Mirchi not so hot anymore, with Suchi no longer around...

Till a few years ago, I was not much into radio, be it FM or AM on a normal radio or
car-radio. I loved having tapes (later CDs) of the songs I like in the car and at home
and just listening to them, without having to bear the boring banter of the RJ (Radio
Jockey). But if somebody can be given the credit to lure me to radio, it has to be
Suchitra, the RJ (till recently) of Radio Mirchi, more commonly known as Suchi.

With a different but likeable voice, she lured me to FM, atleast during my morning
drive to work, when she would be hosting the "Hello Chennai" programme. Add an
attitude to that voice, plus a good awareness of general current issues and you have
a personality that you like and would not mind listening to. Plus she looks good too,
if that matters.

Yeah, I know that she's not photogenic, given how she looks in movies (Ayudha Ezhuthu)
and advertisements. But in real life, she does look good. And I have seen her many times
at TIDEL Park, where she used to work in an IT services company before becoming an RJ.

Anyway, with her at Radio Mirchi, the monotonousness of the morning drive in heavy
traffic would be forgotten. And inspite of feeling like yelling at the guy who cuts you off
in traffic, you find yourself smiling, when she says, "...and drive with a smile".

Now that she has moved to compering TV programs (is becoming a Video Jockey a
promotion from a Radio Jockey ?), the morning drive is boring. Radio Mirchi are trying
their best to fill the void left behind by her leaving, but I am not sure it is working.
Atleast not in my case. I find myself tuning to other stations nowadays, something
unbelievable when Suchi was around.

The replacement programme, titled "Rettaivalu" which is jointly hosted by 2 guys is not
bad, but just does not come anywhere near the magic of Suchi. If I werethe deciding guy
at Radio Mirchi, I would rather conduct an audition for a fresh female voice and select a
girl with voice and attitude, rather than have 2 guys trying to woo listeners used to the
magic of Suchi.

Guys, get your act right. Or else, I am going to get a DVD player installed in the car and
watch recorded shows of Suchi's TV program. Which is actually quite good when I saw it
last. And from what my friends say, she seems to be doing pretty good with the show.

Anyway, Best of Luck Suchi. "And keep compering with that awesome smile".

What's in a name ? Lots actually, it seems.

I was at the Apollo Hospitals for a doctor appointment, when I happened to overhear
the following conversation between a young couple who were expecting their first baby
in a few months.

Husband (H) : Isn't it time we shortlisted some names for our baby ?

Wife (W) : Yeah, only a few months left. But we won't know whether it is a boy or girl
till it is born. So, we will have to come up with both male and female names. If only they
told us the baby's sex, it would have been simpler. And also the suspense is killing me.

H : What's life without some suspense ? Anyway, we will shortlist both male and female
names. Its not that tough a task as you make it out to be.

W : OK, then why don't you suggest some names ? They should be unique, yet not sound
funny or odd. And it would be nice if they had some meaning too.

H : Hmmm. OK. I have some nice female names that are unique and with meaning.
What about PorSelvi ?
Note : Por means battle in Tamil, while Selvi means girl.

W : Yucks. Where did you get that from ? Naming a girl after battle and war.

H : Well, you said you wanted a name with meaning and also something unique. Didn't you ?

W : That I did. But I also said that it should not sound odd.

H : OK, how about Kayalvizhi ?
Note : Kayal is fish in Tamil and Vizhi is eyes. Meaning one with eyes of a fish.

W : Not bad. But that was the name of a girl in college that I hated. No way am I naming my
kid after her.

H : Hmmm. How about Sivakami ?

W : Yeah, I like that one. How did you think of that one ?

H : That was the name of the girl I had a crush on in college. She was hot.
***Oops, did I go overboard?***

W : Hmmm. Somehow when I think of it again, it does not sound that good a name.
***Trying to name my kid after an old flame, eh ? What guts?***

H : I think I have exhausted all girl names I had. Do you want some nice boy names ?

W : Sure, lets see whether you do better with this.

H : How about "Ilampiraiyan" ?

W : What the hell ? Is that a name ? And what is it supposed to mean ?

H : Ilam = young/new. Pirai = moon. Someone who is like a young/new moon.

W : God. Where do you get such names ? Doesn't some normal names strike you at all ?

H : Such a nice name with meaning also. Pity that you cannot appreciate it.

W : OK, forget that I asked you for names. I know whom to ask and get the most varied list of names.

H : Who is that ?

W : Google. Who else ?

Hang the victim and free the criminal.

Rich young guy drives to high-class hotel in a costly car and gets drunk on costly brew.
Against common-sense and the advice of people around him, decides to drive back home himself.

The brew has started acting for sometime now and his reflexes are down, but his mind has
the need for speed. He races the car without taking into account his inability to control it
under the influence. Loves the high that speed gives him. And not to mention the high from
the brew in his system.

Misses a turn and takes the car onto the pavement, where some poor sods are having a
well-deserved sleep after toiling all day. Runs over few of them, killing some and injuring
others.

The next day dawns with the newspapers reporting yet another case of drunken driving, resulting in a few deaths. But then the lives lost are dispensable, being that of poor labourers that can't even afford a roof over their head. The police are now all over the city, checking drivers under the influence. More like locking the stables after the horses have bolted. And
that too for a few days, till the public and media forget this story and latch onto another one.

Amidst all the public outrage at drunken driving, there is another view point. One that completely ignores the fact that the accident was a result of a stupid and illegal act by a
so-called educated person. As per the promoters of this view point, the actual culprits
were those that were sleeping on the pavement.

As you look at them surprised, they elaborate their rationale. Pavements are not for
sleeping. If those stupid guys were not sleeping there, they would not have been killed.
So it is their fault that they lost their sorry lives. These people would even quote from
some archaic law that says that sleeping on the pavements is a crime.

They would also make out a case against the contractor who brought these guys from
rural areas to work in cities and did not provide proper accomodation. Also on the blame
list would be the City Corporation for not taking action against such contractors and for
not evicting the homeless from the pavements.

And what if the victims were not sleeping but just walking on the pavement at the time
of the accident ? Since pavements are meant for walking, they would not be able to answer
this one. Hopefully they won't say that while the rich are cruising the streets, all other
forms of human life should keep off the roads and pavements.

But then, who knows, maybe they would say that also.

A new mobile operator in town ?

A college-mate had come to Chennai from the US on vacation. Since it was years since we
had seen each other, we decided to go out for dinner and spend some time catching up on
old times, current lives, future plans etc.

Ofcourse with the all-pervasive presence of mobile phones, it was tough keeping the conversation on track. Every now and then he or his wife would get a call on their mobile
and till they were done talking to who ever was calling, the conversation would cease. By
the time they finished the call, we were not even sure where we had left off.

Having come to Chennai after a long time, there were many friends / relatives that wanted
to meet them or talk to them. So, they could be excused for letting the cellphone be an interruption in a meeting between friends.

However, what I found surprising was that the cellphone conversations were not really
smooth. My friend found it tough to hear the other party and there were lots of "Hello.
Hello. Can you hear me ?" kind of talk thrown in every few seconds.

Given that we had atleast 5 mobile operators in Chennai and the fact that we were in the
heart of the city, I was wondering why the reception was not good. I was curious to know
which mobile operator they were attached to, and asked them.

His wife replied that they were using the pre-paid card of SuryaCell.

I was like, "Who the heck is SuryaCell ?"

I know of Aircel, Airtel, Hutch, BSNL and Reliance operating here. But never heard of any provider called SuryaCell.

Seeing the blank expression on my face, she clarified.
"Its Aircell, which is endorsed by Surya (Tamil cine actor) and billboards of which are all over the city. I am a big fan of Surya and since he endorses Aircel, I prefer to call it as SuryaCell".

She said that when they had to choose a pre-paid card from the 5 available service providers, she did not even give it a thought and straightaway chose Aircel. Only because it was endorsed by her favourite movie star.

Hmmm. Looks like its money well spent by Aircell on Surya. They can atleast bank on his female fans (for all I know, even male fans) to plump for their service. Bad reception or other service issues be damned.

Is religion turning into a lucrative career option ?

A cousin was recently ordained as a priest after years of study in a seminary. If I remember right, as soon as he completed his 10th standard, he left for the seminary and we would see
very little of him after that. I guess visits to one's home are quite restricted and the number
of days of 'leave' allowed would also be less.

