Ads Ads Ads !!!

So......

What's an Advertisement ?

It's a notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy.

So, basically, Advertising is PROMOTING a product, service or event. So, my question here is "How DO you effectively promote a product?"

1. Is it by Listing the Qualities of the Product?
2. Is it by Showing that the Product is Better than it's Rivals'?

Ideally, Yes, that's how one can effectively promote / advertise a product. If I was to ask a random person, who doesn't have a clue how the advertising works, he would probably tell me the above mentioned ideas.

But that's not how Ads work. It isn't that simple. To support my argument, I would like to present an example. How many of you have seen the movie, "The Guilt Trip"? In the movie, Seth Rogen's character is trying to promote a genuinely good product that he has invented. Every retail store dismisses his idea even though his product is better than any other's in the market. Finally, he pitches his idea to a shopping network in which he DRINKS his cleaning product to show that's it's organic and safe for children and his Ad gets selected.

Now, what is the moral of the story?

No matter how many qualities a product has or how much better the product is than any other in the market, It won't sell unless it is promoted / advertised properly.

So, what makes a good Ad?

1. The Ad should be a connect to IT'S Audience :
   
   
   So, when I say "Audience", I mean the Demographic the product is aiming at. Different products aim toward different audiences. For example, a cooking oil product such as "Saffola", "Fortune", "Sundrop" or "Dhara" aims at the Demographic 35-70 (approx). Such a product would like to influence middle aged people and the senior citizens.
   
   For another instance, Airtel aims at the youth of India, whereas Idea aims at a bigger demographic, implying that Idea is for everyone.
   
   Ads are created around a concept or an idea. For Airtel, that idea is that "Airtel is for the new and modern India." Airtel Ads that support my  argument :
   
   
• An Ad with a youth (age 16-23) using his cell phone to solve his parent's problems using the services provided by the network.
• A love marriage theme Ad.
• An Ad that shows that women can also work and take care of her home at the same time. (BTW I find this Ad TOTALLY SEXIST.)


As for Idea, I think that the concept behind all it's Ads is that "Idea is for the common people. It empowers people by making them aware with the help of idea's internet service." They've been making Ads that support this idea of theirs for a long time now. I don't think I need to give any examples of such Ads.


2. The Ad should be Memorable and should be easily Recalled :
   
   
   First off, why is it necessary for the Ad to be memorable? Let's answer this question. It is an unrealistic expectation for a company to expect that the consumers will start buying their product just as the Ad begins to air. So, they want the consumers to remember their products Ad in some way or the other.
   
   For instance, Zandu Bam launched a new product "Zandu Bam Ultra Power". The company doesn't expect it's customers to get off their couches, run off to their nearest stores and buy their new product just after watching their Ads. It's unrealistic. It is unrealistic because it's a common house hold product. And it's not something new; At least that's what I think. But, there can be exceptions. Think of Coca-Cola's "Coke Zero". The product is new to India. Even in the Ads they make it clear that the taste is the same, only no sugar is there. So, to a common teenager who's not diabetic, Coke-Zero is no better than the original. Still, I bet that a number of teenagers must've tried this new Coca-Cola the day after the Ad aired first time on TV.
   
   
   Now, there are a lot of ways of making the audience remember an Ad. Let's go through them one by one :

   
   

   • Coming up with Catchy Jingles :
     
     There are so many Ads whose jingles I remember that I literally would lose count. So I won't even try. You know what!? I am going to list down a few.
     
     
     • Washing Powder Nirma
     • Action ka School Time
     • Classic Tooth Brush based on Ina Mina Dika
     • Liril's - "La; La La La La; La La La La Laaaa......"
     • Pan Parag Pan Masala
     • Doodh Doodh Doodh Doodh
     • Sonali Bendre's Nirma Soap
     • Sonali Bendre's Neema Sandal Girl
     • Vics ki Goli lo Khich Khich Door Karo
     • Vico Vajradanti, Powder, Paste
     • Chubhti Jalti Garmi ka Mausam Aya
     • Utterly Butterly Delicious
     • B-Tex's Khujli Kerne Wale based on Tirchhi Topi Wale
     • Essel World mein Rahunga Main Ghar Nahi Nahi Nahi Jaunge Main
       
       Bas....... Ab aur nahi. But the list is endless.............
       
   • Creating a Mascot for the Product :
     
     Many of you would remember a product only because of it's Mascot that you saw in it's Ad. I can bet that you'd know each of these Mascots :
     
     
     • Pillsbury Doughboy 
     • ZooZoo
     • Amul Girl
     • Hutch Pug
     • Onida Devil
     • Lijjat Padad's Bunny
     • Eveready's Black Cat
     • Sunfeast Sun
     • Parle G's Kid
     • Nirma Girl
       
       Again, the list goes on forever........
       
   • This next point is kinda Luck. Create a Memorable Ad :
     
     Some Ads may be so funny, emotional or I don't know what that you never forget the Ad. Some Ads just stay in your head for some reason I'm positive you won't be able to explain. Some of such Ads :
     
     
     • Tell me which Ad do you think of when you hear the word "JALEBI?" You'll get the same answer when you Google the phrase "Jalebi Ad." Can you explain why you remember that particular Ad, Dhara Cooking Oil Ad? Maybe because of that cute kid; Maybe because of the cute way he says "jalebi." I sure can't explain why I remember it.
     • Which Ad do you think of when you imagine a kid in yellow pyjamas doing gymnastics surrounded by Giant Puris. Why the hell do you remember that Sundrop Oil Ad?? If you can, please tell me.
     • That Fevikwik Fishing Ad. Well, this one's a freebie; Cause it's funny as hell!
       
       There's a lot more but I can't think of any at the moment. So this is mostly luck I think. I may be wrong but I can't see a common factor between all these Ads that makes them so memorable.
     
     

Let's review some of the recent Ad campaigns.

