The written word (literally)

Back after a long hiatus from blogging!!

I was just ruminating a few days back- how many of us still continue to write letters? And by write, I mean hand-written, signed, sealed and mailed to the recipient. And how many of us still like to write, maintain and cherish our own personal diary?

In this digital era, most of us choose the email system, online messaging, or social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut, leaving a quick comment or scrap. But does that really cover the essence, if you will, of the communication, I wonder. From a more mundane standpoint, has the online communication system enriched our ability to communicate across boundaries, or has it slowly but surely eroded our ability to actually meaningfully communicate, along with the decay of our basic writing skills?

I still remember the first letter I wrote after I left home, in 2003. The content wasn’t great, the grammar still remains to be validated, but the recipient (in this case, my mom) felt like a million bucks when she received it. I am a firm believer in the power of the hand written word, simply because I feel there is a heady mix of emotions, thought and grammar blended in to provide that perfect communication package.

But I feel the strong urge to ask this question. Our nxt gen gonna write and tlk ths way n we k wt it or aren’t we obliged to bequeath the utility, value and power of writing a meaningful letter, note or essay to posterity?

Hey Mediaperson, Let them RIP!!!

Something that's been gnawing at my mind for a while, but got me ruminating real hard ever since MJ's recent tragic demise. Why don't we let people RIP?

Michael Jackson is to music, what Sachin Tendulkar is to Cricket. He came and revolutionized Western music which seemed a little mundane(maybe?) after Elvis's death. This is arguably the best way to summarize Michael's contribution to his art. His personal life was marred by controversies, and while he was alive, Ok, a public figure, always in the media's eye, he got as much flak for it, as he got accolades for his music. But as soon as he passes on, the media picks up on all his personal life and starts producing and airing re-runs and re-runs of his personal issues, more than his musical genius. You get 30 mins of information on his drug habits, his court cases, what his worth is, his debt.... And then you get 10 min clips of his music, with the one summary quote from the reporter "no matter what his personal life, to us, hius music lives on". ell it does, if you keep airing more and more of his personal life, he'll be remembered as the guy who got hours of footage for having the worst personal life, rather than the man who made some of the greatest music ever!!! His personal life is exactly what it is, PERSONAL!!! Let go of that and concentrate on the better things...

And it's not just with celebrities that this happens. Even the common man isn't spared. The 26/11 Mumbai siege last 4 days for the people who were trapped in it and the people who were tragically killed in the mayhem. But the grief stricken family and friends were treated to a harsher fate, where they were not just forced to relive the catastrophe, but also had to view that on all the channels like it was this nightmare that wouldn't go away!!!! And all this while the media person makes a point of it saying, this would be the most traumatic period for the survivors, the family blah blah...!!! What is the media trying to do??

These are just a couple of recent activities that are snippets of how news media is being bound by the need to make whatever they dish out to the average viewer more cinematic and pot-boilerish!!! Commercialism zindabad!!! It's like News media is run by a clone of Elliot Carver from "Tomorrow never Dies" and being reported by the clone of Dick Thornburg of the "Die Hard Series". (people who've watched these movies know what I'm talking abt!!!)

A final plea to News Media, we trust you with giving us the News that's relevant, not the News that gives you TRP ratings. Give us the truth, but we trust you to make the choice of what we should remain ignorant about, so all of us always Live and Rest in Peace!!!!

Womanhood - An Enigma!!

On this day, I just felt the urge to write about one of the most wonderfully complicated beings on the face of this planet – Woman. One blog about Her would probably only serve as a snapshot of Her true value.

One of the greatest multi-taskers known to the human race, we tend to overlook the different roles she plays with seemingly consummate ease. She’s a little girl, a passionate lover, a devoted wife, a caring mother, a cook, a career woman, and many more, all at the same time if need be. How in the world does she manage to find the energy!!!

She can look as cool as an iceberg in the Arctic, while she’s trembling with fear or anxiety in her mind and heart. She prefers to carry herself like a feather in the wind (sometimes literally…ladies pursuing size zero…), while masking those nerves of steel that define her inner strength and beauty. She can talk for hours on most anything, and then suddenly clam up as if she’s got no idea what to talk about. She is smart, highly capable, and generally heavily misused or under-utilized. A being that truly commands respect, which we seldom are willing to grant!!

While waxing eloquent about this beautiful being, I cannot but help feel overwhelmed by the gross injustice doled out to her every day, especially in a country where we worship this being inside a temple. The same country which deifies Prosperity, Education and Righteousness in female form also commits atrocities on their own womenfolk. How ironic can life get!! I prefer not to replay what we end up talking about, hearing about and doing precious little about regarding the issue of injustice against women. I only plead this: “I don’t expect you to place Woman on a pedestal, glorify her nor do I expect you to bow your head before every Woman. I only hope that we will allow Woman to live with her head held high”.  We need more Indira Nooyi’s, Kiran Bedi’s, Medha Patkar’s, Sarojini Naidu’s, M.S Subbulakshmi’s, etc.( too many to list here so if someone’s missing, sorry!!!) to be able to not only lead by example but also provide us menfolk with the balance needed in our own lives!!!

