A Time To Reflect

charukesi May 31st, 2004

As a researcher, I am always meeting people and asking them questions. Questions ranging from the Stupid (so, what do you do in your free time), to the Difficult to answer (what were your thoughts and feelings when you saw the ad), to the Irritating (can you describe this again in detail) to downright Personal (which contraceptive method do you use). And surprisingly enough, I get answers.

I cannot imagine some stranger asking me such questions and getting any kind of polite reply. Yet, in project after project, I see people opening up in the course of a focus group / interview and revealing to me glimpses from their lives…. (A huge proportion of research in India is among housewives – the apparent decision-maker and I am talking about such respondents here).

Last week, after I ended a focus group in Madurai (a routine ad-testing study; what all people do for their bread and butter!), a woman came up to me and said, I really enjoyed this. I will go home and tell everyone about you. She held my hand tightly and said, I will never forget you. Thanks.

And this was not the first time I had heard that.

Imagine. She had just sat through one and half hours of mindless questions about an advertisement for a brand she has never used, for a product category that is so common and unexciting that I actually felt foolish asking certain questions. And she was thanking me for it.

I have wondered often enough how it feels to be a respondent. Surely, they were not doing this for the stainless steel kadhai that they get as a gift in return for their participation? (In India, it is unacceptable to offer cash for participating in research; instead gifts are given out at the end of the interview. These gifts depend on the profile of the respondent, and invariably housewives are given some kind of utensil, especially in the South).

Then why would anyone spend two hours of her time away from home, in a strange location, answering inane questions to a stranger?

The answer to this is in the question itself. Here is a woman (obviously educated and from the ‘big city’) come all the way to her town, seeking her out, asking for her opinions and listening to her for over an hour. If this sounds to you pompous, believe me, most of these women never go out on their own anywhere, nobody asks for their opinions ever or gives her so much attention. I have seldom faced resentment, impatience, boredom or even irritation….

Of course, as a researcher, the feeling is always not nice…. Knowing that your intentions were not all that noble …. And knowing that when you say thank you at the end of an interview, it is more from relief that the interview is over and that there is more data in hand…..

Am writing about that next, what is feels like to be a researcher…. And do read this from Dina on professional respondents
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An explanation of the title : In the West, two-ways mirrors are commonly used in the course of focus groups / interviews where the client(s) sits behind the mirror watching and listening to the discussion. In India however, mirrors are rarely used; instead the client observes the proceedings in another room through a CCTV.

• Qualitative Research Trends
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charukesi May 28th, 2004

Am beginning to feel more and more optimistic about India’s future….. Beginning with the Move Out Modi Movement (now that sounds good!)

Okay, so a few farmers agitating is not going to make a difference to moron Modi… but this? And this from BJP MPs (rebels, so what? I am still thrilled). And these demands for Modi’s ouster are only going to get louder and stronger….

Another heartening factor is the entry of young, first-time, educated politicians. Who have also held other jobs before their entry into politics… And start off with a clean slate (their ‘dynasty’ notwithstanding) and a lot of promise….

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charukesi May 27th, 2004

I don’t do this often, but I found this (from Reader’s Digest) really good :

Pearls of wisdom leave our mouths every day in an unthinking and mechanical manner. If only we would stop and listen to ourselves, we would mend our lives.

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charukesi May 27th, 2004

Made a wonderful discovery recently. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro…. The book is the story of Mr. Stevens (Antony Hopkins in the movie, which I would love to watch), a butler at Darlington Hall, who had been serving Lord Darlington for many years. Darlington Hall goes through several changes following the death of Lord Darlington, as an American businessman moves in, bringing with him a perspective that is entirely American (as opposed to the rigid English). For instance, when his American employer (played, I think, by Hugh Grant in the movie….. could almost see him when I was reading the book) suggests to Stevens a holiday away from the Hall, Stevens is shocked. He slowly starts to like the idea and sets off on a drive in his master’s car.

The journey that Stevens undertakes is a simple and evocative metaphor for his mental journey down the years, and all the events that he has been part of and witness to, as a butler at Darlington Hall. As these events unfold in Stevens’ narration, the reader is able to perceive and understand many more layers than Stevens himself apparently can. For instance, apart from the idea of a holiday, Stevens also decides in favour of the journey in order to meet Miss Keaton, the former house-keeper at the Hall, ostensibly with the purpose of getting her back in her position. However, it is quite clear to the reader that Stevens’ feelings for the house-keeper is much stronger and intimate than he ever lets on… or even admits to himself…. Imagining her to be unhappy in her married life, he has to reconcile to the fact that she is still married, and happily so…. If only he had not ler her get away so many years ago….

