The Hidden Persuaders…

I just finished reading a book called The Hidden Persuaders written by Vance Packard on American Advertising world. The book realistically depicts the motivational research activities in the Advertising world to understand the irrational side of the consumers and the hidden meanings in their actions. The book brings forth a few startling facts about the new kinds of research which are carried out to sell the products. Being a Marketing student I can understand that when people buy a Nike shoes or a Harley Davidson bike, they are not just doing it for the shoe sake or for the bike, but then when I ponder over the hidden meanings I wonder how much of that is what consumer has always wanted. These meanings are created and nurtured over years by some brilliant adman and we follow them like a culture. Aren’t we being puppets when we are dancing to the media influence? The book even questions the validity of these research and the morality of prying into the mind of the customer to sell things which he has never felt the need for. Yes the book answers the questions it rises by saying that the consumer develops a recognition reflex when he realizes the hidden needs the products want to target, but what about the less unfortunate consumers who fall prey to the fabulous media and buy products from which they find little use? Its a real good book which throws light on the depth of the studies conducted to understand the consumer behavior and how these studies are used to subconsciously influence the purchasing decisions of the consumers.

Here is an interesting passage about the emotional reasons for eating, excerpted from The Hidden persuaders by Vance Packard, reprinted in “Health Is Wealth” in an article called “Hidden Meanings in Food.” “A lot of infantile people never get any farther than having fun with their mouths and the oral gratification field is rich in merchandising possibilities. The deeply ingrained need for intake through the mouth remains as a primary impulse and need all through adult life. People suffering from oral deprivation, because of inadequate early opportunities to gratify oral cravings, find comfort in just being surrounded by the sight of plenty of food. The craving for milk can clearly be seen in many cases to be related to the meanings of milk rather than to nutritional value or use Milk in many ways expresses the comfort, security, and contentedness of life as it was at home. Drinking it brings back memories of life that are reassuring, and offers a kind of comfort that is totally unrelated to calcium content However, those of us who scorn security, and insist our own busy, independent lives tend to find milk not particularly appealing.

Convocation and the Party at IMDR..

Well, it’s convocation time at IMDR and its was lovely to see all my seniors back. We had Mushaira and a rock band on Saturday and the convocation on Sunday. On the Saturday evening, the Mushaira was good but I felt that it lacked the spice and verve it had last year.

Mushaira was followed by a rock band called Strange Brew. I felt positively weird listening to the music. I felt that it was too loud. Well the fact that Doc (As we lovingly call our faculty) was screaming at the top of his voice didn’t help me much!

We had Mr. Forbes on Sunday speaking about listening to Inner Voice. It was lovely watching all seniors dressed in formals doing the prayer, pledge and receiving certificates. Young professionals indeed! Though its the second convocation which I attended at IMDR, it seems similar yet different every time. Guess it touches inner chords!

Manager, A Man First..

Recently I have been reading a lot of books, and I came across a few lines in a Bigshots series book which say that to be a high achiever you got to be aggressive and should be able to take risks but there is no need to be sticking to values and rules. The one who is smart and has the ability to bend the rules will become a corporate highflier soon. Well, I understand that people who are driven by passion succeed in true sense but are people who compromise on their values become corporate highfliers? I have my own doubts! Any Manager is a man first. A man with his own set ideologies, patterns of thinking.. If a person don’t stand for what he believes, (here I mean values), I wonder the kind of achievement he makes. A person who can’t belong to himself can’t belong to anyone else too and that includes success.

Silence in Chaos…

Yes, That’s the current state of mine. It seems as if I am standing in a chaos and don’t understand what’s happening around me. Life is rolling in a slow pace at IMDR, and with two more months to bid farewell, suddenly I find myself doing nothing productive. Yes I am reading a lot of books to kill the leisure but I am absolutely doing nothing which puts my creative skills to work. Just trying to enjoy leisure.. This weekend is supposed to be full of verve as its convocation time at IMDR, but somehow I fail to identify myself with it. May be I am getting effected by the inactivity bug! It seems as if I am surrounded by deadening silence and no where to go! People say Silence speaks, but for me, at times, it haunts!

Being Rich in True Sense..

Through a lot of discussions I had, I came to wonder what’s being rich? Is being rich means having loads of material wealth, most of which you don’t really put to use? Is rich means having a lot of comfort in life that everything comes to your footsteps and you don’t even move your body? Or is being rich means being in content with what one has, having the ability to say enough, enjoying little things of life, having a rich inner life which is reflected through outward actions? Somehow, I find myself being evaluated on the kind of possessions or money I possess rather than the kind of individual I am. Does this really have meaning for me? Somehow, being rich for me is having self-worth which is not affected by an alien, having the courage and confidence to stand for one’s values and the ability to make a positive difference in the world through a meaningful existence. As Gandhi says, ” Nature provides for everyone’s need, not greed”.. I muse on the meaning of being rich if it doesn’t lead to an enriching life.

A display of Intent and Interest..

We have a course this trimester called Indigenous Management, taught by our director Mr. Bhupatkar. As a part of this,I had to study the traditional copper ware industry in Pune. I paid two visits to the Paud Chowk and Manik Chowk in Pune and the findings are eyeopeners. They showed me, how the traditional enterprises stood the test of times and how the Indian artisans adapted their skills and talent to manufacture world class products. These traditional copper ware workers who used to manufacture water heaters, utensils used their skills to design contemporary articles like flower vases, decorative articles etc and they are also exporting it to other countries like Dubai, Holland defying the modern marketing fundas like promotions, advertising, sales rooted in a small region. Hats off to their fighter spirit!!

