would come to an end...
People staring at me without any me...
Little did i knew One Day on the doors of heaven...
Pushed to the doors of hell...
Little did i knew One Day
By
Chintan Gala
2008-10
If I could.
if i could.
rip up shadows
of poles and plains
to turn them into trees
chisel every leaf
and bare veins bleeding into the rain
if i could
crease out a lake
I would,
drown the ripples
and watch a monologue
between the moon and a paper boat
but all I can afford
is to watch
the silent games
an empty room and the shadows play
but if i could
just mute the rain,
I could watch
the land shiver
in their silent intimacy.
-Shruti swamy
rip up shadows
of poles and plains
to turn them into trees
chisel every leaf
and bare veins bleeding into the rain
if i could
crease out a lake
I would,
drown the ripples
and watch a monologue
between the moon and a paper boat
but all I can afford
is to watch
the silent games
an empty room and the shadows play
but if i could
just mute the rain,
I could watch
the land shiver
in their silent intimacy.
-Shruti swamy
The tree outside
The tree outside...
I wish I could have been there when its tender sinew tore out in a wave of gibberlic acid realizing there was a vast expanse outside to stand out against in exaltation.
I wish I could feel the brute force of its roots breathing and toiling in the soil...that they have chosen over claustrophobic, succulent and safe slumber and its rapture when it asserts itself against the wind.
When the branches sway, they sound like a painter making furious brushstrokes.
It stands unwavering. Silently in the violent union of the rain and the wind.
Its leaves dripping..opening their eyes blinded by the stone dust..Waiting to fill every vein with sunlight.
It looks serene. Like a child who frolicked all day chasing stray strands of cotton and with elbows propped up on the grass getting amazed by a grasshopper's pretty eyes, coming home to sleep.
-Shruti Swamy
I wish I could have been there when its tender sinew tore out in a wave of gibberlic acid realizing there was a vast expanse outside to stand out against in exaltation.
I wish I could feel the brute force of its roots breathing and toiling in the soil...that they have chosen over claustrophobic, succulent and safe slumber and its rapture when it asserts itself against the wind.
When the branches sway, they sound like a painter making furious brushstrokes.
It stands unwavering. Silently in the violent union of the rain and the wind.
Its leaves dripping..opening their eyes blinded by the stone dust..Waiting to fill every vein with sunlight.
It looks serene. Like a child who frolicked all day chasing stray strands of cotton and with elbows propped up on the grass getting amazed by a grasshopper's pretty eyes, coming home to sleep.
-Shruti Swamy
Monday, July 20, 2009
Common English Mistakes
Hey,
Here are some common mistakes that we commit while using a very funny laguage...English!.
English can be confusing. A lot of words are similar but with different meanings. It is almost impossible to avoid making mistakes in English, but you might be able to avoid making these ones.
Accept vs except: Accept is a verb, which means to agree to take something .
For example: "I always accept good advice."
Except is a preposition or conjunction, which means not including.
For example: "I teach every day except Sunday(s)."
affect vs effect: Affect and effect are two words that are commonly confused.
affect is usually a verb (action) - effect is usually a noun (thing)
Hint: If it's something you're going to do, use "affect." If it's something you've already done, use "effect."
To affect something or someone.
Meaning: to influence, act upon, or change something or someone.
For example: The noise outside affected my performance.
To have an effect on something or someone
!Note: effect is followed by the preposition on and preceded by an article (an, the)
Meaning: to have an impact on something or someone.
For example: His smile had a strange effect on me.
!Effect can also mean "the end result".
For example: The drug has many adverse side effects.
Advice vs advise: Advice is a noun, which means an opinion that someone offers you about what you should do or how you should act in a particular situation.
For example: "I need someone to give me some advice."
Advise is a verb, which means to give information and suggest types of action.
For example: "I advise everybody to be nice to their teacher."
**Often in English the noun form ends in ...ice and the verb form ends in ...ise.
A lot / alot / allot: A lot, meaning a large amount or number of people or things, can be used to modify a noun.
For example:-
"I need a lot of time to develop this web site."
It can also be used as an adverb, meaning very much or very often.
For example:-
"I look a lot like my sister."
It has become a common term in speech; and is increasingly used in writing.
Alot does not exist! There is no such word in the English language. If you write it this way - imagine me shouting at you - "No Such Word!"
Allot is a verb, which means to give (especially a share of something) for a particular purpose:-
For example: "We were allotted a desk each."
