The Thought Press: May 2009

It was around 8.15 pm according to my cell phone, when I realized that I am the only one working in the office. So I quickly packed up my bags and started walking down the fourth floor ( the lifts don't work after 7.30 in our office building) and the moment I step out of the building I realize that a huge dust storm was in its full glory.

Thinking whether to turn back or go head, I wondered what a shame it would be not to experience the harshness of mother nature at its best. And so I decide to walk along and see what she had in stored for me. So I put on my phone's earplugs and start the music and Into the night by Chad Kroeger and Santana it played.

I reach my scooter and the wind is still blowing...not too harsh, neither too calm. I sit on my ride(An LML that I am not too proud of...) revive the engine and take off. The moment I reach the parking gates I start feeling the the loud blows of wind,....coming, and yet to come. I by default decide to take the Ring Road as I felt it'll be the safest way back home...trust me I don't wanna get crushed under a tree.

But before I could even reach Ansal plaza, I start getting second thoughts about going on with this stupid venture of mine. For there was dust blowing all over as if Delhi was to become the Sahara. I could already see huge chunks of tree branches on the road. And the wind blows were so high I could barely keep steady.

But finally I managed to reach the Ansal plaza somehow. I was indeed glad, but my joys were short lived as then suddenly, it became more and more and more windy. I didn't realize what was happening as I was trying too hard to keep my eyes open and stay steady at the same time.
It was then, that reality struck me " Shit! I am actually in the middle of a dust storm". There was no turning back now, even the song changed, and before I knew it I was listening to Areosmith's Taste of India. Taste of India? I am not sure, but dust...I almost can. I had to go on.... not to prove a point to anyone, but out of curiosity.

I was exactly parallel to Ansal when I just had to stop, for moving on at that point of time seemed like nothing less than impossible. While to my amusement I kept moving, fighting the wind, fighting mother nature. Somehow I manage to reach the Ring road, the south ext flyover i.e. The storm had calmed a bit till then. And I thought now the journey would be uneventful.

I took a left turn, and there I was right on the Ring road. And in the middle of south Ext Pt-II, I get face to face with the dust again. I could actually feel sand piling up in my eyelids and nostril's . I kept my mouth shut the entire way, for I knew I'd chock to death if I dare open my trap. trying to ride steady, not able to keep my eyes and head normal, I notice the wave of sand flowing....and actually flowing on the concrete road. It felt like being a part of those Arabian nights stories and your in a camp fire in the middle of the desert. And all that I could hear was Come on baby light my fire...by Jim Morrison. It was a scene that no words can express.

It was not before I crossed the AIIMS flyover, that the storm began to rest. Suddenly there was a smooth cold chill in the air. The cruel dust storm had suddenly turned into soothing breeze. It was almost like standing right next to the Niagara falls. Now I know for sure that the dreaded dust storm is at rest. Felling relaxed, I was now driving with full control.

Noting much happened in the rest of the journey, though right before the Hyatt flyover I saw a sing board which guided the way to the airport, except that it was in the middle of the road. And from there till my home in R.K Puram I kept wondering, what if someone was underneath that sign board when it fell.

I parked my scooter in my lawn and started walking towards the main gate, marking the end of this whole encounter with storm, I hear....Riders on the storm By Jim Morrison.
Dammm....... bad timing!

While just surfing through random articles on net, I came across this interesting article which read "Star Plus: Go 'break-free', get GRPs". The article primarily mentioned about the current programing strategies adopted by Star plus and Colors, the two most popular Indian satellite channels in the GEC category. It basically talked about how Star plus has managed to get back its No 1 position by airing 15 movies in a week instead of the usual 6-7 and out of which around 8 were shown without a break for commercials. The results were definitely fruitful as Star garnered additional 24 gross rating points (GRPs). Seeing the huge success of this new programing tactic even Colors decided to follow the unbeaten market leader.

While critics argue that dropping advertisements is not a sustainable strategy for the respected channels, I believe that its only a short term strategy.

But yes, the concern that it doesn't turn into a long term strategy still holds significance, as in the fight to get the maximum GRP's the channels could turn towards dropping ads. But keeping in mind the amount of business loss that they would have to bear, I think this tactic would continue more like a featured element in the programing schedule. Its like something to the tone of say....Saturday night movie or Sunday afternoon movie or both without a break.

Including elements like these would definitely yield higher GRP's but their frequency per week is something that the channels would have to take a call on.