This mad ad world!!!

Long long ago maybe when our parents were kids or around the time when Television just arrived in the Indian markets, there used to just a single channel which aired programs for just (too many justs, can’t think of anything to replace it!) a small stipulated period of time and yes! There were no advertisements then. But then we have gone a long way. Now checking most of the major players in the television industry, in a half an hour program ads span at least for half the time. Making it the competition stiffer and ads just need to get better. But that’s way not what’s happening nowadays. Its like most of the ads are here without even a teensy-weensy bit of idea, they kind of just rely on flaunting big stars or skin to get the eyeballs. But then are they the ones who actually succeed in pulling the crowd. I feel a big NO!
But I would seriously like to commend some of the ads which I find to be really good and definitely amusing (err… in the right way!;))
Like the latest nokia 1600 ad which I find a real nice one.
This ad starts of by showing what everyone wishes for. Like for example they show someone hoping that even I’ll have a permanent address one day and a few ladies on a bike saying even we’ll proceed one day, a family who dream for wheels of their own, and then they reach the point where they say jab kismat ki ghanti bhajeygi hum tayaar honge behtar clarity wale nokia ke saath..
This ad shows how they have aptly merged two visibly abstract topics and depicted as a wonder thought provoking ad definitely emphasizing the mobile’s strength of greater clarity and longer talktime. For this matter I’ve always found nokia ads a real good piece of advertising.
Chlor-mint- Ahh.. Another witty idea put in here.
For this matter all their ads focus on their tagline ‘dimaag ki ghanti baji’
Their ad with the guy entering late into the class in the reverse fashion or the late night partying guy entering his house at dawn just to face his angry dad whom he cool’s down with a witty remark or the animated ad of the evolution of man and gaddu(donkey) being the same all along as he didn’t have a chlor-mint so his dimaag ki ghanti nahi baji!!
Airtel ads have always been to the point and definitely eyeball grabbing! Showing their new innovations in a subtle manner like a young couple talking about it in a playful manner makes you just sit up and watch, at least once, the idea being simple gets in, in a jiffy!
There are a quite a few ads, which you feel like watching repeatedly this is what I would call good advertising.
There are those ads of MTV On the job too, which is kind of interesting.

But most of the ads work in the other way they kind of get you irritated with the product and makes you the channel off in the mute mode.
Like the water purifier ad in which Smriti Irani a.k.a Tulsi comes to house and tells them the importance of boiling water. Oh come on! Tell me some family, which is kind of well off (at least that’s how they show the house in the ad with well dressed actress and all) with a proper gas connection who drink water straight from the tap. Oh talk about brilliance they definitely thought of an idea of involving their purifier but didn’t think of any logical connection for it with the scenes.
Another terrible ad I’ve seen is that of Hayward’s 5000(or something like that) which has Suniel Shetty and Sanjay Dutt fighting off villains (totally armed with guns and all) with just the bottles and the pressure created by the soda on the cork. Ahh… excessive use of filmy physics where even if the good guys are totally unarmed they can fight off an army with very highly stretched laws of science… man on the contrary these ads are way away from the idea.
Why should someone have this soda, after all we do not have to fight of highly armed villains on a daily basis? Next time you are stuck with a big robbing mob just try to think straight and logically and not fight them of with soda bottles.

Some of the other types of interesting ads are the musical types, which kind of get you along. Like the close-up ad with the phatphatiya hassi and the confident one. They have always kind of banked on this retro music and voice with tangy line making them sound cool and next time they come on TV you are like ‘jab hasney ke maukey aate hain!!…’
And not to forget the hutch err vodafone ad.. this ad i would say single handedly brought up the pug demand to soaring heights. and the ad's definitely pull crowds due to eye candies!! they are just so cute...
I actually don’t know why I’m writing about this but after writing it definitely feels like a weight off my chest. Whew! This ad mad world!!

