Festivity in the air…floral fragrance, joyous smiles galore…The innocent smile radiating from the face of an expectant mother…as she holds her bulging stomach tenderly and is ushered after dressing up in all finery by her mother in law…The father in law hanging festoons in the background and a little girl running about, the sister in law or some relative preparing dishes for the Godh bharaai (baby shower) ceremony. The husband winking at the mom-to-be on the sly and getting caught in the act by his mother who mockingly admonishes him for the PDA…The joyous pregnant lady is awed to see all the relatives ready to welcome her for the function and she asks her mother in law, in a very emotional tone, “but u don’t have such rituals and customs in this family right?” to which the Mother in law affectionately replies “but the custom of keeping daughters happy exist everywhere”…
Which girl would not wish for such a loving family? The whole scenario radiates with pure love, care and harmony.
Anyone who witnesses this would of course feel these vibrations dominating in this ad. Yes..it was an advertisement that has caught the eyes of critics and many opinionated others…Yes this is the famous Tanishq ad. The ad that shook the market shares, the ad that marked a ‘public’ (I refuse to believe that the public would stoop to such acts) outrage, and instigated ‘boycott Tanishq’ hashtags…the ad that had to be deleted and withdrawn with a demand for an apology by the organization…
What was to blame? Some people considered this as an ad for Love Jihad and not for the Ekatvam brand of ‘oneness’ jewelry. Now let me brush up my knowledge of ‘Love Jihad’
Jihad according to the Wikipedia definition is ‘striving or struggling, especially with a praiseworthy aim’ while the definition for Love Jihad is when ‘Muslim men target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love.’
While there may have been such instances in the country and elsewhere, let us focus on this particular ad alone.
Some points to ponder about:
1. The girl is still wearing a bindi or ‘pottu’ which indicates that conversion has not taken place (Love Jihad????)
2. There are many kuthuvilakkus (big lamps) adorned with ‘samanthi poo’ (chrysanthemum flowers) in the background which is a typical South Indian Hindu custom (Love Jihad?????)
3. There is a recipe for the pulikudi (a tamarind based dish) stuck on the refrigerator and being made by a relative when the mother in law ushers the girl out and is a typical South Indian Hindu ritual (Love Jihad???)
4. There is a statue of Lord Nataraja in the backdrop where the girl sits and to my knowledge Lord Nataraja is a form of Lord Shiva who is pure Hindu and may not be found in the houses of believers of other religions (Love Jihad????)
Now where does Love Jihad come in this ad..I fail to understand where does religion come into the forefront in this Utopian scenario in the ‘sasural’ of any girl. As many of my friends remarked ‘I would not mind if my mother in law is from Mars if she can be this understanding and loving’….Guys get a life!!!
Trolling such creations which portray oneness and an ideal co-existence of religions with love and tolerance is what I would call is anti-national/ anti-religious etc. I am sure all true Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsis, Buddhists and atheists would agree with this. Religion is a way of life, not blind rigid beliefs.
Here is to ‘Ekatvam’ — the spirit of oneness.. ‘Ek jo huye ham to kya na kar jaayenge’ (Now that we are one, what cannot be accomplished)…
Come on folks, let us unite and in harmony progress to a better future…
For those wanting to read the opinion of a brand expert: