Sunday, April 06, 2008

Random Observation # 038

There are many many competitions going on around us, sponsored by an assortment of companies in various media. Some are purely driven by luck, some with just talent and some with just luck masked in the form of talent.

In most of these competitions, there are rules. One of the standard ones is about the age of the participants. You are expected to be at least 18 years old to participate.

This is true not just of competitions, but also of few fundamental rights we have as citizens of India. For example, the right to vote for an individual who is not less than 18 years, is specified through this 61st amendment to the Indian Constitution.

Anyways, of late, I am seeing an ad on TV for a program that tests the skills of an individual and see if he/she is brighter than a 5th standard student. One of the things that's mentioned in the ad is "If you are 18 years and above, please dial....".

My question is - how can someone be 18 years old and also be above 18 years old? If you are 19 years old, then you are NOT 18 years old, which means you cannot participate in the competition. If you are 18 years old, then you are NOT above 18 years old, which also means that you cannot participate in the competition. So is there someone who can participate at all?

I am sure that this is not the only competition that has a similar rule. Shouldn't they all rephrase it to "If you are 18 years or above..."? Or at least, they should follow the text in the constitution that says "... not less than 21...".

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