Friday, July 29, 2005

GROW UP!!!

I wrote the previous piece on 27th, many things have happened since, blast on the Shramjeevi Express, Maharashtra still facing its worst downpour, Konkan has collapsed, Railway tracks and Highways under water, Mumbai is still facing the aftermath of the torrential rains that hit the city on 26th July, and in times like this Ganguly’s ban reducing from 6 to 4 matches is DEFINITELY NOT A BREAKING NEWS!!!!

I’m a cricket fan but right now I care two hoots about whether he plays or not, whether he captains or not!!!! It is not a priority news for the nation!!

For heaven’s sake will the news channels and newspapers ever grow up???

Why were they covering Aamir Khan stuck in Traffic Jam in Mumbai and what the other stars were doing on Mumbai’s fateful day?

I could care less, would you?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A few quick thoughts.

1) "I could care less" does not convey the most extreme sense of disgust, " I couldn't care less" does.

2) Although I am quite certain the motives aren't so noble, what the media is doling out is a sense of normalcy. No acting like we r walking on eggshells here, that's what normalcy is about. And that is what has built the legend/myth of the Mumbai spirit. ( And frankly, I still call it legend/myth because Mumbai is the only city I have ever lived in, and have no way of comparing how people in other cities react to adversity. No, Pune doesn't count and the place where I stay, Troy, is like a rich desi gaav)

3) And seriously about the media coverage of the stars, frankly, you were surprrised??????????

Anonymous said...

Actually Indian media kind of very much like US media - but in a different context - has stopped surprising or even evoking any feelings in me.

And when I compare them with German and French newspapers - they seem to have more details about what is going on in Mumbai than Mumbai newspapers! I saw a news item in one of the local newspapers about areas to avoid in Mumbai.

About media growing up - I think its a viscious circle - media shows what people want to see, people see what media shows! But the fact that even newspapers like FT are moving to look more like TOI wrt content is perhaps somethign we can feel a bit good about.

I just saw some pics from Mumbai - left me feeling rather depressed - taken from an apartment window someplace.

While I do think that Mumbai will get back on its feet sooner than most other places, I also hope that this give sufficient motivation to everyone to improve the cities infrastructure.

Good luck Mumbai.