पुरुष और महिला

आज मेरी माहवारी का 
दूसरा दिन है। 
पैरों में चलने की ताक़त नहीं है,
जांघों में जैसे पत्थर की सिल भरी है। 
पेट की अंतड़ियां
दर्द से खिंची हुई हैं। 
इस दर्द से उठती रूलाई
जबड़ों की सख़्ती में भिंची हुई है। 
कल जब मैं उस दुकान में 
‘व्हीस्पर’ पैड का नाम ले फुसफुसाई थी,
सारे लोगों की जमी हुई नजरों के बीच,
दुकानदार ने काली थैली में लपेट
मुझे ‘वो’ चीज लगभग छिपाते हुए पकड़ाई थी। 
आज तो पूरा बदन ही 
दर्द से ऐंठा जाता है। 
ऑफिस में कुर्सी पर देर तलक भी 
बैठा नहीं जाता है। 
क्या करूं कि हर महीने के 
इस पांच दिवसीय झंझट में,
छुट्टी ले के भी तो 
लेटा नहीं जाता है। 
मेरा सहयोगी कनखियों से मुझे देख,
बार-बार मुस्कुराता है, 
बात करता है दूसरों से, 
पर घुमा-फिरा के मुझे ही 
निशाना बनाता है। 
मैं अपने काम में दक्ष हूं। 
पर कल से दर्द की वजह से पस्त हूं। 
अचानक मेरा बॉस मुझे केबिन में बुलवाता हैै,
कल के अधूरे काम पर डांट पिलाता है। 
काम में चुस्ती बरतने का 
देते हुए सुझाव, 
मेरे पच्चीस दिनों का लगातार
ओवरटाइम भूल जाता है। 
अचानक उसकी निगाह,
मेरे चेहरे के पीलेपन, थकान
और शरीर की सुस्ती-कमजोरी पर जाती है,
और मेरी स्थिति शायद उसे 
व्हीसपर के देखे किसी ऐड की याद दिलाती है। 
अपने स्वर की सख्ती को अस्सी प्रतिशत दबाकर,
कहता है, ‘‘काम को कर लेना,
दो-चार दिन में दिल लगाकर।’’
केबिन के बाहर जाते 
मेरे मन में तेजी से असहजता की 
एक लहर उमड़ आई थी। 
नहीं, यह चिंता नहीं थी
पीछे कुर्ते पर कोई ‘धब्बा’
उभर आने की। 
यहां राहत थी
अस्सी रुपये में खरीदे आठ पैड से 
‘हैव ए हैप्पी पीरियड’ जुटाने की। 
मैं असहज थी क्योंकि 
मेरी पीठ पर अब तक, उसकी निगाहें गढ़ी थीं, 
और कानों में हल्की-सी
खिलखिलाहट पड़ी थी
‘‘इन औरतों का बराबरी का 
झंडा नहीं झुकता है
जबकि हर महीने 
अपना शरीर ही नहीं संभलता है। 
शुक्र है हम मर्द इनके 
ये ‘नाज-नखरे’ सह लेते हैं
और हंसकर इन औरतों को 
बराबरी करने के मौके देते हैं।’’
ओ पुरुषो!
मैं क्या करूं 
तुम्हारी इस सोच पर, 
कैसे हैरानी ना जताऊं?
और ना ही समझ पाती हूं
कि कैसे तुम्हें समझाऊं!
मैं आज जो रक्त-मांस 
सेनेटरी नैपकिन या नालियों में बहाती हूं,
उसी मांस-लोथड़े से कभी वक्त आने पर, 
तुम्हारे वजूद के लिए, 
‘कच्चा माल’ जुटाती हूं। 
और इसी माहवारी के दर्द से 
मैं वो अभ्यास पाती हूं,
जब अपनी जान पर खेल
तुम्हें दुनिया में लाती हूं। 
इसलिए अरे ओ मदो! 
ना हंसो मुझ पर कि जब मैं 
इस दर्द से छटपटाती हूं, 
क्योंकि इसी माहवारी की बदौलत मैं तुम्हें 
‘भ्रूण’ से इंसान बनाती हूं।

The Kejriwal Vs Prashant Bhushan Saga

Prashant Bhushan of all people must know how political movements headed by charismatic figures conduct their affairs. I am sure he is aware of how VI Lenin dealt with his rivals, ideological or otherwise, even when the Soviet Communist Party was in its formative days. He dealt with Trotsky, Zinoviev, Bukarin and the Menshviks among others ruthlessly from time to time. They all came back into the fold from time to time on his terms. We know how Mao Zedong dealt with inner party rivals. We also know of MK Gandhi dealt with those who opposed him and his ways. Subhashchandra Bose was the greatest example of his ruthlessness. And he should know how his friend Muppala Ganapathy dealt with Kondpalli Sitaramayya, the founding father of the PWG.

Prashant Bhushan and goody two shoes Yogendra Yadav want the AAP to run like a urban co-operative bank or a publicly held corporation, with inner-party democracy practised with rules etched in stone. Or even how the CPM and BJP function. AAP is a political party only in name. It is a mobilization for change. It has decided that change will come by capturing political power. To do so, it will turn and swerve as the situation demands. Bhushan and Yadav can carry their constitutions and rule books and other bourgeois accoutrements, but in a charismatic party the most important and probably the only rule is FOLLOW THE LEADER. Quietly and implicitly. Read the biographies of Lenin, Mao and Gandhi among others. read how Castro was happy to send Che Guevara to Bolivia. For that matter recall how Hitler dealt with Rohm and the SA.

The danger comes when the mobilization becomes a party with a bureaucratic apparatus. Thats when the Stalins strike.They lie low close to the leader and when they seize power all residual idealism goes out of the window and only the apparatus of power remains. Thats why I look at Manish Sisodia with suspicion. H e never leaves Kejriwal's side. For some reason he reminds me of Chandrababu Naidu.

Prashant Bhushan has complained to the AAP inner Lokpal about the manner in which money has been raised. Reading history will tell you that Joseph Djugashvilli aka Stalin under thealias of Koba used to rob banks near Tbilisi whenever Lenin wanted money. Lenin had no hesitation in taking the assistance of Kaiser Germany's secret service to prepare for revolution in Russia. Gandhintook money from GD Birla and Kamalnayan Bajaj all the time. As a matter of fact he took money from whoever he could. He stayed in my grandfather's house in Vellore and took away my soon to be married mothers jewellery. My great grandfather acquired his fortune by squeezing farmers he lent money to. Ho Chi Minh took financial and military help from Communist China and no sooner the Americans were driven out Vietnam turned on China. Kejriwal is a child of our history. He has learnt history .well. He is on a well trodden path. As Bob Dylan sang "dont get in the way, if you cant lend a hand!"

Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan offer to opt out of political affairs committee
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/aap-rift-yogendra-yadav-and-prashant-bhushan-offer-to-opt-out-of-political-affairs-committee/articleshow/46424678.cms
Content Courtesy - Facebook wall of Mohan Guruswamy

समाधियाँ

कर्ण – प्रिय होते है नारे

आँखों में भर देते है सपने

यथार्थ और सपने

दो किनारे है नदी के

थाली के पानी का चाँद

सुन्दर होता है, प्रकाशमान  नहीं

जिस तरह सपने में प्राप्त धन से

सुधारी नहीं जा सकती स्थिति

उसी तरह

खून देनेवालों को

नहीं मिली आज़ादी

महान कहने से

नहीं बना देश महान

जय जवान जय किसान के जाप से

अमर शहीदों के प्रियजनों के

नहीं थामे बहते आँसू

हालत नहीं बदले किसानो के

रूका नहीं सिलसिला आत्महत्याओं का

शोर मचने से

नहीं हुआ फीलगुड

समाजवाद और सामाजिक न्याय के उद्घोष

बुधिया – जुम्मन के जीवन – स्तर को

नहीं बदल सके

उसी तरह

बेअमल घोषणाओं से

विकास नहीं होगा

बढ़ेगी घोषणाओं की संख्या

लंबी होगी फेहरिस्त

कूड़े के ढेर की तरह

गली – मोहल्ले में नज़र आयेंगी

शिलान्यासों की समाधियाँ! 

खौफ़

चप्पे चप्पे पर

गुप्त यांत्रिक आँखे जड़ने की

परन्तु मजबूरी है राजा की

हर पल सालता रहता है

खौफ़ बेदखली का

संदेह सत्ता-परिवर्तन का

लगा रहता है खटका

चुप, चालाकी या छल से

राजमहल में घुसकर कोई

बैठ न जाये तख्ते ताउस पर

तन्हाई में अक्सर

सोचता है राजा

सुख-सागर में

होते है चिंता – भंवर

राजमहल में भी

दाखिल हो जाता है

अंग रक्षक की तरह ‘खौफ़’

जननी का जन्म

जननी का जन्म

शहनाई में सिसकियो की धुन

उल्लास में मातम की गंध

बेमानी सांत्वना, सब्र, आस्था

पुत्र प्राप्ति का वरदानईश्वर के घर में देर है

अंधेर नहीं!

तूफ़ान में टिमटिमाती लौ

टू कब तक जूझेगी?

निहत्थे अकेलीसूरज डूब रहा है!

Use the human story to connect on Social media

Let me be clear, we do not want you to sell us, nor talk about what your business can offer us, not to mention the classic “how to be the best alternative.” If you think that we want to listen to how fascinating your products or services are, you will be mistaken. Hide the word marketing in the last drawer of your office. Human Media goes beyond recreating nonexistent necessities, so marketers can launch a new product that looks the same but improved, and then creating another supposed necessity. The wheel does not stop here…

A New Vocabulary
Do you want to scare your audience? Name some of these words: sales, target, loyalty o data base. However, these words are essential.

Whether you want to accept it or not, the game has changed. If you intend to carry out any of the actions listed above – I hope you will or you will be damn lost – this is the new vocabulary: connect, align, guide, equip, create resonance and consolidate.

It’s not about the technology, but about people and what happens among them.

Talk about… emotions, feelings, self-effacement, failures, examples, commitment, people, love, passion and eagerness. Tell a story - the story of you and your business - how you started, the hard moments you've had to face, how you've gotten here. Stay human, always.

Touching People
Some months ago, I spoke about Social Media for some Realtors and state agents. When the event had finished, in the Q&A time, one attendant told me that feelings, trust, credibility, transparency and emotions had been always there. Nothing new. He told me also that it was surprising that in the new media era we will come out with values again. My answer was pretty simple and clear: “If you truly want to play in this new scene, these are the rules for real results. If not you can always swim to nowhere.”

The new marketing and the communication that go with it, are not about social media, nor about complex technologies. It’s about human relationships - resonance and alignment with people. Everything has a story, a human story, touching, moving and friendly. It’s there that you “touch” people. In this exact moment you are creating resonance, the new marketing.

The Human Story
It’s not about what you say, it’s the story that you create and how it touches people emotionally. The story of a brand, the sort of a business founder that had to leave his country for immigrating to France so he can master his craft, then leaving to Canada and later on passing his knowledge to his sons. They have followed his path years later and now it’s one of the most successful businesses focused on spas and pools of Spain. Talk about real stories of real people. Don’t talk about Cinderella, twitter PROs or celebs, it’s not going to work. They are just victims of this ego-system, part of the hype-environment we are living now.

Make use of this opportunity: tools, APPs, channels and platforms that will help you to connect in a very human way. If we practice human media through social media, we can change the focus, actions and epicenter. We get rid of the tech-obsession, social hype and #smokemaking, and we empower people and human interactions.

In its Heart
Don’t forget that the audience is the heart of the brand. Now the brand has the responsibility for making the public part of its story. Human Media makes possible the engagement between public and brand. It creates emotional touch points that make people feel part of the brand and the story that it is telling to the market. However, there’s still something missing in how the brand stays human and transmits to its customers what it is through the interpersonal communication process. Tell people about your desires, fears, achievements and goals, beginnings, funny things - tell the story. Make your brand human, make it alive.

Love Thy Love

Learn to spread love in the world

Learn to find love in the world

This is your last birth Oh human

Thou shall never come again.

Why the race of armaments

And why the race of creed

We'll have to grow and reap hatred

When we have sown the seed.

Why demarcation of the land

Why man is enemy of the man

Oh, why can not we come closer

And why can not we shake our hands.

With power you can make your slaves

You can not make your friends dear

Love has that power which no one has

The whole world can be brought near.

