Breaking Rules

All of us break rules, sometime or the other, almost on a daily basis. The most common being the breaking of traffic rules. Like parking in a ‘No Parking’ zone or driving through a street with `No Entry` sign or driving without helmets. Like jumping the red signal - an offence committed by even well-educated people; like you and me! Even if you are a law abiding citizen who stops at a red signal, the impatient driver behind you who wants to jump the signal will keep honking, cursing you for blocking his way. Forcing you to break the rule!

Then there are drivers of two wheelers and auto rickshaws who keep overtaking you suddenly from the left, especially when you are turning into a road on the left. The other day a young boy on his two-wheeler, trying to negotiate the narrow gap between my car and the edge of the road on the left, hit my car and fell down. Instead of accepting and apologizing for his mistake, he started abusing me for not looking at my left rear view mirror before turning! He did not know the basic rule that he is not supposed to overtake a vehicle from the left, leave alone overtaking on a turn.

The worst culprits are drivers on highways who drive without dimming the lights blinding drivers of vehicles coming from opposite direction, endangering the lives of people who may be crossing the roads or hitting vehicles without parking lights – emphasizing the need for medians on all the highways.

One of the basic lessons in traffic rules taught to the children when they are still in school is on crossing roads- ` look to the right first and then left and cross’. Obviously an old lady did not know the rule when she was almost hit by my car, as she suddenly crossed the road looking to her left for ongoing vehicles, ignoring my car coming from the right!

Another common mistake people make is switching lanes indiscriminately, without giving any indication of their intention or suddenly opening the front side door after parking on a main road, again endangering the lives of vehicles that may be overtaking their car at that precise moment. The rule says look into the rear view mirror for any vehicles behind you before you open the door, but who cares!

The latest traffic hazard is caused by the ubiquitous mobile- people talking on their mobiles while crossing a road or while driving on a road with heavy traffic. Recently a relative lost his teenage son when he was hit by a speeding two wheeler while crossing the road right infront of his home- because he was busy talking on his mobile oblivious of passing vehicles!

Most of the accidents on the roads occur because the majority of drivers are not even aware of the traffic rules. Anyone in India can get a driving license for any vehicle by paying a bribe to the road inspectors. They can also get away by bribing the traffic cops any time they are caught breaking a rule.

I remember an incident during one of my trips to USA. My cousin and I were returning home in his car after attending an evening programme. It was 11 pm. There was absolutely no traffic on the side road leading to his house. But still he stopped at the red signal. When I asked him why he did not jump the signal, as there was no traffic, his reply was ‘This is USA and not India. There might be a hidden camera somewhere and if I am caught jumping the red signal; I might have to pay a stiff fine!’

In another instance I met a journalist friend who had moved to Singapore, at his office during one of my trips to that very `fine` city. He boasted to me that he had jumped a red signal on Orchard Road that day but no policeman had stopped him. His happiness was short-lived because three days later he got a challan from the Singapore Traffic police asking him to pay a fine of a few hundred Singapore dollars. He had been caught on camera breaking a traffic rule.

I don’t think the effort of the Government to install hidden cameras at major signals is going to help improve the situation in our country. Our denizens will continue to break rules because they know law takes its own sweet time to reach the defaulters and even when it reaches them, they can get away by greasing the palms of the government agents responsible for implementing the rules!

This is the bane of our society!

A House `Husband`

The other day I met an old friend after a long time. He asked me ‘So what do you do these days?’

With a sheepish grin I said, ‘Oh, I have become a full time House Husband’.

He was intrigued. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked me.

‘You see my wife has not been keeping well and since she needs complete rest, I am doing her job in the house. ‘

My friend wished me good luck and a speedy recovery to my wife and moved on to meet another friend.

I believe I am not an MCP (must check with my wife on what she thinks about that) and have always tried to help around the house in whatever way I can. During the last two months I have realised that there is a world of difference between a part time helper and taking charge of running the household.

Since I enjoy cooking, the first thing I did was to ban my wife from entering the kitchen and promised her that I will take care of the food needs of everyone in the house – that is my wife & I apart from my son and daughter-in-law who join us over the weekends. Besides that, as we live in a house complex with my siblings and my son`s family staying nearby, there is always a variety of food items available during any meal.


But I have realised that the toughest part is what happens before and after each meal. Though there is a part time maid servant who helps in cleaning after the cooking, the need to keep washing the small plates, drinking glasses and other miscellaneous items which constantly appear, is a demanding chore. And so is the effort to keep the kitchen clean, regularly wiping the granite slabs and kitchen sink and the dining table after every big and small meal!


