Motorbike Mania

Malad is not the place it used to be some years back. With the New Link Road developing at a rapid speed, Malad is growing dynamic. The Inorbits, Hypercities and D-Marts of the world, have changed the way Mumbaikars look at Malad. The developing contact centre property, Mindspace, has given humongous business to these retail properties.

One corner of this property has been our - my school friends - hangout since the last couple of years. Every saturday most of us (Mavericks, as we call ourselves) meet at Mindspace and chill out, discuss about the share market, exams, who will get married soon, foreign trips and what not. Our discussions almost always turn to teasing Mota (Vipul). Most of the times he is on the receiving end of the jokes. We often challenge him to go for a ride to Lonavala on his Pulsar, he gets all excited and then backs out at the last moment. Just imagine, going for a long ride on your bike, what a thrill...to feel as if you are flying in the air, talking to the birds, feeling the warm and cold wind, and to see the world pass by. Mindspace is a bikers praradise where they can explore the power of their bikes and show their expertise at performing stunts. If you hang out there around late evenings, you will see many bikers doing various stunts on their bikes. Some keep their side stands down to generate sparks, some ride their bikes with no control on bike handles, some do a wheelie but the best that I have seen so far was a biker standing on is seat straight, upright, no control on the brakes, clutch and gears. It was thrilling to see that biker perform the stunt. I wish I could perform that stunt.

A few days back, I saw a bike commercial on the same lines. Yes, you guessed it right, its the new Bajaj Pulsar Commercial. What a commercial!!! After seeing the commercial the first words that came out of my mouth were 'SIMPLY AMAZING'. The stunts were performed with great care and full perfection and it is awesome to see the coordination of the bikers. My personal favourites from this commercial is the part where all the bikers follow each other in a line going zig-zag without having control over their bike handles, two bikers hold each others hand and move in a circular motion, and the end. Superb. Brilliant.

However, giving it a second thought, makes me think deeper, about the effectiveness and safety of airing such a commercial. Yes it has caught on to the audiences quickly, which might lead to increase in sales. The company might think, great, thats what advertisements are for, to increase sales of the products, ultimately leading to more profits. However in today's world, they also need to think about consumer's safety. With a commerical like this one, I think I will see more and more inexperienced bikers trying these stunts at Mindspace. It may lead to accidents, maybe a fatal one. But who is to blame? The commercial starts with a warning informing audiences that the stunts are performed by experts and they should not be tried out. The question is, are such warnings enough? Do these warnings stop us from doing those stunts? I think they don't. Everyone wants a thrill, an excitement, and at times these stunts give us a gateway. Another example of this is the latest commerical of Thumb-up by Akshay Kumar.

There have been talks that this Pulsar Commercial should be pulled off air. I say WHY? We live in a democratic country, where all of us are responsible citizens. We should not curb the creative freedom of the commercials, and take responsibility for our own actions. We do not need others to take decision for us. We know what is good and what is bad, and we are independent to take a decision.

View Pulsar Commercial : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJkRilZdL14