Pyaasa

Pyaasa literally meaning Eternal Thirst was made in 1957, starring GuruDutt, Waheeda Rahman, Mala Sinha is included in Time's top 100 movies of all time and rightly so. A compelling story about Vijay (GuruDutt) as the protagonist who goes on from being the love struck college student to a unsuccessful poet to a ir(responsible) son, a burden on his kith and kin, the mad man, the servant of the ex-lover's husband etc. On the other side, he strikes success, he becomes the all important brother, a loving and caring son, a very popular and successful public figure posthumously and the most significant of all, the hero of Gulabo(Waheeda Rahman).
Well, this story was told in about 2 1/2 hours with some amazing screenplay and great cinematography, wonderful lyrics and some soulful singing by GeetaDutt, Hemant Kumar and Mohd Rafi and not to forget music by S.D Burman, There is this wonderful cohesion between all the elements of the movie, that one cannot take their eyes on from even a single frame of the movie.
What strikes one when watching Pyaasa, is the limited appearance of Gulabo, but her lingering presence throughout the movie. Nothing is ever spoken between her and Vijay, but there is an amazing spark or whatever between the two. Even the villains and the vamps played mainly by Vijay's ex-girlfriend Meena(Mala Sinha) and her husband Mr. Ghosh(Rehaman) are so realistic to say the least. Mala Sinha plays the role beautifully, not at all over doing it, by marrying Mr Ghosh and citing reasons of poverty and the unsuccessful career of Vijay. Even towards the end when Vijay declines fame, money and recognition, Meena is telling him to go get all the of those passionately as if it is some medicine or some repenting for her doings. Though the rich and the poor theme has (over) used in a lot of movies there is a certain sensitive way the theme has been handled here.
But what amazes me is though the world is against Vijay his mother is so supportive and loving even though her other children are materialistic, rude and insensitive. Ironically, Vijay does not perform the last rites of her mother.
The presence of Johhny Walker in the movie keeps the story balanced which otherwise might become depressing for some. Also he plays a valuable role in getting Vijay out of the asylum and acts as a link between Gulabo and Vijay.
At one point when Vijay gives his coat to poor old man and the old man dies in coming in the way of a speeding train and dies; people recognize the dead to be the poet Vijay. Gulabo, on the other hand gets these poems of Vijay printed by none other than Mr. Ghosh who is the editor of a popular newspaper. And then there is fame for Vijay, mourning of his death, the opportunistic use of the dead Vijay for money by his brothers, praises from Mr Ghosh who had rejected Vijay's poems initially and instead hired him as a servant and following of people who adore his poems. There are some finer intricacies, deeply insightful which sadly cannot be summarized here(So watch the movie!).
Finally when Vijay denies recognition and fame and goes to Gulabo and together they leave the town, it gives a sense of how success is perceived. The significance of the ending can be thought of as a simile between life and how we live it. Gulabo gets Vijay all the fame and recognition he sought which he always wanted but finally takes Gulabo, giving up many other things which have are ( portrayed to be) hypocritical and ephemeral.
Its a movie to watch and one should have it among the favorites!

For more links and info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyaasa

VD

A Case of Choosing a Market

Banking in Urban India has changed, to say the least. Private players, technology playing its part has created some ripples in the business of banking. People/Customer centric service seems to be the direction in which the business is heading. I shall address the way two players one local and the other international has influenced the change and how they have chosen the market.

Citibank, a leading banking firm was one of those banks which entered the market somewhere in the 90's has been instrumental in getting 'technology banking' like internet banking etc into the Indian market. So the target audience(Customers) have always been the ones who rub hands with the latest like the techies/ the ones who use are coherent with the changes the bank gives them.
For many the idea of banking without a teller and the others is quite unimaginable. A visit to the nearby bank is something that is almost habit that seems to have caught most. As an example, E-transfer, E-shopping though a huge market still fails to attract an everyday businessman/shopper! Conservative customers is what we can say to generalise the audiences who do not seem to be the market the bank we are referring to. Citibank typically works at the corporate level, salary accounts we can call them and hence advertising at the individual level is never a concern to them.

But I got to admit as an E-banking Customer of the bank, their website seems to be designed so well with some amazing security features(deduced by the look and feel of it:-) ), hence removing certain fears we all generally have while using these technological tools, making life a lot easier!!
We also have to see the clear target which they have in mind making it easier to satisfy the customer.

ICICI bank, a pioneer we can say, in changing the way banking was done in Urban India. Unlike Citibank, ICICI bank seemed to target everyone. The salary account, an account for the retired talking about the ease at which banking can be done. The onus on their executives in their advertisements can be quite easily seen in their branches as well, generally! They too have E-banking options to the customers, but unlike Citi the weightage on Internet banking is not much. They have caught a bit of all the market share, substantial in some cases. Result being crowded banks, ATM's.

Customer satisfaction is something that the bank always aimed for, and they have managed it well till now. They have managed to capture various markets with all the features which Citi provides, but they have much more to offer than what Citi does. But the long waits at the ATM's is something people are not ready to do.

Markets chosen, markets captured, but the question is sustainance! Competiton from other banks, even the nationalized ones to a great extent is something which needs to be looked at when restricting oneself to a specific market. Markets captured, but the banks/ATM's choking with volumes of customers which they cannot handle is also something which requires to be addressed. Their are many fish in sea and fishermen just move on in case the fish not unavailable!

P.S: Please correct me in case of any factual errors!!