caged freedom

This is a work of fiction any resemblance to anyone living or dead is totally coincidental and unintentional
When tough times are here can happy times be far behind.
I know I’ve morphed the lines of a great poem to my whims but then whatever may come I’ve always been a true optimist.
Even when problems spurt out from the left field always tried my best to keep my composure. People always how tough can it be for me to be positive always when you have been born with a silver spoon. I agree maybe I was born filthy rich but then it was that which made it worse.
Always there were restrictions. I’ve never known how it is have loads of friends or steal mangoes from the neighbors garden, playing a prank and running away, playing cricket on narrow streets and running away after a 6 i.e. when the ball cracks someone’s window pane and they come screaming. Have seen only these sights through movies but then it kept getting worse as nowadays everyone however be his economic condition is shown rich and living in mansions.
Friends that I have now or maybe had were all those rich arrogant snobs. Never have I even once felt in place with them but they were my only windows to humanity. With parents ever busy cracking million dollar deals had very less time for their only child.
But then all those days changed with the untimely demise of my dad. I was left all alone and to fend for myself. My mother (step-mother infact, mom died as and when I was born) turned the tables and took over the whole property and business leaving me with nothing but a trust which dad had created for me which was what I could say fool-proof but I could only reap its benefits when I become 21. Having just turned 18 a few days back didn’t think I would ever think of the trust. Now I was left all bereft of the pleasure that I always took for granted. But I never did I ever care about the money. No one cared for me any more left all alone in this world the first thought that came across was to explore the world.
Always wanted to be like a common man enjoying small joys in life and finding pleasure in every work (or at least that’s how they were shown in movies). After out of the house first time all alone on foot. Knew that no one would even realize I had gone missing back at home. Didn’t know where exactly I wanted to go but just kept walking. Reached a railway station, in all these 18 years of my life not even once have I traveled by this chugging array of many tall cars. The first ever time.
The railway station was terribly crowded didn’t know what to do or where to go. Saw many youngsters climbing onto a train just copied them. Got in and saw people sitting everywhere on flimsy blue colored long seats. Suddenly a fellow in a black coat came over and kept asking everyone something for which as a reply the passengers took out a small but of paper and showed him. Wondered what that was, slowly realization struck must be tickets! Which I had totally forgotten about. Oh! My god! Scared with no other choice in hand I jus kept retreating back till a reached door labeled toilet. Immediately went inside it and hid. My brains had totally stopped working just kept praying desperately. After what I felt like an hour I slowly mustered up enough courage to get out and try my luck. Ahh.. He had left. But then the adventure had just begun. As I came out I couldn’t believe my luck. There she was standing outside my dear nanny who must be possibly the only person who loved me truly and vice versa. Both of us were totally shocked and speechless for quite a while. I couldn’t believe my luck.
Overcome with joy we just kept on talking and talking not thinking where we were standing. And then came a sudden turn and both of us were thrown out of the train.
Fallen on the parallel tracks last sight which I had was her smiling a clear blissful one, wondered how could she smile so even at the mouth of death.
That was my last memory when I woke up next couldn’t see much but saw loads of blurred faces around all smiling and looked very happy. Suddenly vision cleared out and saw their faces but couldn’t recognize any. Could hear a babble of joy. They all were saying I was very lucky. Apparently I had fallen into coma for the past 11 years. But my first question was where was my nanny, the smiles disappeared they said she had died as she hit the ground. She was anyway in her last stages of leukemia and those were possibly her last few days. My desire to live had died. Who was there left for me? My legs had also got paralyzed making me a cripple for life. One trip had made me lose so much that meant the world for me. Now with the trust money and with the help of some Samaritans planned to start afresh. Now with all the freedom I ever wished for being a common man I am free now but still with bounded to destiny.

Oye-Bubbly!!

