Nothing must be perfect.

For something to be perfect, it must have a flaw.

Angarakoyamaschaiva sarvarogaapahaarakah
Nrishtekargaacha hartaacha sarvadevascha poojitah.
Lohito Lohitaakshascha samagaana Kripaakarah
Dharmatmajah Kujobhoumou bhumido bhuminam
Rakta maalyambaradharam shulashakti gadaadharah
Charbhujo yeshagato varadamcha dharaasutah
Mangalo bhumiputrascha runahartaa dhanapradah
Sthiraasano mahaakaayo sarvakaama phalapradam

Reconciliation

Pink Champagne & Roses

Thinking of you

I really know I would

Buy a Paradise Isle for you!

So cheesy but true.

Many times I go a bit too far, but it's actually called taking the mickey.

Divorce

Pink Champagne & Roses

Violet & Blue

I kept up all night

Thinking of you

But dear Juliet

Where the FUCK was you?

With apologies to creative. If you don't get it, no worries, you're a client.

Vande Mataram

Vande Mataram

I have always loved India. From their religion, cricket, beautiful women, vegetarian food to the few wonderful Indians who are my friends. For those of you who have being there, you would understand that incredible ‘mystic’ feeling I get when I am in India.

The amazing colours, markets, temples, and all kinds of people make India really unique.

The over 6,000-year culture of its people and its rich history makes India different from any other country in the world.

The transgender bright saree clad prostitutes, the cabbie who drove me all day around Mumbai for 400 rupees, the other who I kept my luggage safely with in his cab while I shopped in Chennai, numerous workshops in Mumbai and Delhi, Piyush Pandey and Sonal Dabraal the O&M creative stalwarts, the fantastic British Airways marketing team and the shopping experiences are what makes India memorable to me.

But that is only scratching the surface.

India our neighbour, just 22 miles from Sri Lanka by sea is a country I have admired even before I visited. Hinduism, the culture, and the history of India have always captured my imagination. Always wishing my ancestry would be originating from North India even if it were 3,000 years ago, as a Sri Lankan, my heart glowed with pride.

As I grew older actually experiencing ‘incredible’ India has been incredible. So cliché but true.

Sri Lanka and India are the best of neighbours. We admire the Indians for their work ethic, creativity, intelligence and above all their loyalty to their country and friends.

Vande Mataram.

My connection to India.

Most of all I believe that our two cultures are a tight link with many practises shared, norms followed. We always have common denominators.

Why over the passed few decades both governments don’t work to strengthen this relationship but rather grow more apart is my loss. Is it your too?

Vande Mataram.

I have to go now. The England – South Africa test at the Oval. Today’s the last day. England has to bat out the day with six wickets in hand.

Gutted. But it’s my choice to watch or not.

When governments have to make decisions for millions of people, do they consider the choice of the people?

When I die, I want to die knowing I will be reincarnated as an Indian. Born to a rich Indian family of course.

Buy this man a Miller

Kids off to uni next year. Would love to move back to the Paradise Isle. There I said it! Find me a job or cry me a river.
http://ddadman.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/dhammika-dharmawardhane.html
http://ddadman.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/example-of-strategic-thinking-by.html

Whatever happened to crafting the Big Idea? Did it go the same way as closing jobs?

Whatever happened to crafting the Big Idea? Did it go the same way as closing jobs?

(Photo at Cannes Lions: Fabrica Treviso wins three Grand Prix awards with Benetton 'Unhate' campaign at Press Lions.)

‘Anyone can be creative’ rolls the call of many. Have you noticed this statement will come from the most straight-laced people possible?

99.9% of the time.

The Big Idea be it in the sciences, business, or anything we do to make a living is important. Various questions abound in today’s market, especially alike ‘how can my company or I make money on the Internet’?

But most commonly ‘The Big Idea’ is the most important factor in marketing and communications.

Anything is born of an idea, and in marketing and advertising the idea is king. 

Various ‘creative’ people have given their theories in this. The creative process I most admire and most advertising people of nay (intended) worth will recognise to follow in a brainstorm to arrive at the Big Idea is as follows:

1. Getting together as much as raw material.
2. The fun part, exploring every inch and aspect of it, playing with it.
3. This is where we suits never get it, well most people don’t. Just walking away from it and doing nothing. Recognise those creative who happen to be playing games on their really posh, high performance Mac computers anytime you walk into their department? Well actually they’re allowing their sub-conscious to work.  The mind silently works best when you are actually doing something else. So the next time you see your creative team playing war craft, encourage it. The better, join.
4. The unconscious mind offers up the idea. Honest.
5. Step five is where Cannes Lions awards are won and also millions in dosh. This is when behind locked doors; the creative team will sit to trash, push, probe, hold the idea up to an in-built set of standards and find it unworthy.

Then and only then is when ideas like facebook, Google, Cannes Grandprix Lions happen. Please see previous Cannes Lions Creative Bravery Presentation here:

 http://viceunversa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/business-case-for-creative-bravery.html

Creativity, creative, is a discipline. Just like someone is a scientist or a businessman. What we marketers must understand is that we are in charge of a brand, and what makes us good is the fact that we can understand and recognise great ideas.

A person who can sing and play an instrument through singing or playing by ear is creative. So is the kid who draws a perfect cat when he’s two years old. So is that tattooed, longhaired, two earring, pierced, middle aged schizophrenic who writes the body copy on your ads.

