Beyond the dust, India's digital future came into view.

The man in the car said nothing, gesturing for me to get into the back seat. There seemed to be no other choice. Where was he taking me? The car steadily moved further away from central New Delhi. The Ganesha figurine on the dashboard seemed to be watching me. Trying not to let the man sense my unease, I quietly checked the map on my phone. All I could see out the window were low-rise buildings, like old Japanese housing complexes.

The car stopped in front of a deserted, dust-covered commercial building. He told me to get out here and go up to the second floor. The building was dimly lit; the elevator was decayed and inoperable, its doors hanging half-open. Climbing the stairs, I found myself in an unfamiliar office. Men glared at me menacingly. This clearly wasn't my destination. Was I going to be sold off somewhere like this?

This is the building... one of DIG's bases. I was a little scared to go inside.

 

Then, our very own Kamoshita-kun came striding down from the floor above. "Hey there, welcome!" he said. So this really is the Dentsu Inc. India Group (DIG) office? Seriously? Couldn't you make it look a bit more like an office? This is making me break out in a weird sweat. Driver, this isn't the second floor, it's the fourth! This is the most impressive overseas branch office I've seen so far. India, you never disappoint. I've wasted three paragraphs on boring preamble, but yes, Sasaki has come to India. I'm here to talk with the digital team and build future collaborations.

In India, television holds immense power. Internet penetration is a mere 11%. Facebook users represent just 5% of the population. But India's population is "1.2 billion," meaning there are 130 million internet users and 61 million Facebook users – the largest in Asia. Yes, it's enormous and full of potential. If something clicks, a digital storm will surely hit all at once. Being English-based means catching up with the world will likely be fast too.

The young staff were aware of this storm approaching and had begun preparing for change. While sharing various case studies and exchanging app ideas, I felt a palpable sense of anticipation during my stay—like the spicy kick of a midday chicken curry—that India would soon lead Asia. It was a bit scary.

Then, in another location, after moving from Delhi to Mumbai, I met Paddy from Taproot India. This company joined our group last year. Their standout work from last year was this TV commercial for the Mumbai Mirror newspaper. It's electrifying.

Taproot was founded by Paddy and Aggie, two star creators in India. Most of the great Indian works of the last few years are their doing. This company is young and non-hierarchical, and it seems that hungry, talented young people compete with each other while working directly with the two stars to create projects. Hmm, what an enviable environment. It's great when young people can work in a relaxed atmosphere.

Paddy and I hit it off, agreeing to create digital magic together in the future, and we promised to meet again soon. The world is vast and endless, but my stay in India made me feel that I need to work harder myself.

Paddy from Taproot. India's hottest agency right now. Unlike our office, theirs was in a lovely standalone building!