49th Episode. Opportunities have a unique silent way of creeping up and announcing themselves. At times there can be an opportunity in a deal that never happened. Something like that happened to me. I believe it came my way because I never refuse meeting a Business Associates. I hear everyone and try to see what is the best I can do with him or her.
Such was the case when the OOH wing of a large agency working on PUSHKAR FAIR proposed using HOT BALLOON RIDES. WE met; saw the presentation, it seemed viable. We thought we could do reader contest and take the winners on the ride. We at the newspaper considered taking our B2B connects from Mumbai and Delhi and take them to the fair and make it memorable with the ride. Ultimately we dropped the ideas. As the newspaper brand of the state, we always wanted to present Rajasthan as modern contemporary and every association with Pushkar pushed it back. Personally I believe we were being too choosy and for B2B connects it would still have been great. They dig heritage, they would have loved seeing the vibrant part of the fair, and the largest cattle fair and loved staying in the Swiss tents. But then it was not to happen, as the Marketing Director did not share the same understanding.
This is something that I did not share with the team working with us. But, while we were closing the last meeting, I said ‘How can we be sure of the impact next year till we ourselves have not experienced it’. The point was relevant. And as they were doing this for the first time, I believe they had space to accommodate few people for the experience. We managed to get 3 seats. Peter Suresh, Neha Mavani and I went for the experience.
We took the train to Ajmer. As a tradition with me, we visited Dargah and placed Chaddar on the Dargaha. In the process I lost my wallet. That was the first time I accessed social media (tweeter) to connect with the banks and close my cards. Post that we hired a car and went to Pushkar fair area. You cross over the hills surrounding Ajmer before you reach Pushkar. To our surprise the classic double-layered Swiss tents were really nice to stay in. The food was great too. We visited the fair twice and it was full of every colour possible. The rich riot of colours welcomes you all over. The Mauth-ka-Kuan, the Giant wheel, The stalls selling bangles, the stalls with sugarcane juice, stalls with artefacts- all set for the eager tourist. But in our mind was the Hot air Balloon ride that we missed the first evening. We were promised that we would be airborne tomorrow.
The D-day arrived. Better to say on the scheduled evening we reached the stadium well on time. Huge hot air balloon was getting ready to be fired up. This was the first time I was seeing them from so near. Soon, it was time to get in, someone in the ground let the last rope out and slowly we climbed up and up.
The slow ascent was wonderfully uneventful. It felt as if the earth under us was pulling itself back as we went up. The tents and the parked cars the giant wheel soon were miniature version of themselves. We were surprised at the stability the balloon basket had. Not a shake and the expert Belgian Pilot kept showing us some tricks. We realised that in a Balloon what you can control is the height, the direction is totally at the mercy of the wind. One needs to catch the right current.
We drifted westerly. We crossed Pushkar Lake and town and went over the surrounding Aravali hills. Crossing these hills of decent size with the sun going down was a surreal experience. Not to mention that we were busy capturing as much magic as we could in our camera. But what got imprinted in mind is something we can never forget.
As we started the descent, we saw villagers joining us in the adventure. There were families on the rooftop looking up in awe. There were kids following us running through the fields. Finally it was time when the fun was to get over. The pilot selected his mark and dragging through the fields was able to land at the edge of the state highway. There was crowd that surrounded us. For them it was something different. Soon the support service team came in their cars to pick us. An unforgettable balloon ride came to an end.
……….. OTHER ADVERTISING MARKETING EPISODES …
● THE WALK : How we discovered the culture at Macau ● The Jump – a team of 7 go sjyjumping during annual conclave at Pattaya ● High Sea Gambling ● KOTI ANGLES: Gambeling in Goa ● MISSING LIPS : How friendship develops to create different expectations ● The Trap: How the AE searching for adventure got duped ● Equal Opportunity to Indulge: How HR finds itself ina spot in Pattaya ● The Lost Haunting Music– An experience ● UNNAMED SPIRIT- a spooky experience at Mcleodganj ● Punjabi Lintas – Amrit Puri takes over Lintas ● Delayed launch – Why HT Delhi Colour supplement launch was delayed ● UNDERGROUND – Printing fake currency could have led to jail ● Strategic rain Break – How ZID KARO DHONI film was shot ● Thank You ● Rain Clause – I – The fight with Whitelight film over Maruti film ● Lethal Combination ● APPETITE – It does not matter where you get the appetite till you eat at home ● Puncture – how not to get caught ● Adultery- the moment – Its all for you to decide how far you would go ● ASSET – how a famous Indian model was rejected ● I am Sankar – soft ragging of new trainee ● The Count ● Introduction ● Time Bomb – How to avoid embarrassing situation ● Small Tile – eye for detail ● Shoot Report ● Sardar Khush Hoga ● Shoot At Mud Island ●Kaali Peeli Picture – what do you do you’re your model is featured in Debonair ● Upgrade ● Juhi Effect– there is something called lady luck in gambling ● Power Of Punjab ● Out – let game be game ● Two More – how not to pay for the drinks ● Eleven Minutes ● The Cherry Win ● The Presentation ● Black Gold ● Buffered ● Continue With Client ● Not Fired ● One Less Decision ● High jacking the Goafest delegates ● The Ghost Of 35 Rani Jhansi Road Jhandewalaon ● The Problem ● Imported Art Card ● Banyan Tree Agency
