Is this festive season special?

I certainly believe so! I see a lot of relieved faces as the festive season sets in, people wanting to forget a miserable year in 2008 and ignore a year of struggle in 2009. Too much has happened in the last six months (whether its oil prices, inflation, terrorism or financial crisis led recession) that has dented individual sentiment; and too little will happen in the next six months in business to change that sentiment in India. In most western countries the sentiment is expected to worsen, if anything!

The timing of the festive season bang in the middle of gloom seems to be perfect! While I don’t expect festivities to be at the same level as previous years, the break I’m sure will be far more appreciated by all and hopefully we will see the optimists come back with a strong second wind to spread much needed infectious enthusiasm around at work, at home and in social gatherings!

It’s important that media plays a conscious role in ‘raising the cheer’ through some happy festive related reporting. There hasn’t been much of that currently but I truly hope that the next 10 days will be about happy stories. We all know sales are down, we all know business is struggling, we all know discounts are the order of the day, we all know tourism is at an all time low, we all know layoffs and salary freezes/cuts are a reality. No more of that please!!

The media needs to adopt the tag line of a famous alcohol brand which states ‘Spread the Cheer’! As the little master of cricket recently said, India’s recent test victory is dedicated to all Indians and he hopes it brings some cheer to the people who have had to put up with a lot in recent times (specifically the Mumbai terror attacks) and years.

We can’t remove the misery but we can ensure that we don’t add to it! Let’s spread some happiness this festive season as the world needs it!!