BRAToSPHERE

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  • How tolerant are we?

    I was at the Jaipur literature festival last week, and just when I landed in Jaipur on Sunday I hear that Ashish Nandy had to leave the place. He was supposed to be in a session on Sunday at 11AM, but he could not be present.

    On my flight back to Mumbai, the newspapers mentioned about Salman Rushdie not being allowed to the Kolkata literary meet.

    The whole of last week and this week we have been hearing about Viswaroopam, Kamal Hassan’s latest movie, not being allowed to release in some of the south Indian states. This is inspite of the fact that the censor board has given it a clean chit.

    Why? Why have we become such an intolerant state? Why do we assume that the religious sentiments of the public would be hurt at the slightest provocation?

    Were we always like this? Not really. This is the country where KamaSutra has flourished. Religious tolerance leads to creative thinking and as a famous poet put it, where the mind is without fear.

    In my opinion, we are still a very tolerant state. What else could explain our “chalta hai” attitude towards the daily hurdles in our life. The hurdles which are created by decades of corruption and mismanagement by our leaders and we still admire, respect and forgive them. We tolerate them.

    It is the same people in power, our so called leaders, who most of the times use the innocent amongst us to instigate fire to further their own personal agendas. This is what we should be wary of.

    Coming back to the topic, What exactly is religious tolerance?

    Religious tolerance is the policy to extend religious freedom to people of all religious traditions, even though one may well disagree with their beliefs and/or practices. Having tolerance toward another religion does not require one nto endorse that faith group’s beliefs; it simply indicates one’s respect for its right to exist and for its member to hold different beliefs without being oppressed. In simple words, it is “Live and Let Live”.

    In our 21st century globalized world it is all the more important that each one of us possess this quality for a harmonious living.

    For India to be a superpower, we need to encourage people of all dissidents to our country, and this would require a huge amount of cultural sensitivity for everyone to co-exist and flourish. We would all have to strive to ensure such a culture of mutual respect develops into the daily mindset of everyone and some vested forces cannot influence it.

  • Relevance of the New Year

    The New Year is here, and it is now upon us – treat it like one more year, resolve to take this THE year or worse, 2013 is a bad year.

    Which state of mind are you in?

    For those of you who think 2013 is going to be a bad year, as 13 is unlucky and all, just get to China. Number 13 is known to be lucky amongst the Chinese people.( the reason for the same is  “This sounds like “one life, one lifetime” in both Mandarin and Cantonese, and is often used romantically, akin to “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part” in English”). Source : Wiki

    All these years, I always wondered the relevance of the New Year eve. It is just a date change. And just because the year is slated to have 365 days, it occurs once in 365 days. That is all. It is just a mathematical convenience. This thought helped me avoid wait till 31st December to make a resolve. I decide to go to the gym, I go. I don’t wait for the year to change. Simple.

    We treat the 31st December as one reason to party (and rightly so), and a time we need to make a resolution. Almost like it is the in thing to do and we need to make a resolution. Why is it so important to wait for the year to change?

    My friend in cigarette business tells me that the sales of cigarettes goes down every January, and this is obviously due to the many lakhs who decide that 1st January is the day to kick the butt. He also told me that the sales are back to normal by the last weeks of January and remains normal then onwards. They also manage to put up a meager 2% growth on yoy basis.

    The interesting fact mentioned by my friend is, that the cigarette sales goes up every year in December. Now there are many factors that could lead to this – 31 days in the month, festive time, everyone is vacationing and partying, etc. I personally believe the real reason is that everyone is on a smoking pree, thinking that they would quit any which ways on 1st January. The balance is made. The slump in smoking the first 15 days of the year is more than made up for in the last 15 days of the year.

    I have taken the example of cigarette smoking as it is the most common resolution taken by people all over the world. The same applies to any other resolution. You decide to do something, or to quit something basis a date change, it obviously would not stand the test of time as it does not come from the heart.

    So what exactly is the importance of New Year’s Eve, other than being one long party evening and a holiday? For me, the New Year’s Eve is the right time for reflection. It is the time for one to reflect where they were last year, and where they hope to go in the New Year. Career, personal life, financial life, carnal life.. er! You get the drift right!

    Chill, I think the resolution part is better and more interesting. I have made up my long list of resolutions for the year – and well, have already given up on most of them. Four days is good enough you see!