As Stevens progresses on his journey reflecting on and analyzing his days at the Hall, he is forced to answer a lot of unpleasant questions within himself. It is almost as if, after all the years of an insular life at the Hall, being away from it suddenly makes Stevens view his life there, as an outsider.

The narration moves across a few decades, with the most engaging part set in the pre-war days of the late 1920s and 30s. Sitting here reading the book, it is almost possible to experience and understand the political climate and discourse of the times. Troubled times, turbulent times…

Here is a book that is absorbing and amusing and at all times, moving. To look at it, at the best of times, Stevens’ character is pompous and rigid. However, underneath lurks a vulnerability that touches you. It certainly made me want to shake him up at times and say, come on, Stevens, have a life…. The book, keeping with the character of the narrator maintains a tone of that elusive, so hard to describe quality – dignity. The quality that Stevens strives for all his professional life. So much so that he has consciously blurred any lines between his professional and personal life.

A quality that he inherits from his father, Stevens senior. The portrait of Stevens senior is full of pathos; a has-been, spent force living in the reflected glory of his past life as one of the great butlers, unwilling to give up his dignity at all costs… At one point, Miss Keaton tell Stevens, I saw your father looking at the ground as he was walking, as if he was searching for something…. What was he searching for? His life gone by? His youth? Strength?

A moving account of life…. What seems to be, what really is, and what might have been….. I highly recommend it and look forward to reading more of Ishiguro’s work….

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charukesi May 21st, 2004

Here I was, fuming about the finger-printing of Indian wannabe US-bounds for visa purposes. And I heard this story about finger-printing of individuals wanting to book for a darshan at the Tirupati temple.

To begin at the beginning, it is now possible to advance-book your darshan at the Tirupati temple and my sister-in-law who is visiting India in July wished to make such a ‘reservation’. When my mother-in-law approached the authorities at the booking office, she was told that booking could be done only by the individuals who were actually going for the darshan and that finger-prints which were scanned and stored on the computer would be checked at the time of entry into the temple.

This is apparently because there are lots of black-market bookings going on in the name of the Tirumala temple and such advance booking only makes it worse… To prevent misuse of such facilities, my mother-in-law was told…. What next?!.…

I remember the time when Siddhi Vinayak was first available on the internet, a few years ago…. And I thought that was hi-tech…

I have not read anything about this Tirupati thingy so far…. But if you had any experience, please do share it here….( As I write this, I found this article on the net about biometrics technology… Apparently this finger-printing business has been on for some years now…?)

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charukesi May 20th, 2004

A while ago, Ripples had complained of the Hindu’s indifferent editorial on the elections results in an attempt to be its usual neutral self. As if to make up, The Hindu today carries a special eight page supplement on Verdict 2004, an analysis of all the factors that contributed to this extraordinary verdict.

Was the verdict truly extraordinary? Discounting the sudden turn-around of Congress fortunes in the recent few months, was this verdict totally unexpected? Going through the analysis of the performance of parties at a national level and various regional levels, it is clear that roti-kapda-makaan remains the one most important and vote-determining issue.

Over market growth, over communal forces, over dreams of technology and trickle-down benefits…. and over everything that is shining, including India.

Brand Equity went to town yesterday with an analysis of why India Shining was a disastrous campaign for the BJP. The article had a lot of peppy quotes from heads of other ad agencies who must have suffered from sever heart-burn when Grey Worldwide managed to clinch the account a few months ago. Apart from making for amusing reading, the BE article and the more serious Hindu analysis drive home the point that the India Shining campaign only served to highlight the short-comings of the Government. It only reminded the voter that there was something he was missing out on….. if India is shining, then why is my life not?

It is all very well for the cities to shine, but the glitter rarely trickles all the way down to the villages where the vote-banks are…. Naidu’s defeat at the polls is only a case in point (though I am very very sorry to see him go)….

