Sometimes i wonder whether the TV commercials really do their job of reaching the people at all.
Most of the times , the commercials are shot in either English or Hindi.Here, I am talking about the Indian commercials alone.When these commercials get translated to other regional language versions, it is vital for the makers to make sure every aspect of the commercial has been tuned in such a way that it can be related to the local flavor.I observed some of the ads and felt it was utterly stupid and the localization was completely pathetic.
The Motorokr ad featuring AB jr is one such case of localization gone terribly wrong.The funkier alter ego of AB jr jumps out of his shirt and demands to play music.When the phone starts playing the peppy Appdi podu podu Tamil song, the funky fellow says "Come on AB , Shake a li'l" to the serious dude.It was a nice one.But , when i saw the Tamil version , the catchy line has been messed up as "Come on AB! குலுக்கு கொஞ்சம் !".Is it due to the arrogance to have ignored the regional touch or result of pathetic linguistic skills?I feel such lines do not need translations at all.Not that the regional audiences are so unaware of English.
Another one is some kitchen cleaning liquid MNC brand.A lady struggles hard to remove the greasy stains from the stove and cries out desperately for some help.That time , a super hero (Obviously with the product name as his own) appears and in no time he makes the stove as good as a new one.At the end , the super hero hears some other lady's shout for help, and flies away , saying "Gotta Go now!". Again , in Tamil , he says "எனக்கு போகணும் ". Duh.. We say this only when we need to go to the loo.So much ignorance of the local flavour , huh?
Garnier products is another one where the punch gone wrong in localization.Garnier has a tag line as "Take care", which i guess, is chosen due to the phonetic similarity and aptness with their product goal. When this is translated to Indian languages , it should have remained the same or at least they should have chosen something in the local language which is as catchy as the original. Neither was done in this case.The gals say "பத்திரமா பாத்துக்கங்க " in Tamil and "अपना ख़याल रखना " in Hindi.What are you selling? A Paracetamol Tablet or a beauty product?
When one focuses in the line by line translation of the text, the real essence , and eventually the objective is lost.Even in that case, one needs to have both the linguistic skills and also the awareness of the target consumers to a greater extent.As an advertising firm , the focus should have been on making sure the product is being promoted with the right essence uniformly across various platforms. In the above cases, i guess the guys were busy chasing the smaller fish , failing to notice the bigger fish that swam by.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
SPIDEY!
I always hated it when she called MY dad as "Appa".
I firmly believe that the relation of Appa and Amma is so religious that it should only be used with one's own parents, not with anyone else, irrespective of how close they are to oneself.It irks me even today if a friend or two of mine call my dad as Appa.It is a very important relation for me and i guard it with so much jealous.Some people can argue that when he/she calls my parents as Appa amma , they consider them as valuable relation as his/her parent.No, i disagree on that.Every relationship has a unique value and it is important to protect it.
That was why i hated it when the new girl/lady from the family that became friends with ours called so.Being a teacher in profession, my dad always encourages when he sees a bright young boy or a girl.He firmly believes that women be educated well to have an organic growth of the society.So, when he saw this bright young lady talking about literature to cinema and devotional literature to poetry with equal elan, he was impressed and started giving her lessons of life and invited her to home for debates on various topics.
My brother was in college that time and whenever he was at home , he and this girl used to discuss about movies.Somehow , i never felt comfortable when she was around , though she was very friendly with all of us.I was wondering whether i only felt this way.But, later i found that my mom also did not like her presence and hated when she called dad as "Appa".
I have to admit that she had this natural flair for communication and anybody who talked to her, appreciated her.She used to do spiritual debates and discourses in temples, which added a lot of value to her relationship with people, including my dad.
Whenever my mom argued with my dad about her frequenting our house and calling him Appa, my dad pacified her saying she was a bright child and was like a daughter to him.We even visited her house which was few kilometers away from our place.When we went there , we saw that all the male members in the family were dumb and were almost like drifters. She took us to a silk weavers' place and managed to get us a good silk saree at a steal price with her PR skills.
During one of her visits to our place, she requested my dad to introduce her to some of my dad's colleagues in the school.He did that too, taking her to the school and introduced her to the other colleagues as a bright young girl with vast knowledge.As usual , she was able to impress everyone with her friendliness and flaring communication, which was not very common with the girls in our rural areas.She was even made to do some speeches in the temples during festivals.
After a month or so, she came down to my dad's school and spoke to the teachers there about her new business plan. She spoke about starting a finance company and financing the silk weavers that she knew well.She said she had managed 90% of funds and sought the help of the teachers to kick start her business.She promised that within a year's time , she would return all the money she borrowed from all and promised that she would visit our place once a month to update on her business status.
Some cautious teachers doubted her skill as a financier and wondered if she could manage it well.But, as a whole, many people were ready to help her and as a result, she collected quite a good sum of money. She gave us all a tearful "Thank you very much".
