Issue 08 - Weekly Newsletter

Purpose of life and boring digital marketing stories :)

Hello LI Reader,

Korey Wise was 16 years old when he was convicted as the fifth black guy for a crime that he never did. In 1989 a white young woman was brutally raped and left to die in Central Park. The New York Times described the attack on her as “one of the most widely publicised crimes of the 1990s”.

A high-pressure case and the police had to show results. Everything was fabricated and the society had 5 teenage rapists. It was no more about justice but was about politics.

Ava DuVernay’s American drama web series “When They See Us” streaming on Netflix is a story based on the events of the case and it explores the lives of the five male suspects and their families. 

When you see the first episode you will definitely break your head asking if the law is really blind? But for me the story of Korey was heartbreaking. He was 16, he was never at the crime scene and he went to the police station to be with his friend who was picked up by the police? Since he was 16, he was sent to adult prison where everyone knew he was a rapist and he should die. So he begged for solitary confinement. 

He never got parole because he never accepted the charges and as a result spend 14 years in prison. Today Korey is an activist who travels in the US advocating for criminal justice reform and sharing his own story. (What a brilliant cast and my favorite is Jharrel Jerome who plays Korey’s life as a teenager and adult.)

Talking to Oprah Winfrey, Korey and the rest of the four shared that it was the hope to be free one day kept them going. (The interview with Oprah is also on Netflix)

Hope and self-belief are such strong emotions and easy to evaporate but if cultivated well then it can take you to new levels. Viktor Frankl talks about the same in the book Man’s Search for Meaning.

“Frankl concludes that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living; life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death”.

For the last few years, I have spent days trying to find out the purpose of my life? Read books, talked to people and I had no answer. Because the answer was within me and not in the outside world. By the end of the last decade, I had the answer to the purpose of my life. It is basically solving your everyday problems that life keeps throwing.

Life is difficult (long back the dude called Buddha said) and the more you solve the more you will have. But that is the fun and the purpose of life. So it will be different for everyone and it will keep changing. Nothing is permanent in life.

For Korey, it was surviving every day in the hell and keeping his faith alive. For me right now is finding a full-time job because I have some important personal issues to take care of. So Lighthouse Insights as a startup is on hold but I will not stop writing. (If you come across any full-time role that I can add value then please ping me.)

Today if I have discovered myself once again at 41 then Lighthouse Insights has a big role to play. I am lucky to have this platform and an opportunity to speak to you. So thank you, my dear reader for subscribing and reading :)

Now that I have given you all kinds of advice like a life coach :) let me share the two articles I did in the last two weeks.

Last month I was in Leh for three weeks and I am in love with the city. First 10 days I was doing this and the rest of the time I was living with nature. I was on roads for 20 days doing a backpacking trip and enjoyed being a budget traveler.

I also observed how we tourists from the cities are bringing the filth. For instance, we all know Leh is a great place to travel but the city is already battling a severe water crisis and plastic pollution problem. Thanks to tourists.

Shoes on Loose, a travel company is trying to do its bit with Save Ladakh initiative. I write about the descent attempt and how it could evolve into a larger brand purpose for the company. 

Read: Shoes on Loose is trying to find brand purpose with Save Ladakh initiative

Generally, I don’t write about industry hires and promotions. But the recent four industry moves in the first 15 days of 2020 are worth noticing. The new decade will not be the same as the old decade and the advertising industry will have to take care of its talent. Free beer and ethnic wear days won’t do any good. 

One of the reasons why Dentsu Webchutney has appointed Gautam Reghunath as the new CEO. The agency wants the man to spread the Bangalore culture and talent to its other two not so performing centers.

Read: Will the Indian Advertising industry evolve with these new leaders

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and read when you have time. Meanwhile, listen to this song from the Valley. A gift from Leh.

Peace and Happiness,

Prasant Naidu