Women are increasingly dominating the corporate world and gradually taking over the reins from men at the workplace, which is indeed a healthy trend. According to experts, they are doing exceedingly well! In fact, gone are those days when having a female ‘boss’ was considered an oddity. As is evident, more and more women are leading the charge in every sphere of life.

There was a time when men felt apprehensive of their being pushed to the sidelines, but this perception has changed with the greater acceptance of the women march into the professional arena. Along with the changed scenario, the context of corporate gifting has changed too. Just to elaborate, there are certain unspoken rules or norms for gifting a female boss simply because women are different from men.

One doesn’t necessarily have to give them anything that is gender-based; the defining aspect is the utility of a gift. For instance, consider a classy leather purse that has more compartments. Women like to compartmentalize everything and have a special place for their lipstick, pens and hand sanitizer. So go for a sleek handbag that packs a punch.

On eve of her birthday politely ask your female colleague/ boss what kind of tastes they have and the kind of hobbies they pursue. Surf the net for new trends and buy an appropriate present accordingly. There are many snazzy options to select from as leading brands aptly ‘feminize’ their products.

Decorative objects and works of art with women-centric themes can also be a great idea. Something like a personalized coffee mug, white tea for health, flower infusions for relaxation, flavored teas, aromas and perfumes for the trend-conscious will also be perfect. Tall elegant floor vases for her office cabin will also a good gift.

Bookmark to:

Gifting can prove to be an effective public relations strategy, if employed creatively, even refusing it, at times. Though you have decided not to accept a gift, make sure that the person knows the reason for your doing so. This will avoid any misunderstanding. In case, you are thinking to decline a gift, do so in a courteous manner. Here’s why and how:

• Accepting overly generous gifts is not usually the proper thing to do. And if there are certain unavoidable circumstances under which a gift needs to be returned, there is a way to do it. For example, write a tactful note to the person acknowledging his or her gesture even while refusing it politely.
• If receiving a costly gift makes you feel uncomfortable or you think it can cause a potential damage to a business relationship, it is correct to refuse the gift. Doing so is perfectly acceptable. Accepting gifts as favor from clients is among the most sensible things to do. Refusing generous giving, however, must be done in a respectful way.
• Approach your ‘generous giver’ in person. If the person might feel offended, try to sooth his or her frayed nerves by writing a letter. Thank the giver for his or her gift. Though you are refusing it, still thank the person for the kind gesture.
• Explain carefully your position to convey why you are refusing the gift. If it is your company policy to not to accept expensive gifts, have a copy of the same on hand or incorporate that part of your company policy statement in your letter.
• Express your regret in a genuine manner for refusing the gift. This is important if you need to maintain a continued business relationship with the person so the latter does not feel awkward.

Bookmark to:

Artists belonging to the new-age, dynamic India, greatly influenced by global developments in contemporary art thanks to greater exposure to the international art world, now work in a diverse range genres, styles, subjects and mediums. Their works are worth collecting:

T.M. Azis: His work is figurative in nature. The paintings may revolve around what might be outwardly ordinary, everyday occurrences, deeply contemplated over.

Samit Das: Space or rather lack of it in the burgeoning cities is his primary artistic concern which he expresses through his visuals loaded with metaphors.

Murali Cheeroth: His involvement with theatre coupled with continuing interest in cinema helps him in presenting his images through dramatic ambiance for an unusual perspective.

Hindol Brahmbhatt: He treats his work as a documentation of historical reality in contemporary context, and looks for clues of social changes.

Nitish Bhattacharjee: His work is a documentation of his memories, his impressions, and perceptions of his surroundings.

Sudarshan Shetty:  He takes apart ubiquitous objects without dismantling them, and decodes them, by revealing their inherent mechanical being.

Bharti Kher: Her practice revolves around pangs of dislocation and transience, involving an autobiographical examination of identity.

Reena Saini Kallat: She is known to be deeply influenced by the never-ending cycle of life and nature, as well as the extremely fragile nature of the human condition.

Anju Dodiya: The self is often at the center of her work that explores various possibilities within it. Her practice is rooted in the figurative.

Rekha Rodwittiya: Her female protagonists are often elevated to iconic proportions. They can simultaneously occupy multiple avatars.

