November 18, 2004

Democracy On Three Wheels

I’m not real fond of just posting excerpts of other people’s articles. But isn’t that what blogging is all about? This story out of India was just too good for me to ruin by hacking it apart.

From Hindu.com

We always like our democracy to be dressed up in funky garbs, with loads of make-up. But the mode of publicising the same can really be down to earth. Or that's what two websites, www.indiademocracy.com and www.JantaRaj.com show us.

Both websites are touted as attempts to add the advantages of Information Technology to the `rights' of democracy and extend the same to the masses. The point, however, is the way the creators of these sites have chosen to advertise the sites.

Clueless drivers

Well, next time you are on the streets of Hyderabad, keep an eye on the rear of the auto-rickshaw before you. Crudely scribbled in white on the black tops of over 100 three-wheelers, these websites invite you to the virtual realm of democracy.

The joke of the `online democracy', however, is not just that. Ask any of these auto-drivers, and a majority have no inkling of what they are advertising on their vehicles. Says Nagaraju, one of them waiting near Walden: " I don't know, sir. I bought this auto from a friend and this was already there. He told me to let the ad remain there. Nobody has asked me about it in the last one year," he says nonchalantly.

Posted by Buzz Webster at November 18, 2004 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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