Digging for Meaning

Exhibit A Have you seen posts like these on FB lately? What are they about? A person witnesses some 'wrong' act. He/ She promptly takes a picture of the wrong act. He/she hurries to upload it to social media in an effort to shame the person in question. Earlier, a photograph of a car's number plate did the rounds online. apparently, the guy driving the car had spit on the road. and so on... all misdemeanors that should ideally be sorted in 'real world' of flesh and bones through polite conversations. Exhibit A- Here, a grey haired gentleman opened a door to a cafe for two other gentlemen. The other two gentlemen supposedly did not say 'thank you'. Were they too busy? Were they in a serious discussion, the sort where you forget the world altogether? Do we know anything about them at all? No. We don't. All we have is this one photo that the indignant-FB-guy (IFG) took without asking the two people in question. and look at the reaction - It

1. What is it all about? A few risque ads were released on a showcase website that features ads from across the world. I won't get into details here as it has been amply dissected everywhere else already. (this one reading might help get you up to speed.) Lets get the obvious out of the way - Of course the ad is appalling. (and of course scam culture must die.) Perhaps its existence is unwarranted. But the reactions to it were confused. What I am interested in the curious collective response: It is a mix of regression, repression and pandering to powers that be. 2. What are they exactly reacting to? God knows. Some people read the ad as 'condoning of rape culture'. Some were reacting to 'Berlusconi'. Some to existence of 'scam ads' and quite a few others to the fact that it came from Ford. In the absence of context, all readings are fair. But the absence of context itself is unfair.  The context in which the ad was created is this one - The ad

Evening time. Delhi domestic airport. As many people in casual clothes as suit & ties - upcoming long weekender crowd. Travelers were forming a queue at Terminal no. 12. Usually, hawk eyed travelers keep a look out for incoming inconspicuous elbows and the wily side steppers. But it was different this time. Many were sheepishly staring towards someone. But only briefly. They would consciously then reign in their gaze, back into forward nothingness. The curiosity was overwhelming their resolve though. The heads would turn ever so slightly back towards this one person. People desperately were trying to feign indifference. The man in question was a short guy with a slightly largish head. His skin seemed like a battle ground. His hair was colored dirty bronze. Another person with him had just left. He had touched the celebrity's feet before leaving. No doubt the celebrity is used to people fawning around him. The celebrity in question was a famous comedian. His movies are larg

Just read a post from the crowd-sourced diary of narcissists - thoughtcatalog.com The post is called ' Why I’m Trading A House And Salary For A Motorcycle And Map ' Please read it, because this blog post is a reaction to it. Let me quickly summarise here the intent of the post anyways. Its a self congratulatory essay that crowd sources validation for a seemingly 'crazy' idea of the author. And apparently there is a moral to the story. Curious thing to note - the gratification is pre-action - the author has not actually done anything of note yet. He plans to. Maybe . and that is why this post is such an important artifact defining the current times. The author is an adult. (atleast 30 years old. Also the fact that he owns a house that he can sell. and in his words " I've officially notified everyone who works in my office ".) But not quite. (the entire article. Also, he mentions the word 'motorcycle' gushingly 6 times.)  Some of his gems. 

Note: This is from a series of posts that I would be writing about Marketing's assault on our language. (AOL) ______ Sometimes, weird vowel-less sounds (?) stumble out of busyfolks' mouth. When they utter these sounds among themselves, there is an implicit expectation that the meaning is understood. Its amazing really, a fence made of sounds. Recently, I was confronted with this particular sound -"FMOT". It took me  a while to hear sideways and decipher the words hiding behind the capital letters. "First moment of Truth". Most marketing students, including me, would know this as legacy of the store shelf Gladiator - P&G .Its an elegant concept really from a marketer's perspective - it is that decisive time frame when a customer first sees a product in the store shelf and gets sufficiently curious about it to buy it or not. It's a crucial time for the product - 'it's showtime!'  But is it a "moment of truth"? err.. i w

Ajit Pawar is the deputy CM of Maharashtra. Its unfortunate that I share his surname. He is a symbol of what is wrong with India. Like Rahul Gandhi, he is benefited by his lineage. The only reason people like these get to the 'throne' is because of the horrible nepotism that characterizes Indian politics. Watch this video to understand why people like these should be banished from the country, let alone 'rule' it. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/maharashtra-ajit-pawar-apologises-for-his-urine-remark/383783-37-64.html The deputy CM, angrily reacts to the 55 day fast of 'some Deshmukh' in view of drought in Maharashtra. 1. How he reacted? He reacted angrily. He trivialized not only the fast, but the terrible drought tragedy that is claiming lives and livelihood in Maharashtra. This aspect was covered in media, shockingly so much is left out by media!  2. Reacted against what? The fast. 55 days of fast! I was shocked. Isn't that news worthy by itself? how

See these ads -> Bisleri500 Angry bride , Bisleri500 Casanova , Bisleri500 Superhero Tell me you didn't find them disturbing. If you did, stop drinking this irresponsible brand, and if it can be helped, bottled water altogether .   Story of the bottled water If not, let me shepherd out the outrage. What do you think is the brand trying to do through these ads? Its a classic advertising attack on your current behavior. Not all behavior change objectives are bad, but they always have a big responsibility - In your quest for increased usage/ preference, you don't want to bring harm to a culture or people. I believe Bisleri has been tremendously irresponsible in multiple ways. The behavior shift sought here is that from shared drinking to individualistic drinking. While traveling you would often see us Indians sharing a bottle, sharing food. Sharing is a big part of how Indians define themselves. However, sharing is perhaps a newer value that India tried to