MAM
Weekend Unwind with: Sumit Garg, MD & co-founder of Luxury Ride
Mumbai: Indiantelevision.com rolls over to the next in its weekend series of informal snippets that peek into the minds of corporate executives. “Weekend Unwind” is an attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better by having them share their life nuggets and mantras for dealing with life’s curveballs.
This week, we have on the hot seat Sumit Garg, the MD & co-founder of Luxury Ride—”India’s biggest pre-owned luxury car company.” Born into a business family, the path to entrepreneurship was always a given, says Garg. Accordingly, in keeping with the ‘family tradition’, he founded KoiBhiCar.com, an online marketplace for pre-owned luxury cars, in 2012, while straight out of engineering college. Garg shifted his business to an offline model in 2015 after a quick realisation about the industry and founded Luxury Ride with two friends. Here, his prime focus is the exponential expansion of the company across India. Today, the company has a presence in seven cities across north India – Delhi, Gurugram, Karnal, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Dehradun, and Ludhiana.
So here goes without further ado…
Your mantra for Life
Follow your passion in such a way that you don’t need an alarm clock to wake you up.
A Book you are currently reading / plan to read
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter.
Your Fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
We had set up a home gym during the pandemic, and I was doing rigorous workouts. I kept my eating and sleeping habits in check too. By the end of the pandemic, I had lost around 15 kg. Indulging in some sort of exercise keeps me in a healthy mental space as well.
Your comfort food
I am a die-hard foodie, so it’s very difficult for me to answer this question as I am spoilt for choice. But if I had to choose one, then I would have to say Italian cuisine is my comfort food.
When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
My teacher once told me that if you want to be successful in life, you have to take risks no matter what. Setbacks are a part of the deal, but if the risk pays off, your life will change. As Swami Vivekananda said, “Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise.”
Your guilty pleasure
Sweet dishes
When was the last time you tried something new?
I love to discover new things on a regular basis. And, it doesn’t have to be extraordinary. It can be in the form of meeting new groups of people and learning new things; implementing new things in my work life; or trying out different cuisines.
A Life lesson you learnt the hard way
That you should do away with incompetent people as soon as possible. Having the right circle of people around you matters the most, as it helps you grow in life.
What gets you excited about life?
Exploring new places and living a luxurious lifestyle.
What’s on top of your bucket list?
Right now the only thing that is on top of my bucket list is to make Luxury Ride a unicorn brand.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Always follow your passion and don’t listen to naysayers. Your comfort zone is your enemy, you will have sleepless nights, there will be days where you’ll have to work when you are unwell, you’ll be skipping meals and working throughout the day. But that is part of the process if you want to be successful in life.
An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
Whenever I am faced with tough times I either go out for long drives.. Physical activities like playing Squash and Table tennis or having a great workout session keeps me motivated as well.
What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
That has to be Music, I am an audiophile and listening to music can lift my spirits up no matter how tough the situation is.
Your go-to stress buster
My kids and my family are my go-to stress busters. Spending time with them relieves me from all the stress that I am facing.
One thing you would most like to change about the world
That has to be poverty, I believe that there should not be such a big gap between the rich and the poor.
MAM
VML India lands two finalist spots at Cairns Hatchlings 2026
The Mumbai agency is back in Australia with two teams, a UN brief and 24 hours to impress
MUMBAI: VML India is heading to Australia again. The Mumbai-based creative agency has secured two finalist spots at the Cairns Hatchlings 2026 competition, one in the Audio category and one in Design, making it the only Indian agency to have reached the finals in both editions of the contest since its launch in 2025.
Four people will make the trip. Senior copywriter Shilpi Dey and senior art director Raj Thakkar will compete in Audio. Art directors Shabbir and Shruti Negi will go head-to-head with the world’s best in Design. The finals take place at the Cairns Convention Centre from 13th May, culminating in an awards ceremony on 15th May.
The work that got them there is worth examining. For the Audio category, Dey and Thakkar tackled a brief for LIVE LIKE MMAD with a campaign called Inner Voice, Interrupted. Using spatial audio techniques, the campaign recreates the overwhelming self-doubt that descends after a long workday, physically panning negative thoughts left and right before cutting the noise entirely to reveal a confident inner voice. Strategically targeted at commuters via Spotify during evening rush hours, the campaign reframes the hours after work as an opportunity for personal growth and charitable action.
For the Design category, Shabbir and Negi worked on a brief for Canteen’s Bandanna Day, a campaign highlighting how cancer pushes teenagers out of their own defining moments. Using a pixelated design language to create stark contrast between a blurred world of isolation and a focused world of connection, the campaign, titled The Flipside of Cancer, shows teenagers fading into the background of birthdays, skateparks and school proms. As a Canteen bandanna appears, the blur flips and the teenager snaps back into sharp focus.
Kalpesh Patankar, group chief creative officer of VML India, made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. “We are immensely proud to see our teams consistently excel on the Cairns Hatchlings platform since its inception,” he said. “They have masterfully tackled challenging briefs across diverse categories, demonstrating both layered storytelling and a unique creative approach. This exceptional teamwork is truly inspiring.”
Dey and Thakkar, returning to the finals after last year’s run, were candid about the demands of the audio medium. “It’s one of the most demanding mediums, where we only have a few seconds to capture a listener’s world with sound alone, so absolute clarity is essential,” they said. “The true measure of creative work is its ability to create positive change, and our audio submission was made to help those who need it most while encouraging people to silence the inner voices that hold them back.”
Shabbir and Negi, competing in Design for the first time, described the experience as “a completely different beast.” “We see it as an opportunity to showcase our expertise, raise the bar, and challenge ourselves in new ways, while also learning from creative minds from across the globe,” they said.
In Australia, the four finalists will face a live 24-hour brief from the United Nations before presenting in a live pitch session. Twenty-four hours, one brief, one shot. VML India has been here before. It knows exactly what is at stake.
