Posts 81 to 90 of 107

Lynnisms
stray thoughts about stray subjects
Silence speaks.... [ edit ]
May 09 2006 (05:56:00) ( 0 views )

....from many different places.

Fear.

Ignorance.

Confusion.

Contempt.

Arrogance.

Knowledge.

Understanding.

Acceptance.

Sympathy.

Love.

Yes, silence does speak louder than words.

Comments

hi lynn i realllly luv this new layout and the colours are so alive. Very very rocking
Posted by svety on 05/09/2006 02:20:26 PM
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The difference between.... [ edit ]
May 08 2006 (07:56:00) ( 0 views )

....tolerance and acceptance is worth looking into.

Tolerance is a skin deep patronising emotion
that has characterised our civilisation for centuries.

Acceptance begins and ends in a much deeper place.

Comments

absolutely.and the beauty of it is if u truly accept u will never ask "how much".You just accept.Without conditions.Without assumptions & Without regrets. When u tolerate, the first interrogation u have with urself throws up the most limiting question - How much more??
Posted by svety on 05/09/2006 02:28:07 PM
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Birds on the fifth floor [ edit ]
May 01 2006 (08:26:00) ( 2 views )

There are two pine trees at the front of our building who have now grown right up to the topmost seventh floor. We can reach out and play with the branches from the balconies of our fifth floor flat. On the right of our building is a very large cottage with tall trees all around. Nearest my mother's bedroom window is a neem tree. And a little away, a mango tree and the row of ashokas. Nearer my room are a clutch of palms that talk to the the coconut palms of our own building.

Being so close to the higher branches of trees gives one a chance to get acquainted with tree living birds, even in the city. While our pigeons continue to nest in the eaves and the special pots laid out for them in the balconies at the back, the trees have helped us make friends with parrots, bulbuls, wagtails, woodpeckers, and a very special pair of crows, and cuckoos.

There are two pairs of crows that live in the pine trees. One of them built their nest in the branches on the second floor, and from our level, the four blue spotted eggs could be seen clearly. I don't know whether they were all laid by Mrs Crow, or whether Mrs Cuckoo has also done her bit - I think it's the latter because the male koel is always nearby, usually in a branch on the neem tree, from where he sings his coo-cooeee-ooo relentlessly all day long. We saw his wife only a couple of times, a beautiful speckled brown bird in contrast to her mate's glossy black plumage - perhaps that was when she laid her eggs in the crow's nest while her mate distracted them away.

One of the eggs fell off the nest, last week. This morning, I spotted the open red beaks of three nestlings, as their parents fed them breakfast. They appear grey and cute from above - no names yet, just Baby one, Baby two, and Baby three. More on them later in the blog, I suppose. It will be nice to watch them grow, and learn to fly, like we do for our pigeons. Except, in the case of crows, we know we can never reach out and touch them, or help them if they fall out of the nest.

The other pair of crows are almost our pets. Specky is an oldish female who had a large white patch above her left eye. We fed her on banana for a week, and the patch has disappeared. She has now become very friendly, and chats with me every evening, and brazenly asks my mother for her bread and banana breakfast every morning. Her mate is a much younger bird we call Fluffy, because of his funny head - I think he has mites, he always holds it down for her to scratch at with her beak. They make an odd couple, having tried unsuccessfully for the past month to make a nest. They have tied some of the branches near our floor together but just don't seem to realise that the branches higher up are too thin and far apart to make for a stable home. Ah well, they still make a sweet stupid couple, and it's wonderful to watch them kiss and caress each other all day, even if they never get to make any babies.
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What ails the advertising industry? [ edit ]
April 27 2006 (09:34:00) ( 2 views )

Is the industry really ailing? Is it sick, lacking in product and service quality, not making enough money to invest in the future, losing customers, losing talent, degrowing?

Yes and no.