1. Cold Drinks :
• Pepsi has always attached itself to Celebs, from cricket to movie stars. You can summarize all it's Ads implying "These Celebrities drink Pepsi. So should you." FYI, Pepsi had also tried to focusing on the younger demographics when it went for the "Youngistaan" campaign.
• Coca-Cola for now is aiming at a bigger demographic than just the youth. It's trying to bring in the "Family Values" and "Festive" factors in all it's Ads.
• Thums Up has always been about action. Their Ad campaign always shows some celebrity being macho and showing off some over the top action. That's why it has Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan in it's Ads.
  
2. Mobile Network :
• Airtel is focusing on the youth and the "Modern India".
• Idea is focusing on the concept of "awareness to everyone". It is aiming at the common man of India. The Ad makes you think "What a nice Mobile Network company! Trying to promote women empowerment, literacy, awareness and whatnot through their Ads." But at the end of the day they're just trying to sell their product to you.
• Vodafone has spent I-don't-know-how-many dollars on their "medieval village" campaign. And before that there were the ZooZoo Ads. They make their Ads so interesting that you simply can't ignore them.
  
3. Deo / Perfume : All deo / perfume Ads are filled with sexual stuff. That's their selling point. Special mention to Mazza and Katrina Kaif, who deserve to be mentioned whenever the word "sexual" comes up.
   
4. Shampoo / Conditioner / Soap / Cream : All Ads in this category feature one or more Bollywood actresses and / or a number of Extremely fair Asian girls.
   
5. Toothpaste / Toothbrush : These Ads feature a number of doctors, some of them fake, who say the same thing over and over again - "I recommend this ****."
   
   

Some, or should I say most, of the Ads that we see have nothing to do with the product. Rather they use a celebrity to sell their product. These Ads lack content. Such companies know where their product stands in the market and hence they have nothing to show.

These are some of my observations. I don't know if Ads do  really work this way but that's how I see them. Your comments are welcome.

GRUB : Lost and Recovered

This happened when I was updating my Fedora 20 using a Hotel's Wifi ( WHICH WAS FREE ). It wasn't my fault. I couldn't do anything and hence, I don't regret it. If anything, I'm happy it happened because I got to learn something new from this experience.

So, I started the update process and waited for the downloading of some new packages to complete. I noticed that this time, a new KERNEL was also being downloaded. After the download was over, it was time for YUM to move all the newly downloaded packages to their respective places and clean up the previous versions ( remove them ). During this process, my Laptop froze. It was the worst thing that could happen. I had no choice but to perform a manually shutdown. When I restarted my Laptop, all I could see was this:

This was devastating for me. Let me make this clear that this hadn't happened to me for the first time. I handled it before. But I was so worried because of two reasons :

1. The repair required a Windows / any Linux Ditro CD.
2. I had 2½ days of FREE Wifi left with me and i didn't have an OS on my laptop.

To understand how this happened, we will have to dig deep inside the Boot Sector. So, what is a boot sector?

    - According to wiki, a boot sector is a region of a hard disk, that contains machine code to be loaded into random-access memory (RAM) by a computer system's built-in firmware. The purpose of a boot sector is to allow the boot process of a computer to load a program stored on the same storage device.

The BIOS selects a boot device ( the internal hard disk ), then copies the first sector from the device into physical memory at memory address 0x7C00. There are two important Boot Sectors :

1. A Master Boot Record (MBR) is the first sector of a data storage device that has been partitioned. The MBR sector may contain code to locate the active partition and invoke its Volume Boot Record.
2.  A Volume Boot Record (VBR) is the first sector of a data storage device that contains code to load and invoke an operating system installed on that device or within a particular partition.

These are just the definitions. This is something I read on https://www.serverfault.com :

• As I understand it, MBR = First sector on the entire drive and Boot Sector is the first sector in a partition. Your BIOS reads the MBR first then gets pointed to the Boot Sector of the system partition which controls the loading of that partion or will present you with a menu so you can choose another partition to boot off.

Let me tell you how the boot process works step by step using an example.

Scenario I

Say, I have a laptop with no OS currently installed on it. So when I install OS-1, OS-1 modifies the MBR to point to VBR-1. So, now, when I boot my laptop, the MBR is loaded first, it points to VBR-1 which points to OS-1.

If the OS-1 is Windows, the VBR-1 directly boots into Windows.

But if the OS-1 is a Linux Distribution, VBR-1 will show a menu; the Grub Menu. Grub stands for GRand Unified Bootloader. This GRUB menu contains options to either boot into a different OS or boot into the Linux Distribution using a specific KERNEL. Since, in this case, we have only one OS, so no other OSes would be seen on the menu.

Scenario II

Now, let's install another OS alongside OS-1, called OS-2. When OS-2 is installed, VBR-2 is created and the MBR is modified to point to VBR-2. So, now, when I boot my laptop, the MBR is loaded first, it points to VBR-2. But VBR-2 does not, or at least it shouldn't, point to OS-2. VBR-2 should present a menu to chose between OS-1 and OS-2.

Considering OS-1 is Windows and OS-2 is a Linux Distribution, VBR-2 will show the GRUB menu which will give an option for booting into both the OSes. This happens because, during the installation process of Linux, GRUB menu is generated and the Hard Disk is searched for other OSes. If an OS is found, a corresponding entry is created in the GRUB menu.

Considering OS-1 is a Linux Distribution and OS-2 is Windows, VBR-2 will directly boot into Windows without showing an option for Linux. A boot menu can be created at VBR-2 to give an option for Windows and Linux using a software "EasyBCD".

Scenario III

Now, Let's consider that two OSes, OS-1 and OS-2, are installed on my laptop. One of them is a Linux Distribution and the other is Windows. I have also created a boot menu for the VBR-Windows so that it shows an option to boot into Linux. And, as we know, Linux-VBR already has a GRUB menu.

I boot my laptop, MBR is loaded first. It points to, say VBR-Linux, and I get options to boot into Linux or Windows. I choose "Windows". Now I see the boot menu, which I created using EasyBCD, asking for which OS to boot - Linux or Windows. I choose "Linux". I am taken back to the GRUB menu. This cycle repeats itself till I choose either Linux from GRUB menu or I choose Windows from the boot menu I created.

What's happening is that I am switching from VBR-Linux to VBR-Windows to VBR-Linux to VBR-Windows and so on.

