'OIJO' or 'Out There'
'Oijo' is a colloquialism derived from the Bengali words 'oi jay', meaning "out there".
These two simple words define us.
Since 2010, we have been at the forefront of new media innovation and we intend to continue in this vein, breaching new frontiers with new ideas.
Our Story
Oijo was founded by three childhood friends from Kolkata, now based in Delhi. The three were united by common journeys - all three had studied law, done experimental theatre and worked in the media, together as well as on their own - and common frustrations: they found themselves exasperated by how limited the horizons seemed to be when it came to digital storytelling.
They believed that India had a large and growing number of consumers for high-quality media that was subject-defined. They believed that, if they innovated new forms of expression and outreach and brought forth fresh ideas and voices - along with the best of those that were well-established, they would be able to build up a dedicated base of consumers that would consume as well as pay for excellent content in areas that interested them. Such an untapped consumer base would be well suited to advertisers and sponsors who wished to position their brands and products to diverse groups of consumers.
They understood that, to do this well, they would have to do it themselves. And so Oijo's story began.
Since 2012 Oijo has created several independent content platforms in the areas of music, history, development policy, cinema, luxury and fashion. We have also created content properties for some of India’s leading publications and corporate houses. While we started out specialising in digital content, we soon expanded into creating events that combined editorial rigour and high level of attention to detail to deliver brand and business communication and growth.
As social media expanded its roster of features, we were one of the first companies across the world to start creating high quality native and original content on social platforms for clients. Today, we are known for social strategies that reflect our design, innovation and editorial experience and open up a world of possibilities for our clients.
We are also known for creating highly detailed brand books and crafting media strategies that work around challenges and tap into every potential our clients have.
As we look back at the last decade of work, we find pride and joy in much but perhaps our greatest source of strength remains that there is not once have we resorted to cookie cutter strategies for our clients. The near impossible level of attention to detail that we are able to deliver is because of our highly personalised approach in selecting the clients we work with as well as our all-hands-on-deck commitment to every single one of our clients.
As we prepare to enter our 10th year, we bring together our rich experience in media, luxury, culture, and policy with our love for innovation and disruption to craft a new future for ourselves and our clients.
Services
Social Media Strategy
Digital Strategy
Brand Strategy and Development
Business Strategy and growth-hacking
Public Relations
Media Training
Crisis Communications
Events
Content Creation
Marketing
Founders
At Oijo, every team member brings a different set of core competencies and things they’re excited about to the table. We push ourselves and each other to the hilt, having a ball while we're doing so. The qualities we cherish most include an eagerness to know and learn, original thinking and an infectious enthusiasm to get things done, always, at any cost.
Pragya Tiwari
Pragya Tiwari has been a journalist for over 15 years. As Editor-in-Chief or Editor, she has led, or founded and led, new media initiatives like the award winning webzine The Big Indian Picture, Tehelka.com, and Vice India and has been Creative Director of BalconyTV in India.
She was the Regional Director, India, for global arts, culture and heritage consultancy Flint Culture.
She is a columnist and commentator on politics, policy, fashion, arts, cinema, culture, books, theatre and cinema for leading publications in India and abroad such as The New York Times, Al Jazeera, Elle, Times of India, Hindustan Times, Quartz, Bloomberg Quint, Mint Lounge, Telegraph, DNA, Wire and First Post. Her pieces are widely circulated on social media and generate readership as well as discussion, often leading the discourse on existing issues or shining the light on new ones.
Pragya holds an LLB degree from Cardiff University and an Executive Master of Public Administration from the London School of Economics. She has consulted governments and international organisations on development and culture related policy.
She is also a public speaker on politics, policy and culture and gives talks and appears as a commentator at conferences, literature festivals and on television in India and abroad, including Oxford University and the King's College, London, the Jaipur Literature Festival, the Times of India Literary Carnival, NDTV and Al Jazeera. She is also the Program Director for Bridge Talks, an acclaimed initiative on gender dialogues promoted by Caravan magazine and Delhi Press.
