Monday, May 7, 2012
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Sir, I would have been proud of Kapil Dev had he said he wished to go to the front, ready to die fighting for the nation. That would have inspired thousands of his fans and lifted the morale of the soldiers combating Pakistani army regulars and militants. Instead, he chose the easy way by suggesting cricketing relations be broken off. The former player forgets that on no account must sport be politicized. One is sure members of the present team have also been upset by the battle in Kashmir. They can be allowed to express their anger by trying to win the war on the cricket field. Which does not mean they should forget the difference between a real war and a game.
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City Lights
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| Look who's talking | |
Mohona Paul, Class XII student of MB Girls' School, loves listening to the radio. Less for the music of her choice and more for the anchor's voice she would love to emulate.
Sikandar Sultan is a 44-year-old businessman who makes pouches for a living. But with his good people-skills, the ex-Don Bosco Park Circus student wouldn?t mind taking up MC-ing, full-time.
Pranaadhika Sinha, on a sabbatical from academics after finishing school, has just founded an NGO. She knows she needs to deliver her lines well in order to get her message across to diverse groups of people.
Last week saw Aditi, Sikandar and Pranaadhika, and many others like them, hitting a Townsend Road address with much apprehension and hope to attend a workshop on the art of anchoring.
"With events, shows and just about any launch becoming an anchor or MC-driven affair, there is a dire need for good anchors in the city who would be able to hold their ground and keep the audience focussed," explains Rehan Waris, event manager, who organised the workshop (picture above by Pradip Sanyal).
The four-day affair was aimed at training and motivating people interested in pursuing a career in anchoring and jockeying.
Day One began with the students interviewing each other. Next up were Just-a-Minute (JAM) sessions on topics ranging from literature and art to child sexual abuse,Fahrenheit 9/11 to teenage love affairs, fashion to journalism.
Also on the agenda was a session on voiceover, TV anchoring and microphone mechanics by Sutapa Biswas, guest faculty at Loreto College. In another session, a Half-a Minute (HAM) competition tuned into participants talking each other out on fun topics like ?I woke up in the morning to find myself with a bottle of beer??.
Propped up by the success of his maiden effort along the same lines earlier this year, Waris was confident his workshop would click this time, too.
?Most people thought this course might help them improve their communication skills while giving presentations as well,? he says. If the excitement among the participants was anything to go by, the workshop had definitely broken their shells of shyness and stage fright.
"The mere thought of walking up and talking to a crowd would give me the creeps. Rehan's sessions have changed all that," beams 27-year-old Mohana Kanjilal, who has taken up writing for a living.
For Zameer Vaswani, a La Martiniere for Boys student who just wants to speak well, the workshop took him a step forward in sharpening his oratory skills. ?Though I want to take up science in college, public speaking is a sphere I think can help me all the time,? he says, oozing confidence.
Soumya Srivastava, a singer who performs on TV, gave the workshop a try to boost her stage skills. ?At the ice-breaking session, I had thrown up my hands in despair when my turn came to speak at the microphone?But I am sure I have improved over three days,? she smiles.
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| One great advantage of most fine print is that it’s very fine, and sometimes very long. It keeps people from reading it. Which helps the advertiser to promise so much more in large print, only to burst the bubble in small lettering | |||
For some it is informative, for others it is irritating. Some find it enlightening while many swear by its deceptive nature. It’s the fine print — that which is preceded by an asterisk, legends such as the widespread “conditions apply”, “offer valid till stocks last”, or “scheme available for a limited period only”. Call it fine print, small print or “mouse” print — it is inevitable in most advertising messages today. And its effect on the modern, enlightened consumer is pronounced.
SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) in its 2003 guidelines lays down the rules of fine print vis-a-vis mutual funds. “In advertisements through audio-visual media like television, a statement ‘Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read the offer document carefully before investing’ shall be displayed on the screen for at least two seconds, in a clearly legible font-size covering at least 80% of the total screen space and accompanied by a voice-over reiteration. The remaining 20% space can be used for the name of the mutual fund or logo or name of scheme, etc,” the circular says.
“Advertisements through audio media like radio, cassettes, CDs etc shall also read the above statement in a way that is easily understandable to the listeners.” For print, “the above statement shall be displayed in black letters of at least 8 inches height or covering 10% of the display area, on white background. The compliance officers shall ensure that the statement appearing in such advertisements are in legible font.”
“We are governed by strict SEBI guidelines which make it imperative for us to mention the risk factors involved in mutual funds at the end of every ad,” says a mutual fund company official. But everyone knows how the voiceover rushes through the lines “Mutual funds are subject to market risks…” despite the regulation. And there is doubt how many read the fine print. Of mutual funds ads, or of other ads.
For one great advantage of most fine print is that it’s very fine, and sometimes very long. It keeps people from reading it. Which helps the advertiser to promise so much more in large print, only to burst the bubble in small lettering. From cellular service providers to credit card companies, from mutual funds to mobile phones — everyone does it.
It’s a strategy. “Fine print is a tool used by advertisers to safeguard against a ‘what if’ situation — a situation in which a general consumer may turn around and blame the advertiser for promising much more in the body copy of the ad than what he has been able to deliver,” says Amitava Majumder, managing director, Mileage Advertising Services.
FINE-PRINT FRUSTRATION
Many are complaining of fine-print frustration. “I had booked a package for two for a Singapore-Malaysia trip last winter. While the ads promised the entire trip at a particular amount, I was asked to cough up a lot more when I reached there. The travel agency got away citing the ‘conditions apply’ clause in the ad,” fumes banker Indranil Dasgupta.
Not only snazzy holidays abroad — fine print affects even gifts. “Recently, I participated in a contest and was delighted when I won a diamond ring as first prize. It was only when I went to claim my gift that I realised that the contest came with the clause that I would get the ring only if I bought jewellery worth Rs 20,000. I was very angry and disappointed,” says homemaker Ritu Sahni.
Direct marketing ads come with coupons, which are bound to have a substantial amount of fine print. The hike in home loan interests, mentioned in the copious fine print from the bank, often catches the EMI-payer unawares.
“I am extremely wary of the so-called lifetime free credit cards. It is only later that you realise that the card is actually not free. Point it out to the credit card company and they will show you the ‘conditions apply’ element in their brochures. The same holds true for the interest rates of loans found to increase suddenly, but always have a fine print rider acting as justification,”says software engineer Kingshuk Mukherjee.
ASTERISK ALARM
Fine print also forms an integral part of surrogate alcohol advertising. A print ad will scream the name of a particular brand of alcohol and there will be an asterisk at the bottom accompanied by fine print stating that it is only talking about cassettes and CDs. “The use of fine print in alcohol advertising is as critical as in any other industry,” says Hirak Dasgupta, area manager, marketing, Bacardi-Martini India Limited.
No wonder there is widespread fear of the asterisk. “My first impression when I see those small, barely legible letters at the end of an ad is that the consumer is being taken for a ride yet again. Especially the ones that scream out ‘Sale’ and then have an asterisk at the bottom with the words ‘up to 10%’,” says media professional Arundhati Ghosh.
A buyer keeps an eye out for the “hidden message”. Especially those that tend to promise a lot. “Even if the ‘conditions apply’ bit is not mentioned in an ad that seems to be promising too much, people tend to ask if there is a hidden message somewhere,” says radio jockey Rehan Waris.
The ad army also concedes that the asterisk is notorious. “The fine print, with over exposure, has conditioned the consumer to assume that there must be a catch somewhere in the ad,” says Anurag Hira, executive creative director, Bates David Enterprise. “The asterisk has become the 27th character of the marketing alphabet. It appears next to the big words with the big claims, but the companion fine print somehow never gets into the ad,” says Hira, who considers fine print a “disturbing trend” in marketing.
