Saturday, September 20, 2014

Changing India, one ad at a time

I hate cricket but my Dad loves it. When I was young, whenever he watched cricket, I used to watch the ads. Due to that forcible viewing, I did not appreciate cricket but I did appreciate the ads. They were my source of entertainment, interspersed with the boring matches. My interest in advertisements persists to this day. Any new ad, I have to see it and make a judgement about it.

In the recent years, there are a lot of women-centric ads. I am both surprised and happy about it. The first ad that I saw in this category, was the Whirlpool ad, in which the husband comes home and greets his wife with a glass of cold coffee. There are at least 2 or 3 ads, where the lady requests her husband to make coffee (Bru)/tea for her.

A jockey ad, adds a twist to a relationship, by showing a woman proposing to a man. In a recent coca-cola ad, the in-laws come to visit their daughter-in-law and ask her not to be too formal, but to share a drink with them. In a jeweller’s ad the in-laws encourage their daughter-in-law to keep her maiden name. In an Amazon ad, Mrs. Varma buys a smart phone for Mr. Varma, for Diwali.

Don’t get me started on the airtel ad, in which the guy’s boss is his wife. My only complaint is that not only she has to be the perfect working woman but also the perfect homemaker, who slogs in the kitchen to make a wonderful dinner after a working day. Why didn't they show her giving orders to a cook? (In the Indian scenario, where domestic help is affordable)

The point that I want to make is that most of the brands have realized that women are major consumers too and they have the moolah to buy. They want to win over women. The women-centric ads, are showing women to be independent decision makers and pushing certain values, such as more domestic help from the husbands, being financially independent, assertive and having open minded in-laws. I think of these ads as small snippets of progress, which can change the mindset of a nation, slowly but steadily. But we are not where we want to be yet. I hope to see the day, where daddies are in the diaper ads, and male models stand beside the latest car models in the auto expo.

The Whirlpool Ad, in which the husband makes cold coffee for wife.

The Bru Ad in which the husband makes coffee for wife, but that involves a bit of manipulation from the wife's side.

The Jockey Ad, in which the woman proposes to the man

Formality hatao, Coca-Cola Pilao

The Airtel ad in which the wife is the boss

Friday, September 12, 2014

Oh my God! Men are turning into Women!

In a leadership workshop at my workplace, an American woman, who is in one of the top leadership positions in our company, spoke about her life experiences/hurdles. Her major career roadblock was having 3 three kids in 4 years. The only option she had was to keep working and go to a mental institution or quit her job. She stuck with the first option and kept on working and few years down the line, she is managing a global team. She recounted an experience which I will always remember. Her neighbor was a working woman, who gave up her career to raise children. After about 15 years, the children left home for school. The neighbor lady remarked to her, ‘I thought my kids will be different because I stayed at home to bring them up. Now, I look at my kids and yours, they are not at all different.’ The manager lady was like, ‘What? Just because I was a working mother, you expected my kids to become some kind of anti-social elements?’ Well, she didn't tell her neighbor that, she just kept silent.

In Apurva Purohit’s book, ‘Lady you’re Not a Man’, she writes about the guilt demon which tags along with women wherever they go and whatever they do. If you give up your career to raise children, you feel guilty about wasting your education. If you are a working mother, you feel guilty about not being with your child all the time. Apruva asks, which guilt are you more comfortable with? Leaving a career or leaving your child a few hours in a day? Because being guilt-free is a no-option for a woman.

There are few other points in Apurva's book, which make you pause and think.

She sees many women who stop working after they are married, either because their in-laws don’t support it or because their husbands' are too rich. She says before quitting, think about all the women who could not afford the right education to be in the position that you are. She tells, you are wasting all that education, and the opportunity to use that education to gain financial independence for a very trivial reason. Really think before giving up.

For a woman to be successful, she requires a support system, at home and at work. Ask for help, especially in upbringing children. It is true that, ‘it takes a village to bring up a child.’

Just because you are woman, it does not mean that you are the only one having tough life. Men face challenges too. The society stereotypes them as the primary provider and protector of the family. A woman can quit her job anytime, stay at home to bring up kids and can be seen as a martyr of the society. Men cannot do that.

Women are better at multitasking than men. In this age, we have to juggle a lot of things, both at the workplace and at home. Eventually men will have no other option but to evolve into women to survive. Men are on their way to becoming better at multitasking and being more empathetic.

The book, ‘Lady You’re Not a Man’, was an absolute delight to read. I definitely recommend this book for reading (especially to women).

Friday, September 5, 2014

Trip to Mauritius - Part 3

I know that I haven't been talking about anything else other than Mauritius for the past two posts. This is the last one, so bear with me.

The penultimate day of our trip was filled with mammal interaction. We started off to Dolphin Bay, early in the morning (6:00 AM), to watch the dolphins. It was an hour and 20 minutes drive from our hotel. Once we were at the beach, we got into a boat and went a bit far into the sea. Five or six boats, waited for the majestic creatures to appear from the deep blue sea. The dolphins did come out, but they were quick. By the time we caught a glimpse of them they disappeared into the water. One little dolphin was soaking all the attention it got from the boats circling it. It made a flip several times, as everybody gasped and paused for a second. A few people got into the snorkeling gear and swam with the dolphins. It was a wonderful experience.

After the dolphin interaction, we went to the Casela Park. It is a wild life reserve, which had zebras, giraffes, lions and cheetah. We spent 15 minutes with a few lions at Casela Park. There are only two points on this trip when I was scared, one was just before para sailing, the other one was the lion interaction.

We went into the lion enclosure with a group of people, along with the trainers. There were 4 lions in the enclosure. Two of them were resting; two of them sat and looked around. The trainer guy looked like a lion himself. He had tousled hair and sharp incisors. Spending so much time with lions does change people! We were given strict instructions, not to shout or run around. We were also given waist length sticks, which had to be in front of us at all times, to show the lion that we were not its food. We went close to the lion in pairs, sat behind it and rubbed its back. I did not touch the lion directly, but I touched my hubby who touched the lion. As per transitive law of Mathematics, I touched the lion. I know that the lions are tamed, but when we can’t even predict the behavior of a fellow human being how can we predict the behavior of a lion? I was ready on my haunches, geared to run out, just in case.

We spent the next day relaxing in the hotel. The day after that we arrived in Bangalore.

The End.