అదన్నమాట! : జనవరి 24-30

రాజకీయాల గురుంచి చర్చించే ముందు ఒక విషయం. మాయాబజార్ మళ్ళి విడుదల అయ్యింది. ఈ సారి కలర్ లో. పెద్ద స్క్రీన్ మీద కలర్ లో ఎస్వీఆర్ ఎన్టీఆర్ సావిత్రి ని చూస్తుంటే ... అబ్బో అదీ ఒక మంచి అనుభూతి. అవకాసం దొరికితే తప్పకుండ చుడండి ధియేటర్ లో.

ఇక పొతే, మన తెలంగాణా విషయానికి వద్దాము. మాన్యశ్రీ చిదంబరం గారు ఇంకో వారం లోపల ఒక కమిటీ వేస్తాము అని చెప్పారు. అదీ ఎం చేస్తది, ఎన్నాలు కూర్చుంటుంది అనే విషయాలు మాత్రం వెల్లడించలేదు. దీంతో సంతృప్తి చెందినా కాంగ్రెస్స్ నేతలు రాజీనామాలు వెనక్కి తీసుకుంటాము అని చెప్పారు. కాని, జేఏసీ అనే ఒక విష పురుగు ఉంది కదండీ మనకి..వాళ్ళు మళ్ళి ఏదో రేచాగోట్టే వ్యాఖ్యలు చేసారు. రాజీనామాల మీద తుది నిర్ణయం ఇంకో వారం పాటు పొడిగించారు. ఈ వారం లోపల అంకున్నది జరగకపోతే రాజ్యాంగ సంక్షోభం సృష్టిస్తారు అంట. ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, స్పీకర్ గారు అన్ని రాజీనామాలను తిరస్కరించారు. ఒక్కటి మినహా. ఆ ఒక్కటి ఎవరిదో చెప్పడానికి నిరాకరించారు. దీనితో "రాజ్యంగా సంక్షోభానికి" కూడా తెర పడింది. కాని దురదృష్టం ఏంటి అంటే, తెలంగాణా వివాదానికి ఇప్పుడు అప్పుడే తెర పడేటట్టు లేదు.

ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, నిత్యావసర వస్తువుల ధరలు ఆకాశాన్ని అంటాయి. కాని వీటి గురించి చర్చించే వాళ్ళు కాని, చర్యలు తీసుకునే వాళ్ళు కాని ఎవ్వరు లేరు. మీ గోడు మీరు పదండి, మా గోడు మేము పడతాము అన్నట్టు ఉంది రాష్ట్ర ప్రభుత్వ పరిస్థితి. అటు కేంద్ర ప్రభుత్వం ఏమైనా చేస్తాడ అని చుస్తే, వాళ్ళు అసలు మా సమస్యే కాదు అని తేల్చి చెప్పారు!

That's all, your honour!:Jan.24-30

1. Your honour, take a look at the ad in this link. This was put up by the ministry of Women and Child Development. The blunder, ofcourse, is in having a picture of a former air force chief of Pakistan. Even the Prime Minister's Office had to apologise for this. No one was fired/fined/warned though, keeping in line with our tradition of never punishing the guilty. However, there is one another point I wanted to make. Couldn't the designing agency not find any more icons??? I mean, what guided the ad agency in arriving at these choices? Randomness also takes a beating here. But hey, according the hon.min. Krishna Tirath, it is the message that matters! Wake up, people. Stop being cynical.

2. Come Republic Day, the spectre of Padma awards comes along. A huge majority of them actually deserve those awards. The minority that don't deserve it really put us to shame. No denying that. But, your honour, our media talks as if all the awardees are not worthy of it, that the awards have lost their sheen and thay we need to throw away the basket because of one rotten mango (I know we should say apple, but i dont like that fruit!). Saif Ali Khan was given the Padma Shri this year along with Rekha. Isn't it plain outrageous that such a thing happened? A hotelier with a dubious record, Sant Chatwal was given Padma Bhushan because he helped "with the nuclear deal". Intergrity, hard work, eligibility be damned! Anyways, media - please focus on individuals. You'd do us all a huge favour. btw, here's a full list of Padma awardees this year.

3. Suddenly (though not unexpectedly), our media started asking how long will we not talk to Pakistan, etc. What was the trigger point? Believe it or not, the IPL "snub" of the Pakistani players. Suddenly we have Suhasini Haidar of CNN-IBN visiting Pakistan, interview a group of 8 youth from there, out of which only 2 spoke, and then run the headline "Voice of Pakistan". I don't deny the youth's argument (who said there are people in Pak who want peace with India), but the harsher reality is that we are not yet ready to talk to Pak! And then came the interview with the Pak PM by her! The interview was just laced with arrogance, diffidence and non chalant attitude by the PM. The Pak PM was trying to project to the world that their country is also a victim to terrorism on par with us and so we must be more accomadating. The point he conveinently missed, and our media did not ask, is that we are both victims of terrorism emanating from their soil! And when the PM says so, will their FM remain far behind. He gave an interview to Barkha Dutt, and called us "shy", told her that we lack "oomph" and concluded that we are confused with Pak policy. Dude, are we confused about Pak policy or is it you who have no clue how to handle the situation in your country?!

4. Ohh, a small update. The auction for 3G spectrum has been postponed. Again. Yes, yet again. That's all your honour!

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara ...

If you ever want any kind of reconfirmation that "Old is Gold", then please watch the new version of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara!

