Time and again the press and the media claim that they behave with maturity and self-regulations and time and again they behave in a manner that somehow irritates you to no end.
I just came out from watching the Prime Minister address a press conference in Bombay and one thing that kept catching your ear was HOW the reporters addressed him when they wanted to ask a question. "Mr. Singh, what do you think about so-and-so", "Manmohanjee kya aapko lagta hai....?" ... what the heck! Even if elections are round the corner, HE STILL IS THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE COUNTRY! Is it THAT difficult to address him as "Mr. Prime Minister"?
And at the end of the question by the reporters there would be a delayed pause before they said "thank you" almost as if it were and after thought or forced-out from them. Spurt in the number of media channels ... ok... you need lots of new journalists and reporters ... ok... but at least have them behave in a manner respectable of their profession and to accord respect to people who deserve it?
Monday, April 13, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentine on the TV?
Was talking to Ralph on Facebook chat... yeah yeah i Know, Valentine's Day and I'm on Facebook, SO SUE ME!
(p.s. for those of you who don't know... he's an eligible bachelor working in a leadership development programme and couple of years down the line should be a really really important guy)
Anyway, he started it by asking me what I was doing at home on Vday. Interesting query considering I asked the same of him. Quite an interesting reply he came up with... "hoping to meet my valentine online or on TV".
Told him to watch out else our beloved moral brigade would denounce his immoral ways and then go on to press for TVs and the internet to be turned off on Vday to 'protect' our culture.
p.s. Our champ is safe in Bangalore... where the moral brigade has said they will NOT protest in order to prevent embarassment to the state government. Rest of the state they will continue to protest (??!!)
(p.s. for those of you who don't know... he's an eligible bachelor working in a leadership development programme and couple of years down the line should be a really really important guy)
Anyway, he started it by asking me what I was doing at home on Vday. Interesting query considering I asked the same of him. Quite an interesting reply he came up with... "hoping to meet my valentine online or on TV".
Told him to watch out else our beloved moral brigade would denounce his immoral ways and then go on to press for TVs and the internet to be turned off on Vday to 'protect' our culture.
p.s. Our champ is safe in Bangalore... where the moral brigade has said they will NOT protest in order to prevent embarassment to the state government. Rest of the state they will continue to protest (??!!)
Valentine's day and the days preceeding it....
14th February 2009
I had so much to blog about in the recent past but have never seemed able to find the time to write about any of that.
Since then there have been attacks on women for visiting pubs and desecrating our 'culture' as the moral brigade would like to have it put. Even the daughter of a politician in power was not spared the ignomy of being assaulted and verbally abused.
To counter them, there was a group called 'A Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women' formed which further started the now-famous "Pink Chaddi Campaign".
A further counter-counter group "The Pink Condom Campaign" has been started and the internet has already begun to get dirty with religion-based politics and slander.
The trouble makers from the SRS have now been taken into custody to prevent any trouble on V-Day, but it seems to be counter productive as if any of the members still out loose create trouble the moral brigade is bound to blame it on a rival political party trying to sully their image (like they even have one!)
A prominent political party associated with the moral brigade has gone to the extent of saying that a so-called-secular party in power was instigating the moral brigade and hence spoiling the name of his party (??!!)
Can things get any better in this blame game and "we-stand-to-save-the-culture-of-our-country-never-mind-that-education-and-development-takes-a-backseat" one-upmanship?
By the way, there is also another group on Facebook which calls itself "Kamasutra Day - A Truly Indian Cultural Event". They describe themselves as "In response to the Shri Ram Sena's clarion call that Indian culture is the only thing that Indians should celebrate, we have decided to declare the 1st of March as World Kamasutra Day."
A further clarification is added for those who wish to misconstrue this group: "NOTE: The celebration of Kamasutra Day is purely to get a message across. It is not, not a celebration of sex. And it will not be. If it happens, the whole purpose will be defeated.
People who want to celebrate sex please feel free to form a new group. Sorry, but there are people who feel strongly about KS Day not being misinterpreted."
