Shine please, don't whine

Author: Shobha John
Publication: The Times of India
Date: February 14, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/497027.cms

The man who started it all is flummoxed by all the brouhaha over the government's India Shining campaign . Sure, India has problems - poverty, crime, unemployment - but which nation doesn't, asks Prathap Suthan, national creative director, Grey Worldwide, the ad agency which conceptualised and delivered the campaign.
 
"Doesn't the US too have these problems? But if any country abroad had achieved what India has, its citizens would have applauded; the Opposition would have said, 'Damn good show. Keep it up. We are proud to be citizens of a country which has made such strides'."
 
This campaign is not about the BJP, he says. "It's about India - where the Kashmiri, the Maharashtrian, the Bengali and the Tamilian rise above political and religious denominations and feels proud to be an Indian. It's not an ad campaign, it's more an information campaign. India has redefined itself and it captures this spirit."
 
And it's not a waste of taxpayer's money because "You and Me, we are benefiting from the feel-good times, the schemes launched," he says. Suthan says the pitch for this campaign by ad agencies started way back in July. His agency was selected in October. "We approached this like a corporate campaign for the country. We have said the truth and said it well. A lie would have been nailed immediately."
 
But where's the feel-good when there's unemployment? Suthan counters, "Where will jobs come from? From the economy and various sectors like manufacturing, infrastructure, etc. If the economy is the engine driving the country, these sectors are the bogies. If the engine is strong, it'll pull along the bogies." And with the official announcement that the economy is set to grow at 8.1 per cent in 2003-04, unemployment would be tackled, he says.
 
The Opposition, he says, would be doing itself harm if it punctures this feeling of feel-good. "Let's carry forward this campaign instead. If India is shining, let's make it dazzling. Let's be good sports, instead of bad losers and carping critics who feel good only if someone feels bad."
 

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