Building your Brand Series

– Building Your Brand VIII-

All work and no play makes Gautam a dull Boy

Summer was here and this was when Toronto city transforms itself. And like every good Canadian, we too did soak in the sun.

Building your brand is not only about resumes, not only about networking or even not only about volunteering.

One big part of building your brand in Canada is to get to know Canada.

This is now our mothership and we now have to take the time, the energy and the effort to learn about it.

Summer brought many events, activities and shows. Many are free and some cost so cut your coat according to your cloth.

Toronto was full of weekends when streets were blocked off to traffic and transformed into a carnival like setting – a bounty of food stalls, trinkets for sale and entertainment where large crowds gather. 

Imbibe, that is what we did, visiting at least half a dozen such street fairs in the city every year. 

Watching, listening, eating and enjoying the ambiance. The variety of ethnicities and culture is amazing – that was Toronto and I expect that was also Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary as other big cities in the country.

Then came the parades - a jamboree of floats, dancers, music and color exhibiting the diversity of our cities and our people. 

All in the learning curve, different from back in the home country but essential learning’s for every New Canadian striving to acculturate in this new country of choice.

This makes us proud of our new home, this brings appreciation of the multitude of cultures and people and who knows perhaps your next boss, your peers or your juniors at some point of time in the future. We cannot live without them and they cannot live without us, we are all living happily together.

You cannot build your brand in this environment unless you know and appreciate the environment so while it looks like play, mind you me, it is an integral part of your strategy to move forward.

Summer brought long daylight hours and several opportunities for long weekends too - which we used to explore the country outside our city. 

Day trips or overnight trips and you will be amazed at what you learn. 

The African Jungle Safari was not a long flight away in South Africa but a 90 minutes drive from Toronto. 

Cottage country had so many options to relax and enjoy a glass of wine under the stars sitting on a lake-shore far from the maddening crowds listening to the wail of the loon. 

Ontario Parks offered camping facilities for the family and kids, learning all about living a rustic outdoor life for a few days - what great family bonding in this otherwise period of stress.

And the sports - baseball, basketball, swimming, jogging or merely walking along the Lake-shore – wonderful activities that come with the sun and the long daylight hours of the summer.

For those lucky enough to have some land to call their own - growing flowers in the front yard and a small vegetable patch in the back brings so much joy to the eye and the kitchen table.

This was summer - we learned to live a bit, live beyond networking, netgiving and worrying about tomorrow: live life today and tomorrow will take care of itself. 

If you are motivated, recharged and experience the new things around you, your next steps will have that much more energy and bounce. You deserve it, every bit.

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Born of Czech and South Asian lineage, Gautam Nath now lives in Toronto. He is the Vice President at Balmoral Multicultural Marketing and serves on several Boards and Committees in the city. Gautam is also one of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2011.

The Philip Twins

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The The Philip Twins

The war had just got over and daddy opened a Steak House on the main boulevard next to the Opera House. Business was great as everyone coming out of the Opera was nice and hungry and the thought of a juicy steak and mash potatoes was very appealing. That year Tim and I were born. Twins, squealed my grandma when she saw us first, how very wonderful. 

Tim and Jim, we were two peas in a pod.

Mama was elated by us twins and made us similar looking clothes and when we pranced down the street, everyone would say, hey look at those two smart young boys, the Philip twins, are they not a handsome lot? Daddy would be very proud of us and take us in his convertible Ford T up and down the boulevard while we sat on the back seat with the hood down letting the breeze go through our hair.

We were inseparables, we would play together and all the boys and girls on the street would look at us with envy.

When we joined school, they would say, keep away from picking trouble with the Philip twins, they take care of each other. No one would dare bully us because we were two strong young boys growing up.

In the summers, we would go to grandma’s cottage in the country. We built ourselves a tree house and used to spend our days there reading comics and talking about what we wanted to be when we grew up.

Tim wanted to be a pirate and he would sail off into the ocean and return with booty of gold and precious stones. He said he would bring me whatever I wanted when he would grow up and be a pirate. 

I on the other hand, wanted to be a fireman. I would rescue people from burning buildings and cats from high trees. I would drive my red fire engine up and down the streets and ring the siren as I would pass by. Those were happy summer days growing up at Grannies.

 

One day while running back to the cottage from our tree house, I found myself all alone, where was Tim I thought and looked back down the path. Nowhere in sight, my heart began to beat harder and I ran back down the lane. 

I found Timmy, lying next to the big oak tree clutching his chest and gasping for breath. Tim, Tim, what’s wrong I yelled and picked him up in my arms and ran back to Grannies.

They called the doctor and soon the ambulance came and Tim was taken away. No one told me what was wrong but that evening my dad and mum arrived and were very white in the face. I asked them what was wrong and they finally told me. The doctor would like you to come to his clinic for some tests.

Over there they took some of my blood for testing and had me run through some other tests.

The doctor then told my parents that the rare infection had only affected Tim and that I was all clear. 

Then I was told, Jimmy, your brother Tim has a rare blood disease that is slowly affecting his heart. They say that he needs regular blood transfusions and that I was one in a million who had a similar type of blood group. That would keep him alive but for how long they were not sure. We have to look for a new heart but to find one for Tim will be a difficult task they said with little hope.

Tim grew weak and was soon restricted to the hospital bed; I would spend hours with him there every day talking and reading stories to him.

Once a week they would take blood from me and transfuse that to Tim. Months went by like that and all we were looking for a miracle.

I went on the computer every day to put out pleas looking for some solace when I discovered this website called www.iwishihad.com

When I contacted them I found that they were concerned with the terminally ill and helped to make their last few days with us better. I gave them our address and requested if they could make Tim happy in his last few days here.

That day, I had just given blood and was lying in the next bed to Tim, feeling a bit weak and drowsy when these three men in long black coats came in. No one else was around except Tim and I. 

They came up to Tim and were talking with him in low tones that I could barely hear. They told him where they were from and then I heard Tim whisper, “I wish I had a heart as strong as…..”

And all I remember was…........... chloroform does taste sweet.

-     The End -