Avanti Sopory
The biggest progression the human race has achieved in the recent history has been the freedom of expression. We are free to write, feel and do what our grey matters thinks is relevant. A certain cause for this tenderfoot freedom could be the increased exposures and experiences, dynamic world political and economic progression or the itchiness to be heard and become cyber celebrity.
From creating Terribly Tiny Tales to epic novels, there is creativity and freedom bubbling all around. A child as young as ten years creates his own cyber personality when he is handed over a smart phone by his parents.
All looks good. After all freedom of expression is our right and we must respect it. The fact that we can insatiably exercise it in India, unlike many primitive and parochial countries of the world is a pat on Being Indian.
The giant media houses were the first to exercise this freedom. Everyday prime-time is the high value window for doing thread bare discussion on anything and everything topical. The TV screens show the faces of half a dozen people nodding in agreement or disagreement, beseeching to be given some seconds of fame, expressing dismay at the state of political or social affairs or somebody simply adjusting the earphone. As listeners and news deprived people, we do not know how much of what out of this is played up. Politics is a favorite subject for most India, and now the act of locking horns over “my horse is better than yours” has moved from the dilapidated coffee shops and tea adda’s to the plush TV news rooms. They come as experts and senior panelist on news channels 24/7.
This constant blabbering is in stark contrast to a time when “news” was simply about reading the news headlines from Teleprompters… with no analysis and no paralysis. This was when Doordarshan ruled the roost. Headlines were followed by a short description of the events. During the insurgency of militancy in Punjab or any untoward incident, a millisecond clipping was shown of the lined-up dead bodies shrouded in white covers. During those milliseconds there was no voice-over; no newsperson was giving the unsolicited opinion on the corpse frozen angle, shoes worn at the time of death, weapon or bullet marks, zoomed weapons, clothes worn by the dead. But that is yester years.
Today the geo-political world is evolving at a massive scale. Allies of yesteryears are enemies now and foes of old world are friends now. Tribes, sects, ethnic groups are fighting over who is the blue blooded pantheon. Disputes over gender, caste, creed, color and poverty are as old as human existence and which have still not ceased to exist on earth. Therefore when a water soaked and bloated body of a three year old Syrian boy floats and reaches the Turkish shore, many intellectuals of the world pop up on the prime-time to sign off their armchair activism; yet again. Discussing for how many hours was the body soaked in water or how would have the lone father reacted on seeing his dead boy. These questions have no relevance to resolving the political turmoil of the region. This is pointless analysis.
Recently a leading newspaper flashed pictures of quarantined toddlers and grown-ups of Madaya in Syria, who had been denied basic existential food supplies. As a result they had eaten up all the cats, dogs and every vegetation of the area to survive, for as long as they could. As this went viral, all the social scientist, political parties, aid workers came forward to discuss if the eye sockets of a 8 month old toddler were more deeper than that of a 2 year old. If the greens they are eating from the tree leaves will survive them more than the plant leaves or for how many more days will the green of the grass keep them hydrated? Does this really have any relevance to the greater cause of resolving the sectarian violence in the area? These pictures were disturbing enough to any well-meaning human being. No words can describe the misery of the people who are living in such inhuman condition. Of course the TRP comes from high voltage drama and discussion, whereas intent to resolve the real issue is lurking somewhere else.
Another leading daily had published the suicidal note of Rohith, a PhD student at Hyderabad University. The complete letter was heart-wrenching and disturbing. The letter still hounds the minds and souls of every upright human being. But the analyst did not even spare the letter, sitting with owl eyes each word was read and mis-read to fit their screen time; while once again the real matter waited to be heard.
I don’t mean that we should go back to those days when everything was pushed under the carpet, but in news matters; focus and prudence needs to be restored. The burning issues and miseries are at the core of an urgent resolution. They need an ear for resolution not a mouth to talk about the fringes of these miseries. All brouhaha will head nowhere because resolving the core issue is more important than revolving around it.
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