What interested me is that they are several families which are involved in this work since centuries and they carry their work with passion and pride. They are a real happier lot and their publicity happens through word of mouth. Guess their happiness lies in the quality of life they have and the interest they show in the work they do. Their intent to do something, their struggle to survive the changing times.. Really impressive!

Control of Technology on life

I think apart from increasing convenience of Human Life, Technology has increased dependence of Man on it. It actually has taken control over my life and I am unaware of it and am wrapped in nice little lies that I am technofreak!

Technology has made Man so isolated and lonely that we need its help to get connected and stay connected. Can’t I feel connected to the world if its not through Cellphone and Internet? Can’t I enjoy little joys of life, my interaction with dew covered roses, paper boats and the misty rains? All these questions are best answered within ourselves. The answer lies in not going to primitive ages but being beware and aware of our use of technology. Its a matter of Who is in control of whom and Who runs our life?

The Binding Vine..

The Binding Vine written by Sashi Deshpande is the narration of Urmi, who was grieving over the death of her baby daughter and surrounded by the loving care of her mother, Inni and her childhood friend and sister-in-law, Vanna. Through her grief, Urmi is drawn into the lives of three very different women. As the stories of these women unfold, so does a tale of quiet courage and strength.

The first woman Urmi is drawn to her long-dead mother-in-law, Mira who exists only in the notebooks she has left behind, discovered by chance in a dusty storage trunk. Mira’s journals and poetry reveal the pain of a vibrant young woman trapped in an unhappy arranged marriage, and of a gifted writer whose work, because she is a woman, must remain shrouded in secrecy and silence. Then there is Kalpana, the survivor of a brutal rape and a young woman who has also been silenced. As she hovers between life and death in a hospital ward, Kalpana is watched over by her impoverished mother, Shakutai, with whom Urmi forms an unlikely bond of mutual comfort. The lives of three women who are “haunted by fears, secrets, and deep grief” are bound together by strands of life and hope—a binding vine of love, concern, and connection that spreads across chasms of time, social class, and even death.

Memories from the past stray to Urmi’s mind and a journey to the past helps Urmi uncover mysteries about herself, but not her past alone: “The past is always clearer because it is more comprehended”. One theme that was stressed in her book is rape – both as a random violent act and within marriage. The disgrace is not the girl’s, the disgrace is the criminal’s. That is not how it is. It’s really the dilemma which Urmi, the narrator, faces because, if she makes it public, it’s possible the family is going to be affected, and if she does not, you know it’s like saying the woman is the one who is in disgrace, who has done wrong.

When Bhaskar, a doctor in the hospital, raises the question of why it’s so important for women to marry, his question is raised right after Shakutai pleads with Bhaskar not to release the report of rape because it would ruin Kalpana’s chance of marriage. In his eyes, she is focusing on false significance. She should be more concerned with the fact that her daughter is lying in a hospital bed unconscious. Reputation becomes everything for a woman.

The issue that has mattered the most is the conflict between the idea women have of themselves and the idea that society imposes on them of what being a woman is. And there’s a struggle to conform to this image, the guilt when you can’t do that. Though, the characters are women, they represent the human being lurking inside. And that human being is often a lonely one though not one who is alone. It is a loneliness deep rooted in their souls. It is a result of being honest with oneself.

A question Urmi often asks herself is why does she feel the need to forget her dead daughter? Women are tied to their children, and the binding vine, as written by Mira, signifies the umbilical cord to which mother and child are physically connected. Urmi is emotionally numb in the beginning after the realization that her daughter is really gone: “what’s broken cannot be mended” She learns, however, that pains can be mended after she learns to reach out to those who need to find their own strengths.

Shakutai’ s decision towards the close of the book, to reveal the truth about her daughter’s rape gives her a new sense of liberation. The Binding Vine beautifully brings about the feelings, which are left unspoken in the Indian women, and shows the pursuit of love in their journey of life. It’s a triumphant story of victory and defeat, when women find their voices.

Bilbo’s Last Song by J.R.R. Tolkien

Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship’s beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.

Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I’ll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above my mast!

Technology got no values..

I personally feel that Technology doesn’t come up with values attached. So its no point in discussing which does more damage, a bike or a knife. Technology becomes advanced and more complex as our expectations from it increases and our curiosity, innovative spirit gets the best of the Human mind to explore new terrains of comfortable life.

Here I feel that the basic issue is to successfully marry technological advances into the culture or values of the society s technology doesn’t come with values attached. Or else we go on creating more complex and complicated technology which is soul less and valueless. They may give us comfort but then they will take out the essence of life.

Regarding the argument that being tech-savvy becomes a status Symbol issue, All I have to say is that if we measure ourselves through the Society’s Parameters, we end on doing things as a custom which may be personally nonsensical. No issues on that, but we need to be aware of our needs and actions!

BLACK… A movie full of grit and emotion!

I am impressed by the beautiful way in which BLACK is made. Truly it’s a movie, which sets a standard by strong characters, powerful story line and the artistic way of presentation. The movie depicts a deaf and blind girl and her relationship with her teacher, and how she graduates in spite of her shortcomings. Rani Mukherjee and Amitabh Bachan play their roles with ease. Ayesha Kapur who plays the childhood role of Rani Mukherjee gave a remarkable performance. The movie is touching and awe-inspiring! Hats off to Sanjay Leela Bhansali.