Arnab Goswami is de-facto lead journalist now
I have been open about my views on Arnab Goswami. I hate his over the top approach which is driven by TRP’s rather than ideology. That he has taken yellow journalism to its darkest shade is something which I don’t like. But what I admire about him is he is not biased and caged by his political leanings. For him TRP’s come first, rest all is second. Hence he remains equally harsh on all political parties and leaders, unlike other well known journalists who are shamelessly biased towards Congress or BJP or Left.
I believed he was journalist in an English News Channel, which has limited audience in India and hence does not represent the popular view. For me he represented the view which urban elites liked to hear and hence provide TRP’s. Well let me admit I was right and I was wrong. I was right in saying he has urban elites as his audience, but what I failed to grasp was, these very people are the ones that define policies. His audience comprises of top notch of society. Judges, Doctors, Engineers, Teachers. His audience comprises of influential people, who lead the society.
When I say Arnab has a small audience, I mean in number as compared to 130 cr population. In comparison to other English News channels, his audience is obviously more.
Couple of incidents happened that made me realize the import of what Arnab and his audience represents. A judge recently appointed a lawyer to a case after he saw that lawyer in a Panel discussion on Newshour. How I came to know was, that same lawyer thanked Arnab for inviting him and getting him noticed. He did that on live TV during a subsequent discussion.
The next major thing was Narendra Modi interview. That an astute politician like Modi decided to give his first Indian interview as PM to Arnab speaks volumes of the strength of Arnab’s audience. The audience which is less in number but lists the Who’s who of Indian society. Arnab is right when he says he sets Nations News Agenda on Newshour. Everyone else just plays catch up.
For most elites of Mumbai/Delhi, news is what happens 9-11 PM on TimesNow. Arnab is the pied piper of urban India.
Nihalani Bad, Salman Good: Moral and Ideological Bankruptcy of Bollywood
Bollywood was united in berating Pahlaj Nihalani, maybe rightly so. The whole Bollywood cartel from dynasts to first gen, were ashamed and aghast with a guy like Nihalani heading CBFC. The same cartel likes Sanjay Dutt. Same cartel is silent on Salman Khan. Not just silent, the cartel is standing shoulder to shoulder with Salman at IIFA.
How can Nihalani be bad when Salman is not, I fail to understand. For me Nihalani is bad and Salman is much worse. Censor cuts just the movie reel, but people like Salman, with his huge fan following, ended up making Rape a Joke. It would not be far, when rape victim would be quizzed whether she was really raped or just went to gym. Such repercussions of insensitive and filth that the superstar spoke. Still he is good and Nihalani is bad.
I attribute this to moral and ideological bankruptcy of Bollywood. They have been and are all about their own dreams, regardless of what they say. When Udta Punjab controversy was fanned by thugs after free publicity, they played victim card. Whole Bollywood was up in arms. But now nothing. In fact there is a feeling that Salman is unfairly being targeted. Such is the apathy.
With such moral and ideologically bankrupt people running Bollywood, I would rather unleash 1000 Nihalani’s on them. Make them suffer. Maybe I am over reacting but I hate when these people come out and preach how the society should work and how intolerant we are. Maybe these guys are epitome of tolerance. They tolerated even Salman.
The least they could have done is to reject sharing stage with Salman at IIFA. Would have given a strong message. Please remember the name of people who are silent now, or are just mildly protesting. Next time when they come crying, kick them out. When you call Nihalani, a Taliban, have the guts to call Salman similar names. Have the guys to call Sanjay Dutt terrorist. But no, you just are after money and free publicity. You have the guts to preach us and call yourself torch bearers of creative freedom.
I remember your silence today. I will call you out when you find your vocal chords later, when your money is at stake.
What Kejriwal is doing wrong and Modi is doing right
Yesterday I was reading writeups by two of my friends on ‘Describe yourself’ and suddenly it came to me. The difference between Modi and Kejriwal. What Modi is doing right and Kejriwal is doing wrong.
The difference is showing level of maturity. I have long stopped believing that politicians do/say things because of ideologies. I believe that every politician do/say things what he/she think will look better to the electorate. This is what Modi, Kejriwal or for that matter any politician does. And I don’t have any issues with that.
Modi is PM now and has control of Central Govt. What he says today is different from what he used to say in 2014 election rallies. Earlier he was not PM but a desperate contender. He did what he had to do to win. Same with Kejriwal. Even now whenever there are state elections Modi switches to election mode. The issue with Kejriwal is apart from Delhi he does not have anything. He is desperate to win Punjab. So he is in election mode all the time.