Take sorrows from the weeping eyes

And share your happiness with them

You'll find the world a happy place

Where you would like to come again.

Why advertising should be governed by principles and not by rules?

Creativity governed by rules would lead to the death of entertainment. Then daily soaps, movies and ads would be like power point presentations using excel sheets. Exaggeration and imagination are the cornerstones of creativity as well as story telling.
Can you imagine a story without a metaphor, vivid demonstration, fantasy or a hyperbolic demonstration of human greed? Be it Axe or Avatar, if the underlining moral were not be exaggerated, it would never sink in.
Having said the above now imagine a state without any legislature to govern, a society without any norms, a family without any principles. We all can imagine the mayhem.
What is moral and what is legal is an eternal debate, in spite of a legal definition, because we all would like to be governed by morals rather than legislature if given a choice. Why should this be any different for the brands that are behaving as human as real as our siblings? Why do 99.999 per cent of disputes is resolved without ever had to go to courts or lawyers?
As civilized beings we know when to cross the line and when not to. If we argue modern day brands are like humans who find a purposeful existence in people’s life than why don’t they behave themselves by not crossing the line? The state bestowed faith on the industry to conduct itself by allowing "Self governed code of conduct" and a body to monitor "Advertising Standard Council of India " and all we do as a community is to find legal ways to beat the system. If the law says you need to have a support to your claim, we produce one from an unheard research institute, as insiders we all know what game we have been playing.
Time has come to take a hard look at the old approach not because laws have changed because people have changed, world has changed. Today 90 per cent of the youth in the world are concerned about the survival of the planet, world peace, old parents and values. Never before transparency and honesty are valued as today. Leader are responding to this new order be it Obama or Anna Hazare or Nike or Apple. In fact I would go to an extent of saying leading brands have responded faster then the political leaders, to support my hypothesis let me barrow a research report which says 4 out of top 10 icons of the world are brands not people.
There is a selfish reason why brands must inculcate good values first and start to propagate them next. If the brands are governed by the principles of the values they abide by then there is very little chance of them crossing any ethical line to be punished by people or state.
Lets turn to the communicators or the creators. I believe they are two kinds of human beings in this world, those who care and those who don’t. Those who do care are the sensitive lot and are aware of sensitive issues like; gender, values, ethics, children, safety, religion and minority communities, they generally rely on honesty and integrity of the communication to connect with people. They avoid using hyperbolic gimmicks to attract the attention. These are the guys who guide a brand to success thru life insights on the other hand people who do not care for others sentiments, do create regressive communication by resorting to cheep humor, emotional black mailing or even cooked up miss-leading facts.
Brands today are like celebrities their behavior in public is been watched by live cameras 24X7, the moment Shahrukh lit a cigarette in an a stadium, hundreds of tweets went live and even some legal suits. In this transparent world you cannot close your eyes and think world is not watching you. If you show a little kid "Chotu"serving tea in a ad, no matter how light heartedly you portray the situation, people will decode you as an endorser of child labor.
Creative people and agencies also have to be sensitive towards the societal realities. No rulebook says you cannot use a "pug" in an ad. But one need to be sensitive to the fact that the desire the ad can create in people to own and love a "pug" would be enormous and the damage it can potentially create to the species would also be enormous. If only creators were to give a little thought before depicting two boys in a family ad and the influence it can have on people to aspire for boys. When we realize a little thought could have let a girl child live we would understand our purpose in life.
Creators have an enormous power to write stories, which can influence people and their-in lays the responsibility to use the power in the right way. If the marketers and communicators ignore the responsibility and cross the line they may well face the consequence of rulebooks, which may well be written by the NGO/Govt., legal eagles.
Censorship or self-discipline, choice is ours today.
Post courtesy - K V Sridhar
K V Sridhar aka kvpops is the National Creative Director of Leo Burnett India

Top performing niches in affiliate marketing

There are always new trends in internet marketing but you always need to remain niche specific to achieve any meaningful success. Widely asked question is “what is the niche to follow in affiliate marketing industry? While there is no one place which answers this one, there are hints and bits of information all around the place, here is the meaningful ones:

1. Dating and Matrimony– Dating and relationship sales more than anything else on internet. The biggest catch in this niche is you can tap on young and adults alike across interests and cultures.

