The Durga statue worshipped during Dassera festival in Bengal, Orissa and Assam is made over a period of several weeks, starting soon after the chariot festival ends in Puri, Orissa. First a frame is made of bamboo that is covered with straw, then layered with clay, then covered with layers of paint. Finally, the details are drawn. The statue is then dressed in cloth and delicate jewelry made using pith and bark, and finally unveiled on the festival days. After the image is worshipped, it is dunked into the river, dissolved until the process begins once again the following year.
Presentations made to sell an idea to customers need to be created like a Durga statue. Not all at once but slowly and systematically. First the broad ideas, then the details, then the data supporting the claims, then the graphs and the charts and the images, finally the layout and cosmetic touches before the grand presentation to the client. After which, the presentation needs to be discarded and one has to start again anew, with a fresh outlook, with learning from the past.
