India Inc.

Last Wednesday, the morning started like any other morning for me in the Haight – the front room of Lauren and Sean’s place, aka my temporary bedroom, was slightly filled with the California morning light and the soft soundtrack of the occasional pedestrian or motor vehicle passing by played in the white air - except a few things were different. There were anxious butterflies in my stomach and bit of artificial haze in my mind. The first stemmed from the ensuing AM activities that I would embark on before the clock struck 9am, and the second being the pleasant reminder of the night before, the US launch party of the FAIR Vodka - the world's first fair trade certified spirits company. I had been invited by Danny, the sharp witted, dead pan humoured Brand Ambassador of the Parisian brand I had met through a string of the usual 2 degrees of SF separation, and met the lovely French creator of the vodka, Alex, and his lovely photographer girlfriend whose pics are here...

And yes, I was there hocking Purity juice too...

But even the morning after giggles of sweet cocktails from the night before could not stop the rebel excitement that found its may to my core - It was Day 1 of the two week "What is Janum?" campaign. As the warm sun was rising in the East, my business partner Jules, whose living in the Mission, and myself, living in The Haight, hit the streets of our 'hoods marking the sidewalks with the hopefully-curiosity-inducing slogan "What is Janum.com?" with white sidewalk chalk. The intended next action would be:

a) spark conversation between friends, bus stop waitees, businesses and neighbours

b) drive people online to find out more and wind up @ our FB page for a 2 week puzzle chase of random video clues to keep them intrigued until the beg reveal on September 15...

Being the techie bubble that is San Francisco and the Bay area, the natural inclination to Google or Wiki even before the question is asked, we hoped people would pop online, and search "Janum" to find us at Janum.com or facebook.com/janumofficial.

So that morning when I woke up before my alarm, excitement of this new (ad)venture could not keep me under the covers. I threw on my imitation yellow Ray-Ban Wayfay sunglasses to brace my red eyes from the morning glare, (and avoid eye contact as I began this graffiti with training wheels adventure) and headed out with a box of chalk and a kick in my step. Here's what happened...

I got as far as Buena Vista Park, (about 10 blocks from where I started) and having marked at least 25-30 spots on just one side, I turned around to do the other side. At the same time, I had started to notice an increase in cop cars, even for the Haight. I paused and went into a Tibetan/Indian/Asian trinket shop which beckoned me in - a very light preview of the weeks to come perhaps...

For just a few moments, I lost myself in the colours, textures, scents and mystery of the space. The small shop attendance was sharing a breakfast of fresh fruit, iced water with cucumber and nuts with 2 others who sat happily by the entrace of the shop, enrobbed in soft, breezy fabrics and calming smiles. Those smiles lifted my heart a little as i left to continue the Janum-ify the neighbourhood; although as the frequency of police presence grew, I skipped a block or two as I kept my eye out around me. Then I saw the mother load - about 5-6 policemen, and a cop car, all hovering around one block on the other side of the road where I had been not more than 20 minutes prior. It was a block that was dense with "What is Janum.com?" markings and they were all trolling around the area, looking down at the pavement then looking around - most likely for the hoodlum who was doing such an act of start-up madness...Excellent.

I arrived back home feeling energized and even more excited that something had gotten noticed. I picked up my camera to document the morning, headed back to Coffee to the People on Haight Street with my laptop in toe, and a couple bucks for a ice coffee with soy - yes it was even that hot that an iced coffee was in order...

This scene is much more familiar, a reality of my time in SF: Wednesdays @ coffee shops with myself, a caffeinated beverage of sorts and the company of a fellow young, eager and ambitious soul: Julian. Julian, a baby of the 1980's, was born in Holland, raised in England, is of Indian heritage, went to school in the Us and currently resides also, where else, but The Mission, SF. We met in June at Sustainable Brands - the catalyst conference I attended in Monterey about environmental sustainability which was really the tipping point for my residence in San Francisco. Julian had started Janum last year and was knee deep in start-up territory - but lacking a full marketing resource and extra set of hands to help bring Janum to life and give it a running start in the market. After an extended convo in the conference staff party on the last night of the conference, we exchanged cards and said would be in touch.

And we were, and have been since mid June, meeting every Wednesday for work sessions, marketing planning, brainstorming session, product planning and general life catch-up. In early July, Julian told me about his trip in September to India to visit the production plants, organic growers and finalize all the aspects of the supply chain including the product, packaging, shipping and logistics to Kerala, the South Western state in India. My interest was piqued..very piqued.

Since then, we've worked together to put together an intensely detailed marketing plan including the What is Janum? campaign and a strong social media plan laid out. What's also been laid out is....my trip to INDIA! About mid-July we both lightly joked about me coming with Jules to India to help with the filming, photography and marketing opportunities that would surface while visiting all these vital aspect of the business. That has now morphed itself into a 1/2 "work" 1/2 play 28 trip to the South Western part of India, where I will fly in and out of Mumbai...

Staying in the tiny, yet feircly popular state of Goa....

And spend time in the coconut farms of Kerala...

I leave California for the first time in almost 4 months to head back to Toronto for a week, have my Indian visa processed and pack a backpack with very little `stuff`(leaving lots of room for treasures to bring home). Then, on Tuesday, September 21, leave for London, then Mumbai on the 22nd. I will return to London, then Toronto, then SFO over 2 days starting on Tuesday, October 19. This will leave 28 glorious days in the land that am sure will surprise, delight, push and challenge my reality forever.

As I`m finishing up this blog entry, a song comes on Pandora radio, and who is it, but Alanis Morisette`s brother: Wade Imre or as his name comes up in the Google search: `Yoga Rock Star`. And even in light of the lack-lustre graphics of this video, the song seemed such a perfect fit for finishing this post...

So... What is Janum? For Salmon Rushdie, it means`my life`. In Hindi, Jaanum means darling. For the Year of Passion, Janum means opportunity, adventure, and further manifestation of a new way of life...