    So, what is your resolution for 2013?

    Oh! And By the way, a very very happy new year to all you BRATs!

  • Maaza Pongal – Ad Review

    I have been in Marketing for the last one and a half year, and in FMCG for the last three and a half years.

    During campus days I did a lot of ad reviews, but since then have consciously avoided the same worrying conflict of interest. But this one is just too likeable.

    For once, a multinational company has managed to strike a chord with the psyche of the traditional Indian consumer and is hugely successful in being a part of his culture.

    The latest Maaza pongal ad in south Indian languages.

    Maaza Pongal Ad

  • Mindset Change Required

    December has been one helluva month. A quick day trip to Ahmedabad in the first week of December, and then a week long trip to Gurgaon. Yes! Mentioning Delhi shames me!

    On the fateful day of 16th December, I was in Delhi and was scheduled to return back to Mumbai. Little did I know that the very streets and roads I took to reach the airport during the day would be in national news the next day for all the wrong reasons?

    A 23 year old girl is gang raped in a moving bus on the streets of Delhi!

    From then on, thousands of people have descended on the streets across the country, protesting and demanding the harshest punishment possible to the culprits. Is it about that one incident?

    No! Such things keep happening at an alarming frequency in our country, and this one incident is the trigger which has caught the imagination of the country.

    We Indians are a reactive lot. Hear about anything that disturbs us, and we react, and as it is with reactions, it dies out gradually.

    Capital punishment, Castration, bobbitization, etc are the demand calls, and it may very well be awarded to the culprits of this case, and rightfully so. But does it end there? What steps are we ensuring that such an incident does not repeat?

    Till now everyone, ranging from Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi and Sheila Dikshit have spoken about the tough punishment that should be handed out the culprits.

    While better law enforcement, and stricter laws, is one part of the solution, the more sustainable long term solution is the very mindset.

    Trying to understand the psychosis of the culprits, what provokes them to act in such a ghastly manner? An attitude which tells them internally that they can get away with it. This is the very root cause which needs to be tackled. And How?

    It is time for a mindset change in the way we think.

    In a patriarchal society like ours, where women are not allowed to talk in front of others, such incidents are bound to happen, and most of them would go unreported! This is what gives confidence to the culprits.

    Right from folks at home, to the ones in power, everybody seems to be having a opinion on what a woman should do and what she should not. Why this discrimination. Are we not in a free country, and is the woman not an equal part of it?
    The respect that a woman deserves should be given, and is capital punishment is the precedent for the same so is it.
    What do you think is the sustainable solution to this growing menace?

    Harsh as it may sound, this surely is the moment, when I am not at all proud to be an Indian!

  • Who let the dork out – Book Review

    After reading Sidin’s first two books, and following his blog for a long time, reading this book was an obvious for me.

    I had pre-ordered this one online, and was waiting eagerly to grab my hands on it.

    The book 1 in this trilogy (are there more Sidin?) sets the pace and the characters beautifully. It marked dork’s arrival in the literary world.

    Book 2 was slightly annoying with predictable plot and gibberish characters.

    Book 3 continues the same tone of book 1 and 2 in a different setting – the Common Wealth games..Er! The Allied games!

    Who let the dork out?Book 3 is a hilarious satirical take on the mess that was the Games in Delhi in 2010. The story is fast paced, structured and revolves around one thing right from page 1 : the allied games in Delhi where the lead character, Robin’s company is helping out the government.

    The subtle and powerful satire to the events in the book makes the book stand out. Most of the incidents would make you think about an actual happening that you must have read in the newspapers and especially the political characters immediately take your mind to an actual public personality.

    The description of the politician who is desperate to get into Tihar jail for advancement of his career ( as that is where he would be able to network with the who’s who of politics and Business) stands out. The description of the Tihar jail party, the innovatively named food items (Anticipatory Bhel, Quattarocheese pizza) in the jail canteen and the vivid description of the entrance to the Jail is one other instance where you actually feel – Maybe this is really true!

    Overall, the book is an easy read, and it never loses focus on the central issue at Hand – The Allied games.
    A special mention to the innovative narrative used by Sidin right from book 1 – Diary entries. This makes the flow chronological, and at places where suspense and curiosity needs to be built, there is a mention of a particular happening and the details are spelt out later.

    An easy read.