A Campaign, A Concert and lots of Confusion…

To all those who have been coming to my blog, waiting for the travelogue to continue and catching a glimpse of the Taj, I owe an apology – A big apology… sorry guys, the title kept me busy…

The title you ask? Yep, the title- actually two thirds of the title. A campaign and lotsa confusion. You see, I was working on this campaign since November. The preparations for the pilot began in early December and it was going to be rolled out in mid-January. Since I had done all that was needed to be done before taking off for the trip, I wasn’t worried about the campaign. But what I did not take into account was the great ppl here, who just can’t work unless there is an impossible deadline given to them. So, after the pilot (which was successful, btw) the ppl went off to sleep. It was after I came back, that ppl woke up and realized that pilot is not the end of a campaign! They need to move forward with the rest of the project and the deadline is, surprise surprise, end of Feb. And if the pilot took a month to roll out, the actual project which is twenty times in magnitude, needs at least three. Right? Wrong! We need to do it till end of Feb. And thus began the fight. Don’t even ask what constitutes the fight. But I must say, it is one hell of a job getting work done!

And the confusion? Well, am I under qualified for the job? I’m not too sure… I’ve been really confused about my career, and lately its even more… I enjoy the marketing field, but this is only the beginning…

So that’s the two thirds of the title that’s been keeping me really busy… And the remaining One Third? That was what I did on Saturday evening – the time that I had planned on completing the travelogue! Now now now… don’t get worked up guys. Tell me, what would you have done if you got two passes and half the Saturday off to see a Bryan Adams concert???

Well, I had asked for the passes, but didn’t expect them considering everyone who is anyone wanted the passes too. But thanks to Anna, my big boss’s secy I got not one, but two passes! That meant not only me, but my bro (who used to be this BIG Bryan Adams fan till he discovered metal) could go for the concert. Bless you Anna. This was the first concert, and we were quite enthu about it. I left office at two thirty on Saturday, went home, had lunch, changed and was off on the way to my colleague’s house to pick his wife. The plan was to take her and my bro to office where my entire team was. We would then leave together at four. At three we get the news that big boss has called for a meeting at three thirty, and even the most optimistic of us couldn’t imagine leaving at four. So we thought “We’ll leave at four thirty.” To cut a long story short, one group who could leave, left at five fifteen, and then we were stuck in traffic at every turn we took. So finally when we landed at the venue, it was nearly seven. There was good news and bad. The bad news was that the serpentine queue was over a kilometer long. And the good news was that the gates hadn’t opened yet! So we found our place in the queue, next to a group of firangs, one of whom was a Matt Damon look alike! He reminded me of just how much I used to like Matt Damon when I first saw The Rainmaker. But leaving that, Ocean’s Eleven and half of Bourne Supremacy, I haven’t seen any of his films. Not even Good Will Hunting – some fan huh!

Anyways, we were in queue for only about fifteen minutes, and the sound check sounds from inside the ground turned to music! What was happening? We could see one of the giant screens and realized that the opening band has started performing. Before we could react to that, everyone left, right and center started running forward. A gate crash! My colleague who had been predicting a stampede from the moment we left must’ve been scared (or delighted???) But bro and me ran to the front and finally managed to get places within decent distance from the stage. He wanted to go further ahead, but I am glad we didn’t. The loud noise during the concert would’ve killed me for sure! So while we waited for the rest of the team to join, the opening band performed. Bro says they were good, but the crowd apparently didn’t agree. They were making rude gestures and chanting slogans. Now I understand that they were all there to see Bryan Adams, but why they couldn’t be civil to local talent is what I’d like to ask. Whatever happened to tolerance? Anyways, after a couple of songs by them (We missed their name, coz we landed in after they had started performing) and a salsa to the beats of the new Lays Latino commercial, we saw the ads of all the sponsors. The crowd was getting kinda restless, and there he was… Suddenly Bryan Adams was on stage, and he was performing. If anyone was blinking at that moment, they must have felt he apparated!)

Now, I’m not much of an English music fan, but I have heard and liked Bryan Adam’s music. So I enjoyed the show. The highlights of the show were:

The anthem – Summer of 69, which he began with the words “If you don’t know this song, I don’t know where you’ve been”.

Heaven – during which he asked us to flash our mobile phones. When the camera panned the crowd, all the flashing screens looked beautiful in the dark.

Room service – He changed the lyrics of the song to work Indian dishes into it. There was Saag aloo, curry and Vindaloo – cute gimmick na?

One of the persons in the audience passed out, and Bryan asked the crowd to make way so that they could carry this person to the side. How many artists would bother?

When Bryan came into the audiences and shook hands, they just held on to them and finally lifted him above the crowd. The security guys must’ve had a near heart attack!

The guitaring by his lead guitarist Keith – that man’s fingers moved at the speed of light!

All the numbers he sang with his acoustic guitar. Gimme an acoustic anyday… it sounds so sweet, wonder why ppl bother with the electric!

The crowd… every number became a sing-a-long… It was fun to watch!

Bryan Adams doing a Sher aaya, Sher aaya – Said Goodbye thrice and came back to sing another number, before saying a final goodbye the fourth time.

And thus the concert ended at ten, and we made our way back to home…

The travelogue will made make a re-appearance, in a new avtaar… bas thoda sa intezaar!