The pressure starts from the morning, when I have to plan the menu for the day – not just the meals but also the variety of fruit juices and soups to give to my ailing wife at periodic intervals. Even that is not as difficult as the effort needed to keep the whole house neat and clean as per the high benchmarks established by my better half. I can no more throw away used clothes in the corner nor can I scatter the books and the papers I read all over the house. Now I have to keep them in their rightful places. I have to ensure that the clothes for washing are sorted out into colour and white , the collars and other soiled areas brushed before they are loaded into the washing machine. And also ensure that the dried clothes are collected in the evening, folded neatly, placed in their designated compartments in the cupboard!


I have to worry and attend to every little plumbing, electrical or the maintenance problem that a housewife faces every day and see that the difficult-to-get plumber, electrician, etc. do their jobs properly and attend to callers, who keep ringing the doorbell constantly ( It is another irritant to be put up with ), Most annoying are the courier guys who make it a point to disturb you when you are trying to have a well-deserved afternoon siesta to recharge your batteries.


Then, there are visitors calling to enquire about my wife’s health and offering useful and sometimes not so useful suggestions. I have to offer them a cup of tea or coffee. When relatives visit from far off places then I have to offer them atleast a simple meal.


I have to also cope up with outstation house guests- brothers, assorted cousins , uncles, aunts and in-laws visiting us for a couple of days. You have to worry about looking after their timely requirements in addition to the needs of a patient at home, in terms of giving her timely medicines.


There is so much pressure at home that I have no time to think of anything else. So much so I have lost count of the days and dates. The other day I got confused about the day of the week. I thought it was Tuesday when it was already Wednesday. There are days when I find that I have had no time to go out, except for my mandatory morning walks!


If you are finding yourself short of breath just reading this piece, as I did, imagine the mindboggling stress and strain that housewives, especially women with school going children go through every day.


The job of a house ‘husband’, as I am finding it the hard way, is very tough! Fortunately, as a retired man with all the time available, I am enjoying the 24 x 7 project that God has forced on me! To be of service to my better half, who has slogged all her life to provide me a beautiful home and a wonderful family, is a privilege indeed!

Cancer is Curable

The deadly word ‘Cancer’ invaded my home, when we recently discovered that my wife is suffering from the disease. As it happens in every instance, the whole family felt shattered at the very mention of the word. Helpful suggestions from scores of friends and relatives started pouring in. Well-Wishers started offering prayers for the speedy recovery. While every effort is being made to give the patient the best of both regular and alternative therapies, in my own quest to find out more about the disease, I decided to attend a meeting of the Press Institute of India at which the Raman Magasasay Award winner and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr. V Shantha, the driving force behind the Cancer Institute in Chennai and an authority on the subject gave a talk on ‘Health Care with specific reference to Cancer’

“Contrary to popular belief that Cancer means sure death, sixty five percent of cancer cases are curable. Developments in medical science, especially in the area of Oncology, is helping patients recover from the disease and lead a normal life”, Dr. Shantha said.

“Lung cancer is the top killer among men mainly due to tobacco related habits, whereas among women breast and cervical cancer are most common. Both these cancers, can be detected early through simple check ups. Apart from regular Mammograms, it will be a good idea for women to physically check up for any lumps in their breasts regularly and also consult gynecologists if they find any unusual discharges between periods,” she said.

Dispelling the concept of miracles in cancer cure, she said that all improvements in Cancer cure were a result of modern science, which today can provide ‘targeted treatment` for different types of cancers, resulting in much higher success rate in Cancer cure. Today the disease can be diagnosed even at the molecular stage (without any sort of growth / tumor or physical appearance as such)

While one of the reasons for cancer in a patient could be genetic, she mentioned that sometimes the disease can skip a generation or two. Keeping in mind that `Prevention is better than cure`, she urged the media to create greater awareness among people that cancer is like any other disease and can be treated if diagnosed early. Even in the advanced stages of cancer, which had no cure, the patients are given palliative care to make them live a less miserable life.

Answering a question about falling hair as one of the most humiliating side effects of cancer treatment among women, she said, `though a remedy for this has not yet been found the falling hair will definitely grow again. It is a temporary sacrifice that the women will have to make, if they want a cure from the disease`.

Talking to several other cancer survivors and experts, I realised that the cancer patients willing to fight the disease with a positive approach to the treatment have a better success rate than others who give up hope easily.