The best marketers are the one’s who work on the most successful brands and them you will see having a very good relationship with their creative from the advertising agency. They recognise they are good marketers as this is what has chosen them in their life, like a doctor who always knew they wanted to be one, and now is damn good.

So are those in the creative department of your advertising agency. They have learned to generate ideas, like we were born to run successful businesses.

Leave the creative to the professionals. Don’t kid yourself you know better. Otherwise you would now be sitting on their side, making the big bucks.

No sorry make that I!

Where are we going Machans?

Where are we going Machans?

‘Machan’ slang in Sinhalese meaning ‘Mate’. Brother-in-law, your main man or woman. My machans are many, but since 2005 my main machans have been the current heads of government in Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksa’s. Mainly Mahinda Machan, the main man in Sri Lanka. For those of you who already know my closet racist tendencies, the Rajapaksa’s mainly became my machans because of their pre-election promise – defeat the LTTE and terrorism in Sri Lanka.

May 2009 was a red-letter day for Sri Lanka. The death of the LTTE leader Prabakaran heralded the death of the LTTE. Celebrations were island wide. In my corner of the English countryside, I quietly raised a glass of 21 year old single malt to toast this victory. A first, the defeat of terrorism, in any country of the world.

Silencing an irresponsible media, or any type of speech against national security was punished. The end to terrorism justified any untoward actions against the institution of democracy in Sri Lanka.

Seven years on and three years after the end of the LTTE, greatly perpetrated by the LTTE themselves for not understanding a post 9/11 world, I am alarmed my machans.

I just read a conversation on Infolanka Newsroom between an editor in an English newspaper and the Machan Gotabaya, the secretary to the Ministry of Defence and the President of Sri Lanka’s brother. As it was published I had to believe in its content where basically Machan Gotabaya had a go at this female reporter in not quite the queens language but rather one which is better recognised after closing time of 1am at most British pubs.

WTHM – What the hell Machan?

I would never wish for the re-birth of LTTE in Sri Lanka. But sadly the disappearance of democracy is trying machan. I believe we all need to lose the stiff upper lip we maintain as citizen machans in Sri Lanka.  Sovereignty is important. As a nationalist I can even argue that international interest and interference in Sri Lanka’s affairs is unimportant.

But as intelligent citizens of Sri Lanka, do we not realise we have fallen from the frying pan into the fire? It’s time for the political opposition to government to address this clearly. Whoever they are. Forget about international repercussions, tell the people where it will hurt them the most machan, in their own country. I don’t mind the rupee depreciating against an even weaker sterling pound, but those in Sri Lanka must realise it’s hurting their pockets, already very thinly lined.

If Dr. Harsha De Silva, the US educated economist and opposition member of parliament in Sri Lanka, made his economic forecasts that show direct effect to the common man, and woman, would that pave the way to end this madness? For madness it is, and like all madness the suppression of democracy the greatest malady.

Machan, you can’t govern a country without your citizens enjoying the freedom of speech. That makes Sri Lanka a communist country, or worse, a dictatorship. Sod the consequences is never a good idea if your governing a democratic country.

Machan would love to see three articles in the mother tongue from you. As simple as possible without getting carried with terms and equations.

1. How democracy works in America and the freedom of speech. Not to say it’s the best, but an unbiased view of its pros and cons.
2. How world fuel prices affect Sri Lanka’s economy. Don’t want to hear solutions please tell us how and the knock on effect to Sri Lanka.
3. Country borrowing from world markets. Nothing comes for free, and why?

Disaster Machans!

“The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.” Edmund Burke

Cheerio Machans!

ravings of a strange woman: Communal claims on a common land

ravings of a strange woman: Communal claims on a common land

http://viceunversa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/india-must-listen-to-tamil-aspirations.html

dsome's photostream

dsome's photostream on Flickr.

Enjoying happiness

Today was the pre-launch to one of the goals on my bucket list. Seeing my kid off to Oxbridge for Higher Education. Just got back home after dropping her off at the Oxford University head start program. 

She’s at the Hertford College for the next five days learning at this hallow institution the art of Engineering. All things related to it to help figure if that’s what she wants to do with the rest of her life. As we mere mortals are condemned to work for our living, I think this is an excellent way to help a teenager decide what they want to achieve in life. As most if not all Asian parents we dream of her becoming a doctor of medicine. But most of all I love the fact that she’s able to experience all crafts of life, be it be music, languages, mathematics or even design for that matter.

So this post as much as about my bucket list, it’s also about her. Although I must admit she’s not even half as crazy as her father. Which is a good thing I am sure everyone may say, but as much as my happiness at seeing one goal pre-launch off my bucket list, I think the biggest one of all as a father, I also hope that she will go through all what I have gone through in life. Sorrow only teaches you to be stronger, and be extremely happy when happiness is there in your life. In mine, today!

June this year was one of the most awful months in my life. I celebrated my daughters birthday my second nephews entrance to the best University in Washington DC, GWU and pilgrimaging with him in Sri Lanka . With all this joy came my regression to driving drunk and crashing my first nephews brand new car, fracturing my foot, getting robbed of money twice to losing a man who was like my younger brother in Sri Lanka.

July promises better. I pray…