Archives October 2013

Advertising a collective term for public announcements, designed to promote the sale of specific products or services. Advertising is a form of mass selling employed when the use of direct, person-to-person selling is impractical, impossible, or simply inefficient. It is to be distinguished from other activities, intended to persuade the public, such as propaganda, publicity, and public relations. Advertising techniques range in complexity from the publishing of simple notices in the classified-advertising columns of newspapers to integrated marketing communications, involving the concerted use of advertising in newspapers, magazines, television, and radio, as well as direct response, sales promotion and other communications vehicles in the course of a single campaign. Advertising falls into two main categories: consumer advertising, directed to the ultimate purchaser, and trade (or business-to-business) advertising, in which the appeal IN made to business users through trade journals and other media. Both consumer and trade advertising employ many specialized more...

India is a country of many diversities. India has a hierarchical caste system in the society. Within Indian culture, whether in the north or the south, Hindu or Muslim, urban or village, virtually all things, people, and groups of people are ranked according to various essential qualities. If one is attuned to the theme of hierarchy in India, one can discern it everywhere. Although India is a political democracy, in daily life there is little advocacy of or adherence to notions of equality. Caste systems in India and caste like groups—those quintessential groups with which almost all Indians are associated—are ranked. Within most villages or towns, everyone knows the relative rankings of each locally represented caste, and people's behavior toward one another is constantly shaped by this knowledge. Between the extremes of the very high and very low castes, however, there is sometimes disagreement on the exact relative ranking of more...

'Women are either goddesses or doormats', this legendary saying by Simone de Beauvoir, in her work called The Second Sex (1949) becomes very relevant in the way they are being tormented, molested and raped, now-a-days. Violence towards women is on the rise. And when someone courageous amongst them voices her interests and pains, the antediluvian, orthodox patriarchy opposes it with full force. Recently, when Eve Ensler came to India with her Obie award winning play, 'The Vagina Monologues,' it was immediately banned in Chennai and there were wide protests in Mumbai and Delhi. This was due to the word ‘Vagina' in its title which actually made its staging difficult. Though it is known to very few, that vagina means 'sheath for a sword' (a Greek word). The Feminist movement which started way back in the 14th century with the writings of Chaucer, has come a long way The Modernist thoughts more...

From time immemorial, India has been a centre for learning. Thousands o fyears ago, great scholars used to teach through the scriptures. A variety ofsubjects such as philosophy, religion, medicine, literature, drama and arts, astrology, mathematics and sociology were taught and masterpieces on these subjects have been written. Under the Buddhist influence, education was available to virtually everyone who wanted it and some world famous institutions arose out of the monasteries, such as Nalanda, Vikramshila and Takshashila (now in Pakistan). Nalanda is especially noteworthy, flourishing from 5thto 13th century AD. It had at one time about ten thousand resident students and teachers on its roll, which included Chinese, Sri Lankan, Korean and other interactional scholars. During the 11th century, the Muslims established elementary and secondary, schools, "Madrassahs" or colleges and even universities at cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Allahabad, using Arabic mostly as the medium of instruction. During the medieval more...

Our economic development is emerging by leaves and bound. It all began with the long journey of single step and miles. Before the advent of the British rule, India had a self-sufficient, village-based economic system pre- dominated by agriculture and handicrafts. The manufacturing industry was confined to making of agricultural tools and implements, utensils, weapons and jewellery. The Britishers had their vested interest. Initially they were interested in the loot and plunder of the country but finally they looked upon India for their further aim. During the 200 years of British rule the land of plenty was reduced to a land of hunger and misery. But the challenge of the removal of poverty was taken up immediately after independence in the shape of five-year plans. We have tried to highlight the fact that our country's economy is in full swing. It is transition from poverty to plenty. The process of more...

One of the great themes pervading Indian life is social interdependence. People are born into groups—families, clans, subcastes, castes, and religious communities—and live with a constant sense of being part of an inseparable from these groups. A corollary is the notion that everything a person does properly involves interaction with other people. A person's greatest dread, perhaps, is the possibility of being left alone, without social support, to face the necessary challenges of life. This sense of interdependence is extended into the theological realm: the very shape of a person's life is seen as being greatly influenced by divine beings with whom relationship must be maintained. Social interaction is regarded as being of the highest priority in Indian families, and social bonds are expected to be long lasting. Even economic activities that might in Western culture involve impersonal interactions are in India deeply embedded in a social nexus. All social more...

Like footprints on a beach, every age leaves its mark in the form of art that further serves not just as a remembrance of the time gone by but also-as a foundation for the generation to come. Literature, as a whole, asserts the right to mirror the society or the age of which it is a product. While it exhibits the subtle make up of human heart, at the same time it presents before us the intricate workings of human mind that formed history and shaped the future. Driving the vehicle of humour, irony and satire, it span time and often transports the reader's gullible mind to traverse lands in ages that once brimmed with life. While history verifies facts, literature glorifies them with a play of words and binds the readers in its spell. Be it Victorian comprise, illustrating the fusion of science and religion, or Pope's satirical yet more...

What exactly is happiness and what can engender it? Though it is defined as the condition of being content, different people may have their own ideas of happiness. It is commonly thought of as having a lot of money, power, or fame. But can these things actually make people happy? Happiness is actually more than what most people think it is. It can be mysterious and elusive, sought after by many, but not gained by all. Happiness resides not in transient possessions or gold, but instead in the conviction that we are loved. Happiness, which is often thought of as a fairly simple concept, is actually more than what people assume it is. Although this natural mood or feeling is desired by numerous people, it is very elusive and therefore, for some, extremely difficult to obtain. Happiness is frequently sought after but not gained. Though not everybody accepts the utilitarian more...

Within this world that we live on, there is an enormous amount of people. Each of these people belongs to different cultures and societies. Every society has traits and customs that make it unique. These societies follow different moral codes. This means that they may have different answers to the moral questions asked by our own society. What I am trying to say is that every society has a different way of analyzing and dealing with life's events, because of their cultural beliefs. This is claim is known as Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism is the correct view of ethics. To continue with the subject of murder, there are many questions about murder that our own society faces. Within our own society there are conflicting views on topics such as abortion, capital punishment and, euthanasia. To some these acts are considered to be murder, to others they are necessary to our more...

Liberalisation and globalisation are the catchwords that we assume will lead our country to its pinnacle of success. Such is the euphoria that very often we fail to look at the missing links. This is particularly evident with respect to the working class women of India whose problems and grievances generally go unheard. And further, universalisation tends to gloss over a mass of very vital differences, which are highly relevant in determining the position of women. The negation of their position becomes apparent in the way we treat women worker's double burden of both housework and economic activities. In fact, policy makers at the macro level do not have a realistic perception of the household, and so consequently, the true impact of policies is not identified. Their policies are simply governed by economic parameters which assume that women make only a marginalised contribution to the economy. Only when women form more...