I came back from the meeting reassured that cancer patients need not fear that they have received a death sentence from the God at the very mention of the word `cancer`. I am sure with the grace of the same God and her own will power to fight the disease, my wife will join the ranks of lakhs of cancer survivors to tell her success story to the world.


(The above article appeared in the Round & About columns of the August,2012, issue of EvesTouch magazine published from Chennai:)

Transformation of a Cute Little Colony

I have been a resident of Sastri Nagar in Adyar, an upper middle class colony in South Madras, since 1974. We were living in a rented house till 1982, after which my family moved to our own little independent house a couple of streets away.



I remember my first visit to Sastri Nagar in 1967. I was on an official visit and the Branch Manager of my company had invited me for dinner at his house. We had to cross a narrow one way iron bridge over the Adyar River connecting Gandhi Nagar, and beyond, to the city. A traffic constable was stationed to allow vehicles from either side alternately.



Sastri Nagar was earlier part of Urur Kuppam, a coastal village adjacent to the beautiful Elliots Beach. My friend’s house was one of the dozen independent houses in the area with plenty of open spaces all around. It seemed that during the rainy season the entire area would be flooded and Sastri Nagar would look like a lake dotted with houses!



When I moved to Sastri Nagar in 1974, though, the area had seen some development with more independent houses (but there were still plenty of empty plots). During the rainy season, in the absence of any storm water drainage system, the area remained water logged for a couple of days, making life miserable for all the residents, with knee deep water all around and all kinds of creepy-crawly things floating into the house.



Besant Nagar, lying between the Beach and Sastri Nagar was fast developing, with a complex of Housing Board flats servicing different stratas of society; categorized as HIG, MIG & LIG flats, paving the way for a number of shops cropping up. For all our daily necessities we had to go to Besant Nagar, or walk up to Lattice Bridge Road (LB Road), or to the adjacent Vannanthurai Street; a colony of Washermen (dhobis).



Modern stores on L.B.Road was our favourite grocery stores who door delivered our requirements. Today we have a number of depatment Stores in the area with a choice of both local and imported items.



For a number of years a washer man’s family was our neighbor. He (and many from his community) sold off their properties to builders, and with that money decided to look at alternative occupations; thus moving up the social ladder. Though Vannanthurai still exists, there are no Vannans (dhobhis) in this area now. Those who remain have become `Iron men’ or `Istriwallahs’, as they are known in the North.



Laxmi Sagar, the Udipi Restaurant dishing out delicious South Indian snacks was the only restaurant serving the entire area and it was located (and continues to exist) in one corner, at the Adyar Telephone Exchange signal on LB Road. Today we have a choice of multi-cuisine restaurants offering Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Continental flavours and within walking distance from our house in 14th Cross Street, we get everything from “pin to elephant”. We even have a branch of the ubiquitous Grand Sweets, just two minutes walk from our home.



Eros Cinema , gave way to the popular Wedding Hall – Shantha Sundara Mahal, which in turn gave way to Mitsubishi Motors showroom, was the only theatre in the area for long. Today the avid cinema goers in the area have to visit Ganapathiram theatre on L.B.Road or Jayanthi theatre on the same road in Thiruvanmiyur. Theagaraja Theatre opposite Jayanthi is closed down and is expected to take a new avatar soon.



Whoever was in charge of the layout of Sastri Nagar and numbering of the streets in the civic body must have been off his rocker! In Sastri Nagar the streets are not sequentially numbered. Eighth cross becomes 5th cross, 14th cross merges with 13th cross and the other way around. 7th cross runs parallel to 12st cross which in turn is parallel to 8th cross. 11th cross cuts across all these streets! Confusing? Imagine the plight of a first time visitor to Sastri Nagar trying to locate an address without proper direction. He will be totally lost in the maze of `cross streets`



In the good old days there was a `Kudam`(water pot) shaped water tank placed at on a height in the middle of the colony, with, a bus stop below it , which was referred to as a landmark for anyone visting the area. While the bus stop has vanished as there are no bus services on that particular road now, the tank too is lost among a host of multistoried apartments. Besides the streets are permanently dug up by the civic officials for some reason or the other. The colony has become a trap for unwary pedestrians and vehicle owners.



The price of land in Sastri Nagar in 1974 was Rs.15, 000/- per ground, which had become Rs.60, 000 by the time I decided to buy a plot in 1980. Today the price quoted is Rs.4 crore per ground. By virtue of owning a house on a plot of 3000 sq.ft. I can now consider myself a Crorepathi, at least on paper!



