The festival of Diwali (or Deepavali, the original Sanskrit name) signifies the triumph of good over evil according to Hindu mythology and is traditionally celebrated with rows of oil, clay lamps lit over 5 days.
But modern day lights have taken over the festivities with its psychedelic colours and varieties of light displays. No fuss, no oily mess to deal with, no fear of flames being blown away by the wind, electric lights are a convenience here to stay. It has changed the face of the festival and how?
Busy streets lined with jewellery stores selling the most sought after metal - gold, almost an obsession during Diwali (textured photos). The greater the competition among them to attract attention with bigger & brighter displays each year.
Diya (lamp) - shaped electric lights strung on a tree in front of a high-street store
Colourful paper-lamps hung in a corner-street shop waiting for customers to take them home.
The new diyas or clay lamps are generally bought in advance and soaked for a few hours in water to reduce the absorption levels of the clay. When oil is poured it stays in the lamp and does not get absorbed by the porous nature of the clay. Whereas, all it requires is for the electric lights to be taken out of storage, given a good dusting, strung on railings, balconies, trees & shurbs and plugged in. Reusable, year after year. Unlike, clay lamps which if used one year cannot be reused the next year as per tradition.
Traditions do evolve over time but one cannot help but feel a sense of nostalgia for the earthy, tiny, diyas which are fast becoming just token symbols of the festival.
In recent times, one of the most talked about advertisements on Indian television is the new Kerala tourism ad. The reasons may not be all that the tourism board officials or the agencies involved envisaged but a buzz it has definitely created.
Love it or hate it, one thing's for sure, you can hardly ignore it (which I might add is also the reason for this post. I couldn't ignore it either)
Most Indians viewing it on their television channels in India seem to have gone ballistic about the ad being mis-representative of the state. Kerala, one of the most attractive & well-visited by tourists, both domestic and international evokes images of swaying coconut palms, cool back waters, lashing rains, boat races and resplendent elephants at temple festivals. Imagery, which by the way, has only been reinforced by advertisements (view here) from the tourism board themselves. It has to be one of the most advertised states in the country, a job the tourism guys are doing very well, I must say.
So what exactly is the problem? Is it that Indians are so influenced by stereotypes of Kerala that they cannot keep an open mind and view it differently? Is it that the visuals are just so stark and haunting that it just doesn't invite? Was it even meant for Indian viewers, given that it was launched in London as a promotional to attract foriegn tourists (who incidentally love the ad) ?
Did Kerala tourism then make a mistake by airing it in India and opening it up to unnecessary criticism? Yes, I would think they did make a hash of the media plan and subsequent PR in India. If the advertisement was created as a invitation to foriegn audiences who are vastly different from Indians in their outlook, why air it on Indian channels and that too in such a piecemeal fashion? Guess, Kerala tourism's marketing people are the only ones who probably know the answer to that question.
Is the creative in question a true representation of the state? To that, I can only say, "to each his own", every creative person has the license to express her/his creativity freely. The creative has the feel of an art film rather than a commercial that sells a product to viewers. In the case of the ad, the client and the advetising agency collaborated with the production house in the making of the film, so shouldn't the brick-bats as well as the bouquets be for all?
The bigger question though - is the creative an original or heavily "inspired" by another nation's tourism advt? I believe it to be as good as plagiarised from what I have seen of Mexico's tourism advts. Though don't take my word for it... see for youself:
And some more in the series of advts at http://www.youtube.com/user/bicentenariotelevisa
Infact, this blatant 'copy' bothered me more than the bad idea of releasing the advt in India or the so-called mis-representation of Kerala. An ad that showcases Kerala and therefore, a slice of India to the international audience is going to be seen as a rip-off. More surprising is that a reputed production house like Nirvana (creators of the Zoo Zoos - very original) is associated with copied content. Why?
I was thinking about this the other day as a friend & colleague is soon going to be 30.
Considering I don't have much time to think these days especially with work driving me up the wall and around the bend, this question pop up in my head often enough to give it some thought. I asked a few of my other friends who are well over the '30-hill' what they felt, thought of it.
Here's what they had to say:
"(It has) Meant more freedom, more money, more travel, more of everything and most importantly more of life :)" ~ 35 yr old, single, heading-up-the-corporate-ladder, career-woman.
"No special feelings except that i started having my annual medical checkups after 31. Over the last few years I have started taking things more seriously, especially retirement. When I think of all that we have to do before we retire, it scares me. There’s so little time." ~ 35 yr old, entrepreneur, usually-fun-loving, just-become-father-for-the-second-time.
"More certain of what I want, what lengths I am willing to go to get what i want, what I am willing to sacrifice, definitely dawning upon me to treasure the precious moments, people I care for in my life (read 'treat them less cavalierly'), Freeeeeeeeedom (from society's hang-ups), more travel, an ever expanding horizon...among many, many other things." ~ 35 yr old, single woman, living-on-her-own-in-an-alien-city and who has promised herself she will follow her heart!
(note: please place above statements in the context of being Indian and living in India. There's a vast difference in the extent of influence that family, tradition and society holds over a person in this country as compared to so-called modern, progressive nations)
I realised that all the 30-somethings I had spoken to had an outlook at life that was more positive, more independent, a setting of long-term goals, maybe a a greater sense of responsibility, definitely a feeling that there was a lot of life yet to be experienced (and the 'moolah' to do it) and an almost prophetic sense of adventures in the horizon. Adventures different from one's teenage years or even the 20s but exciting enough nonetheless.
Maybe it's on hindsight we all realised that turning 30 was far better than we had anticipated.
My friend who will be walking up to that summit in a few days from now has mixed feelings. On one hand she is eagerly planning her party, dropping hints about b'day gifts she would like, in some cases even being direct about it while on the other hand she raises existential questions on being 30+.
If the experience of all of us are anything to count, seems like she too will figure out that 30 ain't a bad number after all! :) Cheers!
(pics courtesy: clipart.com; mrgarylee.com)
P.S. I would be happy to hear from you what you felt about turning 30
