Amul -the true taste of Indian advertising

Amul Butter Girl

Edited from an article by Mini Varma published in The Asian Age on March 3, 1996

50 years after it was first launched, Amul's sale figures have jumped from 1000 tonnes a year in 1966 to over 25,000 tonnes a year in 1997. No other brand comes even close to it. All because a thumb-sized girl climbed on to the hoardings and put a spell on the masses.

Bombay: Summer of 1967. A Charni Road flat. Mrs. Sheela Mane, a 28-year-old housewife is out in the balcony drying clothes. From her second floor flat she can see her neighbours on the road. There are other people too. The crowd seems to be growing larger by the minute. Unable to curb her curiosity Sheela Mane hurries down to see what all the commotion is about. She expects the worst but can see no signs of an accident. It is her four-year-old who draws her attention to the hoarding that has come up overnight. "It was the first Amul hoarding that was put up in Mumbai," recalls Sheela Mane. "People loved it. I remember it was our favourite topic of discussion for the next one week! Everywhere we went somehow or the other the campaign always seemed to crop up in our conversation."

Call her the Friday to Friday star. Round eyed, chubby cheeked, winking at you, from strategically placed hoardings at many traffic lights. She is the Amul moppet everyone loves to love (including prickly votaries of the Shiv Sena and BJP). How often have we stopped, looked, chuckled at the Amul hoarding that casts her sometime as the coy, shy Madhuri, a bold sensuous Urmila or simply as herself, dressed in her little polka dotted dress and a red and white bow, holding out her favourite packet of butter.For 30 odd years the Utterly Butterly girl has managed to keep her fan following intact. So much so that the ads are now ready to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest running campaign ever. The ultimate compliment to the butter came when a British company launched a butter and called it Utterly Butterly, last year.It all began in 1966 when Sylvester daCunha, then the managing director of the advertising agency, ASP, clinched the account for Amul butter. The butter, which had been launched in 1945, had a staid, boring image, primarily because the earlier advertising agency which was in charge of the account preferred to stick to routine, corporate ads. One of the first Amul hoardings
In India, food was something one couldn't afford to fool around with. It had been taken too seriously, for too long. Sylvester daCunha decided it was time for a change of image.The year Sylvester daCunha took over the account, the country saw the birth of a campaign whose charm has endured fickle public opinion, gimmickry and all else.The Amul girl who lends herself so completely to Amul butter, created as a rival to the Polson butter girl. This one was sexy, village belle, clothed in a tantalising choli all but covering her upper regions. "Eustace Fernandez (the art director) and I decided that we needed a girl who would worm her way into a housewife's heart. And who better than a little girl?" says Sylvester daCunha. And so it came about that the famous Amul Moppet was born.That October, lamp kiosks and the bus sites of the city were splashed with the moppet on a horse. The baseline simply said, Thoroughbread, Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul,. It was a matter of just a few hours before the daCunha office was ringing with calls. Not just adults, even children were calling up to say how much they had liked the ads. "The response was phenomenal," recalls Sylvester daCunha. "We knew our campaign was going to be successful." The Rebecca Mark favourite
For the first one year the ads made statements of some kind or the other but they had not yet acquired the topical tone. In 1967, Sylvester decided that giving the ads a solid concept would give them extra mileage, more dum, so to say. It was a decision that would stand the daCunhas in good stead in the years to come.In 1969, when the city first saw the beginning of the Hare Rama Hare Krishna movement, Sylvester daCunha, Mohammad Khan and Usha Bandarkar, then the creative team working on the Amul account came up with a clincher -- 'Hurry Amul, Hurry Hurry'. Bombay reacted to the ad with a fervour that was almost as devout as the Iskon fever.That was the first of the many topical ads that were in the offing. From then on Amul began playing the role of a social observer. Over the years the campaign acquired that all important Amul touch.India looked forward to Amul's evocative humour. If the Naxalite movement was the happening thing in Calcutta, Amul would be up there on the hoardings saying, "Bread without Amul Butter, cholbe na cholbe na (won't do, won't do). If there was an Indian Airlines strike Amul would be there again saying, Indian Airlines Won't Fly Without Amul.There are stories about the butter that people like to relate over cups of tea. "For over 10 years I have been collecting Amul ads. I especially like the ads on the backs of the butter packets, "says Mrs. Sumona Varma. What does she do with these ads? "I have made an album of them to amuse my grandchildren," she laughs. "They are almost part of our culture, aren't they? My grandchildren are already beginning to realise that these ads are not just a source of amusement. They make them aware of what is happening around them."Despite some of the negative reactions that the ads have got, DaCunhas have made it a policy not to play it safe. There are numerous ads that are risque in tone."We had the option of being sweet and playing it safe, or making an impact. A fine balance had to be struck. We have a campaign that is strong enough to make a statement. I didn't want the hoardings to be pleasant or tame. They have to say something," says Rahul daCunha."We ran a couple of ads that created quite a furore," says Sylvester daCunha. "The Indian Airlines one really angered the authorities. They said if they didn't take down the ads they would stop supplying Amul butter on the plane. So ultimately we discontinued the ad," he says laughing. Then there was the time when the Amul girl was shown wearing the Gandhi cap. The high command came down heavy on that one. The Gandhi cap was a symbol of independence, they couldn't have anyone not taking that seriously. So despite their reluctance the hoardings were wiped clean. "Then there was an ad during the Ganpati festival which said, Ganpati Bappa More Ghya (Ganpati Bappa take more). The Shiv Sena people said that if we didn't do something about removing the ad they would come and destroy our office. It is surprising how vigilant the political forces are in this country. Even when the Enron ads (Enr On Or Off) were running, Rebecca Mark wrote to us saying how much she liked them." Amul's point of view on the MR coffee controversy
There were other instances too. Heroine Addiction, Amul's little joke on Hussain had the artist ringing the daCunhas up to request them for a blow up of the ad. "He said that he had seen the hoarding while passing through a small district in UP. He said he had asked his assistant to take a photograph of himself with the ad because he had found it so funny," says Rahul daCunha in amused tones. Indians do have a sense of humour, afterall.From the Sixties to the Nineties, the Amul ads have come a long way. While most people agree that the Amul ads were at their peak in the Eighties they still maintain that the Amul ads continue to tease a laughter out of them.Where does Amul's magic actually lie? Many believe that the charm lies in the catchy lines. That we laugh because the humour is what anybody would enjoy. They don't pander to your nationality or certain sentiments. It is pure and simple, everyday fun.