His approach towards election is to point out the failures of other contenders, which is understandable. But where he is lacking is how he takles Delhi. There is no doubt that Central Govt is not letting him function but then why should they? They have Constitutional powers and are using them. Initially when Kejriwal berated Modi for not letting Delhi work, we had some sympathy. But same thing repeated again and again started sounding boring. He has started sounding less mature and repetetive.
He has to solve the issues himself. Either go to court or get some political accumen. Don’t come crying to public every other day. If court can’t also help you then function within the realms of reality or try something else. Modi asked for vote in 2014 berating Gandhi, Vadra, Lalu, Mulayam and others. He did the same in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand. When he did that in Bihar too, people had had enough. He course corrected in Assam and results were there for everyone to see.
I feel the cries have gone one for long now. You saw the support dwindling in MCD by-elections. It’s time now to spread positive publicity by your good actions. Take the public welfare to next level and let people compare facilties in Delhi with that in their own state. If you continue to choose crying path, you have the right, but you would be going in wrong direction. The support would dwindle. If you still wan’t to point out the BJP negatives, let your surrogates do it. Don’t do the dirty deed yourself. It takes away from your personal positives.
I would like you to learn from Modi in this regard. After the bad PR of his high profile foreign visits, Madisson Square or drum beats, he has made his travels low key affairs. He has let state units fight state elections after Bihar fiasco. He didn’t even put Vadra or Pawar behind bars as he needs Rajya Sabha support. You also have to find other ways to function even if Central Govt is not letting you to function. Preempt the repurcussions rather than come crying to public. We have only so much tissues to offer.
Britain’s moment of Trump(h)
Britain has voted for exiting the European Union putting to rest months of uncertainty and leading the global economy towards unchartered territory.
A lot was said as to how bad Brexit would be for UK economy and UK political standing. People campaigning for Leave were termed racists, xenophobic and what not. Still people decided to leave. Just as we did not ask when Trump won Republican Primary, we are still not asking the right questions. I see a lot of analysts and pundits calling it a dark day and a bug loss for humanity. Seriously? People of a nation determining their future, if that is a black day, then something wrong with the analysis.
Those who wanted to Remain and a huge number of them, have to introspect why they lost. No point blaming the other side. Why was it that people chose to leave? To understand that well off ones have to come out of their palaces. This includes media pundits. Stop demonizing the poor’s as racists. These people want jobs, security. Why call them xenophobic?
How I read this outcome is, majority of population have been left behind. Majority of population has not benefitted from European Union. A lot of them have benefitted and it is evident from 52-48 split. But the majority has been left behind and ignored. When they raise voices, they were called bad names. Hence they took matter to the ballot.
Same happened in case of Trump. He invigorated the silent majority. People who have been left far behind. People who were at the fag end of economic spectrum. People who have gained nothing for decades. I felt bad when Trump voters were demonized as racists in the similar way. Pundits could have called Trump a racist, but calling the voters names was outright wrong.
Now is the time for course correction. Its up to the 48% people now. Do they want to take 52% along towards prosperity or not? Further alienation and subjugation might lead to much worse consequences. I am not much too happy with Brexit myself. But will be happy if this is taken as a sign to stop taking the bourgeois for granted.
Degree Row: Kejriwal and Modi’s cat and mouse game
Time to set the facts straight on the Modi degree row. Kejriwal raked up the issue as BJP forced his minister Tomar to resign on a similar issue earlier. Fuss was made by BJP on Sonia Gandhi degree issue too. Tables turned with Smriti and Modi degree fiasco. I have seen too much rubbish being written on social media and heard a lot of trash on News channels related to this. BJP and AAP have been at each other throats for few months.
My take on this is, Kejriwal is wrong and BJP is wronger. Let me tell you why. When Jaitley and Shah held out some piece of paper claiming it to be Modi’s degree, it seemed Modi was absolved and Kejriwal was shamed. Alas! This was not to be. What even conventional media failed to highlight is the fact that this degree has not been provided till now in reply to official RTI query. And nobody is pointing out this simple fact.
I have made it very clear in my earlier posts that Modi having degree or not, do not matter to me, he seems to be doing good. Same was my stand with Tomar, Sonia, Smriti. But since BJP, Congress and AAP has decided to slug it out, I feel the facts must come out.
