Since, I belong to an era where reading newspapers and listening to
the radio was a must to know more about the world, reading through
classified ads became a good past time for me. And when I travelled, I
realised that going through the classified ads of local newspapers
allowed me some interesting observations of the local city.
The habit has worked well for me. I consider myself a decent city profiler by going through the classified columns (Criminal Minds anyone!) of the newspapers, particularly in vernacular. And the fact that I can read and understand around 5 languages, helps a lot.
Having spent the last two years in Dehradun and having travelled to nearby cities I do consider myself some sort of an expert in small town (read Bharat) profiling. So here are some interesting nuggets
1) As everywhere (including the Islamic states like UAE and Malaysia) sex sells. But in Bharat its not the straightforward "massage ads". The ads are couched in "Friendship and Friendship clubs". A typical ad will talk about meeting high profile ladies and college girls. And some have the audacity of asking for a registration fees. Maybe these should feature under the scam columns.
2) But then who says that Bharat is conservative. Ads for Gigolos are rampant. Not in straightforward terms but couched in some interesting 'friendship speak". "Khule vicharon ki high profile aur ameer mahilayon se milen" ( Meet open minded high profile rich women). Of late the ads are getting more bold. "Unemployed youngsters, earn more than 25-30,000 a day by massaging hi profile rich ladies!"
In a regular newspaper like Daily Jagran or Amar Ujala there are on an average 8-10 such ads per day, implying a market and an available product.
What it tells me that some smart alec is capitalising on unemployment. That the Police force is corrupt and that all jacket clad, mobike riders that saunter into your building complex are not courier delivery boys. For I am told that courier delivery boys have replaced door to door salesman as the cover for gigolos.
3) Health problem ads are mainly of four types. One is sex problems; chota ling, josh mein kamee, jaldi chootna are some of the common headlines. The second is about white spots and the third for couples who are childless. The fourth is about gaining height.
Obviously, quacks abound. No wonder medicines like Patanjali's Putra jeevak beej abound and flourish. On a lighter note, I wonder why Baba Ramdev even needs to get into non Ayurvedic products like Noodles!
4) Part time jobs: These are distinct from regular job ads. Most of these are for data entry and promise a monthly income of Rs 10,000-30,000 a month, a princely sum in small town. But some interesting ads are also emerging. Ads for gym trainers, ads for henna applying, ads for teaching girls make up, ads for working in Cafes during evenings....
What it tells me is that the youngster today, is open to doing variety of part time jobs. And of course that an alternate economy is booming.
5) Ads for immigration services: Bharat is now being wooed with immigration dreams to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Daily at least 2-3 such so called immigration experts advertise in the classifieds.
6) Films related: This is an interesting category. It has collection of ads that are related to the film industry. These are ads promising youngsters walk in roles in films and TV serials. Some also offer to train as actors and models.
7) Alcoholics: Most of the ads are for getting rid of liquor habit in days. But these point to a dangerous problem of alcoholism.
8) Mobile Phone towers: This is the latest scam to hit small towns. Agents who tout themselves as representatives of Idea, Vodafone, Airtel fix a rooftop for mobile phone tower, promise monthly rents in excess of Rs 50,000, guarantee job for one person and then take a deposit or registration fees of Rs 10,000 to 50,000 and vamoose!
9) And of course there are the regular ads like name change, family break up etc. But two things here have caught my attention. Most of the name changes are being done by youngsters. Names are changing from "Radhey Shyam Kapoor and Parvati Nautiyal to Anurag Kapoor and Simran Nautiyal." Are youngsters rejecting the traditional names given by their parents?
The second thing was the obvious break up of families. I see enough ads from fathers who have disassociated or even broken up from sons, specifically mentioning that they will not be entitled to his money and property. Old care home ads are also mushrooming in a small way.
So now what does me as a profiler have to say about Bhartiya towns like Dehradun
a) Bharat is not as prude as we expect it to be.
b) The unorganised work scenario is booming...and so is the indirect economy. I call it indirect as am not sure how much of it gets reflected in the books and tax documents.
c) The Bhartiya youth is as adventurous and as open to opportunities as an Indian youth.
d) Quacks, scamsters and obvious fraud abound. It also reflects a certain sense of naivety, desperation and jugaad in a negative way.
e) Social issues like alcoholism, prostitution are also as rampant as in any major city.
And they also reintroduced me to some old hindi/Urdu words: bedakhal (disassociate legally), Indri (organ), yantra (machine), swapan dosh (wet dreams), samadhan (solution)....
