Beyond Happiness

She looked at the calendar and excitedly thought to herself, "How many months have passed since I last saw him?" Turning again to savour the beauty of the spring flowers colouring her garden, she made a quick calculation in her mind. "No... Maybe I'm calculating wrong... let me check..."

Aastha jumped off the windowsill, as if in a hurry, and moved straight towards a corner where her huge cupboard lay open. After ruffling through for about a minute, she pulled out a long pink envelope. As she opened the envelope, her fingers slightly trembled and a beautiful, hand-painted greeting card fell to the ground. For a second, she kept looking at the picture on the card. A golden-red sun sinking into the sea at the horizon, covering everything around it in a golden hue. The silhouette of a couple on the beach, their bodies interlocked in a passionate kiss as the evening breeze gently blew the girl's long hair... Three words shone in the sky over the setting sun, "I Miss You..."

Aastha let out a sigh, picked up the card and opened it. The words inside said,

"To my Sweetheart,

It’s yet gain one of those evenings that I wish you were here... Close to my heart...

I miss you so much, feels like I am drowning, and I can't seem to gulp down a strange lump in my throat. Sometimes I really curse myself for following your advice of leaving our city to get a good job, a better salary, a better life. Now I feel what life without you is to me. Nothing... A new city with an entirely different culture, no friends, colleagues who absolutely suck, and most of all no one to turn to when I feel this pang of loneliness inside me. These ten months here have shown me what you mean in my life.

Now, now... please don't start crying yourself... I have to give you the good news.

I shall be meeting you round the last week of next month. Our company is opening a new office there and my boss has chosen me to go there and train the new staff. The whole training process would take about one-and-a-half months. We'll be together, for a month and a half!! Wonderful, isn't it?

So get your shopping and threading and facial and hair spa done before I'm there, because once I am there, you won’t have time for anything or anyone else but me...!!

Love you loads!!

Your ‘Jaanu’..."

The card was dated 14th February, 2011.

Aastha remembered how longingly she kept looking forward for the month of March to end. But the last week came and went with no further letters or calls from him. She tried calling his number about a million times, only to find his number either switched off or out of reach. She spent the last three nights into April sleepless, fighting the many fears creeping up her mind and wondering what could have happened to him.

The first April morning walked in with a dreadful storm in hand. As Aastha got off her bed, Radhika, her best friend rushed into her room terribly shaky and muttering crazily to herself. Aastha continued to stare questioningly at her friend, her heart hammering and wondering if her worst fears have come true. As she held Aastha’s hand and made her sit on her bed again, Radhika said, “Aastha, what I am going to tell is going to be hard to bear." By this time, Aastha's eyes were soggy and tears brimming over her eyes, ready to hear the worst. "Aasthu please... Well, someone from Akshat's office just called his dad," Radhika paused to wipe her friend's tears, and continued "to ask if he’s home. You know about the train robbery they were talking about in the news a week back? It was probably the same train on which he was travelling. They said he set out from Delhi a week ago, but hasn’t reported at their office here. He hasn’t even been in contact with anyone. They can’t reach his cell phone and now they fear that… he's been taken hostage." She said the last four words as quickly as possible as if to lessen the impact of it.

But Aastha did not react. She just sat there looking at Radhika, her face completely blank of expressions. The only thing showing her pain was the continuous stream of tears washing off the kohl from under her eyes leaving a black line from her eyes to her jawline. Radhika knew what this could mean. She shook Aastha hard, “Get hold of yourself Aastha!” but the girl just sat there, mute and expressionless. It was as if she had been transported to some other place, just her body stayed there. Then, as Radhika pulled her into a tight hug, in fear of the worst, Aastha let a long painful wail, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

Her pain however, was nothing compared to what Akshat had to endure after he had left Delhi. She realized this when she received a call about a fortnight later from an unknown number, to hear the nervous and shaky voice of Akshat on the other end. He told her how he saw the robbers standing at the so-called platform of the unknown, tiny village station where the train was stopped at the dead of the night. In an attempt to escape, he and a few co-passengers hid themselves in a creek outside the station for nearly an hour before he felt a huge burly hand pulling him out by the collar. He, along with fifteen other people, including four women and two kids, were taken hostage and dragged to the gang’s hideout at the other end of the forest. They learnt from the talks between two robbers that they were taken hostage for the liberation of their second-in-command, who had been arrested by the police three months back. They were subjected to all sorts of tortures for nearly twelve days before they were rescued, thanks to the vigilance of the forest officials, who sensed something fishy and sought the help of a special task force to fight the gang. Most of them were now behind the bars.