The adage is further re-inforced when you see Shahid Kapoor vigorously rubbing his hands all over the mike or when you see a long legged Deepika, presumably on a break while filming for a Liril ad, trying to balance herself in the middle of water! While we are on it, why does Shahrukh Khan flaunt his trademark style here too? Ohh, I insist that you see how out of place Sonu Nigam was,standing in that crowd.

The old version had a soul to it. It was earnest. It showed to us the country that is India. The new one just doesn't do that. The new one is way too long, primarily designed to accomodate as many bollywood stars as possible. It is all about Bollywood. It is all about how to showcase the technological advance in the field of music. In the old one, the stars were shown together. In the new one, they are all shown separately. Unknown people who represented the true face of India lightened up the old version. Costumes, and culture of various places in India were so beautifully shown. Amitabh, Jeetendra and Mithun together is still awesome to watch!

And just so that we think that the new video is a 100% bollywood show, the makers (who call themselves co-creators) ensured that sportspersons were covered for about 30 seconds in a more than 10 minute video! And there are NO cricket, tennis, and hockey players in the video. Believe it or not, that's the truth! The video, which uses technology so much, forgot to include those who have made the advancement possible! No industry icons, no scientists, no engineers, very few sportspersons and the list goes on!

Most of the time, we see the whole family singing or performing! Like the Kannada bit, picturised in the midst of some trees instead of say, infront of the Mysore palace!

By the way, Salman wore a banian! But frankly, atleast his bit was good because he was doing it along with differently abled children who were using sign language. Sent a nice message.

All in all, this new versions simply sucks in front of the old version. Watch them for yourself to figure out why "Old is Gold". For the old version, click here. For the new version, click (part1 and part 2).

Will never forget this!

We had some competitions in our apartments on the occasion of Republic Day. In my wildest imagination, I did not think certificates will be given for the same :). It was a nice time pass game that I took part (you see, the spirit of participation matters), but was pleasantly surprised to recieve this! This is one certificate that I will never forget!!! LOL!

Retirement at 60? No way!

Following are some thoughts I penned in 2007, on the eve of our 60th Independence Day. I was not blogging at that time, and circulated this mail amongst friends and colleagues. And on the eve of our 60th Republic Day, these thoughts still hold good. More so, when this blog's favorite anchor Sagarika Ghose feels that the republic is retiring at 60! Pasting my mail, as it is :)

Folks,

Retirement is something we associate with the 60th year of a person’s life. Generally speaking too, 60thyear symbolically represents that you are in the twilight of your life. However, the 60th year in the journey of independent India is signifying new growth and new opportunities. The rapid growth in the past one decade, of which all of us have proudly been a part of, just about proves what we can achieve in a short time if we have the will to do it. And here’s what we can also try to achieve with that will power – help bridge the divide between the haves and have-nots.

As much as the future looks bright and vibrant for us, it looks equally bleak and uncertain for others. As much as we wish to get technologically stronger, we must also realise that growth sans development is only detrimental to the country. As much as we are proud of our Independence, we should also always remember the sacrifices so many leaders made to make sure we enjoy something they could not – freedom. And on this occasion of the 60th year of our glorious Independence, let’s continue to contribute to the hope and future that is India. Let us celebrate the dream that is India.

After all, like they say it, one billion people cannot be wrong :)

- Sudhir

That's all, your honour!: Jan 17-23

1. This week, 38 junior ministers met the Prime Minister to complain to him that they are not being given any work. So 38 of the 78 ministers dont have any work. Of the remaining 40, there are atleast 15-20 of them who don't work (Eg: Sharad Pawar, Mamta Banerjee, S.M.Krishna, A. Raja, etc). So essentially there are about 20 of them who are running this country. Your money and my money is just being spent for the luxury lives of these wor(th)kless people!

2. The charred body of a student was found on the side of a road near Hyderabad. A suicide note was found near the body which said he was denying because he is not able to bear the anguish of delayed Telangana. The body is charred, but the paper is not burnt! And this death was enough for the violent participants of this telangana "movement". They started creating a hoopla again. First they called for a 48 hour bandh, and then they decided to play some politics with the body. They had to clash with the police because they wanted to take the body in a procession to his home town. Another day of violence ensued, but the good thing was that majority of people really did not care much about the bandh. I mean, aren't we all just tired of this crap?!

3. Finally, a new NSA has been appointed. Shiv Shankar Menon will don the role, taking over from M.K.Narayan. And I am fully tired of reading the deluge of articles trying to decode the term of M.K.Narayan. And there seems to be uniform opinion that his term has been the most lacklustre one so far!

4. The latest comedy show by Pakistan is having everyone in splits! 11 Pak players were up for auctions for IPL-3. None of the owners bid for the players, leaving them high and dry! That's it - all hel broke loose. Players got furious, officials got furious, cries of insult etc rented the air. And then Pakistan parliamentary delegation cancelled it's visit. And then a delegation that was supposed to come here for taking part in the 60 years celebrations of Election Commission cancelled their visit!! If they feel insulted just because some private parties in our country decided to "insult" their players, how much should we be when terrorists trained on their soil acutally kill our citizens? That's all, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : జనవరి 17-23

