It has been quite sometime since I had blogged. I was looking for some interesting topic to post here. My last post evoked some interesting responses, especially, the comments on Madhavan. I was tempted to criticize Shahid Kapoor in this blog post, but since my post could disappoint his female fans, I refrained from doing so.
I was really annoyed by the news item that blocks half of the newspaper columns for the past few weeks. It’s about the racist attack on the Indians in Australia. True, some Australians have attacked Indian students and they suffered in that process. Do we need to react so much for that? This is very common in many parts of the world. Bad elements do exist in all the societies. In many cases the victims would be whites. How do the media know that the attacks were motivated by racist intentions? If Australians are racist, then why are they not attacking other Asian student communities? There are more than 100000 Chinese students studying in Australia. Why are they not being attacked? Why are they not protesting along with the Indian students?
If attacks on the foreigners can be termed as racist, then in India lot of foreigners are being mugged / beaten to death very frequently. Scarlett case is one such example. Did the western media term it as xenophobic?
The quality of journalism in the western world is much better compared to that of India. In BBC or CNN you can never notice a news reader airing his opinions on the subject. They bring in the expert to provide opinion. For ex, I was watching Sky news channel during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The terrorists targeted British and American citizens in that attack. In spite of that, the news readers were calm and composed. The newsreaders did not air their opinion. They had invited political and other experts from Asian region to understand the nature of the attacks and the people / organization behind the attacks.
Majority of the Indians are driven by emotions. Indian media tries to utilize this and sensationalize every news item. They just try to achieve higher TRP’s in this process. When people start losing interest in this news item they move on to the next news item for a few days. Don’t you think the Indian media needs to mature? Please leave your comments...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo
The effect of television advertisements upon the viewing public has been so successful and so pervasive that in some countries, it is considered impossible for a politician to wage a successful election campaign without the purchase of television advertising. Don’t worry!! For a change I am not going to write anything about politics.
Many television advertisements feature catchy jingles (songs or melodies) or catch-phrases (slogan) that generate sustained appeal, which may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign. The advertisements relating to the telecom space has attracted so much of attention that it is almost impossible to ignore. Let’s take the good one first
THE GOOD
Of all the ads relating to the mobile / telecom sector, the advertisement which stands apart from the rest is the Airtel’s advertisement featuring Madhavan and Vidya Balan. This ad really connects to the audience. The background music is really pleasant. The chemistry between Maddy and Vidya is really great. The only thing that could be avoided is the Maddy’s grin from ear to ear ;).
THE BAD
No surprise here. It’s the ZooZoo ads. I am giving a bad rating to the zoozoo ad’s because most of these advertisements have tinge of negative element in it. Whey should a person pray only when he is on the verge of falling from a cliff?. Can’t they find out better situation for listening to a prayer? Moreover these advertisements are being aired at regular intervals making it very irritating at times. But there are many people who love these advertisements. In short, you can love zoozoo’s or hate them, but you cannot ignore them.
THE UGLY
The ugliest of all is the BSNL ads. In one of the ads, a person makes a call to another person only to listen to the caller tune. That too its a horrible song. On top of that he scolds the other person for picking up the call. “Pandu phone kyon uthaya yaar?”. In another ad of BSNL, a person is shown as a total failure. And then Deepika gives him a BSNL 3G phone. Then he becomes successful in everything he does.
Advertising is primarily a strategic weapon. A good advertisement puts enough emphasis upon your brand name so that consumers will remember it. And, it should give the viewers some positive information about your product. Don’t you think so?
Many television advertisements feature catchy jingles (songs or melodies) or catch-phrases (slogan) that generate sustained appeal, which may remain in the minds of television viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign. The advertisements relating to the telecom space has attracted so much of attention that it is almost impossible to ignore. Let’s take the good one first
THE GOOD
Of all the ads relating to the mobile / telecom sector, the advertisement which stands apart from the rest is the Airtel’s advertisement featuring Madhavan and Vidya Balan. This ad really connects to the audience. The background music is really pleasant. The chemistry between Maddy and Vidya is really great. The only thing that could be avoided is the Maddy’s grin from ear to ear ;).
THE BAD
No surprise here. It’s the ZooZoo ads. I am giving a bad rating to the zoozoo ad’s because most of these advertisements have tinge of negative element in it. Whey should a person pray only when he is on the verge of falling from a cliff?. Can’t they find out better situation for listening to a prayer? Moreover these advertisements are being aired at regular intervals making it very irritating at times. But there are many people who love these advertisements. In short, you can love zoozoo’s or hate them, but you cannot ignore them.
