By Manoj Sharma
The streaks of sunlight through the crevices of my worn-out curtains announced the arrival of yet another sunny day.
“Good morning, Sir,” Manju my house keeper was standing near my bed with the newspapers and a cup of hot steaming tea.
“Good morning, Manju,” I stretched my hand to accept the newspapers as she placed the cup of tea on the bedside table. On the top of page two the legendary cricketers who were our heroes stood smiling at me with a pouch, each, of Kamla Pasand wishing me Happy Diwali. The smile, if not more endearing, was akin to the smile of Mohini holding the mana, Amrit churned out of the sea to distribute to the Devtas. Ooh! What a start to the day.
It has been almost 24 hours since I consumed the bed-tea newspaper combo and I am still reeling under the onslaught of the advertisement. What is it that makes these legends, these heroes, advertise these kind of products? Greed for more money? Fame? Or the love of seeing their made up, dyed /semi dyed/grafted hair, hiding bald patches, face wrinkles hidden under the layers of artificial creams. I have failed miserably in my analysis.
In another advertisement on the TV, I have seen more legends like Sunny Gavaskar, Gayle, joining these high value human beings to sell the pan masalas.
As I switch on the TV, there comes the noise of shattering of the glass pane of the window as one of our most loved heroes hurls a tennis ball to get yet another hero take off his headphones and come down. All three pointing their spread out fingers at each other as if showing a victory sign for they have been able to catch the pan masala falling straight from the heavens, for distribution to the inmates of this planet. Oof! Our hero, greatest of all times, was also in the fray for making a buck out of the advertisements.
What example our great heroes are setting for the youth of our country I know not. What do they want to convey, I have no idea. We see them as our role models, our ideals, worship them but this is their true level. Greed and Money. They are bereft of all social and moral obligations. The images we have formed of these legends as we see them in the movies and playgrounds are all myths.
I have heard that some of these legendry heroes have withdrawn from the ads but have claimed that they “cannot do anything as they are agreement bound”. Fantastic! 900 rats and a trip to Haj. The damage has been done.
*The Pan masala industry boasts of being a multimillion industry. The pan masala market in India size reached Rs 43,410.2 Crores in 2022 and probably this massive size attracts these legends to make a slice for themselves out of it. It is like ants making a beeline towards the huge heaps of sugar stacked on the ground.
There are some 10 popular brands of pan masalas and none is safe, irrespective of the health of our macho heroes that is portrayed in the ads. A new study published by a researcher in Tata Hospital has revealed that pan masala severely effects the human body. “Pan masala which is widely used across all the strata of society and is freely available in many parts of the country is carcinogenic, genotoxic, and has harmful effects on the oral cavity, liver, kidneys and reproductive organs,” states the study which has recommended that government action is immediately required to restrict the consumption and to make the people aware about its harmful effects. But, then, who cares. “Pankaj Chaturvedi, Professor and Surgeon at Tata Hospital said, “Pan masala’s main constituent betel nut has been declared as a group I carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) since 1985 and all the other constituents are also harmful to the human body. Pan masala affects almost every part of the human body even without coming in direct contact. Chewers have poor dental hygiene, burning sensation, decreased mouth opening, pre-cancerous spots which have high chance of converting to oral cancer.” Chaturvedi added: “The risk of cancer increases if it is used with other harmful habits like smoking and drinking. Animal studies have shown that pan masala leads to tumours of the lung, stomach, liver, testes and skin. It damages the liver and disturbs the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates. It damages kidneys, testes and even causes abnormalities in sperms. Appearance of withdrawal symptoms after 2-3 hours of abstinence in regular users shows the highly addictive nature of pan masala.”
Medical practitioner P C Gupta said, “Pan masala is being extensively marketed as a mouth freshener and glamorised by various celebrity brand ambassadors.”
But the Government will not ban them. The TV channels and magazines will not stop them. The greedy heroes have insatiable greed for money and more money. We have developed immunity.
Happy Diwali!
*Some statistics have been down loaded from the articles and reports on the internet for which the author is grateful.
