Recently a leading company which owns the Nakshatra brand of diamond jewellery, launched a range of substitute diamond jewellery (cubic zirconia). The name of the brand was Rivaaz. That was the cue which forced me to write this post. It is not everyday you come across a leading brand that does not know its own spelling. Well Rivaaz is one such brand. Well in response to this post, I am sure they would say they were trying to rhyme with topaz, but anyone who knows Hindi/Hindustani/Urdu would know the word 'rivaaj' रिवाज which means "usage/custom/practice/fashion". It is often misspelt or mispronounced as 'rivaaz' (like probably the brand did), but everyone knows the meaning of the word. It is a natural fit with a jewellery brand. Hence a good choice. The brand paid crores to Sameera Reddy, Riya Sen and Sreesaanth to endorse this brand. But could not pay 10 thousand to a language expert - a genuine one - not the pseuds who claim to know Hindi just because they are from the cow belt.
The power of the word though best comes out in Saahir's immortal song in Pyaasaa
ye mahalo.n, ye taKhto.n, ye taajo.n kii duniyaaye insaa.n ke dushman samaajo.n kii duniyaaye daulat ke bhuukhe rivaajo.n kii duniyaaye dunyaa agar mil bhee jaaye to kyaa hai
taajo.n and samaajo.n will be followed by rivaajo.n and not rivaazo.n. But I guess this ad agency would not know who Saahir was! Or probably this was a subtle message to remind us that the diamonds are not the real thing :)
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