Monday, March 23, 2009

Real Heroes

I have been disappointed with the audio visual journalism in India in recent times. Sensationalism, glorification, and making mountains of mole hills have been the trends. Some of them are such utter nonsense I can’t believe that there are actually people who view this shit and think its news.

I was appalled at the commercialism during the whole Mumbai terror attack by all the leading channels. If you think that making someone cry on television and use his sorrow to up TRP is business, I do not want to live in that part of the world anymore. I wish someone had done this to the very people who presented this nonsense at the loss of a loved one and I would like to see how much they enjoyed being on TV then. Leeches. God knows. Some of them may actually do just that and invite the whole world to come view their mother’s funeral if it brings in the moolah.

Just when you think everything is lost and we have no hope you switch on the TV and surf through the mindless crap and you come across a news channel that’s airing ‘Real Heroes’. Great I thought – another award function for the film stars who are nothing but stars [big balls of gas]. I do not know what prompted us to linger on that channel, maybe the presence of Aamir Khan, but it was a pleasant shock. They were actually recognizing the efforts of 24 heroes from real life who have done great deeds that have gone unnoticed till date.

Nisheeth Mehta 80% of whose workforce consists of employees who are disabled. Mohamed Sharif who gives abandoned dead bodies a dignified burial after bearing the trauma of seeing his son been buried as an unidentified body. IIT graduates who have returned to the village to give back what he has learned and resisting the lure of the big bucks. A vegetable seller, who let nothing stand in her way of setting up a multi-specialty hospital, Zaputou Angami who polished shoes and washed utensils to raise money for setting up a home for the destitute children in Nagaland, a fruit seller who set up a primary school in his village, a 16 year old boy who set up a school at the age of 9 and now provides free education to nearly 600 students. [these are just a few of the people I remember]

It was so overwhelming that tears welled up in my eyes and everyone with me who was watching this. Here we have such easy lives and yet we complain about the cost of living, the living conditions, the rents, the government and every goddamn thing and we have forgotten to thank God for our blessings and all that we have. We do absolutely nothing for others such is our life. You do one good deed and gloat about it for the next five months. Such is our shallowness. Where we see disability others see ability, where we see poverty others see an opportunity, where we see things gone astray others see a chance to rectify it. They bring to light the triviality of our existence. [Me included]

I sincerely hope that these people are elected to their constituencies as independents and they get a chance to do for their region what the politicians have failed to do in all these years. There is so much inspiration to be gained by them. I think CNN – IBN have done a commendable job with the Real Heroes project and I would like to put my hands together for a news channel after a really long time.



3 comments:

Perrin said...

Well written Mel. Inspires, slaps, soothes, restores belief in good.
Write on my dear......for your ink has the power to awaken.

The Think Tank [TTT] aka Melwyn Abraham said...

awww. so sweet of u.

Madhavi Mukherjee said...

That was well written and well expressed... Keep writing dear... And am here to read... always.