Black, white , red and more

In management there are some words / phrases that are red flags. You know those that are causes of concern and if not attended quickly can become a crisis at a later date. One such word is “Try”. Be wary of some one who promises to “try to” complete a task. A “trier” gives himself the luxury of failure because he never promises to complete the task. He gives himself a 50% chance of success and so he will accept failure because he has provisioned for it in his mind.  That is why I think that the “swoosh” and its tag line is the most inspiring line made.

I was surprised to see that the flag of the ruling party has undergone a change. From the usual two bands of black & red with the image of Anna in the centre,

 the flag has become a tricolour of black, white & red with the image of Anna in black in the white band. Also the flag is unusual considering it is a vertical flag. I wonder what caused this change or is there a new party with this flag?  

The latest expose by an online news channel has set the cat among the pigeons. This washing of money or simply converting black money to white has exposed three private sector banks, but if you dig deep the hallowed public sector banks are no angels either. Insurance is used very often to launder. The process is simple ensure multiple cash transactions up to the limit and make premium payments. Soon black becomes white.

We have fairness creams for the face, the underarms and even the privates for women and these days fairness creams for men can also be found on the store shelves. Mercifully they are for the face only till date.

The fact that they are there on the shelves leads to a fundamental question. What makes women buy them? Considering that the products for women outnumber the products for men let me start with the larger consumer group.

I repeat - what makes women buy fairness products? I can think of few possibilities and they are as follows:

• -          Pressure from the marriage market
• -          Pressure from the peer group
• -          Pressure from the men in their lives
• -          Curiosity
• -          Low self worth
• -          Just being silly
• -          To become successful
• -          To join the media
• -          To join the airlines (as claimed in one ad)
• -          To win a beauty pageant

I will leave “to look beautiful” out of this for I know that beauty has no relationship with colour despite what the marketers may want you to believe.

And for the men who believe in Fair & Handsome, I hope they wake up and stop making monkeys of themselves.

As MJ said “it don’t matter if your black or white”

Images 1,2,3,5,6,7 courtesy Google Images
4 - shot by me