Anyway, after what seemed like an eternity, he finally was ordained as a priest last month.
The ordination is a big affair in the parish, with invitations sent out to all relatives/friends.
A lavish lunch is also arranged after the function and it is customary for attendees to come
with a gift, though it eludes me why we should indulge in gifting material things to someone
who is planning to pursue abstinence from material pleasures. Anyway...

The itinerary was the same for my cousin's ordination also and apart from the bishop of
the diocese (like a district, comprising many parishes), there were quite some priests that attended the function. Among them was our ex-bishop, who retired a few years ago. Given below is an almost verbatim extract of the conversation the ex-bishop had with the father
of my cousin.

Bishop (B) : Hmmm. So, this must be a big day for you. You must be proud of your son.

Cousin's Dad (D) : Ofcourse I am, Your Holiness. I have been waiting for years to see my son
become a priest.

B : BTW, how many sons do you have ?

D : I have 2 sons, Your Holiness.

B : And what does your other son do ?

D : He has a well-paying job in the Gulf*.

*Gulf is Mallu-speak for Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, and/or any country with Arab connections.

B : Oh, great. So, now both your sons are in the gulf. :-)

D : ?????

I am sure most Mallu Christians would have understood the humor involved in the Bishop's
last statement. Just to clarify for the benefit of those that did not understand.

While most priests (I am talking Catholic here) are involved in their work of tending to a
parish, working to ensure that the church members follow the path laid out in the Bible etc, there are some (exceptions are everywhere, you see) who use priesthood as a lucrative
career and indulge in building up wealth for their family.

I guess with quite some funds at their disposal, it is not exactly that difficult to amass wealth
in this profession (if I may call it a profession). I personally know atleast 2 such priests. A job
in the Gulf is supposed to be very well-paying (though salaries & opportunities are coming down). With priesthood also turning out to be a lucrative occupation for some priests, the
bishop was hinting that both the brothers are now in lucrative occupations.

Its a long time since I met my cousin or talked to him. When I knew him as a kid, he was
pretty serious about becoming a priest and doing good for society. I just hope that he still maintains those ideals and that he proves the bishop wrong.


Before I start getting flamed, let me make a few things clear :

1. I am a practicing Christian and happen to be a Catholic also.

2. This article is not intended to put down Christianity in general or the Catholic Church specifically. I am just pointing out real-life incidents.

3. I am sure that such things happen in both other Christian denominations and other
religions and is not something confined to only Catholic priests.

4. I also know Catholic priests who have devoted their entire life for the upliftment of lower sections of society, by providing medical /educational facilities in remote areas like Assam, without any interest in wealth or material pleasures. I salute their devotion to God and their untiring efforts for helping fellow humans.

5. This article is only about the exceptions, who I hope comprise only a miniscule part of the
clergy.

Who is actually mentally unstable ?

I was at Chennai Central station today morning to pick up my parents who had come for
their annual weekly visit to Chennai. May is not a nice time to be in Chennai. Infact most Chennai-vasis head for cooler places in May, to escape the furnace-like sun. But then with
only 3 seasons (hot, hotter, hottest) in Chennai, there is actually no ideal time to visit Chennai.

I had arrived 30 mins before the scheduled arrival time and had some time to kill. Got a
copy of the Deccan Chronicle (DC) to while away the time. The DC is supposed to be the
latest English newspaper in town. I have been reading The Hindu for decades now and I
am yet to see any other English newspaper in India that even comes close to it in providing
a complete and fulfilling reading experience. It would be grossly unfair to even consider
the DC as competition to The Hindu.

The DC is just a glossy tabloid with shoddy reporting, poor and gramatically wrong English,
and low-quality newsprint. The only good thing about the D.C. is the glamour shots of movie stars and Page3 personalities and gossip about both Indian and Hollywood film stars. Nice to while away time, but not if you are serious about news.

Anyway, while I am reading the latest on Britney Spears & Paris Hilton (they are permanent fixtures in the DC), I see a mentally challenged person roam about the railway station. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable asks him to clear of the station, but is ignored.
A couple of RPF guys go up to him and try to make him leave the station, which he resists.
They push him, he falls and then they manhandle him, without even taking into consideration that he is not capable of rational thinking like normal people.

Soon a small crowd gathers and by the time other RPF guys arrive and clear the crowd, the
guy is bruised at many places and bleeding. There are many like him that roam the streets
of Chennai. Agree that they do not need to be in a railway station. But lacking a home and
people to take care of them, where should they go ? And even if you want them off a public place, there are better and humane ways to achieve that.

