I was just thinking the other day while flipping through news channels that, if I were a journalist - I'd be very very tired of the world. And very very cynical. It has got to be one of the toughest times being a journalist now. In fact, it's a pretty tough time being an Indian as well. We're a democracy - we decide our own fates - or do we?With all our idealistic youthfulness, we decide voting helps. Voting for the right people helps. But pray, who are these right people? And more importantly, how many of us know them? It's not just a lack of education that deceives us. Sometimes too much of it does. We are stirred into action by Arnab Goswami's in-your-face "journalism" on television. We are thrilled by Rahul Gandhi's deep dimples and well, serious insights. We are wowed by Sashi Tharoor and P. Chidambaram's eloquence. We light candles and we sing songs like it's Woodstock. We blog, we campaign. We become "responsible citizens". We hate the bad guys, we cheer on the good guys. We are, in a word, "jagoing". Because a big daddy of the corporate world told us so. The same big daddy who abandoned a small district in Bengal the moment he smelled trouble. See what I mean?
I don't mean to be cynical. I would like to believe that the words of Mahatma - "Be the change you want to see" - are not just words. That brand Mahatma is not just for the benefit of a pen company. Or that there's nothing beyond Mahatma that made India.
What is this country we are living in now? A country where it's okay to parade women naked, beat them at will, keep them uneducated? A country where a Dalit MP builds statues worth millions of herself instead of building schools or hospitals? A country where to become a doctor, you have to "donate" money to so that the principal can enjoy a nice bottle of Chianti or a rendezvous in Switzerland? A country that has ceased to have a mind of its own?
If we allow it - we're indifferent - we're just a bunch of complaining fools. If we don't allow it - well, we run the risk of being killed sometimes. Catch 22. I'm plain depressed.
I hate all this talk. I hate it. Fuck it. Just do things. Blog about it later. Make witty ads about it later. Send edgy emailers about it later. Clean the mess you're in first. Then you can take care of the world.
4 comments:
good summary of our discontent. However I would not blame tata, that was couresty another female with the foresight of a lobotomized chicken.
Haha, yeah true.
But Tata is no angel either. But I think one either needs to be a good guy or a businessman, can't be both right?
i dont think brand tata tea will cease to exist if a gentleman sitting i n tata house decides to stop advertising,amul doesn advertise much the way they shud hav ..point which i am trying to run home is that advertising can influence ur opinion but doesn guarantee longevity of the product.journalism is going to dogs...everything is breaking news,there r emotional news readers n achors ready to shove stuff down ur throat,yes we as a post independent nation do hav our problems..we r super poor at the same time we beat our chest and loath ourselfs as an emerging superpower...wt do we do..whine abt our sham state?our sorry politicians?do we see a ray of light newhere?yes we do, its people like u n me who are self inspired ,empowered,have a strong sense of opinion and will not buy any bullshit..mumbai may be no shanghai but admist that bustling crowd outside every railway station, you hav these minds pregnant with ideas,which are not influenced by politicians,not helped by any bank rate cuts..its this infectious wave of unmarred 'ideas' which will lead the change...
:) I wish I was nearly that positive. I'm just an old complaining grouch. But maybe, someday, I'll have it all figured out. Hopefully, so will others.
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