Been vs gone: been is the past participle of be
gone is the past participle of go
Been is used to describe completed visits. So if you have been to England twice, you have travelled there and back twice. If you have gone to England, you have not yet returned.
! Now you've been and gone and done it!
Beside vs besides: beside is a preposition of place that means at the side of or next to.
For example: The house was beside the Thames.
besides is an adverb or preposition. It means in addition to or also.
For example: Besides water, we carried some fruit. = "In addition to water, we carried some fruit."
bought vs brought: bought past tense of the verb to buy
For example: "I bought a newspaper at the newsagents. "
brought past tense of the verb to bring
For example: "She brought her homework to the lesson."
!There is an 'r' in brought and an 'r' in bring = they belong together.
Council vs counsel: Council is a group noun. It refers to a group of people elected or chosen to make decisions or give advice on a particular subject, to represent a particular group of people, or to run a particular organization.
For example: "The local council has decided not to allocate any more funds for the project."
Counsel can be a verb, which means to give advice, especially on social or personal problems.
For example: "She counsels the long-term unemployed on how to get a job."
Counsel can also be a noun, which means advice.
For example: "I should have listened to my father's counsel, and saved some money instead of spending it all."
By
Arpita Rao
MMS 2008-10
Here are some common mistakes that we commit while using a very funny laguage...English!.
English can be confusing. A lot of words are similar but with different meanings. It is almost impossible to avoid making mistakes in English, but you might be able to avoid making these ones.
Accept vs except: Accept is a verb, which means to agree to take something .
For example: "I always accept good advice."
Except is a preposition or conjunction, which means not including.
For example: "I teach every day except Sunday(s)."
affect vs effect: Affect and effect are two words that are commonly confused.
affect is usually a verb (action) - effect is usually a noun (thing)
Hint: If it's something you're going to do, use "affect." If it's something you've already done, use "effect."
To affect something or someone.
Meaning: to influence, act upon, or change something or someone.
For example: The noise outside affected my performance.
To have an effect on something or someone
!Note: effect is followed by the preposition on and preceded by an article (an, the)
Meaning: to have an impact on something or someone.
For example: His smile had a strange effect on me.
!Effect can also mean "the end result".
For example: The drug has many adverse side effects.
Advice vs advise: Advice is a noun, which means an opinion that someone offers you about what you should do or how you should act in a particular situation.
For example: "I need someone to give me some advice."
Advise is a verb, which means to give information and suggest types of action.
For example: "I advise everybody to be nice to their teacher."
**Often in English the noun form ends in ...ice and the verb form ends in ...ise.
A lot / alot / allot: A lot, meaning a large amount or number of people or things, can be used to modify a noun.
For example:-
"I need a lot of time to develop this web site."
It can also be used as an adverb, meaning very much or very often.
For example:-
"I look a lot like my sister."
It has become a common term in speech; and is increasingly used in writing.
Alot does not exist! There is no such word in the English language. If you write it this way - imagine me shouting at you - "No Such Word!"
Allot is a verb, which means to give (especially a share of something) for a particular purpose:-
For example: "We were allotted a desk each."
Been vs gone: been is the past participle of be
gone is the past participle of go
Been is used to describe completed visits. So if you have been to England twice, you have travelled there and back twice. If you have gone to England, you have not yet returned.
! Now you've been and gone and done it!
Beside vs besides: beside is a preposition of place that means at the side of or next to.
For example: The house was beside the Thames.
besides is an adverb or preposition. It means in addition to or also.
For example: Besides water, we carried some fruit. = "In addition to water, we carried some fruit."
bought vs brought: bought past tense of the verb to buy
For example: "I bought a newspaper at the newsagents. "
brought past tense of the verb to bring
For example: "She brought her homework to the lesson."
!There is an 'r' in brought and an 'r' in bring = they belong together.
Council vs counsel: Council is a group noun. It refers to a group of people elected or chosen to make decisions or give advice on a particular subject, to represent a particular group of people, or to run a particular organization.
For example: "The local council has decided not to allocate any more funds for the project."
Counsel can be a verb, which means to give advice, especially on social or personal problems.
For example: "She counsels the long-term unemployed on how to get a job."
Counsel can also be a noun, which means advice.
For example: "I should have listened to my father's counsel, and saved some money instead of spending it all."
By
Arpita Rao
MMS 2008-10
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