I was coming to Gurgaon in a bus today and it was an ordeal of some sort. It took me 3 hours to complete the journey which should have taken half the time. The traffic jams at three places should be blamed for this while Government can be cursed for everything. The cause of traffic jams was different at different places.

The first traffic jam happened because a flyover is being constructed there. The part of the road is under construction so the road width has decreased causing narrower exodus of vehicles than before. The Govt. is making significant investments to improve the infrastructure of Delhi and to equip the city to host Commonwealth Games in 2010.

The cause of the second jam was some rainfall last night which clogged the roads with rainwater. The same road is said to be one of the best in the capital and it’s a kind of shame when the movement of vehicles slows down because of something as mundane as drizzle. Has the govt. invested the money wisely in creating the highway? Didn’t engineers should have taken rain into account before making highway?

The third cause was the long(est) queue at a Toll bridge. The Govt. charge money from every single vehicle which enters Gurgaon from the capital so that they can have fuller treasury to invest on making more highways which clog down after some rain.

When you do something you advertise that you can do it. The govt. of India is advertising its inability to make smart investments in infrastructure because advertising doesn’t have to be loud every time.

“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does”.

I am rather very naive when it comes to advertising but I strongly feel in the saying that “Distance brings perspective.” I think that best thing about advertising is that it is not a product but an idea, a rather very strong idea which is based on the human craving to live in groups. I read it somewhere that more eyeballs mean double opportunities and Indians have not utilized it to help themselves properly yet. Let’s take a case of Indian Public Transport.

You can call yourself lucky if you have not traveled in Indian trains or buses because they are really pathetic and a serious reason to escape from India. There is not a single company who have shown the guts to improve the public transport and it could be one reason that why we haven’t seen any advertising on vehicles. Advertisements on public transports could be big business if only it’s managed well. There are at presently very few Indian companies who deal in outdoor advertising of this nature ( Graphisads is one ). Banners inside or outside the vehicles can reap in money while I believe inviting radio sponsorships can turn out to be a killer. There are quite a few radio stations and we shall see significant growth in coming years. Small businesses are now realizing the power of advertising while bigger businesses will give the initial push by advertising on the vehicles. These bigger businesses will include telecommunication companies, banking institutions and entertainment channels. I also believe that if it is done correctly then giving free rides to the commuters wont be a big deal either since most of the revenues will come from advertising.

Do tell me if you find this idea cool enough?