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. Ajay Kumar K G – head – global marketing, ManageEngine, Zoho Corp talks to BrandWagon Online about his weekends, favourite vacation destination and more.
What is the one thing you like to do when not working?
Once it’s the end of the week and I’ve logged out of work, I really look forward to spending my free time watching TV—although I would consider myself lucky if I get to control the TV remote for a while! But when I do, I usually unwind by mindlessly surfing through the channels until I find something interesting to watch. I also like to assist my two sons with their schoolwork and catch up on my reading.
How do you spend your weekends?
The weekdays are usually packed and often hectic. Hence, I look forward to spending quality time with my family during the weekend and prefer to let them make the plans—be it outings to visit family and friends, temple visits, going on long drives, or catching up on the latest movie releases. Being someone who likes to experiment with new cuisines, I also look forward to the weekends, as I get to explore new restaurants in Chennai. And as a family, we also try and devote some of our time to participating in social gatherings for a good cause.
What are your favourite gadgets?
Due to the nature of my job, you’ll typically find me glued to my iPhone or MacBook throughout the weekdays. However, as someone who is trying to bring down my gadget usage significantly, I try and stay away from any electronic gadgets as much as possible during the weekends!
Given an option to choose another career, what would it be?
As a self-proclaimed foodie and an avid reader, I would have loved to combine both my passions and own a restaurant for book lovers: a cozy space where people can visit and unwind with good food and great books all under one roof. It would’ve been amazing to invite some famous writers for some reading sessions as well!
Which is your favourite vacation spot?
There is a small village near Ooty called Masinagudi, amidst the Mudumalai National Park in the Nilgiris district, that I often visit with my family and friends. Unlike other exotic and mainstream travel destinations, Masinagudi is a sleepy little village with lot of wilderness around with not much to do, which I find is ideal for a relaxing and rejuvenating few days away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
A TV show, a film, and an ad campaign you highly recommend watching.
I do consider myself a cinephile, and I try and catch new film and TV releases at the movies and on over-the-top (OTT) media services as and when I can. The crime/thriller genre especially is my favourite, and recently I’ve been watching this show called The Mentalist on Amazon Prime Video that has got me hooked!
A film I would recommend to everyone would be Taare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth)—it is a beautiful Hindi-language film that deeply moved me, and I cannot recommend it enough.
An ad campaign that I would instantly recommend would be the Chutki Mein Chipkaye campaign by Fevi Kwik. It’s definitely high up on the list if we’re looking at great ad campaigns from India, and the image of the guy with his fishing pole is definitely one of the most iconic TV memories that most of us have!