Engaging with the Indian media (specifically Times of India)

…that surely is the worst thing to do: engaging with people who desperately want your attention! Cunning and conniving Indian media have ‘news’ (if ever in the mesh of views) as an afterthought. It’s the moneybags, with ad agency and PR group, doing the round to trap people for profit, as also gain influence and clout. Of course they do some good, they have to, otherwise the spin is too obvious. This then is where liberal values are negotiated and passed with brief appreciation. Before, of course, we go into a break.  That in short is what Indian media is reduced to (regrets to likes of Amartya Sens of the world, who somehow, from their elevated perch, saw some glitter. I must add that the little lady at little mag with supersize ambition with matching ego has taken her rant one notch up. All for the sake of bharath mata). There are of course exceptions but these are rare and occasional. They can carry on with their sacred act of money making but the degradation they cause will be scrutinized. I do flip through different newspapers (mostly English but sometimes Hindi and Malayalam too) and news channels, but must admit the scene is shoddy, they are reduced to peddler of products. The system the market has created is amazingly juvenile, and that this is the basis on which humanity’s development is hinged, or atleast negotiated through, is a shocking realization. It’s a vicious cycle of consumption driven anarchy and degradation. It’s based on common people’s vulnerabilities, they ransack every possible emotions to sell. At one level it is dehumanisation of emotions, decontextualisation of feeling. This then further degrades into crony capitalism, as the family and friends make merry of the opportunities.

PM Modi calls for ‘Made in India’, good intentioned but will it have any impact. This blogger is not sure. Since, a society where physical work is considered degrading cannot bring in culture of manufacturing, it is too deep rooted malaise. Corporate maybe quite upbeat about India’s youth, the ‘demographic dividend’, but they are one of the most sedate and sterile set of youngsters you can come across. It maybe a gross generalization but I am fairly on-money here. They come from deviant/squatter’s framework, the culture and tradition herewith produces unique individuals who crave for white collar jobs, very keen on hierarchy that will turn into vicious form of feudalism at short notice. Indeed their whole intent is to sniff money and clout, everything else, including education, is a minor conduit for this gargantuan appetite. This deviant understanding of success is what market remarkably fuels at every occasion. The reason they could find so much commonality between Indian scripture (Bhagvad gita is the latest fad, which ironically is much subtler) and management thoughts (which in short boils down to how to maximize the suck). There was once a fellow who used to mail me ‘Chanakya as management guru’ nonsense so often that I had to spam him. Later he came out with a book, that I am told ‘has done quite well’, so we have a writer now!!   

Apart from this there is an attitude of entitled domination, that I have observed comes quite entrenched in squatter’s way of life. Organizational hierarchy therefore quite easily morphs these, and within this manufacturing as dictated or to be emulated works. You will be surprised the vicious form of feudalism that seeps into nook and corner of corporate –that is being goaded as harbinger of modernity. I was once working in a managerial position, and as is my wont I told my colleagues not to refer me as ‘sir’, that probably was my undoing. I realize this society is so much dominated (by squatters/ invaders/britishers so on) that it has become a template for working in a group or human relations. If you don’t dominate they will dominate, it’s an aspirational pattern. It is the reason that the majority prefer a ‘benevolent dictator’, that everyone realize this as an oxymoron makes the matter worse. I was also advised by my ‘senior’ (who intended to groom me i.e use me for his narrow ambitions) that I should not roam around too much and do menial works, rather I should be at desk and dictate to others. That is what manager does. It so effortlessly sieve into squatter’s world. The reason some do so well, telling others what to do, in pedaling things, in PR works…manufacturing and innovations (which essentially is connecting to the reality of surrounding and empathy) herewith will have to wait. It needs altitudinal change that this society will take some time to ingrain. In the meanwhile the spin doctors are at the doorstep.  

The dealings and nuances too is much complicated, it is much layered. Once I asked this young lad, an engineer, in an MNC, as we headed for food “whether he is non-veg?” He said with much seriousness that “he is a vegetarian but takes non-veg”. Any other place this would be hilarious but this is his way of establishing his pecking order. With such screwed up minds nothing special can be expected. Yes they will very diligently do the back end jobs. It is too much to expect anything more, indeed it would distress our little fellow.     

In this context the recent attempt by HRD to segregate vegetarian and non vegetarian canteen in colleges is extremely regressive and should be protested. This is heinous, evidently inspired by squatters purity driven muck worldview. Being vegetarian is a culinary choice and not matter of entitled superiority. People should share table, and eat as according to their choice. This culture of disgust on what others eat is deeply ingrained nonsense passed on as tradition. Educational institutions and policy makers have a role to play to remove these. IIT/IIMs have a much broader role to play (anyway they aren’t producing much quality students despite the hype, they rank quite low in world standard, which isn’t unexpected at all).

I was reading yesterday’s Times of India (I am told the largest selling English newspaper in India), now before I get into this let me recall writing about typo in Indian Express, now that may not have been intentional, the attitudinal issue one can gather from this is carelessness, indeed apathy. But TOI has some serious attitudinal issue to work on (not that others are doing well, generally pretentious with high intentions). The editorial (don’t know whether to call one, it has left one dear fellow permanently ‘weebit unhinged’!) had this to say “Fadnavis…is the second Brahmin to hold the CM’s chair after Joshi of Shiv Sena. This suggests that in a changing political landscape merit takes precedence over caste”. Amazing is it not? That is from the largest selling English newspaper in India in its editorial! It’s kind of oxymoronish statement (that morons who wrote it didn’t have the sense to understand). You are mentioning the caste of the person then denying its existence. I gather being casteist goes well in squatter dominating Hindu right, they are our saviors, as they say vasudeva kutumbakam (neighbors not included!!). Being casteist is also heightened state of sickularism. And so despite fratricidal war for poor us they do meet at get together and hug each other longer than usual. It is also amazing that they are equating a person from a particular caste as example of merit. This is market meets merit in action.    

Secondly, the editor (if there is any, or is it the Jain bandhus ‘hand of god’) need to explain what do they mean by ‘brahmin’, I know squatters generally refer to themselves as such, and traditional hindu zombie society has allowed them to squat (occasional respite being the invaders) wherein they should have been evicted and prevented from further degrading Hindu religion. These crude forms of expressions and identities should have been shunned like nazi symbols, because of immense atrocities on common people. The fact that it is being pushed as diversity is where Indian mediocre elite has succeeded and, I believe, invaded the western countries, piggyback riding Gandhi, as nice harmless vegetarian harbingers of peaceful souls. The reality is shockingly opposite.    

Another of intrusion is ‘spiritual’ columns, the attempt-at-making-squatter’s-worldview-palatable-to-market-industry (there are again exceptions, and some smart people who make sense). TOI has this one on the same day as above, Krishna Kops who tries to weave in with Gandhi, Tagore, Foucault, Hegel…in the context of things I can only say: it’s quite a long and impressive list of name dropping to make one singular point: to create market friendly spiritual world. Poorly written and quite simplistically recycled hash this column has these lines that I thought were inching for profoundness! “I remember an interview with an activist and booker prize winner. As usual she was about to rant and rave about capitalistic system, when the journalist asked her, why she was using an iPhone, if this was the case”. He doesn’t mention the name, ah I am so much finding it difficult to guess. Such subtleties is common these days! It’s insightful to discover that products are created by capitalistic system and not collaborative outcome of smart scientists and technologists. So shall we say all that the USSR invented (including the technology for first man in space) were communist inventions? Market created a system of selling, the defect being the sellers pocketing decent cut in the process of weaving on buyers. By this they degrade human intelligence and denigrate people. They also help consolidate regressive norms (TOI in this case being an example). iPhone is a clever example of something of value, our spiritual columnist cunningly avoids the kind of nonsense market brings to suck on people.

Despite the heading of this write up I am not trying to engage with any media. I buy newspapers on random (TOI is only one of them, not that others are much different), and make it a point to return the newspaper once read. If there are good columns I keep it to read again (it is rare these days). We live in a world where even bad publicity sells. Jain Bandhus can carry on with their debauched lives running profitable hereditary family business. Regards.