Wow... Bubble-Wrap--the plastic covers with those small blister like protrusions are a delight in themselves… God knows how many hours all of us have spent bursting those small little bubbles… guess its something no one can deny …irrespective of your age it is a perfect pastime from which immeasurable pleasure is derived… There are simply innumerable moments of joy when I’ve fought for a small piece of bubble-wrap from anyone…and then when you decide for a small portion and then start bursting…ahh… bliss!!!
It was simply awesome when we bought some big thing and guess what it was fully covered in bubble-wrap!!! Wow … fights which used to break out whenever that material makes its entry were not found as everyone had more than what we could even imagine to ask for!! But then the newfound pleasure started dying out as it started getting monotonous and we had all the freedom break as much and still have loads more left… after a few days you bet our fun had died and then it was just hoarded up somewhere totally forgotten…
Many weeks later when we got a small gift (something like a small show-piece) and guess what fights broke out again… no prizes for guessing it was covered in our long-forgotten love ‘Bubble-wrap’!!!
Its right when people say excess of anything can kind of have the opposite effect…
This is something that made me realize that great things do come in small packages and it’s the packaging (at least in my case) the most important one!!!;)

Love Story 2050

This is what I call the limit!! Lately I believe I’ve been like paying installments to get a coffin for myself, in short I’ve been going for all what I could call some the biggest ever ‘flops’!!! Today I went for Love Story 2050… Man, this definitely forms the topping…
It starts off like all the other usual movies… A rich dad who has almost nil time for his love-craving son... And the son shows his anger by scraping his dad’s favorite car… Then comes the usual melodrama of a dad scolding his son, and the son saying how bereft of love he is and goes out of the house and like any old film starts talking with the stars i.e. to his late mother about his loneliness and those clichéd moments follow!!!
Then as usual the heroine is introduced laughing like hell… Running around butterflies and somewhat coaxing them to come and sit on her hand… And lo! The guy falls for her… What I feel here is that the heroine’s role has been made pathetically boring and usual types… you know. Those actresses who just keep laughing at everything, smiling at everyone and when they do something stupid they hit their head and all that usual superfilmi stuff… what I would say that there is absolutely nothing new in this flick…
The 2050 mumbai comes only in the 2nd half… okay I don’t think in just a span of 42 years we are gonna start traveling in flying cars but all that is perfectly pardonable as the picturization of future is damn based on conjectures so chalo that’s okay… but wonder why but 2050 mumbai is filled with foreigners… but they still have kept the essence of old nation in the future by having a virtual maid called Kanta bai and there being a Calcutta pan shop where the pan’s are given by a robot who uses mumbai slang… Then comes the large number of brand endorsements… all ceat tyres ad, but when cars just fly and not move like usual on road where are the tyres used!! And there comes the lux ad’s and voila they still have Priyanka Chopra but after all she’s Zeisha here, jokes apart but those parts are what I could say some of the only bearable moments… The robot Q.T and the teddy boo are cute and fine… then there is this faceless villain with chip embedded on the bald head who is apparently a super scientist whose voice carries an unbelievable resemblance with that of Mithun da…
This is a movie where evry1 would run outta the theatre screaming i hate love stories!!!Altogether I could say this movie is something all would love to miss… I dunno whether it was my feeling or something suddenly when a good song came by suddenly you can see people stretching and suddenly comes up a small chatter… When the movie ended there was this group of girls I was walking behind and a few were kinda trying to strangle one and she was like I’m terribly sorry for booking and all… lol… could say the promos and the trailers were the only successful part of this movie as they were good enough to pull one into the theatres… And ya, the music, that is really good… the songs are and attractive part of this venture… And boy! Harman. You’ve already lost your originality. By the uncanny resemblance he holds with Hrithik no one I guess would ever consider him… acting wise there is nothing great in him but his dancing skills are terribly good maybe that’s why all through the starting when he tries to woo his lady love he keeps breaking into dance every moment…but he definitely does that well… and PC is her good old self but the script is terrible… wonder why did she ever agree for this maybe coz of He(/a)r Man;)… Guess this movie ll be remembered till 2050 one of the biggest bore’s!!;)
Waiting for a good one…

Auto's....no!!!!!