Reforms with a Human Face… Sounds interesting and optimistic…

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charukesi May 19th, 2004

Remember this old story about the ant and the elephant? The ant hitched a ride on the elephant’s back across the jungle, and just after they crossed a rickety bridge, the bridge collapsed completely. To which the ant said, wow! I never knew I had so much strength… I made the bridge collapse…

Point? The thought that our self-proclaimed moral leaders like Uma Bharati and Sushma Swaraj will now take credit for Sonia Gandhi’s decision…. Sure, the thought of a tonsured Ms. Swaraj must have been enough to give anybody nightmares, Ms. Gandhi included….

Political drama? I wonder, would the congress have stood any chance at all in these elections without a consensus leader at the helm (the issue being one more of consensus among paty members and allies then one of ability or leadership qualities). Especially after the near white-wash in the December 2003 elections.

Sonia Gandhi has indeed played her cards carefully, much to her credit, taking in pressures from her own party and all the muck hurled at her by the NDA. Not once reacting or retaliating in the same vein… And has announced her decision, not a moment too soon…. What does the BJP have left to say now?

My fear now…. Remember what my favourite Congress candidate said about the BJP’s agenda…. Now that the BJP has fallen flat on its face with the Sonia Janmabhoomi issue, will Ram Janmabhoomi now be revived with a vengeance….. After all, they have promised to play the role of constructive opposition….

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charukesi May 19th, 2004

I was at a traffic round-about last evening when I witnessed a minor accident. Nothing disastrous but an elderly person fell from the motorcycle he was riding. As a few passers-by (including me) went to his assistance, I noticed a traffic policeman standing a few feet away, watching. By which time traffic was also beginning to pile up behind this scene. Not one to keep my mouth shut in the best of time, I marched up to him and said, why don’t you help… do something? To which he said, is that my job? Go away (emma, adaan en velaiya? Summa pomma – for the benefit of those who follow Tamil). I must add that there were two other policemen standing across the road, equally immersed in the scene.

Is that my job? Well, I certainly think so….. If not, then what is a policeman’s job? Ours not to help or protect…. Then, ours only to…. what? Now I have no idea if all policemen are like this (and I am certainly not saying so) but seeing his attitude and tone yesterday, I begin to understand why people consider going to the police a greater nuisance (even threat / danger) then bearing with their lot…..

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charukesi May 18th, 2004

Just when it seems like the dust might just have a chance to settle down, Sonia Gandhi throws a volte-face. Or was this what the lady had intended all along, and we, from our positions of seething moral indignation never seen it? Or was it just that we were too busy laughing at jokes about India outsourcing her Prime Minister?

I must admit I have never thought much of that lady till today… When she has refused the position of prime minister…

I have never been overjoyed at the prospect of having a ‘person of foreign origin’ as our Prime Minister…. but, if the lady could rein in a scattered Congress and infuse life into a party that was all but dead and buried, then why not? And for someone who made a very reluctant entry into Indian politics….

As for the nay-sayers, there is just one thing that rankles me…. That all this opposition comes from people fighting over one common Indian language, unwilling to accept Hindi (or any other for that matter) as their own national language, happy to stay with the language of our erstwhile ‘rulers’ as their own language…..

I was reading Jivha’s post on Uma Bharati’s comment on Sonia Gandhi. And was fascinated by some of the comments to the post. Right! Root for Bobby Jindal in the US (he makes us proud)….

For a lady mocked for her scripted speeches, I must say this rings sincere…. Especially if we do acknowledge the fact that she made a very reluctant entry into Indian politics. If only she stands by this decision without giving in to party pressures from the pandering Congressmen and allies or finally turns this too into a well-scripted drama (only to turn around and say, I agree because the script demands it…. much like our holier-than-thou heroines), then hats of to you, lady….

If India has managed to vote in a secular Government ruled by a Prime Minister made of shudh deshi ghee, then I think we have got the best possible deal….

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charukesi May 12th, 2004

BBC correspondent Sanjeev Srivastava traveled to the US to figure out if India was shining there or not. Writing in the Outlook, he says, we are shining, yes, but not in super power league.

Spare me. Instead of this, I suggest a visit to the US consulate.

A friend working for a software company (surprise surprise) visited the consulate in Madras for a US visa last week. He says, it is so obvious how important Indians are to America….

I have seen people standing all night in the queue on the road in front of the consulate, waiting all day in the scorching sun, not being allowed to take even a bottle of water inside the premises….. Qualified professionals, elderly people going to see their children, hopeful students… everyone gets the same treatment…. Yet we bear all this stoically….. After all, the pot of gold at the end of this humiliating experience is America, no less….

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