I was shocked to read an article in the newspaper today, “The cosy world behind the tapes” in The Hindu dated 9th December ’10. It spoke about the “Radia tapes” and the involvement of the so called “elite” journalists, media heads and business tycoons. Since it did not have details about the whole (Radia tapes) thing, I decided to do a quick research on it. And I found a detailed account of it on Wikipedia. Yes! Wiki leaked again!
This article was something which shook me…actually shook me! I also listened to some of the recorded conversations between Ms. Radia and Ms. Barkha Dutt. Maybe the intensity of my shock is greater than normal because I am not very fond of politics (I guess no one is) or rather I do not know the game very well. After reading the whole thing, I was glad that I was a no one in the world of famous people. Because, if this is what is called being “someone” then I am more than happy to be myself! I was wondering, who the hell is running my country? I thought it was Sonia Gandhi! A tough question to crack this one! The choices that I had were: Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi Maran, Ms.Radia, (includes all the lobbyists) Ms. Barkha Dutt (includes all the journalists who were involved), Ratan Tata, the Ambanis, Ghulam Nabi Azad or Manmohan Singh & Aam aadmi (I’ve placed these two together because I feel they have the least amount of control over the situation). Then I settled for an answer which does not figure in this list. It is MONEY.
I was shocked to know how a journalist can have this amount of control! She has the audacity to term this as “modern day journalism”. How can he/she decide or influence the decision of who the cabinet minister is going to be? Or how could Mukesh Ambani say “Congress to ghar ki baat hai!”? But at another level it made me wonder, what happens to the inspiration of so many kids? Barkha Dutt, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, they were the role models for so many kids in their respective fields. Who are they to look up to now? And more importantly, what price should one be ready to pay for success? For some people the price is - “anything”. Guess it depends on what success means to you. And this is a very personal choice to make.
Success, fame, adulation comes with great responsibilities. Even before one decides “the price”, one should be ready for the responsibility. One has a choice to decide the price, but one does not have the choice to overlook the responsibility.
These days it seems it is all about how well you can play the game. Everything in today’s world is reduced to a game after all! A game played everywhere, in politics, corporate world, families, business or relationships for that matter!
I would like to admit that I am no saint. Even I get tempted to use certain information to my benefit, or to take short cuts in order to achieve what I want to. But more often than not I am able to refrain myself from doing so. Going forward I am going to try and do it every single time. And I am also going to be extra careful, when I am speaking over the phone.
That’s it for now. Off to play a game. A game on my PC of course! :-p
Mera Bharat Mahan? (Couldn’t stop myself from adding the question mark.)
This article was something which shook me…actually shook me! I also listened to some of the recorded conversations between Ms. Radia and Ms. Barkha Dutt. Maybe the intensity of my shock is greater than normal because I am not very fond of politics (I guess no one is) or rather I do not know the game very well. After reading the whole thing, I was glad that I was a no one in the world of famous people. Because, if this is what is called being “someone” then I am more than happy to be myself! I was wondering, who the hell is running my country? I thought it was Sonia Gandhi! A tough question to crack this one! The choices that I had were: Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi Maran, Ms.Radia, (includes all the lobbyists) Ms. Barkha Dutt (includes all the journalists who were involved), Ratan Tata, the Ambanis, Ghulam Nabi Azad or Manmohan Singh & Aam aadmi (I’ve placed these two together because I feel they have the least amount of control over the situation). Then I settled for an answer which does not figure in this list. It is MONEY.
I was shocked to know how a journalist can have this amount of control! She has the audacity to term this as “modern day journalism”. How can he/she decide or influence the decision of who the cabinet minister is going to be? Or how could Mukesh Ambani say “Congress to ghar ki baat hai!”? But at another level it made me wonder, what happens to the inspiration of so many kids? Barkha Dutt, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, they were the role models for so many kids in their respective fields. Who are they to look up to now? And more importantly, what price should one be ready to pay for success? For some people the price is - “anything”. Guess it depends on what success means to you. And this is a very personal choice to make.
Success, fame, adulation comes with great responsibilities. Even before one decides “the price”, one should be ready for the responsibility. One has a choice to decide the price, but one does not have the choice to overlook the responsibility.
These days it seems it is all about how well you can play the game. Everything in today’s world is reduced to a game after all! A game played everywhere, in politics, corporate world, families, business or relationships for that matter!
I would like to admit that I am no saint. Even I get tempted to use certain information to my benefit, or to take short cuts in order to achieve what I want to. But more often than not I am able to refrain myself from doing so. Going forward I am going to try and do it every single time. And I am also going to be extra careful, when I am speaking over the phone.
That’s it for now. Off to play a game. A game on my PC of course! :-p
Mera Bharat Mahan? (Couldn’t stop myself from adding the question mark.)
strong opinion.. lovely read...I always liked Barkha...
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