Now even Govardhan wants to ‘GO’
Speed is the new mantra for the new-age brands like Fast Track watches, Fanta Orange, Philips, which want us to ‘Move On’, ‘Go Bite and ‘GoGear.’
Everyone wants to Go. An airline wants to Go. A radio station wants to Go. Goa wants to Go. Visa wants to Go. A bike wants to dhak dhak and Go.’ A freshness soap wants us to ‘Get Out and Go.’ Kids want a ‘GoYo’ instead of a YoYo. A mobile network wants the belly of the market to ‘Go for It.’ And even the unassuming yogurt brand Govardhan wants to Go.
Speed is the new mantra for the new-age brands like Fast Track watches, Fanta Orange, Philips, which want us to ‘Move On’, ‘Go Bite and ‘GoGear.’
This overarching impatience echoes across categories. There is an impatience with anything and everything that causes a delay. Theorising, a carryover of our knowledge accumulation heritage, now meets with a stern rebuke from IBM — ‘Stop Talking. Start Doing’. Financial firm Citi Group sums up its new no-nonsense approach with ‘Let’s Get It Done’.
Occasionally this impatience takes on aggressive tones of rudeness. Rude today seems to be in. A TV producer and reality show host Raghu Ram, who may have been deemed unfit for presenting anything in the past, is the new rude dude on his popular show.
But why does everyone want to Go? Why is it that even the slowdown of recession hasn’t been able to contain the spirit of Go?
The answers to these Qs lie in our history, our present and our future. Historically pent up desires imploding in spontaneity
Having lived an extended past marked by destitution and denial, today’s India, beneath it’s newly acquired confident exterior, is hiding bottled up aspirations and desires. The spartan Hindu way of life that eulogised self-denial as a way of dignifying the scarcity, has had enough. It is now, understandably, gushing at every opportunity of expression.
The rush to get there first
The present India, therefore, is an India released. A billion-plus population trying to outrun each other to get to the new opportunities first— rushing to make the most of it now.
The urgency of ambition
There is also an element of future ambition playing its part in churning out the ‘Go’ zombies. With a neo-patriotic zest about India’s enhanced stature in the revised eco-political balance, India today is too charged up to take it’s somewhat over-hyped place under the ‘Globalization 3.0’ sun.
Even if we look at it from the defining need-states and country-moods perspective, the new signs of impatience and spontaneity seem to make sociological sense. Arguably, the two key need-states the society is hurtling towards are indulgence and expression — moods that are directly linked in to spontaneity and impatience, respectively.
So would it be fair to say that we are all growing up in a Go Era? Should we start measuring people by their Go quotient? Will the walks of life that haven’t already been subsumed in the Go lifestyle have a Go at it soon? And finally, for how long would this Go frenzy go on? Maybe some Go-getters should have a go at these posers.
The writer is chief strategist & head, Water Consulting, Mudra Group’s strategy & design company
Speed is the new mantra for the new-age brands like Fast Track watches, Fanta Orange, Philips, which want us to ‘Move On’, ‘Go Bite and ‘GoGear.’
This overarching impatience echoes across categories. There is an impatience with anything and everything that causes a delay. Theorising, a carryover of our knowledge accumulation heritage, now meets with a stern rebuke from IBM — ‘Stop Talking. Start Doing’. Financial firm Citi Group sums up its new no-nonsense approach with ‘Let’s Get It Done’.
Occasionally this impatience takes on aggressive tones of rudeness. Rude today seems to be in. A TV producer and reality show host Raghu Ram, who may have been deemed unfit for presenting anything in the past, is the new rude dude on his popular show.
But why does everyone want to Go? Why is it that even the slowdown of recession hasn’t been able to contain the spirit of Go?
The answers to these Qs lie in our history, our present and our future. Historically pent up desires imploding in spontaneity
Having lived an extended past marked by destitution and denial, today’s India, beneath it’s newly acquired confident exterior, is hiding bottled up aspirations and desires. The spartan Hindu way of life that eulogised self-denial as a way of dignifying the scarcity, has had enough. It is now, understandably, gushing at every opportunity of expression.
The rush to get there first
The present India, therefore, is an India released. A billion-plus population trying to outrun each other to get to the new opportunities first— rushing to make the most of it now.
The urgency of ambition
There is also an element of future ambition playing its part in churning out the ‘Go’ zombies. With a neo-patriotic zest about India’s enhanced stature in the revised eco-political balance, India today is too charged up to take it’s somewhat over-hyped place under the ‘Globalization 3.0’ sun.
Even if we look at it from the defining need-states and country-moods perspective, the new signs of impatience and spontaneity seem to make sociological sense. Arguably, the two key need-states the society is hurtling towards are indulgence and expression — moods that are directly linked in to spontaneity and impatience, respectively.
So would it be fair to say that we are all growing up in a Go Era? Should we start measuring people by their Go quotient? Will the walks of life that haven’t already been subsumed in the Go lifestyle have a Go at it soon? And finally, for how long would this Go frenzy go on? Maybe some Go-getters should have a go at these posers.
The writer is chief strategist & head, Water Consulting, Mudra Group’s strategy & design company