GP On Television

By Gaurav Parab

It takes a lot to excite me these days (Hint:  If you have not given me my birthday gift, a 1 Tb Hard Drive is a thoughtful idea) but I am really excited this moment.

Yes, I am excited. I just saw three advertisements where the main protagonist (pronounced pianist) was called, Gaurav. Yes, not Rahul, Chopra, or Sunohji but Gaurav!

I know exactly how excited Rumplestiltskin’s  son felt when he was allowed to keep his mother’s second name.

Gaurav in 3 advertisements!  The biggest thing on television since Bappi Lahri.

I got so excited that I forgot what the advertisements were for. I think one was for a biscuit, and one maybe about good looking men - but I can’t be sure. Which is a shame for I would have bought it. I was ready. I am a Gaurav. The mere name which can trigger a thousand purchases by Gaurav’s.

Bhai Saab, aap kaun sa Cement use karte hain?

Mera Naam Gaurav Hain.

I am on the way to the cement shop already.

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? How does the whole deal work? How do three different companies, totally unrelated, come up with the same exotic name for the protagonist* (*From the French word Rendezvous – meaning Horse De Voures) at the same time? Is there a Gaurav in one of those advertising agencies, going around the office late at night, torch in hand, poring over scripts slated for shoots the next day.

“Hmm… Let me see. Find KARAN. Replace with GAURAV”

Evil laugh. This is for all my Gaurav brothers out there. Respect.

And the next day, as the actor turns up- “What the F? Gaurav again? Can’t I be called Uday Chopra?” Kicks the ground.

But as the old drug dealer saying goes, “You can’t have too much of the good stuff.”

There was a spanner in my works. And a spanner in your works can only be painful. Like a kick above your thighs (notice the profound and clever twist of phrase) or a sprain in your ankle.

There it was, an advertisement which reminds me of the incident of that famous inventor of the escalator, who on hearing the words of his secretary reportedly screamed:

“What do you mean no one has invented electricity yet?”

The advertisement I saw next and the one I refer to is about a new cell phone in the market, named verbatim*   after my initials. GP. Yes,GP.  the only problem was the way they spell it in the advertisement. It is spelt. GEE PEE.

(* From the Arabic verb Atim)

If you regret reading this, you may want to avoid http://gaurav-parab.blogspot.com/2009/05/dancing-with-yaars.html this as well.