~ Reflections ~

After a long time, a brand has chosen a strong social message through its campaign.  Vicks in its latest advertisement  has chosen an issue which has been debated in various forums, but with no outcome. The last such socially relevant campaign was done by Tata Tea through Jaago Re , where it pushed all citizens of this country to vote. It helped that they covered the entire spectrum of issues faced by voters, from applying for a voter ids to understanding a constituency, and not just the ad campaigns. Very often, these ads leave a message which might not occur to you at the face of it, but which successfully plays on your subconscious. I hope Indians are able to churn out more such campaigns, which help Indians in becoming more and more aware.

I was suddenly reminded of an earlier post of mine when I read about the recent controversy Sonu Nigam got caught in. Loudspeakers at religious places have always been a pain, and suddenly now, media seems to have caught wind of the problem. I hope people like Babu Khan , who are fighting lone battles on the issue should be get more support from the public. Maybe that will set the right trend. As The Supreme Court rightly pronounced earlier, no religion prescribes that prayers should be performed by disturbing the peace of others nor does it preach that they should be through voice amplifiers or beating drums. Despite all the noise (literally) around this issue, The noise persists... I wonder if we can ever learn.

We often indulge ourselves in light banter and comments, without putting much thought into the impact of those words. However, as an after thought, one would realize that each word falls into place due to a subconscious decision to say what we wanted to say. What most of us guise of slip of the tongue or unintended remarks are more often fully intended.

We are all planners.  Some of us try and plan the minutest detail and the others plan just the milestones. But whichever way we look at it, there is some amount of thought and 'inception' that goes into it. A believer would say that it is all pre-ordained and part of a grand plan... Each joy, each pain, each loss and each gain... But in that moment (of happiness or gloom) it is quite difficult to identify this plan. But if that's true, what's the point of our planning? Was it all for nothing?

I know this reads like a repetition, but can't afford to under-emphasise the importance of what we pick up from our environment, subconsciously. We are all like sponges , constantly learning and unlearning from our environment. We learn at home, work, with friends, through friends and gradually, sometimes imperceptibly, change over time. But what if the changes ultimately become drastic, and one fine day, you realise you don't like parts of what you've turned into! Then is my evolution (which is supposed to be for one's better) counter productive. What do I manage my acquired aggression, talkativeness and flamboyance. I am wondering if it has become a part of me now.

Some would call me selfish...   But somehow, I associate great value to the blessings we get... At the end of the day, it isn't the food we eat or the air we breathe that keeps us going, it is the good wishes and blessings we get... earn... deserve that take us through the day, and life in general. So if I see my grandmother waving her hand, I ensure it firmly lands on my head :)

A wise person once said.. "Just because my eyes don't show tears, doesn't mean I don't get hurt... Just because I come our strong, doesn't mean that nothing went wrong... I often choose to pretend to be happy, so that I don't need to explain to people who will never understand... Smiling has always been easier than explaining why I am sad...." This is so true.... 

We often put ourselves through so much pain, both physical and mental, which we face firmly, without loosing our mind, unscathed... despite the pain, we don't leave teary eyed... And then there are days, when all it takes is a tumble, and the eyes just let go... It's like the mind just looses control...

As a part of evolution, looks like we are on our way to becoming more social people... not that we have suddenly started bonding with our friends or interacting with our neighbours... but by simply sharing every possible event and non-event of our life on "social" media...  Be it Facebook, which seems to have successfully found means and ways to even ruin a special holiday by checking into the resort, or Linkedin, through which Microsoft seems to have taken on Facebook, and created a timeline of its own. What was once a professional network, and again become a sequence of posts.  Whatsapp seems to be the latest addition with its segment on latest status update. Despite creating the misnomer called being a "social" animal, as a society, we seem to be lonelier, more cut off from not just friends but even family. We claim to be extroverts, shouting out to the world, without realizing we aren't even capable of listening to ourselves most of the times. It is as ...

Haven't seen a more effective anti - smoking film !