The value of advertising placed in the mass media is growing at 15% plus. This is a healthy growth rate by any standards, and even though some media are moving to revenue models that are more consumer or subscription based, there is no drop in the value perceived by them from advertising revenue, or revenue earned by partnering advertisers in some form or other.

However, when compared with ad spend growth of 15%, the value of income earned by the ad agencies is growing at only 8% or less.Which can only mean that our industry has been slow to develop and transform itself into meeting the needs of our own changing customers.

For an industry that has the capability of leading and mirroring social change in its creative expression, we have been remarkably slow in changing ourselves. On the creative side of the business at least, we seem to have become reactive rather than proactive. Leading to a host of other competing industries who are perfectly capable, if not more so, of doing what we do. Our media partners (in the media houses, tv channls, radio stations etc) for one are arguably much more talented and creative than we are. Ask a media agency today if they prefer to work on innovations with a creative agency or a channel, and more often than not, they will prefer the latter.

Then on the strategy side, more and more advertisers ae turning to their media agencies for strategic recommendations on how to take their communication needs forward, believing that more knowledge about consumers and their interactions and changing relationships with the media reside with these agencies.

We crib that we are not earning enough, that we cannot command the kind of prices we used to for our services, therefore we don’t have enough to invest in our future etc etc, the old chicken and egg. Why should we when we don’t set the gold standard either on quality or business or ethical practice? We are seen as an industry of egos rather than pride in our work. Clients in other fast growing highly profitable industries with rose-coloured futures tell me this all the time – ‘Why don’t you guys compete more professionally like we do? For such a small industry, you seem to have so many industry bodies. Do these facilitate or hinder your growth?’

How can we blame our customers for seeking alternatives? For lowering the value they place on our product?

How much have we really been doing together to build the foundations for a better future versus frittering away our energies on taking business away from each other – business not income? How much do we encourage fresh courageous bold thinking – for ourselves, and for the industry - that will result in a better model for the future even if it temporarily disrupts existing paradigms and income sources? Why do we keep defending the status quo?

The Goafest seems like a good beginning. It seems like a real attempt to bring young people together to re-appreciate the tenets of good advertising. Perhpas it suffers however from still being limited largely to the traditional and to the so-called ‘creative’. And is still reeling from the pressure of egos and counter egos.

If we really want to stem the decay, it will only happen with a sincere change of attitude among the leaders of our industry. Instilling real and honest pride in our work and our profession and doing everything we can to make that happen at every level juniormost to seniormost, that and not pitch fees, is the deeper solution we are all seeking.

(Text of speech made at the IBF sponsored Advertising Business Conclave in Goa on 28th April)












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WHY I LIKE TO READ THE HINDUSTAN TIMES [ edit ]
April 20 2006 (07:21:00) ( 2 views )

(Published in DNA Brand Finale on April 27, 2005)


We subscribe to two morning newspapers at home, the Times of India and the Hindustan Times. The Times of course comes with the tabloid, Mirror. For about a month, a few months ago, we also used to receive the DNA, now that there is a Rs 199 a year offer, I will start subscribing to this paper too.

So like many upmarket homes in Mumbai, the newspaper boy has quite a heavy load to lug around. Every morning, I pick up the pile at my front door, while on my way out to walk Gemma, and almost collapse under its weight. After breakfast, I dip into the pile and reach for the Hindustan Times.

Why?

Because my newspaper boy places it on the outside and wraps all the other papers inside. So I see the headlines and the masthead of the Hindustan Times first. And they are always boldly, simply, and clearly laid out, with just the right amount of visual, and the right amount of colour, and nothing flashy or ‘clever’ to take away from the focus of the key message. It’s also easier for me to extract this paper from the rest since it’s on the outside. A simple ploy – I wonder if it’s been planned.

Because the paper looks a lot a whiter than the others. I am told they use better newsprint. Somehow I feel that the ink won’t come off onto my hands and it’s hard to explain – this is consumer speak – but it just feels so ….clean…and white. That, in an odd way, has an effect on the contents – it makes me feel that the news I read will also be clean and truthful and wholesome and won’t insult my intelligence.

