thanda matlab....

koka kola, right? may be.. for the company, for Aamir Khan and for Prasoon Joshi.. and may be for the kids...
but if you really ask people in the age group of 30(ok i am being optimistic) to some 60 years, they are most likely to say "toilet cleaner" (in India that is.). this punch line was coined by none other than "Ramdev Maharaj".
i dont know how many have heard of him. but he is a big hit. he teaches YOGA. very simple man. and he goes to all the cities from the so called tier I cities to the rest of India and conducts classes at each of these cities for one week. and there is a special kids day too. this program is telecasted live on Aastha channel daily twice -- morning 5:30 to 6:30 and a repeat telecast in the evening from 8:30 to 9:30. these excersises are simple, dont require a lot of time ( half an hour is all that is required, he says) and really help.
and no he is not like the umpteen number of poeple who preach about spirituality, about giving up everything for which we have worked hard like hell, about inner peace,blah, blah. and like Brayam Adams concerts, his tickets are sold out may be one month before the program commences. he is witty and keeps his audience active and alert. "burger pijja khaoge tho burger ki tarah ho jaoge.." or something to that extent.
he has two main targets.. one to comment on the paepsi (he pronounces it like that) and cocacola and the other to comment on how the MNC's are spoiling the quality of life we live.

this i feel is the ultimate example of marketing a brand. the brand being Yoga and he being the brand ambassador. the word of mouth is excellent in this case. these courses are conducted in huge grounds, where atleast 50,000 people can be accomodated. and he makes everyone try out the brand. and give their opinion about it. that is one thing which may be no other brand can afford. and the reach of the particular brand is huge. every week he is touring.. making people from different parts of the country try out the brand.. right from Hamirpur (in Himachal Pradesh with a very meagre population .. most of them would be the REC gang) to Hyderabad, to Delhi, he has travelled every where. and for those people who would not be able to make it to these programs, the live TV program is always there. and one of the best things i have observed is that he tries to learn some few important words of the local language and use them in his programs.. talk about customization..
and people are always speaking out in this course as to how they reduced 8 kgs in two weeks.. or gained 5 kgs in one month or getting rid of some disease or the other. positive testimonials... brand satisfaction.. which lead to more and more people trying out the brand... and yes there is brand extension also.. he has built some hospital in Haridwar with all the latest facilities ,,blah lah.. it would be difficult to find any other brand ambassador as passionate as "Ramdev ji Maharaj", while talking about the brand. and the punch line is way too good... "thanda matlab toilet cleaner" funny and very easy to remember..

last month there was a health check up conducted for our entire organization.. can you guess the number of people having High Blood Pressure? and you dont even want to know the cholestrol levels of most of them. and the average age of our organization is somewhere around 28.
what is the use of earning in all the various possible currencies in the world when all of that would most probably go to our medical bill???

its not like i suddenly became some elderly person preaching about health and all that. and its not that i have been promised huge undisclosed amount to write about Yoga and exercise in general... but as i sit in the same seat for somewhere around 40 hours a week with absolutely no exercise and atleast twice a week having pijja burger/ butter naan / paneer butter masala .. i really wonder if i would have what it takes to lead a healthy life.. atleast not becoming a burden on somebody else when i come to the age of writing my final will.