United We Stand, Divided We Fall: The Kapil Sharma Team Split

The year 2017 is an eventful year in every sense. Be it political or television this year shall be remembered in many cases. The television world was shaken by a news, that caught the imagination of people. The Kapil Sharma Show and its team members had a split after news about the show’s lead Kapil Sharma reportedly made a scene in a flight and insulted fellow teammate Sunil Grover. The team split and many members exited the show. The show was left high and dry since the team was missing from the show. The TRP also took a major hit following news that the show might end soon.

Now taking into cognizance that Kapil Sharma’s act was outright shameful and unjustified, it is just dramatic that people who were not linked to the fight are leaving the show as well. Other members of the show other than Sunil Grover took the opportunity to leave the show and make a fuss out of the whole issue. And to make things even more redundant, an occasional tweet from Sunil Grover about American shoe size is just boring. The show was on a peak of popularity when the entire show went south and the weeks following the event has seen a landslide fall in the show’s TRP and popularity.

Not to be critical about the actions of either party, this event showcases the classic human behavior of jumping to an opportunity. Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover are good comedians, but let’s face it; they are good together and alone they are a huge headache. Neither of them puts up a show that is worth watching solo. But together they were a force to reckon. A force which was weighing heavy upon various other comedies shows running on primetime television. This situation might not be to fight it out, but to take a break sit back and introspect as to what went wrong.

Taking a wrong turn might do more than damage the stars and their individual reputations in the industry. Particularly this might do more damage to Sunil Grover whose show was a huge flop. This might not be the perfect time to bury the hatchet but it is obviously not a good time to burn a fire in the house. Also the other stars who abandoned the ship in crisis must understand that to leave a sinking ship might be easy, but sometimes it just takes a small cork to plug the leak and save the ship; because even if you jump out, you are jumping into the big ocean.

Road Romeos or Acid Throwers, Who’re the Real Culprits

It is not even a week from the time that the UP government started. From the Yogi government is already on its way to prove to the people that it is different from the previous governments of UP. And some of the notable directives that have been brought into force are quite interesting. One among them is ban on tobacco and gutkha products and paan products inside government buildings. And it doesn’t end there. The police has taken up a task of punishing road romeos. The initiative was taken up and many videos showing the punishing techniques have been uploaded on Youtube. In fact even national TV celebrated it by showing these funny punishments. 

The police could easily raise their collars for these initiatives, but hold on this is no Rowdy Rathore moment for them. These videos were a testament that women will not be tolerating any attacks on their freedom anymore, but just by punishing few teenagers is not going to end this madness. The real crime that we are talking about is acid attack.

Not soon after these videos started to show on headlines, than the news of an acid attack in Meerut came up. Now what is the use of punishing a few teenagers in one lane when a girl is being attacked by a scorned lover just a lane away. These punishments don’t serve the basic purpose of making the criminal feel guilty. The acid throwers are the culprits who don’t like when their ego is hurt. And when it is hurt they turn into a snake, spitting venom on its enemies. And then there is a phone call from ‘above’ and they are let loose because they happened to be the family or family-like of the police.

The problem is that the criminal system makes discrimination between a person who is not the family of a policeman and one who is. They are tried by different laws apparently and that makes all the unfair advantage. And since the perpetrators know they are going to get away with it they enjoy the thrill again and again.

I think it might be a good time if Yogi Adityanath thinks about computerizing the entire law system as such and eliminates all humans from it. Perhaps that is the only solution for the system to be crack-proof. Because time and again these things happen and then we have some minister sitting on his chair and explaining that it was the girl’s fault. And then we will have women’s rights commission gaining publicity on the issue by dragging the poor girl in and out of government offices. Or perhaps there should be a separate commission for handling this all together, like a Molestation and Allied Offences Redressal Commission.

The system will never change itself, it will only try to add a new body in the government and that is the end of it. In the evening news, the so called thinkers and experts will be called on a news channel and India will be reminded of its heritage and diverse culture and then asked to adjust for everybody’s survival.

Possibly one way to deal with it might be allowing the girl/woman and a group of women of the same age and lifestyle to have a prime say in the case proceeding. The group could say where they feel the system is failing and particularly the girl can say if she is satisfied with the process. A lawyer from the Higher Court can make sure that the girl is not influenced and in a matter of 10 days the process should be finished.

There are many alternatives to think about and the sky is the limit for one who thinks. But when we see our history the Nanavati case reminds us that even if the system shows itself to be impregnable our own instincts betray us. Maybe we need introspection whether we are the real culprits or the acid-throwers. Perhaps imagine ourselves walking down the street and have somebody throw acid on our face. But the burn will not be real in this case.

