I read a couple of interesting pieces in news paper in last 1 week; Ram Gopal Verma's interview and a column by Santosh Desai "Terror narrative...".
RGV is a bold man for which I always admire him. He expressed his 'don't care' attitude once more, under severe sarcasm for accompanying ex-CM of Maharashtra to visit Taj. He doesn't feel the need to justify. His timing of visit may not be great, but what kind of offense he has made to anyone? Would he have made any difference by asking for better bullet proof jackets for security forces as Priety Zinta did in her protest? Does it really matter? Media grabs the time and sentiments well. They've mastered the art of insinuation. It's no longer about the content of a news, but its projection with proper effects. According to RGV, a photo of him visiting the terror-hit site could have been presented. But once media earmarks a story, next comes making it a news... slow motion video of RGV walking down the stairs, with his face encircled and a flickering arrow following it, and a voice-over adding commentary, it's a different impact altogether. Ramu attributed sleeplessness of people to the excitement of watching it live on TV and clearly not to fear. He is unapologetic about what he did. I salute him for his courage.
Desai revealed the mind behind the protests. It's a stark but real narrative of how we tend to speak our mind in crisis. Some wanted to defer paying taxes till the government ensures a secured life! The rich, for the very first time, realized they're not above a terror attack and money can't buy them life! The hot-n-sweet equations between the rich and the politicians came out. Unused to protests, people looked up to the US for words... 26/11, SMS, crafty posters with carefully maneuvered font selection. However shaken and stirred market India, represented by the likes of Sobha De, Prahlad Kakkar, looked, the real India, as reflected in ballots, wasn't much perturbed. The Taj-is-my-second-home class showed their confusion and helplessness. Filmstars suggested easy-to-cook solutions to terrorism, with none making any real sense.