Rain Rain go away come again another Day !
I guess the weather decided to move on and let us Mumbaikars move on as well. Its currently showing off its fury in Gujarat. Navsari, Surat are all on the verge of getting flooded.
People are getting back to their normal lives and I am sure they will be apprehensive again when the rains again look set to flood Mumbai - else I guess everyones going to forget about it the "India Gene" as I call it.
Everyones talking about the media-created hype which worked on Peoples Physche having faced 26-July last year . I have been watching the television channels last couple of days sitting at home. It appears that Mumbai only has Andheri, Kurla, Kalina and some places like Dadar. Milan subway and Andheri subway are their favorite hangouts. They love showing and analyzing "insensitive statements" of Vilas Rao Deskmukh, a skeptical Kirit Somaiya on the corruption and state of affairs on the Mithi river cleanup. However what takes the cake is a whole lot of people from random areas and the politicians firing the BMC and the MMRDA for the sad state of things. They love showing this part.
However I wonder where the responsible media is after sensationalizing all the "breaking news" and the "you saw it first on ..." attitude. We have a post-mortem media which only believes in showing the deed after it is done and then exploiting it and sensationalizing it to get public attention. Then something new comes along. The old stories are forgotten. I have yet to see one news channel go back on one of its old stories and check on the state of things since they reported it. The Sting operations they conducted ? The sex scandals they unearthed - there is not a single followup on what was done.
Once they get their "Masala-story-of-the-day" their job for the day is done. And anyway who cares for the followups. We Indians are so used to "Masala" flavors of everything in life be in films, maggie 2 minute noodles, lays, egg omlettes. We want to see the same Masala flavor of news and that is what the channels serve. We viewers have the "India gene" and the channels have them too :)
I was amused to hear the channels repeatedly referrring to 26-July and how Mumbai was on the verge of another one. It was just another "Masala" story for us all - the channels, us viewers - all of us are part of the chain.
I believe what gets us through all these situations is the "India gene" which is another name of the "don't care attitude" gene which all of us Indians have. We adapt and become insensitive to any situation which comes our way. We just dont care beyond that day of misfortune. Soon its time to get on with normal life. It could be a riot, a flood, a human tragedy, a big corruption scandal. Somehow we just take all of this as "part of life" and leave it behind. We decide to do nothing about it - always thinking it to be someone elses problem, not ours.
Yes we are very helpful in times of need to each other regardless of community, religion and all those differences - but we soon forget - blaming the system for it. Phrases like "what else can we do", "what can i do " are usual balms we use to massage our conscience for adjusting to such situations.
Look at the continuing reservation agony - the AIIMS director humilated and sacked by an unscrupulous, ignorant minister.
It is precisely this difference which makes the US so great and India not so great. I cannot imagine such a high profile, intelligent citizen of this country being humilated and sacked by a minister who has no background, no merit. It s a defeat of knowledge more than anything else in this country. And all this only to influence a vote bank to stay in power. And who else is saying "No" to this injustice besides the doctors.
What hurts is that particular sections of people are so gullible and willingly get exploited for some fringe short term benefits which is going to harm the country in the long run. And then we talk of becoming a super power and take on the biggies of the west and China and all that bull Shit.
Not to worry the India gene will again take over and the people will forget - its not their problem.
People are getting back to their normal lives and I am sure they will be apprehensive again when the rains again look set to flood Mumbai - else I guess everyones going to forget about it the "India Gene" as I call it.
Everyones talking about the media-created hype which worked on Peoples Physche having faced 26-July last year . I have been watching the television channels last couple of days sitting at home. It appears that Mumbai only has Andheri, Kurla, Kalina and some places like Dadar. Milan subway and Andheri subway are their favorite hangouts. They love showing and analyzing "insensitive statements" of Vilas Rao Deskmukh, a skeptical Kirit Somaiya on the corruption and state of affairs on the Mithi river cleanup. However what takes the cake is a whole lot of people from random areas and the politicians firing the BMC and the MMRDA for the sad state of things. They love showing this part.
However I wonder where the responsible media is after sensationalizing all the "breaking news" and the "you saw it first on ..." attitude. We have a post-mortem media which only believes in showing the deed after it is done and then exploiting it and sensationalizing it to get public attention. Then something new comes along. The old stories are forgotten. I have yet to see one news channel go back on one of its old stories and check on the state of things since they reported it. The Sting operations they conducted ? The sex scandals they unearthed - there is not a single followup on what was done.
Once they get their "Masala-story-of-the-day" their job for the day is done. And anyway who cares for the followups. We Indians are so used to "Masala" flavors of everything in life be in films, maggie 2 minute noodles, lays, egg omlettes. We want to see the same Masala flavor of news and that is what the channels serve. We viewers have the "India gene" and the channels have them too :)
I was amused to hear the channels repeatedly referrring to 26-July and how Mumbai was on the verge of another one. It was just another "Masala" story for us all - the channels, us viewers - all of us are part of the chain.
I believe what gets us through all these situations is the "India gene" which is another name of the "don't care attitude" gene which all of us Indians have. We adapt and become insensitive to any situation which comes our way. We just dont care beyond that day of misfortune. Soon its time to get on with normal life. It could be a riot, a flood, a human tragedy, a big corruption scandal. Somehow we just take all of this as "part of life" and leave it behind. We decide to do nothing about it - always thinking it to be someone elses problem, not ours.
Yes we are very helpful in times of need to each other regardless of community, religion and all those differences - but we soon forget - blaming the system for it. Phrases like "what else can we do", "what can i do " are usual balms we use to massage our conscience for adjusting to such situations.
Look at the continuing reservation agony - the AIIMS director humilated and sacked by an unscrupulous, ignorant minister.
It is precisely this difference which makes the US so great and India not so great. I cannot imagine such a high profile, intelligent citizen of this country being humilated and sacked by a minister who has no background, no merit. It s a defeat of knowledge more than anything else in this country. And all this only to influence a vote bank to stay in power. And who else is saying "No" to this injustice besides the doctors.
What hurts is that particular sections of people are so gullible and willingly get exploited for some fringe short term benefits which is going to harm the country in the long run. And then we talk of becoming a super power and take on the biggies of the west and China and all that bull Shit.
Not to worry the India gene will again take over and the people will forget - its not their problem.
posted by Manish Bhoola at 12:59 pm
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