What Would I Like To Be Remembered For?

Have you ever thought of leaving a mark in the world? After such a long time, I saw something that really touched and intrigued me – Seagrams 100 Pipers‘ commercial. This made me introspect about what I should be remembered for? The inner voice echoed the sentiments conveyed in the commercial viz. ‘Be Remembered For Good’. The goodness you bring out in others, the goodness you want to spread through your writing, the smiles you can spread on the faces of others with your stories and characters. That motivated me to give wings to my new character Alfie (from my upcoming novel – Alfie The Elf) who is a 14-year-old midget and is one of the closest characters I have given life to.

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To give you a heads up about the book and character of Alfie, let me tell you he does not have a great life. He is an orphan and he is a midget due to which he gets ridiculed and taunted every day by everyone around him, and after few failed attempts to increase his height, he writes to Santa to fulfill his wish. When his wish is not fulfilled by Santa on a Christmas Day, he goes out in search of Santa along with his two friends Bullet – a pug and Pedro – an Owl to demand a reason for not fulfilling his wish. On his journey, he meets a lot many mythical creatures like the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, a Snowman and an evil wizard hell-bent on becoming the master of the Universe. Through his innocence and lovely demeanor he is able to spread joy to everyone he meets in the journey.

Source: blog.celoxis.com
Source: blog.celoxis.com

It made me think if Alfie as a character brings joy to so many characters he meets in my story, why not extend that to real life kids too who are like him – orphan and underprivileged. Therefore, I decided to come up with a Trust named – Alfie For Kids where I will be donating the entire proceeds from the sale of Alfie series which could be used for the benefit of educating and upkeep of underprivileged kids.

When I look back and see, great authors like Enid Blyton, Jane Austin or near home Ruskin Bond and R K Narayan. These great legends are remembered for their characters viz. The Famous Five kids, Rusty, Swami, Elizabeth Bennet or Mr. Darcy, etc. Like them and every other author and storyteller in this world, even I want to be remembered for my stories and characters. However, now I want to go beyond and do something for the world. Something that my character Alfie and his friends in the story believes in doing. So this Christmas season when my new book gets released and Alfie comes knocking at your door, welcome him to your life and give him your love and appreciate him for the cause he stands for. As, with every sale of the book, he will get more power and magic to fulfill the wishes of any underprivileged kid in this world. This will not only help Alfie and the kids but will also give me a reason to smile as somewhere in time, I might be remembered for the good cause I was associated with through my character Alfie.

PS: Let me share the video that inspired me to ‘Be Remembered For Good’

Urban Clap A Fraudster!

Dear #UrbanClap you sent your technician to repair my refrigerator and without checking the compressor your technician cut the pipes which voided my warranty for the compressor. The company charged me Rs.2400/- for your technician’s mistake for gas filling which would have been free if the warranty was not voided. When I call you up, asking you to pay the money (as you have put it up on your website about damage insurance worth Rs.5000/-) your representative tells me that you will only pay Rs.500/-. How justified is it and why do you mislead poor customers like me with your PROMISE tab…?

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Screenshot from Urban Clap website about Rs.5000/- worth damages being covered.

Furlenco & TVF Join Hands To Deliver The Most Hilarious Infomercial!

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Furlenco, India’s first and largest online furniture rental company revealed the first look of its infomercial  — Truth or Dare with Dad — in association with web series pioneer, TVF (The Viral Fever), a popular digital content platform, at Pune’s Hard Rock Café on 15th April 2016. The furniture rental giant also announced its expansion plans in the city amidst a mixed audience including media, first few customers of Furlenco from Pune, TVF Team, Furlenco exec team, Members from Lightbox Venture Capital team and many more.

Truth or Dare with Dad is a hilarious sketch between father and son…and friend, as they go through a grueling fun game of Truth or Dare.  Starring everyone’s favorite from the TVF team, Jitendra Kumar (lovingly known as Jeetu!) enjoy the infomercial as Jeetu teaches his Dad the game and learns many a new thing along the way!

Truth or Dare with Dad is written by Chandan Kumar and directed by Raghav Subbu from Team TVF.

Based out of Bangalore, Furlenco was established in the year 2012, followed by its Mumbai launch in October 2015 with the purpose of elevating the living standards of urban aspirers who often end up compromising on their need for a good-looking home due to lack of desirable and convenient solutions. Furlenco gives them access to premium and aspirational products which can be used for as long as it is required, without investing heavily in buying it. After beautifying 5000+ homes in Bangalore and Mumbai in the past one year, Furlenco made its grand entry into the Pune market riding on a campaign with Uber on 1st April. The Pune operations will coincide with launch of three new offerings  including a Chill Zone, Bachelor’s Pad and Sleepover. Customers can place their orders online at Furlenco and get free doorstep delivery and installations within a week. They can also swap furniture annually based on their needs.

Commenting on the launch, Ajith Mohan Karimpana, Founder and CEO of Furlenco said, “TVF is an immensely popular youth-centric digital content platform in our country, which boasts of more than 15,00,000 viewers. The idea of launching an infomercial with TVF came from a simple thought of introducing Furlenco to the youth of this city as well as all the other metropolitan cities, who are also our target group. We aim to make aspirations of Pune’s aspirers more accessible by providing premium designer furniture on rent. They can now Have Everything and Buy Nothing.”

Having pioneered the web series genre in India and created two very successful web series Permanent Roommates and Pitchers,  Arunabh Kumar, Founder & Creative Experiment Officer, The Viral Fever (TVF) says, “Furlenco has made lives of young working professionals simpler without burning a hole in their pockets. As the fan base of TVF is primarily the youth – this collaboration was really exciting for us.”

Added TVF’s Jitendra Kumar who stars in the infomercial and who was present at the teaser launch, “It’s a great concept and I must thank Furlenco for giving an opportunity to anyone and everyone to rent beautiful and aspirational pieces of furniture nicely put in as an experience. Now I do not get a cold feet, thinking of purchasing furniture as disposing them used to be a bigger challenge. With Furlenco I do not have to get tied down to my furniture and with the free swap facility I can get a beautiful looking home every year.”

The infomercial launch event was followed by cocktails and dinner.

From the living room to bedroom and dining, Furlenco makes furnishing a house quick, easy and affordable. Carefully designed & curated, Furlenco’s premium furniture packages come with exquisite soft furnishing, home decor and accessories on a monthly subscription fee. This Pune launch is a part of Furlenco’s nationwide expansion, which it will follow by setting up its operations across every tier 1 city in India. By reaching out to every urban Indian on the move, Furlenco envisions to create a successful global name in the rental furniture service category and provide a seamless rental experience to all its customers.

About Furlenco:
Furlenco, India’s first and largest online home furniture rental company makes furnishing a home quick, easy and affordable, a novel concept unheard of so far. Furlenco’s design process is user-inspired, allowing them to offer furniture that truly enhances customer’s lives. Apart from quick deliveries and free set-up, Furlenco also pairs every unit of furniture with matching home décor and soft furnishing, allowing you to furnish your entire home in one click.

The point to be noted here is that the infomercial within 3 days of it’s launch on TVF Play and YouTube connected largely with the youth and is one of the highest viewed and trending videos on YouTube today. Watch the infomercial below;