ఒక విద్యార్ధి శవం దొరికింది. కాలిపోయి ఉంది. పక్కనే ఉత్తరం ఒకటి ఉంది. తెలంగాణా ఎప్పుడు వస్తుందో తెలియక ఆత్మా హత్య చేసుకుంటున్నాడు అని రాసి ఉంది అందులో. దేహం కాలిపోయింది కాని కాగితం కాలలేదు. శవం కుడా రోడ్ పక్కన దొరికింది. ఇంక అరాచక శక్తులు ఎందుకు ఆగుతాయి అండి ? మొదట ఒక బంద్ కి పిలుపు ఇచ్చారు. 48 గంటలు అది కూడా. ఆ తరువాత ఆ శవం ని ఉస్మానియా ఉనివర్సిటి కి తీసుకు వచ్చారు. అక్కడ శవం ముందు ధర్నా కి కూర్చున్నారు. ఆ తరువాత శవాన్ని ఊరేగింపు గా వాళ్ళ సొంత ఊరు తీసుకు వెళ్దాం అని ఇంకో డ్రామా కి తెర లేపారు. పోలీసు తో గొడవ కి దిగారు. రబ్బర్ బుల్లెట్ కూడా పోలీసులు వదిలారు. మధ్యలో మన నీచ రాజకీయ నాయకులూ కుడా వచ్చారు. కాని పెద్దగా ఎవరు వారిని పట్టించుకోలేదు. బంద్ ని కూడా ప్రజలు పెద్దగా సీరియస్ గా తీసుకోలేదు. కొత్తగా రాజకీయ జేఏసీ 28 లోపల తాడో పేడో తేల్చాలి అని చెప్పారు. దీన్ని కూడా ఎవరు సీరియస్ గా తీసుకోవటం లేదు.

ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, విధ్యార్డుల్ని ఉద్దేస్తూ మన కేసీఆర్ గారు మాట్లాడుతూ, తెలంగాణా కోసం మా తలలు కూడా బలి ఇష్టం అని ప్రగల్భాలు పలికారు. విద్యార్ధులు "ఎప్పుడు ఎప్పుడు" అని అడిగారు అంట! తల ఎక్కడ పెట్టుకోవాలి తెలియక శ్రీ కేసీఆర్ గారు కూర్చుండి పోయారు అంట!

Thank you, Erich Segal.

Though I am not amongst those "millions" who cried after reading Love Story, I must admit that the first time I read it (and the subsequent 7 times too:) :), it left a very deep impact on my mind. It was the first novel that emotionally touched me (and the only novel to be gifted to me, because I loved it so much!). The others gave a thrill while reading, this one was just different. Believe it or not, I refused to read "Oliver's story", a sequel to this book, because I just could not imagine him marrying someone else. Even after my friend broke the ice by telling me that he actually doesnt marry anyone, I couldn't get to read the book because he still might have flirted with others in the book :)!

However, I did not become a fan of Erich Segal until I read his "Doctors". I first read the book when I was in engineering, and it just opened up my eyes to the world of doctors. Not just that, it created some kind of deep imprint in my mind. I cannot explain what it is, but I simply fell in love with that book. The characters, the emotions in them, the cases they treat, how they treat their own selfs - all of that simply amazed me!

I read "The Class", and "Acts of Faith" too. But I guess these never came close to the class acts of Love Story and Doctors. Just last month, I read "Doctors" again and could still feel the thrill of the book. It is just plain irony that I had to hear about the death of Erich Segal just a couple of weeks after thanking him (yet again!) for those amazing books.

Again, Thank you Erich Segal for those wonderful books, which will adorn my shlef forever. Rest in Peace, Erich.

4th letter to Editors Guild

Dear President,

The following letter has been prompted by a suggestion by Mr. N. Bhaskar Rao in his article " Paid News - a deep seated malaise" in today's Hindu news paper.

Specifically he mentions in his point number 4 that: "Academic bodies, independent research agencies, and civil society groups should be encouraged to monitor media contents and articulate their views from time to time."

I fully concur and agree with him, but the sad part is we (civil soceity)just dont know who to write these views to. Some citizens are more than willing to set aside some time and articulate their views, but are just not clear to whose notice they can bring such things so that they can expect immediate action.

Editors Guild as a body can be approached for broad policy guidelines, but for specifics and nitty-gritty of the contents on TV media and newspapers, the only option available so far is to write to the editor. In this matter, the mechanism followed by The Hindu is laudable. The Reader's Editor is an ideal channel for us to interact on a very regular basis our concerns/clarifications on content in the newspaper (It is another thing that I have some serious concerns about the manner in which the present RE is functioning vis-a-vis the previous one, but that is my personal opinion :) ).

1. Is it possible to evolve a rule that makes it mandatory for all news media (print and electronic) appoint such ombudsman mechanisms, so as to be more approachable for the common man. The mechanism should not be a mere "your concern is noted" kind of thing, but has to be interactive to the maximum extent possible (like the previous RE of The Hindu was). The mechanism has to be such that, it can also put a check to the owner driven news that dominate news channels. Relevance of news should take precedence over TRP's ( I know this is easy for me to say, for at the end of the day, the business also has to sustain, but a fine balance is missing as of today). An immediate example that comes to my mind is when Saif and Kareena were guests at HT Leadership summit and their section was aired more number of times than others. Surely, they wouldn't qualify as "leaders":).

2. If not, I suggest that the editors guild take a bold step and recommend to the Government of India to appoint a autonomous commission. The terms of the commission will be similar to the Ombudsman mechanism stated above. In addition to that, periodic interactions with public, in various cities should also be conducted by this commission. Streamlining the mechanism for better interaction with viewers/readers will go a long way in not just curbing paid news but also in making the content more relevant and meaningful.

It is not my intention to constantly berate the media through my letters, but it is an honest attempt to bring in some much needed feedback mechanism. I know how much impact the media can create on the nation and hence these letters. Hope they are taken in the right spirit :)

That's all, Your Honour!:Jan10-16

1. For years now, all right thinking citizens have been crying from the rooftop that our sports system is screwed up. And those who led the various sports federations in the country did not belong to that group. Two incidents this weeks further reinforced this strong belief. Hockey players went on a strike with some demands, which Hockey India was not keen to solve. Their demands - give us salary, give us performance bonuses and have a contract system. That's it. Those were the demands. Nothing more, nothing less. And for this, the amazingly managed Hockey India did not have money! It is plain impossible to believe that the governent of India does not have money. On top of this, Hockey India, in all their wisdom asked the players to play for their country and not for money. The levels to which the administrators can stoop, really has no bounds!

