There you go, yet another proof that we are a majorly hypocritical urban society. The media has been going emotionally ballistic over the tragedy of an NRI techie who suffered a car accident in the US, got struck with paralysis, and is now lying lost and forlorn in a Dilli hospital. And egged on by a tearful newspaper, help (financial and otherwise) is pouring in for the dude from across India’s urban cities.
Good for him, and hope he recovers soon. However what baffles the mind is this: why are we so concerned about this particular chap’s well-being (he did not exactly get his injuries fighting across the Indo-Pak LOC), when we give a rat’s arse for millions of other Indians who face similar predicaments? Like the maimed soldier? Or the poor sods who lose lives and limbs at the hands of drunk city drivers? Or the servants and construction workers who slip out of high rise apartments? Or the beggars on the streets whose bodies lie unclaimed on the road dividers? Or brides who get beaten inside their homes for lack of dowry scooters and refrigerators? Or the farmer in Vidharba who is about to throttle his own fragile neck? I could go on.
The answer lies in the built-in hypocrisy in our middle class genes. We care only about People Like Us… unless he/she is ‘apna aadmi’, we give dog shit. This is the same reason the electronic media shed collective croc tears for the injustice meted out to Jessica Lal, but snootily looked the other way when one Priyanka Bhootmange (who the fuck is she, did you ask?) suffered the worst imaginable torture. It’s a disease that afflicts all of us big city livers, and I cannot for the life of me understand where the virus came from.
Let me wrap up by saying that I have nothing against the techie being offered assistance. But I have a serious problem that we would have simply moved on if his resume had said, dhobi, bikhari, kisan or jawaan.
7 comments:
You are right at it again. May be that techie got too much of attention but then its media who decides who becomes a hero. I still remember the Prince who fell in the bore well a poor boy and came out a rich man!!
Hi Anil,
As usual - nice columns - but u already know that.
Long time... dont know if you remember me. Rosemary - we met in Bangalore. I'm in Delhi now and looking for a job - all because I decided to follow my heart....
So hang in there - things will work out on the job front.
Btw, wont Outlook have you? They publish alot of such stuff - they always have Arundhati Roy with her acidic essays... I'm sure they'd like more of that kind.
well, I Think its because the news channels want to do a human interest story but within limits. I think their reasoning is that if they focus on more important issues like farmers suicides they would be taking on too big a story which dont want to shoulder.
Also there is a tendency to feel sorry for people who are similar to us, not to say we dont care completely
I mean its more of a difference between sympathy (what we would feel for the farmers) and empathy (for somebody more like us)
Hi.....
Though a few lucky ones get the media attention atleast their case is brought to light.
Its also heartening to see people pouring out their heart and purses for a stranger. These days you hardly see any act of kindness from people around you.
About millions of people not getting justice I think problem lies in the system rather than media....
Joyce
hi sir...hope u remember me?? am back in singapore now and have been reading all India news with great interest. it really hurts to see the sheer hypocrisy of our country people and after seeing the lives of people here in singapore,have realised the reason singapore is doing so well and india is not. simple-the reason being ego. indians have a huge baggage of ego they carry around with them everywhere. wud love to talk more abt this sometime and will definitely send u a detailed piece on this sometime with my impressions abt both places.by the way, this is not my first trip to singapore and am actually a permanent resident of this place. the last time i came to india,i did hope things wud have changed.but sadly nothing has changed...and so sad though it may seem..am relieved to be out of there now. wud send u some detailed thots one of these days..bye and good luck in ur job hunting endeavours..!!
Am quite amazed at the elan with which one turns away one's face from sheer, abject suffering of some roadside beggar girl; and in the next instant coos sympathetically at the woes of a 'acchhe ghar ki bacchi'
It's like we barcode humans into 'invisible' or 'inspiring' categories - such asinine hypocrites we all seem to be at times....
Sir,
I don't know if you agree with me or not.But why is that these papers and tabloids attack the bachchansa and now Ash as she is part of their family .It's true ..bad times of india , mumbaierror , bad-day ---these people attack them blatantly.I couldn't figure out the reason for panga but it is sad and uncalled for.
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