Author: Ideosphere

by Aashna Iyer, Ideosphere

Social media is a horrible place. There’s either someone ranting, someone’s rubbish poetry ridiculous FOMO-inducing photography, or unnecessary branded content. And to top it all off, there are trolls. More and more of them, hidden under every group notification, every icon, ready to jump in as soon as the comments section loads… What a terrible place to be in.

Remember when we sympathised with celebrities? For having their lives on show at all times, never having the luxury of having a “low day”, and going wherever they go with an ever-increasing army of trolls, we pitied them. Somewhere along the line, however, the sympathy has turned to empathy. In a social media world, where are you or I better off than a Deepika or Ranbir? Worse off, rather, because I don’t see a Ranveer or Alia around any of us, and we still have our trolls, without any of the cool branded stuff.

Jokes apart, the worlds of the celebrity and the common netizen have begun resembling each other a lot more lately. Not only are we capable of achieving a “shop window” that can mimic theirs, we can build rabid fans that are no less than celeb fandom. A regular social media update takes more strategy & copy edits for a digital citizen today, than updating a celebrity’s profile would take for their managers.

The only thing different, is that their celeb status makes them a part of this elite club: The Influencers.

The concept of the “Influencer” is not new.

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which focus is placed on influential people rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have influence over potential customers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers.

But, when was the last time you saw a branded content update made by some ‘famous person’ you follow? Unless they’re bloggers who now seem to function almost like content platforms themselves, the chances are that you don’t remember.

Mostly, this is because, as marketers, we are getting smarter. We know about that troll army, remember? So we don’t want to take a risk of having someone market our product, but have it laughed down because it’s a branded push. So what we do is, we find the ‘famous person’ who fits our brand’s TG, personality, message, and all those other technicalities, and we send them stuff. We just keep sending them stuff we know they’ll like because they ARE our target audience. We speak to their managers once in a while, send them a few dozen emails, and one day, there will be an Instagram story, with a brand mention. And then, you rinse & repeat. Remember when I said we’re getting smarter? That’s because we have mastered this routine to an art, and do this with multiple people, for multiple brands, I don’t know how many times a month.

Has anyone ever wondered why this not-so-buff, basically funny person is getting all that merchandise that you secretly want? Simple.

He’s a normal, human, achievable person. He has the same problems you do, in fact, he’s probably updating his Insta-story about Mumbai rains right next to you in the traffic. He looks like you, or some friend, he eats like you, drinks like you, the only difference is that he’s achieved some fame. Best part is, these influencers are self-made, most of the time (yes, even that guy who’s famous because he dated someone famous for a while). You look at them, and you think “Hey, I’m kind of musical, maybe I can do this too.”

And that’s what brands want. They want to be a part of a life you aspire to live: “If my socks are funky, maybe I’ll also get an Amazon Prime Special to my name.”

And I think this is where the shift for most marketers will continue to happen. Just getting a few people to create a 30 second video about #FestiveCampaignWithBrandMention will soon be less impressive than getting your audience to buy into the brand’s belief system because you found the right guy to illustrate it for you.

Which brings me to my next question. What is your second reviewing authority, typically, when you aim to buy something? A friend, a relative, a partner, a colleague, your pet dog… It’s always someone you know. And the problem is, from influencer to aam aadmi, the same message may not resonate as loudly.

Coming back to my first statement about FOMO, the entire concept of FOMO exists because you feel envy about someone you know. And there’s not much as strong as envy (unless it’s a desire for revenge, but we don’t like negativity here). This means that it would probably be not a terrible idea for me to explore reaching out to the BFFs, BFs, mommies, daddies, bhai-behens and Sharmajis of the world. If I really want to sell a holiday package for senior citizens, and I give a free trip to Sharmaji’s beta for his folks, I’m sure a lot more kids would start sending their parents on vacation.

In all seriousness, the matter is simple. In certain ecosystems, the influencer is the person who shares your life & concerns. Colleges, Universities, Clubs, families, residential complexes, corporates, all of these ecosystems can be influenced by their own kind, rather than a celebrity of any stature. The reason is that most of the time, for these entities, bench-marking happens against a peer set. Which means that if one is benefiting from a branded initiative, it’s a good hook to use to convince another.

