Raghav Aggarwal - Blog on BrightFuse - A Talent Community

Raghav Aggarwal - Blog on BrightFuse - A Talent Community

Luck by chance - Pratibha menon

The kid around the block, or infact the student who has not missed even a single class throughout out her innings at school, Pratibha Menon, was accorded a distinction/ award for having 100% attendance, a feat almost 100% of students find impossible and naturally unachievable.

Coming across this incident, one gets easily reminded of Dettol advertisement where in a student is awarded for not missing even a single class in school for entire year. The bottom line being the hygiene through Dettol Soap/ hand wash protects the kid from all fatal diseases. Quite symbolic, isn’t so???

This feat by Delhi student Pratibha certainly makes her the brand ambassador for Dettol (RB Group) advertisements. Is the company ready to fill in the empty seat (as shown in the advertisement) and Pratibha ready to mark her attendance now in realm of media industry? Only time would tell….

Read news story here

The Australian Syndrome

A mother of two, based out of a small town in Punjab, is in a dilemma over sending one of her kids to Australia for the want of better education, healthy lifestyle and bright future for entire family, but realizes the ill events occurring down-under. Now that is what one would call an Australian Syndrome, where on one end of the spectrum, you’ll find triumph waiting in a land of opportunities, but on the other end are opportunistic individuals, ready to cause wrath on influx the way they see moral or rather immoral.

What has been happening in Australia is unfriendly to say the least. From the sledging on cricket grounds to beatings on road-lanes, the journey has been tough for Indian counterparts. One needs to look into the gravity of the situation in an inclusive manner, than exclusive. True, not every Australian can be tagged as inhospitable, but then not every Indian is stealing someone’s job or living a life in non-conformance to Australian values.

What makes Indians so vulnerable? Why has there been a spate of incidents in recent past? Well, if we introspect rationally, we’ll realize it is the cultural difference that makes so. Australia, to my understanding can be symbolic to a bowl full with rich ingredients mixed together, but does that mean that this bowl will necessarily serve a delicious meal? Well, you know the answer. Australians have always been very accommodating, but just one characteristic doesn’t define the entire personality, even of a human. In this highly complex world, we should rather understand the role of every variable than focus on one particular parameter in order to survive as one amongst the fittest. But the subtle quandary that exists within us either living in a kangaroo land, or as a matter of fact, in any place in world except India. How would existing members of a home feel if a new entrant, though physically living with them, is recluse in every other sense? Would you still call it a ‘home’? Same analogy gets applied to Australia, who as accepting as they are, may want to break the ice and want Indians to live the way they live, be friendly, learn the social lingo, and adapt to the locale customary schemes. But it’s us who remain oblivion to the insistence!!! Now, is that so hard? If it is, next time stop staring at a foreign couple lip-locking in the middle of an Indian bazaar, calling it highly ‘disgusting’ and ‘unacceptable’!!!

You need two hands to clap, but one to slap. Slapping, so far, we’ve been on the receiving side, what is needed now is to reverberate the noise from here back to them, if the series of events is to continue. If they are shameless, we need to give up the shackles of quietness, and reciprocate our esteemed partners in full favor. In fact, since immemorial times, when has any Indian not given his partner his worth due!!!For every unaided Indian killed down-under, we should kill a couple of innocent Aussies domestically, and promise Australia about thorough investigation underway, as they do!!! Only then they would realize what it feels to lose a family member thousands of miles away. An injury on other’s body may cause remorse to the guilty, but only a wound on his own body can cause him the real pain.

Through this article, I would say no one individual is responsible for suffering, but it requires just one individual’s courage to dictate terms to rectify thing in order out of chaos. So Indian government, its emigrant citizens, the Australian government and its citizens, should act as an Individual ready to put the things in right perspective!!!

G(squared)

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If there has been one visual icon that has timelessly been an integral part of our lives it’s Ganesha.Most popular image on a wedding card or a Diwali greeting, today or several decades earlier would easily be that of the elephant headed Lord Ganesha. Though the image still remains as popular as ever what has constantly changed is its design. Today one gets to see so many new and imaginative iterations of the familiar form. Shapes and designs recognizably Ganesha bless not just traditional lagan patrikas but also car dashboards, show cases, entrances of homes and even art galleries.

What makes this God so cherished? What about him allows us to easily do away the hierarchy that exists between us, the lowly mortals, and the immortal divinity. Something makes Ganesha a lot more accessible than other Gods and Goddesses. Definitely there’s something about Ganesha. No wonder we take liberty to play with his form and welcome him to step out of the Puja room, into the drawing room of our lives.

The answer to this fondly respectful relationship with this semi human elephant God lies in its form, or rather formlessness. The figure of Ganesha defies rigidity. It is an amoeboid structure that can take any shape or form. The malleability of Ganesha lends itself to further designing. The loose shape is like an open canvass always inviting creative participation. That’s why a curvaceous leaf with two innocent eyes drawn on it can very easily resemble the roundedness of Ganesha.

