Media - Not liars, but selective truth tellers

Swami Gulagulaananda said:
"A half truth is often more dangerous than a whole lie"

The Indian media is becoming more and more aggressive with each passing day. In the Kargil war, it was said that the Indian media was largely responsible for boosting the morale of the Indian soldiers, which was a key factor towards Indian war - Something that was apparently missing in Pakistan (Source: Wikipedia - Kargil War)

The media went on to fight for justice in the Jessica Lall case. However, by then, the media started going off course. While the media was doing a good thing in fighting for a cause - where many cases normally get buried due to the influence of the rich and powerful, many journalists including Karan Thapar and Sagarika Ghose started showing signs of prejudice (and stupidity, with all due respect) which can be clearly seen in these videos - Karan Thapar and Sagarika Ghose

As you can see from the videos above, the media starts with the assumption that one person is wrong and starts attacking them. Now, this person could be wrong, as was probably true in the Jessica Lall case. However, in the Aarushi murder case, the media was completely off mark. They made humiliating accusations and insinuations on her parents and others - Whether or not these originated from the media, they should have been thoroughly verified before broadcasting to the whole nation! In the end, it turned out that the parents were completely innocent... But imagine what kind of a blot comes on the miserable parents who not only lost their child but were also inflicted with unbearable pain from the media due the allegations levelled.

If the media were barking up the wrong tree without any repercussions, that would have been alright. But they have the ability to sway the whole nation. And they do it. The media seems to have developed a tendency towards taking sides and giving too many unsolicited opinions. Take for example the Commonwealth Games - While several photos of how the games have let Indians down have been posted, including beds with paw-prints, and dirty toilets, not one photo of the fantastic developments done there posted. It's only now that an email is doing rounds to bring up the spirits of all Indians who have, by now, developed a mind-set that the organisers were utterly corrupt, and the games are a complete flop.

Now, part of that IS true - But that's where the main problem lies... The media shows us only one part, and that prevents us from getting a complete image. We start seeing it with jaundiced eyes, where only negative things are shown to us. Artistick attempts to explain the disastrous effects of this kind of attitude, with a slight humour

[Click on the image to enlarge]

Therefore, it is up to all of us to start thinking independently of the facts that the media provides to us, because we are now aware that the facts provided, though true, are not necessarily the complete or actual picture. Don't jump to conclusions based on this.

Ranting in Rap.

Yo..
Listen up ppl, listen up nice,
Open ur ears, cuz i ain't sayin it twice.
Insultin ma country, bruising ma pride,
seems to be in..seems to be fine,
U curse all day, create a din,
and then u casually say that u r just kiddin' ?
U think u r brainy, u think u r funny?
but that's just crap, oh wise bunny!
U wanna be cool, u wanna be smart?
den y dont u clean up the shit n make a start?
Yakking all day, surfing in da night,
doesn't do squat, gives u no right.
Summin up da rant, ain't gonna be easy,
but has 2 be done, even if it makes u queasy,
Stop Talking, Start Acting.
Peace.








       

Creating a time capsule.

The concept of time travel has always captured my imagination ever since I was a small kid. Not only was the science involved quirky in itself, but the ramifications of such a journey, were it ever made were mind-boggling to say the least. Of late this interest of mine was further heightened after I watched for the very first time the Back to the Future series. By sheer coincidence, the book Timeline, that I had picked out of my local library that week, happened to dwell on the very same subject of time travel (Both these two are fantastic pieces of work. Do enjoy them if you get a chance).

The flood of time travel based stories in my daily routine set up my own train of thought. I wondered how it would be do go back in time and relieve those old incidents which i so fondly remember(Also, i don't know why, but at a personal level i prefer travelling to the past rather than the future. The latter would kill all the surprise i think. :P). 

Anyhow, I decided even though a real time machine hasn't been invented yet, I would set of on my own journey into the past, wherein my mind would be the metaphorical Train, navigating through the crisscross tapestry of my memories which would serve as the tracks. 