This is something that is a lot more prevalent in the B2B communication space, if you think about it. From all my experience in speaking B2B, the influencer is usually someone with something to offer: Insight, mentorship, access, investment, etc. These are individuals who are held in high regard because of who they are, not how many followers they have (I mean, nobody’s asking you NOT to tweet about my awesome initiative to your 10K followers, but still). There is a lot we have to learn from the B2B space, especially in terms of creating the right messages and sending them through the right channels.

The bottom line of this little ramble through the concept of influence is this. It’s time we start re-looking at what we consider as influencer marketing. With social media power in every hand today, a simple post is good enough to create a ripple effect, and the most branded content piece can fail against a personal negative experience. In a converging world, maybe it’s time to diversify.

(Hi, all brand managers who want to send me free stuff, I’m a shameless amplifier of content, please to feel free to leverage my influence.)

by Nandita Sharma, Senior Associate

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company.

Being honest, the journey towards accomplishing any deliverables or working towards that overall
goal is long but worthwhile. Right from the moment you take on the mandate you share the same
excitement what your client felt when they started their company and the passion that still exist.
You slowly lay the foundation by understanding their vision and weave your own plan and lay down the path for them. You guide them, sometimes the journey is smooth but quite often few hiccups truly define the longevity and play a crucial role in strengthening your relationship with the client and every problem and challenges soon become milestones.

The entire journey, this past year, was a huge learning curve for me. Working on high-intensity
clients, at the same time, and going through multiple iterations and repetition, really taught me the power of patience and staying committed to your understanding of what is right for your client. I have faced several challenges on my way here, but each one of them has only strengthened me. Through my experience, I realized it is important to face failures sometimes this helps you to push more or understand that a certain change is required. Hence, failure became an important defining moment for me.

The last year was great cause of my mentors, Vaidehi and Shoeb. They invested a great deal of
expertise and energy in my growth and allowed me a space to grow and learn at my own pace and most important explore new areas. Without mentors, the world would be a very bleak place. Some of the greatest pioneers of all time once looked up to a mentor to help guide them and shape them into the leader they eventually became. From creating my first pitch presentation to closing a mandate or signing a long-term client basis my performance on another client, amongst others. The journey till this award has been crazy and unexpected but I loved every moment of it.

by Debasmita Chakrabartty,

Following the tragic news of fashion designer Kate Spade’s death due to depression and anxiety, came another blow three days after with renowned chef Anthony Bourdain succumbing to it. As usual, an over-enthusiastic energy is seen in conversations on depression and anxiety, particularly on social media, after celebrity suicides. Nonetheless, should only tragic news drive us to discuss depression? Can depression not be included in regular, day-to-day conversations? While I have been very open and frank about it in every day conversations, I wonder why I did not write about it earlier. But I am writing today, with the hope that people give this a read, from the many articles that are already floating on the internet, because depression is #NowTrending.

Coming to what I intend to convey, how many of us truly understand what depression ‘feels’ like? How many of us innerstand depression? Understanding depression is not difficult, but innerstanding it either needs experience or heart. Let’s begin with understanding it first. Depression is a dysfunction of the brain caused by inadequate amount of serotonin and dopamine subjugated by heredity, lifestyle, over-consumption of alcohol, repeated drug abuse (typically the synthetic ones), a variety of vitamin deficiencies and/or life events. Any or all of these, sometimes lead to a prolonged mood disorder, also known as ‘blues’. It works similar to insulin, where your body is unable to produce enough to maintain a normal blood sugar level that eventually leads to diabetes.

What does depression feel like? (Here we want to innerstand depression). It is a mysterious combination of feeling hopeless, worthless, incapable, incompetent, inferior, lacking interest in anything and everything, along with impaired thinking, self-loathing and shattered self-confidence. You unintentionally end up over-introspecting and belittling yourself day after day, month after month eventually developing a heavy social anxiety. So, what makes people take their life? (Something most people fail to understand). Although untrue,depression makes you believe that you will never come out of it! You know something is happening to you, but you don’t know when it will end. You feel like you are going crazy when you are actually not! And then there is this constant feeling of sinking with mild to moderate breathlessness. There is no relief and death feels like the only way out.

I am giving the diabetes reference again for another bout of innerstanding. Hypothetically, if the sugar level of your mom or dad rises above 300, how worried are you going to get? I am certain it will alarm everyone in the family. Because this could mean organ failure, dialysis, blindness or death! Like diabetes, depression too, takes life, in a much melancholic way. Why be so indifferent to the depressive then? I have often heard people asking, “How is it possible to feel like this?” Well, here’s a way to find out – read Reasons to Stay Alive. The book is so profound; you feel every word, every letter even if you haven’t experienced any of it before. So many people are living with depression without knowing or with no real understanding of it. So I get why it can be a challenge for others to fathom these kinds of disorders.