VD

Issues

Sample Headline:
Ash-Abhi to be married soon.
Sachin and Dravid take a vacation after the world cup debacle.

All this sounds familiar, doesn't it?

News in detail(includes the news reported and also my own!!):
Ash and Abhi are getting married!! Sorry folks, this news may terribly dissapoint you, but we are getting confirmed news from the Bacchan family that its happening sometime very soon. Now we shall go across to our correspondant ________ outside the Ash's residence.
After some obnoxious and irrelevant questions, the correspondant is bid goodbye, but not for long, he/she is found at Abhi's residence, again with the same Q&A session with news reader, who is bothered with the sudden dynamicity in the newsroom thanks to the many important events happening all over Mumbai(India). After a while, when the sensational parliament walkout news was being aired, the dance programme at the wedding starts(hurrah!!!), so our dear correspondant is standing at the gates again highlighting upon what the guests wore, how they walked, what they carried in their hands(radioactive elements??), did they look constipated after the the dinner/lunch:P etc. This goes into a loop for any activity which takes place inside those lofty fence. Once the ordeal is over hopefully peace should prevail.

Dravid today was seen at a beach resort somewhere in South West Pacific Chinese islands(if that exists)! Our very own journalist @#$$#!@#!$!@ caught up with the Indian skipper and enquired about all about the world cup which lasted 33.89 seconds after which we talked about his plans for endorsements for the entire time(halfway through which our correspondent dozed off!!). We have some excerpts from the interview(a slideshow comes up and display of the next discussion/debate on the the comments is shown!!)

In the meantime, as some relief come the commercials, or is it(its the same cricket team , the same old movie stars, who don't even know what the products are!! )????

Certain politicians made, certain statements, which many don't even care which made the opposition make certain comments, but then the (un)certain party people came to the rescue of the politicians, who refused to have made those (un)certain comments, which brings us to the end of this news cast. Please watch weather forecast and temperatures across India. After which we are going to show you some electronic gadgets/automobiles which most of you can never own(hence watch) after which we shall SEE how poor people are in some part of the world and how much these people are struggling. Meanwhile we shall keep you updated on Shaadi No.1 and other stories!
Only Questions arise looking at all this.
Whatever happened to privacy?
Journalism in the real sense(News, or maybe the defination of news has changed)??
Responsible media???

VD

Train and the Railway Station

Figures of Speech, we all use, making the un-speakable to be spoken, though indirect; yet conveyed. Somehow i stumbled upon the train, the railway station theory:P probably the only reason being the floating population emulating the way of life.
We still have a lot of choices, we can 'choose' to be train, a passenger, the 'see of' person, the clock on the truss, the hooting engine or the railway station(no choice here!). As its famously quoted,'We are what we choose to be' which is true in all senses.

On the platform we stand many times, some trains pass you by, some stay with you, then move on, some just hoot around and move away in an instant. Some pass you without an announcement and for some it feels as if the entire platform has been waiting for the train's arrival. We look over at another platform and see another of your kind, but one cannot get there. And after sometime its over and our train arrives and we know we have to get onto it, some of us do get on, some of us choose not to, eventually we find one to hop onto.

Eventually you make the journey, again trains pass you by, only much faster, then you realise you are the train, passing people, stopping at some platforms and watching those on them, laughing at some, crying with some... Sometimes another train comes along parallelly, moves along for a while, then stops, joins again, but you lose track of it with time.

Sometimes the unlucky ones derail, some crash head-on. The lucky ones get the signals right at times and know when to stop or start al the time. Some retire, some go on and on...

In all this we get into the roles of many others, the clock-the time teller, the signal-guidance, the platform-support, the rails...

In all this the only thing we know is the journey has to be made...

VD

Mistakes

Ever wondered, why we make mistakes; the encounter with the hot pan resting on the flame, the ever revenge hungry needle when meddled, the axioms followed but yet not, words not to be told and yet spoken, actions unneccesary, expressions uncontrolled, mistakes all of them. We still make them knowing them to be mistakes, yet done, so in the future one can refer to them as mistakes and rue over the fact that you commited them. But why did we commit them, myopia?
Or plain dumbness(time is a teacher though). One decision, one word, one signature, one mistake is all it takes to take is in 'that one' direction(maybe a mistake).
A hopeless romantic is the closest i can get to describe the person who keeps making mistakes; mistakes commited, yet not...

Greater things

The birth of one's learning is the recognition of his/her failures, errors, misinterpretations, wrong assumptions. Its the mere short sightedness which stagnates life and makes one 'satisfied'/'learned' and stops them from doing greater things(what are they?). Very few do not fall under the purview of the above lines and meeting them is quite a deal(Imagine being one of them).
Greater things, when pondered on, raises many questions like for whom, why and that's the time one should know that he/she has crossed the intial barrier of looking at things positively. Some never stumble upon these kind of questions and just leap over to do those 'Greater things'(Intitution/Luck?). Many take a longer route, detour after detour, many in circles(the unlucky ones?). What is that they reach, what is it they have achieved? Many propogate the age old 'Life is like an icecream, so enjoy it before it melts'. Assuming it to be true(I do too!!!), why stop doing other 'less enjoyable stuff'?
I failed again, I am closer to where I had to be. Late or early, I will be there!
And again! I want to quit(but I will not).
Am there or am not?
The journey is beautiful though, i complain, i laugh, i cry, i fall, i rise. The compatriots are the ones who make it so special. To lift me when i fall, to cry, laugh and share the pain, the ecstacy or the just their company when i walk(the greater thing and towards it)...

VD