A poem and some thoughts

The highway killer

It must be you
who has drawn the contours
of mountains and oceans
and decided the heights and depths.
No doubt
you the one who sprayed
lemon yellow on pansy flies
and pastel pink on wildflowers.
Then it must be you
who squeezed the blood
out of her tender body
thrashed again, bludgeon to the tar
and thrown lifeless next to the
speeding tyres.
Her tiny hands still trying to reach
the pencil she had dropped.
Her white socks clotting red
on her disfigured little legs.
Her eyes firmly shut
unaware that you still are God.

(for the kid who died in an accident sometime back)

This is a request to Government to please enforce some stricter laws that protects the dignity of dead. The hooligans in media shouldn’t be allowed to ‘capitalize’ on gruesome scenes. Some channels do blur the scenes but many would want it to be grotesque for the audience (I read sometime back that the cameraperson tried to the remove cloth covering of the body to get the shot, these scoundrels can go to any extend). The selling pitch here is shock factor, apologies to Voltaire- wonder how many of these media person’s have even heard his name (also my sincere apologies to Khali)!!. This blogger strongly believes that privacy of individual is paramount and significant as much as hyped freedom of expression. Two reasons, one is we don’t live in ideal world of Voltaire, it is the crassness and hype. Second, India particularly is a skewed society with huge gaps, the media therefore is an extension of power, and narrow interest. Of course there are exceptions and have made significant contribution to democratizing society.

Dead don’t speak, the onus is on the society that claims to be civilized to prevent these barbaric practices in the name of media freedom. Every person who has died in public place in most unfortunate circumstances has the right to dignity (why I insist on this is, here the body is not under care of relatives or other civilized surroundings. It is reduced to voyeuristic object). Dignity of the dead cannot be trampled in the name of reporting. If you find it necessary to show gruesome sights to the world you have to show some restraint. Restraint though is not the vocabulary found in dictionary of market driven barbarians. It’s time to draw the line. Tomorrow it could be you or me….