We are conditioned to relate mental disorders to mental institutions. Invisible disorders like depression and anxiety are easily disregarded and passed off as ‘over-thinking’. But that is the problem actually! How on earth do you get the mind to shut up!? Then comes, the meaningless insensitive clichés, adding to the agony – “Don’t think so much”, “Be positive, you don’t look good this way”, “Life is tough,” and my personal favourite, “Try not to be sad, learn to be happy”. Most people confuse depression with sadness. No! Depression is not sadness. Sadness is a natural human feeling. It is an emotional response, not a disorder. Sadness will not last for months, or years together. Depression is persistent, it is stubborn, and thus needs therapy second, innerstanding first. Empathy is needed here, not sympathy.

In high stress industries such as fashion and media, many people suffer from smiling depression, the most dangerous kind. This is masked by appearing happy and fun on the outside while the insides are a battle ground, tearing you with every passing thought! You have to smile for the shutterbugs. You have to smile for glamour. Amidst all the glitter and glam, such industries often end up being a dark and lonely place for people. A classic example of this was Ms. Spade, even actor/comedian Robin Williams. Because they looked so happy, no one could see what was coming! Ms. Spade was seeking professional help though, which suggests that her condition was known to her close ones. It will be fair to say that it was only known, and not understood. Most people in the industry are seen inducing false positivity because it helps them keep the façade on for a longer span. No sooner than you show you are vulnerable, a tidal surge comes washing you away.

Intolerance is the bedrock of depression, where your feelings have no validity. No matter where you go, there is never a dearth of minds showing off intellectual/fashion prowess, minds that can never create an inclusive environment for everybody to thrive in. Your existence means nothing! A friend, or so I thought, time and again ridiculed me and once mockingly said to me, “You can’t wear black over black! It’s a fashion faux pas!” Excuse me for my condescending tone, but who are you again? Donatella Versace? Allowing useless opinions to seep into the subconscious slowly slip us into depression – of being “just not good enough”. Why is it so difficult to accept that everybody has a personal style that reflects individual personas? Fierce competition and the ever increasing pressure of being the best, making the most sales, more money, coping with the market, keeping up with the Kardashians! *Pfff!!!*

We are being fooled by fools every day, leaving us overwhelmed and troubled with anxiety/ depression. Anxiety of looking like a fool if we do not incorporate the current trends and depression because self-expression and self-worth is plagued by self-doubt that turns to self loathe in a jiffy! We don’t want to kill ourselves; we don’t want to live either. But what really makes us pull the trigger, a bunch of hormones? Are you sure you are ready to say the final good bye because of lack of serotonin? Are you going to let hormones fool you into killing yourself? Or can we get these little assholes to better work and look forward to experiencing beautiful picturesque sunsets and sunrise together! You ought to believe that you are amazing and that you are not going to let people around you or the industry you work in define you!

With more and more suicide cases and reports coming out, I feel it is crucial for people to make conscious efforts towards trying to understand depression. As an individual, as a human being, I often bring up this topic with people I meet on a daily basis and with every new person I meet. It might look like I am always talking about negative things. But it’s all right, as long as this could prevent potential suicides. So many hidden stories could come out if you just make it normal for people to talk about how they feel. So many people can get help and find hope to live longer. So many smiling depressed can finally begin a new journey to smiling fearlessly.

Anyone would admit to smelling their own farts. One fine day you walk into a room and happen to need to let loose a quick release. And I don’t know what, but you somehow feel the urge to get a quick whiff of the courtesy you’ve done. Whether or not people are around, you need to know if it has made its public announcement. It’s inevitable. Completely relatable too to be honest. Last year, when I had not won an award for progress or performance, I was put in that situation. I felt the urge to quickly validate if anyone noticed. Maybe some did, perhaps some didn’t see it. But one thing for sure I can tell you, the winners won for the ‘smell’ or fragrance they put up all year round. Good behaviour, meritorious performance, phenomenal client-work, or captivating character. All these and a reasonable list of positive traits attribute the value of an award ceremony. It is given to the ones who exude greatness. And I for one can say have been on both sides – leftover butter chicken masala and Azzaro for men.