This sort of journey has a dual purpose. For one, it serves as a nice reality check, to see what really are the Days that stand out, as I celebrate 23 years of existence on this planet(I celebrated my b'day recently). Secondly, it helps me sorta achieve my dream of time travel. In this post, I intend to create an archive of memories. I call this archive, a Time Capsule. As we very well know, nothing on this internet is every forgotten. Hence, if ever in the future, I felt the need to travel back into time, I could use my Time Capsule and relive forgotten memories.

So here goes(Roughly in chronological order):

My earliest memory from my holiday in Singapore, I was clinging on to elephant pleading to my dad for one more go..but dad wouldn't budge..I really wanted to go on it again. :( Associated memory, my mom got called onto the stage and was hugged by a chimp :D

During the time of the first gulf war, there was this impending fear the Iraq would invade UAE, and Saddam Hussien was quite a figure then. So, whenever I used to stand in our house balcony, my mom used to scare me saying.."Saddam Hussien achi tokhe khadi wendo" (Saddam hussein will come and take you away). This trick worked without fail to scare me out of my wits.

Going to the hospital to see my mom( my mom was about to give birth to my sister! ) and I in my usual temperamental moods cried I didn't want a baby sister!!!( thank god mom didnt listen :P) and banged the eating table against the wall just missing my mom's head !( dont remember my exact thoughts then..i think i was mostly pissed because mom had been away from home so long...don't think there was any fear of division of love..)

Shifting from My oldest home..called "Lika waaro ghar"(house with scribbles of my artwork on the wall :P) to the flat opposite to us.

Going to the dentist with my dad to Rashid Hospital...At one point when the dirty dentist drilled like crazy and I couldn't take the pain any more..I said enough and kicked the Dentist in the face/chest and ran out of the hospital! my dad must have been red-faced then.. :)

My mom sending me down to watch some queen Diana who was passing by our road on her visit to UAE. I caught a lady waving out of her posh car..i do remember i saw someone( but the face is fuzzy now) but little did i know how big this Princess was to become. She was killed in a car  crash around 5 or so years later.

The endless days of cricket and 7 stones and hide n seek which i used to play with my local gang, nishant, tarun, hardik among others..adil, kasim, punit...I remember the hiding place in the godown which was sometimes opened...and when the owner discovered that he would threaten to lock us in...the innumerable times we hit ghatia aunty's window and ran away when she came out to scream! :) .. Hitting the ball into opposite balcony and jumping into them to fetch it..

My sister's first gestures...her kutukutu kutu kutu with arm waving gesture..(baby language for " I want bread Jam! " )..my sis falling on her face and breaking all her milk teeth in one shot!

My dad's first office phone no...his taking us to the first office among others..

Me running away from the bus stop when the bus was about to come..to the utter horror of my mom...i still remember that hiding place..!

Mom sending me(now a big kid) to buy sauce from (i dont remember the grocery name) and I discovered on the way that i had broken the sauce bottle and hence was feeling so guilty...i called up mom in almost a crying state from metlaa grocery...(funny how we remember such insignificant details vividly).

Me poking my classmates eye with my pencil...caused him to get stitches..

The same friend going and standing behind the girl Aarti in KG1 in the middle of the prayer when we were supposed to have our eyes closed...

Me quietly writing my arabic exam when the guy in front of me decides to look back and remarks "noooo, this is wrong..see mine that is right..." I copied his answer and that was the only answer i got wrong. My final score was 99.97% and one mark short of a perfect score. Also, i was tied with one other person. That was the guy in front of me. I learnt my lesson in copying that day. (class 1)

Me stealing gum from my friends bag's side pocket..only to be repramainded thorougly by mom and quietly slipped it in the next day.. :P ..

Me sitting in the first bench and turning back to get a rubber when i got Thwacked on the face by Miss Sonu...how i was filled with rage that day on getting slapped for not getting a rubber...

Also remember hiding our steel scales in Arabic period, lest our teacher see them and use them to hit us!

This has turned out to be longer than expected...

will cover the rest in subsequent posts..

GoodBye for now! :)

Growing up.

A year older, a little wiser, more independent, and more true to myself. Hope to keep heading in the right direction :) 

P.S : Publicly commiting to publish time capsule tomorrow!