Monday, October 22, 2007

Seen in Chandigarh

On the local cable TV channel, Bollywood songs and dances played with a running ticker offering various products and services.

One of them was from a certain 'vashikaran' specialist. He advertises himself thus: "Pyaar mein dhoka khaye ladka ladki turant milein. Khoya hua pyaar vapas mil sakta hai. Mobile number -...."


Seen in a 'tabloid' entitled Shopping & Lifestyle, distributed free in the Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi: An article headlined 'Pack up tips for your train trip'.

The first sentence says: "Packing for a rail trip is similar to traveling by air - you may have a little more room if booking a sleeper car but most luggage should be stored in baggage..."

The next paragraph says: "Bring along some snacks, toys and activities to keep children occupied..." and "Bring comfortable shoes and a change of clothing for each member of the family".... and "Bring headphones for a tape player."

I was, and am, amazed. Really. Somebody actually writes this stuff. Somebody might even be making a living writing this stuff. Truly amazing.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The person who is writing such stuff is also amazed at himself or herself for being able to churn out such instructions. The 'tabloid' is distributed for ads. The companies who advertise don't read the content; they do it for goodwill with the publisher. The content just fills up the vacant space. no one gets paid for writing this. Its just a by-job, picked from the net or something. even comparing train travel with air travel requires intellectual effort. the tabloid is for ads. the content can be anything, absolutley anything. that's the beauty of it all.

Anonymous said...

I wonder whether churning out such stuff could be computerized. That would be literally Artificial `Intelligence' or lack thereof ;-).

Anonymous said...

On another thought..can't that 'Vashikaran' guy (or anyone using his 'services') be sued? Legally one does need written consent for hypnotizing someone! Am not joking.

Sirensongs said...

I love this: "travelling by rail is similar to travelling by air...."
;-)

Tweets by @anniezaidi