No against discussions…

It is not that I am against discussions happening in TV studios, clarifying somebody who was asking me the other day. My grouse is firstly on the types of topic they chose to discuss or report as “national’ and secondly the category of people involved in the discussion. Some channels make it a point to invite peddlers or market boys for any discussion (just to take an example), not at all amusing. We live in age of hyperbole, every movie is superhit, every song golden, every event mega, every line a quote. A nation of more than a billion will throw up “celebrities” by uttering profound lines like “thande ka thadka” or “ye pyaas hai badi”, they make huge money- so influence, through this nonsense. Imagine if we were a nation of a size of say Maldives or ivory coast do you think these people (read celebrities) will ever have a chance?. They earn millions of easy money because of us.

Sometime back I came across these lines by John M Alexander, reviewing Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen (its bit too costly and bulky book…nowadays they keep new books in sealed plastic cover in book stalls !!!. Thankfully the pirated versions are out. And I manage to bargain it for 100 Rs.!!. Mr. Sen has enough money to survive he shouldn’t mind and as for publishers??…well nothing much just: up yours!!)
…. looking at India’s past and present there are a number of reasons to be less enthusiastic and even skeptic about Sen’s proposal: Does argumentation not run the danger of being co-opted by the rich and powerful?. Do the well educated and those who can better articulate and persuade not have an edge over others to maneuver the course of public discussion?. For many years now, social inequalities based on caste, gender and community have been legitimized and perpetuated by different religions, anthropological and even theories biased in favor of elite. Owing to democratic politics and the rule of law, these inequalities can today be contested. Yet, making use of these democratic possibilities in order to create a less unequal society still remains a far distant dream, particularly because of prevailing economic and educational inequalities.

Argumentative Indian is a good book and very readable, I suggest bloggers to read it. Not like some P3 Elite masquerading as intellectual and be seen on “book release” or other readings. Or some in-hurry-to-catch-up intellectuals and read some reviews here and there and be informed. I know many in JNU who read only reviews of books!!. The other day I was listening to Nobel Prize acceptance speech by Isaac Bashevis Singer (literature 1978) at Nobel Prize Exhibition at Vishweshwaraya Museum in Bangalore (if you don’t watch this exhibit you really missed it….i suggest youngsters from all over south india need make this trip to Bangalore. It’s worth it. They have done it extremely well. I also liked the documentaries they showed particularly since they included the views of common people like courier service man- his views on scientists!!. It was a refreshing shed on intellectualism. Did you know that in Oxford they don’t allow you to walk on grass unless accompanied by a senior professor!!. They have parodied it rightly). Mr. Singer gives the reasons of why he writes for children…because he says children read books not reviews. So true.

I certainly don’t have anything against discussions if done to get to the truth of the matter as they do in some programs of BBC or even CNN. Nor do I have anything against likes of ZK or anyone per se. I don’t even know him nor do i intend to, God save (there are 6 billion more interesting people in this world !!). It is public posturing or packaging themselves for the media, for their narrow reason which is the concern (not that all famous people are like him take for instance Medha Patkar who is dedicated to the people in thought and action). Some people who are famous and influential (influence is very tacky word in here means access to media) get away with their hypocrisies with media manipulations. They are habituated to people supplicating before them. There is an audience to savor their nonsense and they start assuming themselves as some kind of demi-god!!. Media want wind bags like them because they are famous and therefore saleable while in return they use them for their own insecurities. It is a game where there are no losers except maybe the audience or more importantly issues affecting us which gets trivialized. Again I am not against discussions, exchange of ideas is what defines and help grow society, but the kind of people involved in the discussions are shocking. The other day I saw a chaddi dancer- who I am told gyrates in remix trash (which offcourse thrive since we don’t have proper copyright laws), articulating her views. Yes it’s a free country every body can say what they want but the point is there are more sensible people in this country with views reflecting the opinions shared by millions people in this vast nation and impoverished nation. The trend is on presentability than on quality, offcourse in fabricated world presentability is the defining factor. Next they will demand that victims of natural disasters or riots should cry properly (they might even have crying contest!!) or maybe not since the other extreme of presentabilty is gruesome. The more brutal, more the sensation. Many a times if more people have not died there is genuine sadness in the face of anchor!!. They even have such funny heading for report that you don’t know whether to laugh or cringe. Thadka I guess.


Indian trains can be the best or worst of place to be in depending on the approaching station. And nothing like traveling from Kanyakumari to Jammu through Chennai, it took four days. When one has such experience of meeting different types of people who are so very different it is shocking to see Media- which has access to millions of people, behaving stupid, idiotic is a better word. They need to realize that there is a world outside metros. Few people that too denizens of market world do NOT reflect the realities of this nation. Wardrobe malfunction is an absolute non issue. Sorry if I shocked you by this revelation!!. ( a presenter in TV justified this frenzy since it is now in Maharashtra assembly!!. Does she know that there are hundreds of other issues in assembly’s agenda??)
So decide whether News is entertainment or News is ….well News what else. A discussion on communalism, education ….which these channels conducts surely is not about entertainment. It may not be a serious issue in certain circles but for us millions of people it is sometimes the most deciding factor. Ofcourse one has to accept that rarely do any channel (there are definitely exceptions) take “non popular” issues. Indian TV channels have done some excellent job like say covering the human side of tragedies like earthquake in Kashmir or tsunami or through kufiya camera on corrupt. It is the discussion based program which is what I am really cynical about.

I am writing this to have a space for discussion with bloggers. Nothing else. We all need to create our own space to assert ourselves in this increasingly crass world. We thank the Technology for providing us this space and so giving equal opportunity to all. We don’t need any power brokers nor any charity from anyone particularly those constipated with ego. These space provided through Blogs is important for people like me. I also understand fully well the responsibilities and possibilities it presents. This is one place i intend to hold on to for next fifty years if possible.