THE UGLY
The ugliest of all is the BSNL ads. In one of the ads, a person makes a call to another person only to listen to the caller tune. That too its a horrible song. On top of that he scolds the other person for picking up the call. “Pandu phone kyon uthaya yaar?”. In another ad of BSNL, a person is shown as a total failure. And then Deepika gives him a BSNL 3G phone. Then he becomes successful in everything he does.
Advertising is primarily a strategic weapon. A good advertisement puts enough emphasis upon your brand name so that consumers will remember it. And, it should give the viewers some positive information about your product. Don’t you think so?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
In the name of Development
My first visit to Bangalore in the early 90’s, was a memorable experience. The traffic was much less. There was lot of greenery around. I simply fell in love with Bangalore.
I used to wonder why Chennai does not have the same amount of green cover as that of Bangalore. There are two major parks in Bangalore which it can be proud of: Lalbagh and the Cubbon park. In contrast there was nothing in Chennai. I used to consider Chennai as a desert when compared to Bangalore.
Years have passed by. Bangalore has become one of the major cities in the south. Lot of development has happened over a period of time. What is the cost that Bangalore has paid for all this development? There is so much of pollution; the green cover in the city has reduced considerably. The climate in Bangalore is no longer the same.
Adding to the problem is the Namma Metro rail project, the alignment of which necessitates felling of trees and acquisition of land belonging to the Lalbagh botanical gardens. Huge numbers of trees are going to be removed from Lalbagh to facilitate Metro rail project. Many Bangaloreans have vehemently protested against cutting of trees in Lalbagh. Earlier, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) had also proposed to cut nearly 3000 trees to make a road through Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK) campus.
Why can’t we have an underground passage for Metro rail throughout the city? It will involve some extra cost. But certainly it would not affect the environment. Even if the politicians forego 2% of what they make in a year, the additional cost of laying the metro can be met. In London most of the rail network is under the ground.
If our politicians have some sense left, they should try to construct the metro under the ground. They should try to implement all engineering projects with minimum environmental impact. If we continue to cut the trees and spoil the environment, it would have catastrophic effects on the next generation. Hope we realize this and take some positive measures.
I used to wonder why Chennai does not have the same amount of green cover as that of Bangalore. There are two major parks in Bangalore which it can be proud of: Lalbagh and the Cubbon park. In contrast there was nothing in Chennai. I used to consider Chennai as a desert when compared to Bangalore.
Years have passed by. Bangalore has become one of the major cities in the south. Lot of development has happened over a period of time. What is the cost that Bangalore has paid for all this development? There is so much of pollution; the green cover in the city has reduced considerably. The climate in Bangalore is no longer the same.
Adding to the problem is the Namma Metro rail project, the alignment of which necessitates felling of trees and acquisition of land belonging to the Lalbagh botanical gardens. Huge numbers of trees are going to be removed from Lalbagh to facilitate Metro rail project. Many Bangaloreans have vehemently protested against cutting of trees in Lalbagh. Earlier, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) had also proposed to cut nearly 3000 trees to make a road through Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK) campus.
Why can’t we have an underground passage for Metro rail throughout the city? It will involve some extra cost. But certainly it would not affect the environment. Even if the politicians forego 2% of what they make in a year, the additional cost of laying the metro can be met. In London most of the rail network is under the ground.
If our politicians have some sense left, they should try to construct the metro under the ground. They should try to implement all engineering projects with minimum environmental impact. If we continue to cut the trees and spoil the environment, it would have catastrophic effects on the next generation. Hope we realize this and take some positive measures.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Confusion Beyond Imagination
By looking at the heading you should have figured out what I am trying to convey. Take another guess. Well, let me give you another clue. Cleared Before Investigation!! I know this time you would have got it.
For the past few weeks the Congress Bureau of Investigation has been very active in giving a clean chit to those involved in the 1984 Sikh riots and the Bofors case. These are high profile cases for which investigations were going on (or was it supposed to be) for several years. The first case has been going on for 24 years and the second one probably more than that. Are they not ashamed of giving a clean chit to those involved in these cases after 25 years?
MMS also proved to the world that he is a puppet by giving a statement that CBI has neither consulted him nor involved him in the Tytler’s case (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1246855). CBI would have never bothered to consult Manmohan Singh. They seem to be acting on the basis of the instructions from the defacto prime minister.
