Indian TV ads reviewed - #001 - Bisleri

I am referring to this ad

The ad attempts a twist on the the tag-line/catch-phrase of staying protected with Bisleri.
The thought of doing the twist is good, otherwise the ad would have been quite plain.
But I didn't like the execution.
I wasn't sure if the setting was Arabic (the men looked like ancient Mughals) or Chinese (the dragon was clearly Mongoloid and the paintings shown at the start of the ad looked Chinese).

I didn't like the ad, but didn't hate it either.

P.S.: Yes, I have started reviewing ads. 

What happens when candle light passes through a glass of water?

A smiley is formed on the table!



This was observed during the great dinner I had at Residency Towers' Crown Restaurant.

Mysore-Madikeri Vacation May 2008: Part 6

It was getting quite late by the time we set out to the Brindavan Gardens. The road that we took to reach the Gardens was filled with vehicles and it was quite obvious that a very sizeable portion of the traffic was headed where we were going.

Since the traffic was getting heavier, our driver decided that he had to do all he could to ensure that his passengers saw the dancing fountains at the appointed time. The entire stretch of road from Mysore city to Brindavan Gardens was just an assorted collection of potholes. But this didn’t deter the noble intentions of our driver to take us to the show on time. He started to overtake vehicles from the left. Sometimes he even started driving on the right hand side of the road just to pass some 3 or 4 cars in front of us. I was having a ring-side view of the action since I was seated in the front, next to the driver.

He didn’t care for potholes; of course, if he started to, then we would have reached the Gardens only the next morning. By the time we neared the Gardens, it was clear that the parking lot was full. Cars had come out to the road and there were even big buses waiting on the main road. Our driver decided to drop us near the entrance and then go somewhere for parking. Luckily, he got a slot in the lot near the entrance and we proceeded towards the Gardens. By now, it was past twilight and officially night.

Once inside the Gardens, I was able to relate to most of the fountains. It was an area full of Patel Points and I joined in the fun. At some point during our walk in the Gardens, my mother made the comment “Idhu atthanaiyyum enga oorukku vara vaendiya thanni…paavigala….” (“All this water has to flow to my town you sinners”). Considering the general Karnataka-TN political water wars it was quite a bold statement to be made at Brindavan Gardens. Thankfully, the place is filled only with tourists and I am assuming that barely 10% of it would have been Kannadigas and even those would be the ones who don’t know Tamizh.

So without any incidents, we were able to proceed with our walk around the Gardens. Since it was getting late, we couldn’t stay back to enjoy the Garden some more. After we came out, we had to wait for nearly 15-20 minutes for Raji. She had also come there with her friends, but was on the other side of the Gardens. It took her and Mahendran that long on the phone to sort out their co-ordinates (with some help from me too). We then took off towards Mysore to have dinner and then officially wrap up the day.

After another exciting drive, we dropped Uthra and co. at their residence. We went back to the same restaurant where we had lunch. But now, we had to wait for a while before we got a table. My parents and even Mahendran to a certain extent had a quick nap in this gap. Raji joined us late since her friend took a wrong turn on the return and it took them a while to retrace their path in the darkness.

So after an arduous day (at least for my parents), we finally returned to our hotel. We planned to start a little late in the morning next day, with the main (and probably sole) agenda being the visit to Somnathpur. This was because I wanted to leave Mysore in the afternoon, so that we could avoid driving in the mountain route to Madikeri at night. The additional factor was also that my room was booked only for one day and I thought I could get a free hour or two before I check-out of the hotel. Unfortunately the hotel guys had other ideas.

Road Trip to Vaitheeswaran Kovil - Part 5 ::: Unwinding at the hotel

While checking in at Hotel Sampoorna, I reminded the guy at the desk about the extra bed. When my mother had confirmed the booking 2 days earlier, she did tell the guy that there were going to be 3 of us and so we would need an extra bed. The person who spoke to her had said that they would provide that at an additional cost.

So, I reminded this guy about the extra bed. He coolly replied that they don't have extra bed. I told him about the phone conversation and he said that their hotel doesn't stock extra beds, only extra bedsheets. Apparently, when they say extra bed over the phone, they actually mean bed sheet.

The worst part, he was going to charge me 100 bucks extra for that one extra bed sheet! I got upset and asked him about the availability of a bigger room. He said there was a family room with 4 beds and would cost 200 rupees more than the room I'd booked. I instantly took that room.

We walked up to the first floor - not because we were full of energy or too health conscious, we had no other option since the hotel only had stairs and no lift - and entered our room.

The room was pretty good in size. The beds were very neat. The A/C was Blue Star. The attached bathroom looked very clean, though the water closet was Indian and not European. There was even a small TV in the room. The 2 double beds were quite big too. For Rs.770 + tax, it came across as a fair deal.

My parents decided to rest. We made quick plans that in the evening, we would first set out to the local temple and then go to Chidambaram temple. But at some point or the other, it was clear that I would have had to drive in the twilight or even later. Based on my earlier experience on that route earlier in the day, I was quite convinced that I shouldn't be driving my car.

I enquired with the hotel reception and booked a local cab operator to take us there and return. Once this was decided, I decided to take a stroll around the hotel to buy some packaged water. You must be informed that I had set out on this trip in my cargos and I'd not changed them.

So while I walked around the main road of Sirkazhi in my cargos, you can rest assured that I got quite a lot of stares from the local residents. I am used to hot girls staring at me in Chennai (sic), but there was no such entity in this town. Every person on the road, in the shops, in the bus, in some vehicle... anyone and everyone did a double take looking at me. I cannot attribute it to any factor other than my cargos.

Anyway, I bought the water and returned to the room. Updated my parents about the proximity of the Sirkazhi temple and confirmed our evening plans. Then I had a minor siesta for 30-40 minutes.

Around 4.15 PM, we all started getting ready for our evening trip to the Sirkazhi temple and later on, to Chidambaram.

Oxymoron

I rest my case.

Chennai water

You know what? This Chennai water is not going well with me.
Considering that I am from the Thaamirabarani belt, its difficult to imagine how Chennai citizens are able to put up with this liquid that they have to call water.
:-D