Let me explain what a GRUB menu contains. A GRUB menu gives an option to choose from 3 kernels, i.e., 2 previous kernels and 1 current kernel. So, as I mentioned above, a new kernel had been downloaded. Therefore, the process of updating the OS also involved editing the GRUB menu, i.e., removing the oldest kernel from the GRUB menu and the Hard Disk, adding a new entry to the GRUB menu and linking it to the new kernel. So, when I manually shut down my laptop, I interrupted the all these processes somehow. And I couldn't see the GRUB menu.

Now that you understand how the boot sector and GRUB menu works, I can proceed with my story. Where was I?? Oh, right! So, I had free Wifi and no working OS on my laptop. I had to get my hands on a Windows or Fedora CD. I went out on M.G. Marg to find it, but all the stores were closed. I had my dinner and came back to my room. Luckily, I had to go to my college the next day to collect my 8th semester mark sheet. So, I contacted a computer science junior from my college and asked him to provide me with a Windows and a Fedora CD when I get there. He's using Ubuntu nowadays, so he didn't have a Fedora CD with him. So, I had no other choice but to repair my Windows and leave Fedora as it was. I had to had a working OS with me. I had so much to download. To repair or overwrite the MBR, I booted my laptop from the Windows CD and opened the Command Line. Two easy lines reapired the MBR for Windows :

1. bootrec /fixboot
2. bootrec /fixmbr

Then I restarted my laptop and all was done. And, as  explained above, Windows did overwrite the MBR but there were no options to boot into Linux. So, I used EasyBCD to locate VBR-Linux and show it on the VBR-Windows menu. Now, I was able to boot into Linux and Windows. But there were two tiny problems :

1. I had to go through 2 menus before booting into Fedora
• EasyBCD menu
• GRUB menu
2. I couldn't boot into Fedora using the latest KERNEL configuration.

 Anyway, I downloaded 10.5GB in 5 days!!!

I came back home and decided to solve my problems. To overwrite the MBR with Fedora, I needed a Fedora CD. I created a bootable Fedora USB and a bootable Windows 8 USB, just in case I couldn't fix the GRUB menu.

I booted into the Live Session using the Fedora USB, opened the terminal and logged in as ROOT. I was trying to follow all the instruction step by step that I found on several websites that showed "How to reinstall GRUB2 in Fedora". But I was having so much trouble. I had a different Boot partition is Fedora which required a few more steps. And, later I found out that "/dev/sda4" was giving me an error because the path that was used was "/dev/fedora_aayush/root". This I got to know when I ran the command "fdisk -l". I'll mention all the steps that I followed to restore my grub:

1. Mount your / at /mnt/
• mount /dev/fedora_aayush/root /mnt
2.  If you have a separate /boot partition, mount /boot to /mnt/boot
• mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/boot
3. Bind these
• mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
• mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
• mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys
• mount -t tmpfs /mnt/tmpfs /mnt/tmp
4. Chroot /mnt
• chroot /mnt
5. Reinstall GRUB2
• grub2-install /dev/sda

Or after step #3,

• grub2-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

After GRUB is installed, recreate the GRUB menu :

• grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

NOTE : My / was at /dev/sda4. But when I tried to mount it at /mnt, it gave an error. After hours of searching for the solution, I found this :

• fdisk -l ("l" as in lion)

This command gave me a path for /dev/sda4 which was /dev/fedora_aayush/root. After all this, I restarted my laptop and was soo happy to have my GRUB menu on top again. I booted into Windows and removed EasyBCD's menu and all was back to normal. Just one more thing was left. I had to remove the latest KERNEL entry from the GRUB menu. This could be easily done by modifying the grub.cfg file. But there's an easier way. "grub-customizer" is a package I always install in any Linux Distribution. I used grub-customizer to edit the GRUB menu entry and now it shows just two KERNELS, a rescue mode and Windows 8 loader (/dev/sda1).

I started to repair my GRUB menu at 12:30AM and I was done by 4:50AM. It took a lot of time but at least I got to learn something.

I just Deleted my Whatsapp Account

I just deleted my Whatsapp account. For the next 10 minutes, I was in a world of pain. I, still, am a little disturbed. Disturbed enough to write this.

I never thought that I would get hooked to these social networking websites and apps. When I was in school, a lot of guys were into Orkut but I wasn't. I felt good about myself, not getting carried away like the rest of my friends. I was proud of the fact that I wasn't on Orkut and I used to say that I was doing the right thing because I did not meet the minimum age criteria. But now I'm very much dependent on such websites, particularly Facebook. Can't delete my FB account even if I wanted to. It's almost as important to me as having an Email Id.

About a month ago I started using this new phone, which supported Whatsapp. A friend of mine asked me to install it, to which I was hesitant. I didn't want to get hooked to this application. I used to see other people in college who were online on Whatsapp, and other such applications, 24/7. I did not want to be that guy. So, I decided against it. But, then, my friend convinced me that I would not get addicted to this application. So I went ahead and installed it on my phone.

I wanted to use this application for what it was. Before instant notification came from Facebook, why did anyone use Whatsapp?

1. It connected the user to the people in his / her phone contact list.
2. It connected the user to his / her friends 24/7. The messages were sent and received instantly.

Taking Point #2 into consideration, I wanted to use this application to the fullest, i.e., I decided i would reply any message, any time I would receive it. This was tough to follow. I was being interrupted every now and then. I always had the option to put Whatsapp on vibrate mode, but then if I wanted to ignore messages and reply to messages according to my convenience, I would use FB messenger. Takes out the whole point of using Whatsapp.

Finally, I give up. Can't answer everyone's messages at the same time. Life was much simpler without it. And I want to go back to the same old life. So, WHATSAPP ACCOUNT DELETED!!! People who really want to be in contact with me don't need a software to do that. The good thing is that I won't be spending most of my time staring at my phone.

The mere fact that I feel sooo bad about deleting a software, tells me I'm addicted. It IS an addiction and, hence, is hard to get over, but I'll get through.

Sexual Repression in India

Sexual repression is a state in which a person is prevented from expressing their sexuality. This is very common in countries where the age of consent is particularly high. Sexual Repression is often associated with feelings of guilt or shame being associated with sexual impulses. What constitutes Sexual Repression is subjective and can vary greatly between cultures and moral systems.