While this was happening, India's lone gold medallist at Olympics, Abhinav Bindra was waging a lone battle against the National Rifle Association of India. The reason - he was not chosen for the Commonwealth Games! Abhinav clarified that he did accept to take part in the trials and they were cancelled when he came to take part in them, and he had to go back to Europe to continue his training. Nothing mattered to the NRAI. I mean, the lone gold medallist of the country is treated like this, just imagine the plight of the others. If you are wondering what the government has been doing about this, well our Sports minister is M.S.Gill. Need I say more, your honour?!

2. First he blames global warming, then he blames the states and finally he blames his lack of knowledge in astrology! Sports is not the only field that was screwed up this week. Our dear Agricultural minister, who incidentally is also the President-elect of the International Cricket Council, when questioned about why sugar prices are going up so drastically and when they are expected to come down, in all his wisdom tells us that he is not an astrologer to predict the rise and fall of prices! The next job posting for the Minister of Agriculture will specify this requirement too - Need to be conversant with astrology. Within two days, Pawar announced some half baked measures and said the prices will come down in 8-10 days. If he could really have done this now, why did he not do this last week, your honour?!

3. Remember a Prime Minister called Deve Gowda. There is a slim chance you might. If so, please erase that part also from your memory. Infact, I would request future historians to ignore his year as Prime Minister. Wondering why this request? This week, this fellow called the CM of Karnataka and the Advocate General of Karnataka as "bloody bastards". Yep, you heard it right. The media did not misquote him, he said this to TV media, and hold your breath, agreed on live TV the next day to have used that language and did NOT feel bad about for he had to use such language because he was angry with CM for ignoring the farmers. And just to add salt to injury, he repeated the word again on national TV and appreciated the national media's concern for the language he used. Now, do we really deserve to record his year as Prime Minister of this country, your honour?

4. I wrote a separate blog on this here, but wanted to mention that here too. Shivraj Patil has been made the governor of Punjab. Shame on the Congress High Command. That's all, your honour!

PS: Speaking of "your honour", the Delhi High Court ruled that the office of Chief Justice of India also comes under the RTI. Landmark judgement indeed.

అదన్నమాట! : జనవరి 10-16

1. కిందటి వారం మీడియా లో జరిగిన అలజడి కి ఈ వారం ముగింపు పలికింది కోర్ట్. అరెస్ట్ చేసిన ఇద్దరు జర్నలిష్ట్లను బిల్ పైన విడుదల చేసారు. ఆ తరువాత వెంటనే మీడియా దృష్టి అంటా మళ్ళి తెలంగాణా మీదకు మళ్ళింది ! రెండు రోజులు ఏదో హడావడి చేసిన మీడియా ఒక్క సారి గా టాపిక్ ని మార్చేసి మళ్ళి షరా మామూలే అన్నట్టు వార్త కథనాలను కొనసాగించింది.

2. ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, తెలంగాణా జేఏసీ రోజుకో ప్రకటన ఇస్తూనే ఉండి. ఈ సారి 28 లోపల ఏదో ఒక తేల్చాలని కేంద్రానికి హెచ్చరిక జారి చేసింది! వీళ్ళ బాధ ఏంటో, వీళ్ళు ఏంటో అసలు ఎవరికీ అర్ధం కాని పరిస్థితి వచేసింది! కాంగ్రెస్స్ పార్టీ అధిష్టానం ఏమో ఎంఎల్యే లను రాజీనామాలు ఉపసంహరించుకోమంది. జేఏసీ వాళ్ళు ఏమో అలా చేస్తే మేము ఉరుకోము అని హెచ్చరిస్తున్నారు, మధ్యలో మంద కృష్ణ మాదిగ మొన్న వచ్చి ఏదో కూతలు కుసారు. అసలు మంద కృష్ణ మాదిగ ని కూడా ఇంత సేరిఔస్ గా ఎందుకు తీసుకుంటున్నారో ఎవరికీ అర్ధం కావటం లేదు ! ఏది అయితే ఏమి, పండగ మాత్రం బాగా ప్రశాంతం గా అయ్యింది. సామాన్య మనవడు ఉపిరి పీల్చుకున్నాడు.

3. ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, కేసీఆర్ గారి కూతురు కవిత కి నోటి దూల ఆగక, జూనియర్ ఎన్టీఆర్ నటించిన అదుర్స్ సినిమా ప్రదర్శన ని అడ్డుకోమని పిలుపు ఇచ్చారు. ఇలాంటి పిలుపులతో విసిగెత్తిన జనం, ఈ సారి వాటిని భేఖాతరు చేసారు. ముందు సంకోచించినా, పోలీసు కూడా తరువాత కవిత మీద కేసులు పెట్టారు. ఇక మీదట నాకు తెలిసి ప్రజలు ఇంక ఈ హింస మార్గాన్ని అవలంబిస్తే నాయకుల్ని ప్రోత్సాహించే పరిస్థితి లేదు. అదీ తెలుసుకుని మసలుకుంటే చాలా ఉత్తమం గా ఉంటుంది ఇక మీదట.

Accountability? Haa!

Many people in the media constantly write that Shivraj Patil resigned because of the widespread criticism after 26/11. 26/11 in a way did a good thing and a bad thing. The good was that the intelligence agencies woke up from their slumber. The bad thing it did was to erase all the previous multiple terror attacks in various parts of the country. Suddenly, Shivraj Patil's inefficiency that caused terror attacks in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai (train blasts), Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur - all these were forgotten. 26/11 was just a culmination of these attacks. The lives lost in these cities are no less precious than the ones lost in 26/11. The audacity of 26/11 might have shocked us, but that should not be the reason for us to forget that Shivraj Patil has been at the helm to oversee a systematic decimation of our intelligence apparatus. His clear lack of common sense, utter disregard for work, and extreme dedication to this clothes made him totally unfit for the job everyone considered number 2 in the government.

Yet, the media makes it seem like he resigned just because of 26/11. In my book, he deserves a much more stringent punishment, but atleast the fact that he was not in power bought some solace to me. Yesterday, that solace was shattered too.

Sonia Gandhi decided that since the dust over 26/11 has settled down, it is now ok to gift Shivraj Patil a nice retirement gift. What better than making him a Governor. Shivraj Patil's appointment as governor of Punjab is a clear insult to the memory of the victims of multiple terror attacks in the country. But hey, how does that matter because loyalty to the High Command is what matters.

No one else has been punished for all those terror attacks. None. No officer, no politcian. Hell, for most of those cases, we havent even solved the mystery behind them. No one has been held responsible for the multiple terror attacks.

There were three people who were made to resign their posts after 26/11. Vilas Rao Deshmukh resigned as CM of Maharashtra. He was made the Union Cabinet Minister for Industries in May 2009. R.R.Patil resigned as deputy CM and Home Minister of Maharashtra. Post the 2009 elections November, he regained those two posts. Shivraj Patil resigned as the Home Minister of India, only to be made the Governor of a state 1 1/2 year later.

The three guys who have been made to resign are back in business. Hey, but that's ok because we are being led by a honest and decent PM who in turn is guided by the eternal sacrificer. Accountability? ha! let it go for a toss.

PS: Some blogs I wrote (on a different site) on Shivraj when he was at the helm are here, here, and here.

That's all, Your Honour! :Jan.3-9

1. Just when we thought that the racial slur in Australia is subsiding came the news of three shcoking incidents in Australia. Two deaths, and one severe burning of Indian students. Finally our dear External Affairs minister decided to issue an advisory to the Indian students there. Well, the Asutralian minister refuted them, but we really don't care what the Australians have to say on this. However, Hon. Shri S.M.Krishna then chides the students for going to Australia to take up courses in hair styling and facials. Now, what does the type of courses we chose there have to do with racial attacks on us? At times, I just wonder how such ideas even crop up in the minds of our leaders ...

2. Ever heard of cat fights amongst media organisations. If not, please follow the news channels in AP! In what can easily be termed as one of the worst instances of media rubishness, the farce being played out in AP has begun to become an embarassment to one and all. A Russian tabloid The Exiled, that runs only the web version, published in its American version an article with the following headline on September 3rd "Enemy of Larry Summers ex-boss killed in a plane crash". If you are wondering what the news is about, the guy fantasizes about a conspiracy theory according to which Mukesh Ambani hatched a plot to kill YSR. One look at the website, and it is clear that this guy has a penchant for being ridiculous. But hey, the management of TV5 didnt think so! They had a full three hour talk show on this and other conspiracy theory, even terming their digging up this story by Exiled as "TV5 Exclusive". Congress goons then attacked Reliance outlets in the state, and mayhem ensured! If you thought the tamasha ended here, sorry! Sakshi TV picked up the news and went bonkers (what else would you expect from them? ;-) . NTV followed suit. Government arrests the editors of TV5 and the hypocritical cries of "freedom of press" began. Then Sakshi TV decides to deride TV9 for preaching and not practising. TV9 gets back with vitroilic language.... people, it is still not over..the drama will continue this week too... "picture abhi baaki hai mera dost" !

3. Two militants were intered in Srinagar. They started opening fire and went into a hotel! What ensued was a 22 hour long gun battle between security forces and the 2 militants. Four people were killed apart from the 2 militants. This encounter happened less than a month be the center decided to withdraw troops from Kashmir. Question is are we ready for that yet?

4. Amar Singh decided to quit all posts in the party. He didn't quit the party, but only the posts. And then Sanjay Dutt said, no Amar Singh then no me also! He resigned from party posts too. Next is who? Jayaprada :P ! I am tired of speculations as to where Amar Singh will go now, so will just wait for him to announce, whenever that is!

5. An all party meet was convened by Chidambaram to discuss road map for consultations on Telangana issue. All parties went, the talked, they came back. That's all, your honour!

