Horizons - Filled with Hope

Talk of India's donation to Pakistan's flood relief has been going on for days now (latest news item being this). Questions that pose themselves as I read this article:

One: Tomorrow, if the Naxals offer a multi-crore rupee package for some natural disaster in India, would we accept? Should we accept? Remember – this is about perception, and not about the facts. According to Pakistan's perception, India is probably a greater threat to Pakistan, than Naxals are to India.

Two: Do the masses who are actually facing the wrath - the nameless, faceless victims – give a rat's a**e about any of the politics that goes behind the donation? For a person whose life is shattered, whose livelihood has disappeared overnight, does the source of the donation matter? Should it matter?

So, one really hot afternoon, after going through the malls with a fine-tooth-comb, looking for some decent clothes my size, I give up and decide it's time to quench my thirst. I walk up to this juice counter that is in the shape of an orange.

Me: Hi, do you have fresh fruit juices?

Counter Guy (CG): No sir, but we have better than that. We have [brand-name-I-cant-recollect] “naturals”.

Me: Oh, what is that?

CG: Sir, it is a new product that we launched few weeks back. Try it out sir. Natural is good for your health .. blah .. blah ..

Me: Oh that's great. But don't you have plain old orange juice made from real oranges?

CG: No, sir. You see, this is better .. this is completely natural – no chemicals, no preservatives .. .. yada .. yadaa ..

Me [cutting him short]: So, your company has invented some organic formula for orange which is more natural than orange itself?

CG: No sir, but this juice here is natural and does not have any artificial flavors. It is organic and it is good for your health. Also, sir, this is a best-selling product. You can see how popular it is by looking at the queue behind you.

Sure enough, when I turned, I saw about a dozen people lining up to have this “organic” and “natural” juice. The question of what can be more natural than fresh orange juice is of zero relevance for these people.

That's when I realized you can sell anything to the urban crowd by labelling it as “organic” or “natural”. Anybody wanna join me in venturing into the “natural synthetics” business?