Back to Roots : Basics

What is an Economic Survey?

Economic survey is an annual commentary on the state of the economy of India which is put together by Finance Ministry of India. It is a document which presents economic development during the course of the year. The draft of the survey is prepared by Department of Economic Affairs and cleared by Chief economic Advisor and the secretary Economic Affairs. The final version is vetted by Finance secretary and Finance Minister.
When an Economic Survey is presented?
Economic survey is presented every year shortly before presenting the Union Budget of govt. of India, or just after the railway budget. Out of the 10 to 11 chapters presented, the first chapter which is titled “State of the Economy and prospects” deals in detail with overall macroeconomic performance of the country.
What is the objective of an Economic Survey?
An economic Survey provides an opportunity for the government of India to spell out its economic agenda. The govt. also represents its issues and priorities.

What is capital account convertibility?

There is no formal definition of capital account convertibility (CAC). The Tarapore committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 1997 to go into the issue of CAC defined it as the freedom to convert local financial assets into foreign financial assets and vice versa at market determined rates of exchange.
In simple language what this means is that CAC allows anyone to freely move from local currency into foreign currency and back.

How is CAC different from current account convertibility?

Current account convertibility allows free inflows and outflows for all purposes other than for capital purposes such as investments and loans. In other words, it allows residents to make and receive trade-related payments — receive dollars (or any other foreign currency) for export of goods and services and pay dollars for import of goods and services, make sundry remittances, access foreign currency for travel, studies abroad, medical treatment and gifts etc. In India, current account convertibility was established with the acceptance of the obligations under Article VIII of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement in August 1994.

Communalism, Why is it a threat to Indian democracy?

In many parts of the world, communalism is a modern term that describes a broad range of social movements and social theories which are in some way centered upon the community. Communalism can take the form of communal living or communal property, among others. Communalism is defined as a theory of a society that is divided into several small, independent communes and the state is just a confederation of these communes.

