National News Channels? My ass!

There is a lot of talk going on against one Mr. Raj Thackeray. Recently he spoke out against Hindi and English news channels, about the way they misinterpret and wrongly translate what he says. He threatened that he would shut down these channels. He is being accused of being anti-India. People are saying that he is dividing the country. The so-called 'national' media is going out all guns blazing against this 'publicity-hungry' politician. Dividing India? He is dividing India? For a minute let's assume that he is. But why are these news channels shouting about it? Why are they taking a holier-than-thou approach? I am a proud Maharashtrian. I can agree or disagree with the ways of Raj Thackeray, and there are issues with which I do disagree. But that's a story for another day. Today I will support him. I will support him, because he spoke the truth. The truth about self-proclaimed 'national' news channels. The truth as we, the Marathi people, see it.

As someone who understands Marathi, English and Hindi, I have seen almost a million times, that whenever someone speaks in Marathi, the Hindi news channels completely quote that speech out of context. They completely twist the meanings of the words. They conveniently skip a few lines, just so that they can make the sentence more venomous. Every time I watch someone speaking in Marathi, and when I read the Hindi subtitles, I am shocked with the kind of venom the subtitles spew. The subtitles are more offensive than the speech itself. Can the channels not afford good translators? I doubt that. Let's leave this topic right here, as everyone can see that Hindi channels have achieved new levels of idiocy and stupidity. And they are Hindi channels, so they will have a bias. Let's talk about the holier-than-thou English news channels. They supposed, self-proclaimed torchbearers of modern India. Just a few observations, which irritate me, specifically related to my profession.

Let's remember one thing: They are 'National' News channels. Now let's have a look at if they really live up to the 'national' tag.

- All English News channels have film-based shows. They may be interview-based or any other format. Do these 'national' news channels show anything except Bollywood? How many times do we see someone from Bengali cinema being part of a panel discussion? How many 'national' news channels interviewed Girish Kulkarni? How many 'national' news channels even KNOW who he is? They would spend hours talking about how Vidya Balan won an award for 'The Dirty Picture', but apart from a ticker mention, did Girish Kulkarni get ANY visibility? How 'national' are they being here? The same translates to Marathi cinema getting theatres in Maharashtra during their release. Then why are Marathi film producers wrong when they protest and come out on streets against multiplexes? They do not want any special treatment, but at least a chance to get their films in the theatres? Are they wrong to feel angry and agitated?

- How many of these 'national' channels have invited non-Hindi superstars for interviews? These are English channels, so I doubt whether there is language barrier like Hindi channels. How 'national' are they being here?

- These 'national' channels talk of Raj Thackeray dividing the country. But how many of them have tried 'unifying' it? How many of these 'national' channels have spoken against a mediocre award ceremony known the IIFA awards? IIFA stands for International Indian Film Academy. Apart from Bollywood stars, who else attends this ceremony? Apart from Hindi language films, who else is nominated? Where are all those award-winning Marathi, Bengali, Malayali, Assamese and other language films? Since when is 'Indian Films = Bollywood'? And they still have the audacity to call it an Indian awards ceremony? And you, the oh-so-inclusive 'national' news channels do not express any disappointment? Haven't you chosen to be an English news channel so that you can reach out to the entire country? Are you helping?

- How many times have you helped promote Indian films and Indian television? You're so besotted with Hindi, that you can't see anything else

Now a look at some of their websites:

The Times Of India: In their 'Entertainment' section, there are links for 'Bollywood', 'Hollywood' and 'Regional'. Well, isn't Bollywood regional too? Are you completely unaware of how South India ridicules Hindi films? Most of them don't even know Hindi stars. Half of their films are copied from South Indian films. Bollywood does NOT represent Indian films. Your name is The Times of 'India'. Bollywood should be placed along with every other language film. Can you do it? How 'national' is that?

CNN-IBN: Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai, we love you, but your website has a separate link called 'South' and 'South Cinema'. Why? Why not separate links for every direction? Aren't you unintentionally breaking South India from everyone else? A friend of mine from Kerala once called me a North-Indian once. I said no, I am from Pune, so I am from the West of India. He replied, 'You're above us, so you're all North Indian.' I personally found this worrisome, and you're not helping.

'Indian' Express: Entertainment section - Bollywood, Hollywood and Regional. Not a single news piece of picture on the main page apart from Bollywood, Hindi Television shows, and Hollywood. 'Indian' Express? How 'national' are you being?

NDTV: The NDTV homepage has a link called 'South' placed right next to a link called 'All India'. Umm.. I thought the 'South' was a part of 'All India', right? Why not have a 'East' link? Not much news in the East of India eh?

Hindustan Times: Their entertainment page doesn't even have a link for 'regional' cinema. So much for calling yourself 'Hindustan'.

Times Now: No link for 'regional' cinema in the Entertainment section.

So if you are talking about someone dividing the country, first look at what your media agencies are doing. They are not helping in unifying either. Hindi is not our 'national' language. Hindi is our 'official' language, and there a difference between the two terms. English is one language that binds the entire country together, but even the English news channels are Hindi-oriented.

Bottom line, dear 'national' news channels, accept the fact that you have monetary pressures, which is why you give primary or secondary visibility to people / areas / cities / industries. Don't try and become the torchbearers of a united India. And if you want to, there are some basic things you need to change.

You are not 'National' News Channels. You are North-Indian English-Language News Channels. And there's nothing wrong in that, at all! Just accept it. That's all.

"Hazare" Khwaishein Aisi

Anna Hazare has declared that he wants the government to accept HIS bill. People who have really read and understood HIS version of the bill have made their opinions about the finer details. I too have those. But what about some things which are not in the bill? Have we conveniently blinded ourselves to the core issue that India faces today?

Any person with bare minimum knowledge will know that most of the NGOs in India are heavily corrupt. Government money which is channelized through NGOs is eaten all the way down. I find it very dubious and surprising that the Janlokpal does not have NGOs in its jurisdiction, and it;s surprising that all the 'Annas' supporting Anna Hazare have not even bothered to question these double standards. You want transparency? Then ask Anna to include NGOs. Oh wait! There are a few NGOs supporting him. What about black money being made white through temple trusts? Isn't that a part of corruption? Oh wait! All the Swamis and Babas of the country are supporting him, aren't they!

The same team which talks about transparency is having 'backchannel' talks with the government. A spiritual Guru is the chief negotiator between the Government and Team Anna. Oh wait! The same spiritual Guru also had a hush-hush meeting with LK Advani. What did they talk about? I want to know. I want to know what the negotiations are. If 'India is Anna, Anna is India' according to the highly respectable Kiran Bedi, then shouldn't India know what India is negotiating?

I find it extremely surprising that when Anna Hazare was arrested on the 16th August, he supposedly sent out a message to Indians pre-empting his arrest. In that video he says that 'Mujhe giraftaar bhi kar liya hai'. And this was 'before' the arrest. Does that mean he knew that he was going to be arrested? Or did the police allow him to set up a camera and give a speech after they arrested him? Hmm. Maybe they should allow every person they arrest to record a short video message. That would be cool.

People are tired of corruption. No doubt. And its something that needs to be checked. No doubt. But does that anger and frustration justify a blind following? Does it mean that we do not have the right to ask questions? People with Anti-Anna opinions have been branded by people as 'Congressi', 'corrupt', 'government proxies' blah blah blah. Just because you are angry, does that mean anarchy is the solution? The Janlokpal bill gives superpowers to one body. Do we want to create yet another body and allow more corruption? Why don't you strengthen the current agencies? You want to start on a clean slate? Then why don't you fight to abolish the current constitution? It's ok to let personal actions be guided by emotions. But here a nation is at stake. Just because you are angry, it doesn't give you, or anyone, the right to mess with my constitution. This display of false nationalism is pathetic to say the least. Lets say the Anna-Lokpal (And I will not call it the Janlokpal, because it is NOT a public bill. It his purely Team Anna's bill) does get adopted the way it is. Tomorrow if you are in a hurry due to a family emergency and you break a traffic signal or forget your car license, and a policeman stops you, are you willing to go the whole distance of coming to court the next day, paying the fine, getting convicted for violating traffic rules, getting your license suspended for a day etc etc? And keep your righteous faces at home please. You would rather pay the cop a few bucks and get the hell out of there. So much for the Lokpal!

Below is the dictionary definition of the word 'Corruption' (as rightly pointed out by an intelligent and resourceful Tootoo):

cor·rup·tion

   [kuh-ruhp-shuhn]

1. the act of corrupting or state of being corrupt.

2. moral perversion; depravity.

3. perversion of integrity.

4. corrupt or dishonest proceedings.

5. bribery.

Societies are corrupt. These politicians we hate are a product of the society they come from. We as a people are corrupt. Our false egos have corrupted us. Our love and lust for money and wealth has corrupted us. We have made film-stars our heroes in real life, because we have NO real heroes to look up to. We want the good life, and rightly so. Before we come out on the roads shouting slogans, let's introspect. Are YOU ready to be non-corrupt? Or do you want some fast food called the Janlokpal Zinger Burger (with a loooot of cheese!) We all love instant gratification and quick solutions, but this problem of corruption is not just about taking and giving money. It's about our day-to-day existence. And no, the Janlokpal is not even a start as some are claiming. It is a monster. It is anti-democratic. It is giving too much power in the hands of one body. If you really want to believe in it, then please do. But please QUESTION. Don't kill your emotions, but channelize them in an effective manner.

The whole Anna Hazare farce reminds me of a little game we Maharashtrians played as kids. It was called "Shivaji mhanto". I am NOT saying that Shivaji was a fascist, in case people with 'Jajwalya Abhimaan' see a problem in that. But this game was our introduction as children to take orders and let someone else decide what we are supposed to do. We were puppets in the hands of politicians who told us what we should feel about our language, culture and country. No questions asked. And now the same is happening at Ramlila Maidan.

I am not against having a strong anti-corruption law. But the real problem lies somewhere else.

Let's all fight against corrupt ideas, egos, sentiments and people. Let's educate children and allow them to question. Let's try and be perfect from our side. THIS is what is going to curb corruption in the true sense, and not some shady Annalokpal made with shadier intentions.

And some pics that Ashish clicked for me :)

and then ashish clicked some for me.. :)

clicked some pics for ashish on my fuji

clicked some for Ashish Bende. random.

Agnihotra - Title Track

Composed by - Rahul Ranade

Lyrics by - Shrirang Godbole

A clash of cultures

A clash of cultures

Randeep Singh Nandal

Special Correspondent, Defence Affairs

Monday, February,25 2008 (New Delhi)

Bhaiya - it's a term commonly used to describe an inhabitant of eastern UP and Bihar. A term used in exact opposite sense of what it means.

In Bombay it is a term of abuse, call a Maharashtrian a Bhaiya, a colleague warned me, and you could get into trouble. I got this piece of advice a few weeks before Raj Thackeray advertised the Marathi Manoos's aversion to these people ...some millions who now live in Bombay.

In the rest of India people tut-tuted this latest exhibition of the Sena's xenophobia ...the media led the charge holding opinion polls and debates ...where statistics were deployed to prove how this fear of the migrants was just plain nonsense ...expert after expert ...eminent citizens of this great metropolis ...spoke about the past ...how this was just a continuation of the Sena's history...look at their record they said ...first it was the Gujarati then the South Indian then in the 90's it was the Muslim ...Raj Thackeray, they said was just following in his uncle's footsteps ..its the north Indians now ...ignore him and it will blow away.

Bombay's North Indians were being targeted for petty gains by a politician on the make. Grim faced news anchors nodded their heads .. This was all a drama and we know who the villain is they seemed to suggest. An open and shut case, don't you think? Well, yes and no.

Let's for a moment look at the entire incident ...the first inaccuracy is that this is a campaign against North Indians, it isn't, this Marathi angst is specifically against the migrants from UP and Bihar. So to term this as an anti North Indian drive is misleading, more so because no one in North India, and here I am talking of the states of Punjab, Himachal, Uttrakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan, considers people from eastern UP and Bihar as North Indians!!! The term used to describe them in these states? You guessed it -Bhaiya!

But then, many would argue that even if it is against a specific group, it is just scaremongering, they are just poor folk who have as much a right to stay in Bombay as anyone else. This after all is a part of India and as citizens of India they have a right over Bombay that no one can take away. This, incidentally, was the view of one of a very eminent Bombay wala, a parsee gentleman who referred to how the Parsees had found refuge in India ...how at the turn of the last century they controlled the island city ..how no one calls them outsiders. This again is an argument that is hard to refute-- it has fact history and reason behind it. Except for one small detail, even at the height of their power the Parsees never outnumbered or threatened to swamp the local Maharashtrian.

And this is the core fear that is propelling this resentment against the Bhaiya. Think of your middle class Maharashtrian, he gets up in the morning and the man who gets him milk from the shop is a Bhaiya, he goes to work and stops to buy a smoke and is sold a pack by a Bhaiya, he gets into a taxi and there again a native of Bihar drives him to work, in his office the guard who opens the door for him again is a Bhaiya ..as is the boy who serves him tea, on his way back he stops to buy vegetables and is sold some by a man from Azamgarh , next to his house is a clutch of boys listening to a Bhojpuri song at full blast. The maid in his house is from Balia and the boy who comes back to repair his cable connection is from Mirzapur . Can you fault Mr Pawar from feeling that his city is being overrun by Bhaiyas?

You may say as many do does this mean that all Gujaratis and South Indians, all the Punjabis and the Kashmiris should be chased out of Bombay, does Mr Pawar support ethnic cleansing? No. he doesn't because of two very different reasons First, he realises that every other group has a sort of mean cap on the numbers who will stay here, a cap that does not apply to migrants from Bihar and UP, he has seen their numbers in the city explode in the past decade and knows that these numbers will keep swelling. The second point that makes the Maharashtrian uncomfortable and this is something that has been ignored by many of us is the one single aspect that scares the Marathi manoos the most, with these increased numbers lies the very real spectre of increased political power. This above all, is what fuels the disquiet.

Here you have to realise that for all the money the Gujarati might make in Bombay, all the resentment the well to do Marwari arouses in Calcutta, both these communities are content with acquiring financial muscle, they never meddle in local politics.

The migrant from UP and Bihar is different, part of it is his socio-economic makeup, the way he behaves in a small group and his behaviour when he has the numbers are completely different. I will give you an example, go to Punjab there for decades now most of the farm work has been done by Biharis, in fact in villages there always a score Biharis who have embraced Sikhism , their Bihari accented Punjabi the butt of thousands of jokes, but the fact is that these men are just trying hard to assimilate in the society they live in, contrast this with the migrants in the twin cities of Jalandhar and Ludhiana, here they have the numbers and there is no attempt to embrace, there are entire suburbs that are virtually no go areas for the local administration ...in the recent elections many Biharis even stood for elections on Samajwadi Party tickets, talk to the local people and you sense the same resentment that you hear here in Bombay - "our city is being taken over"

Not many in Ludhiana were surprised when Khalistani militants targeted a local theatre showing a Bhojpuri film earlier this year. They were trying to tap into this resentment. Five people, all migrants from Bihar and UP died. Speaking to local journalists I was struck by the total lack of sympathy, an SMS started doing the rounds "this is what happens when they think they can form a mini Bihar here". A sentiment easily dismissed as a parochial, racist. Perhaps, but a sentiment that is deeply felt.

The eminent citizens who speak so eloquently of the cosmopolitan Bombay that cannot be held hostage by the lumpens of the MNS are right of course but we ignore the fact that this group of eminent citizens inhabit a different India a city within a city, the Bombay of theirs is very different from the Mumbai that a Marathi sees.

Unlike your film stars and industrialists the Maharashtrian cares how many local corporaters or MLA's are from Bihar and UP. So when the Maharashtrian looks at this unceasing migration into his city and he does see it as his city, this sense of political power slipping away real or imagined is awakened. Each community has its own attachments to their language or culture, the Punjabi to his language his food, the Bengali can be in any part of the world but come Durga Puja and he will celebrate it and of course the Bihari will take with him his language and culture, the Chat Puja that so irritates Thackeray Junior is just one of those cultural imports that are inevitable.

The entire Idea of India is that there is space for everyone, this is the only country in the world where 10 men can sit down to dinner, and each could have completely different food habits, habits dictated by his religion or the region he belongs to, nobody minds and these adjustments are made by millions on a day to day basis, we Indians know this, our land belongs to all of us and to accomodate each others' quirks is the only way we can survive. There is a simple rule that governs this accomodation, do not offend your hosts, so if you go to a masjid, even if you are not a Muslim you cover your head, visiting a south Indian home you take off your shoes, in a Sikh home resist the urge to light up a smoke.

This latest round of violence started after a huge SP rally in Mumbai's Shivaji Park.

Shivaji Park in Dadar is in many ways the heart of Marathi Mumbai, and make no mistake the SP rally was a Bihari UP rally, with loud Bhojpuri music blaring, thousands gathered, it is their unalienable right to do so. But don't ignore the symbolism of a rally like this, here on a turf the Maharashtrian considers his own was a trailer of the political muscle and aspirations of the migrants, a challenge had been thrown out, a sign of things to come, Is it logical, this fear? Was it logical for the anti Hindi protests in Tamil Nadu in the 60's? The struggle that little communities make to get their languages officially recognised, is that logical? why Muslim children in Hyderabad learn Urdu in a state that speaks Telegu, does that make sense? Do you ever question why people in different parts of Rajasthan wear different kinds of turbans? The answer to all these questions is, well, to borrow a phrase, 'We are like this only'

Cultural pride or sensitivities or habits are built over centuries, they mask arrogance, anxieties, tradition, inferiority complexes all rolled into one. And they are emotional bonds these. Many Maharashtrians are proud of Shivaji, his hold on the people here can never be matched by lets say a Bengali, just the same way a boy from Satara can never quite feel as emotionally attached to Rabindra Sangeet as many Bengalis do. A Maharashtrian feels his hold on his state is under threat, his culture is being overwhelmed or disrespected, Raj Thackery tapped onto that discontent .

A lot has been said about this gentleman and it would be futile to do yet another psycho analysis of him and his motives for the stand he has taken, but one thing needs to be taken note off, for those of us who like to contrast his stance with his cousin Uddhav's new found love for North Indians, perhaps we should examine how a party like the Sena ...which has nothing but Maratha pride as its core identity and ideology, how attractive would a party like this be to your average migrant from UP or Bihar? If this were to be true then perhaps the SGPC could also try its luck here. The second thing to remember is that Raj's message is directed at not only the Maharashtrian in Bombay, the grapewine carries it to every village in Maharashtra, every Sena supporter who joined this party attracted by the image of a latter day Shivaji out to restore the pride and status of the people.

Raj realizes that a bird in hand is better than the mirage of a North Indian support base, a realisation that now seems to have dawned on the Sena as well with Bal Thackeray, now belatedly speaking out against migrants as well. Many see Raj's outburst as a ploy for the elections next year, if true it would be remarkably shortsighted for any politician no matter how obtuse, I suspect Raj's audience is different ...he is talking to the Sena's supporters across the state, preparing for a battle that he hopes will come after the Balasaheb era has ended.

This afterall is a man who had the foresight and the political courage to break out of the Sena the moment Uddhav was anointed heir. If he had wanted to do gali mohalla level politics as many now accuse him, he could have done that safely within the Sena. It was only 30 years ago that another cartoonist was accused of street corner politics, he too was mocked as being presumptious in supposing that there was an audience for his words. We all know who had the last laugh.

That brings us to the moot question ...whose India is it? The Supreme Court has called the events in Maharashtra an attempt to Balkanise the nation. Raj Thackeray has called for the Constitution to be amended to curb uncontrolled migration. Both statements are correct. India belongs to all Indians free to move and live where ever they want, it's also true that our Constitution has been amended several times to reflect the realities and problems of the India as it exists now. But this comment of Raj Thackeray's was treated as the ravings of a lunatic, he is crazy many said to suppose that the Constitution of India could be amended to stop people from living where they want to.

Forgetting that the same Constitution prohibits me as an Indian from owning property in Kashmir and Himachal and many northeastern states, what is the danger I pose, what catastrophe would be ensue if 25 lakh Biharis made Shimla their home? If the principle is extended then maybe each state should have the right to curb or decide the percentage or population of migrants from other states. Tamil Nadu has a population of 42 million, its birth rate is 1.2 per cent, it is acknowledged as a well governed part of the country, UP has a population in excess of 200 million! its birth rate is double that of Tamil Nadu , and doesn't look as if its slowing down anytime soon.

Every study tells you just how bad things are in the state, a state of lawlessness, it is Omkara Land . So if over the next 50 years 15 million people from the state make Tamil Nadu their home in search for a better tomorrow , do you think Tamilians will sit by and watch silently . And don't say 15 million won't migrate, it could happen, 40 years ago nobody would have thought that 30 per cent of Bombay's population would be from UP but it is and in the next 40 years it could rise to 50 per cent.
For a lesson let's take a look at the fate of Bombay's twin and the senior twin at that as a cosmoplitian city before partition, Karachi. In poured millions of migrants from India, they were welcomed as the men who had led the struggle for a separate Muslim homeland, but the resentment from the local Sindhi's soon boiled over, the Muhajirs soon cornered all the government jobs because they had an advantage, the new Pakistan's official language was Urdu, not many Sindhis knew it, and it just happened to be the native language of most of the new arrivals.

Even though we are talking about maybe a few lakh clerical jobs, the local Sindhi never accepted them as anything more than ' Mohajirs" or refugees. The felt their own culture and language was being overwhelmed. The resulting tension boiled over in the 80's and the 90's, thousands have lost their lives, it has also killed the city.

The UP Bihari migrants, many say, are hard working, a subtle way of saying that Maharashtrians are not. It isn't so simple, the migrants are hardworking sure they are, but the reason why they are making the most of lower end jobs, lets say in Haryana, is because the average Haryanvi enjoys a better standard of living, education and thus expectations than your migrant.

In a factory he doesn't get a job because the migrant is ready to work for half the money the Haryanvi expects. So the simple biggest advantage that he has because he is a native of Haryana becomes a liability in the job market. So what do we do, make haryana a replica of Bihar UP?
We are a nation of a hundred races, a score religions and thousands of languages.

Most of the time we co-exist happily and the core reason for this co-existence is the single covenant that each social group based whether on language or region or religion be allowed their own realm. As UP and Bihar spiral deeper into poverty and lawlessness, every Indian would want to welcome the people of the state. But not at the cost of losing their own identity. Bihar is India, all of India though, can never be Bihar.

Hee-Haw!

Over the past few days, I have been really irritated with the news channels in our country. Actually, not the past few days, for the past few months or years probably. I was quite upset, and finally decided to do something about it. So i finally decided to send a mail to all news channels. In a state of impulse, I just scribbled something on the computer, and shot off a mail.. Mistakes, there will be.. Naivety, there will be.. Please bear! :)

The Fourth Pillar? Yeah Right!

The past few days have been quite action-packed as far as NEWS was concerned, with politics taking centre-stage for a change. It would actually be wrong to say that only the past few days have been action-packed. Every day has been. If nothing happened, at least action was created by you people, like it has been the case for many years now. I want to clarify a few things. I am not a frustrated man, who has nothing better to do than send hate mails. I am not affiliated to any political party. I do not consider myself to be as 'educated', 'well-read' and 'thoughtful' as you are! I am just a 23 year-old student who is frustrated with seeing the kind of worthless stuff that you show on News Channels these days. And this mail has ben sent in a state of anger and frustration, so please forgive my tone.

I used to be really proud whenever I saw the news on TV. I used to say to myself, "Wow! We really have the power to say whatever we want on News Channels! These news anchors are really lambasting the politicians, and no one can touch them! Kudos to Freedom of Speech, and the Freedom of the press!". I used to feel bad for the Americans after reading reports of how the Bush administration controls their news, and consequently feel proud that in India, which is still not developed fully, we have the power to do so! But that was in my teens! The gravity of what you guys can control and how much you guys can affect has seeped into me more recently. The News Channels surely haver a lot of power, and they surely can control the minds of innocent people. And yes, you can show whatever you think is important! Nice! The problem is, that now this pride has turned to disgust. Disgust over the quality of news we have. Disgust over the worthless crap you are forcing down our throats. Disgusted that you, who are a part of the so-called Fourth Estate, have so little concern of what you show on screen.

We blame politicians for violence. We say that they incite riots. We arrest 2 individuals for inciting violence. But who will file an FIR against you? You cannot deny that news channels have ruined the state of India, the bonhomie, the peace, as much as the politicians. You sit comfortably in your Delhi offices, mulling over how you can rake up another issue, so that your advertising rates will improve, so that you airtime can be more expensive, so that your TRPs will improve and what not! You have completely succumbed to the pressures of conglomerates, and don't care a damn for the people you are affecting. How many of you gave some importance to the farmer suicides in Maharashtra? Oh sorry! I know, the whole 'Prince' episode was so important! Sorry I take back my words! How many of you try to update us on the world as it is today? Oh sorry! Your crime shows eat up the night slots! And why do all of you have stupid crime shows in the night, where the anchor himself looks like a serial killer? Well, you have them because your rival channel has them too!

You may be sniggering at what I am talking about, and why I am so worked up. And I'll tell you why. Because you have lost all seriousness, conscience and self-pride. You have forgotten the reason why you set out to be journalists. And most importantly, you are so ignorant, that you have no clue how much media, and especially mass media affects the thinking and mood of people. You have created a state of fear in the country. Something what the United States has done to its people. People I know sleep, walk, live, breathe, talk in a state of fear, of something bad happening to them. And a major part of that fear is thanks to the 'Sansani' and 'Crime Diary' shows which you keep on airing. When Mumbai was peaceful on the evening of the 13 February, you were showing incidents of violence which were a day old. Do you know how much panic that creates? The place where I study, the North-Indians with me were scared to even venture out on the roads. They were scared of me, of all Marathi people. And that wasn't only because of the irresponsibility of Raj and Abu Azmi, that was all fueled by your channels. You kept on comparing Balasaheb and Raj, you kept on spreading rumors, you kept on showing old clippings. Some of you, I don't want to name them, even went to the extent of concluding that, "Now will there be a state of fear within the Muslims in Mumbai? Because Raj is doing what Balasaheb did, so he may also target the Muslims like Balasaheb!" What the hell were you thinking when you made that statement? How irresponsible can you get?

I talked about the 'Raj-Abu-North-Indians issue' only because it is fresh in our minds. But the news channels have done so much damage, that you will not realise this now. I must say that I do not mean to generalise. Some news channels have really managed to hold their own ground. But a majority of channels are sucking up to the huge corporate houses. I was chatting with a senior media-person, who has been affiliated with a certain news channel. I asked him the same thing about the state of news channels today. And the reason he gave me was - TRPs. You think we really care about your TRPs? Do you really think that you can influence people, make someone into a hero, demolish someone, create a state of panic in the country, spread hatred, never focus on the really important issues - all for your TRPs? If you feel that you have no responsibility, then shame on you. If you feel - 'Arre yaar, don't get so worked up, its ok!' - then I feel you should be shameful of calling yourself the Mass Media. So go ahead, show crime shows, call astrologers and tarot readers all night, show inconsequential photos of Sanjay Dutt's marriage, and please! Never focus on the real issues!

I can go on and on, citing examples and showing problems. But I know that the heartless and brainless beings that you are, you will just throw this away as another hate-mail i.e. if you get any! But I am an optimist, and I feel that things will change, I hope that things will change. But they will never change unless you change yourself. Don't wait for a bloody revolution to happen, because when it will happen, it will be a big mess. India is developing, and you are an important part in its development. So please be aware that your every action is doing something to your viewers, consciously or sub-conciously. And Mr. or Ms. CEO of the channel, sorry that you have to read this mail from a 23-year old nobody. You might as well dismiss it off. But believe me, even though I have not seen as many summers and winters as you have, I can say that it will come and haunt you in some way or the other. When your house will start getting affected, only then will you realise that gravity of what you do. I pray to God, Ram, Rahim or anyone or anything that you have faith in, that we realise this before anything bad does happen.

If you had the patience to sit through this entire tirade of my feelings, thanks. If you deleted tis mail before reading anything, well then what's the point of addressing anything!

I just hope that I could reach out to some people. And I can definitely say that I do echo the emotions of many urban students that I know. I have mailed this to all the e-mail addresses of news channels that I could find, but I urge to forward this to as many news channels as you can, and of course if you can!

Thanks,
God Bless,
Peace,

Suhrud Godbole