My first taste of rural marketing.... As part of the disguised marketing research festival (Illumina), we were carrying out a research for ITC at the Dussehra Mela of Pataudi. For the uninformed, Pataudi was the capital of the kingdom of Nawab of Pataudi, the lineage of Saif and Soha Ali Khan.
Since we were not part of the volunteering team and I have always been a free bird preferring to stray away from the crowd, it was decided we (Me N Lukha) would be going on bike rather than with the rest of the group for whom cars had been arranged by the Illumina team.
The road was pretty impressive with Marigolds being grown on both sides of the road. Of course the government school and PWD rest houses also have a charm of their own when they are built in villages, away from the glitz offered by the cities.
In the mela itself, it was amazing to see people coming in Tractors and descending upon the Ram Leela ground Apart from our stall, there were stalls of eatables as well as toys for kids. Being totally devoid of grass, there was enough dirt being raised in the ground to almost eclipse the Sun. It was almost like there was a shade above us. The best part was when Ravana entered the ground on a tractor as his chariot. The dramatization was pretty impressive to say the least.
Our disguised research was full of mythological characters and it was pretty shocking to see people seeking blessings from our actors who had dressed up as different Gods. Kudos to our actors for such a wonderful job but it was more surprising as how people in villages still worship actors just because they are dressed up as a God.
Off from the mela we went for a small Pataudi trip. There was hardly anything other than the house of Nawab of Pataudi which was a gaurded estate with no visitors allowed.
The best part was the accuracy of the people when it came to distances. Whether we asked the distance o the nearest petrol pump or the distance of the highway, the replies of 2km and 9 kms were accurate up to 100 meters by the odometer. No wonder the government felt no need for putting up road signs along the entire rout !!!
Since we were not part of the volunteering team and I have always been a free bird preferring to stray away from the crowd, it was decided we (Me N Lukha) would be going on bike rather than with the rest of the group for whom cars had been arranged by the Illumina team.
The road was pretty impressive with Marigolds being grown on both sides of the road. Of course the government school and PWD rest houses also have a charm of their own when they are built in villages, away from the glitz offered by the cities.
In the mela itself, it was amazing to see people coming in Tractors and descending upon the Ram Leela ground Apart from our stall, there were stalls of eatables as well as toys for kids. Being totally devoid of grass, there was enough dirt being raised in the ground to almost eclipse the Sun. It was almost like there was a shade above us. The best part was when Ravana entered the ground on a tractor as his chariot. The dramatization was pretty impressive to say the least.
Our disguised research was full of mythological characters and it was pretty shocking to see people seeking blessings from our actors who had dressed up as different Gods. Kudos to our actors for such a wonderful job but it was more surprising as how people in villages still worship actors just because they are dressed up as a God.
Off from the mela we went for a small Pataudi trip. There was hardly anything other than the house of Nawab of Pataudi which was a gaurded estate with no visitors allowed.
The best part was the accuracy of the people when it came to distances. Whether we asked the distance o the nearest petrol pump or the distance of the highway, the replies of 2km and 9 kms were accurate up to 100 meters by the odometer. No wonder the government felt no need for putting up road signs along the entire rout !!!
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