Until the early 90s, Sastri Nagar was a cute little colony, with lovely houses built by retired bureaucrat’s, upcoming businessmen and a few professionals. In the last two decades the greedy builders have managed to tempt the owners of the beautiful houses to go in for joint development of plots, with the result, Sastri Nagar has become a concrete jungle putting tremendous pressure on the poor infrastructure when it comes to garbage collection, sewage & water connections . As in the neighboring Besant Nagar and Kalakshetra areas, some of the streets are witnessing the appearances of commercial ventures in a primarily residential area, transforming the profile of the area.



All the development has come at a huge cost of the beauty and serenity of the colony. For over 20 years my home was a peaceful place tucked inside a small lane facing the Colony`s only Corporation play ground. Today we are surrounded by multistoried apartments on three sides blocking the sea breeze which we could enjoy in the afternoons. With strange people peeking into our homes at all odd hours, our privacy is lost forever!



I will, however, not think of leaving Sastri Nagar because of its strategic location - being located at a ten minute walking distance from the lovely Elliots Beach. I have been going for a walk to the Beach for the last 38 years- every day watching the Sun rise and breathing fresh air, recharging both my body and mind!.



It is another matter that I go for a walk in my car!



Feedback welcome on: rvrajan42 @rediffmail.com, or 984039208

Encounters with Yama

It is often said that while the date of birth of a person is pre-determined, his date of death is decided only by the Lord. As we are growing, we witness the death of many near and dear ones.  We also read about the passing away of celebrities suddenly or due to illness.

Almost all people above 60 have the habit of turning first to the obituary section of their favorite newspaper, every day, to find out if any of their friends/ acquaintances have passed away in order to count their blessings!

During our younger days, we think that death happens only to others – especially the older people. We never associate it with ourselves unless we are involved in some accidents or serious illnesses.  I am going to share with you a couple of my encounters with Yama!

The first incident happened almost 42 years ago, when I was still a bachelor in Mumbai! I was leaving my job in Grant Kenyon & Eckhardt to join ACIl; Delhi.  My boss in Grant was not happy. He tried to brainwash me from leaving. The day after I met him, I was very confused. Skipping office I decided to take a long drive to clear my head. I chose the National Park in Borvilli, a Western suburb in Mumbai, which is located on a small hill. It was a winding road going up and down the hill. As I was driving on the lonely road down the hill, I was totally lost in thoughts. Suddenly I saw a dog cross my path. Jolted out of my reverie, I applied the breaks. To my shock I discovered that it was not working. Narrowly missing the dog, I tried to bring down the speed of the car by changing gears and my repeated attempts to bring the car to a halt failed.

On one side of the road there were rows of trees while on the other side was an open steep drop of about 200 ft. Added to the break problem, I realized even the steering was not moving in the direction that  I wanted it to. The Car was running zigzag, threatening to veer off the road anytime! As the car was rolling down hill faster and faster, I became panicky.

At that point I realized I was going to be involved in a major accident and that I may not come out of it alive. All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind and I was praying hard to the Lord to save me. Suddenly my car veered to the right and stopped after hitting a tree. In the impact I passed out. When I came back to my senses, I realized that I was in an awkward position in the car, almost upside down. My car had turned turtle and its four wheels were on top while I was sandwiched between the steering wheel and the seat. With great difficulty I extricated myself out of the car and came out to find that I had escaped a major accident with minor scratches. The car, however, was badly damaged (which was another matter), but on that otherwise empty road my favorite Lord Balaji appeared in the form of a local guy who helped me out.  Those few minutes my car was running downhill without control, I was literally facing death!

Another experience happened just a couple of weeks ago.

One morning I was driving my car to my office, on the narrow two lane road, not far from my home. I was driving slowly and though my lane was clear, there was bumper to bumper traffic on the opposite lane. Suddenly I found a call taxi coming towards me in the empty space in front. I thought the taxi driver  was trying to jump the queue taking advantage of the clearer space in front of me and would  try to sneak  his way back  again into the row of vehicles in the opposite lane.  While I was trying to steer the car to the left to avoid a possible collision, the taxi driver continued to come towards me. I knew something was wrong and thought in those few seconds we were going to have a head-on collision! Literally staring at death!

Fortunately, since I was driving slowly and the taxi also was not that fast, the collision only damaged the two vehicles. Nothing happened to any of us, in either of the car. While I thought the taxi driver was drunk, it turned out that he had dozed off at his wheel, because he was returning back to his garage after driving the whole night and was very tired!