Certain instances, certain brands and certain categories do justify fine print. “When one is giving out freebies, it is impossible for the advertiser to know the outcome of the scheme offered. It therefore becomes imperative to mention in fine print that the offer is valid till the stocks last,” says Mileage’s Majumder. The fact that not everything pertaining to a particular product can be contained in a single ad also makes the fine print necessary.
Most advertising agencies claim that they try to impress upon their clients the need for larger fonts to be used in fine print. “Statutory warnings and disclaimers should not be in 5 point or 6 point fonts,” feels Mumbai-based advertising professional Preeti Natarajan-Paul.
But the compulsions of business remain. And Xerox recently announced the invention of a printing technology so advanced that it can render characters 1/100th of an inch on paper. We hope no advertisers are reading this.
(Have you been a victim of fine print? Tell t2@abpmail.com)
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| PRIYANKA ROY | |||
| - Students step up to teach political parties and poll panel how to care for Calcutta | ||
| KARO CHRISTINE KUMAR | ||
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is busy sulking in defeat, Mamata Banerjee is busy exulting in victory and the Election Commission is busy taking a break. So, it’s up to some young Calcuttans and a few others to make the city a cleaner and better place to live in.
A three-pronged people’s movement to rid three parts of the city of muck on the walls, poll clutter, and garbage in a water body brought the city’s ISC topper and the mayor together over the weekend.
Subhojit Ghosh, 18, who scored 99.25 per cent in his ISC exams, hit Beckbagan on Saturday morning to help rid the streets of the remains of poll day while mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya joined GenX and GenEx in slipping on the gloves and fishing out the muck from the Dhakuria Lakes. And then there was the clean Dalhousie crusade.
The first round of the clean-up in the Beckbagan-Park Circus area took off at 6am on Saturday with an army of 40 armed with pliers, cutters tied to bamboo sticks, and ladders. CPM and Trinamul posters and banners were pulled down, skyliners plugged with flags snapped and bills scraped off walls. The clean sweep also claimed illegal placards pinned to trees and tied to electric poles.
“The best part was the ripple effect — some party workers in the area started to clean up their mess once the word spread,” said Rehan Waris, whose Cleanworx team was joined by students from Loreto House, Saifee Hall, St Joseph’s College, Don Bosco Park Circus, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan.
“There should be greater awareness about this because it is for the betterment of the city and society,” said ISC topper Subhojit, carting away flags and festoons.
At the same time on Saturday, a dozen committed Calcuttans were engaged in Mission Dalhousie. With plastic gloves and brooms, they attacked the paan spit, posters and billboards scarring the grand old edifices of Stephen House, Currency Building and more.
“These protected buildings are at the mercy of callous citizens and an apathetic administration,” said Iftekhar Ahsan of Calcutta Walks, which takes tourists around the heritage zones, flanked by students from St Joseph’s College and some friends. “I saw the invite on Facebook. It’s about time something like this happened here,” said Kunal Lunawat, 21, down for his summer break from Yale.
On Sunday, the clean-up campaign moved from the streets to the waters for the third round of Operation Dhakuria Lakes. Joining volunteers from Bengal Rowing Club with shovels, spades and pitchforks were 35 students from 11 schools, the citizens’ group Calcutta Sparkling, some morning walkers and the mayor. “The message is loud and clear. Save the water body, keep it clean and plastic-free. We must not turn any water body into a garbage dump,” said Bhattacharyya.
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| Self-help has turned 150. Yes, it all started officially when Scottish author and reformer Samuel Smiles wrote a book of the same name in 1859. Since then mankind has turned to best-sellers to manage just about every aspect of their life, from marriage to motorcycle maintenance | |||||
But if self-help is possible only through gurus — unless you are practising yoga watching videos — how is it self-help? The answer perhaps lies in the advice. It’s not what is said — it’s how it is said. Leadership management icon Robin Sharma, the man who wrote The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, was in town recently, speaking at an overflowing auditorium. “He didn’t say anything that I didn’t know, but he put it all so well, that I felt like following it,” said a middle-aged working woman. Maybe because the guru says things that we already know, we don’t notice anyone speaking at all!