India is a unique nation in itself. Since the time of the Harappan Civilization, people of different religions and races came over here, and the great soil of India sleltered them all. The bounteous Indian culture adopted all their customs and festivals to and soon they incorporated here. Thus  India used to nourish all kinds of religions and races from the beginning of culture and civilization. Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, Christians and many different religious communities resides in India, having businesses with each other. Everything is so simple and satisfactory untill here. But now a problem named “Communalism” occurs and ruined their easy going life. So, now a question comes before us that
 What is Communalism ? Who gave it birth, and What for ?
Communalism is originated from a French word “Commune”, which stands for a kind of independent state, and the national government a confederation of such states, having only limited powers. In fact, Communalism describes a broad range of social movements and social theories,       which are in some way centered upon the community. It can take the form of communal living or communal property, among others. It is sometimes said to put the interests of the community above the interests of the individual, but this is usually only done on the principle that the community exists for the benefit of the individuals who participate in it. Very often, Communalism is associated with Anarchism, Socialism, and Communism, particularly with Primitive or Religious Communism. It is a practice of communal living and common ownership i.e. loyalty and commitment to the interests of one’s own minority or ethnic group rather than to society as a whole. Communalism, in many parts of the world, is a modern term that describes a broad range of social movements and social theories which are in some way centered upon the community. But in South Asia, it is used to denote attempts to promote primarily religious stereotypes between groups of people identified as different communities and to stimulate violence between those groups.

In modern India, the term Communalism is related to the violent activities of religious extremists. Now it designates the conflicts not only between extremist religious communities and the people of the same religion, but also between the people of different religions, regions and states. There are historical evidences of the riots, caused by Communalism.  Hindu-Muslim ‘Lat Bhairo’ riots 1809-1811,  ‘Hep Hep’ riots 1819,  Hindu-Muslim ‘Banaras’ and ‘Kanpur’ riots 1931,  ‘Manzilgah’ and ‘Sukkur’ riots 1940,  ‘Kolkata’ Hindu-Muslim riots 1946,  Hindu,Sikhs-Muslim riots 1947 ( During the partition of India and Pakistan ),  Sikh riots 1984,  Mumbai riots 1992,  ‘Wandhama’ massacre 1998 ( 25 Hindu victims ),  Chittisinghpura massacre 2000, Gujarat Hindu-Muslim riots 2002,  ‘Kuluchak’ and ‘Marad’ massacres 2002,  Kherlangi massacre 2006,  Indore Hindu-Muslim riots 2008, are some of the fatal examples of Communalism.




Communalism is a potential threat to the sovereignty, democracy, integrity, and in short the very existence of India. Communalism is a modern day phenomenon – a sectarian, restrictive, and negative response to the process of modern nation building. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wrote, “One must never forget that communalism is a later day phenomenon which has grown up before our eyes.” In a multi-religious society like India the secular interests such as social, cultural, economic and political of one religion are dissimilar with the followers of other religions, and communalism raises its head when the interest of different religions are seen as mutually incompatible, hostile and antagonistic.
It is said that the the foundation of communalism in India was laid by the British think tank, during the British rule over India. Communalism flourished in India and reached monstrous proportions in 1947 under British rule. But British did not create communalism. It only took advantage of socio-economic and cultural differences and amplified those differences to serve their political ends. Hence the British policy of ‘divide and rule’ was planted on an earth made very fertile by those existing differences. Post 1857, British shifted to a policy of ‘concession, counterpoise and coercion’ to accommodate new rising class, to counterbalance strong class and to browbeat recalcitrant class. some of the certain innocuous political trends, though not communal in themselves, obliquely led to its growth. Some tactful reasons as the derision for Congress as Hindu body and fear of majority gobbling up the minority led to the growth of communalism. And the foundation of the communal organizations like All India  Muslim League (1906) and Hindu Mahasabha (1915) provided the gory feast of hatred and mistrust from which communal forces drew their sustenance and balancing justification for each other.
And now after India’s independence communal forces are so deeply indexed in our beliefs, that is is hard to recognize them. This particular manifestation of the contradictions set in motion after independence, lays the objective basis on which the present  concerted offensive by the communal forces has been mounted. The discontent amongst the Indian people, as a result of the crisis of the system,  accumulated over the years, is growing. Discontent is affecting also the expanded and vocal middle class,  drawn more from the former exploiting classes rather than from the upward mobility of the exploited classes.  The domination of the consciousness of the exploiter classes combined with discontent provides fertile soil for the growth of communal ideology.   Exploiting this discontent and on the basis of the perpetuation of backward consciousness, the communal forces are able today to divert this discontent into communal channels in pursuit of their political objective. the communal forces have adopted a two pronged strategy. On the one hand, they seek to generate a sort of a monolithic unity amongst the vast diversity within the community of Indians embracing Hindu religion, and, on the other, they generate  hate against enemies outside of the Hindu faith, i.e. the Muslims and the Christians. The entire propaganda mechanism based on fascist  techniques unleashed by them is to achieve this dual strategy.
As if we talk about the solution of this monstrous problem of communalism in India, we found no easy solution to it. For we have to put a radical change in mentality, and to respect all other religions. We have to try to create a faith in all minor religious communities, that their feelings, faiths, ways, and places of worship would not be tolerated anyway. Respect of their thoughts and customs would arouse it into them. Political parties should keep themselves away from the communal issues, or the issues that en threat the communalism. This is the only easy way, we can keep our unity and integrity safe and secure. 