The guy has now been shoo-ed out of the station and things are getting back to normal when
a Tamilnadu Police inspector arrives at the scene after hearing about this incident. He calls
the RPF guys and gives them a good verbal lashing for hitting the guy. His point is, "What is
the need to use force, especially on a mentally unstable person ? What if he gets seriously injured or even dies ? Who will take the responsibility ?"

The RPF guys are now silent and try giving excuses for their highhandedness, like "We did not hit him. He fell down by himself and got injured." etc. However, there were enough eye-witnesses around who told an entirely different story. The police inspector was really incensed by the behaviour of the RPF guys and was talking about having them put behind bars.

Even though rare, it was good to see a policeman being humane and considerate towards civilians. By the time I left, the RPF top brass had also landed and if I am right, they would have arrived at some kind of settlement with the T.N. police.

All due to lack of an extra needle. And some smart thinking...

My colleague came to work today wearing a nice slim watch from Titan. Since it looked very new, I asked him if he bought it recently. He said that it was 2 years old, which seemed odd because the watch looked as if it was just taken of the showroom display.

He said that he had gifted it to his Dad 2 years ago, but his Dad had not used it even once
and had left it lying in its original packaging. Since I know that my friend is very chummy
with his parents, there did not seem to be any possibility of his Dad trying to put him down
by not using a gift from him.

Unlike most parents, they have been very supportive of him at all stages of life, been more
like a friend than a parent. And to top it all, when he expressed his intent to marry a girl
that studied with him in Engineering college, they gave the green signal. This, inspite of
them being from different states, speaking different mother tongues and possibly different castes. The only common thread that bound them was that they practiced the same religion.

So, it was intriguing to me as to why such a parent would refuse to wear a gift from his son.
Then my friend mentioned the reason for his Dad not using the watch. It was because the
watch did not have a "seconds" hand. It had only an "hour" hand and a "minutes" hand.

Now, it sounded all the more intriguing to me. A "seconds" hand is sort of dispensable in a
watch for most of us. Who times time by the seconds anyway ? Unless you are using it to
time your microwave cooking or to do a 0-100 run of your car. And anyway, microwaves
come with their own timers. And it is not easy/accurate doing a quick 0-100 run and
timing it simultaneously yourself.

Turns out his Dad is a doctor and needs the "seconds" hand to time the pulse of his patients.

Hmmm. Inspite of the effort he would have put in while selecting the watch, my friend
missed one of the critical requirements of his Dad who would be the recipient of the gift.
Thus, his gift, for which he would have spent money, time & effort, was not really
appreciated by his Dad.

Today, gifting has gone real big. People gift costly stuff like DigiCams, iPods, bikes, cars etc
to their loved ones, including kids. But while we do not hesitate to spend our money, are we really spending that extra effort to know what gift would be appreciated by our loved ones ?
A little effort spent in understanding their needs would go a long way in enhancing the satisfaction of the gift recipient. And which in turn will make you also more happy.

From experience, I have found that kids are the easiest to gift to. You just ask them what
they need and they frankly tell you. They do not think of wanting something and ask for something else like us adults, just because we do not want the person to splurge more dough.

And once they get the gift, they are so happy that it brings a smile to your face everytime
you just think of it.

Do movie/cricket stars bring in enough sales to justify the steep fees paid to them ?

The idea for this post originated during one of the weekend drink sessions with a few
buddies, who all happen to be marketing guys with fancy MBAs and stuff. Normally,
the topics discussed never deviate from Reema Sen, Jothika, Asin etc etc (Tamil/Mallu actresses, for those not in the know). :-)

But somehow we veered to cars, stars promoting cars, the value (if any) that they add
to the brand, in terms of sales etc.

One of the guys (an MBA from a premier institute) and a manager at an MNC at B'lore,
is of the firm opinion that stars add a lot to the brands that they promote, in terms of
sales, brand recall, value etc. He is a big SRK fan and SRK's promoting Santro was the
main reason why he bought the Santro many years ago. So, if a guy who understands
the dynamics of business/marketing can take a purchase decision based on adulation,
I guess there will be lots more out there who think on the same lines.