Besides Ganesha being able to lend itself to various shapes and alterations what’s also interesting about him is his ability to remain contemporary timelessly. Ganesha motif is a classic; never out of fashion. Here again the credit goes to the not so sharply defined form. The basic form is not bound by time specific meanings: instead it is open to contextual interpretation. His wholesome curvaceous body without edges provide a sense of prosperity and happiness; an idea that’s entirely motivational.

Another reason why Ganesha as a figure is open to interpretation and further designing is that his basic form is extremely natural and simple. He has a form that’s not worked upon or intricately designed by man. So simple, that often unusually formed fruits and vegetables invite divine associations because of their striking resemblance either with rotund belly or the tubular tusk of Ganesha . The Swastika , a squarish motif embedded with associations of auspiciousness and equally entrenched in our religious culture as Ganesha, because of its rigidity of form does not lend itself to as much designing and modification in round and undefined motifs like Ganesha do. That’s why Om or a curvy leaf, which resemble Ganesha’s body are commonly employed motifs by artists.

The round, ample and undefined shape of Ganesha also suggest his accommodative and unassuming nature. Smiling friendly face and hands full of ladoos make Ganesha seem a happy God who does not wish to impose any strict moral values.

Now how do we relate this with Google. Google’s logo allows the same flexibility as Ganesha’s logo does. Google which is almost considered an essential part of surfer’s life allows its logo to adapt to different cultures and different occasions thus bringing life to the symbol. So be it a Diwali or Halloween it adapts its logo to the occasion and celebrates along with its users. This helps Google in spite of being an American multinational share a flavour of every country where its users are. Another initiative undertaken by Google where it allows children to design their own Google Logo by participating in ‘Doodle 4 Google’ contest and showcase it to world. So this Children’s Day young children came up with their own logo which were as good as any professional agency could have come up with. A brand is considered successful when it enables its users to interact with it. A rigid form because of its beauty or intricacy can invite a gaze of admiration but never participation.. A brand can become immortal only if it reinvents itself and attempts to bond with its users. Both Ganesha and Google are classic examples of how brands and their logos can remain timelessly relevant.

A piece written by one of my close friends, Sandip Chand Sharma.

REST IN PEACE – HOW ‘NOBEL’ WAS THIS IDEA??

An elated Obama heaved a sigh of relieve & muttered the words, “REST IN PEACE!!!” Hold on, did he mean those words to those innumerable victims who were siphoned off from earth by America in America’s International War against terrorism, or did he laugh from inside for the individuals who kept their fingers crossed very long, of course not for Nobel Prize but for social causes?? Well, only the President could tell. But having encountered a grand yet so myopic decision, I wonder if Obama cross-examined self on this saying, “What a nobel idea it was of distributing hope to millions of Americans, down-n-out, but where do I go from here??”

The Nobel Peace Prize committee wanted to give the Alfred Nobel Award (Alfred is watching from heavens) to an individual who could form a yardstick for the world to follow for peace & harmony, to a personality who could muster strength in people by words translated to action. And so Obama was the chosen one. Analysts are of the opinion that this was the way to welcome Obama regime after the tiring, and miscalculated innings played by Bush Administration. Bush’s search for weapons of Mass destruction in Iraq & Afghanistan did create uproar in international community, but does the end justify the means here?

If America was indeed undergoing a serious trouble coupled with recession, & Nobel Peace Prize belongs to global community, then shouldn’t the award really go to people fighting for eternity in Congo, or to Africans who had led the superlative form of malnourished life with all their complaints going unregistered in Doha Rounds? Or in fact to people whose work is best known when they are no longer alive?

I don’t exactly recall how long Nelson Mandela had to wait for the same Peace Award, or for how long Mahatma Gandhi’s recognition was delayed for not giving to an Asian who was dhoti clad for majority of his life, but one thing’s for sure here, Obama’s short and prolific stint did win him the laurels that no other individual dared to achieve laboring for most of his/her life!!!

Mr. Obama’s financial aid to Pakistan to fight Taliban, or against terrorism, or his proliferation of army personnel in Iraq, or his expedition to explore the north reaches of Arctic to tap future potential, if they all sum up for a Nobel Peace Prize, then no wonder every individual on this earth should be given one for doing something or the other wrong in life!!! And the best ones would be the individuals not given this materialistic prize but the recognition by the observant citizens of World.

I really don’t know if President Obama would start his stint now as the President of the masses by action & not just by words, but having put onus on his back, Nobel Committee did accidentally implant the seeds for President to act in future. Only time will tell, whether Obama takes a cue from here or continue to bath in the glory of a Peaceful existence in White House with Nobel Award at the desk and Gandhi Ji’s photo at back looking up to him with the same HOPE he delivered in his speeches!!!

God Bless,

Raghav