The Tanishq Diwali Video Controversy

 

Tanishq, the jewellery brand from the Tata group, has a high market share. Its target audience includes the lower and upper middle class, and the general upper class as well. Being a brand of the Titan company, it has some remarkable communication videos which have been appreciated a lot by the audience, until recently. They released two videos in the last two months which received heavy backlash over social media, especially Twitter.

The first video showed a Muslim mother-in-law was organising a festival of the Hindu tradition because her daughter-in-law was Hindu, to make her feel comfortable. The video was promoting inclusion and inter-religion marriage, something that has been happening in India for a long time. People, from a certain mindset, thought that was promoting a so-called term called ‘Love Jihad’ (the term, which the ministry of Home Affairs, as a reply to a PIL has said, doesn’t exist officially). There was heavy backlash over social media and some fanatic, illiterate goons went on to Tanishq showrooms and started giving threats to employees, apart from texting, calling, and jumping over them on social media. I understood the illogical reason they had to some extent or the negative view that the video was portraying to the society, according to them. But the second controversy that erupted is just pathetic.

The second video, that was realised around the Diwali, had four women talking to each other about their planning for Diwali, where one of them spoke of not bursting crackers. Right-wingers made a fuss, saying why will that lady dictate terms for us and why is she asking others not to burst crackers, which clearly wasn’t the case. A layman can even clearly say that she was expressing her opinions and plans. It is her choice and she can do what he wants to (I guess) in a democratic country. I believe these were just baseless allegations, and seemed as if people did not understand the content and only needed a reason to make hue and cry.

It is sad to see how low we have gone in spreading hatred and I wonder what are we portraying ourselves as to the world outside India. I guess what is more dangerous is that fact that this mindset and such groups are expanding. Will a nation of culture and ethics, end up quarrelling with our brothers and sisters? I just hope this does not become true and we see better days ahead- of brotherhood and love.