India is a country where Sexual Repression is clearly present. No one wants to talk about Sex in a healthy manner, be it parents or teachers or anyone for that matter. Our culture and society treat Sex as a sin and according to them, Sex is a shameful act that is performed by everyone in the society but it should not be talked about in the open.

When I was a kid, I was told, not just by my parents, but also my teachers and the media, that Sex is a "BAD" thing. Obviously, no one told me this directly, since, even talking about it is shameful. I'm sure everyone, who is reading this right now, can relate to it. I'm 22 years old now and I try to keep an open mind regarding this issue. So, the way I see it now, is that Sex is just another natural activity. Nothing special about it. Everyone does it and everyone should be able to talk about it in a mature manner.

I'm going to write about about one of my life experiences. When I was in school, I had a mind set that Sex is "BAD". I didn't talk about it to anyone, even though, I had curiosity regarding the matter at an early age. It was, basically, a taboo for me. I did not have a lot of friends growing up. So, when I did make a few, we started talking about it. It was fun to talk about it since it was something we we're not supposed to talk about. Maybe it was the whole Forbidden Fruit thing that made the talk so interesting. After a while, I realized that everyone in school was talked about it, which gave me a sense of relief for now I knew that I wasn't a pervert. So, when I look back, I feel like such an idiot! Why the hell did I have that misconception in the first place? Why did I feel guilty about having sexual thoughts? It wasn't right. And the fact that I went to my friends to talk about it rather than my parents tells a lot about our society.

I don't get it. How is Sex a bad thing? IT'S NOT. I'm NOT going to say that it is nothing but a reproductive mechanism. It's waaay more than that. In cold terms, two individuals do it to satisfy their sexual desires( Don't lecture me about LOVE ). And these desires are natural and they exist because of our hormones. It's a scientific fact. But our society is not letting it's members express these feelings.

It's not just our religion / culture that tells us that Sex before marriage is a sin. Truth be told, even if one does commit this sin, god is not going to punish him / her. But in our country, the society does. This Sexual Repression is due to the fear of our society. Imagine a MTV VJ going out in public and asking college girls "Sex before marriage : Yes / No". I guarantee that cent percent girls would so "No" and maybe 20% of those girls would've had Sex already. They would lie because they wouldn't want anyone living near them to know what they really think. They'd be too scared to speak their minds. It's the pressure that would get to them. All this Sexual Repression in the name of "The great Indian culture".

Our culture tells us "Women are goddesses; respect them". It's fine. But by that logic, we shouldn't have any "impure" thoughts about them. And if we do, we feel guilty about it. This along with a number of other reasons creates a sexual frustration among our society. Due to our culture's "No Sex before marriage" thing, everyone in our society suffers, especially women. The people who could control themselves, good for them. But the people who couldn't, suffer in most cases. The people who can't control themselves, act on their feelings. Such people take either of the two paths :

1. They get "COMMITTED" with someone else. And they decide to have Sex before marriage because their conscience allowed them( because they were in "LOVE" ) *EYEROLL*.
2. Their hormones get the better of them and they, now referring to only guys, decide to take what they want any how . I'm obviously referring to Sexual Harassment and Rape.

Taking point #2 into consideration, Sexual Repression indirectly leads to sexual harassment and rape.

One other point that I would like to make here. Imagine a group of college students, sitting in some cafe and chatting. If a guy tries to initiate a topic about Sex, not in a vulgar manner, but in mature way, for instance, "Sex before marriage" or "Having Sex with multiple partners", what would you expect a girls' reaction would be? First off, no girl would participate in the debate. They would either leave or try to change the subject. And lastly, once the guy is gone, they would say things like "Kaisa ladka hai!?", "Ladkiyon se baat karna nahi ata", "Besharam hai", etc. It's a generalization that all guys are "Kamine" and girls are "Pure". And by "pure", I mean, they are the "Bharti nari" who think that Sex is a sin they shouldn't talk about it. So, it's not just the men who are a victim of the Sexual Repression, but also the women, who have gotten their mentality altered because of our society.

Sex Education was going to be a part of our academics. I'm surprised that they were discussing whether they should include it in the CBSE syllabus or not. According to me, including it would have been the right thing to do. No second thoughts needed. As soon as they realized the need of Sex Ed in India, they should've included it. But due to the fact that most people can't even say the word out in public, the bill was not passed. Due to Sexual Repression, we are not being able to educate our younger generation about the dos and don'ts of Sex. How can this be healthy!?

There is just one industry which uses this Sexual Repression to their advantage. It's the Indian Movie Industry, i.e., Bollywood. Movies like Jism 1 & 2, Murder 1, 2, &3, Hate Story 1 &2, Ragini MMS 1 & 2, didn't have a Salman Khan or Amir Khan to save them, yet they've been huge box office hits. Can you guess the reason? These movies show erotic content on the big screen. It's something new for us since we're not used to seeing such explicit sexual content anywhere( except porn ). The Indian population is sexually frustrated so much that it loves watching such erotic movies, even though there is always an option of watching porn. The Indian audience still chooses to watch these movies because they show an Indian's ultimate fantasy - An Indian society where people are having Sex and are talking about it openly, without any hesitation. The Bollywood Industry knows that the Indian audience would watch any movie that is even remotely based on Sex.

If I had chosen not to write on this topic, I would've been a victim of Sexual Repression as well. I'm trying to overcome this Indian mentality of mine. Hence, I choose to write down my thoughts for everyone to see.

We are the next generation. We can change all this. We need to open our minds and rethink our actions and mentality. Respecting your culture is one thing, but try to be a human first. There is nothing shameful about talking about Sex or informing our younger generation about it. Having an open mind about Sex is the first step. The Indian population connects Sex to it's culture. It doesn't make any sense. Sex is not a cultural thing. We share it with the whole Human Race. Have an open mind about Sex, talk about it, express yourself and your life will be much simpler.

Why harassing is so common in India?

