MICAST The Official Podcast Of MICA Ahmedabad

From Challenges to Solutions: Our newest episode with Vaibhav Munjal, Co-founder of ChalChitra Talks, is dedicated to helping creators find harmony between artistic expression and sustainable livelihood. 

Has the global conversation about mental health truly transformed the workplace paradigm, or are we still burning out and quitting quietly?

We’re in conversation with Tanmoy Goswami, a Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford. He is the founding editor of Sanity - a mental health story-letter & platform that uses the power of storytelling to discuss the politics, economics, and culture of mental health.

From heading the desk at leading business publications after building them from scratch, he pivoted to writing about the global mental-health movement after a long career in business journalism, primarily to make sense of his own long history of depression, anxiety and self-harm.

Tanmoy talks about mental health in the workplace, productivity paranoia, burnout, people-centric policy making - and of course, his journey as an independent newsletter creator & mental health storyteller.

We dug into:

01:58 The Tanmoy Story

10:30 Tanmoy's take on Productivity Paranoia

18:07 How to build an inclusive and supportive environment at workplaces

21:48 How to avoid burnout

28:00 Power of Storytelling

32:14 Using your platform to advocate for mental health

37:00 Parting thoughts

Is hustle culture a healthy motivator to achieve more, or is it a toxic excess fostered by unrealistic expectations? To answer this question we’ve found a man that has truly done it all. Starting as an Assistant Restaurant Manager, to becoming a Radio Jockey, TV Anchor, Producer, host of Spotify's popular Original podcast Love Aaj Kal, and off late, even Chief Eating Officer!

We’re in conversation with Ankit Vengurlekar - with over two decades of experience, Ankit has mastered content, conversations and community engagement across newsrooms and global corporations - organisations like LinkedIn, Tech2.com, Gadgetwala.com, Crypto App CoinSwitch, and many more.
He helps us decode the ground realities (and philosophy) of hustle culture in India, his learnings from numerous career transitions and passion projects, and even whether crypto is truly a worthy side hustle today.

In this dazzling conversation, we dive deep into:

Ankit's learning when it comes to career transitions - 2:38

The advent of hustle culture and the impact it has - 9:54

Is crypto a good side hustle? - 25:21

Our next guest cracked the content code for Indian audiences, disrupting genres and platforms with his scary good (and record-breaking) horror content. We’re on a quest to find out how. 

MICAST is in conversation with Divay Agarwal - Head of Content at The Mad Virus Studios and creator of the immensely popular YouTube horror show, Khooni Monday. With over 7 years of experience ranging from product management to content creation, across organizations such as Lionsgate, Jio Cinemas, JioTV+ and HT Media. He’s a content extraordinaire from MICA’s batch of 2018!

In this episode we discuss:

1:37 - Horror entertainment vs. the Indian mainstream

8:16 - The key to engaging fans and keeping them hooked to your content

12:03 - Decoding Divay’s process - adapting animation for audio formats

20:00 - The business reality of creative content endeavours 

Keep up with MICA's Offical Podcast over at our Instagram page! https://www.instagram.com/micast_themicanpodcast

How can I address and eliminate research anxiety? 

Feelings of fear and uncertainty associated with authentic scientific research and production, not knowing where to begin an exploratory thought or approach to a hypothesis, and even facing imposter syndrome during publication - all constitute research anxiety. And, we’ve found a virtuoso capable of answering our question at length. 

We’re in conversation with Prof. Manisha Pathak-Shelat (Professor, Communication & Digital Platforms and Strategies & Chair - Centre for Development Management and Communication (CDMC) MICA, Editor, JOCC, India). She’s served as Editor of the Journal of Creative Communication, SAGE Publications, and has also been a Researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A leading voice in the area of communication research and publication. 

In this episode, we talk about the following:

1:07 - why does research scare so many people away? 

3:10 - understanding the umbrella term ‘communication research.’

12:38 - tips and tricks to be a good researcher today

Long and illustrious careers are usually bolstered by hundreds of stories and anecdotes, a lifetime of experiences; moulding an astute business lens in the process - and we have proof.

