Lead India ?

Lead India - the campaign and the "reality show" by The Times of India .

For months I have been seeing hoardings with the picture of some celebrity(mostly film actors) and the slogan "Lead India " . The hoardings in my opinion were a waste of money - right from the pictures to the outdoor advertising space purchased to thrust them on the populace .

The TV ad I must admit is creatively done esp the one that shows a young boy taking the lead to clear a fallen tree that blocks up traffic .

Yesterday while surfing between channels in the few minutes in a day that I watch TV - I happened to see the reality show "Lead India" . While is seeks to be lofty and supposedly on the mission to identify / deliver leaders - in reality it is no better than any other reality show . In fact it's far worse . Times of India had the opportunity to incubate a movement with this campaign . It could have made it inclusive instead of making it a competitive event with millions of folks passively watching the show . TOI could have used the medium of it's newspapers , TV channels and all the money it spent on the pointless hoardings to motivate and include a wide section of people into substantive action . A small start would be cleaning neighbourhoods .

Most of the contestants on the show have done something commendable and continue to persevere with their chosen mission over years . It is ridiculous to create a competition of people who have taken an initiative to make a contribution to society . The work of most of the contestants is diverse and unique (wrt each other ) . What's the basis for calling one a winner and thereby others as 'losers' ?

The website of Lead India has sections like " Do you resemble a Leader ? " If you think you resemble a leader you can email your picture . And public vote will decide a winner every week.

TOI must be seriously desperate to increase circulation if they feel the need to resort to such contests . There is no distinction between "leader" and "famous person" . This bizarre section has pictures of Katrina Kaif , Himesh Reshammiya , Ritesh Deshmukh under the heading of "leaders" (I could not bear to go past page 2 of this section ) .

It's clear that there is an urgent need for a contest to find the person/people to LEAD The Times of India . They should not mind selecting the "winners" by vote through sms / online polling.