You must have seen a pic on facebook which depicts 2 scenes, each from a different part of the world. The first one depicts a scene that is labeled "Western" and the second one says "Indian". The "Western" pic shows a young woman confidently walking down a street, in a blouse and a skirt, and a few guys standing in the background, who don't take notice of her. The "Indian" pic also shows a woman walking down a street, wearing a sari / burkha, and two guys on a bicycle who have parked their bicycle in the middle of the street, just so that they can stare at the woman and comment on her. This pic shows the typical "sarakchhap" Indian mentality. If you're a guy, you may not agree that such assh***s exist, but ask any girl, who is above 16 years of age, and she will tell you a similar incident that happened to her.

There is no denying that such incidents happen to girls all over the country every single day. Vulgar comments are passed on girls on streets. Stop me if you haven't heard it before. A group of guys passing vulgar comments on girls returning from school. Two guys on a bike teasing girls on a scooty. Guys, who think of themselves as studs, teasing and harassing girls, asking them to be their girlfriends. And, nowadays, this harassing has gone up to a whole new level. Girls are being harassed via cell phones and social media. And the worst part comes when this harassing takes a huge wrong turn, Rape.

From now on, when I use the word "people", I'll be referring to the male demographic.

Why do these people do it?

The people who participate in such activity are generally 17 - 24 year olds. One of the reasons they do it, in cold technical terms, is due to their lack of control on their hormones. It's the age when curiosity for the opposite sex rises. And this curiosity is at it's peak. It's natural; nothing to be shy about. But this lack of control on their raging hormones combined with their poor moral compass, allows their conscience to act on their "impure" thoughts. But this is just one of the reasons. You'd notice that the above mentioned reason is independent of race and / or culture. Therefore, we still have to figure out, why this is so common in our society?

Why does this happen more often in our society?

Ours is a hypocrite society. Our culture, that we respect so much( *eyeroll* ), tells us that "Women are another form of goddesses; Women are sacred for they are the ones who give birth to new life". This "knowledge" has been passed down to us by our ancestors. Yet, for centuries, we've chosen to domesticate women. And, even now, their is a huge part of society, not just men, but whole families, who believe " The man is supposed to work and provide for his family; The woman is supposed to care of the family and raise the kids; The End".

Almost all Indian TV shows and Cinema are based on the this typical Indian thinking. So the Media shows a very narrow image of women in society. From movies to TV, women are being objectified, treated as models, shown to be defenceless, shown to display the attitude - "Kitna bhi anyay kar lo mere upar, main kuch nahi bolungi". The women, by the media, are portrayed to be the most helpless creature in the world, as the "abla nari", who does not have a say in any matter. But then, the guy comes along who's responsibilty is to protect the woman. Media shows that the woman is nothing without a man with her. She needs a man to stay strong. This is the image of woman portrayed by the Media. Now, people from my generation or above won't get affected much by watching such pathetic shows or movies. But think about the effect these shows have on the kids who are in their teenage. When mothers are watching such soap operas with their kids, in the subconscious, what the kids get to learn from these shows is that the women are supposed to be only housewives, just as they showed on TV. They might get the idea that no matter how much we harass woman, they'll never be able to do anything. This is what they show on such TV shows. The woman is always stuck in the cycle of endless "atyachaar". Till she's in pain, the shows go on. And when the ratings go down, the show is cancelled.

A few days back I read an article, "Heroes or Molesters", which mentioned a scene from the movie "Kick" where Salman is pulling the Jacqueline's skirt with his teeth and she's got no problem with it, rather she's enjoying it. When I watched that scene, I was like, "This is a commercial motion picture. What else should I expect!? Bakwaas dikhate hain". But think what would've gone through the head of a 15 year old kid. According to him, a stud followed a sexy girl 24/7 everywhere, teased her all the time, pulled her skirt with his teeth( which btw can easily be filed as sexual harassment ) till the girl finally gave up and became his girlfriend. In short, if you harass the girl, you have a crush on, she'll become your girlfriend. And it's true that Bollywood stars are considered role-models by kids. Why shouldn't the kids follow what these superstars do in the movies!? The kids learn what they see. And what they see isn't healthy for women in India.

Another instance, Imagine a hero on a bike, going for college, passes by the heroine. He suddenly stops, turns his bike around passes by the heroine passing a comment. He looks cool doing it. The heroine smiles, blushes and hides her face behind her books. But that's a movie. In reality, when a guy passes comment on a girl, the girl gets scared like hell, runs off to her home and starts crying in front of her parents. And she says that she doesn't want to got out in public ever again.

Such Media brainwashes a kid into thinking that harassing a girl is okay. He does not see this as harassing at all. After all the years of watching Indian media, he thinks of himself as the Hero of his own life time movie. He's the hero and the girl, he has a crush on, is his heroine. But heroes get more girls, other than just the heroine, right!? So, he can afford to harass other girls too. One other thing, a hero has to prove his manliness to the world. So what does he do?  He goes out with his friends, gets into fights for no reasonable cause, gangs up on school and college girls, etc. This is how these "sarackchhap" guys are created.

So, finally, I would like to say that Media has a big influence in any society. It moulds the future generation. Subconsciously, the Media has had a big impact on us and our way of thinking. Realize it and get over the typical Indian mentality. Just because your mother is a housewife and all the other women you've seen on TV are obedient slave-like housewives, doesn't mean that all "nice" girls should be that way.

These were some of the reasons I could think of "Why harassing is so common in India?" I would like you to share your views with me. Please do.

A Happy Woman is a Myth !!!

That's all I have to say - A HAPPY WOMAN IS A MYTH. This, as i am stating, is coming from my personal experience. This holds true for all the women in my life - Friends, Family, Relatives. I haven't got much to say about this matter. But, as most men would tell you, they should include this FACT in the "Universal Truth" category.

Don't leave comments, specially women.

Indian TV Show's Love for Melodrama

What is Melodrama??

     - Melodrama is a sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting          events intended to appeal to the emotions.

