LOST ITS BEARINGS: INDIAN MEDIA

Indian media has begun to frighten and disturb me and perhaps many other ordinary people like me. Sitting always on a moral high ground, looking holier than thou: they pound you day in and day out. Their pitch is shrill, hysterical and tone always insulting. Especially towards panelists they don’t like or who come from across the border. For them no tragedy is so great to keep a distance from grieving families. It is alright to stuff mikes into wailing, crying peoples’ faces who may have lost a near and dear one. They need to learn from some of the international channels like BBC and CNN. Whenever, a tragedy has taken place in US or any other developed country, journalists never take bytes from grieving families. They respect their need for privacy and keep a safe distance, reporting only what they have gathered by speaking to others.

Even in conflict zones international journalists never show close-up visuals of blood and gore. They will speak about it in their report but not treat you to revolting sights.

Then there are a bunch of Hindi and regional language channels that thrive on crime programmes. Re-enacting the entire sequence, giving details of methodology used, in fact, a tutorial for would be criminals. When the Arushi murder took place Aaj Tak went crazy, actually using actors to enact the whole crime sequence, theorizing on motives, conducting a complete trial and even implying who had committed the murder.  In a highly publicized case like Nirbhaya’s the court had to step in to stop the airing of a show which was once again going to enact the entire sequence of events; but, what about the other crime shows that go on unabashedly? If, films can have a Censor Board, why not TV? The so called self –regulating body NBA has not been able to reign in anybody.

Recently, I was shocked when even a very responsible publication like Indian Express gave details of how a young mother drowned her two small children in a washing machine and bucket. Was it necessary? Wasn’t it sufficient to just say a mother committed suicide after killing her two children? In a country where children are routinely killed, especially girls, this is one more unique way of disposal. Millions have been informed in a few seconds. The other day Headlines Today announced they were going to show some disturbing images of a man being stabbed and a dog being brutally tortured. Why would you need to show such visuals? Unless it is serving some purpose of giving proof in a case where evidence is being tampered with, why murders on live TV should be shown. And the pictures are not even blurred. Not that it takes away the sickness from it.

It is not to say that media should not collect evidence of crimes committed by those in power against its citizens or by individuals against women, children and weaker sections of society. But, please show them with some amount of restraint and only when sufficient action is not being taken by authorities. When a girl was molested in Assam some years ago, the channels kept showing the visuals the whole day. For God’s sake! There is a limit to voyeurism.

Then we have the 9 pm prime time shows, with senior anchors from all channels fighting tooth and nail for the viewers’ eyeballs. And believe me it is really a slugfest. The funniest part the bulletins are the little windows which resemble kabutar khanas, pigeon holes, from where a string of eminent panelists peep out and try very hard to be heard. If you have ever watched News Hour on Times Now you will notice how hilarious it has all become now. With the anchor very clearly having strong opinions and shouting down all those who don’t agree with him. More pitiable is the plight of panelists from Pakistan who agree to come on the show. They are shouted down, not just by the Indian panelists but also by the anchor. When we did journalism in the cave ages, we were told the journalist’s job is to be neutral and to report without letting his/her own opinions or beliefs come into the report or news. Clearly, that’s not the case anymore. News is confused with editorial.

Then there are channels like India TV which thrive by allowing paid slots to gurus, astrologers and others involved in spreading superstitions with their mumbo jumbo. Are they fit to be called news channels? Men clad in saffron or black or whatever colour their faith prescribes, wearing 10 rings in all 10 fingers giving all kinds of weird advice about improving your life by some extra expenditure of course. Then there is this new breed of manicured and stylized Tarot readers and female healers who look more as if they are there to give fashion tips than tell your future. Why are these channels not doing what they are supposed to do? Give news.

NDTV, the one channel which was watched by boring people like me who didn’t like sensationalism are now bewildered by how it has begun to resemble Doordarshan in its monotony and lack of creativity. How many years will the same shows go on, with the same faces and the same formats?

