A couple of days ago after those horrendous moments that Mumbai witnessed, I went to a nearby provision store to buy few imperative items, as I didn’t dare to step out of the hostel during terror attacks. I met a daredevil female at the store arguing over some issue with the owner. I ignored the heated discussion and went over looking for some chocolates when I heard someone saying “Brahmins are much cheaper than Muslims.” My antennas stood up and I was pulled with an automatic force towards that irascible expositor. Everyone around her was quite and stunned with those bombshell facts she was throwing for defining the cast of terrorists and politicians, though she weigh them equally.
According to her Narender Modi hates Muslims because his wife fled with some Muslim guy (I didn’t know this!!). Secondly, all of us our genetic outcome of women who were raped by Changeaz khan, so we are more impure than Muslims. Thirdly, blaming any other cast for the heinous attacks by the terrorist is of no use as Hindu leaders have given rise to terror activities themselves. Lastly, all Indians should join hands together to eliminate theory of dividing India on the basis of north south east west from the minds of common people, which is throttling the basic fabric of our society. We must stop all this before Raj Thackeray’s philosophy spreads its evil tentacles across the nation. She was angry, boiling at a high temperature, but her arguments were unusual. They were largely different from what I expected from a normal angry Mumbaikar after the attacks.
Later on I came to know that she was Pratibha Sinha, daughter of a renowned bollywood actress, an elite mumbaikar who was upset over the frightful attacks. Fortunately or unfortunately it was that uninterested vendor and those unfazed customers who fell victim to her outrage. This incident made me ponder over those unanswered questions going in my mind for days:
• Were these upper crust people equally angry when recently Malegaon, Delhi or North east territories were attacked?
• Were their hearts resonant with same annoyance and their minds, crying for such peace marches when other parts of India were witnessing these ghastly attacks?
• Why only these attacks have triggered such mass frustration or exasperation and not the other events where thousands of innocent lives were taken?
• Why these politicians were not blamed and made to resign earlier?
• In those attacks when a poor lady used to roam with a slipper of her son in her hand to find his body, weren’t those visuals disturbing enough as a wakeup call for rest of the India?
Everything is same, the attacks, terrorists, victims, politicians, blame game and cries... if something has changed that is except a crowded vegetable market, today, sophisticated elite India is targeted. Yes, innocent middle class Indians were under fire at CST but hardly any importance is given to them both by the media and its consumers.
Yesterday we saw thousands of people from different backgrounds coming together at Gateway and Jantar Mantar to raise their voices against terrorism. I hope this spirit to fight, to challenge the functioning of our corrupt political system, and trying hard to get out of the trap of terrorism will not get suppressed after few days. I hope these protagonists will keep trying to pursue, protect, prevent and prepare rest of the citizen to take serious action rather than just presenting their opinions on the overall scenario. Let everyone say ‘I want to make a difference. And I’ll make it soon’.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
"MASTERMINDS"
Here is a question,(but no prize for the right answer!!)who came first,law makers or law breakers? Tough call, isn’t it? But who so ever is ahead, every fine day laws are made, demeaned and finally amended but never followed. The constant terrorist’s attacks in India are an ideal example to verify above statement. Prestigious laws like POTA or TADA has been neither able to ensure security to the citizens and tourists nor have they got the hold of culprits behind such disastrous acts. Nobody is convicted in any of the recent blast cases so far, but yes every state is pompously claiming to catch the “mastermind”. Consistently the flagitious political system and reckless law and order are smashing hard on our faces by dealing with such sensitive issue as perfunctory matter.
A responsible citizen reports to police about an unidentified bike outside his shop at Malegaon before the blast, but no heed was paid to the crucial information by the cops for more than half and hour and after that we all know what happened. Subsequently police fired 58 rounds in the air (what they claim) in that 50 ft by 50 ft area to disperse the crowd, yet 2 people were hospitalized having bullet injuries. Every fact is clear, but why even then there are many unanswered questions!
A compelling article in HT by Sagrika Ghose “Those Blasted Theories” (dated October 1) brings out many such persuasive questions which make the readers ponder over the core reasons of constant occurrence of such blasts and about the targeted Muslim community who is somehow always dragged into controversies. Few of them go like this-
* If bombers are Muslims then why they target masjids?
* If they are fighting for some cause then why there were no suicide bombers in recent attacks?
* Why election time is focused by terrorists for creating destruction?
Terrorist or the “organized criminals” (as we are supposed to call them) are not only the ones who are behind the curtains and causing havoc unfailingly in every three months, but unfortunately even the ones who were elected by us as our leaders to fight for the betterment of our societies are standing indefatigably in the line. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s controversial youth wing, the Bajrang Dal is everyday trying to take a step forward to increase its terrorist activities in the name of religion in many states.
