On Happy Accidents

Of all the writers I’ve met in the corridors of advertising agencies and client offices, I’ve found there are largely two kinds. 

The writers who always knew, with the unerring certainty of a compass pointing north, that this was their destiny. Perhaps not advertising specifically, but writing nonetheless. Maybe, as children, they saw a billboard and rewrote it instinctively in their heads. Maybe they fell in love with the idea behind a classic ad instead of the product. Maybe they sang TV jingles in auto rickshaws on the way to school. 

I wouldn’t know. The provenance of their ambition is irrelevant. That was never me.

Because there is another kind of writer. The ones who tripped and fell into the trade like drunks into a bar. The accidental writers. And what I’ve learned is, there are a lot more of us out there than you’d think.

I was no born storyteller. No natural “copy” genius. I was passionate, but back then that just meant hot-tempered. I doubt any of the recruiters today would have looked twice in my direction. 

My career in advertising began not with a bang, but with a casual whisper. It was an off-the-cuff conversation with a good friend from college, Sayak Basu, who worked at Webchutney. He dangled a job offer in front of me like an impromptu invitation to a party, “Hey, do you want a job?”

With the careful consideration of a kid choosing between vanilla and chocolate ice-cream, I replied, “Sure. Why not?”

The very next day, I met his ACD at the time, Sattvik Mishra, and I’d say the rest is history, but it’s also my present and my future.

So here’s to the ones who find their calling by chance. It’s okay naot to know how everything’s going to pan out. It’s enough to know that everything will.

Here’s to those who prove that passion can be cultivated, that skill can be honed, and that even the most unexpected paths can lead to fulfilling destinations.

May we continue to stumble gracefully, write fearlessly and always be open to the next twist in our story.

Here’s to every accident of fate. May we keep having them.