Why I like to read the Hindustan Times therefore has little to do with ‘positioning’ and ‘appeal’ and ‘coverage’ – consumers often have inexplicable reasons for doing what they do that we marketers tend to ignore. I read HT because it’s on top and it’s white. In a strange and real way, that means a lot. Go figure.

(submitted to DNA today for my column in Brand Finale, but I am not sure if they will accept it)

April 27th update : it has appeared today - in colour, on the pink pages! Wonders never cease, they had told me they weren't carrying it, so I was going to lose a Rs1000 bet with Premjeet. Well, my admiration for them has certainly gone up, plus it's nice to be 1000 bucks richer.



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Health is wealth [ edit ]
April 04 2006 (12:55:00) ( 2 views )

Last week was full of lessons. The increment, performance awards, and spot bonus letters were issued with a calm and quiet efficiency that disguised the contents of most of the letters, which had people exploding with joy all over India. Beer and biryani parties, trainees throwing treats, the mood has been rather good.

Recognition of hard work, and team over individual contributions, gave rise to a spirit of bonhomie that made my heart swell with joy and pride and the satisfaction of knowing that human nature is always happier sharing, however competitive the times may be. There are some who believe that performance awards must be given only to 'stars' - however I am blessed with a team that is humble enough to understand that the only real stars are those who can see the light in every single member of the team and help him or her bring out the best that he or she can be. So everyone shared in the spoils, Asterix style, including Cacophonix.

For myself, I would trade in my bonus for a return to perfect health, any day. They say you value something only after you lose it. Once I was lean, fit, muscular, with the strength and stamina of men twice my size. I could outplay them and outsmart them, and with my soft voice I made presentations and speeches that were remembered for years after. Then one day the surgeons sliced off a major portion of an important gland in order to save the rest of me. Now I cannot speak in public, and struggle to get past each day after sundown. Last week's continuous bouts of shivers in the evenings, coupled with unstoppable diarrhoea, drained my spirit more than my body. Thank God for the letters, seeing everyone so happy made it better. Who knows, maybe all the cells and organs in our bodies know that they must work as a team too - that's what keeps us alive and productive, no matter what.
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AN ARMY OF ANTS [ edit ]
March 14 2006 (13:04:00) ( 2 views )


(Published in Campaign UK in March 2006)


There is an optimistic buoyancy in the air. It weaves through the endless traffic jams, dug up roads, and construction chaos in our cities like an army of ants, moving relentlessly and tirelessly forward. Nothing can hold it back. Bomb blasts, earthquakes, tidal waves and thunderstorms are but minor blips to be endured and brushed aside. A bright future beckons, calling Indians all over the world, in her cities, her villages and her diaspora, to come and contribute in its making and participate in the takings.

The media and entertainment industry has already transformed itself in the past ten years. And will do so again twice over in the next ten months. Already the value of advertising and promotional inventory used by this industry exceeds that of all the FMCG players put together, making it the top most advertised category in the country. The best minds and talent from marketing, communication and advertising companies are being drawn to this sector, fascinated by its growth prospects, its high energy and creativity levels, the challenges of building the new while competing effectively against the old, and of course the attractive pay packets made possible by bullish foreign and Indian investors in this sector.

A sprinkling of private FM radio in nine cities gave a big boost to this ailing medium six years ago, doubling the reach of the medium within a couple of years. Imagine what the recently awarded 330 new FM radio licenses spread all over the country, bagged by 29 large players, some with internationally proven capabilities, will do to its popularity.

India has gone cellular faster than the West. 70 million users of mobile phones, scattered across the length and breadth of our country, living in remote villages and metropolitan multistoreyed towers, present a mindboggling marketing and communication opportunity.

