Did you say ‘coalition dharma’?

For many years now, the Indian media has been liberally using the words ‘coalition dharma’ to describe how political parties in an alliance of convenience should conduct themselves.

Most probably, it was a politico who coined this term since only a politician would believe that there is any dharma (righteousness) left in politics. Quite often we hear Ms Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh uttering these words in exasperation (Ms Gandhi) and desperation (Dr Singh).

Whatever the origins of the term, but a little more discretion, logic and a change in semantics is necessary since the term sounds as discordant as a trumpet blown in a funeral. Is there any dharma left in Indian politics? Not only is it erroneous, even phonetically it doesn’t sound right.

Play these names in your mind, and try convincing yourself if you can associate the word ‘dharma’ with these people – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, A Raja, N Karunanidhi, Mayawati. Also recall the 2G-Raja-Radia-Tata nexus, the Adarsh Housing scam, Commonwealth sleaze, land usurping allegations by Yeddyurappa and Narayan Rane, and you will know why I brought up this issue.

How about substituting ‘dharma’ with ‘back-scratching/back-stabbing’?

What’s with the old songs being rehashed as jingles?

Every brand seems to be doing it these days – Cadbury, SBI Life, Coca Cola, Scooty Pep, Anchor toothpaste, Maruti Zen Estilo. Rehashing yesteryear Hindi songs into ad jingles.

While we won’t discuss about the intellectual property rights issues, it is certainly interesting to know why brands prefer to follow a trend and fall into a mould, once someone has created it. And we thought advertising is all about creating unique selling propositions!

Talking about the execution aspect, I don’t think the advertisers do complete justice to the beauty and melody of the old gems. Even in the execution aspect, there is hardly any novelty – the singer usually tries to sing like Shamshaad Begum in an artificial nasal twang. It doesn’t sound like a jingle, but more of a parody.

It would work better for the brands if they came up with original jingles – that way they can create a wider mind space, offer a platform for upcoming talent and spare the souls of legendary artists who may be rolling in their grave.