Making a difference
Mumbai... 3 days of utter chaos and confusion - 3 days of making Indians all over sit up; shocked, frustrated and perhaps fuming a little. In the days that followed; people suddenly woke up and wanted to know what happened? How can something like this happen!? How did the government let something like this happen!? we really cant trust the government! let us do SOMETHING and make a difference.
Suggestions on what needs to be done have been floating around since... make Mumbai (and other cities) state-cities, increase spending on internal defense, buy more posh weapons... what not...!!!
The problem with all these approaches is that it does not solve any problem... you are only looking at different ways to fight... but not solve... the problem does not go away or anything.
People also have this sudden desire to 'do something' 'make a difference' 'create a tidal wave of change' and whatnot!?! but because everyone wants to something drastic (which we cannot do) we eventually go back to our grumbling selves complainig about the 'pathetic state of affairs' and 'the horrible government procedures'...
True... each time disaster strikes it brings with it a batch of converts who are actually doing stuff; but to a large majority of us - it makes us little more than arm chair activists.
So... the question now is... what will make a difference? How do we actually create a change?
One thing that crossed my mind when all this was happening was - the nature of coverage. That same weekend, a former prime minster died, a cyclone wrecked havoc on Chennai and parts of South India; but somehow escaped the gaze of national media? why? what made this event so 'special' (need a better word here) that all other news was JUST NOT covered?
Bombs went off in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad and where not... sure they were all covered... but never to this degree... people were taken hostage earlier but that too did not bring in the same interest in coverage... What changed this time?
I believe that there were a couple of factors here... firstly (and most importantly) Mumbai is the information/news capital of India... forget anything else... this is Mumbai's single most important product.
When terror struck; it was automatically put into limelight and brought before the world... news channels managed to stay on topic for 60 hours straight... a record in these days... nothing else seemed to matter...except that mumbai was under attack... Frankly... more than the terrorists themselves... i think the media succeeded in spreading terror... when a terror attack happens - the act perse is often not half as horrible as its ability to linger and play on the minds of people who did not experience it...
This is what the media has done... spread it... and along with 'reporting' they also managed to shout and screem at the cameras and spread emotions, fan it worldwide...
What happened in Mumbai was a heinous act by a bunch of crazed psyched guys... and should never have happened... I do not for a moment say otherwise... but there is a difference between reporting and fanatic sensationalizing an event... a news channel has to stick to reporting else they are liable to create more damage than the terrorists themselves....
I believe in the strength of the free estate... freedom of the presses... we need to know what is happening around the world... news and views and everything... but there is a thin line between 'reporting and fanatic sensationalizing'... and I think what creates a crossover is.... MONEY
People made money from this terror... like it or not... and this money was made by the 'good' guys... The baddies were in it for ideologies and a false sense of righteousness or whatever... the good guys made the money... the innocents were victims... as always...
Now... this kind of gives me an idea what if we remove the excessive cash flow from these media channels? keep the revenue from advertising and stuff... but remove the fatty revenue... Stop the revenue from SMSes...
SMSes.. I believe has provided the system with more money than it knows how to handle - 3-6Rs from each and every person who has an opinion and a mobile... a country of over a billion and the revenues from the bottom of the pyramid are HUGE... TV shows (reality shows)... News channels... Radios and more are able to make revenues that makes the quality of the programming almost redundant... all these media seem to be gravitating towards making more money... not better programming... When Money speaks it has the loudest voice... and it seems to be making mincemeat of every other value system there is...
What I would suggest is... If a media wants my opinion.. I should not have to pay for it... Ideally the 'asker' should be paying for it... or at the very least... It should be free... What organistion will pay the client to take its opinion... esp when the organization has nothing to gain from it?
Think about it... With the flush money gone... news channels will have to go back to making sound programming to sustain itself... true... some might resort to more sensationalism initially... but it will not sustain... never had... never will... SOme major players might close down... but the ones that sustain will not ever be a carrier of distrust... the equations will have to change...
Ever notice... whenever we speak of the negatives of an Indian evert (or even its positives) we seem to use the same cliched phrases? we are getting this from the media...
PLease people... let us not be lead blindly by them... think for yourself... ask questions around... learn to make your own opinions...
ALL Pakistanis are NOT bad... even if the terrorists were indeed pakis (which no1 has proof for) then they were 10 pakistanis... not a nation of pakistan... we cannot choose to hate an entire nation (or religion) based on 10 representatives... I am sure we will find the same proportion of fundamentalists amoungst ourselves also... Be not a pawn but be the path... be yourself... and be aware...
What can I do about the SMS Idea..? at the end of the day... perhaps nothing... but I WILL NOT hate... I will not carry with me the negative emotions... I will choose to be happy... I will choose to spread the happy energy :)
keep well mates... Life is good... Gaea is there :)
love
Abhi
Suggestions on what needs to be done have been floating around since... make Mumbai (and other cities) state-cities, increase spending on internal defense, buy more posh weapons... what not...!!!
The problem with all these approaches is that it does not solve any problem... you are only looking at different ways to fight... but not solve... the problem does not go away or anything.
People also have this sudden desire to 'do something' 'make a difference' 'create a tidal wave of change' and whatnot!?! but because everyone wants to something drastic (which we cannot do) we eventually go back to our grumbling selves complainig about the 'pathetic state of affairs' and 'the horrible government procedures'...
True... each time disaster strikes it brings with it a batch of converts who are actually doing stuff; but to a large majority of us - it makes us little more than arm chair activists.
So... the question now is... what will make a difference? How do we actually create a change?
One thing that crossed my mind when all this was happening was - the nature of coverage. That same weekend, a former prime minster died, a cyclone wrecked havoc on Chennai and parts of South India; but somehow escaped the gaze of national media? why? what made this event so 'special' (need a better word here) that all other news was JUST NOT covered?
Bombs went off in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad and where not... sure they were all covered... but never to this degree... people were taken hostage earlier but that too did not bring in the same interest in coverage... What changed this time?
I believe that there were a couple of factors here... firstly (and most importantly) Mumbai is the information/news capital of India... forget anything else... this is Mumbai's single most important product.
When terror struck; it was automatically put into limelight and brought before the world... news channels managed to stay on topic for 60 hours straight... a record in these days... nothing else seemed to matter...except that mumbai was under attack... Frankly... more than the terrorists themselves... i think the media succeeded in spreading terror... when a terror attack happens - the act perse is often not half as horrible as its ability to linger and play on the minds of people who did not experience it...
This is what the media has done... spread it... and along with 'reporting' they also managed to shout and screem at the cameras and spread emotions, fan it worldwide...
What happened in Mumbai was a heinous act by a bunch of crazed psyched guys... and should never have happened... I do not for a moment say otherwise... but there is a difference between reporting and fanatic sensationalizing an event... a news channel has to stick to reporting else they are liable to create more damage than the terrorists themselves....
I believe in the strength of the free estate... freedom of the presses... we need to know what is happening around the world... news and views and everything... but there is a thin line between 'reporting and fanatic sensationalizing'... and I think what creates a crossover is.... MONEY
People made money from this terror... like it or not... and this money was made by the 'good' guys... The baddies were in it for ideologies and a false sense of righteousness or whatever... the good guys made the money... the innocents were victims... as always...
Now... this kind of gives me an idea what if we remove the excessive cash flow from these media channels? keep the revenue from advertising and stuff... but remove the fatty revenue... Stop the revenue from SMSes...
SMSes.. I believe has provided the system with more money than it knows how to handle - 3-6Rs from each and every person who has an opinion and a mobile... a country of over a billion and the revenues from the bottom of the pyramid are HUGE... TV shows (reality shows)... News channels... Radios and more are able to make revenues that makes the quality of the programming almost redundant... all these media seem to be gravitating towards making more money... not better programming... When Money speaks it has the loudest voice... and it seems to be making mincemeat of every other value system there is...
What I would suggest is... If a media wants my opinion.. I should not have to pay for it... Ideally the 'asker' should be paying for it... or at the very least... It should be free... What organistion will pay the client to take its opinion... esp when the organization has nothing to gain from it?
Think about it... With the flush money gone... news channels will have to go back to making sound programming to sustain itself... true... some might resort to more sensationalism initially... but it will not sustain... never had... never will... SOme major players might close down... but the ones that sustain will not ever be a carrier of distrust... the equations will have to change...
Ever notice... whenever we speak of the negatives of an Indian evert (or even its positives) we seem to use the same cliched phrases? we are getting this from the media...
PLease people... let us not be lead blindly by them... think for yourself... ask questions around... learn to make your own opinions...
ALL Pakistanis are NOT bad... even if the terrorists were indeed pakis (which no1 has proof for) then they were 10 pakistanis... not a nation of pakistan... we cannot choose to hate an entire nation (or religion) based on 10 representatives... I am sure we will find the same proportion of fundamentalists amoungst ourselves also... Be not a pawn but be the path... be yourself... and be aware...
What can I do about the SMS Idea..? at the end of the day... perhaps nothing... but I WILL NOT hate... I will not carry with me the negative emotions... I will choose to be happy... I will choose to spread the happy energy :)
keep well mates... Life is good... Gaea is there :)
love
Abhi
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