2. Travel – Most Indian who uses internet likes to book travel online. In an economy like India online booking for travel will always surpass other services offered online.

3. Personal Care – With the rise of incomes and easy access of online payments gateways; people are buying more personal care online. It is about getting into mind of the customer.

4. Diet - One of top New Year’s resolutions is always related to losing weight. If you can provide tips, tricks, and recipes for the would-be dieter, you’ll stir up a recipe for a successful affiliate marketing campaign.

5. Fitness – Exercise is something which everyone wants to do. This is a market where you can branch off into several micro-niches, such as fitness for seniors, fitness for menopausal women, fitness for men, etc. Because there are so many niches to choose from in this popular market, fitness remains a hot affiliate marketing niche year after year.


6. How to make money - The “how to” affiliate marketing niche remains strong. Everything from how to start a business to how to get a date sells well on the Internet. The greatest benefit of this niche is that you can tap into hobbies, interests, areas of business, relationships, education, etc. The list is exhaustive.


7. E – Books – Internet has moved into household and people are reading and downloading more and more books. It also targets across age groups and sex.

Important thing is in the discovery procedure is to find keywords that represent niches with low competition and high demand. Using a keyword research tool you can spot which keywords have the greatest number of recent searches (highest demand). Tap into niches that have proven track records, and you’ll increase your chances for success. There is nothing called next big thing but about the products that continue to generate strong sales in buzzing economy.

Modes change but not basics

Everyday will bring a new medium and vehicle. but at the end of the day, it will continue to be all about the central idea. Call it anything you want from traditional advertising to digitization to osmosis. Technology and technology platforms will keep changing and evolving, and we will adapt to newer tickles as we always have basic human needs, emotions, differences, and everything else about us will remain the same. Clothes have changed, homes have changed, machines have changed, travel has changed, and work stations have changed. but hunger hasn't, love hasn't, relationships haven't, fears haven't, mortality hasn't, competitiveness hasn't, sleep hasn't, ambition hasn't, passion hasn't, religion hasn't, and how babies are born hasn't. Keep your eyes on the unchanging larger picture of humanity and our frailty.

क्रोधी बालक

एक १२-१३ साल के लड़के को बहुत क्रोध आता था। उसके पिता ने उसे ढेर सारी कीलें दीं और कहा कि जब भी उसे क्रोध आए वो घर के सामने लगे पेड़ में वह कीलें ठोंक दे।

पहले दिन लड़के ने पेड़ में ३० कीलें ठोंकी। अगले कुछ हफ्तों में उसे अपने क्रोध पर धीरे-धीरे नियंत्रण करना आ गया। अब वह पेड़ में प्रतिदिन इक्का-दुक्का कीलें ही ठोंकता था। उसे यह समझ में आ गया था कि पेड़ में कीलें ठोंकने के बजाय क्रोध पर नियंत्रण करना आसान था। एक दिन ऐसा भी आया जब उसने पेड़ में एक भी कील नहीं ठोंकी। जब उसने अपने पिता को यह बताया तो पिता ने उससे कहा कि वह सारी कीलों को पेड़ से निकाल दे।

लड़के ने बड़ी मेहनत करके जैसे-तैसे पेड़ से सारी कीलें खींचकर निकाल दीं। जब उसने अपने पिता को काम पूरा हो जाने के बारे में बताया तो पिता बेटे का हाथ थामकर उसे पेड़ के पास लेकर गया।

पिता ने पेड़ को देखते हुए बेटे से कहा – “तुमने बहुत अच्छा काम किया, मेरे बेटे, लेकिन पेड़ के तने पर बने सैकडों कीलों के इन निशानों को देखो। अब यह पेड़ इतना खूबसूरत नहीं रहा। हर बार जब तुम क्रोध किया करते थे तब इसी तरह के निशान दूसरों के मन पर बन जाते थे।

अगर तुम किसी के पेट में छुरा घोंपकर बाद में हजारों बार माफी मांग भी लो तब भी घाव का निशान वहां हमेशा बना रहेगा।

अपने मन-वचन-कर्म से कभी भी ऐसा कृत्य न करो जिसके लिए तुम्हें सदैव पछताना पड़े