I, Me and Media

Media - something which always fascinates me. It serves the very instinctive human need- satisfying one’s curiosity. I have a lot of respect for curiosity, after all that’s what has brought us this far. Curious souls have given us the world that it is today- a world with electricity, aero planes, mobile phones, television, internet and my personal favourite, Google!


All curiosity does not serve such constructive purposes, though. And this type of curiosity is what is very common among people and which is supporting a billion dollar industry- Media. This industry has come a long way. Newspapers started with publishing news about politics and crime, and this was enough for people to discuss over their daily dose of caffeine. Then came movies, and along with it the movie stars with their glamorous lifestyles and everyone wanted to know what they were up to. Thus started magazines. People then got bored of just reading and wanted some visuals to entertain them. Advancement in technology has only helped add fuel to this fire of curiosity.This has created two kinds of monsters. Media hungry and Media obsessed. Before you nod your consent to that, let me add, that you are part of it too, just like I am, of the second category.

Somehow only the media hungry guys have earned a bad name. What about us? Everyone readily criticizes a Rakhi Sawant and her antics to grab attention, but don’t realize she exists because of us. We are curious to know what she did or said, so that we can haughtily declare our verdict about her. And guess who is having the last laugh; she is, on the way to her bank! “All the world's a stage” said Shakespeare, little did he know that’s literally what we were planning on making it. Now that connectivity is no more an issue, we can create drama wherever and whenever we want and its there for the world to watch. Tired of going to the zoo, we have decided to bring the zoo right inside our house, in the form of shows like Big Boss, where we get to see new creatures, caged away in a posh house, from the comfort of our cozy couch. These creatures behave no less than a cage of monkeys fighting and screeching away, over a bunch of bananas. Still better, they plot while a ring master sits outside, watching with an all- knowing smile, waiting to announce the twist (which I’m sorry to say is always predictable) Now with all this excitement who will go to the zoo?? No wonder the poor animals are becoming extinct, what with new creatures taking their place (is PETA listening??)

And then we have the news channel. A group of khadi clad individuals, tightly holding on to their mike (some times I doubt it’s even on) appear on your screen. They look grave and the atmosphere seems tense. Some are sifting through sheets in front of them and others are busy clicking away on their mouse, frowning. What could it be? You wonder with bated breath. The possibilities are limitless. Pakistan hit India?? Osama caught?? Petrol prices down by half?? As the last thought starts to bring a wistful smile on your face, a deep voice shakes you out of your fantasy land. Some actress has walked the red carpet badly dressed and marred the image of India!( God help my country!!) And this committee has got together, to discuss how often this has happened and how this can be avoided in the future. Bravo!

So you are not into television. Now, before you scoff at the ones who do watch all this and decide you don’t belong to this category, think again. Anyone who uses Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and the zillion other networks, is no less obsessed. We are curious to know what people we know are doing and what they are saying to each other. We put up unnecessary details for the world to see and then curse the creepy stalker with beady eyes, who seems to know our every move (Oh gosh, I wonder how!) Make no mistake, I use them too and greatly appreciate their ability to help us stay connected, but it makes me think, wasn’t media meant to serve a higher and better purpose than just this?? Media has become a circus and we are the audience. Anything and everything has been allowed to make the headlines. If an eyewash marriage is in trouble, it seems important that half a day of television time is earmarked to dissect the situation and find out the reasons and the possible actions. If an actress is suffering from a headache, it has to make its way on to the front page of the newspaper.

This reminds me of a movie- The Truman Show. Who knows, something like that can become a reality. We may unknowingly be a part of a reality show, just like Jim Carrey in the movie. And the scary part is, we may be so engrossed in our virtual world that we may not even be able to tell the difference! Jaago Re!