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

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). 

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.

                                             The playful dolphin that loved to show off. 

Dolphins at Dolphin Bay.

Chumba, the four-year old lion at Casela Park.

Two lions sunbathing, with their feet raised. How much cuter can it get?

Casela Park

King Lemur sitting on top of the tortoises. What an attitude!

The Sega dance

Photographs: courtesy Pradeep Kumar Gouda

Trip to Mauritius - Part 2

The next three days we did a variety of activities. We did get a local flavor of Mauritian shopping. We were made to roam around malls for one and half day. The guides made sure that the tourists spent enough money to boost the economy. We went to two malls, Le Caudan Waterfront Mall and Riche Terre Mall in Port Loius, Mauritius. The malls looked a lot more spacious than in Bangalore. I was more surprised to see the youngsters there. Most of them were in pairs, holding hands, kissing in the privacy of the trees. The guys hairstyles were commendable, lots of gel and many innovative hair spikes. The youngsters looked very fashionable. They looked like a different breed of Africans, of Indian origin, were fair and spoke French. 

I had flavored sugar cane juice at the mall. I had sugarcane juice with mint and my hubby opted juice with ginger and lemon. The sugarcane juice acted like a base which took on the flavor of whatever ingredient was added to it. My juice tasted as though it was made of Orbit mouth refreshers so I drank half of my hubby's sugar cane juice.

We saw a lot of places. The dead volcano crater, which did not look like a volcano. We went to a Shiva temple which was located close to Ganga Talao lake. The lake and the surroundings were beautiful. It was a perfect location for the temple. We also had a fun excursion at House of Illusions. There was an upside down room and a room of mirrors which reflected the image in multiple directions. The last stop was the seven colored earth at Chamarel and the waterfall.    

                                                 A fruit stall at Le Caudan Waterfront Mall

The dead volcano crater

                                                              View from the Volcano Crater

The Ganga Talao Lake and the temple located on shore of the lake

Mona Lisa portrait made of dice at House of Illusions

The seven colored earth at Chamarel

The Waterfall at Chamarel

To be continued ...

Trip to Mauritius - Part 1

Mauritius looks like a tiny speck in the middle of the Indian Ocean, located below the Equator. You really have to zoom in google maps to identify the island. My hubby and I reached the island after a 5.5 hours flight from Bangalore. There are a few things that I noticed during the drive to our hotel. The island was full of sugarcane plantations and the ocean looked marvelous. The color of the water was different shades of blue which ranged from aquamarine to turquoise, with patches of dark blue close to the beach. During our stay, we observed that the color of the sea changed throughout the day and she looked her best in the afternoon. Most of the Mauritians were third or fourth generation Indians, with Indian names but spoke French.  

Our hotel was located in Trou Deau Douce. This part of the island was lined with hotels which had private beaches. The ocean added glory to the otherwise mundane hotel. There were a lot of foreigners in our hotel, most of them Europeans, who loved to get tanned. They lay on the beach chairs from morning till noon and applied loads of sunscreen. Well, our Indian skin does not need further tanning, so we gave up that plan of relaxation.

Mauritius offered a variety of water activities. On the first day we went for undersea walking and para-sailing. The undersea walking platform was quite far from the beach. At the platform, we wore the glass helmet which was connected to the oxygen tanks and jumped into the ocean. We were told to keep our feet planted on the sea floor. Walking was a struggle. Every movement took effort. Time passed slowly and the glass masks gave a distorted view. We were in a undersea forest of corals, surrounded by fishes with zebra stripes. I tried catching a few fishes, but they were quite nimble. Half the time, I expected to see a shark heading towards us and schemed about how I can run fast in slow motion. We spent 15 minutes in the undersea walk and by end of the 15th minute, the reluctant me had to be pushed on to the top of the platform.

The parasailing activity was close to the Ile Aux Cerfs island. The boat ride was very choppy. Given that we did not have life jackets, I held on to the boat, and prayed that we would not topple. On the parasailing platform, I almost decided to shun the activity because of my fear of heights. I hate the pull of gravity. One of the fellow tourists, pushed me to do it by saying that, you never know if you will get to try it again or not. I took a deep breath and decided to do it. My hubby and I were strapped to the parachute and then we were gently lifted into the air and dragged by a speed boat. We stayed in air for 15 minutes and the view was marvelous. The blue sky and the blue ocean enveloped us on all sides. We got a bird's eye view of the island. Para-sailing was my first favorite activity in this trip.          

    

                                                  View from our hotel room at Silver Beach

A beautiful sunrise at Silver Beach

                               

                               My hubby's photography skills are coming to my use :)

                                       The fishes which greeted us at the Undersea walk

                                        More fishes. Well, what else do you expect undersea?

We traveled to Ile Aux Cerfs from this Beach

                                                                      Ile Aux Cerfs

This is how people roll at Ile Aux Cerfs

Yes, I am on a secret mission to promote tourism in Mauritius

                                                  The cute restaurant on Ile Aux Cerfs

Yes, I did go for Para-sailing

The Entrepreneur Mouse - Part 2

Read Part 1 of the story here. 

