The Mount Carmel College was my day two destination of E-week. I had been to the girls college many many times during college. However this was the first time I could actually drive in because this time I had a real purpose for being there. Haha

So anyways, the first speaker was fielding a question when I arrived. It took me a while to settle down as QnAs tennis-ed across the room. And then I realised my pen didn't work. Jeez. This reminds me of college. Take notes on some loose sheet with someone else's pen. Guys never had an extra pen or pencil or loose sheets. Girls usually did. Here I was in an auditorium filled with extra pens but I felt too sheepish to ask. After all I was the journalist in the room.

Fresh question from the audience. Attention. "Would you want to expand your coffee chain with more outlets?"… or something to that effect. To which the founder pointed out that that sort of thing was over a generation ago. He was very right. Everyone (almost) opening a business now is not thinking about being the same size till the next generation takes the baton. That idea should probably completely die with the MamaKaka stores disappearing. Parents handing down businesses that are likely to stay the same size even another lifetime down the line. That cannot happen anymore. "With such a high failure rate you will want the results to be high." he says and wraps up.

Next on stage was the daughter of an entrepreneur. Well dressed and primmed she ran through a speech and presentation on their business- Pets. Dogs and some cats. The entrepeneur had opened a kennel for dogs nearly 30 years ago. The girl on stage was rather proud of her mother's achievements and she had every reason to be. The range of dog breed was truly impressive. The girls in the audience let out plenty of Ooohs and Aaahs the whole while.

Then came the third speaker who ran an internet company. The company was founded on the love for music. This guy on stage had always worked for some start-up or the other. This was truly refreshing, considering the numerous entrepreneurs who first worked in a stable large company initially and then moved on to a start-up. This is like getting into a pool (being swimilliterate) from the ladder along the edge of the pool. The other kind of entrepreneur leaps straight of the diving board. This guy on stage was a diver. Hats Off.

Then came a rather familiar woman as entrepreneur number four. I was sure she was in my batch in college. Anyways. This girl joined a large money counting firm and got bored or sick of it. She quit and made chocolates for her Dad. Her Dad gave a friend of his a bite, who then became her first customer. I think the girls in the audience connected with this entrepreneur the most. Here was a girl who left college just three years before they did and was doing something she loved for a living. The perfect job.

To close the event the faculty member with the E-cell drew up a game for the girls. The objective was to invent a product that was whacky, fun and useful. The audience was divided among the four entrepreneurs. Everyone brainstorming with an actual entrepreneur… with a person who has sat and done this brainstorming for real… for real money.

I got into a group myself and we came up with some pretty fancy ideas. One was- a cruise ship / ferry on Ulsoor lake, designer pollution masks, caterers at crowded traffic jams that were served out of autos, wet mud in your handbag. The last one was especially interesting and truly whacky. The whole point of it was to market the smell of fresh rain on dry mud. Fantastic. It would work immediately. Especially in a country that calls a rainy day a good day. Like ours. The name we arrived for that product was "Nostalgia in a Bag". Neat and Whacky.

My idea was not so bad as well. The idea was to sell designer pollution masks. How long could people wear those stupid surgical masks as pollutions masks. Or those white ones which never fit right. These instead could smell however you wanted. It could be designer colognes, fresh curd, chinese food, any-flavour-beans, a new book or even pollution itself. That last one was quite an ingenious flavour.

Sadly I couldn't stay till the end of the event and ran out just as the first team went on stage. I'm yet to hear of the results. Perhaps someone could fill me in.