Trysts with MSM - Part 7: "Are you for real"

MSM stands for Main Stream Media.

This was actually a very long time ago, before the "Trysts with MSM" series was started. Didn't bother to dig this up in recent times. Sagarika Ghose once wrote an article in Hindustan Times comparing today’s politicians to Dhritarashtra, I tweeted to her saying:

@sagarikaghose Dhritharashtra was actually blind, our leaders pretend to be blind…there is a sea of difference…

What followed was this discussion…

@ssudhirkumar “actually” blind. god, are you for real? The epics speak in complicated metaphors, D is THE metaphor of a blind king/parent..

@sagarikaghose aha! now you are interpreting what the epics speak…nice. And ohh yeah, I am for real !

@ssudhirkumar so ravana “actually” had ten heads? krishna “actually” supplied cloth from heaven?

@sagarikaghose why are you extending it madam? why divert the topic?

@sagarikaghose my point was to counter your comparison in your HT article. First you tell that you interpret epics it according to your wish

@sagarikaghose and then you ask me if I believe Ravan had 10 arms..oops heads, and krishna actually supply cloth…

@sagarikaghose frankly ma’am, I am at a loss as to how to argue and debate with you !!

@ssudhirkumar do you “actually” believe that? don’t you think these are literary and narritive devices? do go beyond amar chitra katha..

@sagarikaghose why do you find it so intolerant that I “Actually” believe D was blind? What just is wrong with it? And what’s with the tone?

@ssudhirkumar Its not “intolerant” its simply moronic..):

@sagarikaghose you find it “moronic” that I believe D was “actually” blind and it was not a metaphor? wow! get well soon ma’am.

@sagarikaghose I am just a common man with simple understanding.I cannot comprehend complex, complicated metaphors. thank you for the gyan.

The reason for digging this up today is because the media personalities bogus claims of being the victim of hatred on the Internet has somehow gone up in the recent times again. Hindustan Times even published an article yesterday, wherein it gives examples of some abusive messages and tries to charectize users.

Now, it is not anybody's contention that the kind of abuses printed are horrible. Why are we even debating them? Who, in their right mind would want to justify such language? Isn't it so elementary to expect such fringe elements everywhere? Frankly, have these "celebrities" been so naive that they didn't expect such abuses in the first place? Why pick up a small percentage of hate messages and play up the victim card so as to even quell genuine criticism?

Why is the media not discussing the positive effect of this open communication? Because it is not juicy enough? There have been umpteen examples of how media personalities have escaped from answering legitimate questions. Umpteen examples how people were characterized because someone else posted a hate message. Either the media talks about the fringe abusers or about those who praise them. What about those who question them? They have no place in this whole thing?

"You don't understand English" screamed Nidhi Razdan of NDTV. "What makes you think I am answerable to you" shouted Vikram Chandra of NDTV. "Are you for real" asked Sagarika Ghose of IBN.

Will Hindustan Times or for that matter any media channel publish this? Will they dare show the inane side of their celebrity journos?

So many points, so little time!: Oct. 18-24

1. This blogs favorite Sagarika Ghose is back to form! Vasundhara Raje had to resign this week as the leader of the legislature party of BJP in Rajasthan. And them almost immediately, someone on twitter started tweeting as Vasundhara Raje. Without even bothering to verify whether the account is genuine or not, she writes this. "@VasuRaje hang in there, ma'am.don't think the patriarchs know how to deal with modern women politicians". I am sure she must have celebrated the fact that he got to pontificate again. And then CNN-IBN also ran a story saying Raje is tweeting. And then it was revealed that the account is a fake one! Will Sagarika bother to withdraw her comment? Hang in there, ma'am?!? You really think she was sacked because of being a woman? I mean, what goes on in your mind, Sagarika?!

Ohh, by the way, she also asked this on twitter - "am always shocked at the vicious hatred of me, and other anchors, I find on the net. whats the reason for this hatred from total strangers?"

2. If you were running a party, and your party lost elections in one state, what would you do? You will try to figure out what is wrong there, maybe sack the state level leaders etc. When BJP lost Maharashtra elections, you know what happened? After two months of dilly-dallying, Vasundhara Raje from Rajashtan resigned as the leader of the legislature party!! I mean, could there have been a wronger time to ask for the resignation? And she was asked to resign because of the party's poor showing in Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan. Wait a minute, but didn't BJP fare badly all over the country? Who will take responsibility for that and resign? I wonder when the BJP realises that it crumbled when in power, and is crumbling further when in opposition. How much more longer before we see some credible leadership in the main opposition party?

