Did you know Noida had a skyline? I discovered that two nights ago at our office party on the terrace of our office building. The breeze was caressing and balmy, the people even balmier. I distinctly remember a few looking outright embalmed post a few drinks, but that’s another story.
Gazing at that skyline, you wouldn’t think that, not too far away, there’s a family that’s gone through non-stop hell for about a month now. If losing their daughter in the most brutal manner possible wasn’t hell enough, the police and the media certainly made sure it was. At this point, we don’t know if Rajesh Talwar killed his daughter, but if he didn’t, who’s going to give him back what little was left of his life? Last night I saw a news clip of his brother, Dinesh, being hounded half to death by the media. “Are you the judges? Are you the investigators? How many times do I tell you that the investigation is still on?” he said. He was so obviously stressed, so close to breaking point, it was difficult to watch. About 20 reporters had closed in on Dinesh Talwar leaving barely any room to breathe, let alone move. Not a trace of sympathy, not even a sign of humanity, really. I can’t even begin to imagine how ripped apart and traumatized this whole family must be. Not that one can expect any compassion. If television reporters could badger a three-year-old girl about how exactly her father had killed her mother, as I’ve seen them do on one of our esteemed channels, they can do anything.
Both the cops and the media have, in my opinion, elevated insensitivity to a fine art form. And that has been nakedly evident throughout the investigation and coverage of the murder of this pretty little girl Arushi and the family’s domestic help. Squeezed in between ecstatic, gluttonous coverage of cricket and celeb non-news, sickeningly dramatized blood-soaked reports of the murder and after. Frankly, I hope they choke on it.
Still, Noida does have a skyline and it looked and felt like candlelight that evening. I discovered to my joy that a colleague shared my ex-passion for Hindustani classical music. We sang a few notes of Jayjayvanti and marveled at its unique dhaiyvat.
Yes. NOIDA does have a skyline. The only thing they don’t seem to have a civilized governance. The NOIDA police are a bunch of goonda’s who can never relate to the Talwar family or understand the mechanics and relationships between people like that.
I saw the seige at the Talwar residence on TV last night and it was utterly disgusting. Why the heck does the media have to hound victims and police like that. And what was the outcome — nothing. Not an iota of news coming forth except the frustration of Dinesh Talwar.
Did you watch the program of Barkha Dutt where they discussed the media’s role in this case? A whole lot of talk, justifications and accusations but no conclusion.
But. Let us pause and admire NOIDA’s skyline.
The Indian media, the way I see it, is not too different from the skyline described by Mala. It has a beautiful halo around it, but what’s happening inside is not even close to the beauty of the skyline.
The guardians of media, like the guardians of Noida cannot care less about their duties. Both are busy stuffing their pockets.
I have been fortunate/ unfortunate to work with the electronic media from close quarters, and what I saw was not too pleasant. Compassion is certainly not an agenda, and most of them work with a common goal to somehow crack the flawed system of TRPs.
For us, we may be stuck with the 4Cs (Crime, Cricket, Cinema and Chudail) of Indian media for a long time to come.
I agree completely the media and cops have really reached amazing levels of insensitivity. Infact i just cant watch news channels anymore, i wonder what it will take for everyone to be humane again. Even the print media has begun to give space to items which really dont need to be glorified, for eg, the murder of Neeraj Grover.
You know the pix actually looks a bit like Mumbai’s Marine Drive, quite amazing!
A nice sensitive blog entry. One can rant and rave for all it is worth, the media will not change its spots. Perhaps it is time that victims went on the attack. I wonder if someone uses a camera to make a video of such attacks by the media. The victim should casually ask some of the attackers which network of paper they represent with the question and the answer recorded in the video. This might enable the victim to approach a court for relief and compensation.
A quote from the Deccan Herald: “In a judgment with far-reaching consequences, the Supreme Court has said that accident victims should also be paid compensation for the loss of “matrimonial prospects” and “future treatments” if they are permanently crippled.
“The principles governing a claim petition for assessing the damages in case of bodily injury suffered is that while awarding the compensation, the tribunal should consider all relevant factors so as to enable the victim in such a position as if he had not sustained any injury,’’ said the judgment pronounced by a bench of Justices S B Sinha and L S Panta, while directing the authorities to keep Rs 2,00,000 in a fixed deposit in the name of victim Sapna” Unquote.
Loss of reputation and mental piece should also qualify for compensation. A few such cases and things might get better.
Meanwhile enjoy the NOIDA skyline and next time try Bageshwari,a raga even sweeter than Jayjawanti.
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!