When I was a kid, I used to love the TV shows back then. There were shows like Hum Paanch, Tu Tu Main Main, Family #1, Just Mohobbat, Hip Hip Hurray, etc. They were genuinely funny and I could relate myself to the characters. Today, the quality of the  TV shows have deteriorated drastically. The actors don't know how to act, the situations are surreal and whatnot. These TV shows can be categorized on the basis of their genre. Let's take up each genre one by one.

I'm going to start with comedy. We all remember the classics, right!? Hum Paanch, Tu Tu Main Main, Family #1, Hadd Kar di, Mrs. Madhuri Dixit, Chutki Baja Ke, and the list is never ending. I mean it, I can go on for hours. One thing you may notice is that most of these shows were telecasted on the ZEE Network. Honestly, I can't relate to today's comedy TV shows at all. One thing that was common among all the older comedy shows was that the story revolved around a middle class family, just like mine. The quality of writing was amazing. Today, no comedy show can survive without the fake applause and laughter added during the editing. A few comedy shows, that I believe, have stood out in these modern times are Sarabhai VS Sarabhai and Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma. Sarabhai VS Sarabhai is, without a single doubt, the best Indian comedy I've ever seen. The writing was hilarious, the cast was awesome and these guys knew how to act since they were all established actors. This show has set a standard so high, that it can be matched by no other. The characters were so well defined and the situations that were created were also believable. But let's talk about Tarak Mehta. The show is filled with Melodrama. The show runs for 30 minutes but almost half of the time, all you can see is close-ups of all the members of Gokul Dham Society, with juvenile music playing in the background specific to each character. But such melodramatic techniques may be acceptable in a comedy. This is true for every single TV show that is telecasted on the SAB TV Network. The TV shows on SAB TV are the very definition of Melodrama. But Sarabhai VS Sarabhai goes to show that good comedy doesn't need fake laughter in the background. If the writing is good, the audience will remember the comedy for a life time.

Sarabhai vs Sarabhai

Hum Paanch

Family #1

MTV and Channel V currently telecast a number of High School Dramas. Ask yourself, have you ever seen a high school where all students look like they're 22 years old supermodels, or a high school where all the walls of a classroom are used for graffiti? The students dress up like they're going out for a party and the principal is the coolest guy in the world because he's okay with all these shenanigans going around the school. The cast is filled with good looking guys and girls who don't know how to act. They've been casted in the show only for one reason, i.e., their good looks. None of them know how to act. And I'm saying this because they don't make their conversation or the situation seem real at all. When they act, it's like watching a kinder garden play, filled with exaggerated reactions and one feels like that they're just reciting lines they've mugged up.  When I was young, I used to watch a show called Hip Hip Hurray( I'm gonna wait for some applause ). That show had a great cast. It was a stepping stone for many successful actors we know today - Suchrita Pillai-Malik, Purab Kohli, Shweta Salve, Shabir Sebastian Ahluwalia, Vishal Malhotra, Vinay Pathak, Kishwer Merchant, Mohan Kapoor, Sanjai Mishra. I could relate to that show so much. The Students were always in full uniform, the teachers used to take classes, their conversations were believable. And the best part was that their acting was very believable and you couldn't make out the difference. There was melodrama in this show too but it wasn't so much that you'd feel annoyed and you'd stop watching this show.

Finally, I would like to discuss the Indian Soap Operas. Melodrama has always been part of the Indian TV industry. But the TV show that really raised the bar for melodrama in India was( Drum Roll please............. ) Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. The credit goes to Ekta Kapoor of course. That BI*** !!! Ruined Indian Television for all of us. That's the show that pioneered the " Khai Mein Girna ; Then Plastic Surgery Kara Ke Wapas Ana " move. This move has been used by many TV shows over the years and the most recent use was in the show "Ek Mutthi Aasmaan" on the ZEE Network. It was also one of the first show to start the " Family Close-Ups " move whenever something shocking happened in the family. Since that show ended almost 6 years ago, other TV shows have come a long way. Now, no episode of any Indian Soap Opera is complete without some woman crying a river. Every single Soap Opera, today, has a number of beautiful new faces, none of whom know how how to act. I mean, I can put up with all the melodrama, if I see some good acting and a decent story. But I think I'm out of luck.

Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi

But why do we love TV Melodrama?

Wrong question. Who said we loved melodrama !? We're being forced to watch it. The majority Indian audience watches these shows because they don't have a choice. Every month a new TV show is launched on some new TV Network. And, you guessed it right, the show is filled with melodramatic shit. But why do the producers of these shows choose to launch a melodramatic show? Let me explain why. Ultimately, they are here to do business. They analyse the history of TV shows aired in India. They find that the most watched TV shows in India are highly melodramatic and, therefore, they place their safest bet by going for another typical melodramatic TV show. I blame Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi for all this. I think it's the mother of all these new over-the-top melodramatic TV shows. Before this show was launched, we had better Soap Operas( You may remember some of these ) like Kora Kagaz, Saas, Kabhi Sautan Kabhi Saheli, etc. Ask you mother about these shows. She'll agree that these shows had content and did not depend on beautiful faces and exaggerated acting. These shows casts included some of the biggest names in Indian TV industry. One of the main reasons the producers today make such melodramatic shit is because of lack of content. To compensate for the lack of content, they cast fresh new faces who look like supermodels. It usually works. To prove my point, how many of you guys watched "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai" for Heena Khan( Akshara )?

This is how is works. The producers launch a show with a predetermined story. It takes a few months for the show to tell the story to the audience. After the main story ends, there's no turning back. They create another situation / turn in the story and stretch the show for another year. During the "stretch period", the show get's low on ratings and finally they cancel the show. This cycle repeats itself with some other show. This is how our TV Industry works.

The most Fu***d part is that people watch all these shitty TV shows because they don't have any other option. The Indian Television industry forces us to watch melodrama. It's not a cultural thing. We're being forced to watch it !!!

My take on Linux vs Windows

People, who know me, know that I'm a big supporter of Linux. And the only reason I'm writing this blog is to take all of it out of my system. So, let's start.

What is an Operating System? In a layman's language, it is a software that that acts as the middle layer between the users and the hardware. What it means is that all the processing is done in 0s and 1s inside the hardware but the user doesn't know that. An OS makes it easier for the user by providing him with commands, in the case of CUI, and graphical interface, in case of GUI. The OS takes it upon itself to instruct the hardware in accordance to the input given by the user.

