Do Films Have An Impact On Social Regressive Practices In A Society?

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 Films as a median have never really been seen as a platform that educates people but rather stays true to it’s industry name, which is the “entertainment industry”. Film makers are often not bothered by whether their films appeal to the classes because the real money making gimmick lies with masala films that attract the masses.

I personally feel that India as a nation has a huge number of movie going audience but we’re the most pretentious movie going audience at it too. I say this because while on one hand, we go on youtube and see trailers of movies that talk about socially regressive issues, on the other hand we’d prefer watching a masala film of Rohit Shetty any day over a movie made on Sati or bride buying - because the latter two issues don’t promise a happy, go lucky experience.

The concern I’ve with correlating films in India with their impact on social regressive issues is that 1) we don’t give such movies a chance. Mostly, these movies on social regressive issues are low budgeted, with no star power (rightly so) and therefore they don’t find an audience. Result is, that the director and the acting team fails to continue making such movies. Leave apart an impact on the society, the movie doesn’t even get a justified audience for viewing.

In case of big starer movies on social regressive issues like how Taare Zameen Par dealt with Dyslexia and Padman with lack of sanitary pads for women in rural India - these 2 movies definitely going people talking. But, another major problem of we as a movie going audience is that the impact of movies on us is short lived.

When Taare Zameen par came, Indian parents started to question the Indian education system and whether it in-fact failed to gauge the issues of young students and pitted them as ‘different’ to others and impacted their social skills - instead of understanding the real problem. Media started to question how students committed suicide after poor performance in board exams, even though they were dyslexic and in some cases, their own parents didn’t know or care.

But, here we are 10 years down the line and the discussion has stopped. The impact is no more to be seen. Therefore, in spite of having a movie take up social regressive issue of mental health - we’ve seen no impact because we as Indian audience have forgot.

In case of Padman, the movie aptly highlights how in a modern Indian society, we still live with a primitive mindset. Yet, the movie can never change things completely because we still are a society wherein the rural class (which makes for the majority of the Indian population) will never watch this movie because they feel it’s against their “standard” of viewing. Why would they watch a movie that talks about women’s periods and sanitary pads? And this is exactly why films in India on social regressive issues fail because the part of the population that is the most socially regressive refuses to give these movies a chance - leave apart allow an impact to be created.

At last, we must also talk about how films in India never actually become socially relevant because the censor board doesn’t allow them to. A movie like Fire suffered huge backlash when it came out, primarily because it addressed lesbian relationship between the lead actresses. The censor board often asks for cuts in scenes that can actually highlight the real realities of a socially regressive issue.

And what is it that we’re afraid of in our films? We as a cinema loving audience are deprived of hard-hitting, socially relevant cinema because film makers are worried that taking on any socially regressive issue and making a blunt film on it can lead to 1) violent protests 2) probably death threats and 3) eventual shutting down of the movie or a no-go on the release of the film. This all leading to huge losses.

Even if such a film releases, are we sure that we’re going to watch it? After all, impact is to be created by you and I - there’s no one else to do this. If you and I as a film loving audience aren’t going to give movies like Aligarh a chance, movies like Bazaar(1982 one, not 2018 one) a chance, movies like Once Again a chance - we’ll never seen movies actually creating an impact on the society. The real challenge remains to get the masses to watch such movies and that happens when big stars get involved in making films on socially regressive issues.

The first step towards solving any problem is realizing there is one. We as an audience should change because our times are modern and therefore our thinking need not be primitive. It’s time to watch movies on socially regressive issues and talk about them, discuss on them, go to social media and post about them- initiate a change and then definitely, movies will have an impact on socially regressive issues.

The above therefore I feel is the crux of why films do not have an impact on socially regressive issues.

#CelebratingSuper : What WE Citizens are doing to make Delhi a better place

https://www.vodafone.in/home-delhi

Closing in are the people of Delhi to winters and also to the nightmarish situation of waking up early in the morning with positive upbeat energy, only to be disheartened to see a gloomy sky and the surrounding polluted with dust particles and therefore hazardous air to breathe – surely not a great way to start the mornings.

It is to be noted here that Delhi in the last 5 years especially has become a mega polluted city; the situation was still a little better till few years back. The reason I mention this is because I’ve been in Delhi for the last 20 years and some people tend to see Delhi as a city that has always been high on pollution – which is WRONG.

 Currently, Delhi does find itself under extreme crisis. The desperate situation needs desperate measures and WE – all those living in Delhi need to come together and find this problem that faces us today and should it not be dealt with, it’s going to trouble the generation next as well.