We’re in conversation with Mr. Kamal Bali, President & Managing Director at Volvo Group, India. Mr. Bali has been spearheading top global and Indian brands as President & CEO for two decades, and has established a number of multinational corporations in India. Having accumulated precious cross-functional knowledge, Mr. Bali is respected for his value-based leadership and professionalism with a strong ethos. 

Fun fact: He has also been knighted and awarded one of Sweden’s highest honours by Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Sweden!

In the MICAST Studio, we discussed:

14:07 - Sustainable rapid innovation, and the future of mobility 

18:00 - Advice for young entrepreneurs

20:59 - Artificial intelligence and the human touch, in application

Over the years, brands have increasingly been given human characteristics, such as persona, personality, and identity. But have brands truly been humanised, or do they still miss a ‘human touch’?

We’re in conversation with Ankit Kasliwal, an ’08 MICAn, Head of Marketing for Titan’s Skinn Fragrances division. He’s also responsible for marketing Titan’s newest and most ambitious brand - Taneira. Prior to this, he has been a Strategic Marketing Leader for the Tata Neu App and a Category Brand Manager for Hero Motocorp. Having worn many hats, he holds diverse expertise in a range of sectors - automobile, retail, FMCG, premium/bridge to luxury retail and consumer tech.

In this insightful episode, we discuss: 

1:05 - Points of parity and difference in marketing across sectors & industries 

11:40 - Branding green flags for new-age marketing design 

19:45 - Tapping into consumer emotional need-space

37:00 - Driving category adoption and relevance while democratising fine fragrances

Have you ever felt like your social media feed’s been cluttered by irrelevant content? We’re in conversation with Sanjana Singh, Creative Director at Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT) about staying atop content clutter on social media, leveraging platform insights to stay in tune with the audience pulse, and maintaining originality in content creation processes!

Sanjana is a content extraordinaire and storyteller; creator of multiple content IPs for brands like Amazon Prime Video, Hershey's India, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk, OkCupid, TLC, and more. She’s also responsible for building a 5 million strong digital community, organically - with a core expertise in the creation and curation of promotional content for brands in the form of engaging social-media friendly storytelling formats.

In this riveting episode we discuss:

6:23 - How to maintain resonance with the audience pulse

13:10 - How to maintain originality as a content creator

18:35 - Professional content creation and social media detoxes

21:30 - Advice for the content creators of tomorrow, considering the industry’s trends and opportunities

Have you ever dreamt of being at the helm of your own brand as a freelancer?

We’re in conversation with Deepak (Chuck) Gopalakrishnan about creating distinctive personal brands as key differentiators in a highly competitive and rapidly growing global gig economy. Coupled with sage wisdom about tackling frantic freelancing hurdles that include finding a work-life balance, multi-tasking, time management, structuring & organising processes and output.

Deepak is a digital marketing and strategy freelancer, podcaster, co-founder of Rough Paper Creative, and an ‘09 MICAn. Having worked with the likes of Ogilvy, Leo Burnett India, & OML + Insider.in, Deepak chose the gig economy and built his digitally enabled self-brand “ChuckOfAllTrades”.

During this riveting episode we explore:

1:20 - How to balance multiple gigs and responsibilities effectively, as a freelancer

2:53 - Discussing the pandemic’s push to the global gig economy, and excelling in the world of freelancing today

20:34 - How to build audiences that love your content

35:22 - The coveted origin story behind Deepak’s self-brand ‘Chuck’

Have you ever wanted to mute the ruckus and noise of televised news debates, in pursuit of the truth?  

“Are You Shor?“, is an audio story made by MICAns about the pressing social matter of televised debates that incite, excite and ignite, but are often mindless conversations that don't address the true issue at hand. It speaks of separating the voice from the noise and engaging in “choice wisdom” in a media overload environment. 

At MICA, the production of audio novels on contemporary social hurdles is an integral part of the orientation program, bringing together 3 different batches: PGP, CCC & FPM.