‘Water with CO2 not the real thing’

Jaggi Vasudev, known popularly as Sadhguru, comes across as a uber-cool yogi. An audio visual shows him ride a dirtbike, pilot a helicopter and play golf. And he is equally adept at taking on people on their own turf. The Indian advertising world saw a glimpse of that during the inaugural series of conversations launched by the International Advertising Association-India Chapter. The evening saw Sadhguru give spiritual inputs to a profession that’s more familiar with spirits of the distilled beverage variety.

In conversation with Piyush Pandey, India’s most prominent advertising face of current times, the topic of the day was “Can spirituality and consumerism co-exist?” Pandey, who described this conversation as the coming together of the Sadhu and the Shaitan (the holy man and the devil), sets the ball rolling with a thought, “is consumerism driven by paranoia?”

Any kind of ‘ism’ leads to mindlessness, replies the Sadhguru. Many of these purchase decisions are made by mindless consumers rather than conscious consumers. “Evolved Americans put CO ₂ in water and drink it. Then, they call it the real thing,” he says. The mindless consumerism, according to him, is some kind of an ailment. “Consumers are not buying what is needed but what is expected by their peers. So, life is derailed.” Sadly, the people who mount these expectations do not themselves know what they need in their lives, Sadhguru adds. Any mocking reference towards the 100-odd ad men in the room is purely coincidental.

There is more fodder for thought tossed in the direction of the audience. “Once mindless consumerism sets in, nothing profound remains in society. Everything becomes profane and there is no deeper meaning. If you take the deep rooting of a person and transfer it to somebody who dwells inside a mall, his life will be shattered.” There is more US-bashing coming in the direction of the audience – Sadhguru points out to life in the West going wayward because of mindless consumerism. Citing official statistics, Sadhguru points out that 42 per cent of women over the age of 45 living in the US are on anti-depressants. That, he says, is a product of mindless consumerism.

The consumerism angle also has a sustainability dimension. If all the marketing messages manage to appeal to the population all over the planet, it will have to use more resources than what’s available on planet Earth. So for the current consumer to keep adding to his collection, the other half of the population will have to remain in abject poverty. “Already there’s only half a planet left in terms of resources, but we are marketing to the equivalent of four planets,” he says, to drive home the point more effectively.

Then he comes to the solution. A more sensible way of living is possible without satisfying anybody else’s opinion and going about digging the planet. “Marketers and consumers are sitting on the wrong side of the tree branch and cutting it. If they succeed, they will fail,” he says. And, what is the right side of the tree? “Consumerism is like eating. If you cannot digest what you consume – not just physically – it will lead to destruction. It’s not only not a sustainable way to live, but a dangerous way to live,” Sadhguru says.

He adds that fortunately, a large part of India is still strong on survival mode. When the conscious mode comes in there are no compulsions to consume, but when individuals grow beyond the survival mode, there can be a level of compulsiveness and that is madness. The other thing with most mindless consumption is that consumers start believing that the products they buy is a reflection of them. Whatever consumers accumulate, they can claim it is theirs. “But the moment they say it’s ‘me’ then it’s insanity,” says the Sadhguru. What we are doing everyday is only within the socially accepted level of insanity, he mockingly says. “What you accumulate can be yours and not you.” The senior executives of leading advertising agencies did their share of listening that evening. Now, are the consumers tuning in?

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