Some corrections first. It is the Guillian - Barre Syndrome, the spelling for which I had been unable to get. Thank you FmXt for it. And the desire of one to write about the first meetings with several of my colleagues and directors is indeed a mammoth task. It cannot possibly be done in a single post. But the point is noted and an attempt shall be made in time to come. The comment from another that since this request had not been met indicated that I was not reading all the responses is therefore proved wrong. I do go through the entire lot. There is of course a most legitimate complaint that for long days now there has been no response to a response from me, and for this I plead guilty. I must firstly find time to do so, but I need some back up as well. If the internet line is running slow it takes an eternity for the submission to fructify and return me to the next response. The slowness of this process takes the immediacy of the matter away from me and is a hindrance. However, this cannot be treated as an excuse. I shall overcome it soon enough and bring on the ‘yellow’ sooner than later.

I came across an interesting piece in the TOI written by Mr Desai and thought it could be of interest to some of our readers. It is topical and pertinent I thought -

Pseudo - reality ! Indeed ! I found this to be so absolutely relevant in our times of maximum communication. The time span for drawing attention on an issue has been reduced to a couple of days, perhaps a couple more, and that is it. Lalit Modi and IPL had us at the edge of our seats for three days and is nowhere to be seen now. And quite frankly no one wants to either. Today its whether Kasab will be hung for his attack on Mumbai on 26/11. Soon this shall wear thin and some other headline shall take prominence. The essence of such observation is not how quick issues become irrelevant. The essence is that each issue is evaluated by such deed, not by its merit of relevance, but sadly by the merit of its commerce. Stretch the IPL and Mr Modi for 5 days and you can be assured that you shall lose eyeballs. Time to go somewhere else. The decisions on content and issues therefore is dependent on commerce and its eventual business for revenue. It is not the news, but the selling of the news that matters. And the party that is least affected by it is the one that perpetrates it. That is the irony of our media indulged life.

Ever since the judgement has been pronounced on Kasab on the terror attack, there are desperate attempts to get public reaction on the issue. Get someone else to say what in fact you want to say, is the guideline for them. And if you were to get a celebrity to say it, it would be most desirable. At times though it does not always stop there. If somehow a contra debate is initiated it would further the cause. Not of the issue, but for the commerce of the issue. And we all know who the commerce of such issues brings benefit to.

So let us consider the present scenario. The only terrorist caught live in the Mumbai attack of 26/11, Kasab, has gone through an entire legal procedure and has been prosecuted and found guilty. The sections of law which have been applied for his guilt stipulate hang to death. Thanks to modern information technology the entire world witnessed live the carnage that was carried out. The general sensitivity of the matter naturally points to great jubilation of this conviction and the sentiments run high for his early death. Yet, there are some in the fourth estate who wish to milk the event. I have been receiving sms from them on my reaction to it, but also very subtly and pointedly, camouflaging another related issue of capital punishment. I have not responded to any. Heavens knows where my quote on the matter would end up. In the world of death sentences, there have been several arguments and discussions on the topic of capital punishment. The most pertinent arguments that have emerged are - the one that got killed, was unaware of his end, and that it was sudden and quick. The one that has done the killing, has to wait for his judgement and then a time to be decided when he will be hung. The panel against capital punishment arguing that the end of the victim was quick and sudden and unknown ; the end of the convicted is known, but he has to wait for it and this they say is more cruel than the act of cruelty meted out to the one that was murdered. Media would love a situation like this to emerge, so they could revel in its ‘Face the Nation’ and ‘News of the Hour’ debates. Why, even as I write, I have another sms from a prominent anchor journalist, who attempts to reveal a righteous stand by stating that he has ” … been bothered a bit by the manner in which Kasab’s case has been treated by the media, almost baying for his blood. As if nothing short of death sentence wouldn’t be justice…” He further states that “… despite the horrific nature of his crime, still feel uneasy with this aggression adopted by us…”.

Whereas one would tend to acknowledge the journalists sense of honesty in what he/she feels, what makes me wonder is why he/she would want to share such feeling with me. You are the medium Mr/Mrs/Ms Journalist. If you have such strong opinion on the matter, why not have the courage to admit it on your medium and more, correct it. I have not responded back on this sms, not because I did not have anything to say, but because I did not want to fall prey to the possibility of my remark becoming the voice of debate, question and who knows, insinuation. Media is past master in turning words around.

So, what does one make of this. Is this or was this an attempt to get me involved, so the matter attains celebrity endorsement. Or was this a genuine attempt at sharing thoughts. I would like to believe it was the latter, but having been mercilessly bruised by the medium, I am forced, albeit with some reluctance, into believing that it could be the other.

When corruption leaks into a system, it has the tendency to corrupt entirely. And when it corrupts entirely, it has the capacity to give it a moral look of being the standard that is right and correct. Our misery is that we have become accustomed to corruption ; it has become our accepted norm. When one does right, he will have to bear the insolence of being the lone voice. In a system where majority rules, this lone voice will get demolished and squashed by the weight of the other.

Yet you know and I know, that the universe is filled with examples of that exemplary lone voice that moved mountains, beliefs, conquerors and usurpers. I would rather be that single lone individual, than one that followed the ‘evil’ Pied Piper like, to its ultimate end.

One can take a stand, or be perceived to be taking a stand. I wonder which is the better of the two.

My love to you, irrespective of whether you perceive it or not ..

Amitabh Bachchan