Some initiatives that are trying to make Delhi a better place : -

1)      Cab Sharing: a key part of Delhi’s pollution is a contribution of the sheer no. of cards on the roads. It is a sad reality that Delhi has become a place where families very commonly have 2 or more cars in their home. This problem cannot be solved easily but the positive though by the youngster especially in the city, to go green and opt for cab sharing (cab pooling) is a great step to bring down the no. of cards on the road. Surely, it’s not the only step to be taken to eradicate pollution but it is a very key step.

2)      Society Steps : it’s very rightly said that charity becomes at home and it’s probably apt to say too that change begins at home and around home. To take the example of my own apartment,  our society’s maintenance team along with the residents decided this Diwali to not burn crackers and put notices up regarding the same. Further, every Sunday is cleaning day wherein every resident is supposed to clean the dust surrounding their home – failing to do so, asks for a penalty of Rs2000.

The great sight to see during the cleaning process is how young kids, just aged 5-6 years old taking part in the cleanthon and realizing how important it is to keep the surroundings clean. This habit is definitely a great way to inculcate the value of a clean India, so that they can protect our Delhi NCR in the coming years.

What are brands like Vodafone doing?

There’s 2 no-ways about it, what the biggest of the brands in our country do to curb pollution depends, it counts. It’s great to note that Vodafone as a company has come forward to take steps to ensure a cleaner and less polluted Delhi NCR.

To give an idea of how big a brand Vodafone is; it caters to almost 1.2 crore customers in Delhi NCR and is said to receive a new customer almost every 30 seconds.
Vodafone has curated more than 120 hotspots in Delhi NCR, which includes DelhiHaat, Khan Market, Airport etc.

A revolutionizing bus-stop : courtesy Vodafone

Vodafone’s biggest step to the welfare of people in Delhi-NCR comes in the form of air-purifying bus shelter in Gurgaon. The bus shelter also has a wifi hotspot, which can be used for 20 minutes, even by those who are not on a Vodafone network. This is truly a step that turns a brand from just a company that tends to highlights not only on profit making but welfare of customers and such brands are the ones that truly grow, courtesy of customer’s trust and faith.

So, this coming new year – let us come together as people of Delhi NCR and take more such steps to eradicate the problem of pollution in our state, in our city and ensure that we live a more cleaner, a more natural-friendly and a more comfortable space for our children to live and breathe in. 

#CleanUpCashOut Cashify : The revolutionary way to sell off your old mobiles and laptops

https://www.cashify.in/

How Gabbar sells his old gadget of Cashify #CleanUpCashOut :-

Gadgets as we know are extremely fun to buy when you’re looking at all the possible options and as is often the case; the more expensive the gadget, more features it comes packed with. However, gadgets are an item that depreciates in value and therefore when we have to eventually sell an expensive gadget – mobiles or laptops after using them for a few years, the misery of selling it for a reasonable price is something that we’ve all gone through.

I had a peculiar incident myself when I was trying to sell of my Karbonn Titanium S1 mobile – 4.5 inch screen, 1.4 ghz processor, working conditions and absolutely fine running. I used the mobile for 3 years and decided in 2016 that it was time to sell it off.

I was very excited as I had bought the mobile for 9,000 and believed that it’ll easily go for 1500-2000, since mobiles with same specs are going at over 5,000+ in the market. However, I was in for a rough ride in selling off this mobile.

I went to the mobile shop closest to me and asked them to give the mobile a look and they did. One of the workers of the shop took a good 10-15 minutes look at the mobile and it’s operation and reverted to me “sir, it’s working fine, we’ll take it”.

I got excited and said “great! How much for this”?

And the worker replied “sir, 5 mei done karein (should we settle at 5)? I got shocked, I thought 5,000 for an old phone. Geez, that’s a surprise”.

I replied “5 mein, pkka naa” (5, are you sure)?

He said “haan sir (yes sir), 5 is genuine for this”.

I said “alright, DEAL”.

The worker gave the mobile to his owner and told him the amount that was to be given to me in a low sound voice. I went to the owner, who sat in the front of the shop and he looked at me, smiled.

He completed the formalities and as I expected crisp cash of 5000 worth, the owner handed me just one note of Rs500.

I stood there for a few seconds and asked, “sir, baaki ka” (sir, the rest)?

The owner looked at me and said, “itna hee to hai, aur kitna” (this is it, how much more)?

I replied, “sir your employee told me the price at 5.”

The owner laughed and said “beta (son), 5 means 500 not 5000”. You thought this mobile will go for that high?

And well, I could say nothing more. I said sir, is this the final price – any increase possible and the owner told me in detail why he wont pay me anymore, neither will any other shop.

