Nothing more Nothing Less

Starting a thing like this always takes a lot out of your time. You’ve got to leave a special time of the day for this. You know, just to get your thoughts organised. It always has been a silent wish of mine to write a diary-cum-blog. But things hadn’t come around for that. Till now at least. Other than the time another thing that prevented this new “sort-of” adventure is the knowledge of how to start a thing like this. I mean like one of those old FIATs there always is a staring problem with writing. Once the first few lines or the first few articles are through it starts getting easier. That is why, perhaps, my hopes/ambition of putting down a blog has always been such a miserable failure. And that is why I am indebted to the media for helping me to write this article. It has not helped me in getting published. This mediocre writer has still miles to go before that happens. However the recent arguments and counter arguments that have filled the TV sets since that fateful day Arushi Talwar was found dead, murdered at home has given me enough fodder for such. In fact it has me positively flooded with material.
First things first I don’t belong to the mass-com applecart, Arushi’s family (near or far), the UP police and the CBI. So whatever I say won’t have anything to do with solving the case because I am not qualified to do so. However I can perhaps comment as any human born in this country to comment on the shoddy way this has been handled by everyone involved. First and foremost my grievance is with the UP Police. The appalling way it has screamed to anyone listening, that “objectionable” but not “ compromising” tag ,was nothing short of inhumane. The girl has died .Have some respect for Almighty’s sake. Yes the public has now been empowered by the govt. to the “Right to Information”. But to give such harsh and rude words for a seventeen year old girl who has died, revealing to the media the details of the email’s she sent was just crossing the line. And not too subtly either. I mean you do your investigation and present the facts in the court and get the murderer jailed for life. Who needs to know every itsy-bitsy detail?
Well the answer to that brings me to the second culprit. Us. Yes , we have been responsible for this mudslinging. More than the UP police for sure. The TV shows us want we want to see. The TV channels know that in this rat race of trp’s long gone has the need of giving correct information. Just throw in whatever has garnered the attention of the public. The presence of excerpts of TV shows, crime-files etc is ample proof of this downhill trend , promoted by us and provided by the TV channels. And this case has been a blessing for not only the media but for the TV hungry people of India. I mean 10 years back can you imagine the prime time being occupied by News Channel. But that is not only a possibility but a reality. And it has only been possible due to our insistence, perhaps subconsciously, for the shocking. Tehelka cases , Sting operations etc need any more proof of our guilt.
But we have not been alone. The media’s hand in all this is quite obvious. The age of constructive media has long gone. Perhaps since the “tehelka” days. The material you find these days is just pulp fiction. The only news channel that is involved in reporting the news as it is without any masala and chutzpah is the oldest one. Doordarshan. Haven’t we all been so critical of DD’s not so appealing or alluring material. It has perhaps been because it keeps on reporting news like the old day. Without any of the glitter and glamour associated with it. There is no Shah Rukh Khan endorsing it like the other channels. No Shilpa Shetty to promote it . But it has kept to the old times. And thanks to it that it has. The Aaj Taks and India TVs of this world have taken it way too far. Why do we need to learn how Chris Angel does his magic, how a seal(mislabelled as dolphin) bounces a ball? What does it matter if you are “sabse tez” . Surely you have to be “ekdum correct” with it too? And I don’t understand all this expert-business who sit all day long and keep on saying things we already know. And that perhaps concludes my piece. We have been associates , sort of “partners-in-crime” if you like. We need to clean up our act as fast as we can. This has been such a long drawn affair that sometimes we forget the basic reason why all this is happening. A girl and her servant was found murdered. And the only thing necessary is justice. Find the murderer and bring them to justice. That is all that is reqd. Nothing more nothing less.