#StopThisCircus

As a child I hated the 7PM news hour on DD National (DD1 back then) because I thought news was dreary and my parents were boring folks to show so much interest in it. As an adult, I am forever on a news website, app or a news channel, not because I find it interesting, but because of my inherent need of knowing what is going on in my country and how it may or may not affect me and my family.

For the past few days everything I have been watching in the news is making me grow frustrated with my identity as an Indian. There are so many things I can complain about and a certain politician’s use of urine to irrigate his plants is the least of them. Was this even news worthy? I don’t care what made the man propagate this idea but I care why it featured in the national news. Why do news channels think I will be interested in this information or why on God’s holy Earth will this affect me? Also, how does a stupid CEO’s insulting letter to his board or his u-turn after that letter affect me in any way? All these news items are so very stupid! It seems as though as a country we are only interested in gossip, or maybe this is what the media thinks. They probably think we are stupid and we are in all likelihood proving to be what they think.

Nepal was very correct in saying #GoHomeIndianMedia. I would love to tell them off as well. The Nepal earthquake coverage was a campaign to elevate brand India and nothing more. We love self-glorifying ourselves and hence we vehemently hate it when reality rears its ugly head in the form of documentaries such as India’s Daughter. 

The big news today is Salman Khan. The Bollywood actor was trending 48 hours before the court convicted him and my newsfeed on Facebook and Twitter were full of it! I know he has a cult like following and I know several of his die-hard fans too, which is very disturbing at the moment. The man killed someone 13 years ago! He killed one and injured a few other people asleep on a pavement. How did he manage to do that? Well simple, he was drunk and he drove under the influence of alcohol just like eight out of 10 Indians do. If that is chalta hai, then sleeping on the pavement bhi chalta hai boss. So now after 13 years of the incident, a good honest judge finally found him guilty of culpable homicide and all we can think about are his upcoming movies and the millions invested in those movies. 

Salman Khan fans, I’m sorry I can’t sympathise with you. 

What have we become? What should really matter? The fact that justice was delayed by 13 long years should be enough for us to be disappointed and angry with the Indian judiciary, but we instead empathise with him. The media attention and sympathy towards the actor makes my heart cringe because as a country we verbally crucify those who try to think for us and empathise with murderers. Well, today is proof enough. 

At this very moment, as a silent spectator of the Indian psyche, I am shaken because this is not being Indian; this is not even Being Human (the actor’s charity foundation). The question is what is our essence, what have we become and where are we headed? I wish I had an answer.