As Maxi flew over Aalesia, Mynee Mouse felt excited and also nervous. From above, it saw a dense forest and from the trees, hung big chunks of cheese.

Maxi dropped Mynee in the land of cheese and flew away. Mynee looked tiny in front of the gigantic trees which bore the cheese. Mynee looked up. The cheese was all the way at the top. Mynee Mouse started its trek to the top of the tree. It reached to the top of the tree by nightfall. Mynee bit into the cheese. The cheese was delicious. Mynee got hold of some cheese and started its journey down the tree.

In the midst of silent forest, Mynee heard a shrill screech. A creature which was as dark as the night swooped past Mynee. The little mouse quickly hid itself in the tree’s borrow and waited for the nocturnal visitor to leave. Mynee reached the ground after the sun came out.

Mynee met other mice in Aalesia. They told that the nocturnal visitor’s nickname was Death. It caught the fat mice when they were high above the tree tops and ate them. The creature has become a menace over the years and killed several mice.

Mynee thought long and hard about how to escape the creature. The little mouse caught a twinkle by the corner of its eye. The roots of the cheese trees were covered by transparent spindly structures which looked like tiny spears. Mynee plucked the spears and stuck them to its body using the sap from the cheese tree. Mynee reached the treetop, gathered the cheese and began its trek down. Death waited to hunt this lean mouse down. When Death swooped down to catch Mynee, it’s talons hurt, something sharp pierced it’s feet. It tried a few more times and gave up. Mynee was far too intelligent to become a prey.

Mynee gathered the cheese and came down the tree, tasting the victory of its first battle with Death. Mynee made a sheath of tree sap covered with spindles and sold it as armor to the other mice in Aalesia. The mice bought the spindle sheath and paid Mynee with the delicious cheese. Mynee Mouse never had to climb the trees after that day. The short living spindle sheaths were selling so fast the Mynee Mouse had to recruit a few other mice to help it make them. Mynee had enough cheese to pay for Maxi to bring its family to Aalesia. Mynee lived happily in Aalesia with its family. 

                                                          The End.

The Entrepreneur Mouse - Part 1

Mynee Mouse, as the name says was a mouse that lived in Fammyland. Mynee struggled from morning till night to find cheese to fill its stomach. The little mouse almost got trampled by a herd of elephants and also lost a bit of its tail to a hungry eagle, during its cheese hunts. Mynee’s quest started afresh everyday and it ended only in the night.

Fammyland’s mice sometimes had visitors from a far away land, Aalesia. Aalesia’s mice spoke about the abundant, delicious, flavorful cheese from their land, which grew on top of cheese trees. They rubbed their round tummies in satisfaction as they thought about the cheese from Aalesia. Mynee Mouse’s mouth watered every time it heard about Aalesia’s cheese.

Mynee Mouse wanted to go to the land of cheese, Aalesia. It was tired of the day to day struggle to gather the cheese in Fammyland. The little mouse had many fears. It went to the grand old and wise owl, Sier to ask for his advice.

Sier spotted Mynee Mouse from a distance and said, ‘Oh Mynee, welcome! I haven’t seen you in a long time.’

Mynee replied, ‘Yes good old friend. I was busy hunting cheese.’

‘I came to know that it has become hard to find cheese these days’

‘Yes. Even if I find it, it is not sufficient for me. Too less cheese. Too less.’

‘Mynee, why don’t you go to Aalesia? I heard that place has cheese aplenty’

‘Yes good friend. I was thinking about it. I want to go to Aalesia, but I do not have the worms to travel.’

‘Work a little bit harder every day. You can gather enough cheese to buy worms to feed Maxi. Maxi will fly you to Aalesia’. (For the reader, Maxi is the crow who flew mice to and from Aalesia)

‘I am also worried about my family. How can I leave them here and go?’

‘Once you are in Aalesia, you can gather enough cheese to pay Maxi to fly your family to Aalesia.’

‘What if Aalesia is not as rosy as it seems. There could be dangerous creatures lurking around and they can eat me up.’

‘Now, now, Mynee, I know you are a brave and clever mouse.’ Sier said that and looked at Mynee’s chopped off tail. ‘You can figure out how to escape those dangerous creatures’.

‘Good friend, what if …’

Sier interrupted Mynee and said, ‘Listen, if something is important to you, you will find a way. If not you’ll find an excuse. Make progress or make excuses.’

Mynee Mouse thanked Sier for his advice. The next few months the mouse worked hard to gather that extra cheese for its flight. Mynee exchanged the cheese for a few succulent, freshly dead worms and took those worms to Maxi. Maxi gladly obliged to take Mynee to Aalesia. Off went the little mouse to Aalesia after it bade goodbye to its family.

To be continued tomorrow  ...