3. P. Sainath asked Vilasrao Dehmukh to list five achievements of the Cong- NCP government in Maharashtra. He could not. Sainath said, ok fine, just list one. He could not! That's how bad the government was in that state. Then how come it won? In AP, the opposition vote split and benefitted the Congress. In Maharashtra, the opposition vote split and benefitted the Congress. In Haryana, the opposition vote split and benefitted the Congress. And so the need is for the opposition to unite, which will not happen anyway. One credible opposition party country wide is the need of the hour, but then it now looks like it will take atleast 10 years for that to happen. Until then, it will the Rahul bhajan only.

4. So finally, Jagan Mohan Reddy was told that he will not be made CM of AP. He comes back and holds a press conference. Tells us all that he will abide by Madam's decision and work towards making Rahul G the PM in 2014, because that's what his father wanted. And then he remembered that his father also promised other things, and they are not being implemented. He then tells that he will continue to fight on behalf of the people till those policies are implemented. It doesn't matter that these policies were not implemented while YSR was alive too. And to conclude he warns that whoever is the CM, Rosiah or anyone else, the fight for people's rights will continue. Wow. Instead of co-operating with the government run by his party, he wants to put it in the dock because he is not made the CM. Keep it up, Jagan, for you will be a role model for future aspirants.

5. India's first Woman Grandmaster Koneru Hampi has levelled serious allegations against the Chess authorities. She is losing mental peace because of their high handed behaviour. And the officials are just taking the easy way out, citing some rules. Do we need further proof as to why sports in our country is screwed up?

6. Arundhati Roy is back. I could have quoted her but each line is a gem. Please read the interview here. You will have a good laugh.

So many points, so little time!: Sep 5-12

1. The UPA government is now on a money saving spree. Finance Minister has introduced multiple austerity measures, and one of the first things he did was to ask the Foreign Minister S.M.Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor to vacate the 5 star hotels they are staying in, and move into their state bhavans. But then guess what, both of them were actually paying from their own pockets for the last 3 months of their stay in these hotels! Shashi Tharoor was paying Rs. 40,000 per day and SMK was paying Rs. 1,00,000 per day (yes, per day)! Multiply that by 100, and that is what these ministers have paid from their pockets so far! I think it is high time I petition them for a loan ;-).
   
2. The fight in the AP congress to make Jagan Mohan Reddy is assuming comical proportions. YSR's best friend and confidant, KVP Ramchander Rao was in Delhi almost this whole week. He met Veerappa Moily, and then met Ahmed Patel; and then he had to meet Digvijay Singh; at this point of time, he was advised to meet Pranab Mukherjee also; then he was allowed to meet Sonia Gandhi, after which he met the Prime Minister. Then he met Ahmed Patel and Veerappa Moily together; and then Pranab and Sonia together. And then he met Ahmed Patel alone, and then … phew, I lost track! I heard that Ekta Kapoor is planning to move away from Saas Bahu series and is searching for another dragging storyline. Ekta, the story is unravelling right in front of you, just go and grab it!
   
3. One of the first things the management of Jet Airways did after the pilots took en masse sick leave was to send doctors to their homes! LOL, I mean, seriously it could not think of a better thing to do? Is it only me, or does anyone else think that 4 days is a ridiculously long time to take to solve this kind of a crisis. Especially when not just the passengers were affected, Jet Airways balance books were affected too. Government strikes have ended far more quickly than this one!
   
4. The central government has announced that CBSE X board exams will be scrapped from 2011 onwards. It has also introduced a new grading system to evaluate students, thus signalling the end of the percentage system. A good beginning to the reform process, but this blog's favorite jounralist, Sagarika Ghose is not content with this move. In her new blog, she bombards us with lofty idealistic "out of the box" solutions to overhaul our education system. Apparently we have to create "pedagogic commandos" from our retired work force to take the system to a new level. I have an idea. Sagarika, why don't you retire voluntarily and spearhead this force? Atleast then, we will be spared of your lectures!
   
5. Last week, it was Somdev and Force India that grabbed headlines, and this week it was Pankaj Advani and Vijender Singh. Pankaj won the World Billiards Championship beating long time champion Mike Russell, becoming the second Indian after Geet Sethi to win it. Vijender reached the semi-finals of the world boxing championship. Oops, I forgot, our cricket team was "world number 1" for a full 24 hours, and I don't have to tell you the media's reactions!
   
6. 09/09/09 occurred this week, and it gave two kids their 15 minutes (or should we say, 9 minutes ;-) ) of fame! Apparently, these two kids were born at 9:09am on 09/09/09! News is not yet out on who were born at 9:09pm, so stay tuned: D
   

Who is more hilarious?

