Dear Ms. Das,
Thanks for your views. My statement "people don't want to mix charity and
entertainment" is naturally based on my personal views formed based on what I
know about my friends and others who I come in contact with. I am no social
researcher, therefore it is only fair that my views are taken with a pince of
salt.
If I may say so, you have been a bit hasty with your example, which comes from
a completely different culture. I was talking about the situation in India
where transparency is generally the exception than the norm.
It is precisely the difficulty in "marketing" a charity event that prompted me
to offer my suggestions. "Marketing" works in such cases if it is done by word
of mouth: if my friend tells me he/she knows the oragnisers and it is for a
good cause, I may be inclined to trust my friend. On the other hand, if I see a
poster of a charity event, I may not react the same way. In the present case,
the event was of the latter type; hence my short line about mixing priorities.
Sorry about the long mail. Sometimes subtleties get lost if one tries to be
brief.
Regards,
Bhagya
--- On Mon, 11/1/10, Arunjana Das <arunjana....@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Arunjana Das <arunjana....@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NorthEastIndia] Assam pays tribute to 2008 Blast Victims by
organizing cultural functiom
To: "Bhagya Konwar" <bkon...@yahoo.com>
Cc: northeastindia@yahoogroups.com, "rajdeep kar" <rajdeep_...@yahoo.co.in>,
rritu...@gmail.com, rajdeep...@gmail.com
Date: Monday, November 1, 2010, 7:40 PM
If I may be so presumptuous as to offer my two-cents in the matter, I would say
that we are getting lost in a flurry of views/ opinions as to whether mixing
charity with commercial entertainment is ethical or moral. With due respect,
this question is in a completely different realm and beyond the scope of the
current subject.
The bottom-line is whether the families of the blast victims benefited from the
show. If they did, I salute the organizers for the noble effort. Having said
that, there is always room for improvement. I am no authority on the subject,
but if we look around, we may find that involving celebrities in charity shows
is a tried and tested model. When done well with some amount of transparency
and accountability, it can be very effective. A lot also depends on how the
event is marketed among the target audience, which I suspect, is causing some
amount of bile among our friends in the group.
In my humble opinion, organizing an event like this requires a lot of effort,
for which, I thank the organizers. If there were things which they could have
done better, I am sure the members of this community wouldn't mind offering
some relevant suggestions and providing some constructive criticism.
I appreciate Mr. Bhagya Konwar's suggestions, although I do not agree with his
point on people not wanting to mix their chaity and entertainment. A very
strong example to defend my point is the recent turnout at the "rally to
restore sanity/ fear" at the National mall in Washington, DC. It was a purely
comedic venture, which drew around 250,000 people! They made it a point to
announce beforehand that all proceeds will be donated to the National Mall
Trust. I don't have the numbers on how much money the show made, considering it
was a free show. But, going by the amount of merchandise people bought, I would
say a few thousand dollars.
For what it is worth, if the organizers are interested, I can do some research
and point to some commercial charity ventures that have worked well.
Best,
Arunjana
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 3:07 PM, Bhagya Konwar <bkon...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi,
If I may be allowed to offfer a bit of unsolicited advice:
We live in cynical times. This is not to blame people who are cynical: they
may have good reasons to be so. Therefore, when we try to do something for
others, it is better to say it after we have done that something, than to
advertise what we "intend to do".
To take the example of the show, it could have been organised/advertised as a
purely com
mercial entertainment with leading musical performers participating. No one was
going to prevent the organisers from declaring during the show, or even
afterwards, that they were going to donate the profits for the victims of the
blast. Even better, in my opinion, would have been to quietly donate the
profits without telling anyone.
Lest this sounds like I am taking a "holier than thou" attitude, I hasten to
point out that my advice has practical sides to it.
(1) people these days do not want to mix-up their charity and their
entertainment
(2) It removes the suspicion that someone is trying to make a profit in the
name of charity (3) No expectation would be created about the charity part (it
is a commercial profit/loss vernture after all), thereby freeing the organisers
to focus on making as much money as possible without losing sleep over "what
people will think if we do this or that". The goal, after all, was to make as
much money as possible (for the victims)!
(4) if the organisers made a loss, they simply would have made a loss: they
would not have to explain to suspicous patrons why they were not donating
anything!
