Saturday, February 20, 2010

Save the Tiger... Crap....

SAVE THE TIGER, 1411 LEFT……WHAT A CRAP.

Hahahhaha… I would have loved to see the expression on your face. Yup. You. The readers of this blog. Now don’t jump to conclusion that I am a cynic. I do become one… sometimes. But now I am not being one. Ok. It’s a very subjective opinion of mine (that’s the beauty of a subjective opinion that nobody can question you….hehehe)…that this campaign is a CRAP. Waste. Useless. Zero on ROI (Return On Investment). Mind you not for the company who made this campaign or the company sponsoring this campaign but for the TIGERS.

This campaign is a hit. No doubt. Everybody just went gaga over it. Awesome campaign. All people seemed to have noticed it (I wonder how many poachers noticed it). The topic is gaining attention like a biggest scandal of the country. (It will even die its natural death like one). People are discussing it during casual dinners and lunch and even tea breaks. It has stirred a emotional cord in peoples mind. And then how can discussions on the virtual world be far behind?? Lots of blogs written on the subject. The topic gaining popularity on twitter and Facebook. The campaign must have done wonders for the sponsors (Aircell) in building the overall brand image. Also the campaign may go ahead to win some never heard of advertising award. The Cub (shown in the ad)… I guess named stripey or stripty, has become the favorite among the crowds (So sad that he/she wont ever know). I guess I may be the only one writing a bit negative about the whole affair. (If anyone out there has same feelings… do reach out… I am so deprived of like minded peoples)

BUT. Here comes some different angle to the whole story. Will this whole awareness drive actually save the Tigers?? I guess not. Tigers will go down. (I don’t want them to… but they will). Poachers just won’t stop by reading this saddening figure of 1411. By the way.. How did they get to this edgy figure? One thousand four hundred and eleven only. Didn’t even leave those eleven tigers to count. From when did our officials became so efficient.. and that too in jungles??? Great. Rather very fishy

So I was saying that the poachers just won’t stop by looking at the figure of 1411. The Cub shown in the ad will surely get shot when he/she grows old. But may be not with a digital SLR camera… But may be with a double barrel long range hunting rifle. Does the campaign tell us how a common man can actually contribute to saving the tiger??? NO. Even if it did… it would not have mattered. You know why. Because nobody is bothered about it. Reaching out the message of depleting number of tigers to a common man just won’t help. Common man is not able to organize efforts to save human life (from terrorism, train travels, road accidents, farmer suicides etc) Saving a Tiger is out of question. Now anyways a common man in the first place should not have the onus of saving the Tiger. I will tell you why.
I myself am a common man. Now the government of India each year spends huge amount of money to conduct entrance exams across the country for the higher posts in various administrative offices like say an IAS officer. Intelligent people clear the exams. Then further they go through other stages of filtering to bring out the best of the best men. The cream crowd. They are recruited at administrative heads of various departments mostly with a fat salary. And also the other privileges enjoyed by Government employee of that level. They can make things happen in terms of administration. Still this campaign expects a common man like me (a salaried employee in a private company who hardly has any time left beyond earning his living and working towards a better future) to react to the campaign and save the tigers. Great. Bravo.

Now the hysteria created on internet by many is also the biggest crap I have come across. Writing blogs or raising the issue again and again. Only discussions. Its very easy to write about saving the tigers on net. And propagating it. You just have to go through some few sites reading about SAVING THE TIGERS. Then vomiting the same thing… raw and fresh on the same virtual world. And height of it all is... people start thinking themselves as responsible citizens to have raised this issue and discussing it.(even if on net) They feel proud to have contributed in national effort in saving the tigers. Hahahaha. Now that’s a real CRAP.

The first step of saving the tigers would start in the forests or jungles of India. In the black markets along the borders where the tiger skin is traded. In the AC conference halls where meetings of top level administrative officers takes place. In the small rooms of our special task forces where strategy to stop poaching is being chalked out.
The Campaign running across our TV, hoardings, radio, and internets can stir them up a bit. But does the Aircell campaign really tell us what steps have been implemented to save the figure of 1411??? But till the time there is no action being taken… I would really love to see this fake concerns among people on net about the Tiger protection to not show itself. Why are people not concerned about Rhino, king Cobra, cruelty towards dogs, sheep’s or any other animals? Concern about tiger is concern towards ecology. But how many of us showing concern towards tigers actually have concern towards ecology??? Do we recycle paper? Do we minimize the use of printers? Do we print on both sides of a paper? Do we switch off lights; turn off taps, wherever and whenever possible to conserve energy. Minimize waste by proper disposal of garbage. If answer to many such questions is NO… then the concern to save Tigers is FAKE. Nothing but a pure mass hysteria. Successful mass hysteria by a successful CRAP campaign.

Let’s see if our grand children will see any tiger in real??? Interesting question... Isn’t it???

6 comments:

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  2. I completely agree to what you said Bidhan.. There are many things which we choose to neglect & when the problems arise we blame each other.

    I think its high time we start thinking abt problems like Electricity, water shortage, pollution etc & take steps to prevent it much b4 it worsens & gets out of our hands..

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  5. Just repeating myself!


    we all know that india is a "soft state"
    I think talking about the issue will make govt take notice. "pressure groups" will be created. i think that you are underestimating the power of the common man(if we can all concentrate efforts, whicch is no way an easy task). atleast talking about it is a great way to mount this pressure!

    awareness is the 1st step. lets not stop at it!
    ppl have the power eg: BT Brinjal decision deferred coz of mounting pressure!
    policies will be formed if ppl push for it and surely will follow the implementation like a research institute is being set up to test GM effect on human health coz of Brinjal issue!

    your suggestion is absolutely valid. Fear is an effective tool.

    discussion, consensus, pressure will bear fruit. lets not judge the initiative so early. great movements have been sparked by small gestures!
    like Black movt in US started coz a black woman, Rosa parks, denied white man a seat she was sitting on in a bus!!

    I hope this translates in to action!
    Its never fails, until it really fails!

    read Sena should "Save the Tiger".






    thanks!

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  6. @ Ajit...
    Great answer to a cynic like me. I see that u have done ur home work very well. Specially the pressure group wala point was mind blowing. I liked it.

    I know that all this hype abt saving the tiger is awesome.. at any level. Even at micro level. I myself support it. Thats the reason i wrote this blog.. and also commented on it. I was just having fun by giving all together a different angle to this.Its kind of reverse psychology.Bingo.
    As simple as that.

    But one thing is for sure. I am fed of people creating hype just for the heck of it. The pressure group that you mentioned ACT. In some sort or the other. As u said rightly.. they make the government take notice and make laws or changes in law. What Aircel is doing is awesome. But the drive actually needs fund, manpower, initiative. But commenting endlessly on this topic without actually effect wont help.I find people saying right things and not sticking to it. Or not acting.. becoz it does not harm them directly. Like this Tiger issue. No one will get harmed directly. (now don't start on imbalance that will be created in ecology and national pride and all... I know that). As I have written in my blog, the fake concern on cyber space is what i am opposing.

    If I find a person who actually has donated something to this campaign to raise money for saving tiger, I salute him/her. All other,"Take a chill"

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