Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That.

Picture this.

You are in a certain situation, wherein you have done almost everything that you can possibly do, given the conditions, resources, opportunities, time constraints, zeal, enthusiasm, drive etc etc.

Then you arrive at a certain crossroad in life, where there are many paths ahead of you. Most of those take you into new and un-chartered territories, ultimately bringing in a lot of new learnings, experiences, perspectives, ideas… and challenges. Some of them seem quite comfortable, some horrific. Most of them will take their toll on you, physically, emotionally, mentally… and in every possible way one can think of. Some might not. You fit in some, as easily as a hand in a glove. Some are as difficult to fit in to, as a golf ball in one’s throat (or other anatomical regions where it MIGHT fit)!

One of those paths will be an extension of the path you have been traveling all this while. Familiar, friendly, frolicking, fun, … fundamentally your domain. You have learnt a lot during this ride. There is more to learn, but maybe at that particular juncture, the will to learn more is not so strong. You do want to learn, but probably newer things. Things you thought you couldn’t. In fact, others have also expressed a similar opinion on this.

“Not your cup of tea”
“Risky”
“Not your strength”
“Unwise”
“Why?”

Some of the things you might hear in this regard. Almost like riddles. There will be times when you are tempted to think twice.



But then… A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. Irrespective of the riddles.


Isn’t it?


Think.


Love, Peace n' Harmony
Sam.

© Prateek Sharma Jun 2008

Reminiscing... Thinking... Tormenting...

Life.

Goes on.

Waits for none.

People come.

People stay.

People Give.

Take.

Leave.

Sometimes it's good, sometimes... not so good.

Analysing wont help much.

Not analysing... you wont do.

Many confusions.

Many conclusions.

One reality.

Not much is in your control.

How I wish...

Think.



Love, Peace n' Harmony
Sam.





© Prateek Sharma Jun 2008

“Brought To You By…!!”

“This movie is brought to you by…”

“Saturday Wild Nights, brought to you by…”

“The XYZ show, presented by…”

“… in association with…”

“Channel Partner…”

“Radio Partner…”

“ABC Presents…”


Just a few examples of how we see sponsors sponsoring various shows, events, activities… and a whole lotta jargon like that. Well, the list doesn’t end here. There are more things that can be sponsored; “Brought to you by”!

We see brands being given “visibility” in a whole lot of ways. Bus stands, autorickshaws, sports teams, movies (in a surrogate manner, Taal being a great example), LPG cylinders, multiplexes, etc.

I was wondering, how many avenues are left now? Almost everything that you can lay eye on can be used as a medium to give a brand some visibility. The marketing of a plethora of products and services exposes you to a multitude of color and creativity. But the question still remains… Is it really necessary? Well, the fruitfulness of all this marketing would need a different post altogether, and we might do it at a later stage. As of now, I would wanna concentrate on the initial thought that I had in mind.

In this age, every marketing mind fights for mind space. The more the visibility of the product, the higher the recall, leading to higher sales, eventually leading to higher profit margins. No rocket science here. Basic priniciple of marketing.

The question that I often ask myself is, how much is enough? When and where does it stop? Will it ever stop? This sudden explosion of “Brand Presence” in our daily lives…

Just as a thought. It’s quite possible that very soon we might find brands being made visible at places we never thought of. For example, let’s say, a school.

We have already seen brands getting a certain amount of visibility there as well, but in a different manner. Like on pencil boxes, tiffin boxes, copy covers, name labels etc.

What I am talking about are the unusual avenues. Intervals, for example, might be one of them. Just imagine, just before the bell begins to ring to declare that the interval has begun, there is an announcement made on the school PA system installed in every room – “This interval is brought to you by ACME Health Foods. Eat Healthy, Grow Healthy.”

The children step out of their classrooms and go to the field, where there are banners all around, displaying various health drinks, sports goods, kids’ apparels etc, of course keeping in mind the “Target Group”.

The biology class, for example, can be “Brought to you by” EFGH Surgical Instruments, or by a certain brand of Sanitary Napkins, or contraceptives for that matter. Of course, they ARE related to the nature of the subject!

The library could have an “Official Book Store Partner”, the staff room could be “Presented By LMNO Furniture”, the common room could have an official “Hospitality Partner”, the amphitheatre may have an “Entertainment Partner” and the dispensary might be “Associated With Dr. Doc’s Hospital and Clinic”! After all, it’s always good if you “Catch Them Young”!





What’s next? Bald heads of men and bellies of pregnant women?


Just a passing thought… You too, are free to think on this.


Love, Peace n' Harmony
Sam.

© Prateek Sharma Jun 2008

One Evening At The Chinese Gully... And A Few Weeks After That.

King Leonidas, the brave ruler of Sparta, said to his famous 300 soldiers… "Spartans! Prepare for GLORY!". And so, he and his brave 300 fought and laid down their lives. To go down in history in a manner so magnificent, that generations to come will read about them and be astonished.


His weapons… Spear, Shield and Sword.

His strength… Trust and Faith in his men, and vice-versa.

His belief… Respect and Honour.

His motive… Liberty, Freedom, Justice.



That was a different time, and a different story. Had it not been for the 2007 blockbuster release, raking in billions of dollars, the story might have been forgotten by many, and would have been unheard of by many more. People of today’s tumultuous times hardly have time to spare to know about history. ‘Boring’ history, as a matter of fact.