Now to check in the film related classifieds; can I get a role in the next season of Criminal Minds?
The habit has worked well for me. I consider myself a decent city profiler by going through the classified columns (Criminal Minds anyone!) of the newspapers, particularly in vernacular. And the fact that I can read and understand around 5 languages, helps a lot.
Having spent the last two years in Dehradun and having travelled to nearby cities I do consider myself some sort of an expert in small town (read Bharat) profiling. So here are some interesting nuggets
1) As everywhere (including the Islamic states like UAE and Malaysia) sex sells. But in Bharat its not the straightforward "massage ads". The ads are couched in "Friendship and Friendship clubs". A typical ad will talk about meeting high profile ladies and college girls. And some have the audacity of asking for a registration fees. Maybe these should feature under the scam columns.
2) But then who says that Bharat is conservative. Ads for Gigolos are rampant. Not in straightforward terms but couched in some interesting 'friendship speak". "Khule vicharon ki high profile aur ameer mahilayon se milen" ( Meet open minded high profile rich women). Of late the ads are getting more bold. "Unemployed youngsters, earn more than 25-30,000 a day by massaging hi profile rich ladies!"
In a regular newspaper like Daily Jagran or Amar Ujala there are on an average 8-10 such ads per day, implying a market and an available product.
What it tells me that some smart alec is capitalising on unemployment. That the Police force is corrupt and that all jacket clad, mobike riders that saunter into your building complex are not courier delivery boys. For I am told that courier delivery boys have replaced door to door salesman as the cover for gigolos.
3) Health problem ads are mainly of four types. One is sex problems; chota ling, josh mein kamee, jaldi chootna are some of the common headlines. The second is about white spots and the third for couples who are childless. The fourth is about gaining height.
Obviously, quacks abound. No wonder medicines like Patanjali's Putra jeevak beej abound and flourish. On a lighter note, I wonder why Baba Ramdev even needs to get into non Ayurvedic products like Noodles!
4) Part time jobs: These are distinct from regular job ads. Most of these are for data entry and promise a monthly income of Rs 10,000-30,000 a month, a princely sum in small town. But some interesting ads are also emerging. Ads for gym trainers, ads for henna applying, ads for teaching girls make up, ads for working in Cafes during evenings....
What it tells me is that the youngster today, is open to doing variety of part time jobs. And of course that an alternate economy is booming.
5) Ads for immigration services: Bharat is now being wooed with immigration dreams to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Daily at least 2-3 such so called immigration experts advertise in the classifieds.
6) Films related: This is an interesting category. It has collection of ads that are related to the film industry. These are ads promising youngsters walk in roles in films and TV serials. Some also offer to train as actors and models.
7) Alcoholics: Most of the ads are for getting rid of liquor habit in days. But these point to a dangerous problem of alcoholism.
8) Mobile Phone towers: This is the latest scam to hit small towns. Agents who tout themselves as representatives of Idea, Vodafone, Airtel fix a rooftop for mobile phone tower, promise monthly rents in excess of Rs 50,000, guarantee job for one person and then take a deposit or registration fees of Rs 10,000 to 50,000 and vamoose!
9) And of course there are the regular ads like name change, family break up etc. But two things here have caught my attention. Most of the name changes are being done by youngsters. Names are changing from "Radhey Shyam Kapoor and Parvati Nautiyal to Anurag Kapoor and Simran Nautiyal." Are youngsters rejecting the traditional names given by their parents?
The second thing was the obvious break up of families. I see enough ads from fathers who have disassociated or even broken up from sons, specifically mentioning that they will not be entitled to his money and property. Old care home ads are also mushrooming in a small way.
So now what does me as a profiler have to say about Bhartiya towns like Dehradun
a) Bharat is not as prude as we expect it to be.
b) The unorganised work scenario is booming...and so is the indirect economy. I call it indirect as am not sure how much of it gets reflected in the books and tax documents.
c) The Bhartiya youth is as adventurous and as open to opportunities as an Indian youth.
d) Quacks, scamsters and obvious fraud abound. It also reflects a certain sense of naivety, desperation and jugaad in a negative way.
e) Social issues like alcoholism, prostitution are also as rampant as in any major city.
And they also reintroduced me to some old hindi/Urdu words: bedakhal (disassociate legally), Indri (organ), yantra (machine), swapan dosh (wet dreams), samadhan (solution)....
Now to check in the film related classifieds; can I get a role in the next season of Criminal Minds?
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