There is a clear difference between growing by self-learning and growing under the shade of a tree. One can grow under the nurture of a mentor. Where values are passed on, teachings are given and inspiration is provided. On the other hand, one can grow by journeying solo into the jungle and emerge a grown ass (wo)man. Nice, great job Geronimo, But I’d like to take this opportunity to say go ahead, grow by yourself; but never hesitate to grow under a tree. It is a lateral process, a mentor can pull you up only if you grow as an individual as well. Same as how the leaves of a tree sprout with the support of the stump, branch, and trunk. And this is where the ‘Best Individual Growth’ matters to me. Its weight is measurable only by the seating of the plaque, but it’s worth by the distance your smell travels.

Growth is a sign of progress. These are values that bring you in the radar of the management. Please yourself by being a good person then you will please the management too. Please yourself by being a great performer then you will please the company by large. Winning awards is simply business with a great attitude. This is what I see as a karmic cycle that one must balance in order to survive let alone thrive in a competitive world where peers don equally if not stronger smells.

Most kids want to be veterinarians or astronauts or sportspeople. Most kids want to wear capes and fly around the house. Most kids run out the door like puppies taken off their leashes. But when I was 15, all I wanted to do was to find those amazing people who had woven the stories in the books I read, see what they looked like, hear their voices, and know them. The worlds they had created were so alluring, I was sure that they were, too. My dream was to make other little kids feel that way about me. I wanted to be known by the stories I made up, the people I imagined into being, and the dreams I furnished for my readers. My success would come when I would become “She’s the one who wrote that?! WOW!”

Growing up makes you realize how truly free from material worries you were as kids. Nobody wonders how much being a superhero would pay, for example. Unfortunately for me, novels don’t come easy, and pull very little weight around the house, when it comes to paying the bills. So the route-map changes, and you set your sights on the next thing. Which is why most superheroes end up becoming a consultant at one of the Big 4, or most budding badminton players are in HR roles in IT firms… (Stereotypes bear no resemblance to any person living or dead, any connection is pure coincidence) Purely by chance, my stubborn refusal to give entrance exams led me into Media Studies. My folks knew “Ad people” and the father, being in the services, was not a fan of “media people”, and that was the extent of understanding of the sector. So quite obviously, I was either going to be Arnab or Amul.

Time passed, social media happened, and I forgot about the old dream of being an author. My boss was very displeased about my choice; he probably still believes I should have quit in the interest of art, honestly. But about a year and a half ago, I was at a client’s office, speaking to a startups & their teams, and they asked what it was that I did. “We’re the communication partners for these guys,” I said, “So, if you search for the company handle on Twitter, for example, that’s me.”

I got my reactions. The 15-year-old in me lived her dream that day, when she saw the awe, and acknowledgement of what she had created in the faces of her listeners. The dream of being an author had manifested into something very interesting. This may not be a published copy of a story of a young magician, but there is a created world, built conversations, and a little bit of magic. Every trending hashtag means she has created a story worth telling, every additional follower means that someone else picked her work off the shelf.

Perhaps I got lucky, and not every 15 year old can win the battle between passion & profession, but somehow I feel like a lot more of us are, lately.

—

Aashna Iyer

‘To each is its own’, and on this occasion of the celebratory International Women’s Day, this is my version of what the day means to me. I have been, since beginning, very conservative in terms of appreciating or acknowledging people, without any ulterior motive to it; I truly believed the world should be told aloud, when it really means something. Hence today, I would like to acknowledge the men who have contributed to the woman I am. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to meet & learn from these icons of my life. 

My Dad

A man of integrity and dedication. I remember his consistent push to be better, move with times, and agility towards building relationships. He was, in the most surreal manner, the strongest connect for us, as his dedication towards his family and his craft was something you just could not ignore. Some people understood his perseverance, some did not, but his foundation was always intact. He was a man of a few words, but with a great understanding for his children. As I grow, I still try to imbibe his qualities and his simplicity. I thank him for making me so strong and his teaching me: “Never Quit on Relationships, Keep Trying” 

My Husband

The most cliché relationship as Nikhil does not even closely personify the ideal personality of a “husband”. Freedom and to be your own person is just not what he says but has been acting upon since the day we met 15 years ago. He takes my brat like behavior, which trust me I am, and allows me the space to blossom to find my own path, while continuing to appreciate me on every milestone of my life be it personal or professional. Yes, we have our own areas of differences, as any couple would have, but without a blink of an eye, he is my partner for life. 

