Blissful MT days in Mumbai

My first job was my dream job of being in the advertising world of Lintas, it was the best years of advertising (95 - 97), especially the media industry. There were limited PC’s and using a home grown tool which we used to make iterations and take out reach frequency printouts to get the best fit. Being the youngest had the advantage of having a godmother in Ambika & a closer father figure & mentor in Partho Da. 

It was fun filled days where we used to keep travelling from Parel to Express Towers for meeting with the servicing team and sometimes with the HLL brand teams & our work would start only in the evening and go on till late especially if there was a presentation coming up or an annual planning discussion.

Dinner from Noorani’s in Haji Ali was a favourite with many of us especially the Bheja Fry & huge Roti’s which we had to pull & bite with all our strength to eat it. Shibu used to generally order and we used to all pull in and then he would redistribute once he claimed. Being in the media we were invited to parties with free daaru & food to boot, then there were movie screenings where we got passes for the preview shows. This was 95 & HLL so TV was dominant in all our plans. All of us would take common cabs to reach these parties and then split - many times we would come back to work.

Those were days when seniors invited the entire gang to the house, 2 such occasions were very memorable. Being the junior most, going to a HOD’s house for drinks and dinner was a bit scary in those days but it was like a family and everyone treated everyone else on the same level in these sessions. It was really beautiful. Thanks to Shibu I was given extra drinks and was made high, thankfully I just kept my mouth shut :) So I escaped any embarrassment. 

I continued this trend when I left Lintas - even though I had 2 small girls at home, my colleagues in Titan would come over and many of my happiest moments were when they came over to my house and we were up till late bitching, gossiping, singing and just letting go. 

Then there were picnics we went to Murud Janjira in a bus I think and stayed in a dorm kind of place, Pio played guitar and we sang songs till late at night on the beach and next day we took a boat to the fort & played volleyball inside in the sea and then of course we sang all the way back - hoarse and sleepy. 

The cab rides when you don’t have money & hoping that your roomie is in the room and will pay when you reach your home are unforgettable (talk about risk taking) & taking the last train out of Churchgate was a big talking point the next day at the office. 

Many of the above are family lore, I have retold them so many times. 

Thanks to Akbar’s post (of the pic above) it triggered so many faces and memories that I had to write it today. Miss you all - wish there was time travel - till then FB will do, Happy to be back here.