Tayzwi
Should be reading more and writing less, but well...Friday, February 25, 2005
What started out as a blog....
ended up being this. Do check out Cosma Shalizi's Notebooks. What amazes me is the amount of reading a person can do. And the diverse range of reading interests anyone can hold. This is by far the widest range of reading that I have seen anyone accomplish.
I wonder where time passes us by. Passed me by. I need to rework my schedule.
In other news, Aishwarya Rai has been asked to present an Oscar. Why her? and why this? Of course, she is beautiful, artsy, speaks good English, hazel eyes, brown hair, high cheek bones, the works. First, Cannes, and now Oscars. I guess she is just what the media wants; here, as well as in the west. The clueless reader from Bangalore will be proud about how India has finally arrived on the World Stage and fold Bangalore Times, finish her donut, exit a Starbucks like coffee shop, and don her headphones, and become Melanie again.
I am really not sure what I am lashing out against, but somewhere, it hurts. It also feels bad cuz the hurt is not fully backed by logic. And the hurt is not strong enough to change the way I am. I can't find a consistent set of theories regarding why things are happening the way they are. I can't reconcile my own desire for pizzas with my empathy for the Tsunami victims. I hate it that I take refuge in the fact that Gandhi used to be a fashionable dandy during his London years, and only became the Gandhi we know after his stint in South Africa. Its a screwed mix of thoughts, and needs a lot of figuring out before real plans of actions are charted out. Of course, I can't wait for all that.....I need some food now, and thats where Pizza Hut comes in. I am waiting for the sensualist in me to die....
I wonder where time passes us by. Passed me by. I need to rework my schedule.
In other news, Aishwarya Rai has been asked to present an Oscar. Why her? and why this? Of course, she is beautiful, artsy, speaks good English, hazel eyes, brown hair, high cheek bones, the works. First, Cannes, and now Oscars. I guess she is just what the media wants; here, as well as in the west. The clueless reader from Bangalore will be proud about how India has finally arrived on the World Stage and fold Bangalore Times, finish her donut, exit a Starbucks like coffee shop, and don her headphones, and become Melanie again.
I am really not sure what I am lashing out against, but somewhere, it hurts. It also feels bad cuz the hurt is not fully backed by logic. And the hurt is not strong enough to change the way I am. I can't find a consistent set of theories regarding why things are happening the way they are. I can't reconcile my own desire for pizzas with my empathy for the Tsunami victims. I hate it that I take refuge in the fact that Gandhi used to be a fashionable dandy during his London years, and only became the Gandhi we know after his stint in South Africa. Its a screwed mix of thoughts, and needs a lot of figuring out before real plans of actions are charted out. Of course, I can't wait for all that.....I need some food now, and thats where Pizza Hut comes in. I am waiting for the sensualist in me to die....
Labels: india
posted by Tejaswi # 6:03 AM 
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Aishwarya Rai....
Well amigo, I guess we r having some kinda telepathy happening across our thoughts.
The idea is, the media can make anyone a celebrity, except for probably Kashinath. And this is all about demographics and mass mktg and nothin' else. If the media spots the numbers ( I men number of fans or probable fans of an artist - film star/model/sportsperson.....) it instantly makes a celebrity outta this artists. Numbers mean everything in consumer mktg. Adidas doesn't care about the quality of futbol Beckham plays. All Adidas is bothered about is the number of fans Beckham has. The fans of Beckham might have been his fans for the wrong reasons - say looks. When Beckham turns 60, and starts playing quality futbol (which is unlikely tho), he might find is female fan base eroding, despite an improvement in the level of the game he is playing. That explains why Beckham makes a lot more more money off the field than Ronaldo or Batistuta manage to. I have nothing aganist Beckham. But he turned out to be an amazing example of mktg gimmick at work.
The same holds for my sweety pie Ash. She has good, sexy looks. But is that all about being invited the Oscars and Cannes? No. It's about a huge fanatic (fan) base she commands in India. And this fan base does indeed double up as a consumer base! It's about selling Longines Watches and Jacques Bogart perfumes and pro'ly Subway Sandwiches to the unsuspecting Indian consumer. How dis sweety Ash win her oceanous Indian fan following? Bollywood did a good job of marketing. It turned an angelic looking ramp girl into a nation's icon? Bollywood could have done the same with Sucheta Sreedhar if it had seen money in doing so!
I'm actually hatching a biz plan to make celebrities outta nobodies and make moolah as a biproduct. will tell you about it when we talk.
Well amigo, I guess we r having some kinda telepathy happening across our thoughts.
The idea is, the media can make anyone a celebrity, except for probably Kashinath. And this is all about demographics and mass mktg and nothin' else. If the media spots the numbers ( I men number of fans or probable fans of an artist - film star/model/sportsperson.....) it instantly makes a celebrity outta this artists. Numbers mean everything in consumer mktg. Adidas doesn't care about the quality of futbol Beckham plays. All Adidas is bothered about is the number of fans Beckham has. The fans of Beckham might have been his fans for the wrong reasons - say looks. When Beckham turns 60, and starts playing quality futbol (which is unlikely tho), he might find is female fan base eroding, despite an improvement in the level of the game he is playing. That explains why Beckham makes a lot more more money off the field than Ronaldo or Batistuta manage to. I have nothing aganist Beckham. But he turned out to be an amazing example of mktg gimmick at work.
The same holds for my sweety pie Ash. She has good, sexy looks. But is that all about being invited the Oscars and Cannes? No. It's about a huge fanatic (fan) base she commands in India. And this fan base does indeed double up as a consumer base! It's about selling Longines Watches and Jacques Bogart perfumes and pro'ly Subway Sandwiches to the unsuspecting Indian consumer. How dis sweety Ash win her oceanous Indian fan following? Bollywood did a good job of marketing. It turned an angelic looking ramp girl into a nation's icon? Bollywood could have done the same with Sucheta Sreedhar if it had seen money in doing so!
I'm actually hatching a biz plan to make celebrities outta nobodies and make moolah as a biproduct. will tell you about it when we talk.
And I have absolutely no problem with your liking for pizza and your compassion for Tsunami victims. No one has ever helped a soul in distress by leading an austere life. The business you do with Pizza hut might enable it to turn a good samaritan and help Tsunami victims. The taxes pizza hut pays might help the Indian and pro'ly the American govt to pledge monetary help to the victims. If you wanna forego the pizza and donate the same money for the victim, nothin' like it. But nothing is ever gonna make a difference to the victims if you forego the pizza and keep the money for urself (perhaps for ur future).
The point I wanna make here is, consumerism and compassion for the needy can co-exist. Infact, consumerism can very well be a fuel for social good. Blind consumerism has its ill effects on individual consumers. For instance it may limit their career choices for lack of disposable money. But that's not awfully relevant in the context of a crisis like Tsunami.
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The point I wanna make here is, consumerism and compassion for the needy can co-exist. Infact, consumerism can very well be a fuel for social good. Blind consumerism has its ill effects on individual consumers. For instance it may limit their career choices for lack of disposable money. But that's not awfully relevant in the context of a crisis like Tsunami.
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