"Because my name is Khan" ran some headlines on TV channels. Then we had "exclusives" with Shahrukh from the US, who tried to explain what happened. And then our media drew it's own conclusion, and then ran the story for a full 2 days (including independence day). And then guess what - On the third day, the media asks us if we over-reacted!

I am no big fan of Shahrukh, but what really bothers me is the media's US-is always-right-with-security-measures attitude. Not one channel ran a complete story, not one channel tried to ascertain what exactly happened.

1. What was Shahrukh questioned for 2 hours?
2. Why did it take 2 hours to figure out he is innocent (I think they had to stop questioning because the Embassy intervened, else it might have taken longer)?
3. In some cases, I have read, that questioning takes more than 2 hours too. Is there a set procedure that the US officials follow when asking questions, or is it random?
4. Is the possibility of the questions being irrelevant and embarassing nil and totally absent?
5. Shahrukh himself said that he is not against questioning, but he is hurt by silly and irrelevant questions. Is it a sin to contemplate thinking for a moment he might actually be saying the truth?
6. Maybe because he is a celebrity, we are coming to know that something might be wrong with the questioning process. Or maybe there is nothing wrong, but shouldn't we atleast debate it?

None of these questions seemed to have mattered to our media, and Sagarika Ghose in particular. In what is her favorite topic, she again rants on her blog here about how stupid Shahrukh Khan has been in dealing with the whole issue. Sagarika, I don't think anybody with a sane mind would endorse any kind of discrimination even if it were to have happened in India. So, your generalization that we should keep quiet because Indians also discriminate is plain naive. Shahrukh never said "no checks please, I am a bollywood star", but as is your wont, you created it for a catchy headline!

Worse, you even suggest that we should have a "Let's stand in a queue day" just like we have Independence Day and Republic Day. I will leave it to the judgement of the reader as to where you would want to rate this comment in the world of ridicule. Shame on you Sagarika, for equating Independence Day with something that does not even qualify to be a joke in a comic book.

Would you kindly bother to answer the above questions, Sagarika?

PS: Why should Shahrukh not talk about "geo-politics, international diplomacy"? Does it hurt your ego that someone is more hilarious in these matters than you are?

So many points, so little time! : Aug 9-15

1. Here's a important lesson Mayawati can learn, about statues. Diplomacy and goodwill can take a good step forward by invoking art and artists alike. Karnataka and Tamilnadu showed the way this week, when the statue of Tamil poet Thiruvallar was unveiled in Bengaluru and that of Kannada poet Sarvagna was unveiled in Chennai, in the presence of both the Chief Ministers of the State. This step might not solve long standing disputes, but an air of goodwill and cultural exchanges can only do more good than harm. Was Mayawati watching? Or was she still busy finalizing the latest design of her statues, along with those of the elephants?

2. In a court room, the presiding officer sentences a lady to three years rigorous imprisonment. Immediately, (yes, literally immediately), the Home Minister of the country walks into the room, declares that the sentence is being reduced to 18 months, and also that she will be under house arrest and will not face rigorous imprisonement. And then he leaves the courtroom. Does this sound like a scene from a comedy movie? Or maybe a movie of the colonial times? Well, then here's the truth. This farce happened in this day, this age! The lady is none other that Aung San Suu Kyi of Mynammar, who pioneered the democratic movement in that country and therefore was placed under house arrest 14 years back. Why was she sentenced further? Because at the fag end of her 14 year arrest, an white man apparently swam across the lake beside her house, and entered into it. Therefore, she is guilty of violating the terms of "house arrest". And now with her requiring to spend another 18 months in her house, the 2010 "elections" in the country will remain another farce. All the world leaders have religiously "condemned" this move, and then proceeded to do... nothing.

3. See, I am a little poor at understanding economics. I was taught that if prices increase, inflation increases and vice versa. So, if inflation is stable, then prices are stable. So now, why then are prices of essential commodities so high if inflation is -1.74% ?! I have tried my best to figure out why there is an anomoly between what I read and what actually is happening! All I could find was that inflation is calculated with respect to the same period last year too, and therefore it is going into negative because last year it was in double digits. Confused, right? Here's more to confuse you... Economists say deflation is bad, and then the government says there is nothing to worry. All theory says deflation is bad, but no one just bothers to explain in detail what the whole fuss about inflation/deflation is all about. We were told not to worry when inflation was in double digits. And then we are told not to worry when it is negative. So here's my question - when exactly is it that we should be worried?