However, my personal view was quite the opposite. I do agree that stars provide immense visibility (eyeballs, in marketing jargon) to a brand and also aid brand recall. But do they
have an effect on sales, as in increasing the sales ? I am sceptical of that.

I am a big fan of Jothika, but I have never ever even thought of buying any of the products
that she endorses. Infact, I avoid buying products endorsed by her. I try to keep my
adulation separate from my purchase behaviour. Infact, if I were to buy products that she endorses, I would feel used, because that is what the companyis trying to do in the first
place by having her endorse the product.

I also feel that using personalities for endorsing products, increases the cost of products,
because the company would have to add the fees paid to the stars to the product. So,
whenever possible, I consciously avoid buying products that use stars for endorsement.
A recent example being our refrigerator purchase a few weeks ago. We avoided Whirlpool,
LG etc only because we did not want to line the pockets of Kajol & family and Abhishek
Bachan. Instead, we went for Samsung, which did not use any stars for endorsement.

Another important thing is the association of the endorser with the brand/product and
how the consumer perceives it. In the case of Santro, only a naive buyer will assume that
SRK actually finds value in a compact car worth a few lakhs and will be driving one in
real life. For most of us, it is pretty clear that SRK did it because he was paid enough to
lend his name to a brand. I cannot relate a filthy-rich actor like SRK with a compact car.

If SRK were promoting a Merc or something, I would see value in that, because there is a possibility of his actually owning/using that car which suits his image. But driving around
in a Santro ? Nah...

But then if you noticed, Mercedes Benz does not use personalities for promoting their cars. Because those personalities anyway aspire for the Benz brand and to ride in one.

There are various examples from the Indian auto scenario itself, which we could consider,
apart from SRK-Santro. There is the Maruti Versa fiasco where inspite of the Bachan father -son duo promoting the van, it flopped. And more recently we have Abhishek promoting the Fiesta, while Saif/Rani promote the Aveo.

Fiesta is selling pretty good, but how much of it is due to Abhishek ? Its more due to Ford's
Diet Diesel campaign, which claims a mileage of 30kmpl or more per litre of diesel for the
Fiesta-D. Now that's an intelligent way to spend marketing bucks, instead of lining the
pockets of some movie star. Ofcourse, whether it is truly ethical is debatable, because a guy
who swallows the Diet Diesel marketing gimmick and expects his car to return that mileage
in his daily city commute, is in for some serious disappointment.

Aveo is not selling much - so did the strategy fail here or did it not sell due to some other negatives ?

As far as car purchase behaviour in India goes, it is usually about mileage (kitna average hai ?), looks, size (get the biggest car at that price point), maintenance costs (American is costly to maintain compared to Japanese) etc.

A very accurate quantification of the value addition that stars make to the brand with respect
to the fees they charge, might not be possible. As some marketing guy said, "I know that half
of the money I spend on advertising is a waste. The problem is I don't know which half it is."

But then, the fact that SRK still endorses Santro in new advts, means that the guys at
Hyundai seem to be quite pleased with his contribution.

We could not reach an unanimous conclusion. Just that we agreed that while it could work for some products, it could backfire or not work for others.

Any readers that are willing to share their gyan on this, could answer to :

1. Will you buy a car (over other similar or better options) just because it is endorsed by
your favourite personality ?

2. What about products other than cars ?

3. Do you think stars help increase sales of cars they promote ?

4. Do you prefer an advertisement featuring a personality or one that just gives relevant technical info about the car's merits ?

Might give us some points to ponder over during our next drink session.

Licensed to cane ?

Yesterday evening, I was walking to the neighborhood grocer to buy some garlic, needed in the kitchen to prepare a dish of mussels (kakka in Mallu speak, not sure about the Tamil for this).

The main road in our area is perpetually in chaos, due to two TASMAC liquor shops that are
too close to each other (diagonally separated by 50 metres or so, max). Since the Govt. has allowed so-called bars attached to every liquor shop, the roads are a mess with wrongly
parked bikes, cycles etc. Not to mention, the men that are standing around or walking about unsteadily.

Just as I turn the corner to get onto the main road, a police jeep with 2 cops passes me and
stops in front of one of the liquor shops. Leaving the jeep parked in the centre of the road,
with the engine running, the 2 cops jump out and start caning a group of guys standing nearby.

