Meet my FMCG Buddy
Travails of travel through the hinterland


Met an ol' buddy of mine from B-school ... he a hot-shot (he likes to pretend so) business manager in a FMCG conglomerate .... me a hot-shot (so I like to pretend) business manager in an IT infrastrcuture company ...

We both came up with our own little travellers' tales ... his were more exciting ...
Imagine this scene at a seedy hotel in a sleepy town where the biggest revenue churner is the local temple ... (to add effect this town in now in Jharkhand, erstwhile south Bihar ... get the drift :)

He checks into the swankiest hotel in town (which in itself is not much to write home about) ... at around 10 in the night he asks for hot water (poor soul wanted to have a gargle .. sore throat et al ... and NO! no kettles in the room) ... calls back 1/2 hour later ... response that he gets -- "oh! yes ... I remember" ... hits the sack and dozes off ... getz up in the morning ... orders coffee... coffee arrives and with it our man from the hotel .... -- "Sir, it was you who had called twice last night for hot water ... I remember" :)) ...

I realized that of the holy grail(s) of any B-school campus -- I-banking and FMCG ... the latter certainly has itz share of roach-infested rooms, stinky carpets, outlandishly color-coordinated rooms (orange curtains, rug, towels, bed-sheets etc. :) and lotz more ...
I cant take a call on i-banking because I am yet to meet a hot-shot (or so they would like to pretend) i-banker friend/acquaintance/contact who would be completely honest and forthright with me ...

And hey! I appreciate the fact that my FMCG buddy was brutally honest about his predicament ... of course he had a rider to the whole situation ... "I am enjoying the challenge, man! ... this is #*$(#@ exciting stuff" ....


more exciting stories later... :)))