Don’t Know

Babumon was a graphic designer working in an advertising agency in Bangalore, and he hated Wednesdays with a vengeance. He used to dread creative briefs that would land upon his table in the middle of the week. He strictly prescribed the idea that the working class needed to be emancipated, which meant he should work for three days but get paid for five.

Wednesday was unlucky, so that left him with two days of productive work. On this particular Wednesday, his boss wanted him to crack a concept for a brand selling curtains. “Curtains? How exciting”, thought Babumon, who was used to working on more ambitious product categories like automobiles and technology. He did not protest because the other two designers were out pitching for a new business. A new business pitch meant that everybody worked overtime, and that went against his work ethic. He realized that cracking a creative concept for a curtain brand was a lesser evil and took the job up without any complaints. The task ahead was challenging because it was a Wednesday and he was not feeling inspired by curtains.

His boss, who was a chain smoker, was about to step out for a break. Before leaving, he asked Babumon if he could submit a concept by Friday. Babumon mumbled, “Don’t know,” and went back to scribbling something on his drawing board. It was already late evening, and all his ideas had hit a wall. He went home hoping that he would come up with something by Friday. The following day he called his grandmother to understand how she bought curtains. His grandmother was a short-tempered woman, and with age, she had gone a little senile. She had always been more bitter than her favourite coffee. “Why are you asking me so many questions? ” she said before she banged the phone on him. He called his copywriter to brainstorm, but he was too busy practicing drums for a gig that weekend. “I don’t know, man. I am drumming right now and can hardly hear you”, he shouted before he banged the phone on him. He spent the rest of his day drinking endless cups of coffee and chain-smoking cigarettes.

Thursday night, Babumon slept with a curtain around his head for inspiration. His dog, Chill, stood at the edge of his bed because he didn’t know why Babumon slept with a curtain wrapped around his head.

That Friday, he submitted a concept to his boss: Chill! The curtain has got your back.