Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The Big, the deep and the cheap!

The last few days have been very exciting for my online self. Lots of gossip, controversies, pseudo  online stands for the right causes and what not! 

This all started when The Times Of India (TOI) published Ms. Deepika Padukone's picture showing-off her cleavage. 

Well, publishing Masala to boost sales, is a practice sadly adopted by almost all media houses. Sadder is the fact that it has worked for all of them. I could write and be noble about discouraging media houses from these practices but the sole reason this kind of non-sense exist is us, the consumers. So, I don't intend to be the social police in this blog. 

Deepika says she is pissed because the world sees women as objects, which is wrong and hurtful. 

But where is this objectification coming from? Ever heard of an ITEM number? Who is the ITEM in that number? 

This all boils down to what people want to see! Item numbers, bikini scenes, kisses and smooches! Imran Hashmis, Sheelas and Munnis did not exist a few years back, but they do now and everyone including the celebs are accepting it, willfully catering us!

If a celebrity takes a strong stand against objectification of women, shouldn't the stand be a 360 degree phenomenon or just where it would suit the celeb? 

I completely understand that looking at her own self in the newspaper with a raunchy title would have made her feel disgusted of the publisher. But lets take this a little slower and more logically. Objectifying a person is wrong in so many ways, but haven't these celebs accepted it as per their audience's requirements? A very strong argument is that the Role demanded that kind of exposure. Think about it, why do all the roles demand exposure these days? Why weren't the parts offered a few years ago, so demanding? 

Actually, you can't even say the Script demanded the Item Number! Yeah right! The script did demand it cause the script sucked and you needed people in the theaters! 

Remember Dum Maaro Dum, potty pe baithe nanga and what not... Deepika had no Role in the movie, just that item number flaunting her long sweet legs and the same cleavage... But that isn't objectifying when she has agreed to do it, yeah? 

So isn't the anger misplaced? TOI is not really objectifying women, TOI is only cashing the fact that women already are! And why just women, SRK's 6-packs or John's bums too! 

I wouldn't even say TOI is encouraging it, because its a business which demands profits, which means whatever sells has to be in it! But how does TOI confirm that this kind of pics would increase its sales? Maybe some Chikni Chameeli told them. Or maybe they read how J Lo insured her thighs! Oh, what assets! (aaaa... asset = object, no?) 

But anyhow, passing a judgement on a media house categorizing them as the ones objectifying women would be a tad bit incorrect. 

We would need to accept the kind of world we have created. We buy it, that's why it sells. And, someone is producing it too! So no-one is completely in the white here! 

Everyone who stands by Deepika in this, should stop promoting such stuff, don't go and watch Bang Bang, cause Hrithik has flaunted like crazy in the movie and stop hanging those topless John Abrahms in your rooms! Run away, lock yourself up in a pseudo world and throw away the keys somewhere deep!

If you choose to stand against something so evident and obvious, it has to be a stronger stand than a sweet noble speech in favor of women on your blog. 

I am a marketer and I understand TOI's point of view. Being human, I can sympathize with Deepika and her anger but can't ignore the contributions made by her and the likes of her in this!

I mean, Deepika carries an item number, but when TOI plays it, it gets cheap. Sorry, beyond me!

Not troubling myself with this complexities of the glamour world, I'd rather just enjoy the view from far far away! :)






Monday, September 15, 2014

55 to go!

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. Teacher/Pilot

As kids we were fascinated by either our teachers or birds! Either we heard the teacher or the birds chirping outside. It was so simple, so sorted. Before greed, before jealousy, before competition introduced themselves and polluted all the gentle minds we used to be. 

In today's rat race, we've grown so materialistically blind that we've forgotten the purpose of the race and are just focused on winning it. We might have forgotten where we need to reach in the end, but we are fully aware of who all we need to leave behind. Who started out to be like their warm smiling teacher or the carefree bird, have turned 'successful' managers, investment bankers and what not! 

When I was a boy, I always wished years would turn to seconds and I'd be all grown up. As time took its course; on every birthday, watching old pictures, videos, I kept missing the phases I had lived. 

I turned 25 last April. Yaay! 
Which means, I've spent 25 glorious years on this planet, out of which 15 years I was being taught how to live in this world (Also known as being schooled). The next 6 years I was being taught how to earn/compete/succeed in this world (Engineering + MBA). And for the last 3 years, I've joined the race with gazillions like me around the globe to a 9-5 job waiting for drunk weekends/getaways and for the 1st of every month, so I have more money to burn! 

And it seems to remain the same for the part of my life I'm yet to experience, with added responsibilities and bla bla! 

SO when I finally, hopefully, turn 80, what do I get out of all of this? All my time here on this planet would end up being a glorified rat race in which I kept running until my body gave away? 

Why do we celebrate the time we have spent already? Shouldn't we celebrate the time we have left? Wouldn't it drive us to be more cheerful, more driven, more human?

I know its all very fancy to write this on a blog but, I am not suggesting to revolutionize the world or to make it spin the other way round. All I suggest is a different perspective to look at life.

Lets say, last April I had '55 years left' of my life. 
I somehow feel a charge when I hear that. I got so much to do! So much to laugh, so much to explore, so much to travel, so much to live... 

Lets make it a long cheerful drive and not a crazy race! :) 

I'd close at that thought... Lets get out, away from this closed room and not waste time punching this piece of plastic! :) Care to Join me?