The Tossed Salad

at TTS, we have decided to do something every month. last month we had our first event (images and press coverage still to go up for which i have been a bit busy).

this month, National Entrepreneurship Network is celebrating a week dedicated to ‘Go Green’ and entrepreneurship. and we promote each and every aspect of lifestyle. couldn’t be a better time to launch the social initiative.

so we came up with GreenPune.org, primarily to promote the Green Lifestyle. we shall cover what steps the govt, corporates and individuals in Pune are taking to make the city a better place to live at the same time greener and compare & implement green activities happening across India and the globe.

looking forward to your support. cheers guys.

On the eve of completing 6 months, TTS is organizing an event called ‘Zivotni’, which means life the Czech Rep, on the 25th Jan (sunday) tentatively. In the hope of promoting lifestyle, 3 sessions have chalked out where a food+wine session, book reading+panel discussion session and a rock band performance will happen in 3 diff spheres of lifestyle.

Event Hightlights:

• Confirmed presence by Samir Karnik (bollywood director of heroes, nanhe jaisalmer fame) and Vatsal Seth (actor of just mohabattein and tarzan fame) are in place. Samir Karnik will also be showing an exclusive clipping from his next movie Roshan featuring Bobby Deol.

We are in talks with more guests about the same. Passes for the full-day event shall be available for free from mid-jan.

Also a re-designed site shall see the light on the completion of 6 months.

It was a simple evening over a Lays Cream and Onion big packet, curd and one Thums Up which triggered our energy emotions to such an extent that we decided that it is about time that the then-to-be-launched magazine got its name.

First job was to decide as to what will be the content of the magazine all the ideas which came up in the brain storming session was quickly jotted down in an now-lost A4 sheet and the whole process was so mind-boggling!

We came up with the most innovative as well as the silliest of ideas and it was surprising how in a matter of 20 minutes there wasn’t even a centimeter of space left without a pencil mark.

Once the content was decided, we jumped to deciding names for the magazine -

1. Kaleidoscope - A kaleidoscope is a tube of mirrors containing loose colored beads and pebbles or other small colored objects. The viewer looks in one end and light enters the other end, reflecting off the mirrors creating a juxtaposition of colours. (sahil came up with this name…..was rejected because it was sounding too cliched then).

2. Terrra cotta - Terra cotta (Italian: “baked earth”) is a ceramic. Its uses include vessels, water & waste water pipes and surface embellishment in building construction, along with sculptures. (sahil again…..the name was rejected because it was more appropriate for a sculpture shop)

3. Mauve - Mauve is a pale lavender – lilac color; one of the many in the rangeur of purples. (sahil again! he was probably influenced with the Mauve nightclub in KP, pune. Anyways, this one was rejected because I am sure the Poonawalas would have sued us then

4. The Tossed Salad – instant hit! the name was given by me after all!!! attitude!

Anyways there was a rough survey kind of a thing which was held in which we asked friends around to choose from the four given above. Many said that the name seemed to be too big but then that was the only URL available and so we stuck to it. And by the way, people did appreciate the innovativity which lies behind the name.

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to
you..  This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the
comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your
life.

I  am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is
truly elated.  The first day in college is one of them.  When you were getting
ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be
like, what  would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so
much to  be  curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that
makes you  feel  truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the
spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the
time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old
twin boys  have  a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on
the bed.  They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy
gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several
months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I  see  students  like  you, and I still Read the rest of this entry »

Last week Symbiosis Institute of Business Management hosted Endeavour 2008 – The Entreprenuership Meet. It was a 2 day event (14th & 15th Nov) and I wouldn’t say that it was organised to the most.

Just the evening before the meet, I was running helter-skelter just to give one of the organisers the poster of TTS so that we get the right visibility from the beginning of the meet but what surprised me when I reached the venue late next afternoon was the fact that our banner was still not put up. And just the evening before I walked down almost a kilometer in 3 minutes sharp just to hand over the poster to them. The Tossed Salad poster was finally put up at 3 pm on the first day, time at which half the day was already over. Needless to say but people did find the name interesting and innovative. Gee! I am smiling!

All the SIBM students looked so sophisticated with the females in their neatly pinned sarees and the men in their suits  that it was difficult for my eyes to bear. Needless to say that it was only the SIBMians who got the ‘opportunity’ to ask the speakers their questions. ‘Preference’ would be the right word as it was upto the SIBM volunteers to pass on the mike to the audience, 98% of which were SIBM students itself.

The second day of the event started way beyond the decided time due to which half of the things which was mentioned on the schedule was skipped. IST – Indian Strechable Time. TTS got a 8-10 minute pitch which was supposed to be held at around 1 but suddenly just at 5 minutes to 12, we were informed that it was rescheduled at 12 due to which there was some more running around we had to do.

As soon as Sahil completed his not so prepared speech of 10 minutes promoting TTS, people came up congratualting and asking for more details. With added emphasis, the Volunteers who refused to hand over the mike to non SIBM students during the Q&A rounds, did hand over it to us as soon as we asked for it. Hmmm…so basically visibility and knowledge of certain things does give you added privileges.

What impressed me the most for the Mess Food which is free for anyone other than the SIBM, SITM amd SIMC students, who wishes to eat there. The food was yum and the dal reminded me of my MAYO days.

All in all it was a not so good-not so bad experience. As it was the first time SIBMians to host such an event, their faults can be considered but because they are considered to be one of the top 10 B-schools in India some amount of prefessionalism was definitely required in their attitude, after all it’s not only about wearing appropriate clothings for an occassion.

The Tossed Salad as we dearly know it, is Founder, Sahil Khan’s baby.

I remember when he had conceived the idea and what he went through till its birth. It was more like a woman giving birth to her first child; only that it happened in 1/3 of the time (read 3 months).

He started off with projectGRAY (before TTS got its name) with a PPT to convince people as to why they should join the concern for their own benefit. With less than 10 people to listen to what he had to say in a small classroom is a pretty rough start. You do expect many more to turn up and when they don’t, it is unnerving, discouraging and disheartening. In spite of the  turnout, Sahil stuck to his  decision to give birth to his baby.

I have been a distant on looker during the whole time – from being conceived to its birth – and the whole thing has given more labour pains and any real child would. From gathering writers, editors, designing the baby, encouraging readers and more than anything convincing them as to why they should write even if there is no pay.

Its birth took place on an eventful day in July 2008 in SCMHRD, Pune and no one would have been happy than its mother that day. Even though it doesn’t help Sahil to earn even a single penny, he has made working for TTS worthwhile because for a change in this money hungry life, one should do something which one likes, more so enjoys doing and hence learning from one’s experience as well.

here are our regulars

rijoy bhaumik

ashwin mehendale

vedabrata basu

amanjit khanna

varsha lakhani

shohini sengupta

saiyona ghosh (keeps trying her hand at writing too…)

sahil khan (ya, dats me…i wish i was actually a taster…dipping my fingers n tongue into delicacies…)

we would also like to welcome Mohini Bishnoi, Swati Jain and Ashwini Dayal to the team. congrats.