My Comrade

I have always had a wall around me, which was created to protect me from getting carried away or expressing. Aniruddha has been the most adamant one to ensure the wall is broken and extract the best out me, so much so that I was surprised with myself at times. Is he my 3 am friend who listens to your stories? Definitely not.  He possibly would prefer 3 pm, as we have rules due to his rigidity. Expecting the best out of each other has been just the way we are, and both of us just cannot agree with anything less. You may find us in continuous debates and discussions in coffee shops or office about every little to every important thing about our life, and mostly work. There is always hope in everything we have been so far. 

My Son

I don’t think I miss an opportunity to make a mention of him in every experience of my life.  The nine years with him can be described by only one word: Discovery. His innocence and observations makes him the most admirable. His imperfect response makes perfect sense at times. Evaan, being so young, is the most open person I know with such great qualities and so much love in him that he does not leave a moment for you to go AWWW! 

There are many men, who have been a great source of learning and inspiration for me in many ways, and I would like to thank them all. The world is talking about gender inequality, and I’m sure it exists. But with an open attitude for relationships, freedom, striving for best and discovering life, we, as women, have been and will be able to make it worth it! 

Happy Women’s Day every one, whether you are a man or a woman! 

– Minal D’Rozario

Co-written by: 

Prerna Khindri – Senior Associate

To target an audience that doesn’t have any relation and connect with your brand, you need to first understand the nitty-gritties of the preferences of such audience. First of all, a brand manager who wishes to craft a communication plan for the disinterested segment, needs to figure out the places that this audience group visits or the occasions that they celebrate. To target them at the right time in order to build awareness about your brand (a festival in this case), you can first meet them at the events that they attend. Sponsoring or partnering strategically with an event where the “disinterested” group comes, is a perfect idea to garner their attention. Secondly, you can catch their attention on social media. It is requisite to understand that social media marketing needs to have a much-tightened approach. To tap the target audience on social media, the brand needs to thoroughly research on their lifestyle, demographics, psychographics and life choices. It will help you circle the right pages to target on the various platforms, as well as create relevant posts to generate popularity or virility. The approach for social media marketing needs to be objective in order to raise enough response.

The rule for crafting a brand communication for someone who doesn’t form your primary target audience, is to build a plan that resonates with their preferences and choices.

Sijo John –  Consulting Associate

Communication and creativity go hand in hand when it comes to tailor-made messaging strategy around festivals to those who celebrate them and to those who do not. Anticipation and excitement is something that we will need to drive while we try creating engaging content and activities. Creating excitement amongst Indians about a holiday like Halloween might be a challenge, but that’s where creativity kicks in and plays a vital part. Retail, F&B brands, lifestyle brands maximize these kinds of festive opportunities to connect their target audience to celebrate this with them or their products.

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a serious psychological approach that brands drive throughout their communication. Not only does this strongly hold on their existing target group, it helps encapsulates those around them as well since everyone wants to be a part of something ‘cool’. It would be easier for brands to execute an effective communication campaign by making newer audiences feel like they’re insiders and by making a personal connection with them. Most importantly, just because the event is over doesn’t mean your conversation with your audience is. How do you know you’ve been successful? Check your social media!

Tripti Jain – Junior Associate

Preferences of the audience must be the priority for a brand’s communication strategy to come off positively. Promoting your brand amongst a known audience is a cake walk for communication experts. On the other hand, when it comes to dealing with an audience who don’t follow the brand, the going gets tough even for seasoned brand strategists. India is a country of many festivals and that gives a brand ample opportunities to be creative and tap in on the occasion to communicate their message. The audience that do not follow your brand needs to be directed towards it and the ways to do that are diversified. Firstly, marking your target audience is extremely crucial and aligning with their perspective is the second rung in the ladder. Directing the right message to your target audience is the next thing which comes in line. Figuring out the right medium of communication, which resonates with the preferences of your target audience is essential. Online media is the new age for marketing and promoting a brand on the right media is essential. A personal connect in the brand message helps strengthen the brand’s association with the audience and increases the brand’s recall value. A company’s communication strategy is its selling point and its crucial for a brand to be in sync with the target audience. 

