Personal v/s public

I feel downcast when I perceive various controversies springing up each day out of petty issues which can very well be solved behind the screens. But no! The in-thing today is to create an entire cover story out of it and then only shall it be resolved.
I am fed up of picking up a newspaper each day overflowing with news of political scams, corporate altercations among siblings, tussle between corporate majors and if nothing else then a religious upsurge. The personal issues igniting in one’s house be it on religious grounds or otherwise, becomes a nationwide issue to resolve. Views are taken and polls are created to see how many people are against Mr XYZ marrying Miss PQR and how many are with them. I might sound ignorant of the society rules but are such affairs liable to be called personal if they become this public? The word personal seems to be losing its identity to the mercy of the word public.
No one else but the Tharoor-Modi duo can understand this difference best, at the moment, after all the havoc that has got created as a result of “twittering” of their personal associations and the latter’s involvement in their public affairs. The aforementioned tussle makes me realize that even the developing team behind twitter might not have thought that their site would be instrumental in such drastic exposures. A website with the basic idea of following your loved ones wherever they go, has been converted into a battle ground where one discloses an individual’s secrets .But in the end, what one gets as comeuppance is right in front of us- A messy situation for both the parties.
I do no t say that there is anything wrong in making matters public. But my question here is that do all these issues actually deserve all the attention that they get currently .Making these tussles part of news is one thing and creating a complete havoc over it is another. The faction under spotlight take undue advantage of the hype created and will continue to do so as long as they get this undeserving footage. The media captures controversial stories to spread awareness. But is that all what common man needs to be aware of?
Should the latter not be told as to how can he be of help to control global warming or what can he do best at his level to minimize power cuts, or may be, how is it that the government is being unable to control the skyrocketing food prices? Are these matters not worthy enough to steal all the limelight?

Journalism:The 21st Century Way!!

There is a recent upsurge regarding amendment of the RTI Act. People are not very satisfied with the way the government is responding to their query. Also the latter wants a more analytical and descriptive reply to their inquisition. The beaurocrats claim that people are flooding their mailboxes with illegitimate demands and questions most of which are baseless. There can be a number of ways in which this problem can be viewed. The mails can be senseless and baseless on account of the fact that the masses are completely ignorant of certain details which they should be aware of. Secondly, the large number of mails may be due to common doubt among a huge group of people. But the question here is that how does the common man become aware and who should represent the common man so that there is a representative who can question the beaurocracy on their behalf. Well, if I am not mistaken, few years back both these responsibilities lied on the shoulders of media. The power of pen was the power of common man. The voice of a journalist behind a mike was that of a common man’s.

On the contrary, today when we recite the very word, Journalism, the only picture that comes to our mind is that of innumerable television news channels telecasting a village boy coming out of a kilometer deep pit after staying there for x number of hours or probably a celebrity’s wife trying to defend him even when stooped low enough to molest his house maid. Is this all what media means to us today. Journalism, as a whole, has indeed come a long way from the times when bulletin appeared on tv only thrice a day. Today, on the contrary, the report gets updated every minute. Thanks to the technology and the people behind this revolution, we are blessed with the 24 hour concept of news channels because of which we cannot imagine to overlook a single piece of information in case we missed the newscast when it appeared on TV.

But there is one more thing where in media has portrayed immense transformation. It is in the area of quality of news which is televised these days. The common man may not be aware how the latest budget is going to affect their expenses but he will be extremely sure of the minutest details of a family dispute going on in a celebrity’s house. All kudos to our well equipped and hard working journalists who stand hours in front of a cricketer’s house to get a word from his father about the former’s second consecutive century in a test match.

A regular update of cricket match scores and temperatures of different cities across the world are also accompanied by a string of advertisements which only serve as an obstruction to an ongoing important discussion.

A full page cover story on nation’s budget has been replaced by a detailed analysis of a young girl’s murder mystery.

A pen or a mike gives power, but that power is of no use if it can’t be regulated in the right direction. If this ongoing malfunctioning of the entire system of media continues, then journalism which has turned only yellow from white , so far, is soon going to turn black and vanish eventually. In that era, probably media person will also need a representative to speak on their behalf .Will the common man do the honours?

Wake Up Sid!!

Last week , I happened to lay my hands upon this movie called Wake Up Sid. The title of the movie had always struck a chord in me somewhere but only due to lack of time I had never been able to watch it before.

The movie revolved around this college going guy played by Ranbir Kapoor who seems to have no worries in his life be it his exams or daily expenditure. This aimless guy relied completely on his credit card for making any kind of payment and life was a bed of roses for him .It was only when all these luxuries were confiscated by his father did he realize his responsibilities and finally managed to convert his passion of photography into his profession.

OK, I am not here to give a critical analysis or a review of the aforementioned movie but one thing that has remained in my mind ever since I watched this Karan Johar flick was the idea behind it. According to me , the concept was to “wake up” the youth of the country and to cajole them to prove themselves. But my question here is that is the youth of India actually fast asleep and cannot decide what they want to do in life?

Well, because, if that’s the case then why have board exams been removed from the CBSE curriculum. I thought it was done to reduce the immense competition among school going teenagers who give up their lives to a red mark in their report cards. The same idea, in my opinion, goes behind introducing the grade system instead of marks.
If I am not wrong, jobs in this country are less as compared to the number of applicants. It’s hard to understand that how can sleepy and lousy people get a CV of their own made and also gather courage enough to face an interview of a prestigious organization.

Education, for these “ young guns of India”, is no more a necessity to earn them bread. They have n number of options available. Leave aside the mundane 9-5 jobs ,I see the youth of today opting for professions like jockeying which are more fun and have something new each day to try. To grab easiest of opportunities these lively bones stand in endless lines only to be part of a reality show and snatch their share of fame to make their presence felt. In this avid search for money and independence ,they have even started working at school level as pizza delivery boys or as salesman.

These materialistic youngsters may be ravenous for fame and money but the fact remains that they never step back when it comes to social responsibilities. The Youngistan is vigilant and gallant enough to help spread awareness about various social issues. For instance consider the “Jaago re” campaign. Am not too good in statistics but the immense response to the “Teach India” campaign had majority of its volunteers in the age group of 21-30.

Thus, as a matter of fact, the young blood today has the vigor to revolutionize any field that he/she enters .It is only their get-up-and-go attitude that gives them courage enough to follow their heart and opt for a profession of their own choice despite the remuneration associated with it . As long as they have a sense of satisfaction, you will always find them glued to it till the end.

Are the seniors listening?
Well if yes then go give them a stroke of appreciation so that this enthusiasm never wanes.
And those who haven’t got a pat as yet, can feel happy about what they are doing and give themselves a pat on their back. Reading time is over now. Get back to work Youngistan….there’s loads of it to be done.