Those were the last words we ever heard from her!
I firmly believe that the relation of Appa and Amma is so religious that it should only be used with one's own parents, not with anyone else, irrespective of how close they are to oneself.It irks me even today if a friend or two of mine call my dad as Appa.It is a very important relation for me and i guard it with so much jealous.Some people can argue that when he/she calls my parents as Appa amma , they consider them as valuable relation as his/her parent.No, i disagree on that.Every relationship has a unique value and it is important to protect it.
That was why i hated it when the new girl/lady from the family that became friends with ours called so.Being a teacher in profession, my dad always encourages when he sees a bright young boy or a girl.He firmly believes that women be educated well to have an organic growth of the society.So, when he saw this bright young lady talking about literature to cinema and devotional literature to poetry with equal elan, he was impressed and started giving her lessons of life and invited her to home for debates on various topics.
My brother was in college that time and whenever he was at home , he and this girl used to discuss about movies.Somehow , i never felt comfortable when she was around , though she was very friendly with all of us.I was wondering whether i only felt this way.But, later i found that my mom also did not like her presence and hated when she called dad as "Appa".
I have to admit that she had this natural flair for communication and anybody who talked to her, appreciated her.She used to do spiritual debates and discourses in temples, which added a lot of value to her relationship with people, including my dad.
Whenever my mom argued with my dad about her frequenting our house and calling him Appa, my dad pacified her saying she was a bright child and was like a daughter to him.We even visited her house which was few kilometers away from our place.When we went there , we saw that all the male members in the family were dumb and were almost like drifters. She took us to a silk weavers' place and managed to get us a good silk saree at a steal price with her PR skills.
During one of her visits to our place, she requested my dad to introduce her to some of my dad's colleagues in the school.He did that too, taking her to the school and introduced her to the other colleagues as a bright young girl with vast knowledge.As usual , she was able to impress everyone with her friendliness and flaring communication, which was not very common with the girls in our rural areas.She was even made to do some speeches in the temples during festivals.
After a month or so, she came down to my dad's school and spoke to the teachers there about her new business plan. She spoke about starting a finance company and financing the silk weavers that she knew well.She said she had managed 90% of funds and sought the help of the teachers to kick start her business.She promised that within a year's time , she would return all the money she borrowed from all and promised that she would visit our place once a month to update on her business status.
Some cautious teachers doubted her skill as a financier and wondered if she could manage it well.But, as a whole, many people were ready to help her and as a result, she collected quite a good sum of money. She gave us all a tearful "Thank you very much".
Those were the last words we ever heard from her!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
PELTING STONES
It was a fine evening which was slowly getting draped by the dusk. We were back from our school and was settling down for our evening routine of homework.My parents were watching TV. It was during that time , we heard it.
"THUD"
We stopped our routines and looked at each other.We were convinced that it might be one of those coconuts from the tree that fell on our terrace.It was not unusual, since ours was a coastal village where the strong winds frequent us.
A few minutes passed by.
"Thud..Thud "
This time , we were sure that it was not the coconuts.The sound was quite loud to ignore.Coincidentally , the power had gone off that time, which was also common during the windy conditions.So, my dad gathered all his courage, took a battery light and went to the terrace.
To add to our fear , he brought down couple of half bricks from upstairs.
"Somebody is throwing bricks at our house!!!"
We kids were already panicking at the falling objects and then utterly horrified to see what was fallling.As the minutes ticked and the evening getting darker, the falling became frequent and louder. So, my dad again went up the terrace amidst my mother's refusal.This time he shouted omnidirectionally, asking for the chucker to come and fight him like a man!!
Hearing his shouting, the whole street rushed to our house.Just like any other crowd, most of them were curious on-lookers and some volunteered to help.Since the crowd strength became big, a small group went up the terrace with sticks and did the same of transmitting the threats and challenges over the air.By then , our mood changed from panic to excitement.After that , nothing much happened that evening and the crowd dispersed.Interestingly , the stone pelting continued next evening too,this time with more frequent throwing . Now, it drew more crowd to our house since the news had spread already.
Some oldies in the crowd were sharing their knowledge about such stone throwing 'phenomenon'.They said "sometimes , evil forces of nature(Read Kaathu karuppu)try to show their power in such a manner and try to threaten the human beings".Now we are talking! The feeling was a mix of fear and excitement that time.The know-it-all people did not stop with the cause.They gave hints on the confirmation tests too.
The steps were as follows:
1.Take 4 pieces of bricks that were thrown.
2.Apply some lime(Sunnambu) on each brick in a unique way for easy identification.
3.Throw each brick in each direction.
4.If any one of the 4 bricks is thrown back at you , then it is confirmed that it is the mischief of dark forces.
