I was scribbling in my last page of ITC classmate notebook in one Saturday evening after a heavy meal in the soft skill class. Skill technique sessions to MBA participants were feed in like corky medicine given to pregnants. students were concentrated in their own activities and some like me went on finding the opportunity cost of lakhs spent in MBA course.
ITC has taught me what loyal customer is like, most of the students (including me) prefer classmate notebooks, reasons other than 160 pages (26X32 CMS) were the design of the book and the tagline ‘let’s put India first’, contributing Rs.1 for each classmate notebook towards rural development and education, then the last page with cartoons and dialogues (a big relief, always helped to kill the time in boring sessions).
There were books with same tags , even same dialogues, cartoons sometimes better than that .especially handcrafted by people from ‘kunnamkulam’ in thrissur district. But since my graduation days, I am a loyal customer to ITC classmate Notebooks and since then it was ‘inspiring my young mind’.
You should see the big kind heart in me that around five years I am delighted with ITC product and giving my handsome share in poor Indians education.
On the other part Indian youth (excluding me) are again delighted with ITC product, this time neither the design nor the marketing techniques, the product itself. A good portion of the total income of Indian youth (income from parents) was directed towards ITC cigarettes for smoking. Unbelievable truth, mobile and gf‘s are only the second choice. Indian students budgeted again and again in each petrol hike to make their spending in a balance. There will be no wonder if sharukh endorsed ITC sunfeast for couple of cigarette packets that is the kind of relation that ITC and sharukh is having. Truly inspiring ITC may come up with some nicotine replacement therapies (some year after, may be after finding a good income substitute) as a part of their social activity initiatives…….till then we can inspire young minds... atleast by reducing the number of cigars..
anzar siraj Mohammed
getanzar@gmail.com
