India has gone to the Dogs!!!

A soldier dies and there’s absolutely no coverage in visual media (maybe a times new roman 8 with 20 words in print) but an anti-national (stone pelter, maoist, militant etc.) dies and the media goes into a frenzy. They go to the extent of showing their families wailing and air it prime time. It’s not that the soldiers (Army, BSF, ITBP, CRPF etc.) don’t have families or that their families don’t shed tears.

Barkha Dutt (who I respect and thus warrants space here) wants to give prime time to the anti nationals while happily painting the Indian soldier with one common brush..rapist, killer of innocent people, misuser of AFSPA. Barkha Dutt’s claim to fame is her brave and unprecedented (in India) coverage of the Kargil war but do give it a second thought while we are at it. She wasn’t there serving the nation or doing her normal duty. That was her chance to claim lime light and reach newer heights in her profession and she took it well. The ones she was covering fighting for the country were doing their duty. It wasn’t a shot at fame for those soldiers like it was for Barkha Dutt. The soldiers (women included) were not there because they got 'an opportunity of a lifetime' rather just because the bugle called. Barkha Dutt, through her exploits, earned the highest order of respect (deservedly so) and ears everytime she spoke or interviewed. The stature that she has earned should not be wasted on prejudiced TV shows or news reports and it would be in the best interest of India and journalism itself if she didn’t take sides and showed both sides of the story. Instead of empathizing with loss of life of an anti-national she should do journalism favour and take a more balanced and objective view. A life is a life..whether that of an anti-national or that of a soldier but think about it - the anti-national died working against the sovereignty of the country while the soldier died defending it. So you decide.

I don’t deny some (very very few actually) soldiers have wronged the society (for which they have been duly punished or are being tried) but to paint all of them with the same negative brush is treason of the highest order. And when the ‘responsible journalists’ do that they also show the plight of the ‘affected’ people thereby creating victims out of the culprits (if u go shooting or stone throwing at a soldier you cannot expect flowers in return). As a result the soldiers become the culprits.

On another day, I would recognize the important work that some journalists are doing but today I want to highlight what the majority of the TRP hungry journos are doing. I wish they would get out of their air-conditioned lives and see what a soldier goes through on just a normal day at his/her work. Instead of realizing AND recognizing what heroes our soldiers are they leave no stone unturned in making them the villains and creating heroes out of the anti-nationals.

This country has gone to the Dogs and the politicians and journalists are mainly to blame. Can’t expect better from politicians as most just care about votes, but again, most journos just care about TRPs. Cheap bloody journos!!!

Tarun Vijay has wonderfully put in words the feelings I have regarding this matter..read the poem at the end, brings tears to my eyes.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/whose-man-is-that-soldier-fighting-in-kashmir

Miss Chennai? Sure do..

‘How will you manage in Chennai?’, ‘What will you do in Chennai?’ are the kind of exclamations I got to hear every time I told people in the Noida office of my company that my location was Chennai and I was (happily) very much Chennai bound. To add some would offer ‘advice’…’See, you can ask for a transfer or a swap and you better do it while you are in induction’.

I was amused to say the least by people’s reactions. I had heard that Chennai was not very north Indian friendly and that you cannot survive if you don’t know the local language but coming from defense background and (by virtue of which) having travelled (AND stayed) a lot within India I was looking forward to moving to Chennai and exploring the place, seeing it with my own eyes and forming my own opinions.

After having spent around 14 months in Chennai- the land of movie fanatics, Sarvana Bhavan and of course the I.T. Highway I can confidently say it is as good and as bad as any other city in India (exclude South Mumbai because that’s a different world altogether). Liking Chennai or not is just down to what one wants from the city. It certainly isn’t how most ignorant people like to brand it; many of whom advised me to not move to Chennai.

It is a city which will welcome you with open arms (clichéd - I know) if you are open to its culture and the people…and why should you not be? After all, they say world over ‘When in Rome do as Romans do’. The people of Chennai are very gentle, pleasant and respectful. Most of them may not be very outspoken and frank (in the beginning) but are certainly very nice to talk to. The lowest denominator of the society are just like they are in any other place. Here though, I felt quite some hostility from them because I was a ‘Naarth Indian’. The city has some awesome restaurants and most of them are so much within budgetary range compared to their counterparts in say a Mumbai or a Delhi. I absolutely loved Bella Ciao and Sarvana Bhavan (I haven’t had better South Indian food). The city has a good small town feel to it, the traffic is way less (though very reckless especially on the OMR). Infact, only recently did the city’s second mall come up and now there are almost half a dozen ready to be opened. I hope the mall culture doesn’t spoil the small town feel of the city.

However, people there do have the very bad habit of starting on in the native language when accompanied by those who do not understand the language (and this is commonly observed even amongst the well educated people). But I guess this is the case with our Bengali brothers too..or maybe even with north Indians- only that I may not have observed it myself. Maybe then, it’s just an Indian thing.

The society does seem to be a little hypocrite though and Ar, a hard core Tamilian, backs me on that. Middle class people can’t be seen buying booze at TASMACs (the government controlled booze shops and there are only these in TN) - apparently boozing is only for the lower strata of the society and the high class. I remember once when Ar didn’t take off his helmet while purchasing booze at a TASMAC by the fear of being recognized by some Uncle/Aunty passing by :-D. It is perfectly fine for them to see and cheer on their favourite filmstars boozing and scantily clad women on screen but it’s not acceptable for your neighbour’s son to booze OR neighbour’s daughter to even wear a sleeveless top. In this respect, I think Chennai comes across as hypocrite. I guess that’s because people there are still too strongly hung onto their culture and ‘values’ while at the same time the world (even other parts of India) has moved on thus they feel caught in between. In time that should all be taken care of. Since I mentioned TASMAC I would like to apologise to Dr. Mallya here…I was guilty of buying ‘kalyani gold’ and what nots at the SAME PRICE(!!!) when my nearby TASMACs wouldn’t stock the usual booze brands. I have also had to have ‘Knight and Day’ brandy and again at the same price of your regular good quality brands. I think TASMACs are a big big rip off and one who has stayed ( and boozed :o) )outside TN can only understand what I mean. So, for the sake of the boozers in Chennai (especially the middle class boozers :0)) I hope TASMACS start stocking the regular brands more.

After having shifted to Mumbai now, for personal reasons, I actually realise what a nice place Chennai is (speaking of which I've actually recommended the place to R who has a good offer but is in dilemma since he will have to move from Dilwaalon ki Dilli to Namba Chennai). Needless to say, I would love to visit again. So, all my Chennai friends reading this...get married soon!!

On a whole Chennai is definitely a very good city but it lacks the enthusiasm and the energy that you can feel in a Mumbai or a Bangalore or in Delhi..maybe when I am a little older and want a more peaceful life then I would head Chennai wards..so long Chennai!