Akshat and four other people, however, were quite weak and injured and were immediately admitted to the nearest town hospital, and with around a week of special care under the doctors, were restored to proper health. The police forces were taking their alibis and once all this is over his parents would bring him back home. Three-four days more. Aastha knew she would pass these days in complete unrest but her joy knew no bounds. She immediately called Radhika and informed her about Akshat; her fiancé was finally returning.

Aastha got off her bed early this morning and quickly got ready, eagerly waiting for the moment when Akshat would call her up saying, “I’m back!” Radhika, who also woke up early and came to join Aastha on her trip to Akshat’s place, was downstairs in the kitchen helping Aastha’s mom prepare breakfast.

Aastha continued staring into her colourful garden and thought to herself, “Twelve months and five days… Unbelievable! Over a year since I bade him a teary-eyed goodbye at the Guwahati station.” Then she smiled to herself and said aloud, “No wonder even nature is celebrating my happiness…”

Just then the phone rang. She dashed across the room and received it before anyone else could. “Hello,” she said nervously. “Hey dear, I’m back!” drifted Akshat’s joyous voice from the other end. Tears again … But this time it was tears of joy that washed her kohl-lined eyes and ran down her blushing cheeks.

I am what my roots make me- A phenomenal Assamese woman!

I climbed the stairs and stepped into the quaint little boutique located at Guwahati’s B Baruah Road. Five people, four women and a six-year-old child, occupied the room. I looked to my left, while one woman sat silently looking on, another, in front of her chatted on animatedly with the lady sitting behind the counter to my right. The fourth lady stood in front of me across the room.

As I entered, her eyes fell on me and I walked up to her with my query, “I’m here to see Anindita…” She pointed towards the counter and I turned around to face the lady in question. She turned from her customer to look at me curiously; “Rooplin…” I introduced myself. She smiled, “Oh Rooplin, please have a seat.” She motioned to the empty chair beside the first woman and continued talking to the woman standing in front of her.

 

Meet the beautiful girl-next-door, Anindita Hazarika- designer, entrepreneur and a loving mother of an adorable six-year old boy, Ayush. A BSc and an MBA, Anindita started her career in Operations in Hindustan Coca Cola, before moving on to Retail Coordinations at Aircel and finally joining Star Cement as Assistant Manager- Human Resources. One of those few exceptional people who dare to abandon a well settled career to pursue their passion, Anindita gave up an exceptional career to choose her long-bred desire and established her own designer-wear store H2A2 Creations in 2010. Now in her mid-30s, the designer has managed to establish a niche for herself in the increasingly competitive Guwahati market.

As I sat down I took in the arrangement of the room. Some of her designs hung from four rods attached to the wall to my left. Each rod had about 4-5 dresses of different styles hanging from it. The colours suggested, she is not a bling lover but she definitely knew how to bring out the highlight amidst subtlety. Below the dangling clothes, a couch was placed against the wall. Various cushions, adorned with beautiful designer covers (obviously her creation) rested on the couch against the wall. Across the room, two shelves were put up against the right hand corner of the room in an L-formation. They were full of her various creations- sarees, mekhela sadors, kurtas, salwar sets, cushion covers, curtains and what not! Above the shelf two multicolour curtains hung lazily over the windows. “This woman knows how to use colours without making it too overwhelming…” I thought to myself.

I turned my attention to the conversation in the room. Anindita was telling her customer about a bulk order for cushion covers that she had recently delivered to Ramdhenu, an ethnic e-emporium based at Gurgaon. She said she has stopped concentrating too much on cushion covers nowadays, since very few people here take interested in her pure silk and raw silk designer covers. On the other hand, they were quite a craze in her out of state exhibitions. The customer however, seemed quite interested in them. She said she had purchased them earlier at her exhibition in the NEDFi Haat, and would like to purchase more if available. 

As the customers left, she turned to me saying, “I hope I am not delaying you Rooplin…” And I replied with a smile, “No, no! I have all the time I need today.”

Anindita told me designing had always been her passion, and she always wore her own designs. But, it rested somewhere at the back of her mind only as a hobby, while she chose to pursue Management as her career. After 8 years in the corporate sector, she decided to turn back to where her heart belonged- her passion for designing, and thus H2A2 creations was established.

“I never took any formal training in apparel designing,” she said. “I held numerous exhibitions in different places across India under NSIC. I evolved while on the job, and my experiences taught me most of what I know today. Looking at the different styles and creations in those exhibitions helped me immensely.” I was instinctively reminded of her Facebook page, where she introduced herself as ‘a phoenix… born out of my own mistakes…’

Assam’s traditional wear has evolved greatly over the past few years. While Paat has been an ever-reigning favourite, a new class of buyers has emerged among the age group 20-45, who have started showing an inclination towards light, subtle and comfortable fabrics, yet still embedded with traditional elegance. While traditional Assam silk attire stands out easily because of its rich thread and Guna motifs, many buyers also prefer stone and bead works on the same dresses to add to the bling-factor. “Mainly the impact of television, serials and cinema…” Anindita says. “Besides, a mekhela sador set made in Paat or Muga, with exquisite and new motif would cost somewhere around Rs 12,000 at a designer label store. But lighter fabrics are available at about 30% lesser price, and at that price too, they are able to afford a designer’s creativity and variety making it their own unique style statement. In addition, they also earn the confidence of wearing single edition dresses. Fabrics like crepe, georgette, chiffon, chanderi silk are very much in vogue for the same; they are also very comfortable and easy to manage.”

