Chapter 27

Arjun and Neel were in the canteen and having a coffee after the class. Udhi walked in.

“Have you submitted your project report” Arjun asked as Udhi joined them at their table with a coffee.

“ Oh yes. I spent the whole night on it” Udhi replied

“I thought you had finished your report and submitted to the company. In that case you have to only submit a copy to the college. Isn’t it?” Neel asked

“You don’t know Neel. Udhi is a smart cookie. He has submitted to the client one version of the report that would suit their preference rather that they would like. Then he also knows the psyche of our professor. So he would have changed the packaging of the report to suit the style of the professor, added client’s certification, a few photos of him getting recognized by the CEO of client, some interesting snaps from the field and so on. Didn’t you Udhi” Arjun commented with a wink

“You know me so well. So how can I deny. Yes I spent some time in packaging for our profs. Guys, in this world it doesn’t matter what shit you are peddling so long as you package it well” He replied with a wild laugh.

“I should have taken you help for my report too” Arjun said

“You could have. You always undersell yourself believing that the other guy would be able to discern the quality of the stuff you give and give you credit for it. Most of the time, the guy on the other side can’t appreciate the inherent quality and get influenced by the noise you make and the appearance. And then you will not get what you deserve. Mark my word, this approach will always will come in the way of your achievements. And you will live to regret it” Udhi proclaimed philosophically

“In the long run I am sure relevant people will realize and recognize” Arjun replied defiantly

“As Keynes observed ‘In the long run we are all dead.’”  Udhi gestured a double quote sign and smiled.

“Udhi you owe us your stories of your South East Asian sojourn for your project and what excitement you had beyond your project” Neel came to more exciting topics for the evening.

“Udhi has been lucky with his summer project. First of all he got selected by Insight a boutique market research firm headquartered in Singapore with operations across SE Asia. He lands up in Singapore and then he was sent to Indonesia, the hidden paradise of SE Asia,  for two months for his project. What more can one expect. Udhi you have to tell us what you did there. Of course we are interested to know about your official project. But equally or more interested in your extra- curricular activities” Arjun tipped in.

“I can’t complain about my summer” Udhi replied with an impish smile

“The project was very interesting. As you are aware SE Asia is really booming. Every multi-national company is either there or is trying to get in. The ones already there are expanding their operations and others are trying to get in. Insight has O&H the large MN consumer nondurable company as their client. O&H has a brand of Sanitary Napkins. They are planning to launch this in Indonesia. They wanted to have a qualitative study undertaken in major cities of Indonesia to understand the critical factors that go into the buying decision of this product. Whether the users buy themselves or get some family members or maids to buy it for them, whether they specify the brand or leave it to the choice of the chemist, what their perceptions are about Value for Money and so on.”

“Wa wa. You get to do MR on Sanitary Napkins. Quite amusing” Neel commented

“The head of Qualitative Research asked me to handle Focus Group discussions in Indonesia. They had an office in Jakarta. I had to go to Jakarta stay there for two months and coordinate the FGD, validate the group selection and get the results compiled. We had to undertake the study in Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, and Yogyakarta. The output was to be used for developing their marketing strategy” Udhi was narrating the story.

“Initially I was a little hassled to discuss this with the Jakarta Insight team; especially because the team at Jakarta handling this consisted of mostly girls. Then I realised that they are not shy to discuss this at all. They were quite cool about it” Udhi continued

“We had Ten FGD each in each location. One was with college going girls, one each with young and senior working ladies, one each with young and old house wives. In each category we had separate group for upper and lower middle class women.” Udhi continued

“So you got an opportunity to interact 500 women to discuss what goes into their buying decision on Sanitary Napkins. Now you should be a pro on this and you can give advice to the girls here.” Arjun commented laughingly

“Imagine Udhi sitting with all girls and discussing merits of various brands of Sanitary Napkins. It is kind of cute” Neel added

“How did the study go?” Arjun asked

“Head of QR was happy with the work we managed. She asked me if I could do the presentation to the client. She made me sweat through the preparation. She really grilled me at every stage. To be honest she really helped me improve my presentation.”

“I am sure it was a great experience” Arjun said with all seriousness “I would have loved to have had an opportunity like that”

“What FGD on sanitary napkins?” Neel asked mischievously

“One tracked mind” Arjun retorted.

“Finally she allowed me to lead the presentation to the client. The client was very happy with our results and our presentation. At the end the head of QR offered me a job with Insight anytime”

“Not bad. I am impressed.” Neel said

“How was the stipend?” Neel asked

“The stipend was not bad; especially since I was posted in Indonesia which is a less expensive place than Singapore. Plus we had quite a lot of travel and the company took care of the stay and food. As the study results were good and the team gave a good feedback about me, I got an additional bonus of a 1000 US $ at the end”

“You have to treat us buddy” Arjun jumped in

“OK guys.”

“Now tell us what else you did”

“Ok I will. First you guys go and get some chips and cigarettes from the store. We will get out this café and go and have some fresh air and stimulating smoke. Udhi replied

Arjun got up and walked to the store. He was happy for Udhi for his wonderful experience. He got some potato chips and a packet of cigarettes. He walked back to the garden. There was a smile on his face thinking about the wild stories Udhi would come up with. He knew the stories would be mostly true but laced with some twists to make the story more exciting. But is surely is going to be fun

He saw Neel and Udhi waiting for him at the Garden. Raghav had also joined them.

“Here come our accompaniments for the story. Would have loved to have some beer too.” Neel said

“May be we could walk down to the “Bella bar” after some time” Udhi suggested

“Now time for stories” Neel was in a hurry