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13 Youngsters, 3 Countries, 1 Objective. The way the Reality Show has been promoted, these people come across as nothing less than members of a warrior tribe, uncannily similar to the Spartans.


Their weapons… Treachery.

Their strength… No Trust and Faith on each other, politics and back-stabbing.

Their belief… Not to think twice before eliminating a friend who is a threat.

Their motive… Victory at any cost… Come what may.



And GLORY, it seems, is what they all got, with one guy in particular getting the biggest share of it.





This is today’s age.


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In my last post, the one to which this is a sequel, I had described the string of events that occurred on that evening at the Chinese food joint. We had reached a certain point where one woman said something, which compelled me to think.

Quoting myself…

“And then, I started thinking. The latest group of people who came in started discussing about the show. They did discuss about one guy in particular, who belongs to my hometown. (For more on the city, go here.) Seems he is the highlight of the show.
Moving on, something that one of the young women of the group said struck me. What that was, I shall discuss soon. It will require some thinking on my part before I post it. (Half-baked ideas do not seem too tempting or appealing to me, to be posted here.)”

I am aware that the sequel to the post is coming after a long long time. I am also aware of the number of people who read the post and asked me “What did she say?” “Aisa kya boli vo ladki?” and many such questions. But as I had said in that post, I needed time to frame this one. More importantly, I wanted the show to end, so that I could sum it up in my head and then write. Sincere apologies, and thanks for waiting.


Moving on. As I had told you, there was a group of young girls, accompanied by a lady. The lady was the mother of one of the girls, who had invited her friends for a birthday treat at that joint. So, they were having a jolly good time, eating Chinese food, chitchatting in typical girly fashion, and watching the Reality Show.

It was the second or the third episode of the show, and was still quite new to the viewers. The contestants were pretty new to everyone as well. No one had formed any strong opinions yet. Neither any ‘favourites’ established so far. But one thing had already been established. Actually, to correct myself, it hadn’t been established. In fact, it was more like a ‘given’ fact of the show, established over the 4 seasons that the series had been running. And that was… the Politics, the Back-biting, the Treachery. Everyone seemed quite prepared for it.

I had not seen a single season of this show. Had caught an episode or two, while visiting a relative’s or a friend’s place, people who owned television sets. I could never associate myself with the show, purely for one reason, the absence of TV from my life. Hence, I had no opinions about the show, positive or negative. For me, it was ‘just another Reality Show’.

Now, the lady with the group seemed a little perplexed. She, I assume, had never watched the show either. Seemed she had some problems in understanding the sudden excitement among the young women, as soon as they saw the show on the TV screen. She was amused. And then she asked the group, no one in particular, about the concept of the show.

Almost all of the young girls started explaining, all speaking at the same time, so that what was audible was a gibberish amalgamation of words, voices, sounds, exclamations and noise! Now, when such a verbal barrage happens, more often than not, there comes a time when there is a small gap in all the noise. And it was a similar gap in which one of the girls said something, which caught my attention.

She said, “Basically it’s a show where these people are put together for a few weeks and they have to perform some tasks and all, and then one of them is going to win some prize money and a bike. There is so much of politics, back-biting and bit**ing!! Its very interesting! I don’t miss it at any cost! It’s so cool! I looooooove it!”


This is what started that chain of thoughts in my mind.

I am not trying to judge the show. Neither am I running it down. Yet, what amazed me was the fact that the girl had just said all this! She, like the millions of other young boys and girls, and slightly older men and women, found the fact that the contestants indulged in politics, back-biting, treason and bitching to win the game very interesting.


Which brings me to think. If the story of Leonidas was narrated to them as a history lesson, they would not find it “interesting” enough, although that story actually has much more better things to learn from. Bravery, loyalty, justice, freedom… just to name a few. Yet, what appeals to them is the set of “values” the Reality Show is exposing them to.


Sad, but true. Weird, yet a fact. Good stories filled with good values find place in good books. And sometimes, in good movies. But what actually forms a part of our daily lives is full of the other set of “values”.

The girls, like many other viewers across the nation, are still in their formative years in a way. Their individual personalities are still not completely formed; they’re still taking a concrete shape. And at such a juncture in their lives, this is what they find particularly “cool” and inspiring. No wonder, the idea of making it big in life will be a little misconstrued for them. “If I need to get ahead in life, I should know how to play politics. And I should never trust anyone, no matter how close that person is to me.”


As much as I’d hate it, it’s a fact. Sometimes it disgusts me, sometimes it amazes me, and sometimes I wonder “What a fantastic idea!”.


Commercialization and bottom-lines will make people and organizations do things which are ‘logically’ and ‘commercially’ explainable, but inexplicable in other ways.


I am tempted to write more on the show itself, and the concept of Reality Shows, but I wont do that right now. Want to know why?

I just overheard a few colleagues at work discuss something. One woman was telling the others…

“I’ll tell you what this show is about. It has 2 men and 20 hot young women, staying at a villa for some time. Both the men will end up getting one woman each. The power to choose or reject the woman would lie with the men. It’s gonna be amazing!”


Do I sense a similar chain of thoughts rising in my mind?


Think.


Love, Peace n' Harmony
Sam.

© Prateek Sharma Jun 2008