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Book Title:Fine Balance Author: Rohinton Mistry Publisher: Vintage Pages:624

You think you've read about it all. You think you've heard about it all. Every newspaper, every magazine, even your local historian or relative has a story to tell about it.

I'm talking about the Emergency. That bleak period in the tapestry of Indian democracy, when a megalomaniac politician took over the country and for two years ruled the country with an iron fist. A dismal episode, when thousands were jailed, and many more were forcibly sterilized under the Family Planning Scheme.

And when you think you've heard enough, along comes this book that hits you in the face. I had heard of Rohinton Mistry, and I had heard effusive praise for his Booker nominated work, "Such a Long Journey". I had heard of his panoramic vistas, his depth of feeling and his masterful story telling.

So it was with high hopes that I picked up his novel, "A Fine Balance". The cover showed a girl balanced rather precariously on a pole, obviously a clipping from a street gymnast. A fine balance indeed, I thought.

The story traces the lives of four main characters: a Parsi widow, a young Parsi student and two tailors. Dina is a woman fighting to maintain her independence from her loving but tyrannical brother; Maneck is a young man struggling to make a future for his family in a small mountain town. To this effect, he comes to Bombay to study in a college and obtain a technical diploma, and takes up accommodation with Dina as a paying guest. The two tailors, Om and Ishvar, work for Dina, who is a supplier for a garment house. Both hail from the low, leather working Chamaar caste.

The novel arcs back in time, tracing the lives of the protagonists to the point where they meet. From then, the narrative follows them through the ups and downs of India during the Emergency. Interspersed with this are tales of casteist violence and oppression, with untold misery for the untouchables at the hands of the evil, exploitative Brahmins and Thakurs. Stir in horrific tales of maiming to create beggars; add a dash of Indian filth, a sprinkling of Indian poverty and a garnishing of government apathy, and voila, you have the complete Indian novel!

Mistry fails in drawing you into the narrative. The characters are stilted, and while the Parsi ones are still believable, the lower caste tailors are really unbelievable. If a tailor could speak the way Om does, and have the kind of perspective that he has, well, he wouldn't be a tailor to start with. Mistry usurps the voice of the downtrodden, and fails miserably in doing them justice. Merely describing the atrocities suffered by them does not count for expressing their hopes and aspirations; Mistry's stories end up as sketchy and after a while, you switch off.

A hefty book, which runs well into six hundred pages, I lugged this back home from the college library with the highest hopes of a satisfying need; what I got was mediocre and bland fare, with nothing going for it. Read this at your own risk.

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Deadly Persuasion -By Jean Kilbourne Sabrina R. Gollah Sabrina R. Gollah is currently pursing graduate study in Cross-Cultural Communication and Anthropology. Mass Media, film production and the affects of media in public space are primary interests, as well.

Book Title:Deadly Persuasion Author: Jean Kilbourne Publisher: Free Press Published:Nov 1999

Two out of the top three global tobacco companies are American and they are aggressively targeting women and girls in developing countries with slick advertising promising emancipation, power, and slimness in every puff...."

Advertising, the magic, the allure, the seemingly harmless tunes that attract our minds in our favorite magazines, televised programs, roadside billboards, and through out the day in a myriad of insignificant and yet with a profoundly penetrating design: to infiltrate your mind.

Jean Kilbourne, author of the outstanding book, Deadly Persuasion-why women and girls must fight the addictive power of advertising symmetrically outlines the dangerous goals and the addictive agenda that many top Advertisers perpetrate to guarantee profit and future sales. Sales generated towards the total dependence of the consumer on the product, especially addictive products, such as, alcohol and cigarettes. Products that are designed from intensive physiological study and research so as to 'hook' the consumer into mindless loyalty.

Marketing of products that cater to, promote, encourage, and augment addictive personalities is the primary features of almost all marketing agendas. By promoting the continuous cycle of overeating, and later dieting, for example, advertising then fosters a continued relationship between the product and the consumer. Haven't you ever wondered at the excessively rich desserts coupled with the latest no nonsense diet that the majority of Women's magazine feature in the same issue? Kilbourne would argue that this ploy is planned with sometimes deadly results.

These seeming contradictions are actually strategic methods that one: promote a feeling of inadequacy, two: present unattainable goals [superslim models] and three: produce a desire for a product (chocolate, or beer, for example). These products, allowing one to escape from the normal bane of existence when, one does not measure up to the synthetic expectations of the mass media. In fact, often, the product is offered as not only a balm against the 'harsh' world but, more unscrupulously, to have the product replace the world, period. In short, addiction is concealed amidst ardent passion, happy laughter, perfect moments and glowing youth.

