another fortnight...

I have spent 2 weeks into my new job. My work took me around to many nooks of hyd i'd ve never seen otherwise. Most of my time was spent learning about this extremely fertile market for Pepsi. Was interesting to see opportunity! Work had been hectic as the Unit entered a strat plan year- the madness was extreme. Teamwork at its helm and the clock turned upside down. The discomfort of switching from free handed market working to questioning the brain to put down achievable numbers was apparent as the Territory Sales Manager, Shadow TDM (ME) tussled with the customer execs. An experience in itself. One of the short module is over and tomorrow I would be stepping into another. On the personal front, I have been reliving my ISB days, spending quite a bit of time with them. I have found a place to stay in a nice colony. Do hope to move into the same! Somehow have stopped believing in things till they happen. ISB also beckoned with Solstice as the knight in shining armour. The current batch certainly put in oodles of effort to make the while event attractive, but I thought it lacked much personal interaction. Everyone, specially the prior batches seemed to be on their own. Keeping with the ISB party tradtion, Solstice 2008 too turned out to be a drinking & dancing binge, albeit the Indian Ocean concert was the silver lining. I am now getting ready for another week and looking for some serious organized stress busters- A Gym, Shiamak's classes or something that adds value to me in the six months that I would be here. Also eager to fly home for new years!! Merry Christmas. Have to add that the biiigggg bungalow next to my guest house has a really tall and beautiful xmas tree.. party time for time and maybe some photo opps for me!

Hyderabad revisited

Exactly a week back I had been told that I was going to be located in Hyderabad for the longest stint in my program and today, I have already completed 4 days in the new role. Such is my whirlwind of a life. Nice to be back in Hyd. Things have changed. I am no more the living local royalty - an ISBian, I am not a non-veg'n so can't savour the biryanis and last but not the least my origins and destinations include places I never heard off- Hyd is suddenly a much larger place! Hope to be able to use the ISB rec center soon.. wish it came a lil closer to where I stay... I met my UM today and he seems to be really cool workwise. I'd say he wud be a good mentor- and luckily to me, he is assigned. The people are nice, fun loving and helping. Worked the 'chintal basti' market today. This is the first market where I clearly understood the meaning of a 'distribution gap'. There is tremendous scope, and if I summon my learnings till now, I would say just 'execution' would position us!.. It's an eye opener for me as I see a really low share market and how a company (in this case the competition) can grow exponentially by building a solid base while the other loses out ONLY because it slacks. I think it should be fun working here as I learn how to undo the done and do the not-yet-done!! Let's see how it goes from now on...

Sites that appealed to me...

Top Down : Dunston drinks with finesse!!, A distorted 2 litre Pepsi bottle before being blow moulded into a full fledged bottle- the pressure aint enough to blow it properly, a 7Up 2 lt bottle in its original form, a poster for eye safety in the Pepsi Plant @ KOSI

Aint my cup of coffee....

Hyatt Regency, New Delhi. On an indulgent family outing after the fairly excruciating wait at the passport office, I took it as a welcome change. At the "coffee shop", my jaws dropped for the second time in a month (last time was on the dental chair)!! Every single coffee cost Rs. 200/- , but then we were already there..and what was I expecting anyways. I decided to relish the moment...picked up the menu card..which seemed more like a catalogue of some exotic resorts along the coast of Kerala.. and the descriptions were worth recording so I did... ''Brazilian Cerrada- Rich Coffee with delicate tone of fruits" "Coffee known for its mild smooth flavour with rich medium body and a hint of dry spiciness and sweetness" "Gold Wire- Long wiry brown leaves from the second season that produce a sweet and delicate aroma" "Mangalam- The beautiful golden tips that are easy to brew and full of flavour and richness" Can only say I am faaaaar from being a coffee connoisseur.. ;-)