In a very simple way - possibly the two biggest successful examples of businesses that have got their market research firmly in place. they know EXACTLY who their target audience is. It's labelled democratic and other nice and intelligent sounding things but in two words, its just called, THE MAJORITY.
The majority in our country are very simple people, with a basic level of education and a basic understanding of life. Refined things like making intelligent and long term choices are not understood as inclusive of everyday life. It works in a simple way, this mechanism.
The majority, is presumably, poor. At least, they are legally poor. So there are daily rations that are delivered to them at throw-away prices. Rs.2 for a kilo of rice, for instance. Our common man buys this rice and comes back home with a colour television, which was gifted to him by the political party after it came to power, as they had promised. This makes a big impact on his mind and leads him to believe that they delivered on their promise. Electricity is stolen from the electric pole just around the corner so of course, he possibly hasn't seen an electrical bill. The food and entertainment are taken care of.
Then there is cheap spurious liquor easily available, and if not that, there is government approved tobacco to chew and cigarettes and beedis to smoke so the evening passes pretty quickly - of course there is a statutory warning but those are read and ignored, or possibly not read at all. You must consider that possibility with a literacy rate of 68% as of 2007. The government mints its money, regardless of what's happening inside your body. Your body, the body of the voter and why? Because our majority, our common man, is ensuring some pretty strong ways of making sure he leaves behind a legacy of majority once he has kicked his bucket. They will continue voting of course.
Enter the Hindi cinema - a typical Hindi movie, the kind that Russell Peters makes fun of, and I assume, he has been exposed only to such kind in his entire-very-hep-very-funny-Canadian lifetime. Standard storyline, boy-meets-girl, boy-cannot-marry-girl-because-of-evil-forces-who-often-manifest-as-her-family-members etc sort of a story. No brainer. There are variations of course. Boy is a wastrel. Boy is a corrupt police officer who reforms eventually. Girl lives in compromised conditions. But the formula is standard. These movies are what we call 'full-timapass' for our common man, who gets to see them either in a cinema hall with very cheap tickets OR on the colour television he has been given by his minister.
The movie is a hit. Wins best film award at the Filmfare, an award ceremony compromised to the point that it can only be compared to the Oscars, both of which affect only the minority, who waste several hours glued to the television woefully regretting the fact that the Hindi film industry is heading for confirmed doom.
Good films do badly, bad films keep the vote-bank guys engaged and busy and entertained and enthralled; meanwhile, the political party comes back to power, repeatedly, if not every successive season, at least every alternate poll, and the stone rolls, gather no moss and the minority? We figure other ways out to keep ourselves entertained and download foreign films illegally from the internet, which is free beyond our wildest dreams, in this nation particularly, despite constitutional laws that govern what content Indians can be safely exposed to.
Meanwhile, the actor who played the big hero in the best film, decides to leap into politics because the people truly believe he will solve all their problems in a jiffy, just like he did in the films. They vote, he wins, he comes to power and you, dear minority, are left wishing he had left it at the film he did, at least you could ignore that by NOT seeing it at the movies.
This is highly simplified you know. I don't think I will ever see the end of it if I start writing how the whole convoluted formula works and plays out in the real world.
The majority in our country are very simple people, with a basic level of education and a basic understanding of life. Refined things like making intelligent and long term choices are not understood as inclusive of everyday life. It works in a simple way, this mechanism.
The majority, is presumably, poor. At least, they are legally poor. So there are daily rations that are delivered to them at throw-away prices. Rs.2 for a kilo of rice, for instance. Our common man buys this rice and comes back home with a colour television, which was gifted to him by the political party after it came to power, as they had promised. This makes a big impact on his mind and leads him to believe that they delivered on their promise. Electricity is stolen from the electric pole just around the corner so of course, he possibly hasn't seen an electrical bill. The food and entertainment are taken care of.
Then there is cheap spurious liquor easily available, and if not that, there is government approved tobacco to chew and cigarettes and beedis to smoke so the evening passes pretty quickly - of course there is a statutory warning but those are read and ignored, or possibly not read at all. You must consider that possibility with a literacy rate of 68% as of 2007. The government mints its money, regardless of what's happening inside your body. Your body, the body of the voter and why? Because our majority, our common man, is ensuring some pretty strong ways of making sure he leaves behind a legacy of majority once he has kicked his bucket. They will continue voting of course.
Enter the Hindi cinema - a typical Hindi movie, the kind that Russell Peters makes fun of, and I assume, he has been exposed only to such kind in his entire-very-hep-very-funny-Canadian lifetime. Standard storyline, boy-meets-girl, boy-cannot-marry-girl-because-of-evil-forces-who-often-manifest-as-her-family-members etc sort of a story. No brainer. There are variations of course. Boy is a wastrel. Boy is a corrupt police officer who reforms eventually. Girl lives in compromised conditions. But the formula is standard. These movies are what we call 'full-timapass' for our common man, who gets to see them either in a cinema hall with very cheap tickets OR on the colour television he has been given by his minister.
The movie is a hit. Wins best film award at the Filmfare, an award ceremony compromised to the point that it can only be compared to the Oscars, both of which affect only the minority, who waste several hours glued to the television woefully regretting the fact that the Hindi film industry is heading for confirmed doom.
Good films do badly, bad films keep the vote-bank guys engaged and busy and entertained and enthralled; meanwhile, the political party comes back to power, repeatedly, if not every successive season, at least every alternate poll, and the stone rolls, gather no moss and the minority? We figure other ways out to keep ourselves entertained and download foreign films illegally from the internet, which is free beyond our wildest dreams, in this nation particularly, despite constitutional laws that govern what content Indians can be safely exposed to.
Meanwhile, the actor who played the big hero in the best film, decides to leap into politics because the people truly believe he will solve all their problems in a jiffy, just like he did in the films. They vote, he wins, he comes to power and you, dear minority, are left wishing he had left it at the film he did, at least you could ignore that by NOT seeing it at the movies.
This is highly simplified you know. I don't think I will ever see the end of it if I start writing how the whole convoluted formula works and plays out in the real world.
3 footprints:
Hey, Hi
Firstly, i would like to confess that after seeing the length of this post i was having double minds whether to read it or not. But then, seeing the name of my dear friend Mr.Russel Peters, i did go ahead and read it.
Well, you seem to have the reason for one of the so many problems our dear country is plunged into. So, what next? is the majority wrong in making most of the little privileges he gets? or is the minority right by doing nothing of what he sees??
its more like the 2 sides of a coin...they are opposites, yet stuck together by their butts...taking abt butt, lady, cigarettes is good. they are the best thing to happen, one of mans best inventions...
Regards,
The Silhouette...
I see this everyday. In the slums of Pathanwadi. And you are right when you say there is more- its ugly, its dirty. I shield them from Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, religious intolerance and everything else. Someday I believe, things will change- this minority will change into the majority.
a vicious circle. isnt it?
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