Mahua felt a familiar surge of excitement as she entered the indoor shoot location. She glanced across the room at the familiar setting of cameras, rollers and lighting, searching for Sung Lee or Mr. Lee Sung Han as they would refer to him in Korea. Even after spending the last fortnight with her Korean, Japanese and Chinese teams in Singapore, she found the formality around addressing people here bewildering. 

Looking at the empty chairs and the chatter coming from the patio round the back, she realised the crew were out on a coffee break. Smiling to herself, she decided to take a few minutes to drink in the atmosphere of the shoot. THIS was her first love. The thing that has got her hooked to advertising. She loved the energy, bussle and excitement of executing a shoot. Imagining the right setting, planning the props and lighting to build the right mood, the magic captured by the photographer and the feeling of exhileration when you finally got the right shots. 

It was a pity she didn't personally have to handle photoshoots any more. Her boss kept telling her she needed to delegate better. Resolving not to get involved, she looked around purposefully for the Korea Manager she had come to meet.

Just then the cheerful figure of the Assistant Manager hailed her. "Good Morning Madam! You have arrived early for your meeting. Mr. Lee Sung Han is just discussing the details of the shoot with the art director and will be with you shortly. Would you like to wait at the cafe for him?" 

"Oh yes, I am sorry I over-estimated the peak time traffic coming in. Don't worry about me, I'm happy to hang around here till he is free." Smiling back at the young girl, Mahua sank down greatfully into comfortable looking couch on the stage. A second later, she was answering the first call in what promised to be a long tiring day.

As she finally finished the call with her Sales Team in Singapore, Mahua could see the space starting to bustle again. The team seemed to have finished their break and were getting ready to start the filming.

On the low table in front of her, the accessories for the shoot were carefully arranged. An ecclectic pairing of stylish black jewelry and some beautiful leather belts and chic bags from the latest FW collection recently unveiled in Paris. Each of the pieces worth upwards of 5000 USD. Sighing, she wondered what possessed people to spend so much money on accessories. Struck by the irony of it, she glanced down at her own designer shoes and bag. They weren't top of the line, but expensive classic pieces all the same. "Perks of the job, or was it chains?", 5 years back she wouldn't have been caught dead with these. Now it came with the territory. Even she couldn't possibly pull of wearing jeans and T-shirts to office anymore. 

Grinning, she glanced down at her white sari. Draped low, patterned with tiny silver flecks and paired with an elegant silver halter neck, it was an elegant yet simple ensemble. Cleverly chosen because no-one in this country would be able to judge a traditional Indian sari. Contrarian. Just like her. 

As she flipped through the script for the shoot, she was suddenly aware of the clicks and flashes of the camera whirring away. Abruptly putting down the file she made to empty the sofa which was obviously part of the props for the next set of shots, when a very familiar voice shot out in a deep french accent, " Tenez un moment, ma Cherie. Ne quittez pas. Me donner un sourire plus s'il vous plait."