A revelation !! This inspired and literate world of the extended family, is truly a revelation !

Those that wrote of the writing skills of the initiator of this blog. Those that lauded the thought, language and skills of that intense spectacled close up on the Face Page, have no idea how irrelevant his uttering, sounds in the midst of the mountain of knowledge present within our own group.

What a joy and pleasure to read through the thought processes of the many that contribute generously on this innocuous looking page. How remarkable their understanding of the medium under discussion and how valid each argument they put forth for the benefit of all.

My sincerest greetings to them. My admiration and unstinted praise to them and my grateful thanks. It has been an absolute joy and a moment of great pride for me.

I must confess that your arguments, your points of inference and your ultimate analysis, makes happy copy for me. Somewhere in my Libran indecisive mind, you have succeeded in instilling in me a certain confirmed view point. An aspect most Librans will understand better. It takes us an eternity to make up our minds. The balance of thought and suggestions sway to and fro wanting to weigh each pro and con and still be searching for more. For many that live in close proximity of such individuals, life becomes a grave exasperation. And I often lament the fact. But the stars favor differently for each individual and mine have thrust this facet of personality on me in barrel fulls.

The exercise - if it can be called that - had been deliberate. It came about because a raging debate had been occupying me and some others on the topic under discussion. For days the views and counter views continued. When we reached the end of the wall and had no further equipment to scale it, a suggestion from another inspired me to put it up to the EF. They that suggested it, referred to it and said, ‘when you have the largest and most popular and representative public forum in the shape of your blog, why not ask your extensions what they think of it and you shall get a suitable answer’.

And that is what I did. So you see. I am am not the only one that admires our little world. There are many others, that commendably think of your worth and value. And I scream with the excitement of a parent witnessing the achievement of their progeny on a say, a sports field. Yeaaaahhhhhhh !! My EF won !!!!!!!!!

There has been a steady inflow of some of the few producers and directors left, that still wish to work with me, into Singapore. They are unable to comprehend that I am here for this rather extended period of time. Many have been asking questions. Many have been somewhat cynical. Others just plain funny. R Balki of ‘Cheeni Kum’ and now ‘Paa’ was convinced that my stay was a pretense. The actuality he stated was that Ram Gopal Varma had quietly sneaked in to the city and had completed making an entire film about Amitabh Bachchan in the environs of a hospital !!! Troubled by this lark, RGV has actually rolled into Singapore this morning to check who this namesake is that employs Bachchan without his tacit approval !!! Ha ! Ha !! But jokes apart, RGV is indeed in town not on some ‘mission impossible’, but here to discuss promotions and release formalities for our film ‘RANN - The New(s) Battle’.

The announcement of the film and its contents were severely attacked by the media on its first appearance. RGV has not been the most loved by the fourth estate and neither has his leading man, a certain Mr B. It was obviously inferred then, that this is a cinematic attempt, or a cinematic velvet gloved attempt, at getting at the media. At the very first press conference held in Delhi by Religare Film Fund, the producers of the film, many journalists had questioned us what the film was about and that they were certain that it was our attempt to hit back at the illustrious and most pious body ever in existence, called, the MEDI-YAA !! One elder columnist actually stood up quite animatedly in the middle of the conference, convinced of the content of the film and swore, he would never see the film when it released ! I had to use some of the softest words at my command to calm him down sufficiently at least, to get him to abandon his horizontal posture and allow his posterior to occupy its designated area at the meet - his chair.

I fear perceived concept. It emanates from information that is self constructed. And when it emanates from the minds of those that carry the onus of influencing the minds of others, it can be dangerous. Even if the perpetrator of this, so called crime, shall have the benefit of hiding behind all the right alibi’s in its protection, the power and the strength of the perceived, has an ugly habit of becoming fact and thereby a truth written glaringly in indelible ink.

The superiority and strength of the media comes from a very simple and basic fact. They shall always be asking the questions. We shall always be answering them. The one that is made to answer shall always be on the defensive. The one that questions, on the offensive. In a free world it becomes a most valid and persuasive act to inform with some uniformity, what the people desire to know. It cannot be hidden or camouflaged or denied as it would in a doctored dictatorial environ. This most common constitutional right of every individual must be respected, and it is. However, there is an issue that worries me. Public figures who are representatives of the people and those that position themselves in the governance of a nation, must needs be asked how well or not they represent us. That is rational. Celebrities in various walks are questioned because their deeds or misdeeds influence the common man. That too is rational. But who is there to question those that question others ? And if they are beyond questioning, then the understanding of the state is misplaced and irrational.

There is however a more sensitive aspect as well, that pervades the sanctity of this rational and irrational debate. The business of running the business of information. No business in the world runs without commerce. I doubt that any commerce that does not benefit the business will ever be entertained in any set up. How clean and truthfully we play our business will be the measure of our character, or the character of those that run it. If the conscience is clear in our operation, our standing and character is safe and admired. When the conscience is not, character suffers. Many among us sacrifice business for character. Many among us sacrifice character for business. Fine. This I can accept.

But… what happens to those that are in the business of conscience. Would they compromise their conscience for the sake of commerce, or conversely would they compromise their business for the sake of their conscience.

Power has the uncanny knack of surreptitiously opening its well fortified, secure and sanctified walls to corruption. And where power is stubbornly resistant to such intrusion, corruption has the knack of quietly wriggling its way in.

It cannot be denied that the media in any part of the civilized world has the undoubtable reputation of being a, if not the, most powerful entity. An entity that moulds the conscience of a nation. Today a question needs to be answered. Not by us. But by those that ask. By those that ask for the purity of our conscience. By those that challenge the conscience of governance, the conscience of humanity ~

Would you, the media, compromise your conscience for better commerce ?

Would you, the media, compromise your commerce for better conscience ?

And finally, would you honestly, in this process, stubbornly resist corruption or allow it to wiggle its way in to your courtyard ?

The battle today in this overcrowded, competitive and ruthless media world is not about circulation and TRP’s. Is not about ad., sales and channel foot prints.

The battle really is about conscience !!

How many do you reckon shall step forward on this battle field ??

May the best man win !!!

Amitabh Bachchan