According to them , the solution for this was to take one of the bricks to the Muneeswaran temple that was, and is always located at the end of the village limits.Muneeswaran is a guardian angel for every village.He is believed to be ruthless in punishing those who try to harm the village and the people He guards.The brick needs to be kept under the deity's feet along with some offerings.The single most important method of praying Muneeswaran is to pray to him and walk backwards without turning your back to the deity.The moment we show our back to Muni, He is believed to possess you and punish you for that.Talking of disrespect,huh?
Once the brick was kept under Him, we were told that if it was really a handwork of dark forces, it would stop immediately.But if it was done by some mischief mongers, then whoever did that would face the harshest wrath of Muni in a short time.Once the news of us seeking the help of Muni reached the village, the stone pelting stopped.We were also relieved about it.
One of my dad's tuition students was giving us the hint that some of our neighbours were interested in acquiring our house, which was considered very lucky in the village.We could guess who was it, because the guy next door was so keen on it and we did not share a great relation with him.Ironically, the boy who told about it, himself was a close family friend of our neighbour.
It was one of the age old tricks followed in villages to create fear of ghosts in the residents when they refuse to sell their properties.
After a few weeks, one evening we heard a shocking news that the boy who hinted us, was found dead due to snake bite in our neighbour's garden around the same time of the evening the stone pelting occured.
Couple of years later , we came to know that that boy himself along with our neighbour was throwing stones from our neighbour's terrace and joined the crowd below.
"THUD"
We stopped our routines and looked at each other.We were convinced that it might be one of those coconuts from the tree that fell on our terrace.It was not unusual, since ours was a coastal village where the strong winds frequent us.
A few minutes passed by.
"Thud..Thud "
This time , we were sure that it was not the coconuts.The sound was quite loud to ignore.Coincidentally , the power had gone off that time, which was also common during the windy conditions.So, my dad gathered all his courage, took a battery light and went to the terrace.
To add to our fear , he brought down couple of half bricks from upstairs.
"Somebody is throwing bricks at our house!!!"
We kids were already panicking at the falling objects and then utterly horrified to see what was fallling.As the minutes ticked and the evening getting darker, the falling became frequent and louder. So, my dad again went up the terrace amidst my mother's refusal.This time he shouted omnidirectionally, asking for the chucker to come and fight him like a man!!
Hearing his shouting, the whole street rushed to our house.Just like any other crowd, most of them were curious on-lookers and some volunteered to help.Since the crowd strength became big, a small group went up the terrace with sticks and did the same of transmitting the threats and challenges over the air.By then , our mood changed from panic to excitement.After that , nothing much happened that evening and the crowd dispersed.Interestingly , the stone pelting continued next evening too,this time with more frequent throwing . Now, it drew more crowd to our house since the news had spread already.
Some oldies in the crowd were sharing their knowledge about such stone throwing 'phenomenon'.They said "sometimes , evil forces of nature(Read Kaathu karuppu)try to show their power in such a manner and try to threaten the human beings".Now we are talking! The feeling was a mix of fear and excitement that time.The know-it-all people did not stop with the cause.They gave hints on the confirmation tests too.
The steps were as follows:
1.Take 4 pieces of bricks that were thrown.
2.Apply some lime(Sunnambu) on each brick in a unique way for easy identification.
3.Throw each brick in each direction.
4.If any one of the 4 bricks is thrown back at you , then it is confirmed that it is the mischief of dark forces.
According to them , the solution for this was to take one of the bricks to the Muneeswaran temple that was, and is always located at the end of the village limits.Muneeswaran is a guardian angel for every village.He is believed to be ruthless in punishing those who try to harm the village and the people He guards.The brick needs to be kept under the deity's feet along with some offerings.The single most important method of praying Muneeswaran is to pray to him and walk backwards without turning your back to the deity.The moment we show our back to Muni, He is believed to possess you and punish you for that.Talking of disrespect,huh?
Once the brick was kept under Him, we were told that if it was really a handwork of dark forces, it would stop immediately.But if it was done by some mischief mongers, then whoever did that would face the harshest wrath of Muni in a short time.Once the news of us seeking the help of Muni reached the village, the stone pelting stopped.We were also relieved about it.
One of my dad's tuition students was giving us the hint that some of our neighbours were interested in acquiring our house, which was considered very lucky in the village.We could guess who was it, because the guy next door was so keen on it and we did not share a great relation with him.Ironically, the boy who told about it, himself was a close family friend of our neighbour.
It was one of the age old tricks followed in villages to create fear of ghosts in the residents when they refuse to sell their properties.
After a few weeks, one evening we heard a shocking news that the boy who hinted us, was found dead due to snake bite in our neighbour's garden around the same time of the evening the stone pelting occured.
Couple of years later , we came to know that that boy himself along with our neighbour was throwing stones from our neighbour's terrace and joined the crowd below.
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