The word has passion, fantasy, experimentation and the feeling of immeasurable ecstasy. For many it is a part of life, a ritual to some and ‘relaxation’ to few, but all are craving for better and wider options each day. Yes, you guessed it right – it’s ‘food’! (Only if your horses didn’t run the wrong way). Keeping my food tantrums aside for a while, the F-word is life and passion to me. It is this love for making bizarre food that has kept me a little sane all these years. After all, it is the only bizarre desire that I can perform legally.

It was at the age of six when I started crushing on the art and science of making food, which grew into love with my first experimentation – ‘Shimla Mirch ka Halwa’. Growing up in a family where food is considered as ‘Tehzeeb-O-Tamadun’ (culture and discipline), and any sort of experimentation was supremely discouraged, so was my first kooky trail. And that’s when the ‘Rulebook’ of Kitchen and red flag towards trails were shown. I was back to making daily staples: Roti – Sabzi – Dal – Chawal. While I enjoyed cooking them, I missed the passion of experimenting in the food laboratory. The love for cooking soon diluted… only wishes and hopes to carry on shaping wild thoughts into cuisine remained!

After a break of five odd years, while randomly switching TV channels, I found crazy heads just like me. The love for making wild food got concentrated, very much like 36.8N conc H2SO4! That very night, folks craved for cake and something spicy to go along. Stars were in my favour! I decided to turn my regular kitchen into a cooking laboratory and mix the merry of both the worlds – the sweet and the spice! After spending an hour and a half in the lab, the final product that I extracted was a ‘Green Velvet Cake with Spicy Guava Cream’. Describing nothing, I presented the dish as ‘Green Velvet Cake with White Icing’. And finally, I got to hear what I expecting – “It is weird but nice”. The feeling of euphoria was just exploding like sodium in water.

After the acceptance towards bizarre food, the love grew each day, which led me to go beyond and pursue the passion. Having been a fan of a renowned cooking show, I soon decided to take part in the Season 2 and 3, but only to realise in round 5 that the show required one to hold a script and not a knife. Alas! Well, that’s my side of the coin. Choosing the exit gate was the preference. No regrets!

“Milk curdles, you may either drain it into the sink or make cheese out of it. It’s in your hand” – that is what I say to myself when life throws lemons. Making cheese may take a little time, but it’s definitely worth it! While my cheese is in the making, here I am experimenting on all the crazy rats (prospective customer of my eccentric nosh room) willing to get experimented.

So, this World Food Day put down you guards and pamper your taste buds with something offbeat and alien!

They’ve taught us the languages, theories and formulae we know today, nurtured us during those lengthy hours we were away from our homes, and were unsparing when we didn’t submit our homework on time. Teachers leave an indelible imprint on our lives. Ever heard the saying ‘be cruel to be kind’? That’s what our teachers were doing when we were still juvenile and ignorant of the life that lay outside the walls of the classroom. We do owe them a great deal for being tough on us.

Today, while we take some time off from our frantic schedules to wish them on WhatsApp or leave heartfelt messages on their Facebook walls, let us sincerely realize how fortunate we’ve been to have learned what we did from them. Not everybody has had the same opportunity and exposure.  Education isn’t merely the math formulas and historical dates we’re made to memorize, but also the more subtle and crucial life skills learned in the process, like the ability to think on your feet and take your own decisions. And one can only learn this ‘art of learning’ by a teacher who sets a good example.

Sadly, our country has a lot to catch up on in this regard. It was astonishing to read about Gurmeet Ram Rahim persuading 400 men to get castrated! That’s a staggering 400 men who lacked the ability to think logically, to reason, to question authority. Despite being found guilty of rape, millions still refuse to believe Ram Rahim is at fault. These millions failed to obtain guidance from the right ‘teacher’. Instead, what they got (and to our dismay, accepted) was a self-proclaimed guru releasing ludicrous movies in the theatres! The Indian Express ranked him 96 on their list of 100 most powerful Indians of 2015. How are we allowing power to flow in the hands of such criminals? Why have we let a rape convict become a ‘guru’ to millions?

All of us might not have grown up to create the degree of impact that professors do in a classroom full of students, but that does not stop us from passing on the baton of our knowledge to the next generation – to our peers, to our families, and even to strangers. Acts as simple as donating a book you love to an underprivileged teen, encouraging your younger siblings to carve their own niche, or sharing something awesome you found on the internet with the rest of your team members, can leave a substantial impression, almost a beautiful ripple effect.

Remember, unadulterated learning begins beyond the confines of classroom walls. That’s the real battlefield. The world is in need of something you might have to offer. Make it worth their while.