Read this piece in Gujarati here

Ahmedabad, 29 September 2012

Gujarat Congress recalls its TV advertisement CDs

Recently, Gujarat Congress sent Gujarati news TV channels a video of 10 to 15 minutes duration for broadcasting. In this video a play was performed in which the protagonist was in the getup of Narendra Modi. The co-actors were shown in the getup of Modi’s ministers Anandiben Patel, Saurabh Patel and others. In many Congress organizes rallies, this play is performed on the stage in presence of state leaders before the rally kicks off. Gujarat Congress submitted CDs of this play to Gujarati news TV Channels for broadcasting. Well, it is a different matter that no channel was ready to release the video even in exchange of payment on commercial rate. Lately Congress leaders realized that airing this video would not be proper. As per the information available to me at this stage they have asked TV channels to return the CDs.

Lessons from the first appearance in the court ……. and from the 10th appearance

You should have just seen the atmosphere of the court compound when Tarun Barot was brought there after being taken into custody by CBI. Barot’s supporters were present there in huge numbers. And the court room was so jam packed that there was no place left for even a single more person in the court room.

When the advocate of CBI presented arguments in the favour of Barot, the crowd in the court room applauded him. But the Judge showed displeasure. When disregarding CBI’s five-day remand request, the Judge ordered two days of remand to Tarun Barot, the audience applauded that decision too but Barot appealed them to keep calm. Outside the courtroom, the gathered crowd was raising slogans like, “CBI Down Down”. At that time the police cordon had to provide special protection to the advocate of CBI Ejaz Khan and his team members else they would have faced problem leaving the court campus.

All this sounds interesting and pleasant, isn’t it? But wait for a moment and read ahead. We have witnessed this scenario before, haven’t we? Exercise your memory and you will remember that the same has happened at the time of DG Vanzara or Maya Kodnani. But in the later hearings, no crowd gathered and no slogans were raised. It was all normal and peaceful.

Yesterday when Barot was presented in front of the court after two days of remand, comparatively fewer supporters were present. From the next hearing onwards the number of supporters will decrease gradually. And after some hearings, only Barot’s family member will remain present in the court and all other supporters will be busy in their own lives.

It is a lesson for life that we take our family members for granted when we are busy with work. But when you are hospitalized or in jail or in such difficult phase of life, not your colleagues but your family members take care of you.

Our parents, children, spouse always stand by us in all calamities. May it be Tarun Barot or DG Vanzara, their family members will remain present even in the 100th hearing. In the difficult time, in most cases we are left alone and at this time we realize who really care for us. Friends, these dear ones are our family members.

National media’s ‘speak Hindi’ prompt, and Shankersinh’s reaction

“Speak in Hindi”, “Speak in Hindi” is the first reaction from the Hindi channel reporters as soon as the Gujarati leaders start addressing press conferences in Gujarati.

Enticed by publicity at national level, most of the times the leaders change their language of communication. But it seems like the leaders have enough of this dictation. Arjun Modhwadia called a press conference on Thursday to release the eighth election promise. Towards the end of the conference, he was busy giving sound bites to the channels to announce the promises made to the farmers of Gujarat. The moment he started speaking, someone from the media crowd commented aloud, “speak in Hindi”. Irritated Modhwadia replied, “do the farmers understand Hindi? Let me first finish in Gujarati and later we’ll see about Hindi.”

Shankarsingh Vaghela was even more courageous than Modhwadia in confronting the Hindi media. He was asked about CBI during a press conference and he too was answering well. But at that time someone again raised voice “Speak in Hindi”. Shankarsingh Bapu wittily replied, “Draw a line above whatever I speak in Gujarati.” And then he passed the mike to Modhwadia. The conference burst into laughter. Notably, we draw a line above letters while writing in Hindi.

Modi loves to get national attention and that is why if the reporters from national TV channels if request him, he alters the language of communication to Hindi. Such gesture is ofcourse criticized in the gathering behind his back. Once when someone demanded “speak in hindi” in a conference addressed by Keshubhai Patel, he threw a question to Gujarati TV reporters, “Why don’t you emphasize on “Speak in Gujarati” just like them?”

The guy who entertained Boman Irani in Amdavad!

On Saturday morning I again met my favorite actor Boman Irani. This time at NID campus. Boman was here to attend the international convention of school children on the theme of ‘Be the change’. Meeting Boman has always been a treat, but this time I had more pleasure meeting Mr. Candle from Taiwan. This Mr. Candle loves circus and plans to write a book on circus. For last some times he has a whim to stand on his hands and walk. So Mr. Candle entered the auditorium and passing through the audience he came to the stage of NID auditorium walking on his hands. And in his presentation, we saw how he managed to photograph himself in front of the number of places in the world in upside-down position. Some circus tricks performed by Mr. Candle were outstanding, especially because the way he performed them. In Gujarati we describe such people as ‘ghan chakkar’, and in English, perhaps ‘crack’ is the perfect word to describe Mr. Candle in one word. The great entertainer Boman Irani was very much entertained by Mr. Candle.

And here is the new ‘Khushbu Gujarat Ki’ TV ad on Ambaji

The Amitabh Bachchan starer, brand new TV advertisements of “Khushboo Gujarat Ki” haven’t gone on air yet. Though these advertisements were recently shown at a pre-event organized by tourism sector of Vibrant Gujarat Summit at hotel Pride in Ahmedabad. The bunch of advertisements does not include the ad shot at Khadia for the promotion of Uttarayan. But I have got all the other ads in a DVD and I take pleasure in presenting them in front of my audience. Today, I am releasing only one Ad on Ambaji, keeping in mind the Ambaji mahamela season of the month of Bhadarwo. One thing to be noted in this advertisement is that it features Piyush Pandey. This ad maker is shown performing pooja in this advertisement. Pandey ji, who always prefer working behind the curtains have chosen to appear in the video is indeed a rare event. The entire Khushboo Gujarat Ki campaign is designed by Piyush Pandey. I am splitting the coconut as the mark of releasing the first glimpse of new Khushboo Gujarat Ki campaign. Enjoy!