Heavy advertisements of permanent solutions - be it fairness creams, industrial paints or even fat reduction pills - that hound National Television in India (and the world over) remind me of a story I heard often as a child.
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there lived a potter named, (in McGonagall's voice) Mr. Potter. He ran a profitable business selling, as you guessed it, pots. Most of the time, he was an amiable chap, except he held a grievance against God. You see, he lived a very long time ago when pots were used aplenty and were made from clay. So invariably, despite the care with which he made the pots, at some stage or the other, those pots broke. And his customers would then good-naturedly poke fun of his assurances regarding his pots' durability.
One fine night, The Lord Almighty decided He could not take any more of Mr.Potter's discontentment (and constant complaints) and appeared in his dream.
"What perturbs you, my son?" the Lord enquired mildly, the ironical stress on certain words hinting to any reasonable person how much the Lord had been undergoing it, thanks to Potter.
"My pots are breakable! Whyyyyy?" Our hero whined.
"Because they're made of clay. Objects made of clay are deemed to end their intended lifetime through breakage." The Lord stated, his eyes wide with surprise. The son didn't realize this natural fact? How strange.
Potter rolled his eyes.
"But..." The Lord continued in a pacifying mode. "to make up for your disappointment, I shall grant you one wish."
"Ah dearest, kindest, Lord - thank you! Make my pots, unbreakable!" Potter ended, triumphantly.
The Lord's eyes filled with understanding. Some won't learn. "Granted." He vanished.
The next morning, Potter set out to make his pots enthusiastically. His usual bunch of buyers dropped by and he proudly declared to them, "Unbreakable pots sold here!" They laughed again, of course. But Potter gleefully knew who would have the last laugh.
In months, his predictions began to come true. The pots were indeed unbreakable! His fame spread far and wide. People came from other villages and even kingdoms to buy his pots. Potter was very happy.
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, there lived a potter named, (in McGonagall's voice) Mr. Potter. He ran a profitable business selling, as you guessed it, pots. Most of the time, he was an amiable chap, except he held a grievance against God. You see, he lived a very long time ago when pots were used aplenty and were made from clay. So invariably, despite the care with which he made the pots, at some stage or the other, those pots broke. And his customers would then good-naturedly poke fun of his assurances regarding his pots' durability.
One fine night, The Lord Almighty decided He could not take any more of Mr.Potter's discontentment (and constant complaints) and appeared in his dream.
"What perturbs you, my son?" the Lord enquired mildly, the ironical stress on certain words hinting to any reasonable person how much the Lord had been undergoing it, thanks to Potter.
"My pots are breakable! Whyyyyy?" Our hero whined.
"Because they're made of clay. Objects made of clay are deemed to end their intended lifetime through breakage." The Lord stated, his eyes wide with surprise. The son didn't realize this natural fact? How strange.
Potter rolled his eyes.
"But..." The Lord continued in a pacifying mode. "to make up for your disappointment, I shall grant you one wish."
"Ah dearest, kindest, Lord - thank you! Make my pots, unbreakable!" Potter ended, triumphantly.
The Lord's eyes filled with understanding. Some won't learn. "Granted." He vanished.
The next morning, Potter set out to make his pots enthusiastically. His usual bunch of buyers dropped by and he proudly declared to them, "Unbreakable pots sold here!" They laughed again, of course. But Potter gleefully knew who would have the last laugh.
In months, his predictions began to come true. The pots were indeed unbreakable! His fame spread far and wide. People came from other villages and even kingdoms to buy his pots. Potter was very happy.
Slowly though, his enormous customer base began to reduce. Since his pots didn't break, no one approached him for replacement. One by one, his customers stopped buying from him. The few buyers he had were those who were new (and really late to catch on the fad of unbreakable pots, pssh) or those who decided they wanted a new pot.
Now according to simple economics, as the demand for the pots fell, the prices also fell drastically.
And our poor hero soon went bust.
As the story goes, he prayed to the Lord again. And the Big Boss, who always loved a good joke, made all the unbreakable pots break immediately.
Across the region, pots went putttt, tuppp, crrackkk, the pot jinx had struck!
People flowed in to buy from Potter. Even those foreign customers of his. He shook his head, "I sell pots here. Clay pots. Objects made of clay are deemed to end their intended lifetime through breakage." But his buyers laughed, oh Potter was a riot! Anyway, they didn't really want unbreakable pots, everyone knew that was rubbish. But, Potter was of a good sort really and he did his work with so much care - let's buy from him folks!
And thus, Mr. Potter gained 150 points for Gryffindor.
And thus, after that attempt at humour, Mr. Potter lived happily ever after.
The moral of the story when I was six was: God always knows best, does everything for a reason, and the best one at that. Trust Him to His Plan.
But now, drawing parallels with our current case of consumer products. Do you see the similarities? Companies are rarely incentivized to provide us with forever. It makes no economic sense to them. So the next time a cream promises you fairness ten times your original shade, remember two things. One, it's a lie. Two, you don't need it. You're amazing just the way you are.
If that's not convincing and you simply must try something out, go ahead and pick a product that says, "with continuous use" or "lasting results".
The idea described above though comes with many caveats, I realize that. Besides no detergent is confident or foolish enough to promise us "Dirt doth not stick. Even if you roll in that mud." This post is merely a caveat emptor from a child's tale. The stuff we learn as kids!
And our poor hero soon went bust.
As the story goes, he prayed to the Lord again. And the Big Boss, who always loved a good joke, made all the unbreakable pots break immediately.
Across the region, pots went putttt, tuppp, crrackkk, the pot jinx had struck!
People flowed in to buy from Potter. Even those foreign customers of his. He shook his head, "I sell pots here. Clay pots. Objects made of clay are deemed to end their intended lifetime through breakage." But his buyers laughed, oh Potter was a riot! Anyway, they didn't really want unbreakable pots, everyone knew that was rubbish. But, Potter was of a good sort really and he did his work with so much care - let's buy from him folks!
And thus, Mr. Potter gained 150 points for Gryffindor.
And thus, after that attempt at humour, Mr. Potter lived happily ever after.
The moral of the story when I was six was: God always knows best, does everything for a reason, and the best one at that. Trust Him to His Plan.
But now, drawing parallels with our current case of consumer products. Do you see the similarities? Companies are rarely incentivized to provide us with forever. It makes no economic sense to them. So the next time a cream promises you fairness ten times your original shade, remember two things. One, it's a lie. Two, you don't need it. You're amazing just the way you are.
If that's not convincing and you simply must try something out, go ahead and pick a product that says, "with continuous use" or "lasting results".
The idea described above though comes with many caveats, I realize that. Besides no detergent is confident or foolish enough to promise us "Dirt doth not stick. Even if you roll in that mud." This post is merely a caveat emptor from a child's tale. The stuff we learn as kids!
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