Navjot Altaf: Known for her multimedia work, largely interactive sculpture, photo and video based installations, she tackles varied themes of gender/memory/ history and loss.

Nalini Malani: Her artistic world, largely constituted by visible overlays, is fluid with everything in a constant state of metamorphosis.

Anita Dube: Her aesthetic language incorporates ubiquitous objects, everyday materials and images that together resonate with a meaning far beyond perceived local and prosaic associations.

Chitra Ganesh: While firmly rooted in a Western, postmodern discourse, the artist’s cultural references let her convey the principle of a multiplicity as a spirit, which draws together, and not breaks apart.

Bookmark to:

With the sun just rising on the horizon of the Indian art world, it’s time to soak into the creative journey of emerging talent! We provide you a glimpse of some of the most promising artists from India, bound to be in limelight in the coming years…

Highly talented contemporary Indian artists have attained appreciation and applause on the international art scene for their propensity to express current concerns through quaint and recognizable motifs. In this context, the fascinating works by our female artists deserve a special and separate mention.

Here are some of the noteworthy female artists who have won the nod of collectors and critics…

Jayashree Chakravarty: For this sensitive artist, painting is a process and means of making sense of the chaos around her.
Mithu Sen: Known for unconventional themes and forms, she represents the new wave of talent in contemporary Indian art. She puts to use a wide range of media.

Schandra Singh: She mostly works in the medium of oil and gouache, touches upon shared social and political realities.
Meetali Singh: According to the artist, she treads a fine territory between real-life emotions and sheer imagination. Hence the images are surreal, dreamy in nature.

Heeral Trivedi: Looking at history and connecting past histories with present, the artist looks to draw parallels among women in different eras.

Anu Agarwal: Bold lines, stark contours and fantastic female forms are the hallmarks of her oeuvre.

Jignasa Doshi: She focuses on the showbiz for depicting the increasing showiness and shallowness, as she terms it, under the garb of sophistication.

Suhasini Kejriwal: At first casual glance, her beautiful works -tend to camouflage the more disturbing view one begins to notice after further analyzing it. Startling juxtapositions and unconscious associations, which transcend habitual thinking to reveal deeper alternate levels of meaning, emerge.

Sonia Mehra Chawla: Her work encapsulates and inculcates the ever-fluid essence of the organic. The ambiguous, hybrid forms often suggest the generative and the sensuous.

Parvathi Nayar: Her practice largely revolves around drawing and painting; conceptually it is rooted in ideas of narrative, at different ways of looking, perceiving and the privileging of sight.

Bookmark to:

It may be that one of your friends or family members have burnt their fingers in the stock market meltdown. Can you provide them with some succor? Do you want to suggest them an alternative avenue to park their hard-earned money to safeguard and grow it? Is there a way to assured wealth building in these uncertain times? Well, you need not harangue them on risk-free investing.

What you need do is just buy a nice piece of art, and gift it to them. It’s bound to fascinate them. Then draw their attention to the fact that many high net worth individuals and non resident Indians are putting their money in art! Here are some artists to consider:

Chintan Upadhyay: He often explores the iconography of Pop to convey his subject matter. His paintings carry references from media, advertisements, Bollywood and even the traditional miniature paintings.

Baiju Parthan: His fascination for technology, blended with his passion for mythology is palpable in his practice. The artist views them as symbiotic, as he thinks both mythology and technology feed off each other.

Riyas Komu: His oeuvre refers to the paradoxes of the urban situation that he paints with cynicism and compassion. The artist strives to archive the times, as well as reflect our immediate concerns – both localized and globalized.

Jagannath Panda: In his Panda’s work, a routine event or any commonplace object gets imparted with symbolic stature that is oriented to represent collective aspirations or sometimes rigid dogmas.

T.V. Santhosh: Drawing on images and news reports from the media, he combines pointed text and repetitive sculptural forms to make a statement on both the persistent nature of violence and the way it gradually becomes the norm, through recurrence.

Sunil Gawde: His tools often include sophisticated paint materials and implements like trowels and scrapers for achieving a layered depth in his pigments. This results in textured surfaces - dynamic and dramatic in nature.