Pragya, who has been a distinguished theatre critic for literary, academic and journalistic publications, is a founder member of the Indian Theatre Critics Association. Every year, during the Prithvi Theatre Festival she conducts conversations on theatre with India's most eminent theatre persons, in a series called StageTalk. She has also been involved in theatre in other ways including playwriting, acting and designing costumes and sound and music for Mumbai's experimental theatre.
She is driven by the creative vision of exploring, originating and growing ideas that lie at the cross-section of policy, culture, history, fashion and media. She excels at conceptualising, then founding new ventures and building and leading teams to execute them to their full potential.
Kavi Bhansali
Kavi Bhansali has been closely involved - behind-the-scenes - in a variety of media for over 15 years. As a producer and content creator, his experience ranges from running BalconyTV India since 2012, leading creative design and production for the award winning webzine The Big Indian Picture (both were Oijo projects which he co-founded), and heading online and video content for Tehelka.com and Tehelka Kashmir with Pragya Tiwari. He has also led Oijo's content partnerships with MTV, NDTV, Jodhpur RIFF, Pernod-Ricard, Huffington Post and a range of other brands and clients.
As a documentary and editorial photographer, Kavi's work has appeared in a range of leading publications in India and abroad, capturing performances and moments from the Mumbai theatre and from the life and times of Rajasthani musicians, including those at JodhpurRIFF, an annual music festival.
In his early years in Mumbai, Kavi also worked extensively as a lighting designer for plays in the English and Hindi theatre. He holds an LLB degree from Cardiff University with a specialisation in Intellectual Property Rights.
Kavi is inspired by the idea of pushing existing and emerging technology to its limits to usher in a new age of quality driven and diverse media and digital content consumption. He wishes to explore the visual medium - photos, videos and mixed and multi media - further as one aid to this end. Besides his expertise with visual media and tech, his aptitude lies in business development and forging partnerships - both profit and non profit based - with businesses and institutions so that they can play a role in and profit from such developments.
Rishi Majumder
A media person for 15 years, Rishi Majumder has recruited, trained and managed teams, to create and disseminate content, as Senior Editor at The Big Indian Picture, Managing Editor of Vice India and Co-Producer of BalconyTV in India. He has also been Principal Correspondent at Tehelka Magazine and Copy Editor cum Correspondent at Mumbai Mirror (Times of India Group). As part of Oijo, as well as on his own, he has created content for, consulted and helped set up media and digital content ventures for other media companies and clients.
His journalistic work includes narrative reports, investigative stories, features, video interviews, commentary and breaking news on politics, culture, civil rights, history, crime and business. His work has been cited and acknowledged in Indian parliament and assembly debates, academic papers and books. He has written and continues to write columns, articles and essays for publications in India and abroad including Midday, Newslaundry.com, NDTV.com, The Telegraph (India), The Dawn, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Yahoo Originals, Dailyo.in, FirstPost.com, Times of India, India Today magazine, Vantage (Caravan Magazine’s online vertical), Asian Age, DNA and DNAindia.com, Catch News, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Scroll.in, Think Pragati, Motherland magazine and News Central 24x7.
Rishi has an LLB from Symbiosis Law School in Pune and a Masters degree in Economics from Pune University. One of his consultations involved helping set up a policy magazine called Policy Pulse, as consulting editor. He has spoken and been interviewed on politics, policy, business, geopolitical issues and civil rights on various platforms including SAARC CCI (Chambers of Commerce & Industry) meets in Amritsar and Lahore, the PEN International Congress in Quebec and on radio programmes in the US and Canada.
Like Pragya and Kavi, Rishi was involved in experimental theatre in Mumbai. He was an actor and production manager with the theatre group Working Title.
Rishi is also Secretary and a founding Governing Body member of PEN Delhi, the Delhi centre of PEN International, a worldwide association of writers working for freedom of expression and for the promotion of literature, headquartered in London.
He is currently working on a book of mythology inspired short fiction set in present times and a play, written in English and Italian, which aims to recreate a conversation between two towering intellectuals across the ages.
Rishi is motivated by his faith in targeted audience outreach. He is convinced that this holds the key to creating high value content for relevant audiences, which can lead to a profitable as well as impactful synergy between editorial and business.
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