<b>Josy's Blog</b>: 'Feni' state of mind

This is Goa, and my blog will sound as casual as the light breeze whispering across the sunny beach front. So, please forgive my 'feni' state of mind.  

For me, GoaFest started at about 30,000 ft on our flight from Mumbai. Just about everybody was on board. You could have had a panel discussion up there and it would probably have been more interesting than the one that followed at the Conclave at the Radisson hotel.  

Once we landed, I was bundled into one of the cars with Shekhar Swamy of RK Swamy BBDO. That was great, I'd never spoken to Shekhar before. Travelling alongside him was an eye opener and a learning. There were things he said about company philosophies and strategies that make me feel proud to be in the business. It was a great start to my trip. 

The first session at the conclave, however, was a so-so affair. Some big names on the panel. Subhash-ji of Zee, Raj Nayak of NDTV, Pramath Sinha of ABP and Prasoon Pandey of McCann. All brilliant achievers and visionaries. But they failed to move me or move my knowledge in any way.  

There were a few moments of light when Dr Pramath Sinha spoke about the parallels in the IT industry. But how do we get from 15K crores to 50K crores in 3 to 5 years, i didn't get a clue. May be i was too high on Goa, and too short of hearing.  

There was also a video clip from Sir Martin Sorrell. He was bullish about India and was absolutely confident about us achieving the kind of growth we were talking about.  

A significant part of this growth would come from non traditional media and advertising. He did raise some points about how lack of infrastructure and problems related to corruptions could slow down things a bit. But he was gun-go and fully charged about WPP in India.  

The party that followed on the beach was great fun. I drank a lot of feni and said things I shouldn't have. And I met a lot of happy people and a lot of people who looked at me curiously because I wear a half-nepali cap. 
 
The food was good and the fish were jumping, and I thought to myself, it's a wonderful world.

(Josy believes in the 'david' thing: "Think like the navy, deliver like the pirates")