In a nutshell, this is what happens when you sell to a shop and not to a trustworthy source.

My trip to the nearest mobile shop to sell a well working smartphone was more of a comic ride rather than a pleasant, money-making one.

However, things have changed now.

Cashify, which is regarded as the quickest way to sell off old mobiles and laptops has made life a lot easier for people that are looking to make money of their gadgets that are working but not needed by them anymore.

Cashify gives you an instant quote, with smooth selling of your item because of on-door pickup and upon verification of device, it gives instant payment. It’s truly a revolutionary way to sell your old gadgets.

All my readers using Cashify for the first time can use the code “CLEANCASH” to get additional Rs250 cashback on their first sale through Cashify. 

Royal Atmos : Curbing indoor air pollution royally

https://www.asianpaints.com/atmos

Living in the 21^st century sure does has it’s advantages and frequently we tend to highlight how today’s generation is perhaps the luckiest to be witnessing some terrific inroads in the world of tech and insurmountable growth in various sectors but it’s this century that has had it’s fair share of problems – in terms of how we’re living on one hand in a modernistic world and on the other, the surroundings we live in couldn’t be more life-threatening.

Global warming is a massive world issue that has seen a sense of crisis management being indulged into by world leaders but in our day to day life we go through the immensely harmful pollution – and no, not just outdoors. For some reason, there’s this perception that air pollution only exists outdoors but it’s in fact a fact that air pollution exists as much in our homes, as it does outdoors.

The question then arises, what are the sources that cause Air Pollution – Indoors?

Tobacco Smoke : it’s a fact that smoking is injurious to your health and quite gravely too. Every pack of smoke inside your home can lead to it’s harmful air not just affecting you but also your family members and visitors to your home. You’re essentially increasing indoor air pollution with every cigarette that you smoke.

Can wrong paint used in construction also cause Air Pollution?

Yes, it absolutely can and below are the reasons why : -

·         Dust mites : whenever we clean our house, we need to ensure that we are completely eradicating dust and not just merely shaking it off in the air, only to have it damage our breathing capacity . Cleaning via vacuum cleaners is ideal to properly get dust mites cleared off your homes.

·         Asbestos : in layman’s term, it is a material that is used while our homes are constructed. This is usually found in coating and paints that are used in the construction of every home and therefore no house can be labelled as “safe” from indoor air pollution.

Definitely now you know how lethal using the wrong paint in construction of your house can be. But, worry not. IT’s rightly said that world’s best companies always spend to improve lives of their customers, with all other business aspects aside – customer needs comes first. Royal Atmos from AsianPaints is just a perfect example of how a company is doing it’s best to improve the air quality indoors.

The Royal Atmos is a revolutionary paint that not only decorates your home and makes it look beautiful. But, additionally; it also contributes to purifying the air inside your home – to make you live without the fear of damaging breathing capability and damaging your family’s health.

What are the consequences of impure air inside our homes?

Ah, great question, right! Why should we use only Royal Atmos while we build our dream home? It’s a legit question and let’s answer that.

The consequences of using any other paint will lead to indoor air pollution, the affects of which are : -

·         Lung Cancer : a common consequence of having not taken precaution and lived in extremely hazardous air quality that tends to damage the lung and make it increasingly harder to breathe. It’s no doubt that an investment in protecting our lungs cannot be put a price upon.

·         Lead : if lead is found in home, it can be extremely threatening to life and is also said to cause brain cancer. Further, it may also damage kidney & anemia.

·         Formaldehyde : a common air pollutant found inside our homes, this is probably something that we’ve all probably already gone through. Ever felt like your throat is hurting or your eyes are burning after cleaning dust! Well, this is caused by formaldehyde and can also lead to cancer.

There it is, a few but very powerful reasons as to why you must not avoid air pollution inside your home but rather invest in a paint like Royal Atmos while constructing your home to ensure that you do not damage your health.

Some others measures to curb air pollution are :-

·         Filter the air : currently in the news a lot and used by a small minority of people but probably going to become popular real soon, air purifiers are a good way to curb indoor air pollution. It is however  a necessity to change the air purifiers filter(s) after every 3 months to continue it’s strong impact.

·         Don’t burn garbage inside or around your home : it’s a devastating practice to burn garbage as the air that emerges from it is extremely barbaric to our health and damages our breathing capability. It’s a BIG NO-NO.

·         Choose your paint well : not many people know this but paints usually contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) that over the time tends to damage the health to a large extent. Ensuring that you use the right paint HINT-HINT (AsianPaint’s Royal Atmos).