I am not saying Modi don’t have a degree. He might very well have. The point is, why has it not been provided to the RTI query. I’ll tell you why. Coz it will make it official. The DU registrar has to certify it and in case of any wrongdoing, he will be liable for prosecution. Hence I say BJP is obfuscating things. When they flashed degree in press conference, it is not official and hence not liable for any prosecution.
That flashy news conference was just a political stunt, nothing else. BJP shouldn’t have started it with Tomar. Now that they have, they have to bear it when the sides are turned.
Why DU is hesitant on replying to RTI query begs a question. I could have blamed Kejriwal for this petty politics, but BJP and Congress have been pettier when it came to Tomar, Smriti and Sonia. So I am left to just point out the facts.
Curious case of a Victim Mindset
I got an email from my Boss today. There was a story about a guy who started fixing the problem, before even trying to understand if there was a problem at all. I could totally relate to the story as I myself have been the culprit a number of times.
That got me thinking why it is so. Why do people think there is a problem, when faced with simple situations in life? Why don’t they believe that it is a general situation which might not even require a fix? Why they tend to put in a fix altogether unrelated to the problem at hand.
There are a multiple of reasons I could think of. First and foremost is the victim mindset of the society we live in. We constantly feel people are conspiring against us. With such a mindset, comes paranoia. When a red paint stain, is feared to be blood. When a butcher with a knife is misunderstood a killer. So on and so forth. We should take a step back and gain confidence in ourselves. Make ourselves believe that we are not so unique a personality that everyone will conspire against us.
Next is the rush that we are in. The fast moving modern life has made our mind numb. We don’t stop to think, to dig deep into a situation. In IT world, Google has become our co-conspirator. Most of the times, we are in a rush to finish the job at end, catch a cab and go home and start the cycle all over again the next day. We end up Googling an Error Log snippet, copy the first link we get and email to the team. Most of us don’t even try and read through it completely. The modern life rush and the rat race has rid us of our most important treasure, thinking.
With the victim mindset and maddening rush, we feel we are always being picked upon and end up fixing the wrong problem, if at all. What is important here is to catch a breath. Take a break. Relax. Give yourself space to think. Time management and job prioritization is what will help you the most to handle our life situations in a better way. Decide on what you want to achieve; How much work-life balance you need to have and make effort accordingly.
In reply to Karan Johar
Karan Johar, I read your heart wrenching post as how bad you are trolled on twitter and the rough life you have to lead due to this. I am saddened by the harshness that people meet out to you. I mean you are son to a rich father, yourself super rich, director, actor, judge of TV shows. But still these very bad people on twitter treat you with such bad words. I am appalled.
I can’t bear in much longer. I am breaking down in tears, listening to your pain. You suffered enough when the ‘freedom of speech’ was obstructed when Udta Punjab got cuts. So much so that you went on your knees, at least that’s what your post said. You didn’t feel the same when MSG was banned, is a different matter altogether. What is your fault if you and your Bollywood circle wished MSG to be banned? It was not a good film after all.
And now twitter. My God! How can people do this to you. Such suffering. Social media where a lots of profiles are fake. How can such fake people say bad things about YOU. Leave aside the fact that most of the celebrities are trolled similarly; mostly rich and successful. Modi is trolled, Shahrukh is trolled. Such has social media evolved. But how can they do this to you?
I share your pain Sir. Maybe the coolness of your Air Conditioner. Maybe the comfort of your SUV. Maybe the huge walls of your house are not able to comfort you. I suggest, lets you and me lynch these bast***s who say such bad things about you. Don’t they know how rich and successful you are?
And thanks to you Sir. Your pain and therapist interventions swayed my mind off the fake problems like farmer suicide, inflation, shortage of water, heat, dust, poverty, hunger, disease, dowry, rapes, molestation, female infanticide. My total concentration is on you First World Problem now. How a rich guy with multiple houses, who spend a lot of time abroad, is a Bollywood’s go to personality. How can you be trolled? How much more you have to suffer. Already 100% clean water supply is too much for you to bear. You have to bear, not facing the heat and dust. You have to bear not sleeping hungry at night. Hell you have to bear not travelling in local train like animals. How much pain. I again break down writing this. Hope you see my tears Sir.
