The hype over the new seven wonders

First of all, I find the very concept of "Seven Wonders" quite idiotic. Just common sense will make you question the basis on which the very concept came about.

And then there was this media frenzy and hype about having our Taj Mahal become a Seven Wonder. What the ?

What do you gain by making that tomb a Seven Wonder? Do you think that people don't know about that monument? Any travel brochure for India, has a picture of that. All international Government representatives who visit the country are paraded there. All international sports persons are taken there for the standard photo op.

So, do you think that all this non-stop propaganda was required?

And if you even think a little bit more, you will realise that this whole exercise is the brainchild of some private trust/organisation. And its not an org' that is very well recognised. If I had the money power, I would have set up a thingy myself, got some publicity seeking celebrities (are there any other kind) to endorse my group, then hire a good marketing firm and voila, I can have another set of seven wonders poll going on.

What irked me most was the insane number of emails that were being forwarded by "Gen-I" (Gen X, Y and Z are passe. Gen-I is for the iPod generation.) was quite simply mind-blowing. It amazes me that people who pass all kinds of aptitude tests involving so much of logic and maths, are unable to comprehend the simple fact that this whole initiative is stupid.

And ultimately, the only probable entity that could have given a stamp of approval for the whole event was UNESCO. And they have very clearly distanced themselves from this.

So, all that happened was countries - read third-world countries and border-line developed ones - that had easier access to SMS and Internet, voted en masse to the ones nominated from their country (obviously) and voila, you now have a new seven wonders list that excludes some REAL WONDERS.

If you want more details on the kind of money made by the mobile operators, the marketing groups and the organisation that started this vote campaign, please see the attached picture of an article in the Tamizh weekly KALKI.


Simple translation:
Number of SMSes polled = 1.2 Crores
Cost charged by mobile companies = Rs.3.00 per SMS (its a value service to send SMS to some special numbers)
Total = 3.6 Crore Ruppees.
The share:
Mobile companies = 75 %
Government = 15 %
The organisation conducting the survey = 10 %.

These are figures only in India. Just add all the thickly populated third-world countries and imagine the kind of money people must have made.

I hope someone somewhere does indeed wake-up and announce publicly, what a big sham this whole event is.

More details can be had in this article from today's The Hindu.