Imagine getting a whack on the bottoms/back with one of those police lathis. To the best of
my knowledge, the guys who got hit, were not in the midst of a brawl or any such nonsense, which could have invited the policemen's wrath. They were standing on the side of the road, which I do not really think is a crime. Getting caned for this is not only illogical, but also
high-handed behaviour on the cop's side.

I guess I was lucky not to have been hit. If I had been at that spot just a minute or so earlier,
I could have been considered part of the group and got caned, for no fault at all. I was so irritated by the cop's behaviour and wondered what I would have done if I was one of the
guys who got hit.

I would like to think that I would have protested and argued with the cops. But in reality,
would it work to argue with such guys, especially when they are using the power of their uniforms ?

Arguing back would only invite their wrath and could result in some case being foisted on
you - creating nuisance in public or something. Which means more trouble for you, making
the rounds of police stations and courts. So a rational person would, I guess, just try to make
a run for it and escape the stick, instead of arguing with these guys.

With the Gujarat cops in the news due to their trigger happy ways, I guess it is time cops
all over the country are re-trained to be public-friendly and to use the power vested in
them judiciously. And while we are at it, we should also re-work their salaries keeping in
mind that they are seriously underpaid. That should help atleast some of them in giving
up their corrupt ways.

Mind your portions - avoid food wastage

Wang's kitchen is a chinese restaurant chain in Chennai. Not sure whether they are present
in other metros or not. Anyway, some of us from work went out for lunch at their Adyar restaurant last Thursday, as we were bored with the usual vegetarian meals served at the
office pantry.

Nice restaurant in the basement, with just a few tables occupied even though it was 1PM. However, that was to change soon as a huge crowd (another office party) rushed in to
occupy most of the remaining tables.

There were three of us and between us we ordered a chicken fried rice, a vegetable fried
rice, a chilly lamb and schezwan prawns. The food was pretty good and we enjoyed the
lunch. However, one thing I noticed was that the portions were huge, especially the rice.

By the time we finished our meal, we had consumed only one rice and maybe 1/3rd of the
other fried rice. Given that the three of us were normal males and not on any diet, I guess
this says a lot about the size of the portions.

So, just a helpful hint for those that plan to try out the nice fare at Wang's, please go easy
on the rice and also order your side dishes carefully, so as to not end up wasting food (and money, ofcourse). If you are going as a couple, stick to just one rice. You could order 1 or 2
side dishes, depending on your apettite and how much you consume.

With so many Indians (and others worldwide) not getting even one single meal daily, it is definitely not a good idea to waste food. I am not sure what restaurants dowith the food
that customers waste, especially the food that they have not even touched. It would be
nice if they keep this food separate to feed someone who would otherwise go hungry.

Stretching the rupee to the maximum

We Indians are adept at the art of stretching every rupee to the maximum and extracting
the maximum possible value from any resource. Is it any wonder that we have applied the
same to mobile phones also ?

Mobile phone rates in India are currently among the lowest in the world. Handsets are also available at very low rates. Mobile penetration and usage is increasing by the day. Just look around you and I can bet that out of every 10 people in a public place, atleast 5 are yapping
on their mobile. Gone are the days of the brick-heavy handsets and Rs.17 per minute rates
(for incoming calls also, if you remember).

Inspite of all this, Indian ingenuity can be seen in how we use the system, but without paying
a single paise and still be within the law. This ingenuity comes in the form of "missed calls".
A missed call does not cost either the caller or receiver anything, but could convey a lot
based on some pre-decided protocol between the caller and receiver.

I personally am a very low phone user. I hate being on the phone - landline or otherwise. Nothing to do with phones per se. It's just that I do not talk much. Ofcourse, past a few
pegs, I open up, smile and horror of horrors even laugh out loud. Strange are the ways of
alcohol. :-)

Anyway, coming back to the point, "missed calls" are a great way for people like me to communicate without actually talking to someone at the other end. I use missed calls
almost on a daily basis. Mainly to communicate with my car pool partner. I car pool to
work with my colleague who lives some 5 kms down the road to our office.

The arrangement is that he walks to the main road, from where I pick him up. To avoid
either of us having to wait for the other, we use missed calls. It takes me some 20 minutes
to reach his place. Just as I leave home, I give him a missed call on his mobile. So he knows
that in 20 odd minutes from the time of my missed call, I will be there. Not a bad way to synchronise timings without spending even a penny. I am sure the mobile phone companies would not really be pleased with this arrangement, though there is nothing they can do
about it.