And thanks to great NDTV, which listed your blog post on the front page of their News website. Without their endeavor, I might not have come to know of your pain. Thanks Great NDTV. Some might accuse you of some scratch the back thing. But NDTV, they would be so wrong. Please you don’t feel hurt like Karan by comments of such pathetic losers. You are great NDTV. Please do share such pain and first world problems of other millionaires. What if we live in India, we have every right to listen to First World Problems.
And Karan Sir, again, don’t feel bad. I am here to listen to you. I am here to console you. I feel your pain Sir. Please let your therapist know that there are people like me who adore you. And hell, you even have to bear visiting a therapist. When 90% don’t even have to bear visiting a doctor, ever. People would say that it is coz they are poor. But don’t let them fool you. These bad people make excuses to not bear the pain of visiting a doctor.
So much pain I feel from you. I might go numb of shock.
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें
पागलपन सी करती बातें,
आँखें तेरी जैसे झिलमिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।
पल दो पल की थी मुलाकातें,
उतने में ले गयी मेरा दिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।
गुस्सा जो तू हो जाती है,
होता मन मेरा तिलमिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।
दूरी तुझसे बहुत है चुभती,
मरता हूँ मैं जैसे तिलतिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।
होती तुझसे २-४ जो बातें,
हँस देता मैं एकदम खिलखिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।
तू ही सुबह है तू ही शाम,
जीवन तुझसे गया है सिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।
रात दिन ख्याल तेरा बस,
आरम्भ है तू, तू ही मंजिल,
एक सौ सोलह चाँद की रातें,
एक ये तेरे काँधे का तिल।।
Udta Punjab: No sympathy for either side
What do I think of the whole Udta Punjab Censor controversy? The Freedom of expression debate. I saw bunch of people from Bollywood holding press conference, trying to garner public support against a dictator Censor Board Chief. Where have I seen such an impassioned support from Bollywood, I thought? Oh! Yes, the whole Bollywood was behind then terrorism accused and later jailed for 5 years, Sanjay Dutt. I saw the same collective support with the “invisible driver” Salman Khan. Ah! Yes, the support was missing in the case of a certain Ms. Kangana Ranaut.
So if you ask me what do I think of the “harassment” of Bollywood by Censor Board. I say, I don’t care. When this closed group of Bollywood millionaires decided to side with Dutt and Khan, they lost any and all credibility. And now they cry wolf. I couldn’t care less. In fact I scorn with utmost disgust seeing them play victim.
Coming to Censor Board chief, the lesser said the better. Govt should get rid of him soon, as his open sycophancy is bringing Modi into disrepute. But censor board has been such a b***h always. I remember Congress appointed Censor Board blocked MSG, which was later cleared by the tribunal, while the same board cleared PK. Later the board resigned en-masse as they saw tribunal decision to clear MSG to be political but they themselves were holier than thou.
In this case also, it’s all being done for cheap publicity from both sides. Censor Board is as usual playing a pain in the back. The film people are also doing the same for free publicity. There was no buzz around this movie and it would have perished but for this hype. When makers of MSG (scorned by Bollywood family) went through the process to the tribunal and got their film cleared, what was the issue here? Also why didn’t I see the same solidarity of Bollywood cartel with the makers of MSG? Easy, MSG people were outsiders whom the elites didn’t like. So please Bollywood cartel, don’t play this victim card now.
And when these millionaires cry victim just coz they have to go through the process to earn their next millions, I just cringe. We have better issues to sympathize with, farmer suicide for one. Bunch of Sanjay Dutt/Salman Khan supporters and hypocrites are not one of them.
Bihar Topper Scam: Nitish Kumar, who are you trying to fool?
It took the TV interview by Bihar Board toppers for Nitish Govt to realize the scam. As if they didn’t knew till now. For those who don’t know, toppers in Bihar board exams were interviewed by news channels. They were asked regular questions about their study and it turned out they knew nothing. So what Nitish Sir has done? Nothing but hogwash. A dozen of toppers were made to sit for a re-exam. What did this solve? Nothing!
What about those who came 2nd/3rd and so on? What about them? The re-exam of selected dozen is nothing but fooling the public. To show how good you are to aid your PM ambitions. What did you do when videos emerged of parents scaling school walls to pass of answers to their wards? All this while you were asleep when this blatant scam was happening. And then when you acted, what an act!
But you know people are not fools. You may thing they are. But they are not. This selective action is quite funny if nothing else. Let me explain why. The Top 10 loses the merit and next 10 gets their place. What about the new Top 10 now?
I won’t even elaborate on the obvious illusion. People are watching. They will use the finger next election.
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