Namaskarams, Medium! 🙏🏽

All good things begin with genial salutations. Someone this past weekend asked me for three things a good host should accommodate when entertaining/inviting guests over. My take? A friendly greeting, a glass of water (or any other beverage depending on the time of the day), and a quick prep run-down on how your prospective guest is doing, so as to drive initial conversation. In my opinion, the last one is a critical move. It may involve rummaging through their Instagram profile, peeking their LinkedIn updates, or visiting the depths of your memory of when you last spent time with that person, and briefly listing touching upon what you remember of them. It helps your guest feel included and welcomed in the space, reassuring them that they in fact, have been in your thoughts. Can you do without the pre-reading on your guest? Yes. Is it the most disreputable approach to being a good host? Perhaps. But then again, we live in an information-filled world where every distraction is a distraction from something else. We’re forced to adapt our social approaches, right?

What am I getting at here?

There’s a saying in Hindu culture that goes “Athithi devo bhava” which translates to “the guest is equivalent to God”. In a contemporary world, filled with innumerable virtual interactions, the phrase has taken new meaning. People move around a lot, relationships feel like they’re becoming estranged and it’s hard to keep track of where everyone is. The least you could do is make yourself aware about someone’s life before seeing them again.

I spent four years in the U.S. as an undergrad student at Bard College, with a double degree in Economics & Theater & Performance. After which I moved home to work in Marketing for another four, and now, I’m back at school, doing what I love the most: Bridging Strategy with Creativity, a.k.a Marketing in 2021. I made friends who were once near, became far, and now, near again. A rekindling, if you will. And all this, multiplied by lots of personal + professional growth.

And now to my newest virtual family, Medium. I’m back in New York for grad school and I haven’t felt better. I’m here to be in touch. I’m here for your encouraging or comments. I’m here to answer your questions to the best of my abilities. I’m here to listen. My objective is to be a good host to you, through my knowledge of the Marketing world — new digital innovations, campaign reviews, emerging formats within digital marketing and strategy frameworks that are anchored to purposeful and impactful brand activations.

Here’s to looking forward!

Love, Satwik.