In this season of politics, Tata Tea has found it expedient to rerun a great ad they had posted some time back on television. This piece of scalding political commentary has brilliant recall even in ordinary times. Come election season, and the ad is an unqualified winner. It picks up the ubiquitous domestic imagery of the early morning cup of tea and brilliantly launches it into the public space. The ad achieves the transition by mining the
nation’s paradoxical interest in politics on the one hand, and concomitant distrust of politicians on the other!
In the Hindi version, I have been privy to, the ad cleverly uses the word ‘uttna’ (arise) and contrasts it with ‘jagna’ (awaken). The significantly different connotations (the former literally means to get up, while the later suggests awakening of awareness) of the synonyms gives the ad its real impact.
The ad opens with a canvassing politician, followed by a sizeable retinue of rough hangers on, many of whom are ‘safari-suit’ clad, hinting perhaps at his ministerial status. As Bhawar Lal Bhandari (that’s his name)
approaches a young man with folded hands, the stubble sporting, rather cool-looking guy, first orders another cup of tea, and then stuns the vote-seeker with a sticky poser: “What is your qualification?”
The question is as startlingly relevant as it is simple. In India today, the major fault line between civil society and the political system is this: Are our leaders qualified in any way to take charge of our lives? As Shri Bhandari fumbles, the plucky young man asks for the leader’s ‘work experience’.
The young man, on the threshold of a professional career of his own in the new India unfolding for the young and the ambitious, affects the interview format to drag the politician into the former’s frame of reference. It’s a lovely trick; it adds great recall value to the ad. You see yourself slipping into the young man’s shoes; that part of you that has always wanted to ask politicians discomfiting questions becomes him. A real connection happens at this point,
especially because the leader is dragged down into the real world from the high perch he’s safely ensconced in.
The tension mounts when a lackey intervenes to insist that boss man has been in this line of work for 20 years. Somewhat emboldened, the leader sarcastically asks if he’s being interviewed. The young man shoots back an un-obvious retort: “Why not, you’re looking for a big job, are you not?” “What job?” the leaser asks. “Why,” replies the young man, “the job of managing this country.” Touché.
Even before he finishes his punchline, he offers the leader a cup of tea; the superscript thereafter plays out the core theme: “Har subah sirf utto mat” (don’t just get up every morning). The accompanying jingle invokes a spirited chant: “jago re” (awaken).
The dislodging of the unquestioned logic of politics, the resituating of political
urgency within the domain of quotidian concerns that challenge society and young people, and the spunk of the young man who destabilises notions of authority by simply questioning its bases, all make for a heady moment of triumph for the common citizen over the self-important and self-indulgent politician type. The ad is truly memorable.