These incidents clearly bring into light that congress is getting jitters about the results of the 2009 elections. There is a sense of nervousness among the congress top brass that they may not come to power again. Hence they are trying to use the last few days in office to clear off their names from these highly emotional and politically sensitive cases.
As far as congress is concerned, glory days seem to be a thing of the past. About MMS; less said, the better
For the past few weeks the Congress Bureau of Investigation has been very active in giving a clean chit to those involved in the 1984 Sikh riots and the Bofors case. These are high profile cases for which investigations were going on (or was it supposed to be) for several years. The first case has been going on for 24 years and the second one probably more than that. Are they not ashamed of giving a clean chit to those involved in these cases after 25 years?
MMS also proved to the world that he is a puppet by giving a statement that CBI has neither consulted him nor involved him in the Tytler’s case (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1246855). CBI would have never bothered to consult Manmohan Singh. They seem to be acting on the basis of the instructions from the defacto prime minister.
These incidents clearly bring into light that congress is getting jitters about the results of the 2009 elections. There is a sense of nervousness among the congress top brass that they may not come to power again. Hence they are trying to use the last few days in office to clear off their names from these highly emotional and politically sensitive cases.
As far as congress is concerned, glory days seem to be a thing of the past. About MMS; less said, the better
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Strategic move
For those who closely watch the political situation in Sri Lanka and India, the recent victory of the Sri Lankan government should not be surprising. If I have to point out one major event which brought the downfall of LTTE, I would point out the brutal killing of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. This single event created a bad image about LTTE in the minds of the Indian public.
No one can blame Sonia Gandhi for the war in Sri Lanka directly. Nevertheless she has played a very important role in the same. It is a well known that its air force trained its Sri Lankan counterpart in precision-guided attacks. Without this help Sri Lanka would have never been in a position to win the war against LTTE. It is also eminent that Sri Lankan government heavily relied on the air strikes in its war against LTTE. The air strikes also helped them win the war with minimum casualties. Though many civilians were affected by the military offensive by the Sri Lankan government, the Indian government deliberately did not put any diplomatic pressure on the Sri Lanka, In spite of 40 MP’s from Tamil Nadu supporting this government at the centre. All the TN politicians in the ruling party have made themselves a laughing stock by reacting to the war when the war is about to be over. The war has been going on for more than three years, yet the reactions are pouring in only now because of elections.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Sonia Gandhi had the opportunity to take revenge on the LTTE, after 17 years. And she has utilized it in the best possible way so that no one would be in a position to blame her. I truly admire her for the way she has taken the revenge.
Is it not a great strategic move by her? Leave your comments…..Till then adios amigos.
No one can blame Sonia Gandhi for the war in Sri Lanka directly. Nevertheless she has played a very important role in the same. It is a well known that its air force trained its Sri Lankan counterpart in precision-guided attacks. Without this help Sri Lanka would have never been in a position to win the war against LTTE. It is also eminent that Sri Lankan government heavily relied on the air strikes in its war against LTTE. The air strikes also helped them win the war with minimum casualties. Though many civilians were affected by the military offensive by the Sri Lankan government, the Indian government deliberately did not put any diplomatic pressure on the Sri Lanka, In spite of 40 MP’s from Tamil Nadu supporting this government at the centre. All the TN politicians in the ruling party have made themselves a laughing stock by reacting to the war when the war is about to be over. The war has been going on for more than three years, yet the reactions are pouring in only now because of elections.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Sonia Gandhi had the opportunity to take revenge on the LTTE, after 17 years. And she has utilized it in the best possible way so that no one would be in a position to blame her. I truly admire her for the way she has taken the revenge.
Is it not a great strategic move by her? Leave your comments…..Till then adios amigos.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
100 ways to kill Kasab
Last week, I was surprised to read the article in the Times of India about the claim by the lawyer of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, who was involved in the 2.36363636 (26/11) attack, that he should be tried in the juvenile court.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kasabs-claim-of-being-juvenile-dismissed-by-court/articleshow/4413081.cms
I am not sure why we take these matters to the court of law. When there is so much of evidence with us, why can’t we prosecute him directly and hang him without any trial? Or at least the process should be much quicker. I am sure this case would go on for a long time (10 years or may be more). Once the judgment is passed in the court, he would file a clemency petition with the President of India and the pseudo secular parties would support the same. Or Al-Qaeda would hijack a plane from India and demand the release of Kasab.
We all know that we cannot hang or punish to Kasab by following a democratic process. Let us try to find out some funny ways to kill him.
