Friday, March 29, 2013

If tears can be magical...

Hello People,

Buffet Buffet Buffet....way to go on making bigger n better deals, be it the Heinz or now the Goldman sachs...he makes the right moves n hence an inspiration to the entrepreneurial world!!! Way to go

Picture of the post is from Coorg, yes one of the beautiful locations in Karnataka, India. Coorg apart from it natural beauty also houses a Tibetan Monastery which attracts many tourists.The Golden statues of Lord Buddha are a quite a feast for the eyes.


***********************************************************************
We Indians are so good when it comes to forgiving and forgetting sins & sinners. Don't we?? Let the sinners do any sort of sin, we still have a big heart to accept them back when they shed a bucket full of crocodile tears. Sometimes we give them their status back and honor them too. Well, as long as the sinners have realized and repented, forgiving and forgetting is considerable but may be an option outside the law. Does that take away from the grave sins they have committed?? Can those who suffered because of their deeds forget the past and pardon them??? Okay, the sufferers apart, can the law pardon those who committed crimes (in case there is no corruption) when the evidence against is strong and when the accused accepts his/her involvement??? These questions may have some honest answers as long as the accused is just another 'fame'less citizen. But what if he/she is a celebrity who has immense fame and comes from a reputed family and works in a well known industry?? Guessed it already? Yeah, you guesses are right...He is none other than Sanjay Dutt. The buzz around his arrest, accusation under POTA act, previous jailed term, release and now imprisonment again etc., ufff its endless. 
Especially the media, which is so curious about minute details of this man and his current public behaviour including the no.of tear drops shed by this masculine lad is certainly going overboard. Media folks, please don't forget he is a human before a celebrity, emotional tears are such a natural phenomenon unlike those reel tears which flow out of glycerin overloads. Now finding out whether they flow out of emotion or out of guilt or out of the acting experience is another topic and the related debates are endless. Stop writing dramatic stories about his human behaviour which is quite inevitable given an instance like that. The media portrays dramatically that the demi-god status he enjoyed has suddenly strolled down to a normal human.  And our sympathetic Btown celebrities shout out from their twitter rooftops expressing their grief and certifying his goodness. So to say, these celebrities seem to forget that he is a citizen of the country first, before being one of the Bollywood celebrities. The evidence that he possessed arms that weren't supposed to be with a common citizen (even a celebrity) is clear and the news that he has partied with the underworld & mafia men was also making rounds. If those endorsing his innocence think all this is not a big deal and he should be pardoned in spite of these activities, are they indirectly asking for a special (could be illegitimate) proceeding where the so called 'nice & good' celebrities should be exceptionally treated and trailed. 
The fact that he had unlicensed weapons and contacts with some criminals of the mafia cannot be ruled out. Just because he has wife and kids, the above fact doesn't fade out in any way. If all those related indirectly with terror attacks shouldn't be trailed, there will be many loose ends in the cases. Usually fatal attacks or blasts aren't operated by one or two persons but a group of people collectively sketch and plan them with the support of some locals. Let people like Mr.Dutt be involved knowingly or unknowingly, he has been under the scanner. He might be a man of virtues but he has been proved to have made a mistake. If he still strongly denies it, he could hang on to the case in the courts and fight for justice, but the present case doesn't seem to give him any more chance to plead. 
Its better if the media stops the over excitement around this episode making an annoying buzz. If tears alone could wash away the sins, we don't need any courts and law. When Sanjay himself agrees to abide by the law, don't know why the media folk & Bollywoodies cannot stop showering pitiful stories on him.
Anyways, I don't think he would be serving the jail term unlike many other common criminals as it is an open secret that celebrities & politicians & few bureaucrats tend to enjoy luxury treatment in the jails. 
On a lighter note, Sanju Baba may plan to write his biography which would set him by the side of many other legendaries who have served jail term and came up with biographies during the term. In his case, the biography might became a biopic at some point. Isn't it a good idea Sanju??

Cheers

Jyostna 



Thursday, March 14, 2013

Freebies??...seriously sleazy

Hello pals,

Spring is here, so much colour, so much vibrance, the weather seems a little hotter than usual here in Bangalore, but the full bloomed trees around holds the flavor of the season. Can't wait more blooming n brightness.

Picture of the post is very much spring's favorite flowering worldwide, the cherry blossoms. Pictured in Kew Gardens, London, these pink blossoms are my most favorite.

