If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. That’s my take on Mumbai, the most densely populated city on earth.
What gets noticed in a city filled with the clamor of cars and the roar of the crowd?
Humor, the universal language.
See more great spots and crowds at our upcoming Promax/BDA session Write With Balls 2 Thursday June 18th 10:30a. Namaste.
They warned us that the Indians run late. Our 9a session started closer to 9:15. No worries I got to finish my tea. Folks were still trickling in when we received the cue to start.
LB up first. Good morning and thank you. We are Tooth+Nail. We are not dentists. I thought it was a stellar beginning. My turn next and the topic was creative briefs and the key message. I show an ad, you tell me what the key message is. Interactive, engaging and a chance to share great work from around the globe.
We were about to show our kick-off spot, from Heineken, a funny crowd warming video. Then the power went out. When it resumed our computer was in a coma. I was feeling catatonic as well. LB didn’t miss a beat. She informed the crowd that while the computer was rebooting we would act out the spot.
LB opened imaginary closet doors and shrieked with delight at shelves of imaginary shoes. I jumped up and down pretending to see shelves of beer. The audience loved it.
The attendees from the morning session returned for the afternoon session; we passed the workshop litmus test. In fact, they had to add more chairs.
Three and a half hours later we ended the workshop by playing the spot we intended to open with. The audience shrieked. You’d almost think they were in a closet sized refrigerator filled with beer.
Flying London to Mumbai on Jet Airways – can you get more generic than that? I keep thinking they missed a word here. Jet India Airway perhaps?
Close to landing the flight attendants come out en masse and spray sanitizer up and down the aisles and in the air. Is there a reason they couldn’t wait til we landed and left the plane? I have a personal policy to avoid direct contact with room deodorizer. Isn’t that stuff bad for you? I am sure there is a caution on the side of the can about spraying on passengers. The spraying came after our really cool breakfast of spinach and channa dal– small vegetarian patties filled with chiles and mints. Captain Crunch step aside
We are on our way to Mumbai to conduct a creativity and writing workshop for Promax/BDA India. We like to customize our workshops, but it’s particularly challenging half way around the world in a country we’ve only visited in the movies.
Hungry to glean anything we can–even from small differences aboard the flight. I watched a Bollywood movie called “Hello” about six workers at a call center, all going through personal crisis–adultery, depression, and estrangement–punctuated by pelvic-thrusting dances. I find this an appealing combination and am relieved to know that crisis and pelvic thrusting is universal. Marilyn sleeps through the action.
While the rules of creativity are consistent the world over, cultural differences do matter we have 48 hours to figure out what they are.
Up for 20 hours straight most of it evening. Approaching Mumbai and lights curve like a jewled necklace along the coastline. Reminds me of the flat, sprawling city of another tropical center, Miami.
Lots to share, lots to learn. Who has the converter and how do we access the internet?
sharpen your tools 