4. Sagarika Ghose seems be infected with "frisk flu". Ok, excuse my poor(est) joke, but that's what it seems like. On her latest blog, she talks about some oaths. Apparently, if I understood the blog correctly, we all should take a oath that we will stand in queue while at airports. But Sagarika, we already do that, so why do we have to take an oath? Or did you want the leaders to take that oath? If so, your naivety is ... well, plain naive! And pray why you are not answering this question - How can you guarantee that the official who frisked Dr. Kalam was not a security risk to him?

5. Here's an interesting tidbit. In Montreal this week, for the first time an any ATP tournament, the top 8 ranked players of the world have reached the Quarter Finals. There have been tournaments in which the top 8 seeds reached the quarterfinals, but this is the first time the top 8 ranked players in the world reached this stage. More than it being interesting, I was surprised that this never happened before. Nevertheless, feels good to see a first happening in your favorite sport :)

Sagarika Ghose never ceases to surprise!

I wanted to be part of this chat to ask some uncomfortable questions to Sagarika Ghose, but I could not attend this chat. I come back to see the transcript and my feelings kept changing from awe to ridicule.

Just for information, Sagarika Ghose is a journalist and a TV news anchor on CNN-IBN ( partly owned by her too ).

If you look at the transcript here, it is very clear that Sagarika is taking the whole thing to heart. Why? Well, that's the million dollar question my friend!

One poor gentleman asked her, "... but don't you think some national figure should be spared from frisking". Madame Sagarika goes bonkers here, and shrieks at the top of her voice "There IS NOTHING WRONG OR HUMULIATING about frisking. NOTHING. ZERO. NO.NOTHING. "

Fine. So I have this question for you Sagarika. Who made this an issue? Who ran headlines saying, "Kalam Frisked", " Kalam Humiliated" ? Who ran this whole news for two full days as if this is a national security concern? The media right? CNN-IBN also right? Why did you hype it up to this extent, and then ask why we are taking this so seriously?!

Ohh, by the way, Sagarika, Heads of State do not ride bikes, for obvious security reasons, so there is no need to worry if they are going to break that rule. Maybe you should get your comparisons right. They are either simply naive or plain stupid. What was going through your mind when you said this - "If all former heads of state were exempt can you imagine what would happen if a tin pot head of state from say, Somalia, boarded a aircraft and proceeded to hijack a plane--hypothetically speaking." A tin pot head?! I am more curious to know what was going on in your head at the time of saying this?!

I also see that you have a penchant liking to make comparisons with leaders of other countries, saying we need to learn from them on how to stand in queues. I liked your line of thinking in this matter, and so am taking the liberty of comparing your journalistic style with some greats that I have seen right here in our country and also take the freedom to suggest that you might want to learn a thing or two from them. Remember one gentleman called L.V.Ramana who used to read Hindi news on Doordarshan. Calm and composed? No dramatics? Or even the English news readers at that time. Ok, let's come to contemporary journalists because times have changed. They are no legends, but if you see a Rajdeep or a Barkha interviewing, they will let the other person talk a bit. I am from Hyderabad and watch this show at 7:30 on a local show on TV5. The anchor talks so little and allows the panelists to talk for about 20-25 minutes in a 30 minute show!

The trademark of your show is that you are the person that talks the most! And almost all the news anchors in this country will not make mistakes like "...those players who hit all those boundaries and fours", "Arjun Singh's time was all about quotaaaas, and..OBC quotaas". Which journalists asks, "Ok, so why don't we talk to ISI?" I am sure I would have picked more, had I not stopped watching your show!

And I am amazed at your knowledge of the world when I read this line. "(The US Senate is arguably the most privileged club of 100 people in the world.)" Really Sagarika? Maybe the senators will all be pleased to know that someone thinks of them in this manner, and that too while discussing about frisking of VIP's in India. What amazes me more is that line appears in an answer to this question - "what are the rules for former heads of state in other countries?" I still wonder what connection the answer and the question have.

If you knew Mulayam's security was increased because of his support to UPA last year, why did you not make a big issue of it then? Did it not matter to you that totally unethical means were followed to win the trust vote? Why did you let that news cycle die down so quickly? If you feel "incredibly embarrased" when you see Robert Vadra's name, why don't you do something about it Sagarika?

The whole chat bothered me so much because you seem very desperate to take the moral high ground on an issue that deserves no more than a passing mention. You got the choice of the topic wrong, your comparisons wrong, and more importantly you priorities wrong!

PS: Answer to me this - How can you guarantee that the employee who frisked Dr. Kalam is not a security threat to him? As much as Dr. Kalam is a threat to the airline, an outsider bodily touching the former head of the world's largest democracy is also a serious security breach, so what about that then?!