The Indian budget every year has always been an eagerly awaited event. For many decades, the best minds in economics, finance, tax, business and industry throng the media house to analyze the provisions shared by the Financial Minister.
Sometimes major events completely disconnected may be data points for the plans of the different powers around the world. The challenge is to discern what purpose they serve? More critically, what are we moving towards?
When the US Ambassador threatened India's "Strategic Autonomy" policy over India's friendship with Russia - much more than meets the eye was at stake. Let us unpack how the Ukraine war has fundamentally changed the US and the world. And why are we here anyway?
JW Thompson’s WPP unit in India had created some cartoonish drawings as part of a creative exercise. These drawings showed women tied up in the back of a car. It has drawn up such uproar that not only has the agency apologized, but also fired the employees responsible for them.
They included:
One of the images depicts Silvio Berlusconi, former prime minister of Italy and a candidate in the current campaign, driving a Ford Figo with three tied-up women in the back. Another image depicts Paris Hiltondriving a Figo with what’s meant to be the threeKardashian sisters tied up in the back. A third image shows three male race-car drivers tied up in the back.
It is interesting these drawings were never shown to the top executives of the ad firm, nor chosen for the campaign. They probably got leaked and created the negativity around it.
Yes, they are distasteful, and keeping with the sensitivity around the Gang rape issue in India, quite inappropriate. But the creative folks are known to play with inappropriate subjects all the time. MF Hussain has done ample paintings which were highly inappropriate, but were passed off as “Freedom of Expression” things.
One is not denying the distasteful way these creatives were done.. but when the agency had the good sense to dump it in favor of something better, there is no reason to get over sensitive about the episode!
I think the Indian public sensitivity barometer will create a lot of ugly scenarios in the future. People have become so touchy and Politically Correct, that talking naturally may soon become a thing of the past.
The Indian budget every year has always been an eagerly awaited event. For many decades, the best minds in economics, finance, tax, business and industry throng the media house to analyze the provisions shared by the Financial Minister.
When the US Ambassador threatened India's "Strategic Autonomy" policy over India's friendship with Russia - much more than meets the eye was at stake. Let us unpack how the Ukraine war has fundamentally changed the US and the world. And why are we here anyway?
This visit of India left me with many questions. Many observations and inputs from different people and sections. Food for thought that I have tried to contemplate on and make sense of. Sharing all that with you.
When you analyze the last 60 years of the economic miracles of Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia versus the continued impoverished Indian economy, you get very interesting lessons. Can Indians have the wherewithal in them to do in one generation so that the coming generations may rise?
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