But I have a small favor to ask of all womenfolk out there. Please, please help us understand you. I, for one, need some guidance. Enlighten us!!!

On this day, International Women’s Day, to all those Womenfolk who have illuminated my life and serve as a beacon for Womanhood – I SALUTE YOU!!

 

P.S: I know there should not be a day or occasion to talk about this beautiful creature, but hey I need an excuse to write a blog too!!!

Nostalgic Ads!!

I was just goofing off on youtube and yahoo videos, and ended up watching some of the old ads that were aired on TV. Some of them were so endearing, while some of them were just downright funny!! All of them had one quality though! They were highly attractive. These ads, I think, probably define the golden age of Indian Advertising!!  

I am taking the liberty of listing some of them down here, so anyone who shares the same feeling can enjoy remembering these times.

1.       Lifebuoy – The music was the big hit!! It was like probably the first hit song of Indian Advertising along with #2 below

2.       Nirma – Washing Powder Nirma……again, the most annoying of ads, but today, brings a smile to your face whenever you hear the music play.

3.       Cadbury’s – All of them, whether it was the original medley of people, girl dancing on the cricket field, to the Mehndi, blame it partly on these ads that converted me into this chocolate gorging machine…

4.       Nescafe – Pa Pa Da Pa Pa Da Dap…The taste that get’s you started up!!!... Coffee lover’s greatest hit!!!

5.       Titan Watches – Not a really great video, but the music was the anthem for a while (thanks to the Music director, Mr. A.R. Rehman)

6.       Bajaj Motors – Hamara Bajaj!!! Don’t know how many people chose Bajaj scooters over this, but the ad had a beautiful Indian touch to it!!

7.       Ericsson Mobile phone – the Ad which had the lady and the old guy, “join me for dinner?” scene!! Hilarious!!

8.       Fevicol – Another video masterpiece…

9.       Fevikwik – the fishing ad… pity the actor (older guy)… same guy who acted in the Ericsson ad, but always ends up with egg on his face!!!!

Chalo India Chalo- Times of India: The first ad that tugged at reality and responsibility!!!

A more recent one that really could become a masterpiece:

The Surf Excel ad with the Kids.. the one wherethe lil girl falls in a puddle and the boy teaches the puddle a lesson…OMG!! One of the cutest ads I’ve seen yet!!

In case I’ve missed any other masterpieces, lemme in on it….

Until next time….

 

Paradoxes

Phew!! Finally, I have talked myself into writing a blog, and joined the larger community that chooses to air views using the written word!!

Actually, I’m sitting so lost in thought, (and bored stiff) that I decided to put them into words and see if they actually make sense. I think a lot, talk a lot, but seldom write a lot. Kinda paradoxical, coming from a person who’s graduated from the ‘modern’ Indian school system, which usually weighs (literally) the answers to questions rather than qualitatively reading through ‘em.  And incidentally, that’s the topic for my musings today. Paradoxes!!!

Let’s see here, where do I start?  Oh yeah, school/college/undergrad. “What separates us from animals, the power to think and perceive”, “we have six senses”, all these ring a bell?? Yeah what our primary school Science teacher and GK teacher tell us is the primary difference between humans and animals. Cut to our higher secondary curricula and further(read board exam years and undergrad), “If you want to score higher, make sure whatever is written in the text book is repeated word for word in the answer sheet”. Wait a minute, the rules just changed, and there are two things wrong now. A, the teacher who taught us primary school was a total “donut”, cos he/she taught us something else and we still scored good marks(maybe they kept giving everyone brownie points, just for kicks), and B, the definition of human has changed. (We don’t need to think, just mechanically reproduce!!). We may need to revisit the differences and similarities between humans and animals, eh!!

And then we enter into our respective careers. We find a whole new world. We enter into this plush looking office and go through the first week where we are told we are trainees for some period of time after which our final position will be determined blah blah!!! My question once to a senior colleague was, “Why are we trainee professionals when basically what we are doing is trying to connect what we learnt to what goes on in practice to our line of work?” His answer was, “Son, you’re trainees not because you have to learn something new, but because you have to un-learn all that you’ve been taught, cos things work totally differently here”. Oh Great!! That makes total sense. Those words to me read, yeah, I just wasted X years of my life studying something that’s to be totally either wiped out of my brain, or has to go to a nook in there and just become dormant until extinction. Oh and just write off all those cheques your parents wrote out for this colossal waste of time. Maybe, the guy who said “Time is Money” actually referred to this phenomenon!!!

It’s kinda funny when you think about it. Cynical even!!! And we still follow this status quo, driven by choice, or by acceptance of what is become “common practice”. Oh Well!! I guess it’s still worth ruminating about, so we always at least believe we actually have the power to think!!

Disclaimer: Just in case this post seems cynical or depressing, that was not the intention!! It’s just a little food for thought!! Heheh…(like we don’t have much more to think about!!)

Until next time…