Society Is Influenced More by Show Than by Substance — ICSE Essay

There is just no place for factual plain speaking in today’s highly materialistic society. It is not uncommon to find friends bragging about their royal or star connections to impress others. This is most blatantly practiced in the corporate world, especially in advertising products or services. Companies resort to gimmicks, for getting noticed. They make tall claims about their product or services that are not in conformity to what they offer.

Thus one finds star personalities from Bollywood or the sports world, endorsing cars and motor cycles. One even finds a bearded celebrity, eulogising a particular brand of shaving cream. Advertisers use such brand ambassadors to catch the attention of the consumer which have no relation to the product on offer. This is feasible for ‘Society is influenced more by show than by substance.’

I had first hand experience of the truth of this statement during the Navratri festival last year. ‘The Times’ a renowned event management group of Delhi organised an event titled, ‘Dance with the stars’. The programme was a Dandiya dance, in the lawns of a prestigious hotel of the city. Renowned stars like Aishwarya Rai, Urmila Matondkar, Raveena Tandon, Salman Khan, and my favourite hero Hritik Roshan, were to grace the occasion. The hype enabled them to sell the tickets priced at `1000 each, on the first day. I managed to get a ticket for the show after waiting in the queue for two hours.

On reaching the hotel I found a huge crowd waiting at the gate to catch a glimpse of the stars. Some young boys watched in envy as I made my way through the brightly lit entrance. The show, as with all such star-studded programmes, began an hour late. The local orchestra ‘Guys’, regaled the crowd with some of the best pop music. The glamorous dancers with dandia in their hands, danced well into the night, but there was no trace of the ‘Stars’. Sonia, the VJ of Channel V, heightened the anxiety by announcing that the stars were about to descend. This continued well past midnight, but there was just no trace of the promised stars. At about half past twelve Sonia introduced Johnny Lever and Namrata to the audience, regretting that others could not come because of pressing engagements.

It was a big letdown. The crowd grew restless and gave vent to their anger by booing and hooting the organisers. Normalcy returned with great difficulty as Johnny Lever with his characteristic jokes made light of the situation. The three-hour programme just lasted for an hour, after which the crowd just thinned out. I returned home feeling cheated to the core. I cursed myself for having spent a princely amount on an event, that was just no better than the jam sessions in school.

Indeed, my decision to participate in the event was influenced more by show than by substance. I was carried away with the advertisement ‘Dance with the stars’ rather than experience the joy and gaiety of the dandiya ras.