But here comes a mind boggling controversy which I read in an English daily two days before, “Claiming that the SIMI (Student’s Islamic Movement of India), accused of carrying out several attacks in the country, was behind the ban (of the party)”
Perplexity begins here. Staunch Hindu believer leaders of Bajrang Dal, who are openly burning Bibles in the streets, killing innocent christens and forcing them to change their religion from Christianity to Hinduism are claiming that SIMI, a Muslim organization is asking for their ban!!
Is there anything called Fundamental Rights in this country? Does our quiescent government sitting at the centre and reading such daily reports are concerned about these violent agnostics (calling themselves as true Hindus) who are trying to proselytize a particular community?
POTA, Section 3(a) Defining terrorist act- Whoever with the intent of threatening the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India or strike terror in the minds of people or any section of the people does any act or thing by using dynamite or explosive substances or inflammable substance or firearms or other lethal weapon or poisonous or noxious gases or other chemical or any substance of a hazardous nature in such a manner as to cause death or injuries to any person or loss or damage to property or disruption of any supplies or services essential for life.
After reading this definition I truly believe such violent leaders indelibly deserve to get behind those iron bars under POTA law. If the cataclysmic went on like this, there won’t be any chance to escape later on. Before catching the ‘masterminds’ swelled around the whole cosmos, our judicial system has to take hard steps against these misanthropists in order to save the innocent communities. For the five days now, the wiseacre police teams across the country are going to interrogate those 20 men of IM (Indian Mujahideen). Why can’t few of these plucky men go and interrogate those vehement leaders?
A responsible citizen reports to police about an unidentified bike outside his shop at Malegaon before the blast, but no heed was paid to the crucial information by the cops for more than half and hour and after that we all know what happened. Subsequently police fired 58 rounds in the air (what they claim) in that 50 ft by 50 ft area to disperse the crowd, yet 2 people were hospitalized having bullet injuries. Every fact is clear, but why even then there are many unanswered questions!
A compelling article in HT by Sagrika Ghose “Those Blasted Theories” (dated October 1) brings out many such persuasive questions which make the readers ponder over the core reasons of constant occurrence of such blasts and about the targeted Muslim community who is somehow always dragged into controversies. Few of them go like this-
* If bombers are Muslims then why they target masjids?
* If they are fighting for some cause then why there were no suicide bombers in recent attacks?
* Why election time is focused by terrorists for creating destruction?
Terrorist or the “organized criminals” (as we are supposed to call them) are not only the ones who are behind the curtains and causing havoc unfailingly in every three months, but unfortunately even the ones who were elected by us as our leaders to fight for the betterment of our societies are standing indefatigably in the line. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s controversial youth wing, the Bajrang Dal is everyday trying to take a step forward to increase its terrorist activities in the name of religion in many states.
But here comes a mind boggling controversy which I read in an English daily two days before, “Claiming that the SIMI (Student’s Islamic Movement of India), accused of carrying out several attacks in the country, was behind the ban (of the party)”
Perplexity begins here. Staunch Hindu believer leaders of Bajrang Dal, who are openly burning Bibles in the streets, killing innocent christens and forcing them to change their religion from Christianity to Hinduism are claiming that SIMI, a Muslim organization is asking for their ban!!
Is there anything called Fundamental Rights in this country? Does our quiescent government sitting at the centre and reading such daily reports are concerned about these violent agnostics (calling themselves as true Hindus) who are trying to proselytize a particular community?
POTA, Section 3(a) Defining terrorist act- Whoever with the intent of threatening the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India or strike terror in the minds of people or any section of the people does any act or thing by using dynamite or explosive substances or inflammable substance or firearms or other lethal weapon or poisonous or noxious gases or other chemical or any substance of a hazardous nature in such a manner as to cause death or injuries to any person or loss or damage to property or disruption of any supplies or services essential for life.
After reading this definition I truly believe such violent leaders indelibly deserve to get behind those iron bars under POTA law. If the cataclysmic went on like this, there won’t be any chance to escape later on. Before catching the ‘masterminds’ swelled around the whole cosmos, our judicial system has to take hard steps against these misanthropists in order to save the innocent communities. For the five days now, the wiseacre police teams across the country are going to interrogate those 20 men of IM (Indian Mujahideen). Why can’t few of these plucky men go and interrogate those vehement leaders?
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Darker Side of the Ad- World
John Hegarty an ad guru said "The creativity bit in advertising is really a guerilla one. It comes in, makes a hit and zips out". Well the great adman did talk about the unbeatable ideas that make a hit in the mind-space of consumers but didn’t strike the chord about those grotty ones-on the darker side!!
Today we are living in a chaotic fray world where making a unique identity is a
strenuous task. Every product in the market holds everything for the target audience and to differentiate its identity, the ad world grants maverick ideas. But the deceptive practices on the part of this small screen glamour world with subliminal messages are on high spirits to inveigle the 'smart' consumers.
Taking into consideration the two famous controversial ads 'Lux Cozy' and 'Amul Macho', who played havoc during family viewing time by creating an embarrassing silence and an uncomfortable situation triggered by those curious questions asked by children. Though very soon the bell of "BANNED" was rung at their doors, yet the obstinate Amul Macho is crafting for fantasies and this time taking a flirtatious monkey going mad over its product. On the same track, Rediff's "BIG" ad captured eyeballs of spectators as few found it cheeky and others called it a creative idea! Now that’s a cool tool with our ad buddies as they title anything offensive as creative.
Among the paragons that fit the situation is the press ad of Unibic Cookies which came with a tagline "Why have a good day when you can have a great day."
Is GOOD DAY even not a popular biscuit brand? Now if our hard line creative teams entitle this one as a product of true creativity, then they might need to recall the lessons taught by ASCI. But for Unibic it was all about hitting the nail on the head and receiving publicity. Even Metro(A Shoe Brand) had jumped into the pond of deceptive ads by running a print campaign "The Incomplete Man", copying the sidelight and misusing the tagline of Raymonds "The Complete Man". How about this brand, diabolically making a paradigm shift into the darker side!
Advertising has become ubiquitous, virtually surrounding us all the time. By marching towards the wrong front these waspish ads might be able to create prodigious effect on the sales of their brands for sure, but are losing the grounds of "ethics and morality". If the ad industry believes trickery, skulduggery, obscenity to be the new mantras for growth, then let’s all bid farewell to I & b ministry and ASCI. Without an iota of doubt, it can be said that one mistake on the part of the advertiser, can lead to disastrous effects which can be easily seen in the case of I-pill. By not flashing the warning during TVC's that the pill is not a substitute of condom (though it was in print ads) had encouraged so many youngsters to try it again and again, presuming it as a protection after sex.
William Bernbach once said "Advertising is worth a civilization, depends upon how it is used." Hope someone will put a bug in the ears of our frisky ad gurus to set their sight on this sidetrack, rather than perfunctorily chortling by calling this write up as another "creative attempt"!!
Today we are living in a chaotic fray world where making a unique identity is a
strenuous task. Every product in the market holds everything for the target audience and to differentiate its identity, the ad world grants maverick ideas. But the deceptive practices on the part of this small screen glamour world with subliminal messages are on high spirits to inveigle the 'smart' consumers.
Taking into consideration the two famous controversial ads 'Lux Cozy' and 'Amul Macho', who played havoc during family viewing time by creating an embarrassing silence and an uncomfortable situation triggered by those curious questions asked by children. Though very soon the bell of "BANNED" was rung at their doors, yet the obstinate Amul Macho is crafting for fantasies and this time taking a flirtatious monkey going mad over its product. On the same track, Rediff's "BIG" ad captured eyeballs of spectators as few found it cheeky and others called it a creative idea! Now that’s a cool tool with our ad buddies as they title anything offensive as creative.
Among the paragons that fit the situation is the press ad of Unibic Cookies which came with a tagline "Why have a good day when you can have a great day."
Is GOOD DAY even not a popular biscuit brand? Now if our hard line creative teams entitle this one as a product of true creativity, then they might need to recall the lessons taught by ASCI. But for Unibic it was all about hitting the nail on the head and receiving publicity. Even Metro(A Shoe Brand) had jumped into the pond of deceptive ads by running a print campaign "The Incomplete Man", copying the sidelight and misusing the tagline of Raymonds "The Complete Man". How about this brand, diabolically making a paradigm shift into the darker side!
Advertising has become ubiquitous, virtually surrounding us all the time. By marching towards the wrong front these waspish ads might be able to create prodigious effect on the sales of their brands for sure, but are losing the grounds of "ethics and morality". If the ad industry believes trickery, skulduggery, obscenity to be the new mantras for growth, then let’s all bid farewell to I & b ministry and ASCI. Without an iota of doubt, it can be said that one mistake on the part of the advertiser, can lead to disastrous effects which can be easily seen in the case of I-pill. By not flashing the warning during TVC's that the pill is not a substitute of condom (though it was in print ads) had encouraged so many youngsters to try it again and again, presuming it as a protection after sex.
William Bernbach once said "Advertising is worth a civilization, depends upon how it is used." Hope someone will put a bug in the ears of our frisky ad gurus to set their sight on this sidetrack, rather than perfunctorily chortling by calling this write up as another "creative attempt"!!
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