A number of Anindita’s creations have a unique ethnicity about them, the reason being her reluctance in bringing contemporary motifs like squares and triangles into traditional Assamese attire. She would rather prefer to bring in elements from two different traditions together. She cites an example where kundan and appliqué work could be used on traditional Paat and Muga. That way, not only give the dress gets a fresh and distinctive look, but its ethnicity is also preserved. She showed me a lovely plain (or as we call it Uka) Paat mekhela sador set in light pink. The bareness of the otherwise simple set had been compensated with beautiful stone and bead studded motifs along the border, keeping the centre simple. The work not only gave a whole new identity to the traditional Paat, but it also gave a dignified look to the modest colour. “A perfect balance of sensibility and grandeur…” I thought.

 

A trend has been running in the Guwahati market since around the past 2-3 years. Many Assam silk stores have been selling mekhela sador sets embellished with stones and beads. The style has been applied on even main sets especially meant for traditional Assamese weddings. “I personally, have never been quite a fan of this style. The Assamese wedding set is just too grand in itself to need any further embellishments. It only tones down the stunning contrast of white and gold that brings out the beauty of the bride” says Anindita.

At a time when brides across India have given up on the conventional red colour and usual designs of bridal trousseau, to embrace bold and bright colours like fuchsia, pink, yellow, orange, green and so on, where is Assam in catching up with the trend? “It is already here!” she says, “I have designed for a bride who chose a red coloured Paat main set for the Hom ceremony (Yagya). And then, there was another bride who chose a green coloured main set for the same ceremony. I don’t think they will renounce the Paat mekhela sador completely, I believe Assamese families have not yet opened up that much to abandon such an integral part of their culture, and to be honest, I prefer it that way. Our roots are all that keep reminding who we are; if we abandon them completely, what right does one have to be called an Axomiya?”

Anindita says, “I am not much of a gleam lover. I make my designs in solid colours, keeping the bling-factor as low as possible. Your dress should command attention, not demand it. The key to successfully teaming up a saree or mekhela sador with a piece of jewellery is, if your dress is extravagant, keep your jewellery low-key and vice versa.”

A number of traders from outside the region have been setting up business here and cheating people, offering them low quality fabrics and designs in the name of Assam silk at outrageous prices. Anindita comments, “I believe every woman should look beautiful. My sole aim in setting up H2A2 Creations is to bring genuine and affordable designer wear within the reach of every Assamese woman, so that she can proudly symbolize a phenomenal Assamese woman.”

Placing the empty tea cup over the billing counter, I stand up to take a few photographs, more for its memory, than for my record. The designs hanging from the rods have, for some reason, made a special place for themselves in my heart. “My mom wanted to come here with me. I will definitely come back with her someday…” I tell Anindita. She smiles in reply.

With a final look around her boutique and a promise to take my mother there sometime, I take her leave with a smile on my face. As I just begin to descend the stairs, I hear a gleeful squeal behind me. I turn back again to see a smiling Ayush sprawled across the floor, busy in his own games as his mother looks on adoringly.

Zoozoo Mania

Advertisers, over the years have used every medium available to promote their ideas, products and services - television, radio, print, internet, hot air balloons, blimps, cartoon characters and what not. When one has creativity in the mind and zeal to be unique in all aspects, this paints the dawn for a revolutionary idea. The idea that (as a popular advertisement quotes) “can change your life!”

One such radical change came into the world of advertising during the second season of the Indian Premier League. During this season, Vodafone came up with a new series of advertisements, featuring egg-headed, white ghost-like creatures, with ballooned bodies. Popularly known as Zoozoos, these adorable characters clowned around delightfully in the advertisements, promoting the various value-added services of the company. After the cute little pug that followed its master everywhere, these new characters caught the people’s fancy and they became an instant hit.

The most remarkable thing about the Zoozoos is that they are not animated characters. In fact, they are real human beings covered in layers of white fabric to give them a chubby and animated look. As animation would be very costly and time-consuming, real people were pressed into the program.