While caller identification helps a lot in us being able to use the "missed call" feature in cellphones for pre-determined communication, I am not sure whether anyone tried using
the land phones in a similar manner. I do remember one of my sister's friends using the
landline in a similar manner. She used to call her friends on their landline and hang up after
2-3 rings, which according to her was what she did when she thought of them. So, when her friends got such a missed call, they could know that they were being remembered at that moment.

Quite affectionate and caring, you would say. But to me it was really an irritating thing,
because when you hear the phone ringing, you would leave what you were doing to attend
to it, but by the time you reach the phone, it has stopped ringing. You can imagine how
someone would feel after a few such attempts. I finally had my sister tell her friend to stop
this irritating way of remembering her.

Not sure if people in other countries also use "missed call" communication like us. Never
heard any of my friends in the US or Europe mentioning it. But quite possible that people elsewhere are also using this in their own ingenious ways.

Interesting advertisements.

Recently, I am seeing some real nice work in advertising, which is not only original, but also thought-provoking and something to which we can connect.

Quite a welcome change from the usual boring stuff like Mr.Pipsqueak (Sachin.T) exhorting
us to go for Boost, because it is the secret of his energy. God, how I hate ads that have him.
No human-like quality there, more like some extra terrestrial creature talking to you.

The recent TV ads for Airtel are pretty good and plays on the sentiment thing that is
associated with humans in general and Indians in particular. The ad starts with an old couple (Grandma & Grandpa) in India who have a young visitor. It's their grandson from a son that
left them long ago and went to some foreign land (must be US for all I know). Maybe he fell in love with someone whom his parents did not approve of and thus left home for her. Hmmm,
the plot becomes interesting with a love affair, strict parents and stuff thrown in.

Anyway, the prodigal son has now sent his young son to go meet the grandparents and recreate the relationship. Grandpa initially is kind of angry (well, anyone in his place would be) and says something like "Why has he come now after all these years ?".

But then the 3rd generation has access to something the previous generations did not - cell phones. And ofcourse the Airtel network. He dials papa dear in the US and hands the phone
over to Grandpa. The son says "I am sorry, Dad" or something like that. Grandpa's heart
melts and he pardons the prodigal son, with tears streaming down his cheeks.

Quite a moving ad. Atleast, with a plot and duration of only some 30-odd seconds, the
creators have really done a good job. Ofcourse, will I change to Airtel due to this ad ?
No, I will stay with BSNL. While BSNL is not the epitome of service, they are not bad either.
But then, Airtel as a brand has gained some place in my psyche. Which might be of use to
them at some point of time. Maybe when I get around to getting that broadband connection
at home, which has been pending for a long time.

While I love advertising in any form, my favourite is the print media. Some recent ads from sneaker companies have been interesting and gained my admiration due to their creativity.
Will showcase them in the next few posts.

From the mouths of babes...

Was at the Apollo First Med Hospital yesterday evening for a doctor appointment.
Due to some wierd reason, this doctor does not take appointments, but uses the
first-come-first-served method of seeing patients. Which means, almost always it is like
a 2 hour wait before you get to see the doctor, irrespective of what time you come in.

Usually I take a newspaper or magazine to while away the time. But since I forgot it
yesterday, had to be content watching movie songs (minus audio, due to being a silent
zone) on TV or just looking around observing the people nearby.

There was this cute kid, around 6 years old who was sitting near me, eating a pack of
Little Hearts biscuits. Just to beat away boredom I stuck up a conversation with her
and got to know that her name is Niveda (nice name) and is in 1st standard at the
Sacred Heart school. Since there was a "Heart" in both her school's name and the
biscuits she was eating, I just asked her if she knew what a "heart" meant.

Instead of a verbal reply, she just drew an imaginary heart shape in the air with her
fingers. And when I thought she was done, she added, "Heart means Love" and started
giggling. I was caught unawares - did not expect a small kid to be knowing about the
mushy side associated with hearts. And boy, her Mom was so embarassed and tried to
hush her.

But then, with constant bombardment via TV of film based programs, it is not surprising
that today's kids pick up such details early on. We can't really blame the kids - they are
only shaped by what influences they are exposed to.