Ram Rajya

If the most famous king to rule from Ayodhya was to come back to life today, to be banished into the vastly depleted forests, he would be witnessing the same war they say he successfully fought many centuries ago, when he protected the sages tormented by the people who lived in the forests, where they went to find peace and perform fire powered yagnas.

Ram won the battle but the war continues. The haves of today are performing a prosperity yagna that demands a lot of sacrifice from people who get nothing in return for giving up their forest land. We the land hungry city dwellers and people who till the land and graze the holy cows are still looking to gobble up the resources that lie in tribal hands. It would be great to remind ourselves. the Aam Aadmis, the Rams of today, that they are equal citizens of India and they are only reacting to what we are imposing on them.

The New Economy Class

The UPA Government's austerity drive came a little too late for one CM, the high-flying Reddy of Andhra Pradesh. Or was it his crash that started this austerity drive? The politicians want to take a few more people along with them when they go down

OK TATA BYE BYE

Is it OK Tata Bye Bye to the old Tata image?

A village in West Bengal.
Turtles in Orissa.
And now that silly business around OK Tata Bye Bye.com

The new, aggressive Tata brand will soon need to spend a lot of money to retain its century-old people-friendly image in the Indian market.

Metal Mettle

The good thing about scam ads created for awards by ad agencies are that no people are killed in the process. However, if you are a cop and if you are desperate for a metal, you can do what Indian cops in Gujarat did. And what cops across India do.

Fatherhood. Lesson No 1: The Lullaby

There isn't a human being who cannot sing. Put a crying infant in the hands of a man with Amrish Puri's voice and within minutes he will be humming a tune. And for good reason.

All music in this world started with a lullaby. The hum to silence the child's cry that will attract the nocturnal hunters or in this day and age, the red-eyed, sleep starved man living next door.

Like many other things, the lullaby evolved with us. Calming, comforting the nerves of not only infants, but the restless young and the old alike. Over time, the lullaby has evolved into the screams and screeching that has calmed the pumping adrenaline of the rebellious youth as well as the soft strains of classical music. We even find its calming effect in flowing water and the waves that follow waves on a beach. We find it on the ticking of the clock and the rhythmic movements of our machines. We have learnt to speed up our heart beats to the beats of our music. We use it calm nerves of young boys sent out in tanks and trenches to kill other people. And whatever the type of music we create or love, when someone puts a crying infant in our arms, the original song come automatically to our lips. The lullaby.

Jiye Jiye Pakistan?

Our brothers in Pakistans get sadistic pleasure in naming their missiles after the invaders from Afghanistan. The missiles are usually called Ghaznavi, Ghori, etc. Names that sent Punjab, Sindh and surrounding areas of the Indian subcontinent shivering with fright because of their brutality. After all, they were battle hardened Afghan and Central Asians descending from the world's roughest neighbourhood.

However, most of the places these people attacked are in what is now Pakistan. And when a new generation of battle hardened men are descending from the mountains, isn't it time for the Punjabis and Sindhis who run that country to rename their missiles or will they just surrender and claim how prophetic their naming skills are?   

Chicks dig my ride

"Chicks dig my ride" says the t-shirt of a bicycle enthusiast at Lalbagh. He wants to make cycling cool and decides to spread the message among the health conscious at Lalbagh . But a rude, high-decibel uncle has a problem. He gives us a lesson on how to communicate a slogan.  

When you coin a slogan, it can flip both ways. It helps to keep the target audience in mind and the place where it is communicated. Or this could happen to you.  

Video source: Rohan Kini's Youtube.com  page

Please pay attention to the reaction and soundbites (in Kannada)  from the onlookers.

Also. Why do Bangaloreans raise their hands and voices all the time? Like Dr. Rajkumar once asked: Bisiusiru eke?

Pink Chuddies

To find out why it's called Pink Chuddies, click here.

VI th

I have been tagged by Chethana and Diti to:  

-  Pick the 6th picture from your 6th photo folder. 

- Tell the story around it. 

- Pass it on to 6 other people you like.

Picture:

I have a daily photoblog where I post a picture of Bangalore streets. I usually take a different route to work everyday. Usually though Shivajinagar or City Market. As I was passing the beef market, I saw that the kites that hover over the market were excited and flying around. And as I usually do, I clicked it. 

I'm tagging Just Jo, Sanjukta Basu, Amulya, Aloke Toonfactory, Tanuja Goyal and Shambollic.

 

Slogan Festival

BJP's LK Advani - He's going to become the unlikely messiah for online advertising India. You couldn't have missed it online - the sloganfest on LK Advani's website. Here's a list of some of the slogans on the landing page. 

- LK ADvani - For a strong propserous and self confident India. 

- Ek Kaam Desh Ke Naam.
- A lifetime of service to the nation.
- Ek kaam, desh ka naam.  
- Let's make hunger history.
- Quality education for every Indian.
- Har haath ko kaam. Har kheth ko paani. 
- Netaji fought for swaraj. We should strive for Su-raj.

- Tum humein samarthan do; hum tumhe sushaasan denge! 

Moving beyond the slogans, this campaign is surely going to make brand managers look at online advertising seriously. 

Save the planet

Hard Rock Cafe - Save the planet. WTF?

Guilt

Party without guilt. All you need is a picture of the people who died in Mumbai strung up outside the venue. 

Stateless Players

Now that's one more name to the list. 

The night sky over Karnataka

10,000-Hour Rule

From Outliers: Malcolm Gladwell's Success Story

"The most obvious candidate for memification in Outliersis a little gem Gladwell calls the 10,000-Hour Rule. Studies suggest that the key to success in any field has nothing to do with talent. It's simply practice, 10,000 hours of it — 20 hours a week for 10 years."

Unity in Biodiversity

Mapping India's biodiversity is a mammoth task. But now, we have technology to rescue us. Here's a portal that brings together several stake holders who have the data and use the data to map our diversity. And the good news. You can sign up and become a contributor. Log on to www.indiabiodiversity.org now.

Lal Salaam (Red Salute)

NH212. Sultan Battery, Waynad Dist., Kerala