Essar’s Avid Learning: Forced One-Way Messaging Is Spam

Spam may seem like a silly thing to complain about. We’ve all gotten used to the dregs of the netverse trying to hit our mailboxes with Viagra deals, organ enlargement offers, casino sites and Nigerian hoaxes, after all. Spam blockers have a full time role in our online lives today. But is it too much to expect better from a known company? The company in question is Essar and here’s why they’re coming into my story.

I’ve been receiving emails from a certain ‘Avid-Avidedu‘ for months now. These are generally announcements of events of some sort, usually focussing on culture with a semi-religious undertone. It didn’t interest me the first couple of times and I just deleted the mails without a thought.

After a few more of these came my way, I began looking for a way to unsubscribe. But that courtesy lifeline, provided to mailing list recipients, even if it is in tiny letters, “To unsubscribe, please click here“, was nowhere to be seen.

I took that for a simple (but really, quite unforgivable) oversight. So I emailed back to the addresses, instead, telling them that I was not interested and could they please take me off their list? That mail saw no replies.

Many more days and emails later, I visited their website to look at the ‘Contact Us’ section. All it had was their postal address and a form to sign up for updates. There wasn’t a section to leave a message. Interestingly, now the website is still there but the ‘Contact Us’ section doesn’t lead anywhere. Typing the URL in takes you to a 404 error.

They are also on Facebook but their page does not allow outside posts on the wall. And here is their Twitter stream. I’ve left a comment on one of their Facebook posts, sent them a Facebook message and tweeted to them. No responses to report.

Here’s what their latest email had.:

Look at the quality of text, images etc. There’s obviously a lot of work going on to create this.

Never mind the ranting about whether an ordinary netizen should be subjected to this today. What purpose does this serve exactly? There are emails coming my way, periodically so obviously someone at their end is working and working hard to put that content out. What kind of a bizarre system is this that churns out content, events, updates of those events but makes no response to messages? Being a content provider myself, I can only pity that poor souls who work so hard to create experiences & content. This is only alienating their audience and turning indifference to irritation.

Here are all the ways they’re managing to throw their content out, while shutting out anyone else’s voice to them:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/avidedu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/avidlearning
Email addresses: avid@essar.com
Phone numbers: (from this tweet)

Avid Education, you need to learn how to listen to your fellow netizens and possible audience. Essar, what are you thinking?

Update: I just received a reply to my Facebook message, asking for my email address and saying that they would take me off. Avid, I hope you’ve taken note of this experience to spot a glaring problem in your online presence.

 

Oohs & Ahs From Parties Past

Here’s what my generation used to party to.

Yes, my dear condescending younger reader, some day you will cringe at the mention of Justin Beiber, as I am now. Till then, enjoy some ‘retro’ partying and thank your stars I didn’t talk about this other song (which made me cringe even then).

 

Arm’s Length

I’m realizing how close even those I kept a distance from, are.
If this is arm’s length, then my arms are not long enough.

 

I Wear: Mall Rat

Saturday afternoons are for finishing up chores that you don’t have time for on the weekend and that you don’t want ruining your Sunday. Mornings are too early to wake up on a weekend. Evenings spent on chores make me grumpy, since everyone else seems to be doing more interesting things. Afternoons are the best as the hordes in the city are either working the last few hours of a 6-day week or shoring up their reserves for the night.

High Street Phoenix was where I was headed, for a quick lunch, for window-shopping at the fun stores and actually shopping at the boring ones (Big Bazaar). Most of the big stores don’t let me carry in that handy Cotton World cloth bag that I’ve been toting around on just such quick shopping excursions. Big Bazaar goes one further in the ‘punish the customer for coming to us’ by making you deal with grumpy baggage personnel or forcing you to put said handbags into ugly transparent, plastic attaches. I wanted to go light.

It was a sunny day and travelling anywhere in this city without protection for face & hair is stupid. And it looked like I’d be doing a lot of walking. The brocade slingpouch (see earlier in Streetsmart Colour) and my steel-grey moccasins came in useful. The tee-shirt was a gift from Meetu and unlike other brand-bearing tee-shirts, this one fits well and doesn’t make me feel like a walking advertisement. And finally, I tossed a thin silk scarf across my shoulders to keep my neck warm, to tie my hair with & to cover my face while travelling.

You know how the fashion industry says things like ‘Great style should be effortless’? This is my take on the idea. When I looked into the mirror, I felt rather proud with the way it turned out since it didn’t cost much (time or money), looked stylish, was suitable for the occasion and stayed comfortable all through. So I grabbed my camera for a picture, when I got back. Note that this is how I looked after the commute, crowd-jostling & grocery shopping, minus any touch-ups.

I Wear:

• Faded blue jeans: Levis Diva
• Black tee-shirt: Courtesy Meetu of WOGMA
• Violet postman’s hat: Baggit, Shoppers Stop
• Silk scarf: Cottage Emporium, New Delhi
• Steel-grey moccasins:
• Brocade slingpouch: Street stall, Connaught Place, New Delhi

 

Scars

The scars on people’s souls are sometimes more obvious than lines on their foreheads. Disappointment is an aging experience.

*Image via taoty on FreeDigitalPhotos.

 

Ek Anek By Films Division

If you grew up in India in the 80s, you’ll remember this short animated film that would show just before the Sunday morning specials and on occasion, before the Saturday evening movie.

“Hind desh ke nivaasi sabhi jann ek hain.
Rang roop, besh bhasha, jaati anek hain.”

Maths (1 to many), sociology (group formation), management (organized effort) and national integration – that’s a lot of ideas to pack into 7 minutes. We’re not in a day and age that values the last idea very much. Here’s remembering.

 

Experimenting With M.A.C. Eye Shadow

My friend Lakshmi was in town this month and our conversation was peppered with swapping life experiences, jokes and a couple of old memories. Lakshmi has lived in Bhopal, Tamil Nadu (Chennai) and Mumbai for a few years each and for the past 8 years, in the U.S. Her style sense has changed ever so subtly.She uses more make-up that I remember. She introduced me to powder-based foundation by Bare Minerals a couple of years ago. And on this trip, she was on a mission to convert me to M.A.C. Or perhaps I should say, introduce me, since I’ve never used the brand before.

Americans use make-up differently from the way Indians do. For one, it feels like they use a whole lot more – foundation, mascara, highlighter, blusher etc. Most of us who do own cosmetics content ourselves with a bunch of lipsticks and an eyeliner or eyepencil thrown in for good measure. I think they’re also more adventurous with colours and combinations. Most Indians stick to black/brown in eye colour and red/brown on the lips.

Personally, I’m not at all a fan of mascara. It makes my lashes look and feel clumpy and heavy. Being Indian, my lashes are naturally black and thick (enough) so I don’t think I really need mascara. What’s more, Mumbai’s perennial hot weather makes heavy eye make-up a fashion taboo. My look on most days is eye-pencil (albeit in different colours this winter) with a touch of gloss on the lips. An occasional evening out may merit a smudged look on the outer corners of the upper lid or a darker lip hue, but that’s about it. Eye-shadow I have experimented with (here’s one case) but that’s for super-formal, extreme occasions like weddings etc.

Still, Lakshmi’s suggestions (in make-up and in life) have never gone amiss and we had the time to spare so I went along. The M.A.C. girl asked me what colour I wanted. Being absolutely clueless about what kind of colours are appropriate or cool or attractive on the eyelids, I just pointed to an eye-catching array of blues and said, “What about those?”.

She grabbed a handful and led me to the chair. Then she asked me what kind of look I wanted. When asked this, I usually go in for the safe answer (or what it feels like to me),

“Wild.”

My premise is that I’m in the hands of an expert. Hair can grow out, make-up can be washed out. Why not try the most outrageous extreme that’s possible to see how it looks? Toning down, subtlety is a matter of individual taste, after that. She seemed happy (as does every hairstylist I’ve been to, when they hear this from me) and commented that most people wanted to play it safe.

It’s always good to watch someone at work, when they’re enjoying what they do so I was kicked that my brief made her so enthusiastic. She got to work on my right eye first. We started taking pictures only later and Lakshmi was sitting on my left so this eye’s images aren’t as detailed. The look finished with a wash of silvery blue across the eyelid, ending in a pop of electric blue at the outer corner of the lid. She finished with a dark blue eyepencil line right over the upper lid. Very dramatic and not conventional, I think. But I like the wildness of colour splashes, as opposed to over-defined lines.

The left eye was done in a different set of colours. She started with a pale aqua green, coating the lid from the inner corner to the middle. Then, the middle to outer corner was covered in a sooty black. I actually liked the look, even before it was blended in, since the colours came together in one neat, diagonal line, exactly along the line of light as it falls on that eyelid. You can see how the post-blending effect looked in the last two panels of the collage below. This eyelid did not use any eyeliner or eyepencil.

Apparently, the shape of my eyes provides a lot of room for colour since there’s a lot of space between the lashline and the eyebrow. On the other hand, I tend to move my eyes around a lot and also smile much, which crinkles my eyes. This means that the ensuing friction wears away eyelid colour much faster than it would on other eyes. Also, my eyelids end in a slight bulge just above the lash. This means, when eyeliner or eyepencil is applied, a thin line of skin colour can also be seen between the eyepencil line and the lashline. Eyeshadow manages to cover that up well though, as does a smudgebrush.

Here’s the finished product – two looks, both wild and dramatic. Blue burst on the right eyelid and green-black on the left eyelid. Which one do you think is better?

Photographs courtesy Lakshmi.

Related articles

• How To Define Your Eyes Without Eye Shadow (bellasugar.com)

 

Wannabe Activities That Masquerade As Hobbies

One of the prevelant traits of urbanisation is the upsurge of wannabe behaviour & attitudes. Wannabes are people who do and say things for the sole purpose of fitting in or seeming cool. While I have no problem with the activities or the words themselves, the obvious fakeness of their endeavors really gets my goat.

• Food – Only the most basic need of every living creature. What makes this one suspect is that the average ‘foodie’s taste doesn’t go beyond mummy’s food, perennial streetfood favorites like panipuri & unanimously popular restaurants. Everyone enjoys a good biryani, panipuri, steak or pasta. What sets you apart from the entire human race?
• Travel- I still can’t understand what makes people count this as a hobby. Travel means going to a different place. If it’s not on work, it means you’re on a vacation. Find me one person who doesn’t enjoy that. Again, what sets you apart from every schoolkid, corporate

  whore, ratrace junkie?

• 

  Image via Wikipedia

  Photography – This one is misleading. On the surface of it, it looks & sounds like a real hobby and an artistic one at that. Indeed, a decade ago, it would have been considered a respectable interest to have. But in this day & age of digicams, phone cameras and point-and-shoots which you can all but have sex with….what’s that mammoth clicker for, but to show off? What gets me is when people pull out foot-long lenses to photograph a plate of food right in front of them. Weren’t those created to be able to shoot dangerous animals in their habitat, in the perfectly civil role of a wildlife enthusiast?

• Cause Crusading- Animal rights. Corruption. Energy saving. Endangered species. Clicking ‘Like’ on a Facebook Page called ‘Let’s vote for (whatever cause)’ does not further the cause. Forwarding an SMS about said cause to everyone in your address book is spam, not crusading. Wearing a tee-shirt with a cause-ey byline helps fund the marketer’s brand, not aid a cause. If you really care about the cause, give something of yourself, starting with time spent finding out exactly what you’re campaigning and what the problem is. I don’t think half the people who wore Gandhi hats & liked/forward the Anna Hazare campaign even knew what Lokpal was.

I call this ‘The Glee Club of Hobbies’. You don’t have to have a talent or skill. You don’t need to know much about anything. And you don’t even need to spend the kind of time & energy that it takes to familiarize & become good at most other hobbies. These are things that everybody does.

I’m just mystified by why they’re suddenly cool. Everywhere around me, I see & hear people talking about one of these as their passions. These get put on resumes, listed on Twitter profiles & linked to on Facebook.

I suspect it’s just the pressure to show that one has a meaningful, full life, complete with hobbies that absorb & enrich one. Gah, wannabedom, your worshippers will even fake what gets them off.

 

Dirty Talk 2012 (Open Mic) By Queer Azadi Mumbai & Gaysi Family

The first month of this year promises to end on a colourful, vibrant note, thanks to Mumbai Pride Week. The week leading up to Queer Parade will see a host of related events. Queer Azadi Mumbai will host ‘Dirty Talk’ – an Open Mic event of original performances about & around the gay cause.

Expect an evening of varied performances including skits, music, poetry & other original expression. Here are the details of the event:

Dirty Talk 2012: Open Mic

Venue: The Big Nasty, Shatranj Napoli Building, Carter Road, Bandra West, Mumbai
Date: Wednesday, 25th January 2012
Time: 6.00 p.m. – 9.30 p.m.

If you’d like to participate, get in touch with GaysiFamily. To keep the evening safe & enjoyable for everyone, the organizers are asking participants to submit their pieces before the event. Come on along for an evening of fun & your expression!

 

‘The Reluctant Detective’ By Kiran Manral: ChickLit With A Twist

My weekend reading was ‘The Reluctant Detective‘, first novel by fellow-blogger Kiran Manral. Just as well, since it proved to be a hectic few days leading upto & culminating in the boy’s birthday, leaving me no time for heavy reading. This book was light and easily read in the short intervals that I managed to catch between organizing parties, shopping for gifts & tending to the social commitments of a busy weekend.

‘The Reluctant Detective‘ is the story of Kanan Mehra (a.k.a. Kay), a privileged suburban housewife, into whose pampered life comes excitement in the form of a double murder in the neighborhood. Kay is loosely linked to both cases, being the last to have seen the first victim alive, and the one to discover the body of the second, both on the same day. Her daily life of beauty treatments, fashion fanaticism, kitty parties and housewifely gossip, have her ill-prepared to deal with the ramifications of these events. She blunders through having to face gore for the first time in her comfortable life and rubs uneasy shoulders with such strange people as detectives & policemen.

The title notwithstanding, the story has very little to do with her actual solving of the cases. Instead, it builds on the response from Kay’s world, right from a sudden fear of taking morning walks alone, SoBo acquaintances dismissal of the suburbs, parental paranoia & automatic restriction, gossip sagas where maidservants gain starring roles and the revival of old-but-incompatible friendships.

There is a lot of focus on Kay’s wardrobe, her battle with the bulge and domestic adventures of the maternal, spousal & housekeeping sort. Thus the setting & tone give the book a Chick Lit feel, albeit with a heroine of a different demographic (slightly older, happily married with kids, no money/career concerns etc). Don’t expect a cloak-and-dagger adventure, all ye mystery lovers. On the other hand, if you enjoy Chick Lit and wouldn’t mind trying out something other than the usual ‘single girl-gay friend-bad boyfriends-alcohol & chocolates-BFFs’ formula, ‘The Reluctant Detective‘ will give you some pleasant, easy reading.

Here’s a promo of the book:

The blurb reads:

Kay, a.k.a. Kanan Mehra, is a thirty-something suburban housewife and young mother with a penchant for sticking her curious nose into things she definitely, absolutely and certainly shouldn’t go near. When a couple of corpses turn up in quick succession in her neighbourhood, she teams up with her detective friend, Runa, in a half-hearted attempt to find the murderers, only to suspect that perhaps the detective business doesn’t quite become her. A hilarious account of how not to get involved in other people’s murders, The Reluctant Detective is the story of every school-gate mom, searching for a purpose in her life that goes beyond kitty lunches, shopping and fish pedicures.

‘The Reluctant Detective‘ by Kiran Manral has been published by Westland & priced at Rs.195/-.