***********************************************************************
Free Free Free..as soon as this tag catches our eye, we rush in to find what it is and grab one without asking why it is free? This is most common human syndrome...we can't ignore the freebies. Just because they are free they need not be useful or attractive. Just the term 'free' associated with it is all worth the pain to grab it. We don't mind the long queues, claustrophobic lanes, crowded malls, long waits anything will be withstood. With the same craze for freebies, we often run behind those masquerades who in the name of free schemes cash this vulnerability in us. 
Just like the big businesses when under pressure tend to offer discounts, freebies and attractive offers to lure the customers, those masquerades also follow similar strategy. All is well as long as the business runs well, it could be because of the quality offered, or the top notch services or for its sheer variety. The free scheme strategies step in only when the business starts sliding down in the market. Proper recovery strategies could be something like inspecting and retrospecting internal flaws. Since this is tedious and involves some serious commitment to be better, and only those businessmen who are quite committed and passionate to keep up their business standards go for retrospection, the rest opt for easy alternatives like free schemes. This is easy because, the proclivity to get freebies never dies down in us. 
Across pan India, so many chief ministers have been vouching many freebies from rice to power, from health to travel, from books to laptops if they were voted. Some of them did keep up their vows..recent freebie event was at UP as you all know. Laptops were the giveaways as part of the event. May be next time, they could giveaway nano cars for those people below poverty level to 'to erase the economic boundaries' as they call it. At least the nano cars will provide some shelter to live, as anyways their economic status will not support them to fuel the car. With such expensive items as giveaways how else can we show gratitude except accepting them to swallow huge chunks of public money to fill in their big bad accounts.
So our tendency to love and enjoy freebies is strategically exploited to its best. We never imagine what they are asking in return or what they are trying to grab in return...do we?? As a cousin of mine said.."why should we? we got what we want and they will take what they want..who cares". Yes we hardly care. That is why they pay big bucks to buy our 'right to chose',..in other words 'our freedom of expression' is bought and molded as per the buyer's wish. Yet, we don't care..because we aren't smart when it comes to resisting the bait.
Of course, the offers are too alluring to resist...there are color TVs, laptops, free rice, free health, free education etc; To run those free laptops and TVs,there should be power and many states are already in shortage. Hence, the laptops become real piece of poster hoardings (for the ex-CM). When one can't afford a square meal, what else they could do but watch that free color TV with starving stomach. The free health offer for below poverty line people could kick up the other prices high into the sky as even the well put up families use that scheme masking themselves as poor...and free rice scheme could help us accumulate more and just more carbohydrates as other staples will be at unusually high prices. The free education could get any tom dick & harry graduate no matter they are interested or qualified. So where are we heading??? In spite of all these big time side effects, we still can't get over the freebies.
Never do we ask those masquerades to govern us in such a way that we get the basic necessities at affordable prices,stop the worthless schemes which brings the lazy bugs out in us, corrupt free governance that doesn't allow us and them to act as per own wish, and let them know that we cast the votes only on performance basis but not for the gimmicks they play.

Don't you think offering those freebies is sleazy???

Cheers

Jyostna 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Commercial 'Break'

Hi Readers,

Alrighty, in my last posts I have mentioned about world famous sportsmen roped in controversies, thereby demotivating the sportsmen spirit and people who look up to them for inspiration. After Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorious, now its our country's Olympic medalist Vijendar Singh. Although not entirely into the issue at this point, it appears like sooner or later he would also be tagged in one. Wish it otherwise though.

Picture of the post is celebrating an incredible women artist's wonderful artwork. This was taken on Queen's walk area on the banks of River Thames in London., the lady on the right has done this beautiful masterpiece on the road side. Isn't it amazing???

*****************************************************************
How many of you are TV buffs??? A lot, I guess. Not me...I swear not me! I was, of course. Long ago, before I went to the states, but once disconnected from the idiot box, I find it really hard to be glued back to it now. For those shows which cannot be patiently watched on TV,I resort to the YouTube which has become the substitute for TV these days.  Also for those shows which aren't telecasted in India.

If you are regular TV viewer, you are not new to the bugging TVCs (TV Commercials) in midst of an interesting/favorite show. They weren't so bugging and boring in the early 90s. I am sure many of you will agree with me. They were indeed the best and thoughtful commercials. The jingles played along with the commercials were quite popular and still remembered., unlike the present commercial jingles which are forced upon the viewer. If you argue that even today the jingles are very popular, I have to say yes, but only because they were played too many times, over the phone, in the internet, in the malls,...wherever you go they haunt you. Earlier commercials were known for their smart and crisp narration along with catchy phrases which have been circulating among humor groups for ages. And, the tag lines were very relative to the product they were promoting. The present commercials can be termed as heights of stupidity, obscenity and above all darn boring. The repeat telecasts of the same commercials over a hundred times within few hours makes any viewer go crazy. If you ask an average viewer why do you want to change the channel, you would hear an obvious answer, because it was a commercial break.

I could recollect, how eagerly I used to wait for an ad both for its music and the interesting content. Now, I started hating TV because of the crazy commercial break nonsense. Because many people like me aren't watching TV, and resort to the YouTube, the commercial breaks creeped in to the this portal as well. Earlier, the breaks were optional on YouTube  viewers have had a choice to skip, now most of them have spammed the videos that you have no choice but to wait on. The mobile phones aren't an exception. The mobile companies can bug you like mad, if you chose not opt out of their special customer services. They start very pleasing and get on your nerves eventually with endless list of questions probably you have never even answered in a competitive exam. The nonsense doesn't end there,...in the name of promotions, the knock your doors too or scratch your back at a mall to scare the hell out of you. Or you can find some pretty girls in skimpy skirts luring you to buy a phone, soap etc., at malls and commercial centers. 'Too much of anything turns poisonous' quoted Lord Budha, but our marketing folks say it otherwise.

The FMCG are the biggest culprits when it comes to the annoying ads and promotions. Over advertising and boring content can actually kill a good product in my opinion. Just because you have trumpeted some hundred times, I wouldn't want to buy a product that I never wanted to. And above that, the boring content can never woo people today who have been exposed to the international market. I think the ad companies have stopped using brains anymore...people are no more brand faithful unlike the old times when our parents have stuck to the same brand for ages. Now, a smart ad can woo people out of their regular interest. A lot of them indeed buy and try new products mostly because, the attractive commercial or the attractive packaging. But to have loyal customers, I think the key is its content which should be unique and upgrade with changing trend.

Anyways, if one has to list the most annoying commercials in my opinion these days there will not any space. Most of these are repeated at least a hundred times in a day. Oh..Oh..not any more!!!!!

But here are few snips of the some all time best commercials