The following is a quote by Linus Torvalds himself : "The thing about an operating system is that you're never ever supposed to see it. Because nobody really uses an operating system; people use programs on their computer. And the only mission in life of an operating system is to help those programs run."

Whenever I suggest someone, who's into computers, to start using a Linux distribution, they tell me,"I don't know how to use one" or "It's very complex" or "It's only for programmers, na." I've said that myself 5 years ago. I had seen my cousin using Redhat Linux and I was blown away by the overall look of the OS. I thought that I was seeing some outer space alien technology. So, I wanted to learn how to use a Linux distribution. I called him up from college and asked him, "How do I start learning Linux?" He told me to install one of the distributions  on my Laptop and start using it and that I'll know what to do. He was right! It wasn't hard at all. But I did format my D: and E: drives trying to install Linux Mint for the first time. God bless RECUVA!!!!

My cousin had suggested me to install Linux Mint because it's cinnamon desktop environment, which is the default environment of Mint, is very similar to windows. I used it for quite some time but got bored due to it's window-ish looks. By then I had realized that different Linux distributions had different graphical interfaces. I don't know how, but I came across Gnome 3 and I was awe struck. I wanted Gnome on my laptop more than anything. Back then I didn't know I could install multiple environments on the same OS. So I set out to find a distribution that offered Gnome as their default DE( I'm tired of writing desktop environment again and again. I'm gonna use "DE" from now on ). There was always Redhat but it used Gnome 2, which I dislike, but it does give your OS a classic look. During my search for the most flashy Linux distribution, I stumbled on Fedora. OMG!!!

These are just some of the the DEs available out there :

MATE

KDE

Cinnamon

Unity

My favorite  - Gnome 3

Fedora was the best looking OS I had ever seen. I didn't have  the concept of DE back then, so according to me Fedora looked soooo sexy and Mint looked like windows. So I installed Fedora 17 on my laptop( without formatting any of my other drives ). It's the best OS there is. My laptop always booted into Fedora because I wanted do to everything on Linux. I was learning something new about Gnome and Linux everyday. One of the first thing that I learned about Gnome was how to change the splash screen. It was a pretty big deal for me. But I hadn't realized the true power of a Linux distribution yet.

Over the course of 4 years, I have seen PCs and laptops going down due to viruses. Wait! Maybe I should rephrase that. I've seen Microsoft Windows ( XP and 7 ) going down with viruses. This would never happen to any Linux distribution. Think about it, what are viruses? They are programs( generally a Batch file, i.e., .bat files ) that are copied to your computer with or without your consent. When they are triggered, they perform some actions that cause you trouble. They may even delete your system files and your PC( windows ) may never boot again. This isn't possible with Linux for 4 main reasons :

1. Nothing gets copied to to your file system without your consent.
2. Even if you copy a malicious shell script, no shell script that alters programs system wide can run without you providing the superuser / root password.
3. A virus written for a Debian based system cannot affect a RPM based system and vice versa.
4. Linux is still used by lesser people. A virus is targeted for mass destruction and since Linux isn't used by a bigger audience, no programmer would spend time developing a virus for a particular Linux distribution.

Basically, Linux is virus free. 

Let me share another story. A friend of mine had bought a scanner / printer. One day I needed to scan some document, so I asked him for his scanner. He gave me the scanner with a DVD and told me that it's the driver. I was supposed to install it on windows and then use the manufacturer's software to scan my documents. You know what I did? I returned him his driver DVD, booted into Fedora, plugged in the scanner, waited for Fedora to install the device driver itself( which hardly took 3 minutes ), launched "Simple Scan", scanned my document and returned him his scanner. NO DRIVERS WERE NEEDED!!!

The reason I didn't need the driver was that the OS already had the the driver with it, obviously. But how did it get there? It was one of the advantage I received for using an Open Source OS. The community that uses these Open Source software is the same community that contributes to the development of the software. Let's say, some guy once needed a driver for a HP printer. He found out that there was no driver for Linux. So he programmed one for himself and started using his device. What he also did was that he uploaded the driver code online. Therefore, contributing the the Open Source community. This is how Open Source software prosper and flourish. Some of the most frequently used Open Source software are Mozilla Firefox, Libre Office, VLC, etc.

Another thing that amazes me is the freedom you get with the OS. You can literally alter the OS, inside out, from looks to functionality. You can personalize your OS, make it your own. This is another advantage of Open Source. This is so not true with windows. Windows forces their interface and functionality on it's user. But Linux gives you freedom.

Choosing between different different Linux distributions is a whole different topic. I wouldn't be getting into it today. But this this statistic is one of the other reasons I chose to stick with Fedora even after Gnome took a wrong turn at Fedora 19 :

There is only one reason I keep windows on dual boot today. And that is gaming. I do admit that there are some windows applications that don't have an Linux equivalent. But all of those can be launched in Linux using a windows emulator such as Wine. But this does not apply to games. No longer do we live in a world where Wolf 3D is awesome. It's a classic but, today, games with more realistic graphics  have come up. Games like Batman Arkham Series and Assassin's Creed Series require full hardware and software support. A windows emulator will never do.

As far as security is concerned, there was a time you could log into a windows PC just by clicking the "Cancel" button on the login window. It's true. I have windows 8.1 on dual boot with Fedora 20 and I haven't bought  windows. How do I have it, you ask? Well, the same way you have it installed as well. It's a pirated copy. One of the biggest company in the world can't protect it's most priced possession from being pirated!! Linux is free. As simple as that. Download it. Use it. No cost whatsoever( apart from a few distributions ). None of the other Open Source software cost a dime.

When i update my Linux, all my software get updated too. Fedora 17 had Firefox 17/18 installed. Now I'm using Firefox 30 to write this blog. I'm using all the latest software there is. One of the good things about Fedora is that it uses cutting edge technology and is not scared to use newly launched software. That's why every new version of Fedora has the latest Gnome installed with it. From Fedora 17 - 20, I've seen 4 Gnome versions.

