BECAUSE, THE STREETS ARE FILLED WITH IDIOTS











Most of us have heard this story in our school days.


There was this blind man. Whenever he had to go out in the night, he would always carry with him a lantern. This would leave the onlookers puzzled. One day, a group of young- men looked at this strange sight and tried to poke fun at the blind-man. “You are anyway blind and can't see anything,” they chided, “Whom are you carrying your lantern for?”


“I am carrying it for you, my friends,” the blind-man replied; “It may help you see a blind-man walking in the darkness!”


“Because, the streets are filled with idiots.” This is the message of the popular ad from CEAT-tyres. A young-man is walking in a busy, traffic-infested street. He is lost in his own world – with his right hand, he is driving the pram… A little baby is inside it…His left hand has pressed a cell-phone to his ear and he is lost in talking… completely blind to the reality around him… He elbows out walker-byes, blind and insensitive to their reactions… Then, right in that busy street, all lost in his own world, this man – this ‘idiot – takes a right turn… And, we hear that screeching sound! The motor-bike man has just been able to bring his tyres to a halt… yes, just a heartbeat away! There is shock on his face, there is a killing silence… and, it has almost taken the breath away from us, the viewers…  


The highpoint of this amazing ad is the reaction of our blind young-man… With the most insensitive eyes, he stares at the frozen biker and yells, “Abhe, andha hai kya?”


CEAT knows that our streets are filled with idiots of the first order… Hence, it reminds us that it has built those tyres with safe-and-solid grip…


Yes, the tyres with safe-and-solid grip are built to save you from the idiots on the streets…


The lantern is to save you from the idiots, too…


There are two kinds of blind-men in this world: those who carry the lantern in the darkness… and, those who need them!


But, there is only one kind of idiots in this world: 

those who suffer from a blindness of their hearts!


Do carry with you a lantern tonight…


Do wear that safe-and-solid grip!






GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Vivek D'Cunha
Ad Video courtesy: YouTube

Comments

Nitin Kant said…
Great post as always. Nitin
May 30, 2013 at 2:46 PM
Uma Nair said…
In deed, the streets are filled with them!
- Uma
May 30, 2013 at 3:00 PM
Savita N Kumar said…
Thats why we sy we cannot change anyone but ourself
May 30, 2013 at 3:04 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...