I’m sick, tired and irritated with these autowallas… Chennai is a nice place to live in, as long as you want to go somewhere and decide an auto to be your conveyance. Believe it just means hell breaking loose… this place has autowallas who just charge depending on the place you coming out from or way people have dressed… The way they charge is just terrible… these people always just seem to run at multiples of 20. Even if you want to go some meager 2kms they will be like “gimme at least 40rs!! ” what!!! And when you say its like very high they start of calling you names and saying about how the sky is falling correctly on their head… sad man. Seriously the state of the autos in this city is just pathetic… Trust me. They can go kms without any passenger but if you ask them to drop you somewhere nearby for a reasonable charge they’ll be like “price hike ma. Sorry” and demand for something like its double… I don’t know what they think but I guess they think all those who travel in an auto are some multi millionaires in some I-love-auotwallas-and-I’m-ready-to-give-them-anything game show….
Price hike has made everyone worry but its these people who know how to make hay while the sun shine or in better words how to make money while price hikes… its then their already skyrocketing prices are jus doubled… or guess if there is some hartal(Here most of them are hardly violent) and life proceeds as usual but its only and only if you hafta travel by an auto you realize… they take up the opportunity to rub us clean outta money…traveling by them in simple words means paying through your nose…
They should realize people go for other means as simply not everyone can afford an auto ride…It would be for their own good if they charged in a sane manner…
In every city I know.. even the metro’s like mumbai, banglore have proper auto services and they charge them by proper totally working meters!!
Almost every issue in this state is taken care of. But when will this problem be ever looked into!!! Why don’t we take up the cue and work to improve our present state…Will we be ever able to see a day when we can travel with a sane motor running and fare decently charged on it!! Guess I'm asking for too much…

The Trip!!

Hmm.. It was this real peaceful afternoon in ooty.. We planned to make a trip to the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary. We called up the travels n then came the car and the driver (cum a chatterbox guide);). On the way he told us that we were some 2500 feet above sea level n to reach that sanctuary we had to go down all that… Hmm.. Sounded simple enough… During the start of the trip we were just roaming about ooty to get out of it. First on the way he showed us The area inhabited by a local tribe called the Todas who apparently consider dairy as their deity, saw their huts on the way very peculiar indeed… Then guess what in between tribe sightings and potato plantations he showed us the King Khan’s and Mallya’s house… was able to steal a glimpse of the Khan holiday villa (guess this was the closest I could get) Anyway basically humungous and apparently the Mallya residence has a helipad to it…Whoa!! Jus awesome rite… people have huge parking lots and if close to sea maybe some small boat parking spots (wonder what they are called) but this guy had a helipad…cool!!But this was just the sunny starting of the trip… then as we went along did he tell us we had a whopping 36 hairpin bends!!! 36!!! Man was terribly shocked…:O
And as we started the descend my heart was like jumping here n there and as the hair pin bends approached man. Bet u felt like my heart was like mobile ringing in vibe mode!!
And then there were these boards showing how many down and how many more to go!!
Kept my countdown strong… But at time it was like 2 hairpin bends continuously its like jumping on parallel roads… and the thing was amazingly shocking was the terrific ease with which he made the turn and even kept showing us around even when a huge lorry came up from the other side… and these roads being not the 4 laner expressways. Bet u it was a seriously stiff turn… Wow!! Seriously admiration for them jus swelled up in me… they definitely make awesome drivers…I can’t even think of walking on such steep edgeless roads and these people… omg!! Terrific!!
Once we reached ground level seriously felt great… survived it!! Yippee!!
But even the sanctuary was kind of a flop story for us… didn’t catch sight of any tigers or anything but a hell a lot of deer (damn cute aren’t they). But the greenery was breathtaking… u get the feeling of staying in such a place all around u greenery almost zero pollution…ahh… bliss… but then sense knocks u into awakening and even the end of the trip…
But then don’t forget we have the whole trip back to be covered. God!!! 36 hairpin bends again!!!! :((
When we reached back felt great and a whole lot happier after seeing all this you actually realize humans aren’t the only things on earth we own the earth as much as the fellow animals… but are the as happy as us… definitely a question to ponder upon….