So self-help may be a contradiction in terms, but is a huge industry. Calcutta is no exception. Says Gautam Jatia of Starmark: “Self-help constitutes about 25-30 per cent of our total book sales. The pricing for self-help books is reasonable. Their reach is widespread. From 16 to 60, a self-help book appeals to everyone.” Adds Sidharth Pansari of Crossword: “Self-help is the fastest growing category. It comprises about 7 to 8 per cent of the total non-textbook, non-fiction range, which is a good share.” Why else would a writer attempt to pen a Bengali version of Who Moved My Cheese?
A look at the areas where self-help has been sought the most over the years, through books, videos, online resources...
Self-improvement
The most alluring idea — if the self could be upgraded like a computer and job interviews aced, output maximised and the boss managed! “I had a strained relationship with my immediate superior, something that was affecting other aspects of my life. I even contemplated going in for counselling, but then reading a book (How to Manage Your Boss by David Hurst) really helped,” says Vandana Singhania, 27 (name changed). “A friend bulldozed me into reading Rhonda Byrne’sThe Secret. I haven’t applied its lessons to my situation, but there have been times I felt it could be effective. I want to go on a holiday, but I do nothing about it. The Secret suggests that I start believing that I am going on one, accordingly I will move towards actualising my wish,” says 28-year-old Devleena Chakraverty. Dale Carnegie’s How To Stop Worrying and Start Living is a firm favourite on the top 10 list of self-help books. See You At The Top by Zig Ziglar is a career self-help classic.
Personality development
It seems an improved self should be followed by a developed personality, the outward manifestation of the self. Your legs shake? You splutter or stammer? Symptoms of nervousness or lack of self-confidence! Go for self-help. “To get over my habit of stammering brought on by low self-esteem, I attended a couple of confidence-building sessions, but that didn’t help. Meditation and reading definitely did,” says Samrat Chatterjee (name changed), a software professional. Rehan Waris, who conducts public-speaking classes and tutors on building confidence, says that when it comes to personality development, self-help is a sure-shot remedy. (With a little bit of help from the right book.) “No one understands you better than yourself. Sessions and exercises build the foundation, but it is how the individual takes it forward subsequently that makes the difference,” says Waris.
Cookery, health and fitness
Rujuta Diwekar’s Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight is topping charts among self-help books. Books on fitness and cutting the flab may not have seen such a demand before.
For health, it is Baba Ramdev, who has an entire channel dedicated to him — yoga for the mind and body. “I don’t have the time to exercise or go to the gym, but I have recently started doing some yoga pranayams taught by Guru Ramdev,” says Kashish Mukherjee, 28. Kashish is not alone. The Baba’s influence is much more widespread than Jimi Mistry’s in the 2002 tongue-in-cheek The Guru, where Mistry’s character played a spiritual leader with a huge following. Says yoga expert Amarjeet Ahluwalia: “Unlike gymming which requires equipment, yoga is predominantly self-help. I have many people who come in for a couple of classes and then do it at home themselves.”
And if you don’t know the first thing about cooking, but want to say no to outside food, help may be just a mouse click away. “I love cooking. So I browse the Net for recipes that I can try. If something turns out to be really good, I put it up in my blog, for others to try,” says software professional Anil Roy Choudhury.
Spiritual
This is to help you stay in touch with your inner self, to maintain your calm in the face of all tension, challenges and adversities. And this area of self-help is one where video sales are on a par with books. “The videos are much more expensive. There is however a huge market for spiritual videos, such as Osho’s and Baba Ramdev’s,” says Jatia of Starmark. Joseph Murphy’s Power of Your Subconscious Mind has Calcutta hooked too. A “classic” in this genre is Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul published in 1992.
