On being Selfish – Mumbai Train blasts were bad. Very bad in fact if one takes into account the sheer number of causalities. However it never affected me directly; daily train commuting is not a necessity for me or my family. But 26/11 was different; it was much much closer to home if I may call it so. We regularly dined at Taj (Golden Dragon being the favorite) and Trident, mum was a regular at the Louis Vuitton & Fendi showroom at Taj. Brother’s business meetings. Wedding functions, it is December after all. What if it was Juhu Mariott? Or Juhu Beach?
Uncomfortable Ease – Wishing there was a bomb blast instead.
Ganda Hai Par Dhanda Hai Ye – News channels on one hand abusing politicians and on the other side, minting money via featuring “Humhe vote doh” political advertisements during commercial breaks.
Show must go on – Yash Chopra and Co. have increased the number of promo slots on news channels for their forthcoming film “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” releasing on 12th of December.
Audacity of Indian Politicians –
- Narendra Modi holding press conference right outside Taj Hotel while the hotel was still under siege.
- Ministers resigning out of “moral guilt”….ya rite, we believe you (not!).
- Kerala CM abusing slain commando’s father.
- Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and his thoughts on “Lipstick & Powder” wearing women.
- “We will not allow any Pakistani artist to perform in Mumbai and Maharashtra,” said Shiv Sena.
- And the blame game continues.
Responsible Journalism – Good God, where does one begin?
- Arnab Goswami’s aggressiveness on Times Now as if he was running a terror camp himself. Inviting movie stars for discussion on “Terror Laws” in India.
- Rajdeep Sardesai’s pathetic reasoning – “I wouldn’t buy the logic that television coverage compromised security and the rescue operations. Everybody wanted to know how the events were unfolding. It was extremely tense. And, the security forces were dealing with fidayeens. They (fidayeens) wouldn’t time their actions by watching television. That’s a ridiculous thing to even suggest.”
- And this is the same fucker who was yelling on top of his lungs claiming VT station was once again attacked without any confirmation. Then conveniently walked away with his tail between his legs stating, “While reporting on an event of this magnitude, some things go wrong sometimes. The news of the firing at CST was one such case. However, we made necessary amends and immediately apologized to our viewers when we realized that it was only a rumor.”
- NDTV holding panel/celebrity discussions right outside Taj Hotel. India TV and the likes discussing, “Effects of Terrorism on Bollywood”, “Alcoholic Terrorists”, “How pissed off Raveena Tandon is”, “Why was Ram Gopal Varma was holding Riteish Deshmukh’s hand?”…blah blah blah.
- And then there was Barkha Dutt. Who talks rubbish. Looks (fashion sense) equally rubbish. Rubbish rubbish and more rubbish. A seasoned journalist who just can’t get enough of “(How are you) feeling” questions. That shrill voice, awful body jhatkas, almost drowning the opposite person in her spit (remember the principal from film Main Hoon Na). A perfect text book example of ‘How not to do live broadcast’.
- Walking through the burnt remains of Taj Hotel as if it were a newly opened theme park.
- “My channel the strongest”, the never ending self praise.
New Additions in the list of ‘Banned words/phrases’ – Resilient, Spirit of Mumbai, Accountability & Cooperation.
Heartbreaking – The fate of 2 year old Moshe.
Already Forgotten – The victims of CST station attack.
Pakistan – War, the only solution?
Future – Fuck, I want World Peace.
Comments
13 comments | Add your comment »
Daniel
Dec 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm | #
On being selfish:
True, I would say that those who don’t travel by train regularly wouldn’t relate to the 7/111 blasts in the exact same way as those who do. And it’s vice versa for the Taj attack.
On the whole agressive journalism thing:
Thanks, this is the first list I’ve seen. I’m going to look these guys up.
Did you catch that journo who seemed to be interrogating that Japanese chef as he left the Taj? Seemed to terrorise the poor chef even more. Is he on your list?
HOBO(nickname)
Dec 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm | #
We have to wake-up ourselves to decide what we want and why we want.
Trailblazer
Dec 2nd, 2008 at 2:04 pm | #
Good specific pointers. So true. They were horrendous.
Sarah
Dec 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 pm | #
The world is in a sad place right now! I don’t even think we can call ourselves humans if this is going on. Such a shame. I still hope all this will change for the better though.
Wishing everyone close or far from the events to be safe and for Mumbai to recover quickly.
dishant
Dec 3rd, 2008 at 3:21 am | #
gud writting miss..thoughts of an average indian.to include in your news channels list,i suggest the awful “india tv” which had one its reporter hiding somewhere back of nsg and msgd every now and then to tell the location and strategy of the commandos to the whole world..like” abhi nsg dai or se grenade phekne wali hai ” and blah,blah…real shit these people are..we indians are screwed up with “filthy(in luks and thoghts) politicians, amateur and imaginative media, and top of that OUR OWN CHALTA HAI ATTITUDE” until we change,the politics or media wont change..they are not aliens,they are from amongst us…understand the bitter fact people……….
Indian Car Blog
Dec 3rd, 2008 at 6:28 am | #
Sakashi you have to give it the journalists, they sat there day and night to get the news to us.
nem
Dec 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 am | #
“mum was a regular at the Louis Vuitton & Fendi showroom at Taj”
Poor mom where will she shop now? Ahh it is so hard being rich! sighh..
Saakshi O. Juneja
Dec 4th, 2008 at 6:38 am | #
Nem : My mum will get over it. Though I wonder when individuals such as yourself will get over;
Rich vs. Poor
Hindu vs. Muslim
Black vs. White
etc etc etc
Seriously dude grow up.
utsa
Dec 4th, 2008 at 9:25 am | #
Sakshi:
I will have to go out on a limb with you on some of the things you said above.Overall I agree with most of your post above. And I know for some of us that are non Mumbai residents, we can’t even begin to comprehend the shock, sadness and terror created in the hearts and minds of not only the locals in mumabi but maybe everyone else in India.
and the news channels haven’t helped in this chaotic situation but one thing I will give NDTV credit of is to awaken(maybe not quite) the politicians and give the public the strength to finally make them realise, everyone needs to take a stand and be more than vocal about their thoughts and have them taken seriously.
And finally, it’s been good to see the Army, navy & the police being appreciated for their ongoing support, sacrifice and courage to the people of India.
xx
nbz
Dec 6th, 2008 at 12:01 pm | #
@ Indian Car Blog – Dude they weren’t sitting for you. They were there for the TRP’s.
Saakshi, you forgot Star Plus and AAj Tak and India TV and ofcourse the indomitable, all-knowing, omnipresent Deepak Chaurasia, reporting from the war zone ever ready with his half baked views.
cool4u
Dec 8th, 2008 at 7:40 am | #
Nice post. so many terror attacks this year. Is there a pattern in them. to see for yourself visit.
sudeep
Dec 9th, 2008 at 11:40 am | #
It was extremely insensitive to have said that the train blasts did not affect you…. thats the bloody way every 1 thinks in this country…. the insensitive, complacent ppl in India…. whoever you might be … but if u are a mumbaikar and the train blasts didn’t shake u up i am so sure that u must ve been pretty chillled with what recently happened… as evey 1 u are closely associated with are/ must be fine….. ha… Its not to surprising that ppl in places like rajasthan, delhi etc are celebrating the poll results as they cant relate to anything from wat happ in bombay…….
tk cr.. god bless..
Antofds
Dec 9th, 2008 at 6:42 pm | #
Nice analysis. Crisp yet incisive. Keep up the good work. I have added your blog to my list.