Losing Focus
The past few weeks, instances of' lost focus have kept popping up. I guess only when you take notice of something you realize that it is in fact all around you.
My first experience was a battle in my own mind. This seed germinated when Sharad Pawar, the BCCI President, started the ‘marketing of cricket.’ Advertising slots on a batsman’s arm, tracks and cap was only the beginning. He wanted an official sponsor for everything, from television rights to the airline that would transport the star-studded team. And my first thought was, ‘What about the cricket?’
And I think about this every time I see a cricketer splash across my television screen in one more advertisement! A cricketer’s success seems to be measured by his brand portfolio rather than by his match portfolio. The minute Dhoni became an overnight sensation, talk was not about how he may be crucial to bringing India the World Cup, but rather which companies could bag him first. Talk was of the length of his hair rather than the length of his career. And the media only jumps right into this whirlpool of brand endorsements and celebrating celebrities, forgetting about that crucial little question. Yes, ‘what about the cricket?!’
I scream out but it reverberates only in my mind, not so much as raising even a single head.
The editor of the India Today magazine spoke of this in his editorial note. He spoke of how Lakme and Wills Lifestyle have gone head to head at this year’s Fashion Week, the competition being far from healthy. An event that should have been celebrating creativity is tainted with corporate threats.
It has become all about the brand image – dragging the corporate players and the cricket players down with it. When did they all lose focus of the BIG picture?
The same issue of India Today had Sonia Gandhi sprawled across the front page in the ‘office of profit’ issue. Politics is an area that lost focus a long time ago, so much that its very definition now suggests a survival of the fittest. The pit of politics appears far too dangerous to even get close enough for a peek, without being completed gobbled up. However, I will venture that fleeting glace.
A body set up to solve the problems of our country only seems to be adding to it. A body that came together to take the country to higher grounds appears to be drowning, dragging the country down with it. This is our government ladies and gentlemen. Ours and that of every other country. So busy pounding each other to the ground, they have forgotten the flag that hangs in front of them. And it serves as a fine example of lost focus.
In this world where there are so many beautiful sights to see, everyone walks around blinded. Blinded by their pride, blinded by ambition, blinded by wealth. Perhaps we all carry these traits, for we are only human. But let us open our eyes, and then take that step forward.
My first experience was a battle in my own mind. This seed germinated when Sharad Pawar, the BCCI President, started the ‘marketing of cricket.’ Advertising slots on a batsman’s arm, tracks and cap was only the beginning. He wanted an official sponsor for everything, from television rights to the airline that would transport the star-studded team. And my first thought was, ‘What about the cricket?’
And I think about this every time I see a cricketer splash across my television screen in one more advertisement! A cricketer’s success seems to be measured by his brand portfolio rather than by his match portfolio. The minute Dhoni became an overnight sensation, talk was not about how he may be crucial to bringing India the World Cup, but rather which companies could bag him first. Talk was of the length of his hair rather than the length of his career. And the media only jumps right into this whirlpool of brand endorsements and celebrating celebrities, forgetting about that crucial little question. Yes, ‘what about the cricket?!’
I scream out but it reverberates only in my mind, not so much as raising even a single head.
The editor of the India Today magazine spoke of this in his editorial note. He spoke of how Lakme and Wills Lifestyle have gone head to head at this year’s Fashion Week, the competition being far from healthy. An event that should have been celebrating creativity is tainted with corporate threats.
It has become all about the brand image – dragging the corporate players and the cricket players down with it. When did they all lose focus of the BIG picture?
The same issue of India Today had Sonia Gandhi sprawled across the front page in the ‘office of profit’ issue. Politics is an area that lost focus a long time ago, so much that its very definition now suggests a survival of the fittest. The pit of politics appears far too dangerous to even get close enough for a peek, without being completed gobbled up. However, I will venture that fleeting glace.
A body set up to solve the problems of our country only seems to be adding to it. A body that came together to take the country to higher grounds appears to be drowning, dragging the country down with it. This is our government ladies and gentlemen. Ours and that of every other country. So busy pounding each other to the ground, they have forgotten the flag that hangs in front of them. And it serves as a fine example of lost focus.
In this world where there are so many beautiful sights to see, everyone walks around blinded. Blinded by their pride, blinded by ambition, blinded by wealth. Perhaps we all carry these traits, for we are only human. But let us open our eyes, and then take that step forward.
posted by Melanie at 11:34 AM
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