Hobbies
From a happier, better, newer “me”, to a prettier house or learning a new skill, the do-it-yourself tips touch every part of life. “I love re-doing my house. I check up trends in various magazines, or sometime television and films and adapt them in my own way. It’s a good way to give free reign to my creativity,” says Anuradha Mukhejee, 50, with a smile. Anuradha loves to learn things her way. It was the same way that she learnt gardening. “I wasn’t in town and so couldn’t go to a gardening class. But I really wanted to learn bonsai making. Finally I started reading magazines and trying out the ways described. They weren’t all a success, but slowly I picked up, and now I teach others. It is very de-stressing and helps me unwind,” she says.
Technical
Pulling your computer apart or putting it together, learning the nuances of the stock market and managing your money, the self-help guru has advice for everything. “Till about two years ago, I was a complete novice when it came to investments. But a lot of reading and talking to knowledgeable people has helped. And in today’s times, it is better to trust one’s instincts, instead of wasting some more money paying a consultant,” laughs 28-year-old marketing professional Jatin Khilnani. Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, published back in 1937, has sold 20 million copies.
Parenting
From the first stage of pregnancy to how to communicate with your teenage kid, parenting is made fun for those willing to go that extra mile. Back In Control: How To Get Your Children To Behave and Pregnancy and Parenting are books that are readily picked up.
Despite all this self-help, one problem remains. “When we hear you speak, we are very enthused. But this enthusiasm lasts for seven minutes, seven hours, seven days… how do we ensure that the enthusiasm is sustained?” a listener asked Robin Sharma. “If you speak about your excuses, you make them stronger. What you said is an assumption. For example, how can one be a world-class cricketer if he didn’t practise every day? Why not work on yourself every day?” said Sharma.
Then the world would be full of world-class cricketers. What we need is a self-help book to help us follow the entire self-help regimen.
Are the gurus reading?
The Ferrari mantra
Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a huge best-seller about self-discovery and adopting simple means for a more complete living. Inspired by Sharma’s own experience, the book espouses nothing, said Sharma, which cannot be followed in one’s daily life. “I am not asking anyone to do anything that I don’t do myself. I work hardest on my principles,” said Sharma in Calcutta.
He talks about cutting out unnecessary extras from life. “Most of us spend our lives busy being busy. My father used to read this poem to me that went ‘Spring is past, Summer has gone, winter is here and I haven’t sung the song of my life because I have been busy stringing and unstringing the instrument’,” said Sharma. “Most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than their life.” With the result that as you grow old, there is a long list of regrets. “Each day do five small things that will take you a step closer to your big thing. If you are stressed, count your blessings. You can’t be stressed when you are feeling grateful,” he recommended.
The management guru also spoke of how every person can develop their own leadership qualities. “I think corporations have a responsibility to their employees to develop the best within them... And this also makes the companies more profitable. When employees are productive, engaged and happy, they are more loyal — and grow profits,” said Sharma, adding: “I think one of the big challenges faced by the youth is learning leadership values in a world where video games and TV have their attention. Kids need to learn about goal-setting and relationship building and the power of reading and good health.”
But why the sudden flurry to develop the self? “We are progressing as a society. We are evolving and becoming aware of the need of not only being excellent in our work but also to find ways to be healthy in our work too. And we are learning various methods to be more productive in all we do and technology has changed all the rules of how we do business.”
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| Poulomi Banerjee and Priyanka Roy |
| Emceeing can be a lucrative profession for someone with a gift of the gab and oodles of confidence, says Shabina Akhtar | |||||
Are all eyes on you when you’re on stage? Does the very idea of addressing a live audience thrill you? Do you have the gift of the gab coupled with a sense of humour? If you have these traits, look no further — you could become a master of ceremonies or an MC (emcee).