Regards,
Bhagya
--- On Mon, 11/1/10, rajdeep kar <rajdeep_...@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
From: rajdeep kar <rajdeep_...@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: [NorthEastIndia] Assam pays tribute to 2008 Blast Victims by
organizing cultural functiom
To: northeastindia@yahoogroups.com
Cc: rritu...@gmail.com, rajdeep...@gmail.com
Date: Monday, November 1, 2010, 6:27 PM
Absolutely Rritu da.Rather than going by the subject line,I guess the below
concerned individuals should try to understand the main motive behind
organizing the event .The subject line was just to attract the masses to the
occurance,nothing beyond that.Moreover, everyone is doing/has done their part
to assist the victims to his/her utmost capability in his/her own way.
And yep, arrears/typos do happen by human and I have corrected that in my
next mail.Not sure if the so called äppalled" individual has noticed that.
Cheers,
Rajdeep
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: rrituraj SHARMA <rritu...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 4:19 AM
Subject: Re: [NorthEastIndia] Digest Number 2131
To: North East <northeastindia@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "Rajdeep :: AlBuM UpDaTeD!!!" <rajdeep...@gmail.com>
Buljit, Ankur and rest of the members,
I understand when you ask these questions. But at the same time, I think this
show was organised with a view to raise money (please note that this was a paid
show) which in turn would be used to support the victims. And if this
understanding is correct, I don't see this as insensitive but another means of
generating funds to be used for a noble cause.
Rajdeep, please confirm if this understanding is correct.
Best,
Rrituraj
On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 7:40 AM, <NorthEastIndia@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
North East India Professionals
Messages In This Digest (3 Messages)
1a.
Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by organizing cultural func From:
Buljit Buragohain
1b.
Re: Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by organizing cultural From: Ankur
Bora
1c.
Assam - Land of opportunity From: swakshar chakravarty
View All Topics | Create New Topic
Messages
1a.
Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by organizing cultural func
Posted by: "Buljit Buragohain" buluas...@yahoo.co.in buluassam
Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:29 am (PDT)
Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by organizing cultural
function?????????????
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Messages in this topic (3)
1b.
Re: Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by organizing cultural
Posted by: "Ankur Bora" ankur_bora2...@yahoo.com ankur_bora2000
Sat Oct 30, 2010 3:53 pm (PDT)
Buljit,
I echo your sentiment . In fact a few days back there was a posting in this
yahoo group with the subject.
A Musical Nite With ANGARAAG MAHANTA,AURKO & BANDISHE::30th Oct. '10
The individual concerned even not bothered to check a line in the flier - A
tribute to the 30/10/2008 serial bomb blast in Assam.
I am appalled at the insensitivity on such postings. At the same time , I would
like to point out that organization like Assam Foundation of North America ,
Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters and Just for Assam , UK is working for the
rehabilitation of the blast victims.
I am mentioning this because the subject line will convey a different message
otherwise.
Ankur
Dallas , Texas
--- On Sat, 10/30/10, Buljit Buragohain <buluas...@yahoo.co.in> wrote:
From: Buljit Buragohain <buluas...@yahoo.co.in>
Subject: [NorthEastIndia] Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by
organizing cultural function?????????????
To: NorthEastIndia@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 11:28 AM
Assam pays tribute to 2008 blast victims by organizing cultural
function?????????????
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Messages in this topic (3)
1c.
Assam - Land of opportunity
Posted by: "swakshar chakravarty" swaks...@hotmail.com
Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:12 pm (PDT)
Dear All,
I always wonders as to why assam with having arguable the most natural stretch
of fertile land doesn't figure in as the top agricultural states.
Presently based out of chennai and having been exposed to some of the
developments in this field, I am looking it exploring the same in Assam.
However, i need help from all of you,
Can you pl direct me to concerned agencies / people who are involved in this
field.. the effot is truly appreciated.
Cheers Swakshar
PS: I am banker by Profession !!
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Messages in this topic (3)
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--
Best,
Rrituraj
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In Africa every morning, a deer wakes up and realises that today it has to run
faster than the fastest lion, else it would get killed.
In Africa, every morning a Lion wakes up and realises that it has to run faster
than the slowest deer, or else it would starve.
It does not matter if you are a deer or a lion but once you wake up, you better
start running. "
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Rgds,
Rajdeep
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In Africa every morning, a deer wakes up and realises that today it has to run
faster than the fastest lion, else it would get killed.
In Africa, every morning a Lion wakes up and realises that it has to run
faster than the slowest dear, or else it would starve.
Now, forget the deer and the lion, once you wake up, you better start running.
"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