The USD 4300 million television industry is set to touch a high of USD 9500 million by 2010, making it the largest medium by then, overtaking even print. Direct –to-home television is already here, but the big stakes are around the corner in mid 2006, when the Tata-Sky bouquet is launched. The world’s largest ‘reality show’, test and one-day International cricket, has recently made the Indian Cricket Board (the BCCI) the richest sports board in the world. With over 300 cable and satellite channels beaming overhead, competition is stiff, and new special interest genres in news, kidstuff, infotainment and so on are launched every quarter, driving the viewership share of general interest channel down from 98% to 68% in the past three years.

The regional local language print players have arguably been the most successful in recent years. Rapid increases in the number of editions, grassroot marketing, highly localized appeal coupled with statewide macro cost efficiencies have enabled India to produce the newspaper with the highest daily readership in the world – the 150 year old Dainik Jagran, published from over 30 centres in the Hindi belt now has an NRS readership of over 20 million per day. Success stories like these can be found in almost every state and regional language.

A youthful India, still grounded in traditional family values, has never had it so good. While the materialism of the West has enabled us to look ahead and aspire for a better life, centuries of ingrained tolerance have taught us to keep our feet on the ground. Even as George Bush promises to increase the number of H1B visas to the US, a reverse brain drain has been set in motion with Indian BPO’s outsourcing services as widely diversified as medical transcriptions to data analytics to advertising copy to the world.

The army of ants marches on. Maybe it will swallow up the elephant sooner than we think.






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501, Valentine [ edit ]
February 12 2006 (13:46:00) ( 2 views )


When we moved into 501, Valentine, there was something beyond welcoming in the place. Besides being roomy and airy with a good view all around, there was an air of peace and tranquillity within the house that appeared to have its roots in more than just being five floors above the noises of the traffic downstairs, the traffic itself being very little in this one-way sleepy little lane. The plants we brought with us also began to thrive early despite the transfer of homes.

We discovered what it was when the Society Chairman visited us on Christmas day. For two years, he told us, a Hindu Sant by the name of Sudarshan Maharaj, stayed in the apartment and held darshans every day. More than 100 people came daily to listen to his discourses in our large sitting room, and the entire building used to be decorated 'like a bride' while people streamed past the lane into its lobby. His pujas were conducted in the niche where we have kept an antique cabinet, and coincidentally placed a copper Ganeshji on the wall next to it.

Sudarshan Maharaj still appears on Aastha TV, every morning. Besides being a guru with thousands of devotees from all over the world, he also happens to be an environmentalist, who supports the works of the Animal Welfare Board of India, and tree conservation. Talk about coincidences.

The parish priest who came to bless the apartment soon after we moved in, on my father's birthday, also remarked that there was a special feeling about the place, like the presence of God was more evident than usual. Considering that none of us, or our dogs, are particularly devout people, though we are god-fearing christians, it felt nice to be told so!

Obviously, all the prayers that were said in these rooms, have left their mark on the place. And the nature worshipper in the Sant called out to the nature worshippers in ourselves, since we came upon the place quite unexpectedly, and moved in the very next day.

We will not be at Valentine though, on Valentine's Day this year. It's a little sad that the apartment will be closed, and perhaps it will miss us a little. We will miss it too. Next Sunday is not too far off, when we will be driving back to Mumbai. Ah well, but my own valentine is still in Torda, and always will be.
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Dixie.... [ edit ]
January 30 2006 (12:03:00) ( 2 views )


....lives. Her outrageously swollen face and neck have shrunk back to normal, and her breathing, noisy and laboured from the inflammation exerting pressure on her windpipes, is also nicely hummy and regular. She is eating and running about with her sons, and other than an internal mouth bleed which will take a few more days to cease, it's hard to say that this seven year old dog bravely fought against a deadly Russel's viper just eight nights ago so that it wouldn't attack her family. Mothers everywhere have one thing in common, don't they?

We first met her in an almost comatose state when her owner and his sons came pounding at our gates at 1 am last Friday night, crying out for help. His dogs had been attacked by a viper at 11.30 pm at the top on the NH17 outside his house near Damien da Goa. Their search for a vet had yielded no results for over an hour, till they were directed to our hospital. I phoned Dr Rathod and Rajaram, who lives with him, and we spent the next one hour injecting anti histamines, saline and the anit-venom. An hour later, one of the owner's sons came back with another dog, one of Dixie's sons who had also been bitten by the viper, though the punishment was not as severe as Dixie's, but an eyelid was painfully red and swollen. Then another hour went by and the third dog, Dixie's other son, was also lying on the table. By 5 am we had treated three dogs for viper bite, usually 100% fatal. By 9 am the next morning, the boys were ready to go home. Dixie was still not out of danger. By 6 pm, she was walking around and sent home with her presciption.

The next night at 9.30 pm, she was back again, her head as swollen as a large pumpkin, unable to walk or breathe. The owners had not given her the medicines as directed. After another series of injections and drips, we showed them how to syringe feed the medicines and sent her home with a chuckle and a prayer. After the treatment, she had jumped down from the table, wagged her tail cheerfully and trotted down the steps. Her courageous spirit was written all over her ridiculous looking face, her eyes peeping out from behind swollen cheeks and forehead. What a spunky little girl - not afraid of vipers, she was hardly likely to let its bite and deadly poison get her down.

She hasn't been back since, but her owners phoned to say that they have their old Dixie back again. The old man had tears of gratitude in his eyes when he left with her, I am sure his love for her has grown even more now that he has seen what a tremendously brave soul she is.
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Lost and found [ edit ]
January 20 2006 (05:30:00) ( 2 views )


Here in Torda, with a week behind me and four weeks ahead, it's easy to hear one's innermost thoughts. The clarity of the forest air penetrates deep into one's being, and answers to questions that don't even rise to the surface in the city come to one effortlessly and naturally. Acceptance of the inevitable is as normal as breathing. Fighting, resisting, arguing, the futility of all these becomes more obvious. I want less and need less. It's just enough to be among the plants, the animals and the birds in this peaceful little haven of mine, and it's nicer now that my family is with me. Being connected to life in the city through the television and the internet is a good thing because perspective is always important, and I cannot forget that that too is a part of me - a big part of me. My two lives are so different, but without this diversity I would not find the harmony. My only regret is that I cannot share either of these with the only person in the world I know who would understand and enjoy them completely, but that too adds to the naturalness of things - nature gives you what you deserve, anything more would amount to exploitation.

The words of a poem that I have loved for a long time are even more appropriate to me today - to anyone reading this blog, I hope they bring meaning and comfort to you too.

Lost.

David Wagoner, 1934



Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here.
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen, it answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or branch does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Comments

Hi Lynn, I came across your interview at http://www.indiantelevision.com/y2k6/eflyer/itv_yrend_flyer6.htm and wondered if you had a Goan link! Then, Google took me to Torda, SPCA, etc. I've often passed by your place, during my cycle rides, etc, and wondered who had set it up! By the way, I'm a journo based in Goa itself. We have a network called Goanet (www.goanet.org) which is a mailing list, now 11 years old, and subscribed to be some 8000 people. Wholly not-for-profit. Do check it out. We would like to support your animal-rights cause, as we believe in building social capital. Could you please look at http://fngoa.blogspot.com/ and http://indiadocu.blogspot.com/ Frederick "FN" Noronha.
Posted by Frederick "FN" Noronha on 01/22/2006 04:40:21 PM

Dear Frederick, I have visited your blogs. Thank you for the interest in our work, please do visit our shelter at any time, we are open from 8 am to 8 pm, call Dr Rathod at 2416180. Regards, Lynn
Posted by lynnisms on 01/27/2006 05:39:07 AM
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