The day has been a long one. With a backlog of sleep from last night — I watched a creepy reel and couldn’t fall asleep, plus an all-nighter ahead of me — there’s an important college presentation tomorrow. Club that no afternoon nap and tired eyes. Do I preach? No. Must I practice? Only way I know right now.

But before I go finish my college things, I must race against the clock and finish writing this post. So, here goes!

One. CSS will always have something to improve.

I outlined this post in the morning. And I wanted to talk about this realisation + learning I’ve had from putting together the first 8 episodes of C4E’s Spotlight Sessions so far. That each one will always have something doesn’t feel quite right. Things I could have easily done better. Like the titled logo, missing snacks, faulting on content planning, etal.

And that’s okay.

The idea is to look at those gaps and mistakes, pick the lessons and move on to the next things in life. The next event, other projects, whatever. There’s no point getting attached and dwelling and being bothered by it. Fail and move on.

Funnily, while recording The Adulting Podcast with Saurabh today — I asked him a question along the same lines. What have you learnt from your time being a globetrotting events guy? Now, I’ll ask you to go subscribe to our YouTube for the answers. The episode comes out tomorrow. But we talked about the same thing. But it was cool to have learnt the same lesson in my own Versova-trotting life. C4E gives you a lot like that.

Two. Human version of the White Mercedes effect.

A few days back Saurabh shared a video about the Pygmalion effect.

The Pygmalion effect is when people perform better because others expect them to. When someone believes in you and treats you like you’re capable, you’re more likely to succeed. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy where high expectations can actually help you improve and achieve more.

Here’s what I told him that day. Wanted to document:

“Dekha. And agree. Now I try to either insulate myself from disbelief or try to earn trust + support from non-believers. Perhaps tiny action points of whatever.

Also taught a few kids and worked with a few people in the past. If I’ve made my mind about certain people and their work/attitudes, they seem to keep offering validation through their actions. Like the human version of the White Mercedes effect.”

What I meant by the Mercedes Effect: “It’s easy to spot a yellow car when you’re always thinking of a yellow car,” which essentially means that when you focus on something specific, you’re more likely to notice it in your surroundings; it’s often used to illustrate the idea that your mindset shapes your perception of the world. (I often confuse concepts and ideas and theories like these. There’s no such thing as the White Mercedes effect.)

Three. Content making, time and creativity.

This morning, I also recorded 7-8 reels for Decoding Draupadi’s Instagram. This week’s content batch. It had been a while and I must say — I really enjoyed it. Today, we just cook up some permutations of trending music and formats and topics. Some day, I would like to spend a little more time with it, play around, be a little more creative.

What we do right now is pretty efficient. And when done consistently, it has proven to be effective. So I won’t indulge into my creative pursuits. Not right now. Also, the idea is to build great distribution. And all this effort is in service to that. Not just being a mere somebody who makes mindless videos on the Internet.

But one day. Some day. For a little bit. I’ll dream :p

Four. Muskura le happydent ad.

10 years ago, Perfetti made The Palace commercial for Happydent. The one with the muskura le jingle. I remember watching it on TV and being thoroughly amused. You know the one where they live in lightless kingdom and there are people doing Malkhamb poses who chew on these gums and their teeth light up. And et voila — it’s a shiny, shiny city. I did a shoddy job trying to explain it, go watch.

In my Marketing Analytics class today, we revisited it today. I learnt how it made ripples in the mad ad-world. I’d seen it as a consumer then. I studied it as a marketer now. The professor even showed us the making of it. And oh — you really must watch it.

This one. And the series of Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola. And the Aamir Khan + Aish in the Pepsi ad. And others from the golden ages.

And you know what — in my childhood, these ads had captured my imagination. When I thought I wanted to live the ad-woman life, I’d pictured myself working on things like these. Not sure if anyone is doing this kind of work today. Sure, there are a lot more better things going on. But something about the not-so-connected world and no Instagram marketing and TVCs being the biggest thing and genuinely great marketing is pretty charming.

Six. Micro-thoughts from the day.

1. My greatest joy from the day is lifting heavier weights than usual at the gym. Had been pestering my trainer for the last two weeks to let me do more but he’d say no. Today, he just handed them to me.
2. Had two and half hours of break time between lectures today. From what I can tell, this will be like this for the rest of the semester. I’m sure I’ll find some productive use of this time. But today, I went on a breakfast date. Got pancakes and hash-browns and sausages and things.
3. I really like going to the beach. Watched the sunset after a long time today. The winds were good. Felt like summer. Yes, it’s a nod to Calvin Harris. Oh and while we’re talking of summer — I took three showers today. Not the fun part of summer, but it’s coming.
4. While preparing for a college presentation tomorrow, showed the How To Start A Revolution video to friends from class. And they found it so interesting. Wish I could go back in time and watch it again for the first time. Anyhow, extremely thankful to Saurabh for all the cool TILs he’s shown me.
5. In my VFX class, they were teaching us how to do the masking effect in AE. I couldn’t figure how. So I gave up. Spent some time working on an interview questionnaire instead. How I wish I had a funky video to link here. But okay.
6. Aakash had invited C4E folks for lunch today. Could not make it. Long and busy day. So he super kindly Swiggy Genie-d some of it over. Chicken curry and matar pulao. Both my favourites. And it was the yummiest. The chicken had a whole garlic in it — just the way I like it. When I was not very keen on non-veg, Grandma would make the garlic curry for me. Missed that. Thanks, Aakash!
7. Oh, I borrowed JioHotstar from someone to watch Modern Family while I finish dinner. I’m afraid I might be hooked. It’s refreshing compared to my usual Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girl things.

This is all from this day. I shall now retire to a power nap. And then, get going!

Adios. More tomorrow!