Give Me My Sunshine, Give Me My Green!
Maybe, I don’t understand visual grammar. Maybe I’m dumb. I live in Kerala, and have been thanking my senses for making me see every Kerala frame as a motion picture that moves me. The hills, the streams, the elephants, the white elephants, the crocodiles, flags – red, saffron and tricolored, the shutdowns, the potholes, the technology, the snobbery, the wannabes, the cultivated Page 3 that never exists, the laziness, and the painted faces that transport me to a world never seen before – all have been well crafted frames for me, of my Kerala.
I had been reporting tourism in Kerala for quite a while, though not as much as what I was expected to do. Those were my journalism days, let me add. I had always felt the need for a better marketing push for the land much explored. Kerala needed a marketer, with not an MBA degree but someone with a fair amount of built-in aesthetics.
The sun, the sand, the monsoons, the elephants and all had in fact been showcased across the envious globe by the brilliant men and women in government, the media and hospitality sector. Kerala indeed is the almighty’s own land, as had been coined by one of those brilliant minds sometime ago. Kerala excels in whatever the Gods do - be it gulping down the intoxicating liquids in admirable fashion, stalking women for a casual mating session, calling for a duel or a full-scaled battle in times of anger or slitting throats at the drop of a bottle. God’s own land, indeed. When it comes to marketing the state, Kerala has always banked on some selling push but finally ended up as just another commodity on sale. The aesthetics in marketing had always been found lacking.
The moment was indeed waiting – for some good marketing effort. The moment I heard a new campaign had been made, I couldn’t wait any longer to see it and applaud it. Thanks to the Facebook and YouTube props, the Moment is Waiting campaign has been playing on my PC ever since. I have been hitting the Replay button every time the clip grinds to a close, in the hope of finding Kerala inside. Sadly, Kerala and its tourism potential don’t occur in me even as I go for the re-runs. What I see in the clip is a Ram Gopal Verma horror clip in the even more frightening clutches of a Garnier commercial.
As I watch again, it brings to mind the stark and empty grey lives of artists staring at a bleak future. I even see tusker stooping so low as if in anticipation of going back to the wild than be in the midst of arc lights and the drums. I see vagabonds looking for the wild only to be terrified by masked faces. I don’t see green. I don’t see the positive energy that Kerala is ultimately all about. I don’t see what I want my visitors to see. Maybe my moment is still waiting to come.
Kerala tourism is manned by the best men in the industry, and I can testify that based on the interactions I have had with the few once upon a time when I used to write my humble stories on Kerala’s tourism potential and upcoming developments. But then, I fail to comprehend the melancholy splashed across the latest campaign. It doesn’t welcome my guests to my land of green and harmony. They could even begin dropping travel plans if they are exposed to the ‘Your Moment is Waiting’ campaign.
I wouldn’t want a stop-hairfall commercial to be the mascot of my Kerala to the outside world. I wouldn’t want horrifying faces and fear-stricken faces of kids to drive away Kerala travelers. I wouldn’t want my greenery wiped away by negativity laden grey.
For me, the simple face of Kerala itself is campaign material, when I try and walk around with a handheld camera snapping up shots. Kerala opens up in front of my eyes as well framed shots. The Kerala Tourism campaign should have been simple and welcoming rather than being so intimidating.
Well then, I hear the film has had all the best brains working together. I’m no film maker or even a critic. So, may be, I don’t understand the craft and grammar that has been injected into the campaign. May be I’m dumb – so dumb to stay quiet even as a ‘masterpiece’ art house production gets unspooled. But then, somebody give me back my green Kerala so that I can tell people I know that my state is still a lush paradise where birds twitter and the elephants trumpet.
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