India or Bharat?
On our 60th independence day, newspapers and news channels were full of opinion polls on how would people ‘celebrate’ their independence day, how would they want their country to improve etc.
The television was full of people who usually fill television screens talking about things that have nothing to do with their profession or matter of interest. But still they talk about it because they want to share the screen-space with other people who do the same thing for the same reason. By now there is a well-rehearsed ritual that we go through in our effort to congratulate ourselves. Over the past few years we have managed to create our own version of a country called India, a version we keep perfecting in our contrast accord with reality. This version is based on a few set issues and a fewer set of people who are allowed to represent these issues. If it’s about Mumbai, it is in terms of its spirit, lack of infrastructure, bad roads and local trains that are dead set on homicide and the people to go to are Rahul Bose and Prahlad Kakkar. If it’s about Delhi, it is in terms of water & electricity problems and men who molest women as a matter of habit and the people to go to are Suheil Seth and Shekhar Suman. If it’s about politics then there comes the lawyer brigade of Sibal and Jaitley.
Are these people anymore qualified than you or me to comment on the things that they comment on?
It is as if we live in a media created world with its own artificial sky dotted with manufactured celebrities.
This screen doesn’t adjust the rural India and 80% of India can’t find mention unless it gets caught in some senseless survey or, worse, some hidden camera. And, yes, the light should be good!
It is not that serious issues don’t get debated but they are made out in a fashion to increase the TRPs. Most of the surveys list poverty, corruption and terrorism as the key problems facing our country. It is revealing that illiteracy and population are not something we regard as a problem anymore. I agree that poverty is, in fact, a surrogate for illiteracy and population but this says a lot about how we see the world.
The city has displaced the village, the glitter has pushed the filth into the background, and the new indicator of growth is the total area covered under metro-rail and flyovers instead of rural electrification.
When we talk of water crisis, we talk of cities and we forget that in villages women have to walk more than 20kms everyday to fetch a pot of water. Why can we capture only the city housewives sulking over not getting 24-hr water supply? When we talk of crime, we talk about the lack of justice meted out to the families of Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara. Why don’t we consider that even today women are forced to go Sati after their husband’s death?
The irony of the course is that even the politicians who grace our screens struggle to win elections and those who do are usually the ones who don’t mean a single word they say on-screen.
Politicians represent the India we have successfully shut out. Nobody writes about that India, Ekta Kapoor doesn’t include it in her serials and Karan Johar wouldn’t think about it in his entire life (except when he is asked to comment on it on-screen). We don’t seem to be ready to deal with the very real reality of that India.
Today the new India wants to get rid of Bharat; some would argue that it has already done so. But then, who are we to have an opinion; lets ask Shobha De what she thinks!
On our 60th independence day, newspapers and news channels were full of opinion polls on how would people ‘celebrate’ their independence day, how would they want their country to improve etc.
The television was full of people who usually fill television screens talking about things that have nothing to do with their profession or matter of interest. But still they talk about it because they want to share the screen-space with other people who do the same thing for the same reason. By now there is a well-rehearsed ritual that we go through in our effort to congratulate ourselves. Over the past few years we have managed to create our own version of a country called India, a version we keep perfecting in our contrast accord with reality. This version is based on a few set issues and a fewer set of people who are allowed to represent these issues. If it’s about Mumbai, it is in terms of its spirit, lack of infrastructure, bad roads and local trains that are dead set on homicide and the people to go to are Rahul Bose and Prahlad Kakkar. If it’s about Delhi, it is in terms of water & electricity problems and men who molest women as a matter of habit and the people to go to are Suheil Seth and Shekhar Suman. If it’s about politics then there comes the lawyer brigade of Sibal and Jaitley.
Are these people anymore qualified than you or me to comment on the things that they comment on?
It is as if we live in a media created world with its own artificial sky dotted with manufactured celebrities.
This screen doesn’t adjust the rural India and 80% of India can’t find mention unless it gets caught in some senseless survey or, worse, some hidden camera. And, yes, the light should be good!
It is not that serious issues don’t get debated but they are made out in a fashion to increase the TRPs. Most of the surveys list poverty, corruption and terrorism as the key problems facing our country. It is revealing that illiteracy and population are not something we regard as a problem anymore. I agree that poverty is, in fact, a surrogate for illiteracy and population but this says a lot about how we see the world.
The city has displaced the village, the glitter has pushed the filth into the background, and the new indicator of growth is the total area covered under metro-rail and flyovers instead of rural electrification.
When we talk of water crisis, we talk of cities and we forget that in villages women have to walk more than 20kms everyday to fetch a pot of water. Why can we capture only the city housewives sulking over not getting 24-hr water supply? When we talk of crime, we talk about the lack of justice meted out to the families of Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara. Why don’t we consider that even today women are forced to go Sati after their husband’s death?
The irony of the course is that even the politicians who grace our screens struggle to win elections and those who do are usually the ones who don’t mean a single word they say on-screen.
Politicians represent the India we have successfully shut out. Nobody writes about that India, Ekta Kapoor doesn’t include it in her serials and Karan Johar wouldn’t think about it in his entire life (except when he is asked to comment on it on-screen). We don’t seem to be ready to deal with the very real reality of that India.
Today the new India wants to get rid of Bharat; some would argue that it has already done so. But then, who are we to have an opinion; lets ask Shobha De what she thinks!
posted by Sangeeta at
10:42 PM
2 Comments:
on independence day, when we were busy flying kites and 'celebrating' our independence day, Jinesh told me that u called up to ask some doubt in dynamics. bt i thought that ws ur height of madness.
bt nw, i guess, i ws underestimating u....u r mch more thn tht :p
abt this post, till now i had nvr given a thought abt this media created version of india but nw whn i do, i thnk u r smwht rght.
bt abt the part that india wants to gt rid of bharat, i dont think there s nything wrong wid that. its a part of modernisation and the gandhigiri doesnt work anymore in this nuclear age.
and i know hw much u hate ekta kapoor and karan johar type dramas so how much do u want them to think abt ur much-loved india????
nywys overall gud work
lage raho sangy darling.....:0
By
Anonymous, at 5:38 AM
ya its true
these news channels are irritating us n wasting our time with these TRP prone programs
better watch DD1 4 news at 8
By
Anonymous, at 5:37 AM
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