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Numb


As a researcher, one needs to know the pulse of the market. One supposedly has to be thorough with the product understanding, category knowledge and has to have a grip over the territory for which he works. In my short stint as a researcher, I have worked across categories and geographies. Some projects are exciting while others are routine (read boring). For some projects you would not hesitate to put in demanding hours while others are more out of compulsions. One facet which is really important is that one has to keep aside his / her apprehensions in order to produce terrific insights (ahem!!). This short post was written by me long back when I was assigned my first tobacco related project. It reflects the emotions which are true even now but as I say we are only researchers – Our job is to observe and analyze and nothing else.   

I am sitting along with a pile of cigarette packs (No they are not empty. With a mindboggling number of 240 they are staring at me with a wistful smile. What an irony that I have never even lighted one of their occupants in my life time… sigh…). It is not that I have not been in the company of Mr. Cigarette in my life. Many of my friends have already made the choice of giving the title of ‘best buddy’ to Mr. Cigarette and thus being their friend I have a little acquaintance with Mr. Cigarette. I have seen the positive impact that Mr. Cigarette has brought to many lives it has touched upon. He brings in passion, joy and ecstasy to their life. He provides them with the ‘kick’ required by them to think and deliver. He is a master craftsman who moulds anyone in his company to be a ‘winner’. Once impressed by his supreme craft, I tried to find out his background. And that search was a revelation: he has been best friends with two prolific figures of human existence: cancer and death. They have conspired together to bring about changes in demographics and have been responsible for maintaining a check on the ‘overload’ of humans on mother Earth. They are doing their best for the cause.  

Why am I writing this? Because it is an amazing feeling to realize that you have finally cracked the code. Mr. Cigarette and his best buddies survived all onslaughts from their adversaries just because of the fact that humans need livelihood in today’s world to survive. One man’s livelihood becomes the means of death for another. So, here am I sitting with a pile of cigarettes numbed by the fact that I will be building my career partly based on the support from Mr. Cigarette. Sadly, I have become so numb that I could not feel a sense of guilt or regret. 

P.S: With not enough time to write a new post, I thought I would share this with you guys.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Dada ganda hai per dhandha hai ye!

PS: Intentionally not revealing my identity here but m sure u know it when u read the comment :)
9:50 PM
Manish Gulati said…
Mr. Cigarette !! Dude ... you ought to start going commercial on children's comic books
12:02 AM
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