Musings

I am as annoying in complaining about the advertisements in the middle of interesting programs on TV as the ads are in annoying me. Have you ever said to yourself “There is nothing more annoying than a soft drink ad in the middle of my favorite game of cricket or a gripping movie or TV series”. Whenever I see these ads, I swear I will never buy that product. But, when I think about it, ultimately, I think Marketers do manage to “pull a fast one” on me and achieve their purpose by exerting exactly the kind of influence that I think I am wise to. I think I understand why these ads work on most of us. The market is now flooded with numerous brands. When you go shopping for a product, you will most likely see a whole range of brands that would leave anyone baffled. You know a couple of these brands from TV. Human nature being the way it is, you would like to appear informed. You would want to feel happy about your purchase. You would like to feel that you know yourself best and that you ...

I asked for strength, and God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom, and God gave me problems to solve. I asked for prosperity, and God gave me brain and brawn to work. I asked for courage, and God gave me danger to overcome. I asked for love, and God gave me troubled people to help. I asked for favours, and God gave me opportunities. I received nothing I wanted... I received everything I needed!

Around a week back, my friend and I had a strange encounter with the traffic police. It would have been almost funny had it not been for the Policeman’s serious disregard for the welfare of the commuters. It was around 8 pm in the evening, a busy day, as is the case on all weekdays, with lots of traffic. I was driving back home from work. A friend was with me and we had just passed Krumbigal Road when we were asked to pull over by the Traffic police at the junction of Krumbigal Road and RV Road. This junction – Siddaiah Circle/Lalbagh West Gate circle does not have traffic lights and there is a traffic police regulating traffic. When I was asked to pull over, I thought it was for a routine check of my driver’s license, car insurance and other documents. The traffic inspector’s assistant asked to look at my license and when I gave it to him, he asked me to get down and talk to the traffic inspector. When I walked over to talk to him, he asked me, without any preamble, if I would pay...