I have had all kinds of accidents involving my car during the last 45 years. Anyone else with a weaker heart would have stopped driving. But I have been carrying on putting full faith in my Lord to save me every time!

I realize that faith alone is not enough anymore. With advancing age and failing reflexes, I am finding driving very stressful and getting involved in `near ` accident situations,  every other week. As a friend of mine advised me, even God can’t help me if my time has come to keep my appointment with Lord Yama!

The Fall of a cook

My friends and family are well aware of my interest in cooking. It is a creative pursuit and a great stress buster. It is a hobby that I also thoroughly enjoy.

The other day I was going down memory lane to recall when I first tried my hand at cooking.

I was about 8 years old with a 4 year old sister. My mother, a pious woman with strong beliefs in tradition, would sit in a corner during those days in a month, when she considered herself impure. She would not cook nor perform puja on those days. It was a kind of a three day holiday for her from her daily routine. Those three days, my father would take over her role, get the children ready for school, do the cooking, wash clothes etc. Because of this extra load he would be very tense and both my sister and I had to be very careful lest we earn his wrath. At the slightest provocation he would beat us black & blue!

It so happened that once when my dad was away on a three day official tour, my mother had to sit out and there was no one to look after us; especially to cook a meal for us, since we could not afford to buy food from outside.

My mother thought that at 8, I was old enough to learn some basic cooking. Standing in a corner, she taught me how to get a coal fired aduppu (Sigdi) ready. Then, showed me how to cook rice and dal and make a simple Rasam. I followed her step by step instructions and `lo & behold’ a basic three course meal for the family was ready in 60 minutes – Dal rice, rasam rice and of course rice and buttermilk .

I still remember the compliment I received from my mother for cooking a decent and palatable meal. She went around telling all our neighbors about my performance. I was proud that I had passed the first test in cooking successfully. This incident sowed the first seed of interest in me for cooking.

I had a few more opportunities as a teenager to cook at home; when I learnt to make a simple porial (dry vegetable curry) and vathal-kulambu (a kind of sambar without dal).

The real test for my cooking abilities came after my marriage when we moved to Chennai from Delhi and my parents moved to Mumbai to look after my bachelor younger brother.

My tradition bound wife made me perform the role my father would perform during `those days’ but only in the kitchen because by this time we had a servant who was looking after the other functions of the house like cleaning, washing etc. I continued to perform the role until my parents returned to stay with me permanently in 1986 when my mother started helping my wife in the kitchen. As long as my mother was alive till 2000, I was not allowed to enter the kitchen, as the two women were more than what a kitchen could hold!

After my mother passed away, I decided to help my wife in the kitchen by planning the menu for the day, buying and cutting vegetables…and even became a Sunday cook, giving my wife a holiday from the kitchen for that day (or so I thought). On some Sundays I would invite all the fifteen members of the `joint’ family we have in our compound for a meal. My specialities were ( and continue to be ): Avial (mixed vegetable dish made with curd), Appalam (Papad) Vathal Kuzhambu and Paruppu Urundai More Kulambu (Similar to Kadi Vadi of Gujarat).

Whenever I was on tour in U.S.A, I made my cousins and nephews happy by cooking a meal of my favourite items. During the five years my son was staying in USA, I visited him every year for a week and cooked his favourite items, without my wife breathing down my neck. Many of his friends would barge into my son`s home for the good home meals because of which I had to always cook for atleast for five to six people to ensure that none of his friends went back disappointed.

Everything was going fine until I decided to cook a meal every other day, back at home. I thought I was helping my wife by saving her at least 90 minutes of quality time in the mornings, when she was very busy with hundred and one other things to do.

But my wife had other ideas. She thought I was encroaching into her territory without her permission; and not only making a mess but also upsetting all the arrangements in the kitchen. I have now been banned from entering the kitchen without her permission. Even my Sunday stints at the kitchen have become rare.

My dreams of becoming a great cook, admired(!) by friends and all connoisseurs of good food, lies shattered at the doors of our kitchen!



Feedback welcome also on rvrajan42@rediffmail.com or 9840392082

Publicity & Film Industry

My first exposure to village life was at the age of 7 when I went to stay with an uncle, who was an Asst. Station Master of a small station near Gooty on the Mumbai -Chennai route. It was also my first exposure to a touring talkie where the villagers saw old movies sitting on rickety chairs or simply lying on the ground, in front of the screen. Every day there were two shows in the evening and every Friday the movie was changed.