In contrast, advertisement is largely regarded as harmless, sometimes irritating, even ridiculous. It is rarely feared for the possible impact that it exerts in our lives. The common assumption that many consumers hold is that advertisement is just a tool to make informed decisions about a product's quality. This view is the fundamental intention of all advertisement. Many companies expend great effort to this end, that, the consumer remain unaware of the real advertising agenda.

However, we can readily measure the influence of advertisement in our daily life by the lucidity by which we remember the images, the jiggles, and the tunes that bombard us at every opportunity. Advertisement is so powerful, so vast in its scope as a by product of our daily life that several commercials have, in fact, become cultural icons. Icons that often besiege our children's malleable minds.

Kilbourne directs the reader's attention to the alarming marketing trend of current advertisement to directly target children, the largely untapped market of future consumers. This chapter alone, should warn and inform parents to the innate danger lurking in the seemly harmless jingles that many children love to perform and repeat. This is why many advertisement copy cleverly emphasizes cartoon characters (Joe Camel for cigarettes) and animals (Spud Mackenzie for beer). The sole intent is to attract young future consumers. Kilbourne features one ad that shows a young four to five year old child hugging and kissing an enlarged Coors beer can outfitted with sunglasses, Walkman, tennis shoes and gloved hands pointing to what may be a entertainment center. Numerous studies facilitated by major companies has repeatedly shown that the younger the mind (elementary aged children, for example) is positioned the longer and more loyal it is to the product. The aim being, loyal consumers for life.

Research indicates that ten percent of all drinkers purchase over sixty percent of all alcohol consumed. Kilbourne relates, "A 1999 study found that almost 8 percent of nine -year-olds are already drinking beer. Fifteen percent eight-graders and 30 percent of twelfth-graders are binge drinkers.". Tempted to say, not 'my child', think again. Every child is vulnerable, especially during adolescence.

Kilbourne effectively reveals this sinister method in which many companies create markets by addictive advertisement copy so as to maintain and increase profits. Profits forecast from future consumers...children, the best consumers, overall. Not surprising, when one considers that companies spend over 200 billion a year to deliver 'their' message' to the public. A message that often camouflages addictive consumerism that many companies exploit.

It was the public's lack of discernment concerning the dangers of advertisement, that furnished the catalysis for this book, a goal Kilbourne declares is the culmination of her life's direction.

Deadly Persuasion is distinguished due to the interactive format of its presentation. The reader can view the advertisement 'messages' along with the text of the book. We can analyze the advertisement copy, many, seemingly innocuous until observed with the critical eye that Kilbourne cultivates.

Entertaining as well as informative, the book offers the reader an opportunity to decide for themselves if Kilbourne assertions are, in fact, legitimate. I doubt, few would disagree.

Kilbourne presents advertisement copy that covers a broad span of mediums, from televised commercials to the print mediums in both domestic and international markets. This broad view of advertising allows for extensive examination of advertising agendas and goals. Some of the advertisement copy presented is chilling and one may even wonder to its legality.

Kilbourne opens this book with the starling discovery, that, "We are the product" in which the reader learns that many magazines 'sell' their customers to leading companies. Viewing how we, the subscriber, is marketed to other companies is disturbing enough to cause a few subscribers to boycott particular magazines after viewing this section of the book alone.

Equally disturbing in the manner in which violence and addiction are common themes in typical advertisement with the intent to incite rage, dependence,insecurity, and disconnection from others. The motto being that the 'addicted' consumer is the best consumer overall. Because, addicts fuel sells, they are the primary target for many marketed items. In the tobacco industry, for example, marketing effort must vigilantly replace the 3,000 smokers that either die or quit each day. One way to do to this is to target young children with cartoon characters and engaging melodies so that sooner than later, the children will become loyal customers. And, not surprisingly, the statistics reveal that these marketing campaigns have paid off, for, "Today 25 million American women smoke, that is, one out of every four girls under the age of eighteen smoke.".

Each chapter discusses important topics in regard to media trends that affect the way we live and buy. For example, in Chapter 6 ( The More You Subtract. The More You Add--Cutting Girls Down to Size) , the marketing goal to diminish young girl's empowerment and self esteem by encouraging eating disorders is explored in depth with frightening clarity. Chapter 12 (Two Ways A Woman Can Be Hurt) is another alarming exploration of advertising industry's use of violence as a common media motif. A few of the advertisement copy in this section where absolutely terrifying...one ad for jeans infers gang rape for one girl that is literary tossed upside down by her belt. These are the popular ads that our children see daily, normalizing violence and objectification of women .

Timely and extremely relevant, Deadly Persuasion is a "must read" reference source for all women and young girls. This book can literally change lives, expand horizons and prove one again the old axiom, that Knowledge is Power!

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