CANNES: Watering holes are supposed to be the one place where different animals that are otherwise at each other’s throats declare a temporary truce. For Indian ad folk, Cannes , with its abundance of watering holes of a different variety, serves a similar purpose.It’s the one place where long running grudges and feuds are at least temporarily suspended and everyone wants to know how we (i.e. India) are doing at the awards.The entries this year may be down – 1,227 compared to last year’s five-year high of 1,315 – but bagging a significant trophy like the Grand Prix for Good won by McCann Health , besides 13 other trophies including four gold on just Day One, has made it seem last year’s rich trophy haul of 27 gongs can be equalled or may be surpassed.If the cheers for the Indian winners were not as lusty and raucous as usual, at the award ceremony last Saturday, it’s because several Indian delegates were just about landing at Cannes.Agencies are of course present in strength with large teams from Leo Burnett and Dentsu Aegis network, and a small but high-power set from GroupM including Mindshare CEO Prashant Kumar and MEC head T Gangadhar . But significantly, we hear there are several marketers making an appearance including teams from Flipkart and ITC While quite a few Indian delegates won’t stay on till the end of the week, the ones who made it in early kept themselves busy.Some planted themselves in the seminar halls attending session after session, one of them was candid enough to admit, as much to receive global ‘gyan’ as to escape the scorching heat outside.Others are discovering to their delight a host of shops and stores were bargains — or what passes off for a bargain at Cannes — can be found, away from the main promenade, the Croissette, home to exclusive stores for Gucci, Dior, Moncler and Louis Vuitton.For the next week, the rose will flow freely, irrespective of whether the drinking is in celebration of awards won or lamenting gongs lost (amid copious conspiracy theorising about lobbies, judges with an ‘agenda’ or the work being too ‘Indian’ for the multinational judges at Cannes).But not too freely, because even amid parties every night and seminars every day, there are internal meetings to attend, people to poach, people to get poached by and new unfamiliar ad and marketing technology to familiarise oneself with.