An emcee or a host is a person who conducts live events without making them boring or monotonous. So an emcee is essentially an anchor who navigates the entire event smoothly, punctuating it with jokes, facts and trivia. “Oodles of confidence and command of at least three languages help,” says Rehan Imam Waris, a radio jockey at Red FM. Waris began his career as an emcee almost a decade ago. “I first emceed for the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, for Rs 1,000. Since then I hosted a large number of shows till I chose to become a radio jockey. However, I still host corporate and private events,” he says.
But becoming an emcee is no cakewalk. With it comes a great deal of responsibility. Apart from being a confident speaker, an emcee needs to have a lot of other qualities. It definitely helps to have a good personality and looks. No wonder a lot of TV stars and models are taking up this profession. “Most of the live or recorded reality shows have a script drafted for the anchors. But an anchor must be able to add a bit of flavour to the script and have a backup ready in case things don’t go as planned,” says emcee Madhumanti Maitra, who hosts live events and reality shows for ETV Bangla. A good voice and clear enunciation are other important factors that make a successful emcee, for a host is only as good as his voice. Remember, the main job of an emcee is to keep the audience enthralled.
Very few institutes offer formal degrees or training for emcees. A few institutes like Chitrabani, Calcutta, and Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC), Mumbai, offer vocational courses. “XIC offers a three-month vocational course and charges Rs 7,500. The classes are held every Saturday for three hours,” says Noel Keymer, co-ordinator of ABCDE course, XIC, Mumbai. Father Joseph, director of Chitrabani, says, “We offer emceeing as a part of the video-aided public speaking course. It’s a 10-day workshop and costs Rs 3,000.”
“Several schools hold workshops on radio jockeying and emceeing,” says Waris, who has been conducting such workshops for Class IX and X students of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ High School and Frank Anthony Public School. He also conducts an annual workshop on DJing, RJing, emceeing and public speaking. To be a part of Waris’ annual workshop, you have to shell out around Rs 3,000. The venue is decided according to the programme.
With very few centres in India offering training in emceeing, you need to have the skill and luck to make it big. DJ Shireen, who has been emceeing for quite sometime, feels, “Formal training isn’t a prerequisite. Being street smart and confident are all that is needed to make it big. You will be flooded with assignments if you are good at your job.” Says Mitra, “You can’t teach a person to talk well. You can just hone his skills. I am not in favour of aspirants seeking training.”
Some finishing schools such as the Edge Academy and The Finishing School in Bangalore offer training in emceeing. Foreign institutes like the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland and the Bionic DJ Academy, Malaysia, also offer courses on emceeing. There is no cut-off percentage for admission to the Bionic DJ Academy. Aspirants can get their queries answered at BionicDJAcademy@gmail.com. Candidates applying to the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland can log on to http://www.bim.org/applyonline.
As there isn’t much of an option when it comes to formal training, a bachelors degree in arts or an MBA helps a lot. A management degree or a diploma makes it easier for an emcee to host corporate events or product launches. An emcee should always be on his toes. You should be spontaneous and able to respond to any question.
“With a lot of events being hosted these days, emceeing seems to be a nice career option for the young,” feels Waris. An emcee is needed for any show, be it a private party, product launch, school and college fests, film awards night, road shows, talk show on TV or festival extravaganza.
Sometimes an emcee may have to write his script and develop the sequence of events as well. “Your IQ level should be high and you should be a quick thinker. It helps if you are well informed,” says Maitra.
The best way to get a break in the industry is to put together a demo CD. Get a portfolio done and drop it along with the demo CD at various event management companies, which are always on the lookout for fresh faces to host shows and events.
As for the moolah, there is no limit to what an emcee can earn. Says DJ Shireen, “A fresher can charge as much as Rs 10,000 for hosting an event. So if you host three shows a month you can earn at least Rs 30,000.”
Waris says a seasoned emcee can charge as much as Rs 40,000-45,000 a show. SRK and Saif probably get crores to host film award shows. So, if you are looking for glamour, fun, money as well as responsibility, get ready to take the stage and say, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your host….”
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