అదన్నమాట! : జనవరి 3-9

వైఎసార్ చనిపోయి నాలుగు నెలలు అయినా సరే, ఇంక ఆ మరణం వెనక ఉన్న నిజం బయటికి రాలేదు. ఇంత ఆలస్యం ఎందుకు జరుగుతుంది ? - ఒక వేల టీవీ 5 ఈ ప్రశ్న తో కనక చర్చా కార్యక్రమం నిర్వహించి ఉంటె, అసలు రాష్ట్రం లోనే కాదు, ప్రపంచం లో కూడా (రష్యా తో సహా!) ఎవరికీ కించిత్తు అభ్యంతరం ఉండేది కాదు. కాని టీవీ 5 ఏమి చేసింది అండి. ఎక్కడో రష్యా లో ఉన్న ఒక అనామికుడు వాడు నడిపించే వెబ్సైట్ మీద, అమెరికా లో విచ్చలవిడిగా ఒక ఉహాజనితమైన కుట్ర కధనాన్ని ప్రచురించాడు అంట, వాడు ప్రచురించిన నాలుగు నెలలకి టీవీ 5 మనకి చదివి వినిపించింది. చదివి వినపించడమే కాకుండా, అదేదో అందులో గట్టి నిజం ఉన్నట్టు, దాని మీద ఒక మూడు ఘంటలు చర్చా కార్యక్రమాన్ని నిర్వహించింది. ఆ "కుట్ర" ప్రకారం రిలయన్స్ అధినేత ముకేష్ అంబానీ గారు మన ముఖ్యమంత్రి ని చంపారు అంట. వినడానికే ఇంత ఎబ్బెట్టు గా ఉన్న ఈ "కుట్ర" ని తీసుకుని, మూడు ఘంటల చర్చా పెట్టడం ఎంత వరకు సమంజసం? కాంగ్రెస్స్ రౌడీలు ఎందుకు ఆగుతారు అండి ? విచ్చలవిడి గా వెళ్లి రిలయన్స్ షాప్లు మీద దాడి చేసారు. విధ్వంసం సృష్టించారు.

వైఎస్ మీద వార్త అంటే, సాక్షి టీవీ ఎందుకు ఆగుతుంది అండి ... కుట్ర కుట్ర అని మళ్ళి మొదలుపెట్టింది. అదే వెబ్సైట్ మీద వార్త సాక్షి కూడా చెప్పడం మొదలు పెట్టింది. రాష్ట్రం లో జరుగుతున్న విధ్వంసం ని చూపించడం మొదలు పెట్టింది. తరువాత ఎన్ టీవీ కూడా మొదలు పెట్టింది. రష్యా వాడు నడిపే వెబ్సైట్ చుసిన ఎవరికైనా అదీ ఎంత చండాలమైన సైట్ ఊ అర్ధం అవుతుంది. రాసిన వాడే, నేను కేవలం ఇలాంటి కుట్ర ఉండి అని భావిస్తున్నా ఆనాడు. జరుగుతున్న తతాగం చూసి రాసిన వాడు పొంగి పోయాడు కుడా ... నేను రాసిన దానిని కూడా ఇంత సీరియెస్ గా తీసుకునే వాళ్ళు ఉన్నారా అని బహుశా ఆశ్చర్య పడి ఉంటాడు !

ఒక్క సారిగా ప్రభుత్వం ఉల్లిక్కి పడింది. మీడియా కి ఇంత స్వాతంత్రం పనికి రాదు అని ఎట్టకేలకు నిర్యయించింది. కాసేలున్ని పెట్టి, టీవీ 5 ఎడిటర్స్ ని అర్రెస్ట్ కూడా చేసింది. ఈనాడు, ఆంధ్రజ్యోతి పత్రికలు టీవీ 5 , సాక్షి టీవీ, ఎన్ టీవీ ని తూర్పారబట్టాయి. ఇంత అడ్డగోల వార్తలను నిర్దారించకుండా ఎలా ప్రసారం చేస్తారు అని గట్టిగానే ప్రస్నించాయి. వీరితో పాటు టీవీ 9 కుడా గళం కలిపింది. మా చానల్స్ మీద కొన్ని పత్రికలు విషం కక్కుతునాయి అని ఈ మూడు చాన్నేల్స్ తిరిగి తిట్టారు. సాక్షి ఏమో టీవీ 9 మా కన్నా ముందే ప్రసారం చేసింది అని సాక్షి టీవీ గొడవ మొదలుపెట్టింది. ఛి ఛి, మేము అలా చెయ్యలేదు, అయిన సాక్షి డి కే బొల్లి కబుర్లు అని టీవీ 9 రచ్చకీడ్చింది. చిన్న పిల్లలాగ ప్రజల సమక్షం లోనే వార్త సంస్థలు బాహాటంగానే ఇలా ఒకరి మీద ఒకరు మట్టి పోస్తున్నారు.

ఈ డ్రామా మొత్తం ఇంక ఒక కొలిక్కి రాలేదు కాబట్టి, తదుపరి విశ్లేషణ వచ్చే వారం ఇస్తాను. కాని కేవలం ఎడిటర్స్ ని అర్రెస్ట్ చెయ్యడం సబబు కాదు. చానెల్స్ కాని, పత్రికలు కాని , ఒకప్పుడు ఎడిటర్స్ చేతిలో ఉండేవి, ఇప్పుడు అంతా యాజమాన్యం ఏది చెప్తే అదే. ఎడిటర్స్ కన్నా యాజమాన్యం దే పై చెయ్యి ఉంది. యాజమాన్యం ని ఎందుకు వదిలేసారో మరి అంతు చిక్కటం లేదు. టీవీ 5 ఎడిటర్ వెంకట కృష్ణ అంటే నాకు ఇష్టం, అయన ప్రోగ్రాం నేను ఇంచు ఇంచు ప్రతి రోజు చూస్తాను,కాని ఈ సారి మాత్రం అయన చాలా పెద్ద తప్పే చేసారు. అర్రెస్ట్ చెయ్యడం సమంజసం ఆ కాదా అని చెప్పే పరిస్థితి లో నేను లేను కాని, చేసిన ఈ తప్పిదం మాత్రం పునరావృతం కాకుండా జరగాలి అంటే కటిన చర్యలు తప్పవు ఏమో మరి. మీడియా మీద నియంత్రణ ఎంతైనా అవసరం మరి. వచ్చే వారం మరింత వివరాలతో, చర్చా ని కొనసాగిద్దాం.

ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, కేంద్ర మంత్రి శ్రీ చిదంబరం గారు పిలిచినా అఖిల పక్ష సమావేశం, తెలంగాణా/సమైక్యాంధ్ర మీద ఒక నిర్ణయం తీసుకోకుండానే ముగిసింది. ఎవరి వాదనలు వాళ్ళు వినిపించారు. హింస ని ఆపాలి అని అన్ని పార్టీలు విజ్ఞప్తి చేసాయి. బహుశా ఈ సారి హింస ఆగుతుంది ఏమో మరి, వేచి చూడాలి.

3rd letter to Editors Guild

My third letter to Editors Guild. The context is explained in point number 2 here.

Dear President,

In my effort to bring to your notice specific incidents of media's over zealousness, I am writing about an incident that took place last evening (7th January, 2010) in Andhra Pradesh. My earlier two letters also had specific examples and suggestions too, and this letter will be in similar vein.

Last night, at about 7 pm, a news channel TV5, started telecasting breaking news that a Russian tabloid "The Exile" has published a conspiracy theory on its American edition that in India, the Chief Minister of AP might have been killed by none other than Mukesh Ambani! To any person with a little common sense, the theory in itself sounds preposterous and laughable.

The Exile published this "conspiracy theory" within hours (yes, within hours) of YSR's death being confirmed. The Exile is neither an acclaimed investigative website nor is renowed for serious journalism (quite evident from the content of the website).

However, TV5 seems to think differently. In its attempt to grab some headlines (I cannot think of any other explanation), the editor had a full 3 hour talk show on this conspiracy theory.

Emotions are already running high in the state. With such news breaking out, the hooligans were at it again. Practically all over the state, rowdies began to attack all Reliance outlets (it didn't matter to them that Mukesh and Anil owned them differently). Another spectre of vandalism taking precedence over logic was witnessed in our state, which is already reeling with heavy losses.

If this is not irrepsible journalism, then what is? The DGP of AP has done the right thing by filing cases against TV5, but now the channel is saying they did no wrong. The violence is not their responsibility. They did not at any point suggest Mukesh did it, and they were merely quoting from the internet. Legally they might be safe sir, but morally, ethically they have behaved in a most detesting manner and are refusing to take responsibility for escalating violence in the state.

It is nobody's contention that the delayed investigation might lead to more questions. The correct path is to question why there is this delay, not to quote some obscure website that prides itself in yello journalism, and then say such doubts arise because of delayed investigations.

I keenly hope that Editors Guild takes a note of this blatant disregard to journalistic ethics by TV5 (and subsequently by Sakshi TV and NTV) and issues some kind of statement condemning this shameful decision.

PS: A condenation was issues by Editors Guild later in the evening. I am not saying it is because of this letter :), just giving the information,lest people think no statement was issued.

2nd letter to Editors Guild

Am pasting here, the second mail I sent to Rajdeep and the Editors Guild. In his first reply, Rajdeep said he'd be happy to take specific complaints/suggestions. This letter is the first in a series of such complaints/suggestions. Please feel free to add any more suggestions, we can send them in the next mail :).

Thanks for the reply Rajdeep. I wish to now bring to the notice of the Editor's Guild a key issue regarding media coverage during violence in cities.

I wish to present two examples briefly, and then suggest remedial measures.

1. During the ongoing agitation on Telangana, recently there were some stone pelting incidents in Hyderabad. I was in one of the shops when the incident occured and could walk back to my home in the exact same route the miscreants took out their march within the next half hour. However, the local media hyped up these small incidents of violence to unimaginable levels, using banner headlines like "Hyderabad is tensed", "City citizens are tensed", "There is war-like atmosphere" (I am not kidding sir, Sakshi TV reporter actually used the word war-like to describe this situation). Media even ran banner saying two buses were burnt in the city. Till date, we have never seen a picture nor a video of these buses burning. The result of this hype - establishments in the entire city were shut down in 2 hours. The 48 hour bandh subsequently called also resulted in many such establishments remaining shut. Full details on my blog here.

2. My fellow Netizen Anand Bala in his blog here describes how TIMES NOW channel ran scrolling headlines that entire city of Bangalore was burning (after Vishnuvardhan's death) when there was small scale violence in some parts of the city. Again, a sense of fear permeated into the minds of people, there by creating an unnecessary volatile situation

I think we have to blame the media squarely for allowing such fear factor to creep in. Instead of telecasting reality, an agenda driven media in AP and some irresponsible reporting in Bangalore has caused so much hardship for the common man.

I feel it is high time we have some regulations on the media while reporting incidents of violence.

1. Use of superlatives has to be avoided at all costs.
2. Specific areas where there are disturbances have to continously telecasted.
3. Extension of tension is pockets of the city to the entire city is totally unwarranted and should be avoided.
4. Infact, it would be great if the media went ahead and instilled confidence in people.
5. Repeated telecast of the same incident over hours is fine, but it has to be displayed prominently the time at which the video was filmed. For example, if the incident took place at 12pm, and if I swtich on the TV at 2pm, there is a split screen. Right side shows the violence. Left side shows a panel discussion and reads LIVE. I will be under the assumption that the violence is also LIVE.
6. Please let us know if framing such rules does come under the purview of Editors Guild. If yes, it would be great if you could have a discussion on this. If no, can you please let us know who in the government we should be contacting?