Not to forget the breaking news disease; which, incidentally, happens every second of the day. If one channel announces some breaking news every other channel rushes in to get on top. The herd mentality comes in and pretty soon you will have no other news being telecast, even if you switch twenty channels. It will be beaten to a pulp and all other things will be forgotten. Take the case of IPL. The viewer’s exhaustion is never kept in mind when bulletin after bulletin reporters/anchors talk about the same story. It’s not enough to give 10 minutes of the bulletin to the main news. Please spare us poor viewers; we could do with something else. Surely, this country of 1 billion must be having other things happening. Since, last two days it is Narendra Modi and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate! We don’t know how many days it will go on. Dear God in heaven please step in to save this country which is under a deluge of mindless media assault.

THIS BLOODY WORLD!!!!

The earth is soiled with the blood of innocents. Every inch of it. Wonder if there is any place left where humans don't kill humans for senseless reasons. Leaders, whether of nations or rebel groups or terrorist outfits, create situations and the price is paid everyday by ordinary people---men, women and children, who had nothing to do with it in the first place. People who go about their lives just to make ends meet, send their children to school and put food on the table. No war is just. No war is legitimate. It never was. but, this race of homo sapiens never seems to learn. When the two world wars ended people hoped there would not be another. Peace is what everyone hoped and prayed for. But, that is one thing which will always elude us. We are not meant to have it. Because, someone, somewhere will always be unjust and want more than he needs. Strangely, it is always a 'HE'. Men in this world in their pursuit of power defined by ownership over lands, women and idealogies will always displace some legitimate humans.

If you are a normal, decent human being your stomach will turn by the blood curdling stories of barbarism, atrocities and absolute perversions that come out of conflict zones. Whether it is the state doing it or those in revolt. Killing was never so easy. Give a man a gun and he wields power over those who don't have it. With advancement in explosive devices it is so easy to kill in large numbers. And how! Dismembered bodies, heads blown off, rivulets of blood on streets. Little children, old people, women and men caught unawares. Dying a sordid death which they didn't deserve. It is no different when drones kill children from terrorists blowing people up. A recent video footage of a bomb blast in Pakistan was so disturbing, I couldn't get over it for days. A little boy of around ten who was a witness to the bloody explosion was seen crying and beating his head in despair. Is this a world we adults have created for them. When grownups can't get over war traumas of blood and gore how will children caught in such situations ever be normal.

Whether it is the Taliban or Sri Lankan forces or LTTE or Maoists or LET insurgents in Kashmir or Burmese Junta or Syrian rebels/forces or Israelis or Palestinians or Columbians or Iraqis or Afghans or Americans or NATO, its all the same in the end. Innocent lives are lost. Millions of people are displaced; living like refugees for months, sometimes years. Stories of rape, mass muders, multilations keep emerging. In places like Congo where civil war has been waging for years more than 3-4 million people are said to have died, both due to violence and because of disease, malnutrition and collapse of health services which are an outcome of conflict. Aid organisations like Red Cross and UN often come in the cross-fire too and can do very little given the magnitude of the crisis.

Most conflict zones are in some of the poorest countries and victims are mostly civilians. Not that the life of a soldier is less valuable. Strangely no other species is confronted with such violence. They live peacefully with each other, killing only to satiate their hunger pangs because nature created them that way. Humans who are supposed to be highly evolved in their intelligence have used it to only destroy the world and everything in it. Each of us has a duty to reflect, question and stop such mindless wars. Conciliation is the only way out.

To see all the places in the world where conflict is continuing click on the link below:
http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=5847

SWORN TO PORN

Recently read an article in Sunday Times by a young man extolling the virtues of porn and how it had helped young men like him to learn and educate themselves about sex. He further went on to thank cable TVs' night shows which completed his schooling. Amazing. Really, never knew the purpose of porn was to educate. The history of porn and internet is only a few decades old. Does that mean people over the past millenia knew nothing about sex and were left in a state of celibacy because no one showed them how. Even animals don't need lessons. Nature takes care of that. But, human beings who consider themselves more evolved are expected to know the virtues of control and consent. But, it seems the human male specie is quite different. Their cravings have heightened to such levels that any woman or child will do, be it boy or girl. Ofcourse, greatly abetted and aided by the porn revolution taking place through technology. They may not surf to learn about some important events, discoveries or inventions. But, every male kid on the block, whatever his educational background, knows how to reach a porn site. And their age is getting lower and lower. So you have even 14 year olds raping. Not to forget sites of child porn aimed at a market of peodophiles.

