Playing by the rules

AGKSPEAK

A new commercial that redefines sledging and learning to manage anger.

What I've liked
It's dynamic. It's riveting. It's well produced. And it has a pretty impressive sound track. That's what I liked about the new TVC for Boost. It's the one that has about three or four vignettes or moments from various sports: a sprint, a football game, karate and so on. The participants are all kids and their competitive urge is pretty well articulated even though all through the commercial it looks like their sporting spirit has fallen by the wayside, because the winners or potential winners seem to be mouthing off to their rivals! I think the term is sledging. Sledging or muttering demotivating insults to your opponent to break his concentration is most widely practiced in cricket even though most other sports seem to be successfully adopting this nefarious habit "" the recent World Cup Football must be the benchmark of all successful sledging activities "" and I hope by adults only. The curious part is that sledging is always insulting the opponent and to discover at the end of the commercial that the kids were saying "Boost is the secret of my energy" all along is a bit puzzling. Well, I guess anything goes and changing the rules of the game is part of the game itself. Apart from this little dissonance, the commercial is extremely engaging and I'm sure will strike an instant chord with most pre-teen kids.

What I've learnt
On managing anger
Anger is an old companion. It's been at my side since my early thirties. I was to learn, however, that as the head of an organisation anger was one emotion whose company I definitely was not advised to keep! At the end of an outburst the only loser was I. I gained nothing except notoriety for short temperedness. So my experiments with anger management have a long history. I know that I have been quite successful in managing my anger now simply because my blood pressure has been stable for quite a while! In one of my quests, I remember walking into an esteemed ashram and being given a guided tour of the place along with a group. For some reason I fell behind, lingering for a while longer and letting the group go ahead. To my utmost amazement the tour guide raised his voice, anger lacing his tone and asked me to hurry up "" you must remember I was on a tour of the place in order to learn from them how to control my anger! That was a turning point. I stopped searching from then on. Experience has been my only tutor in this regard and I have discovered that wanting less of everything is the only way to keep a cool head. When you want something desperately and it is denied to you, the emotion you evoke is anger. As our sages wisely observed, satvik food goes a long way in keeping you less combustible and exercise does help you work your anger out; but the most powerful tool is your mind. I meet a lot of 40-year-olds who opt out of or are just plain disgusted or angry with the rat race as they put it.

I ask all of them to let me know when they do find a place on earth where it doesn't exist! But this I know: you can continue to be in the race and stand a good chance of winning by not letting the trivialities of the race affect you. That is well within your power. And believe me, that is the only way to rein in your wrath.

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