Happy New Year and hope we bring about the much needed change in media behaviour in this year :)

Regards,
Sudhir

That's all, Your Honour!:Dec.27-Jan.3

1. We always complained all other sports get step-motherly treatment when compared to cricket. We (read BCCI) prided itself as being the world's richest cricket body. We always assumed that cricket infrastructure is world class in our country. Well, maybe someone wanted to counter these arguments and decided- hey, what better way to do this than to screw up a pitch for an international ODI. Wait a minute, to make it more interesting, let me make that pitch in the capital of the country! In what is a huge and shocking embarassment for all cricket fans in this country, the pitch on Kotla ground in Delhi was not even tested once before allowing an international match! The result - India - SL match had to be abandoned because of bad pitch! Yet, now BCCI is trying for a workaround so that the ground does not lose its matches for the World Cup. Shame. Absolute shame.

2. If you thought the above incident was ridiculous, listen to this. Three terrorists who were in the custody of Delhi police escaped while having lunch in a hotel, after coming back from a eye-check up! Sounds like a movie story right? Unfortunately it happened in real life. These terrorists were arrested in relation to a case to a bomb blast case near Red Fort in 2000, and have completed tm. They were now awaiting deportation, and strangely they decided to escape! Maybe they had fears of an encounter :D !

3. So there was another bandh on telangana this week. Some stray incidents again here and there. Same old statments by stingy political leaders. No one knows who is leading the students in OU - that is a big mysternow. Naxalites have now openly announced support for separate state. Hon. Home Minister has callall party meeting on the5th of January. No one really expects anything to come out of the meeting. The media continues to drive its agenda and the common man continues to suffer.

4. Many of us woke up on the morning ary first to see that Times of India tied up with the Jung newspaper in Pakistan to sta2 diplomacy to restore peace amongst the two countries! A hawkish newspaper suddenly changes its stance and publishes a front page editorial so full of rhetoric that it will put foriegn policy speech writers to shame! Laughable is a small word to describe this latest "initiative" by TOIlet paper :D!

5. Congress party, as is its wont, totally ignored P.V.Narasimha Rao at its 125th anniversary celebrations. Infact Madam has named all Congress PM's except for P.V.Narasimha Rao. She went a step further and said that Rajiv Gandhi was the one who initiated economic reforms. Cool Madam, waiting in anticipation for your next blatant lie to the country. Anyway, no one will question you. Go on.

6. Shibhu Soren becomes the CM of Jharkhand with support from BJP. That's all I have to say.

అదన్నమాట!: డిసంబర్ 27 - జనవరి 2

1.కాంగ్రెస్స్ పార్టి ఎపట్లాగే మళ్ళి పి.వి. నరసింహ రావు గారిని మర్చిపోయింది. మర్చిపోవడం కన్నా విస్మరించింది అనడం సబబు. ఆ పార్టి 125 వార్షికోత్సవ సభ లో మేడం సోనియా గాంధి గారు అసలు అయన పేరు కూడా తీయలేదు. ఇంకో అడుగు ముందుకు వేసి, సంస్కరణలకు ఆద్యుడు రాజీవ్ గాంధి అని సెలవు ఇచ్చారు. మీ అబద్దాలను ప్రస్నిచే వాళ్ళు లేరనే కదా మేడం మీరు ఇలా మాట్లాడుతున్నారు ?

2. అసలు ఈ విద్యార్ధి నాయకులూ ఎవరండి ?? గంట గంటకి ఉస్మానియా జే ఏ సి ఇలా చెప్పింది, అలా చెప్పింది అని వింటూనే ఉంటాము. జే ఏ సి బంద్ కి పిలుపు ఇచ్చింది అని వింటాము. జే ఏ సి ఉద్యమాన్ని ఉధృతం చేస్తుంది అని వింటాము, జే ఏ సి ఇలా హెచ్చరించింది, అలా హెచ్చరించింది అని వింటాము. కాని అసలు నాయకులు ఎవరు? అసలు ఎవరు నడిపిస్తున్నారు, ఎవరు రెచ్చగొడుతున్నారు ? సభలు ఎవరు నిర్వహిస్తున్నారు? నిరసనలు ఎవరు నడిపిస్తున్నారు? రేపొద్దున్న ఒక వేల చర్చలకు పిలవాలి అంటే అసలు ఎవర్ని పిలవాలి? జరుగుతున్న అరాచకానికి ఎఅవ్ర్ని బాధ్యులు చెయ్యాలి ?? నాయకులూ లేకుండా రోజుల తరబడి విద్యార్ధులు ఇలా చేస్తున్నారు అంటే నమ్మసఖ్యంగా లేదు. ఇప్పటికైనా వెనక ఉండి ఇంహ్త మంది జీవితాలతో ఆడుకుంటున్న ఆ అరాచక సఖ్తులు ఎవరో బయటకి రావాలి, లేకపోతె ప్రబుత్వం వాళ్ళ పేర్లు తెలియచెయ్యాలి. రాష్ట్రం లో ఇంత అనిశ్చిత పరిస్థితి నెలకొనడానికి కారణమైన ఈ నాయకులూ ఎవరో తెలియాల్సిన అవసరం ఇబ్బంది పడుతున్న ప్రజలకి ఎంతైనా ఉండి.

ఇది ఇలా ఉండగా, కేంద్ర హొం మంత్రి శ్రీమాన్ చిదంబరం గారు అన్ని పార్టీలను చర్చలకు ఆహ్వానించారు. ఎం చర్చిన్చాలో చర్చించడానికి పిలిచారు అంట. కనీసం ఈ చర్చల వాళ్ళ అయిన కొంచం శాంతి భద్రతలు మెరుగు పడతాయి అని ఆశిద్దాం. అలాంటి అవకాశాలు తక్కువే అని నాకు తెలుసు, కాని ఆశ ఆశే కదా!