My Brand Names

The business of naming brands/people/things is tricky. You can get it right, and sometimes, horribly wrong. If I could name the following, my favourite names would be-

1. For a West Bengal Political Party- Oh, Calcutta.

2. For Salman Khan's signature shampoo which will compete with Pant-ene - Shirtoff.

3. For the FM Radio Jockeys who like to yak non-stop- Yukyuk.

4. For stock market "experts" who let you sink, as they are unable to predict a downturn- Titanic.

5. For Nitish/Laloo- Do Be'Chare'

6. For Arnab- Go, Swami.

7. El Nino- Kisiki to suno.

8. Google's next product- AtiSunder!

9. Guys who agree to get into Big Boss-  GetaLife

10. People who read blogs- Golden Hearts!

People Most Loved

Many celebrities are getting into the news for wrong reasons these days. But there were many people, both celebrities and non-celebs, whom I have known (some from a distance, as they were celebrities) who were loved by almost everyone they touched. Let me try and list a few.

Ameen Sayani- a legendary radio jockey before the term became popular. He hosted the Binaca Geet Mala for over two decades in his inimitable style which mesmerised millions. I have only heard good things spoken about him. Wednesday evenings became sacrosanct and even movie producers and music directors must have been eager to find out how they did on his music countdown. The sartaj geet ka bigul when a song was retired (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqF54PrLTSg), and the signature tune of the show itself, added to the mystique.

Gundappa Vishwanath. He was an unlikely hero in the Indian crickt team, unassuming and not in the limelight as much as the others-Gavaskar, Wadekar, Farokh Engineer, or others. But he was a cute little guy with a silken smooth cut stroke. And a very nice guy.

Kajol. Moving on to a younger person, she was in her acting heyday, a very loveable character, with honest views on just about anything. I am yet to find anyone who did not love her. And if I did, I wouldn't want to meet them again :)

JD Singh. He was the prof who taught us Marketing I at IIM Bangalore way back in 1982. He was joie de vivre (hopefully I got the spelling right) personified. Good at what he did. Always jolly, and the jokes were of high calibre. He is remembered by everyone who took his class, and lovingly. Some of us have kept meeting him over these thirty years, and he is still the same person.

There were a lot more, but for the time being, I will stop here.