1) Since he has claimed that he should be treated as juvenile, the jail authorities should provide him only lactogen or cerelac 3 or 4 times a day. No other food item should be provided to him.
2) We can ask him to participate in bungee jumping event in Bangalore. There is high possibility that he might plunge to death as the harness could snap.
3) We can put him in a cage and collect money from people (nominal amount only) to throw slippers on him. That way the government can earn revenue and eventually he would die. At least we all would be happy that we have a role in it ;).
4) He can be asked to configure India localization modules of Oracle applications (that’s enough to kill him I guess). If that’s not sufficient, he can be asked to do work for reconciliation (read it as ‘R’) of differences between the modules. Working for ‘R’ he would certainly commit suicide.
5) He should be made as a personal assistant to M Karunanidhi (CM of Tamil Nadu). Then he should be asked to defend MK’s various statements and views on LTTE to the press. The press reporters would get frustrated and kill him probably….
Hey guys….y don’t u suggest 95 other ways of killing kasab. You can include it as a part of the comment.
Hasta la vista.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kasabs-claim-of-being-juvenile-dismissed-by-court/articleshow/4413081.cms
I am not sure why we take these matters to the court of law. When there is so much of evidence with us, why can’t we prosecute him directly and hang him without any trial? Or at least the process should be much quicker. I am sure this case would go on for a long time (10 years or may be more). Once the judgment is passed in the court, he would file a clemency petition with the President of India and the pseudo secular parties would support the same. Or Al-Qaeda would hijack a plane from India and demand the release of Kasab.
We all know that we cannot hang or punish to Kasab by following a democratic process. Let us try to find out some funny ways to kill him.
1) Since he has claimed that he should be treated as juvenile, the jail authorities should provide him only lactogen or cerelac 3 or 4 times a day. No other food item should be provided to him.
2) We can ask him to participate in bungee jumping event in Bangalore. There is high possibility that he might plunge to death as the harness could snap.
3) We can put him in a cage and collect money from people (nominal amount only) to throw slippers on him. That way the government can earn revenue and eventually he would die. At least we all would be happy that we have a role in it ;).
4) He can be asked to configure India localization modules of Oracle applications (that’s enough to kill him I guess). If that’s not sufficient, he can be asked to do work for reconciliation (read it as ‘R’) of differences between the modules. Working for ‘R’ he would certainly commit suicide.
5) He should be made as a personal assistant to M Karunanidhi (CM of Tamil Nadu). Then he should be asked to defend MK’s various statements and views on LTTE to the press. The press reporters would get frustrated and kill him probably….
Hey guys….y don’t u suggest 95 other ways of killing kasab. You can include it as a part of the comment.
Hasta la vista.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Puppet dance by MMS
Hey! This post has nothing to do with Multimedia messaging service. It’s about Man Mohan Singh (MMS) the greatest puppet of modern times.
I have very high regards for Mr. Manmohan Singh as an individual and as an ex-finance minister (for his role in opening up the Indian economy in the early 1990’s), but not as the current Prime Minister of India. Most of us are aware that Advani challenged MMS for a debate in the television and MMS shied away from the debate. The funniest part was he accepted that he cannot match Advani in public debate. I felt that MMS was a few bricks short of a load.
To make this post interesting, let us assume that this challenge for the public debate is accepted by MMS and that Madam Sonia Gandhi sends the answers by email to MMS so that he can read it out. And Rajdeep Sardesai is the mediator for this debate.
Question 1
--------------
Advani – MMSJI, First of all let us discuss about terrorism. You have accepted publicly that your government has not been successful in warding off the terror attacks. Is it not one of the major failures of your government?
The live debate is being watched by the congress people also. There Sonia instructs some people to prepare the answers and send a mail to MMS.
MMS in a debilitated tone replies (after reading the reply by Sonia)....Congress government always stands for secularism. We are not communal party. Communal parties are the real threat to the country. Hence we thought we would not concentrate on terrorism.
Question 2
--------------
Advani – Sounds funny MMSJI, Ok. Lets talk about secularism then. Lets talk about the clean chit given to Jagdish Tytler by the CBI and the consequences. Chidambaram would have almost been hit by a shoe. Subsequently Tytler has apologized to the Sikh community. He has been denied ticket by congress. Why did Tytler apologize if he is innocent? Did it not prove that he is guilty and congress is shielding someone who killed lots of innocent Sikhs? Is this secularism?
