Evasion Slice..

Electronic Media in India under went a metamorphosis during late 90’s and early 2000’s. Which at that time was a very well received change. We felt, finally our news reporting is going the professional way. All the private channels were competing to sign the best presenters, news readers, editors…added new dimensions to news reporting, journalism, investigation(remember the tehelka sting opertation?)…the future held promises in plenty.

But nearly a decade later, the reality has turned out to be nothing more than a grotesque turnout of what was originally touted as pathbreaking development.

Today, it amazes me to see what qualifies as “Breaking News”…right from some less known wannabe singer kissing some even lesser known item girl, mind you..it is only after this episode that Rakhi’s popularity took a new turn..Thanks to the infinite replays of the “kiss” in every possible tempo of motion that technology made possible, the channels did well in illustrating the physics of what otherwise was supposed to be an act of “physical expression”. I couldnt figure out was the news even remotely intended at some public interest? or was is just to give free visual lessons on smooching to its viewers?

Or be that instance very recently when I woke up to a “Newsflash” – “Himesh Reshamiya Ko Gussa Kyoon aata he?” informing me that Himesh Reshamiya lost his cool on a singing reality show on Zee TV…no really pardon me for asking…but what in the devils name has that got to do with any Indian’s need for morning news?

All we need is some NEWS…is it so difficult to provide that we are subjected to such frivilous, redundant and often manufactured or tailored bytes of audio/video feed?

What started as a revolutionary development in the arena of investigative journalism under the banner of Sting Operations, which once famously exposed high degree of corruption at all political and beaurocratic echelons has been reduced to a way of entering private bedrooms and capturing the images to expose a “casting couch situation” or unviel a “massage parlor business”. I’m in no way advocating the above two or any other illicit, debauched social practices. All I’m saying is if news channels want to expose them…let them do it with absolutely no titillation, which is so blatantly incorporated in their telecasts for the rise in TRP’s…In the end poor subject in the operation might not even get to “Score”…but the broadcasters sure do with their ratings.

Some late night sting opertation telecasts are even worse…a popular regional news channel forgot to move the haze (used to censor graphic content) along with the dancer’s movements while exposing a striptease in a hotel!!

I’ve reasons to believe it wasnt a “censorship malfunction”.

Maybe we need regulation of media in India…but then I fear honest and deserving reporting might suffer.

10 years ago, my dad used to coax me to watch the news and learn* something about politics and businees instead of watching cricket.

10 years from now…I might be happier financing my 6 or so year old son’s monthly issue of Cosmopolitan or Vogue for the fear of him viewing the news and learning there from*!

Sounds ridiculously farfetched…but can you blame me given the trend?

…does it too have two sides?

PS: I’ll put my post after I receive comments.

——————————————————————————————

After the overwhelming response I got for this post I had actually abandoned my intentions to go ahead with my views on the topic…but among my numerous (a couple qualify) responses a certain “officialy made comment” has prompted me to go ahead anyways…so this ones for you..Sudz!

Okay here we go..

Yes, to me Love is a coin, actually its more like a coin toss. It has 2 sides and hence 2 possible results both mutually exclusive. The facet(lets say..heads) we all know and wish for is the one that is hallmarked by sharing, caring, happiness, trust, bliss and all such feel good factors.This is a concept which works best when hope is complimented equally well by human efforts and fate. Its a state when one feels lucky to have found love.

On the other hand, if even one of the ingridients mentioned above (hope, efforts, fate) is missing, we find ourselves on the other side (or the tails). Side characterised by despair, solitude and anger. If one finds self on the other side due to fate..one would like to persist (with hope & faith) because sometimes even fate relents. But if one is there due to lack of hope or effort…then the subject is beyond repair or salvage.

Some would say fate is not a separate entity or ingridient..but a name given to the reason which is caused by absence of hope and effort. If we accept that for a moment things look more optimistic, plausible and encouraging. But in reality its not that simple, because then efforts have to be superhuman and hope eternal. Neither of which is possible for an mortal given that he is not a superman and the fact that he is governed by time.

Our fantasies, be it inspired from literature or our own imagination can take the liberty to blame fate because efforts and hope can be quite elegantly potrayed there. Hence, star-crossed lovers like Romeo-Juliet, Catherine-Heathcliff, Tristan-Isolde, Scarlett O’Hara-Rhett Butler and closer home Heer-Ranjha or Soni-Mahiwal the famous ”Tails” couples whose stories became tales, should and have served as a source of inspiration for hope and effort and not as discouraging examples of ill fate in the matters of Big L.

If we delve into chinese philosophy a little bit, the YIN-YANG also explains love, just like it explains everything else.  Yin denoting everything dark and Yang denoting everything active and bright. With both having seeds of each other. Here, “Tails” being Yin and “hope” being the Yang seed in Yin and “Heads” being Yang with “seperation from loved one” being the Yin seed in Yang.

So love to me is a 2 sided coin which based on the toss (Read:Fate) shows up one side at a time.

All said and written (read:typed) if the above was my mindspeak..what does my heart say?

it sings “head ya tail?…head ya tail?….pyar mohabbat dil ka khel”