D Ebenezer Sunder Singh: The paintings of Paul Cézanne and his principles of Art influenced me immensely. The human figures (the central element of his pictures) shift time and space to locate the psychological characteristics and the principles of life.

Bookmark to:

Below are the vital factors that are extremely essential for chalking out a corporate gift program:

1. Determine your budget first to get a clear understanding of your corporate gift program. Once you set your budget and scope, next you should define the exact purpose of giveaways.  This will depend on what domain you are and your end user.  Your budget will though, will largely dictate how much you should allocate for the gifting program.
2. When deciding how much to spend, key thing to take into account is the intrinsic value of your business relationship. Based on it, you should make sure you give an ‘appropriate’ gift. Also, consider specific guidelines of that corporate entity and industry. You would never want it to appear as a favor.
3. Just reverse the roles. What if you receive an over-expensive gift? Talk to the giver in person if you think that the gift is too costly, too personal or not really suitable to the occasion or the relationship you share with the person. However, never discuss these things in public with the person concerned.
4. Corporate gifts can serve various roles like Thank You gifts for clients and colleagues; motivational gifts; recognition gifts for employees; new client acquisition; retention of business clients; building brand awareness; promotional products; holiday gifts for clients; trade show giveaways; premiums incentives and incentive programs; award programs; advertising specialties; service and safety awards; and general purpose business gifts and awards.
5. One discreet way to place your logo is leather portfolios. It is normally de-bossed on the cover. Some people prefer to customize with the recipients initials. If you believe you have selected a gift that will make a lasting impression on the recipient, there is absolutely no need to place your logo on the gift. The person will remember you by the gorgeous gift itself.  Also work out how you will distribute it - in person or by courier mail.

In other words, sourcing, packaging and dispatching the gifts demand an on-time and high quality solution providers to manage the specialized gifting related tasks on continual basis.

Bookmark to:

Nearly eight in 10 Indians (77%) prefer Clothes, Sweets (including chocolates- 69 %) and Books (49%) as their preferred gifting items. Importantly, more than half of the people surveyed indicated they would shop online.

Following are the broad findings of a survey conducted by Nielsen India on gifting patterns research panel.

• Differences are there across different age groups in terms of gifting items, budgets and shopping channels.

• Sweets, Clothes and Books are universally popular, but more so with the mature group aged 45 and above

• The younger crowd (15-24 years) prefers to gift technology gadgets such as mobile phones and MP3 players.

• Holidays (travel and accommodation), travel tickets and tickets to amusement parks are popular new-age gift ideas.

• About 20 percent would like to give wine as a gift.

• More than half of the people surveyed indicated they would shop online.

According to N. S. Muthukumaran, Director, Online Panel, the Nielsen Company, India, the technology that has entered our lives in the last 10 years is deeply affecting young people in their twenties who have grown up with it. He says, “To many, it is cool to be seen with the latest model of phone or music system and giving one as a present is in the same league, albeit a costly option for these young folks.”

Look for more findings of the survey indicating the habits and beliefs of Indians regarding gifting in the next blog posts…

Pic Source

Bookmark to:

Gifts with something inscribed, something engraved or a scrapbook can add a personal touch.

Gifts with something inscribed

Books can indeed be a thoughtful and very special gift, but inscriptions carry them to a whole new level of intimacy. Buy your buddy a new book of fiction (need not be romantic) that she or he has been always talking about and is craving to read. It can also be his or her favorite classic, a journal, or a coffee-table book, the subject matter does matter, but your inscription does make it special.

Something engraved

An obvious gift may not be on its own such an innovative idea, but there’s an easy method to take it even the simplest and commonest of gifts into an entirely ultimate romantic orbit by engraving! By branding a cell phone, bracelet or even a simple key chain with your feelings and emotions or simply with your initials, or a memorable day, you can send the message in a subtle way.

A personal scrapbook

Don’t think that we are suggesting you simply cut & paste some pictures into a scrapbook but this is definitely the wonderful way of preserving and rekindling romantic memories. It’s rather about as near to any home-made gift and isn’t it nice narrating the story of your romance or friendship with a personal scrapbook as gift.

Pic Source

Bookmark to: