Chaibasa Diaries contd...

I have nothing much to do these days so I watch a lot of TV and things that I see have, well, have opened my eyes to a world that I have not been in touch with at all, in the last year or so.

Roadies: I find it difficult to hate or love this show. I am amused that there is a crowd, which so desperately want to ‘be’ that everything is fair for them. I am a mere spectator of an event I just cannot classify. It is not a game as there is not a fair chance for people who are playing. It is not reality TV as there is too much of an impetus from an external source. I have lived in metros long enough to realize that this is not a representative sample. I have not met enough idiots, honestly. It is a bunch of characters who want a short cut to money and fame who believe that they are putting up a show not knowing that they are the show!
But it is cheap entertainment. Pure mockery of all what the old school believes as values.
PS: I am in love with Sambhavi!

Media: I love India TV. It makes me hate myself that I am an Indian. Seriously, the bad roads, the pathetic sanitation and drinking water problems, the lack of basic civic amenities after 60 years of independence, the corrupt bureaucracy, all pales to insignificance in what India TV presents as news. I feel bad for Vandana, the poor soul did not deserve to spend so much time in a pit but that was the effect, not the cause. Did you do enough as a news channel to make people accountable for the incident? No!
There was this news about a bicycle thief who was caught red handed by the crowd and he was beaten all black and blue by the mob. What I hate was the endorsement of the crowd behavior on the grounds that the courts and police are not competent enough. Somebody should tell them that two wrongs do not a right make!
There was more, an hour special on Tanushree Dutta! And also on the fact that a women was beaten up because she was considered a ‘Dayan’ (witch) by the villagers. You have the audacity to cover that live, bring the ‘experts’ in your studio to discuss whether someone can actually be a ‘Dayan’!
I think I read it somewhere that a society’s decay is reflected in the media. I am not quite sure of the fact that the reverse is not happening in India. For two minutes of fame, people might just want to try the extreme. An accused of murder calling media to surrender is an example of easy popularity. A few days back, a truck driver was burnt alive in Asansol (West Bengal) who had hit a school girl and she died on the spot. Well, will this change anything? More and more such incident will happen as long as the media does not condemn these acts of cowardice!

My municipality elections: Things went well, the noise pollution is over, we had Holi and Diwali at the same time in the processions and the buzz is over. I did use my right to cast my vote and it had no bearing on the election results. The candidates I supported lost badly! As always, the worthy is not the winner!

Amidst all this, Shewag provided some excitement. Thank you for an eventful innings in an uneventful contest.