Weekends are all about down time. After a week full of work to meet deadlines, everybody needs some breather to relax and recuperate. From watching a favourite web-series to planning a vacation, weekends are designated as family and me time. Mathan Babu Kasilingam, chief information security officer, Vodafone Idea Pvt. Ltd., talks to BrandWagon Online about his weekends, favourite vacation destination and more.
What is the one thing you like to do when not working?
The only thing I will do when I’m not working but still at work is to network with like-minded people to share evolving ideas. In this way, I continue to learn new information that is necessary for both my work and personal routines to remain relevant. Also, I strive to spend time with people who share my interests in order to exchange ideas and understand one another.
How do you spend your weekends?
I’m a passionate workaholic. Beyond work, the most important thing is my family. When time permits, I spend all of my time with my family. Cuddling, playing around, coaching them in their curricular activities, etc. I like helping my daughter with some of her work, although she’s independent and capable of doing it on her own. Other than that, I like both reading and watching, mostly investigative biographies, thoughts of other leaders, etc. I try to acquire things that have changed by the styles of individuals.
What are your favorite gadgets?
I love gadgets and try to spend time with them. I also fiddle around to see, are they still in a safe manner to connect? Because these gadgets today intrude into houses. My favorite gadgets definitely are anything that is automated. To begin with, smartphones and smartwatches are my favorite gadgets that tops the list. I’m a big fan of Apple gadgets, whether it’s iPads, iPhones or iWatch. Additionally, I love to use my watch during my walks because it’s lightweight in nature, it doesn’t occupy my pockets and most importantly tracks my health all the time.
Given an option to choose another career, what would it be?
I love teaching. I presume teaching is one way of exchanging one’s thoughts and reassigning the applicability of one’s thoughts by having feedback from various minded individuals. So, all through my childhood I have been teaching whether it was my schooling or college. And even in my current profession, I love teaching people. I see teaching as a way of exchanging ideas. So, I resonate with the ideas of individuals who are listening most often. One may part ways with differential views, but then those exchanges are valuable and most important elements to me. So had I not chosen this career I would have definitely been in the teaching profession.
Which is your favorite vacation spot?
There are few locations within India that I would like to visit but I think I continue to explore on every occasion and my favorite spot continues to change because when I see something new I get mesmerized with those views and eventually that place becomes my favorite spot. As of now, my favorite spot is Turkey. It’s a very beautiful country, a lot of cultural mix happens there and one will see varying cultural representations in things typically one will not notice in the rest of the world. The mixed culture is something that I liked about Turkey.
A TV show, a movie, and an ad campaign you highly recommend watching
I typically watch series that are extreme fantasy driven. Those are the things that I like in such movies. Beyond life, superstars & superheroes are things that I like watching such as “The Vampire Diaries”. I even like to watch historical movies and that is why my all time favorite is “Gladiator” at any point in time. Another genre that I enjoy is investigative shows and series, mostly Israeli driven series, whether it is a spy or other world in nature.
Most of the campaigns that I love are associated with car brands. I enjoy any ad campaign that associates well with exploring the cars. Even in my social media watch list, I try to maintain ad campaigns coming from BMW. I’m a big fan of BMW cars. So, I like watching most of the BMW ad campaigns. The reason is the I7 launch that they did. It weaves a compelling storyline and conveys a powerful message.
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