Saturday, August 2, 2014

To the words I do not write


To the words I do not write,

I do not write you because,

sometimes I don't want others to know you are mine,
sometimes I'm not sure if I know what you are,
and sometimes because of pure procrastination.

I know you need recognition, to grow happier,
you need to be read as much as the written words,
But believe me my words,
you are as dear to me as the written ones.

Do not ever leave me words,
A day will come when you will be written,
you too will gather praise, you too will be recognized.
But wait till the time comes,
wait in my mind.


Thursday, June 19, 2014

In the name of Emotional Advertising





So this is the new Fortune Oil ad everyone is going gaga over. And I fail to understand why.

The 4-minute 38-second long ad is an attempt to use emotions to build a connection between the brand and customers.

It's interesting in the start. Dadi keeps asking for a chance and the nurse keeps denying it. The audience gets curious to know what will happen now. But then, the end comes. And look! It is an Edible Oil advertisement! Really? Please tell me how the product actually relates to the story we were just watching.

What I can't understand is, what message they want to give the people exactly? "Ghar ka khana, ghar ka khana hota hai" is what the ad says. So? The story is set in a hospital room. When the nurse denied dadi for giving her homemade daal to her grandson, there was a reason for that. To a patient, only boiled food is given, because food with oil and spices can be harmful for him. So what exactly do they want to say? Fortune oil makes daal so healthy that you can use it in place of boiled food? 

The ad is going viral right now. It is getting shared on various social media sites with  "Oh so sweet!", "Wow! This is so heart-touching" kind of comment. So, definitely, the ad has been successful in creating a buzz. But what is the connection between the product and the ad? To me, it just seems a mixture of all the traditional "emotional tools". Take a dadi amma, ghar ka khana, a hospital setting, thodi si daant aur dher sara sentimental background music, and your story is ready! No worries about product connection!

The advertisement is a product of Ogilvy India, one of the best advertising agencies in India. Not only that, it's also the same agency that produced a beautiful ad for the same brand 2 years back. This too was emotional advertising but actually with a brand connection.




Apart from the emotional story, the advertisement had a few scenes in which the mother could be seen cooking for her son. The ones that showed the actual product and that too in a tempting way. It is sad that the same agency has given such an irrelevant ad now. 

Definitely, Emotions are the key to marketing and emotional advertising is one of the best ways to connect with the audience. But the question that remains is, how much we can compromise in the name of 'Emotional Advertising.'



Friday, May 2, 2014

Letters to Someone



Today, I was going through my news feed and found a reference to Lunchbox, the movie. Lunchbox always reminds me of another story I read somewhere years ago. I was in sixth class, I think and the story was way older than that time. I just remember the crux of the story. So I'm writing it down with my additions to it.

Why?

Because it's something that deeply touched my heart. 


It was about a little boy who exchanges letters with a girl whom he has never seen. How the exchange started, I don't remember. The letters are exchanged in between two different countries. As time passes, one day, the boy demands a picture of girl. The girl sends a picture and asks one in exchange, which is sent. She is pretty and is about his age only. The boy asks her to visit his country some time. She says she will try. Then again, a few years pass. The boy often asks her to come and she always say she will try.





Then the scene changes, the boy is a married man now. Many years have been passed. For a few years, he has not received anything from the girl's end. Even he doesn't send letters now. Right now, he is playing with his younger son and suddenly the doorbell rings. There is a parcel for him. He opens it to find a small box with his childhood picture and a letter. It's 'her' writing on the letter. It says-

"Hello, Jonathan, It is Martha.

You must be wondering why I stopped writing to you and why you have suddenly received this letter after so much time. There is something I want to tell you...

I am 71 and I'm writing this letter from my death-bed.

I know you are surprised. You knew me as a friend of your age. But I am not. The picture I sent you was real. It was from my times. Jonathan, I was 50 when we started exchanging letters. I was a widow. My children were settled with their own families and I was absolutely alone. Your letters at that time, gave my life a whole new character. I could be young again. I could pretend that I find the world as mysterious as you do. And to be honest, by pretending that, I actually started feeling the life once again.

It was not dull anymore. I had so much to write to you..and when not write, I had to look forward to your letters....!


You gave my life a whole new meaning, without even knowing that. You used to ask me to visit your country. I once did. I even came to visit you. Somewhere, my heart wanted me to tell you that I am your friend. But I knew how young you were. I knew what your reaction would have been. So I didn't. You were so young. So innocent. I came back to my home and continued with the letters.

Do not ever think I was in love with you. I was not. I was in love with myself. I was in love with the 18 year old girl who was alive once again in my imagination and in yours. With your help, I was re-living my youth.

And I can't thank you enough for that.

These are my last few words to this world. Remember Jon, No matter how old you get, there will always be a child inside you. But keeping that child alive, is the difficult work.  

Thank you for keeping my soul alive. Be happy in your life. Forgive me if possible.

Love,
Martha"




Thursday, March 27, 2014

If only I had a time machine


Time travel. The first thing I will ask for, if I find a Genie.

I remember how I got to know about time travel. It was Captain Vyom, a television series. I was 7 and was astounded by the concept. Really??? Travel through time?? Wow! I don’t know how I understood the concept or what did I wish to do with a time machine back that time, but I was completely fascinated with the idea and have always been since then.

People say life is short. When I was a child, I used to wonder why they say that. Even if someone lives for say...60 years, it’s so much. I mean what could you not do possibly in sixty years? Now after living more than one third of those 60 years, I say life is nano-short!! What can you do in sixty years? Okay, a lot of things. But what about the things you will not do. There is so much!!

The first few years, you spend your life in getting education. After some time, job/business. Then marriage. Then kids. Then their lives. Then after some time if you are lucky and hard-working enough, you get some time when you are free to do whatever you want. But what is missing now? Your spirit. Your vigor. Okay yeah, in middle of these phases of life, you do get to work on your hobbies. But is it really enough? A Sunday in a week is enough? Even if you get 7 days a week to do whatever you want, is it really enough??
I don’t think so. That can’t be enough. What if I have more than just a few hobbies? What if I want to do as many things as stars in the sky? And I do. I want to do millions of things if not that many.

I want to learn singing and I want to learn guitar. I want to learn every instrument out there and to feel like a rockstar on a stage someday.

I want to go bungee jumping and I want to go sky diving. I want to learn swimming and I want to be good at it.
I want to learn dancing. Every form of dancing. I want to go in space and I want to dig down the earth deep to find an ancient bracelet. I want to learn fighting and to fight crime. I want to go places. Every kind of places. I want to go to Hogwarts and learn magic.
I want to go in every book I have ever read, every series I have ever seen. I want to go and meet the characters. I want to tell them how I feel about them. And then I want to read more. Watch more. 


And then I want to come back and write. Write, write, write. I want to write about my world. I want to write about my dreams. I want to write about magic. The magic that you feel when you learn a new thing. The magic that you feel when you fall in love. The magic that you feel when you turn your thoughts into words. It’s all magic.


And I want to do all of this without having to miss a moment with my family. Without having to miss a moment with my friends. Without having to miss any moment of my normal life.

So you see. I do need a time machine. Tardis, time-turner, Dagger of time, or even a vortex manipulator will do. Just any time-machine.