Some offices do have 'em!!!

The Asian Games had a mascot....
A dancing elephant called Appu....

Most international sporting events have one...
Except maybe the Commonwealth Games...

If it had one...
It sure did not catch my attention!!!!.....

Corporates too...
Devise mascots...
To hold the attention of their consumers...
To help build their brands....

Like Air-India's maharaja ...
The Amul girl...
And Gattu...
The little boy in the Asian Paints ad....

And now...
The mascot idea has been taken a step further down the road!!!
There is a real live one at Sweatshop !!!!
Yes!!! Really!!!

And Madragirl..
Ever an ardent observer of corporate developments...
Feels this intriguing new phenomenon has to be reported to her readership!!!

So here goes.....

Our Chennai office mascot for the moment is a 20-something...
Content developer....
Whom all the matriarchs and matrons dote on!!!

And just about everything she does is soooo sweeeeeet!!!!
From the way she sits in her chair with one leg tucked under her...
To her voice....
She so perfectly captures the spirit of what a Sweatshop employee should be!!!

Our earlier mascot...
Was a barbie doll wannabe!
She fluttered her eyes...
And cooed rather than spoke...
She KNEW they all thought her cute....

But alas!
She got married...
And was promptly dethroned....
She is now...merely amusing...
And at times.. a little irritating!!!

How are mascots made???
At Sweatshop..
All it probably took was an indulgent smile cast in her direction...
From the top honcho lady at Central Office...
The others at various levels in the pecking order noticed it...
And hey presto! a mascot was born!!!!

Madrasgirl wonders about this phenomenon...
Does this happen only in all-women enterprises???
What about those that are composed of only the male of the species???

They have their blue-eyed boys (BeBs)...for sure...
Who are resented rather than adored!!!

If anyone should drool..
Or dare to throw a sooo sweeeeet in that direction...
Their sexual orientation will be severely questioned!!!!
And that is often a deterrent to the birth of a mascot..in such places!!!

In an earlier generation...
BeBs...for the most part...were those who had been identified...
By the Big Boss...
As having displayed the potential to rise to the top!!!

Those employees whose eyes were classified by the same boss-man as being not-so-blue....
Usually dismissed the BeBs as sycophants...
Or as some sort of corporate pariahs...
And went their way..undisturbed!

Not so at Sweatshop-like places!!!
Here..the mascot occupies pride of place...
Her work is hardly questioned...
Her birthday is celebrated with greater gusto...
And an invite from her ...when it comes...
Cannot be turned down!!!

Madrasgirl wonders whether this rise of the real live company mascot is a throw back...
To some kind of tribal behavior???
Like some strange rite of passage???
Or initiation into the tribe???

Does the corporate culture in all-women offices..
Demand that the more acceptable of the newly-employed...
Serve a short stint as company mascot....
Before coming part of the gang??

Madrasgirl calls for feedback..
From her frequent readers.....

All such information will be collected and collated...
To arrive at more interesting and edifying conclusions....
To amuse one and all...
In future episodes!!!

Ciao then!!!

Madrasgirl meets minor celebrity....

Last week...
Madrasgirl and Spouse ran into a minor celebrity...
At the Mundakananniamman temple...
In Mylapore...

She had come with her incredibly young-looking efficient mother...
To place her wedding invitations..
At the feet of the Goddess...

Spouse was sure that she is a TV newsreader...
Madrasgirl was positive she comperes a TV talk show..
Anyway...
We knew her face....

Suddenly..
The young mother with the newborn baby in her arms...
Moved quickly across to the other side of the aisle...
To stand next to the celebrity....
They exchanged smiles....
The young mother looked happy...

To be acknowledged by a celebrity...
In public...
Is no small matter!!!
And our celebrity understood this...
She was gracious!!!

Later..
As we waited after the abhishekam
For the Goddess to be adorned...
Madrasgirl....
Who usually handles celebrities by behaving as if they do not exist.....
Was tempted to see how the girl handled herself...

She came out with flying colors....
Comfortable with the attention she drew...
Not at all irritated...
Or fed up....

She continued to chat animatedly with her mother...
As a small group of priests and temple workers...
Sat on the steps...
Talking loudly and trying to catch her eye...
She was going to be the stuff of all their conversations with relatives and friends that day!!!
For sure...

Later...
The pooja over..
She left...
Smiling at the priests...
Asking them to come for her wedding....
She made everyone happy...

Handled correctly...
A little celebrity can be a good thing after all....

Cheers!!!!