This young writer goes on to ridicule his parents who would fumble for the remote when a sanitary towel ad appeared on TV. Ofcourse parents should give age appropiate information to children, and teach them about sex and about good touch and bad, but that doesn't mean they start performing in front of their children or sit and watch explicit scenes alongwith them. Surely, there has to be some parent-child distance. And I do believe parents do try to teach in their own way. Only today's generation is impatient to savour things too early. We came from a generation where parents were supposed to be parents and not friends. And thankfully so. The way things are today everything is pass. Nothing is shocking.

Recently, when the Justice Verma committee sat to recommend changes in laws against sexual assault against women, there was a clamour for reducing the age for consensual sex to 16. The justification given was that today teenagers have become sexually active by that age and they should not be harrassed by police. There may be a point about harrassment but why do they need sex at sixteen. Fifteen-twenty years down the line there will be a clamour for reducing the age for consensual sex to 14 and then 12. It will definitely happen, because kids would be indulging in it considering they are being bombarded with sex in every ad, movie, magazine,website, item song, etc, etc. It has happened in the US where teenage pregnancies have become one of the biggest problems society is facing because kids have become sexually active when they should be learning their Ps and Qs.


Few others also quickly go on to say that India is the country of Khajuraho. Clearly, if people cannot differentiate between art and sleaze it is a very sad time for a society to be in. The fact that porn is mostly watched by men all over the world is a telling fact itself. It baffles me what pleasure can be derived in watching two other people copulate and do all kinds of perverse things. Voyerism is completely acceptable in today's society.The recent rape case revealed that men who raped a 5 year old were poor labourers and probably illiterate, but nevertheless knew how to download porn. And once they were all  charged up and excited found the most vulnerable victim-a child. It has been well documented that the brain reacts to external stimuli. If you watch good stuff, read good books, interact with people who have other interests like sports, music, art, theatre, your inclination will also be different. In our culture we have been told about the benefits of satsang: good company. In any case, whatever was good in Indian society is fast disappearing but on the other side oppressive customs are still being proscribed by khaps: again male dominated. Sex has its place in life, but it cannot become the only thing one obssesses about.

Today the profile of rapists is confounding. Even, men who come from reasonably normal family background are indulging in gang-rape only for fun and time-pass. A reflection on how they look at a woman ultimately. Just a physical object. Ofcourse, you have to factor in children who are abused and treated violently or sexually abused. They can become perpetrators of similar crime unless given huge amounts counselling and emotional support.

It is a sad world we live in where human trafficking has reached alarming levels and the age victims is getting lower and lower. The reason being the male obssession for virgins, especially in Oriental countries. And it is a well organised business thanks to internet, which allows anonymity and quick response.

Some years ago I read about an owner of a porn business in USA closing shop after getting married and having his own children. Hilarious and disgusting. What about the millions of other children who perhaps fell victim to his trade?

Porn is an industry worth billions of dollars like tobacco and alchohol defended by millions of users.

Ofcourse, criminalising the viewer doesn't make any sense. It is those who run these sites who have to be controlled. Like every other vice which humans are addicted to we can not wish them away. But, if we have any responsiblity towards future generations we have to wake up and stop defending industries for whom money has to be made, anyhow.
 

BANGALORE: FROM GARDEN CITY TO GARBAGE CITY

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lal_bagh_gardens1794.jpg

Bangalore is unrecognisable today from the city I knew as a child. My father who was in the Indian Air Force had two postings in this wonderful city of gardens. Once in the fifties in Jalahali of which I have no memory except the barracks where we lived. The second outing was in late sixties when I was in the tenth standard. He was posted in Training Command at Hebbal. The Air Force station itself was one of the best we ever stayed in. Our house was on Eucalyptus Avenue, a lane obviously lined with Eucalyptus trees, a wonderful old fashioned bungalow with lawn in the front and vegetable garden at the back. But, equally beautiful was the city as a whole. How often we drove past the Makery Circle to M G Road on evenings just to go and eat out or see a movie. The roads were clean, open and lined with trees; the roundabouts at crossings always had beautifully tended flowers and evergreens. The civilian colonies had bungalows built in grey stone, surrounded by hedges and wooden gates. Nobody built concrete boundary walls in those days. Houses didn’t have fans and it drizzled almost every second day. Evenings always brought out light woollens. When we crossed Malleswaram the strong smell of filter coffee would hit us pleasantly. Also, when we went to the city as faujis say, my mother often bought vegetables at the Russell market which was an organised market in a proper covered enclosure. Bangalore has always been famous for its bakeries and confectioneries, in those days even more so. The British had just left some years ago and their mark was still felt. The streets used to smell of baked stuff and my father always picked up naankhattais from one of the bakeries. There used to be a drive-in restaurant, I can’t recall where but we loved the concept and felt we had driven into a city in the US. The waiter would come and attach a tray on all four windows of our Fiat car and we would happily munch away at our dosas and puris. Nilgiris existed then too and Brigade Road was open and airy. Today, every inch has been built up.

Source:http://www.bangalorewalla.com/ronnie.johnson/brigade5.jpg

Then the IT boom happened and the city and its infrastructure began to crumble and has now collapsed. Our urban planners and successive governments were just happy with the growing purchasing power and influx of skilled workers. They forgot they would need housing, water, electricity, roads, waste disposal. Today, when I go there which is at least once a year as my daughter lives there, I feel so distressed and angry I grumble and complain continuously. Every corner is an eyesore. Garbage piles lie on all corners. Construction of course like all other beautiful cities in the past decades has been so haphazard that cities have lost their individual characters completely. Be it Jaipur- the pink city, Bhopal-the city of lakes, Pune-the academic city. They all look the same; concrete jungles, ugly monstrosities sticking out like sore thumbs. You will see fancy malls in the middle of unauthorised colonies or congested areas; with of course people swarming like there is no tomorrow. Then there are the skyscrapers with huge amounts of encroachments around them. And traffic? Well that just doesn’t move. Nobody factored in the number of vehicles that would be plying. Of course, Bangalore has a lot of fancy eating places catering to the expats and multinational executives. But, it’s just another city lost in the debris of GDP growth.

Source:http://www.bangalorewalla.com/ronnie.johnson/brigade5.jpg

The streets are meaner, and there is much more crime, even the climate has changed. You have air conditioning in a city which didn’t even need fans. How did we get here? Where are the flowers, the gardens and avenues? All lost to commercial rape.

Source:http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/08_2012/blore_garbage.jpg

 

AFZAL GURU: A FLAWED EXECUTION

Afzal Guru, the key conspirator of the 2001 attack on India's parliament was hanged to death at 8 a.m. yesterday. The noose which had been hanging on his head since 2005 finally came down. Predictably, the electronic media went beserk and an array of  panelists voiced their opinions. Yes, the law took its course and the Supreme Court after hearing and seeing all evidence found it fit to award him the death sentence. A punishment in almost all countries for an act of sedition. The debate over capital punishment is ofcourse a separate issue. Nobody can or should doubt the wisdom of the court in arriving at this decision. But, what can be questioned is the manner in which the judgement was executed. The government of India, in this case, the UPA, which has been in power ever since developed cold feet, while, BJP the main opposition party found it a good horse to flog.  For eight years they kept the man alive in the shadow of death. Infact, they lulled him and his family into believing that it might perhaps not happen at all. And then all of a sudden with elections nearing and their new found confidence after Kasab's hanging they moved the file to the President advising him to reject his mercy plea, and within days hung him.

Firstly, why should a government of elected representatives who have vote bank compulsions have the power to over rule a judgement arrived at after a due process of law has been gone through: from sessions court to high court and finally to the supreme court. Since, such a provision does exist, why is there no time limit, and why in not adhereing to such a time frame the government is not held accountable.

Having risen from a boy peon's positon in court to a six year stint as a sub-inspector in Maharashtra police to becoming the home minister of India, Shinde has come a long way. But, he doesn't seem to have evolved since his sub-inspector days and is using SHO level tactics of handling criminals through secrecy and hoping everything would be alright once the deed was done. His confidence stems from  a similar execution done few months ago, viz, of Ajmal Kasab. What he forgot was while one was a Pakistani national, and had been caught on camera weilding an automatic gun, killing hundreds of Indians, the other Afzal Guru was an Indian national whose deeds had been more under cover and open to conjecture. Also, while Kasab had no sympathisers even in the Muslim community by and large, the other did have in his home state. It is not what the government does but what is perceived to be done which brings angst among people.Governments which come across as humane and upfront are believed and trusted and not those that violate basic human principles whatever the practical constraints.

Home Ministry has blundered. They forgot there was a family out there. By, not informing them before the execution, by not allowing them to see him one last time and by not allowing the man a last wish they have made a martyr out of him. However, big a crime, the criminal does have some people who love him irrespective of it and unconditionally; his immediate family. The government's statement that they had informed through speedpost is laughable. Ofcourse, they knew it wouldn't reach them in time. Perhaps, the worst thing that can happen is to know of the death of a family member through television. So, now they have a new problem on hand; the reactions of the people of Kashmir and their leaders in National Conference and PDP. While, the ruling party in J & K is understandably trying to distance itself by saying it had no part in the sudden turn of events, the opposition members are trying to cash in on the human angle. When will this country be freed of knee jerk decisions and partisan politics?

 

Betraying Our Soldiers

The civilian government and to some extent the top brass in our armed and para-military forces have betrayed our foot soldiers again and again. While, the decision makers wallow in complacency and directionlessness our men are left as sitting ducks for the enemy. Our soldiers are made to watch and seeth over the butchering of their colleagues while the powers that be mouth the usual nonsense.

They can very well retaliate with equal measure and avenge their honour, but the political establishment teeters and dithers and talks of ambiguous things like taking steps at the appropriate time. And when may one ask would that be. Death stalks a soldier always and he more than knows that and is ready to face the bullet for his thankless nation at all times. But, to be subjected to medieval methods of brutality is not what he signed up for. Beheading a brother in uniform even if he happens to be from the enemy side is something only people lacking completely in military decorum can do. Is this the 21st century or 19th? Inspite, of constant dialogue between DGMOs such things are happening. It speaks volumes of the duplicity of our neighbours and ofcourse the guilessness of our leaders. And what about intelligence? Were there any inputs from them? If not why? And if yes why were they ignored.

The Indian government is always late in its reactions. While, Pakistan is going all out to stall the so called confidence building measures, internationalising the events, stopping bus services; India is just posturing. And our Prime Minister ofcourse has never anything to say. After Indira Gandhi every Prime Minister and central government has failed its soldiers. We are expediting visa clearances of separatists who go and hobnob with leaders of terrorist groups!!!!! Why don't we just tell them to take Pakistani citizenship.

And what about the Maoists using soldiers bodies as booby traps; planting bombs inside them surgically. How did we as a nation and a state embolden them to such an extent. Because we forget every brutal incident like the terrible massacre of Dantewad. Not only was it an absolute failure of intelligence, planning and leadership at the highest levels; but also a complete abdication of moral responsibility of those at the top. And now we hear all 10 accused of killing those 76 men will walk free for want of evidence. Clearly, nobody is doing their job. We have seen in what abysmal conditions the CRPF men live. Shame on us as a country which just doesn't care for people who are there to protect us. While, our men are braving sub zero temperatures, avalanches and blizzards in Kashmir, the political class goes about their business as if this is just another skirmish.