Have you gone through any Indian newspaper
recently? Recently, after a long time, I had the leisure of sitting down with a
hot cup of coffee, thinking that I will pore over the day’s newspaper,
leaving no piece unread like I usually do on a working day, when I am rushed. I
should have felt well-read and up to date after the exercise, right? Wrong! The
reading experience left me disturbed and gloomy right in the beginning of the
day. The paper was full of depressing news items: rapes of minor girls and
women by people who knew them, including friends, fathers and current/previous
boyfriends; murders committed by minors; kidnappings carried out by teenagers
to fund their affinity for gadgets, and much more. Even the most enthusiastic news
reader would be scandalised when such items carried on to the national, international
and sports sections: scams by politicians, match fixing charges and, more
recently, Sachin Tendulkar’s imminent retirement.
I don’t know about you, but I
sure do not like to know that this is the kind of world I live in. When I was
in school (when reading the newspaper was a supervised action, especially on
Sundays and holidays) I remember reading inspiring stories of achievement,
whether corporate or personal; a column called ‘The Speaking Tree’ which talked
about spirituality; OPEDs that gave insights into great minds. But above all, I
remember feeling motivated and knowledgeable after going through the day’s
newspaper. I don’t think that I am going to miss anything if I read a newspaper
only once a month in today’s day. It will be the same old crime-reporting kind
of pieces that I went through in the newspaper.
What is apparent more than
anything else is that the focus is more on the gory, gossip-oriented negative
happenings all around the city. The Delhi
rape case and the more recent Mahalaxmi mill case has galvanised reporters all
over to file stories on similar topics. As a result, I went through an entire
page of atrocities suffered by women by fathers, husbands, boyfriends and
friends. Television programmes and news channels are no better. There are
reality shows that get the message across too literally for my comfort. And
don’t even get me started on news channels that are running purely because of
their loud anchors, who are always yelling into the camera and questioning a
group of people in the hopes of unearthing another scam.
These cases and discussions, no
doubt, raise awareness levels and sometimes even go a long way in pressurising the
authorities to punish the ones responsible. Women have also pre-empted attempts
in some cases by being aware of their surroundings and fighting back. However, such
coverage also has another side. It got me wondering: if I had a 6-year-old
daughter, would I be comfortable letting her go through the newspaper
unsupervised, like my mother did? Would I restrict her TV hours, at best sitting
with her to watch programmes? Wouldn’t I wonder whether such information is
adding to her knowledge in any way? And most importantly, should I encourage
her to look at all males in the manner that is being relayed across all media mediums
today? By placing any restrictions based on my personal opinions, would I be
marring her perception before she developed it on her own? Or would I be empowering
her to be more aware and defensive about her surroundings?
The most I am worried about, is
that such reports and readings will bring across men as a whole to a demeaning
sleazy level. Because all that one reads about these days is corrupt politicians,
random criminals or rapists. The regular males in our lives – the ones that
open doors, love their children, are caring husbands and doting sons – never get
written about anymore. They are all restricted to romantic novels and blogs
that have a far lesser reach compared to newspapers. I guess they are not as
newsworthy and have become quite boring.
I would rather that my children read
the Calvin and Hobbes series at one go. I want them to grow up with movies like
‘Chalti ka naam gaadi’ or ‘Wake up Sid’ or ‘Chak De India’ or ‘One Fine Day’,
in which men are shown as wholesome, loving and caring beings. I would have them
remember that there are men who respect women, have supported their wives
throughout their marriage, helped with the children, pitched in at home, and
above all, deeply cared for their better/equal halves. The case studies being conducted
on the lives of successful women in the Indian corporate sector deserve no
small mention of the males who have supported and contributed to their growth. I
am reminded at this point, of the many doting husbands I have seen waiting outside
crowded (and crazy!) women’s trial rooms and giving their honest opinions (to
their detriment or otherwise, I do not know ;)). I remember that my father was
always a protector rather than a critic whenever we were in trouble. And I know
that my husband supports me in everything I believe in, no matter how stupid it
may seem. These are the men I would like my daughter to know and my son to
emulate.
As usual, I think I went a little
off track from where I had started. But this is my chain of thought. I doubt that
we can block out these mediums completely. But can we at least focus on the
positives and dwell on the goodness in everyone? If you want to go through a
very well-written piece I recently read in the New York Times, you can read it
here. These are the kinds of pieces that should be peppering our newspapers and
reflecting on our television channels at least to some extent, if not
completely. What do you think?