Meanwhile Lallu joins Sonia’s team and sends a mail without their knowledge to MMS.
Poor puppet reads the message. “We are bothered only about Muslims because we know that we will get 18% of the votes. In our country secularism means giving protection to the Minority religion for getting their votes. But who demolished Bajri Masjid?”
Question 3
--------------
Advani – It was the congress government which was ruling India, and Narashimha Rao was the Prime minister when Babri Masjid was demolished. It was being covered by the press, TV crews etc. Don’t you think you could have avoided the demolition of Babri Masjid? Is it not the failure of Congress party?
Meanwhile Mulayam joins Sonia’s team and sends a mail without their knowledge to MMS.
Puppet reads the message again. “All the Television coverage was in English at that time. Hence we could not understand. That is the reason why we want English language to be abolished in India.”
Question 4
--------------
Advani – It seems you are reading the answers from the mails which are coming to you. This is why I mentioned that you are the weakest prime minister. However Pranabji (the joker) said India does not need wrestler as prime minister. Don’t you have people who can understand the context in which it has been said?
The computer in front of MMS crashes at that time. MMS was not sure how to respond, and starts crying like a baby thinking what would Sonia Gandhi say about this fiasco.
Meanwhile Rajdeep sardesai sensing that he has to defend congress some how, completes the debate by saying “You can see only women crying in Public. Now Mr.Manmohan Singh, by crying before the public has proved that he could also cry, thereby proving that he is really brave and strong”.
I have very high regards for Mr. Manmohan Singh as an individual and as an ex-finance minister (for his role in opening up the Indian economy in the early 1990’s), but not as the current Prime Minister of India. Most of us are aware that Advani challenged MMS for a debate in the television and MMS shied away from the debate. The funniest part was he accepted that he cannot match Advani in public debate. I felt that MMS was a few bricks short of a load.
To make this post interesting, let us assume that this challenge for the public debate is accepted by MMS and that Madam Sonia Gandhi sends the answers by email to MMS so that he can read it out. And Rajdeep Sardesai is the mediator for this debate.
Question 1
--------------
Advani – MMSJI, First of all let us discuss about terrorism. You have accepted publicly that your government has not been successful in warding off the terror attacks. Is it not one of the major failures of your government?
The live debate is being watched by the congress people also. There Sonia instructs some people to prepare the answers and send a mail to MMS.
MMS in a debilitated tone replies (after reading the reply by Sonia)....Congress government always stands for secularism. We are not communal party. Communal parties are the real threat to the country. Hence we thought we would not concentrate on terrorism.
Question 2
--------------
Advani – Sounds funny MMSJI, Ok. Lets talk about secularism then. Lets talk about the clean chit given to Jagdish Tytler by the CBI and the consequences. Chidambaram would have almost been hit by a shoe. Subsequently Tytler has apologized to the Sikh community. He has been denied ticket by congress. Why did Tytler apologize if he is innocent? Did it not prove that he is guilty and congress is shielding someone who killed lots of innocent Sikhs? Is this secularism?
Meanwhile Lallu joins Sonia’s team and sends a mail without their knowledge to MMS.
Poor puppet reads the message. “We are bothered only about Muslims because we know that we will get 18% of the votes. In our country secularism means giving protection to the Minority religion for getting their votes. But who demolished Bajri Masjid?”
Question 3
--------------
Advani – It was the congress government which was ruling India, and Narashimha Rao was the Prime minister when Babri Masjid was demolished. It was being covered by the press, TV crews etc. Don’t you think you could have avoided the demolition of Babri Masjid? Is it not the failure of Congress party?
Meanwhile Mulayam joins Sonia’s team and sends a mail without their knowledge to MMS.
Puppet reads the message again. “All the Television coverage was in English at that time. Hence we could not understand. That is the reason why we want English language to be abolished in India.”
Question 4
--------------
Advani – It seems you are reading the answers from the mails which are coming to you. This is why I mentioned that you are the weakest prime minister. However Pranabji (the joker) said India does not need wrestler as prime minister. Don’t you have people who can understand the context in which it has been said?
The computer in front of MMS crashes at that time. MMS was not sure how to respond, and starts crying like a baby thinking what would Sonia Gandhi say about this fiasco.
Meanwhile Rajdeep sardesai sensing that he has to defend congress some how, completes the debate by saying “You can see only women crying in Public. Now Mr.Manmohan Singh, by crying before the public has proved that he could also cry, thereby proving that he is really brave and strong”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)