Yes, I wrote so much about Linux and didn't mention Ubuntu once. I promised myself I wouldn't do it. Why I don't like Ubuntu is another matter for discussion for some other day.

Since, we've all been using windows ever since we were kids, we find windows as the "NORMAL" and "MOST USER FRIENDLY" OS. But it's only the wiring in our heads that tell us that anything other than windows is tough to use. Think again!!

Saw these. Had to share them :

The IM Wars : Whatsapp, Hike and Viber

The IM war is real. A number of Instant Messaging Application are at war to establish themselves in the India. Without a doubt, the leading application at the moment is Whatsapp. I'm pretty sure that whoever is reading this blog right now, has a Whatsapp account. I'm going to discuss some of their the features and  pos and cons of these application.

Let's go through the basics first. The whole reason we use these Instant Messaging application is that it connects us with our friends and family 24/7. All you need is a mobile device that supports continuous internet connection. Most of the Java phones don't support this feature. For instance, Nokia C2-03, which is a Java touch phone, does not support this feature and hence does not support Whatsapp. The Symbian OS, Andriod, etc. have a continuous internet connection support. These applications import the phone's contact list and connects us with our friends who also have the same application installed on their phones.

Today, Whatsapp has captured the Indian market like none other. You may think of Whatsapp as the "Microsoft" of IM applications. There are better applications out there but Whatsapp came in first and took over the market. There are alternatives which are way better. Applications like Hike, Viber, Line, Kik offer us many other features other than just instant messaging. But they haven't been able to replace the leader in the market yet.

When it comes to functionality, Viber is a promising application as it offers free calls. It uses VoIP( Voice over Internet Protocol ) to provide this functionality to it's users. Hike, on the other hand, claims to send "offline messages". Both of these applications provide equal or more features than the current leader in the market.

Let me try to explain why Whatsapp has captured the market. The reason is similar to the reason why Omegle is the most popular anonymous online chat website. Omegle has the highest number of users online at any time which, in turn, increases the probability of a user to find someone with a common interest. The point is that Omegle already has a huge user database. Similarly, Whatsapp already has so many users registered that the probability of finding friends / contacts on registered on Whatsapp is more than on any other IM application. To prove my point, i would like to ask you to install Hike on your phone( I'm assuming you already have Whatsapp installed. It's not a long shot. ) Import the contacts from each of these application and check how many of your contacts are active on these IM applications. You'll find a difference which will prove my point.

Hike and Viber have declared war against the leading application in the market. They've started ad campaigns targeting Whatsapp. In one of the ads for Hike, they use the slogan "Switch to Hike, no more Whatscrap!" They're not playing around anymore. Hike is in full offensive mode. They want to replace Whatsapp and that's their #1 agenda. Truth being told, it's working! I've met people who have downloaded Hike just because they wanted to see how it worked. The ads are working.

And, just so you all know, Hike's "offline messaging" is nothing but an sms service. When the internet connection isn't there, Hike uses the device OS to send an sms to the target device. The application on the target device interprets this sms as a message from another Hike account and displays the message via Hike itself. Since, Hike is an India based company, it has made sure that all sms sent via the application is free. So the user will never know that an sms is being sent. The only drawback is that, if the user doesn't know how this "offline messaging" works and tries to send one to a friend in London, the sms cost will be deducted from his account for sending an international sms.

Final verdict : Whatsapp is, as I previously stated, the "Microsoft" of IM applications. It's there to stay. Other applications offer more features and  are also rising in popularity but are not even close to replacing the leader.

Please leave comments.

Why are Indian actors being compared to each other??

How many times have you heard the question,"Who is better, Salman or Shahrukh? " I'm sure you can't keep track of the count. Why do we continue to compare Bollywood Superstars!? The Indian audience watches both Hollywood and Bollywood movies. Yet we don't feel the need to compare actors like Leonardo De Caprio and Tom Cruise. It's not just the audience, the Indian media loves to question "Who is hot and who is not?" The most frequently asked question in the hit TV show "Koffee with Karan" is "Rate these Bollywood actors on the basis of their acting skills." You never here these kind of questions regarding the Hollywood actors. The point that I'm trying to make here is that it's not a cultural thing. It's not that only Indians like to compare these actors. This comparison is confined to only Bollywood superstars.

Majority of the Indian audience decides to watch a newly released movie based on it's cast. And the leading actor plays a major role in that. It's a fact. If the movie is a Salman Khan starer. the movie will be a box office hit. We all know that. But what makes us know that? Most of the movies are made here are made for solely one purpose. And that's profit. Such movies don't have content but still manage to have record breaking profit in the first week of their release. The main reason is that these movies star Bollywood superstars as their leads. Majority of the Indian audience go to watch these movies to see these superstars in action. Movies like "Jai Ho", "Kick", "Chennai Express", (and the list goes on and on) manage to earn profit in the opening week of their release. The above mentioned movies lacked content or logic yet were hige box office hits. There are directors who make movies that have a splendid plot, a great cast, etc. Such movies would include "Gangs of Wasseypur", "3 Idiots", "Bheja Fry". The point is that people go to the movies to watch their favorite superstars dance and beat up bad guys.

This is why we compare Bollywood actors. When we're watching a movie, we're not focused on the story line. Rather we focus on the actor showing off his body, him dancing in the middle of the street, him flirting with his female counterpart, him beating  up 250 bad guys at once, etc. So, basically, we see these actors as glorified models. We compare them by looks. As far as comparing them on the basis of acting skills is concerned, don't you think that if Aamir has survived in this industry for more than 2 decades, he's a good actor? Sure he is.We don't need to compare Salman, Shahrukh, Aamir, Ajay, Amitabh, etc. They're established actors. If one feels the need to compare such established actors on the basis of their looks, it's because the Bollywood industry has nothing to offer the audience other than glorified models.

When we watch a Hollywood movie, the content is there and we're focused on the story line. We don't compare Johnny Depp with George Clooney or Brad Pitt. Because we see them as artists, not models. We appreciate them in their roles.

The Bollywood industry mostly offers us commercial cinema. And, therefore, we see these actors as products. Eventually, we compare these products.

Please leave a comment.