Back to Roots : What IS NREGA ???

A.    What is NREGA?

1. NREGA is designed as a safety net to reduce migration by rural poor households in the lean period through A hundred days of guaranteed unskilled manual labour provided when demanded at minimum wage on works focused on water conservation, land development & drought proofing.
2. Notification of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act came in September 2005. It was launched on February 2, 2006.
3. NREGA is the flagship programme of the UPA Government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth.
4. The Act aims at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
5. The ongoing programmes of Sampoorn Grameen Rozgar Yojna & National Food for Work Programme were subsumed within this programme in the 200 of the most backward districts of the country, in which it was introduced in phase -1 .
6. In phase-2 it was introduced in 130 additional districts.
7. The scheme was extended to 274 rural districts from April 1, 2008 in phase-3.
8. NREGA is the first ever law internationally, that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale.
9. Dr. Jean Drèze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of Economics, has been a major influence on this project.

What are Objectives of NREGA?

1. Augmenting wage employment.
2. Strengthening natural resource management through works that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion and so encourage sustainable development.
3. Strengthening grassroots processes of democracy
4. Infusing transparency and accountability in governance.
5. Strengthening decentralization and deepening processes of democracy by giving a pivotal role to the Panchayati Raj Institutions in planning, monitoring and implementation.

What are the Unique Features of NREGA?

1. Time bound employment guarantee and wage payment within 15 days
2. Incentive-disincentive structure to the State Governments for providing employment as 90 per cent of the cost for employment provided is borne by the Centre or payment of unemployment allowance at their own cost and emphasis on labor intensive works prohibiting the use of contractors and machinery.
3. The Act mandates 33 percent participation for women.

How NREGA is implemented? The following image shows the key processes in the implementation of NREGA.

1. Cost sharing : Central Government 3/4th , State Government 1/4th
2. Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo to the Gram Panchayat.
3. The Gram panchayat registers households after making enquiry and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of adult member enrolled and his /her photo.
4. Registered person can submit an application for work in writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to panchayat or to Programme Officer.
5. The panchayat/programme officer will accept the valid application and issue dated receipt of application, letter providing work will be sent to the applicant and also displayed at panchayat office.
6. The employment will be provided within a radius of 5 km: if it is above 5 km extra wage will be paid.
7. If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of the application daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant. 

Back to Roots : Judicial Activism

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM:

Judicial activism is when courts do not confine themselves to reasonable interpretations of laws, but instead create law. Alternatively, judicial activism is when courts do not limit their ruling to the dispute before them, but instead establish a new rule to apply broadly to issues not presented in the specific action. "Judicial activism" is when judges substitute their own political opinions for the applicable law, or when judges act like a legislature (legislating from the bench) rather than like a traditional court. In so doing, the court takes for itself the powers of Congress, rather than limiting itself to the powers traditionally given to the judiciary.