The publicity for the new movie started a few days earlier. A bullock cart or a horse carriage carrying the posters of the film would move slowly around the streets of all the villages nearby. The driver of the cart would make announcements through a portable public address system and an assistant would distribute leaflets on the new movie to passersby and houses on the way. If the touring talkie could afford it, a band would also accompany the cart playing music to attract the audience. In addition posters of the new movies giving show details would be pasted at all the vantage points. Cinema slides featuring the forthcoming movies would also be shown in the touring talkies during breaks.



Over a period of time resourceful producers have used imaginative ways to promote their films. S.S. Vasan of Gemini Studios was a giant among them. He was the first to introduce the concept of big banners and hoardings to promote his multi lingual extravaganza – Chandralekha. It was also one of the mostly highly publicized movies of its time through various media. He is considered the father of Giant Film Hoardings on Mount Road with which Madras was associated for a long time.



Apart from experimenting with vertical posters for his movie; “Gumasthavin Penn” he also used the direct mailing idea for his movie `Sansar`. For his film `Avvaiyar` he printed special invitation cards with highlights of the film and distributed the same door to door; accompanied by a band. It was like an invitation to a wedding and he ensured that the novel idea was written about in all print media which generated a lot of interest in the movie.



Playing the songs of a film outside or in the foyer of the cinema hall and distribution of song books containing the lyrics of the film songs were other methods used to publicize a film those days.



The concept of showing Trailers (trial part) was introduced in the mid fifties to promote new English films. The idea was quickly adopted by Indian movies in later years. Projecting trailers of a new movie in the group cinema theatres and in multiplexes is done even today.



Over the years the press has been the primary media through which new movies have been promoted. While paid advertisements are common, plenty of stories about movie and its stars begin appearing in the media, starting with the `Muhurat` of the movie, generating free editorial publicity. Gossips about the leading pair, tit bits about happenings, on and off the shooting floor are used for this purpose. Sometimes even a controversy between the producer and director or a director and the Stars etc. are passed on to the media, both newspapers and magazines to keep the movie in the news.



With the advent of music cassettes, Audio launch of the film (tape/CDs containing the songs of the film) held a couple of weeks / months before the actual release of the film at a glittering function has become the launching pad and a regular publicity effort of the movies to follow. Between the audio launch and actual release interesting stories about the making of the film, interviews with the stars and directors also appear in all the media in an effort to create curiosity about the film. It helps to keep the title of the movie at the top of the mind of potential cinema goers!



While most of the producers use the time tested methods for publicizing their movies, Kamal Hasan tried an interesting experiment to promote his movie Virumandi in `B` and `C` markets.(semi-urban and rural areas). It was a two in one concept aimed at publicizing the highlights of the movie and at the same time fighting the unauthorized DVD menace.



Local cable TV Channels, featuring local news and events are very popular in the districts / mofussil areas across the country. He entered into a deal with several cable operators in Tamilnadu, providing them a 30 minute capsule of a special programme. The capsule featured the highlights, selected sequences, songs etc. at the end of which he would appear on the screen, appealing to the audience to see `Virumandi` in regular theatres and not on a DVD, if they really wanted to enjoy the visual experience of the movie. He supplied such free capsules to the cable operators every week for a fixed period. The cable operators were delighted to get a free programme and were telecasting the same several times during the week creating a huge awareness for the film in B & C markets. Even paid publicity would not have got this kind of awareness and interest that this novel method got for this movie!



Another idea which has caught on in recent times is the concept of promotional tours featuring the director, stars and other important technicians going around big cities, promoting the film through road shows to audiences- at the theatres screening the film, Big Malls and even colleges. This helps generate a lot of free editorial publicity in the print media. The impact is greater when the shows are co-sponsored by popular TV channels. Many Reality shows are used for this purpose.



In these days of multiple shows in multiplexes and the instant communication through twitter, face book and social media has helped create a new form of word-of-mouth publicity, which can make or mar a film`s success! There are `sms kings` who keep `tweeting` their views to friends even while they are watching a movie! Small budget films with good story but limited budgets for publicity have found the social media generating such instant and widespread word-of-mouth publicity helping them hit the bulls-eye in the Box office!



Proving the age old theory on advertising that while good products will survive and grow, (albeit slowly with a limited advertising budget), a bad product will get killed faster even with good and impactful advertising! The world of brands and films have enough examples to prove this point!





The author can be contacted on: rvrajan42@rediffmail.com or mob: 9840392082