Saturday, June 9, 2007

“where do you go from the top of the mountain” in 500 words.

when it comes down to it, 6 years fit easily into one small cardboard box.

but I don’t want to think about that now. It’s better to wind the clock back and see life flash before your eyes one more time. Because leaving JWT Delhi is pretty much like that other journey, only without the mess of disposal and the contesting of wills J

joining is so much more fun anyway.

1st April 2001. Pretty befitting most people would say. I came here as a one-month summer trainee and hopefully haven’t overstayed my welcome. Sandy joined in November and my first impression of him was that “where’s the art guy and why is his father sitting in his place?” We were paired together and today I’d rather write a 7-min Mother's Horlicks film than lose him. And over the years, we’ve hit it off well as partners (bad cop-bad cop always!), friends and brothers.

we’ve grown as professionals and stayed immature in every other way.

but if I sound too nostalgic or self-indulgent, humour me. after all, most of you have been laughing at my superb jokes for all these years, so I feel I can ask for my pound of flesh now (it ought to be worth more as we’re vegetarians ahhahhaa!).

now that the applause has died down, let me tell you what I think is so awesome about JWT Delhi. The fact that this place is a living, breathing being. Prone to its mood swings like a woman on her lunar day and beautiful as hell. We’ve been more at home here than where our rent receipts show us staying. We’ve walked with a swagger as trainees, used hinterland Hindi as our first language, played some noisy heavy metal at full volume and watched porn at 11 in the morning.

JWT Delhi has not only tolerated us but loved us too. It’s my theory that this company selects whom it takes under its wing and not vice versa. You don’t choose to fit in, it decides if you do. There have been people like us, who’ve felt as comfortable here as a Johnson’s bud in a wax-rich ear and others who’ve walked every day as if Walter Thompson’s ethereal hand were squeezing their testicles. The truth is that if this company likes you, it treats you like blood. It’ll be there for you when you’re in the hospital and pay your bills not covered by policy. It’ll choose to ignore your inflated pink vouchers and the false “on duty” scrawls on the attendance register. It’ll let you flout hierarchy like a smelly fart during the chairman’s speech.

No matter where we go and where we end up, JWT Delhi has made us what we are. It’s been a teacher, mentor, mother and friend but never a corporation. It has given us the finest boss one could hope to work under and our best friends. It has given us (ok, me – sorry Sandy!) very special girlfriends and an inimitable bunch of colleagues and clients (you know who you are, heroes and assholes alike).

It’s been so much that to think of the cardboard box is numbing.

It’s scary to leave. You feel naked and vulnerable. As unsure as a miser signing a tip. As lost as a summer trainee again. But screaming over all the doubts is a quiet voice that says that the time is right. The wings are ready. The big bad world is too tempting. And we have your approval.

In our own way, we hope that we’ve been able to do JWT Delhi and you guys proud. A little bit at least. Thanks for everything. It’s been a rollercoaster ride with the arms off the safety bar.

we wouldn’t want it any other way.

peace, love, empathy
ram & sandy
ram.cobain@gmail.com
mailto:sundeepsehgal@gmail.com
june 2007

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3 comments:

SePuLcHeR said...

Hi Ram. guess you just left a professional note in here !!
i read the stuff uv written (its all over the place where i sit), guess this was just to let the lesser beings know about ur experience here !!

dont know u....have just heard about u....i just joined (and i came from JWT mumbai)....but wud have loved to have a boss like u !!

anywayz....i know u dun need luck (maybe never needed it)....just best wishes for a new journey ahead !!

:)

ram cobain said...

hey how nice, dude! thanks for the awesome compliments...and no, everyone needs a bit of luck and more so me :-) all the best for your stint at the Delhi office, am sure you'll love it.

SePuLcHeR said...

:) thanks

i mailed ya on ur gmail addy....do u use it by any chance?
if not surely leave me with an alternative mail addy of urs.

thanks