The group seems to be growing in popularity with the membership now at 2100 and counting.
Oh yeah! Goa. The shiv sena group here needs to assert itself and be more prominent in the news or so they feel the need to do so. Else one fails to understand them addressing the press to ask couples to tone down their celebrations and keep the same in accordance with the Indian culture. Looks like they really want some attention... as recently when the screening of Slumdog Millionaire was taking place in Inox, they vandalised the multiplex and courted arrest. This, their unit president Upendra Gaonkar (who is this guy???), said was a "birthday gift" to their party supremo Bal Thackeray.
Aaaah! Why didn't they say so earlier? It's their party president's birthday and in order to show him that they are doing something keeping in accordance with the good ol' "shiv sena style" that they are well known for, they had to do SOMETHING...
so what do they choose? what else but VANDALISM of course!
I had gone with a group of friends on a drive to Netravali yesterday and we had a discussion on these recent events.
Decision arrived at: Group needs to be formed.
Name of the group: The "Beat-Up-Any-Sena-Member" Sena
Objective: You see any Sena member around you. Beat them up. Any.
Final Conclusion: We need to change the name of the group else we'll end up beating ourselves up.
Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
I had so much to blog about in the recent past but have never seemed able to find the time to write about any of that.
Since then there have been attacks on women for visiting pubs and desecrating our 'culture' as the moral brigade would like to have it put. Even the daughter of a politician in power was not spared the ignomy of being assaulted and verbally abused.
To counter them, there was a group called 'A Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women' formed which further started the now-famous "Pink Chaddi Campaign".
A further counter-counter group "The Pink Condom Campaign" has been started and the internet has already begun to get dirty with religion-based politics and slander.
The trouble makers from the SRS have now been taken into custody to prevent any trouble on V-Day, but it seems to be counter productive as if any of the members still out loose create trouble the moral brigade is bound to blame it on a rival political party trying to sully their image (like they even have one!)
A prominent political party associated with the moral brigade has gone to the extent of saying that a so-called-secular party in power was instigating the moral brigade and hence spoiling the name of his party (??!!)
Can things get any better in this blame game and "we-stand-to-save-the-culture-of-our-country-never-mind-that-education-and-development-takes-a-backseat" one-upmanship?
By the way, there is also another group on Facebook which calls itself "Kamasutra Day - A Truly Indian Cultural Event". They describe themselves as "In response to the Shri Ram Sena's clarion call that Indian culture is the only thing that Indians should celebrate, we have decided to declare the 1st of March as World Kamasutra Day."
A further clarification is added for those who wish to misconstrue this group: "NOTE: The celebration of Kamasutra Day is purely to get a message across. It is not, not a celebration of sex. And it will not be. If it happens, the whole purpose will be defeated.
People who want to celebrate sex please feel free to form a new group. Sorry, but there are people who feel strongly about KS Day not being misinterpreted."
The group seems to be growing in popularity with the membership now at 2100 and counting.
Oh yeah! Goa. The shiv sena group here needs to assert itself and be more prominent in the news or so they feel the need to do so. Else one fails to understand them addressing the press to ask couples to tone down their celebrations and keep the same in accordance with the Indian culture. Looks like they really want some attention... as recently when the screening of Slumdog Millionaire was taking place in Inox, they vandalised the multiplex and courted arrest. This, their unit president Upendra Gaonkar (who is this guy???), said was a "birthday gift" to their party supremo Bal Thackeray.
Aaaah! Why didn't they say so earlier? It's their party president's birthday and in order to show him that they are doing something keeping in accordance with the good ol' "shiv sena style" that they are well known for, they had to do SOMETHING...
so what do they choose? what else but VANDALISM of course!
I had gone with a group of friends on a drive to Netravali yesterday and we had a discussion on these recent events.
Decision arrived at: Group needs to be formed.
Name of the group: The "Beat-Up-Any-Sena-Member" Sena
Objective: You see any Sena member around you. Beat them up. Any.
Final Conclusion: We need to change the name of the group else we'll end up beating ourselves up.
Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
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