The hand that rocks and rules the world

Mothers have been an eternal part of any civilization. They are termed as the first teachers of any living soul on the planet since they start teaching their child in their womb. They can be different in their methods of care. But one thing no one can deny is that everybody lays down their defenses in front of a mother. 

The legendary saying that 'The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world' needs to be remembered today on this occasion of Mother's Day. To spend some time with their mothers, and make them feel special, this day is pretty useful. But there is no denying the fact that the mothers have sacrificed much of their lives for us. But in this Industrial World we have become too formal and mechanized to give such uniform treatment to every element in our lives. We are so busy in our own careers that we just ignore the very roots that nurtured us. Some people are just totally indifferent that their parents need a little attention. 

The world is in an elaborate drama where everybody is trying to be a grown up and act like one rather than being one; and they are pathetic at it. They are so busy playing 'House House' with each other that they don't realize that they are in the real world unless they have a child and they get a rude shock shaking them into reality. They start understanding the value of attention and start giving attention rather than getting attention. They start craving for attention that they used to get from their mothers all these time. And then comes the Mother's Day celebration. But why take such pains to understand that a mother is as much a part of your life as your job. 

These Mother's Day celebrations are a way to entice more consumption by product marketing firms and companies to make people spend more than their average. They are just special sales days for these companies and a chance to clear the old stock of warehouses. The people must realize that rather than spending a whole year barely communicating with your parents and coming back on such days, they should keep a constant touch with them. 

Such celebrations are good in spirit but they should be only used to celebrate the spirit of motherhood on a larger social platform; not for individual gratification. Because however big a tree grows, it cannot stand tall without its roots grounding it to the earth. It is time we water those roots with some love and compassion daily. A phone call a day, a text or a video call; some funny message, a Whatsapp forward, anything could make them feel that you are still with them. Because the biggest fear of any man is to be left alone.

It is IDEA-vodaFONE now!! New-born delight or old-dog survival?

Mergers are never an easy option for any company. It is a headache for both the employees and the owners. The employees are apprehensive whether they will be laid off or not. The owners worried about the market reception of such a move. But each knows that it is inevitable. The recent merger of Aditya Birla group and Vodafone India is an expected move. 

  

Vodafone was one of the market leaders in Indian telecom industry and was only rivaled by the likes of Airtel, Reliance or state-owned BSNL. Idea was quite popular in some places in the country but not as expansive as Vodafone. But the recent entry of Jio has shaken these two by their very core. The free voice calling and data-centric marketing of Jio has shrinked the market place for the other players in the telecom industry and disrupted the industry practices. Jio wishes to redefine the industry in its own terms by using a data-centric approach. But the traditional telecom industry has always viewed voice calls as the primary source of income.

These are hard times and hard times call for desperate moves. Vodafone is merging its Indian telecom arm with Idea to battle the Jio catastrophe. It is selling about 14% of its stake to Idea in a time of three years to allow Idea an equal stake of around 35%. The resultant venture would be run by Mr. Kumar M Birla with a CFO from Vodafone’s side and a CEO by mutual consent. This would make the telecom industry to be ruled by 4 big players namely Idea-Vodafone, Bharti-Airtel, Reliance Jio and BSNL.

But what can bring them back into the game? The brand had two distinct personalities and the new merged venture needs to present itself as a new fresh look. This is just the same difference between a new-born baby wonder and an octagenerarian who had a bypass surgery. People will have a delight to receive a new-born baby. The CEO will be responsible for the image upheaval in the market. A merger can be a double-edged sword. It depends on the use whether it hurts your opponent or you.  

Ola Uber or Adios Uber!

The taxi-ride market in India is just witnessing its tough competition between two giants. The Uber and the Ola had dominated the Indian market for taxis almost to saturation. Now the American Silicon Valley startup is battling for its ground with the home-turf startup Ola cabs. 

  

Uber had been running into many problems lately which included rape charges on its drivers, market shrink due to newer entrants and also price war with Ola cabs. But the well-funded startup was undeterred by these. But now the departure of personnel from the company has put the company in tough times. Jeff Jones is the latest to depart the ride-sharing business as president of marketing and public image. He will be followed later by the VP of maps and Uber application platform Brian McClendon.

Uber has raised more than $8billion in funding as compared to Ola cabs, which raised about a fourth of that. But Ola plans to counter this using improvement in its user experience. It has presence in over 100 cities across India compared to 29 of Uber. It employs its own map system which is inspired by the fact that various places in India don’t have a proper name to be put on the map. Also it offers its services in more than 20 languages across India. Ola is using its home-grown potential to its advantage. 

This will make it difficult for Uber to expand in it. The current strategy to maintain its footing and bear the attacks until a strong leader comes at its helm, who can understand the importance of local people and culture. The huge capital surplus can help in cushioning the blows. But Ola can go all-out offensive in this situation and gain new turfs.