In this regard, judicial activism is a way for liberals to avoid the regular legislative means of enacting laws in order to ignore public opinion and dodge public debate.

DURING THE last two decades, judicial activism has played a major role in protecting the rights and freedoms of individuals, as guaranteed under the constitution. After the landmark decision in the Maneka Gandhi case, courts have assumed an activist posture and come forward to the rescue of aggrieved citizens. In a number of cases, subsequent to the Maneka Gandhi case, the judiciary interpreted the constitutional provision in its wider possible meaning to protect basic civil liberties and fundamental rights.

During this period, our judiciary developed the concept of social action litigation and public interest litigation by discarding the traditional and self-imposed limitations on its own jurisdiction. In 1975, Justice VR Krishna Iyer for the first time in the Bar Council of India case, advocated the liberal interpretation of locus standi in public interest litigation. He observed that in a developing country like India, public-oriented litigation better fulfils the rule of law if it is to run close to the rule of life.

The concept of public interest litigation took a clearer shape through the remarkable judgement in what is popularly known as the case of the judges’ transfer. In this case, Justice Bhagwati said that the traditional rule was of ancient vintage and arose during an era when private law dominated the scene. Justice Bhagwati observed that there is an urgent need to innovate new methods and devise new strategies for the purpose of providing access to justice to the large masses of people who are denied their human rights and to whom freedom and liberty have no meaning. The courts have a duty to utilise the initiative and zeal of public-minded persons and organisations by allowing them to move the court and act for general or group interest.

Public interest litigation and judicial activism has touched almost every aspect of life. Be it the case of bonded labour, rehabilitation of freed bonded labour, payment of minimum wages, protection of pavement and slum dwellers, juvenile offenders, child labour, illegal detentions, torture and maltreatment of woman in police lock-up, the implementation of various provisions of the constitution, environment problems, the courts took cognisance of each case and laid down various judgements to protect the basic human rights of each and every member of society.

Today, with the vast change in judicial process, the traditional rule of locus standi is replaced by group action litigation. No doubt law regulates the society, but some time society also regulates law. Changing aspirations of people also affects law. Constitutions, courts and other parts of the judicial system are made for common people. In the seventies, Justice Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud observed, “It is really the poor, starved and mindless millions who need the court protection for securing the enjoyment of human rights.”

Realising the fact that in spite of all constitutional provisions and other enactments, socio-economic justice remained a distant dream for the poor and down-trodden, Justice Bhagwati invites judges to use their power to further the cause of social justice. In his work ‘Social Action Litigation: The Indian Express’ Justice Bhagwati observed:

“Today, we find that in third world countries, there are large number of groups which are being subjected to exploitation, injustice and even violence. In this climate of conflict and injustice, judges have to play a positive role and they cannot content themselves by invoking the doctrine of self-restraint and passive interpretation. The judges in India have fortunately a most potent judicial power in their hands, namely the power of judicial review … The judiciary has to play a vital and important role not only in preventing the remedying abuse and misuse of power but also in eliminating exploitation and injustice.”

In the last, it can be easily concluded that judicial activism has played an important role in protecting human rights. In other words, it has indeed proved to be a boon to the victims of arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional actions of state as well as of public servants. Right to life and personal liberty has been given a broader meaning to include all the essential rights for human life with dignity and those rights are easily made available through the channels of an activist judiciary. The right to life and personal liberty was elevated to the status of fundamental rights, which could not be abridged, defeated or taken away by the state.

neither orphans nor stateless persons

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/custody-row-norway-authorities-ask-for-fresh-guarantees-from-india-184653?pfrom=home-lateststories

quake-versary

http://topics.bloomberg.com/japan-quake-one-year-anniversary/

kony-MANIa

read abt the kony2012 campaign and why it deserves the waves it is making....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/9134268/Joseph-Kony-2012-Uganda-says-it-will-catch-Joseph-Kony-dead-or-alive.html

Celeb Quotient on pinterest.....

http://mashable.com/2012/03/09/paula-deen-pinterest/

Facebook as a social media startegy...

http://www.digiday.com/social/walgreens-facebook-isnt-a-social-strategy/