Kersy Katrak

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Kersy Katrak (1936–2007) was an Indian Parsi advertising personality[1] and poet who rose to prominence with the advertising agency he founded in 1965, MCM (Mass Communication and Marketing).[2] MCM revolutionized Indian advertising, offered great leeway to creatives, and managed to attract an enormous talent pool including Ajit Balakrishnan, Sudarshan Dheer, Veeru Hiremath, Ravi Gupta, Panna Jain, Arun Kale, Anil Kapoor, Mohammed Khan, Arun Kolatkar, Arun Nanda, Sunder Kaula and Kiran Nagarkar.[3]

After MCM ended in 1975, Katrak went to live at the Mirtola ashram [1] in the Himalayan foothills for several years. He returned to advertising in a consultant capacity in the 1980s.

Katrak wrote four collections of verse, A Journal of the Way and Diversions by the Wayside, in 1969, Underworld in 1979, and Purgatory: Songs from the Holy Planet in 1984, and was anthologized in several collections. A comprehensive collection and discussion of his poetic work, K D Katrak: Collected Poems, edited by William Mazzarella, was published in 2016.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Vikram Doctor (9 January 2008). "Flamboyant Adman: Remembering Kersy Katrak". The Economic Times. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  2. ^ Daruwalla, Keki N. (7 January 2017). "Vibrant verses of a vanishing poet". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  3. ^ Anand Halve (2 January 2008). "Obituary: Here's to you, Kersy Katrak. A tribute". Retrieved 23 September 2008.