Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The week that was...

Obviously the biggest news of the week is the Indian team's superlative victory against arch rivals Pakistan in the inaugural edition of the Twenty 20 International Tournament comprising all the test playing nations. I don't think I can add anything more than what is already said in all the websites. Basically, everyone has run out of cliches. The feel good factor for an average Indian cricket fan is at an all time high, thanks to the out of the world victory in a big tournament after almost 25 years. No wonder, we are so excited about this wonderful victory. Dhoni and his boys have got us a great pre-Navarathri gift.

All said and done, I was just wondering when the Indian media is going to look beyond the actual euphoria of the win. Well, what is that, you may wonder. Shoaib Malik, the Pakistani captain, came out with one of the most atrocious comments. Let us quote him verbatim, so that we can clearly understand what he says

First of all, I want to say something over here. I want to thank you back home Pakistan and where the Muslim lives all over the world.

To be honest, I went back to that phrase many a time when watching the video. What is he saying? Am I hearing it right? The actual message left me stunned. I just could not come to terms with what he had said. It was too shocking and totally disgusting to say the least. Nobody cares about his communication skills. We all respect sportsmen who play the game, let him be from any nation. We are not in a English class, where you expect the student to come up with perfect sentence formation. The whole point is to convey the right message across. As long as the message is conveyed, nobody cares as to how it was conveyed. Luckily, the point was put across today in IBNLive and Times of India, and of course, it was nice to see the blogosphere take note of this. I just hope Malik comes up with a proper explanation of what exactly he meant. Just a hope, you see!!!

Well, what can be said about the Indian media. They were the same guys who ripped the team just about four months back, when we lost miserably in the World Cup. Why to raise them on the pedestal and then bring them crashing back to earth. Both are extremities and we should realize that it is after all a game. Today, they are literally treated like Gods of the planet. I totally understand what Dhoni's parents are going through. Four months back, their home was stoned by unruly fans and the media went berserk with its comments. Today, when just the opposite is happening, it is easy to realize why they are shunning the media. It is not easy for us to take a loss and at the same time, we cannot keep a win in place. It's all gone overboard.

Wow, Shahrukh Khan visited the final match. Wonderful! Great! No doubt about it. He took his son to South Africa to watch the finals. As one of the readers in IBNLive pointed out, what was he doing wearing a Om Shanti Om T-shirt. It was too clear to see what he was doing, promoting his latest movie, getting the best possible mileage. Taking the Indian public for a ride in the name of patriotism! Patriotism should come with no strings attached, Shahrukh!!!

What else is happening apart from cricket? Oh yes! How can I forget not writing about that "wonderful" person in Tamil Nadu. He will call Him(Ram) a drunkard, a liar, a myth and what not. Oh, how wonderful it is to see the atheist make derogatory comments on the most fundamental fact of religion. Faith is the binding factor for every religion and when he goes to question the basic premise of a religion, you just wonder why the media has not shred him to pieces. Faith is something you fall back on when science fails to explain the reason. The media has taken it in a very light manner. The government is too keen to maintain its power at the center. So, obviously, they do not want to take the risk of questioning him and lose power at the center. Definitely, fair enough!!!

Media plays such an important role in Democracy. It is a big letdown sometimes, when media views things from a biased perspective. Get the message across to the people, and let the people decide what is correct and what is wrong. We need to raise a hue and cry for the right reasons, if there is something wrong in the country (Paradoxical!!).

8 comments:

  1. 1.
    Ram(a) never existed
    Ram(a) is a drunkard
    An Aryan king called Ram(a) killed a Dravidian king called Ravan(a).
    How can this SOB come up with such statements? Blood Sucker is contradicting himself.
    Till DMK is there,certain classes of people in TN will not grow up. They will remain backward.
    85 years and still alive.

    2.
    Ever since chak-de's release, the Indian team has been victorious be it hockey, cricket or soccer.
    I am really not concerned if he trying to promote his movie. coz most of them will watch it anyway.
    Chak-de!!!!!!

    3.
    Jai Jai Dhoni. The selectors need to rethink if they have to take the oldies in.

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  2. supporting what anonymous above has said I further would like to pelt (virtually) DMK with stones. The point here is not just about DMK its about the mad tamil following and weird leadership that exists down south. What Amma (meaning mom a.k.a. Jayalalitha) or Talaiva (big boss a.k.a. Karunanidhi) says is enshrined as a rule no matter what. In addition to ignorance at the root of this trouble is ego. There is no match to their towering ego's. Thats the reason why media is not heckling DMK now. Because even the media men in Tamilnadu have this ego somewhere and those who don't know better to keep quiet in Tamil fiefdom rather than antagonize egoistic stalwarts there.

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  3. Anonymous,
    Some people want to attract publicity at any cost. You can't do anything with them. He is taking the people for a ride, and I just hope it is for the worst!!!!

    Anyway, I refrain from your views about Shahrukh. Bugger, I know what a big fan of Shahrukh you are :-) So, no point arguing with you on this!!!

    Dhoni is good, but don't jump the gun!!!!

    Vishnu,
    First of all, thanks for visiting my blog and posting a comment!!!
    No point in pelting anyone with stones. The realization has to come from within, not from outside!!! Some people will never learn, whatever you try. What you say about the egoism lingering is very very true!!!

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  5. Was waiting for you to blog on all these topics and here it is :)
    1. It is really a proud moment for indians with this victory. But the people should refrain from the extreme behaviour of mud slinging ( or stones !! ) when the Indian team loses and deifying them when there is a victory. They are just humans with a job like the rest of us ! Give them a break folks !

    2. He may be an atheist and is entitled to have his own opinion. But when you are an influential and powerful person and your words have the power to impact thousands of people, you cannot make statements that can offend and hurt their sentiments.

    We would not tolerate a loss by the Indian cricket team but who cares if someone insults our Ram !

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  6. Hmmm.. India's win? I also wrote about it.
    And right now watching India-Aus 1st ODI.

    Yes, SRK's act of cheering India was good but that T-shirt thing? And after the match, he distributed the DVDs of that film to the players as he himself said in an interview.
    It looked like his visit to the match was sponsored by Om Shanti Om.

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  7. Suchitra,
    Perfect, we do go overboard on many things. But I think that's because a nation of a billion is deprived of heroes. So, any achievement is taken as a big thing, and obviously glorified. Any defeat is naturally vilified. We need to learn to tone down on this :-)

    Politicians should be careful before making such statements. But, when you have the arrogance factor coming into picture, you just can't do anything.

    Cuckoo,
    Yep, I did read your blog. And you know what, I got up early in the morning to watch the Indian innings. It was a total disaster. Sachin was out before he had even scored, and the rain God had to intervene!!! So, went back to my sleep!!!

    That is what you call it as "Patriotism with self interests"!!! I definitely do not approve of what he did!!!!

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