The advertisements were created by one of the top advertising agencies of the country, Ogilvy and Mather. Rajiv Rao, National creative Director, O&M said that they “wanted to make real people as animated as possible”. For this very reason, the filming was offered to a Bangalore based production house, Nirvana Films. The entire shooting was done in Cape Town, South Africa. The studio sets were larger-than-life with windows, shelves and street lamps spray-painted onto the sets. Most unbelievably, the Zoozoo head is seven times the size of a normal head! Each facial expression was made of rubber and pasted on, depending on the emotion to be portrayed.

A series of 30 ad films were shot within a record time of 10 days. The pre-production shoot was done within a month and cost incurred was around Rs. 3 crores. The films were shot in lower frame rates- 20 frames per second instead of the usual 25 frames, to make the Zoozoo movements comical. So far the words of the Zoozoos is concerned, one should not strain his ears too hard to figure them out. Gibberish was spoken by two people and recorded at a great speed to make the Zoozoos sound like high-pitched chipmunks and suit their movements.

These charming little creatures became a common favourite among the Indian people, especially the youth. This inclination can be understood from the huge fan following on various social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter etc. There are more than 200,000 fans and this number grows daily. Lakhs of people viewed these ads in YouTube. Today, the market is flocked with various Zoozoo merchandise like pens, bags, keychains, T-shirts etc. So, after the IPL ended, even though these little sweethearts ceased to appear on the television, we still continued having a glimpse of them at every nook and corner with the common line- I LOVE ZOOZOOS!
With the commencement of the IPL 3, people expectantly waited for their dear Zoozoos to show up again with their amusing actions. However, in the third season, the Zoozoos failed to appeal to the people the way they did earlier; partly because of the tough competition faced from the hordes of new and creative advertisements and partly because people had already got enough of them. Maybe this time, Ibibo’s ‘Social Gaming’ and Idea’s ‘Ungli Cricket’ caught the people’s fancy more. Anyways, let us raise a toast to one of the most successful ad campaign of all time. I don’t know what others feel, but I shall always continue to be charmed by these 'Sweet Idiots'.

Seductive Selling

A young man dresses up in his new shirt and ventures out in the city streets. Soon all the beautiful (and scantily dressed) women fall for this young man and with so many women following him, our hero eventually has to run in order to avoid being assaulted. As he reaches home, his friends ask him how he manages to have so many women after him. The hero replies, adjusting his shirt, “Wear only Foolers!”
I cannot understand one thing... How on earth did all these women manage to see that minute shirt tag, that too hidden behind the collar?
But of course, such a story is absolutely possible in today’s ad world, where all ads are driven by one common factor- WOMEN. Whoever said that a woman drives a man to success would be very glad to add that in today’s world; even all ads are driven by women. Let alone the beauty products (which, of course need lovely women), a beautiful woman is the main concern of various ads of ‘men’s only’ products also. Be it the ad of a man’s deo spray, or a hair gel, a razor or shaving gel, or even a men’s underwear, it is incomplete without the sizzling appearance of a sexy lady trying to seduce the hero of the advertisement.In today’s ad world, a woman is not considered to be an entity, but a seductive marketing tool. An unnoticed Mr. Who becomes the centre of attraction of all the beauties once he starts wearing the sunglasses of a particular brand. Another several-times-rejected guy is not only accepted by his lady love, but also has millions of other girls drooling over him as soon as he takes a sip of a particular soda. And it is this woman factor that makes the product sells off in the blink of an eye.
‘Wanted Receptionist- Female’; how many times have you gone over such an ad in the classified section of a newspaper. Very often, isn’t it? And why do they need only a woman in the reception counter? This is to advertise their hotel or office, whatsoever. So that, when you visit that hotel or office, she comes up with her charming smile and asks, “How can I help you?” Of course any guy would be absolutely off his feet and would like to visit that place over and over again.I remember an old ad where a beautiful lady is being chased by goons. Enters the hero of our ad and all the goons are knocked out. The lady is so impressed that she falls into his arms. And then we come to know what gave our hero so much courage to fight off the goons. It is his underwear. Underwear? How absurd can that be? Ya, probably that is why Superman wears his underwear over his pants, isn’t it? So here we go, ‘Woman factor again!’
But has anybody ever thought that the same woman is the mother, the daughter of someone. She is portrayed like a product to be drooled over but has anyone considered that from times unknown, it is the same sex that has been seen as an angel whose love and affection heals all our pains? When I brought up this topic for a project in our class, our professor asked me whether I knew that 90% of these women are enjoying this show off. He may be right, but what I want to ask is what about the remaining 10%? And what about those little kids who see their mom in such an alluring way? And what effect does it have on the upcoming generation?
Leaving all that aside, this writeup is just an attempt to show how women are being used as a seductive commodity in the modern world. And of course, this commodity does help in increasing sales of the product to a great extent. And for all those guys who are unable to get hold of a girlfriend, “PLEASE WATCH ADS!”