Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Michael Jackson used my loo and media credibility

Since getting elected, President- Elect Trump has called up the prime ministers of Ireland, Australia, Canada, Japan, Italy, Israel, Denmark and the UK in addition to the presidents of Egypt, Russia, Turkey, France, China, Mexico, Argentina, South Korea and Ukraine. Trump has also spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud.

Though a call hasn't been yet placed to the Prime minister of India, it may come sooner or later. Our entire media will go ecstatic. The time and duration of the call, the degree of temperature in the warmth of Trump's voice, each word of the conversation will be fully analyzed. How many words in Hindi Trump used will be scrutinized to the core.

In case he doesn't, he may be chastised for not using NAMASTE (salutation) before starting the conversation. A comparison will be made to the more benevolent Obama, who was Modi's old friend Barack in first-name calling terms. It reinforces the notion of our media focussing too much on immaterial sound bites over substance.

Couple of decades ago Michael Jackson made a trip to not yet Mumbai Bombay. He visited MATOSHREE, the residence of Bal Thackarey. After giving the Rockstar a rockstar's welcome, the undisputed Don of Bombay and the self proclaimed Tiger who scared the hell out of the city's citizens, cowered like a kitten, posing for a photograph with MJ.

The lord of Bombay even went on boasting, being privileged of Michael Jackson using his loo. More than the Moonwalker's ever gyrating hips, his residues left in Balasaheb's residence mattered the most (Thanks Dipti bhai for this piece of info).

General Musharaf was the major brain behind the execution of Kargil War in 1999. Only a year after, in 2000, he visited India in the capacity of the President of Pakistan for the much media hyped "Agra Summit". Blood stains had not yet dried on the summit of Kargil Hills, as its chief architect was treated no less than a Rock Star.

Our media went ga ga over the menu of "Commando" Musharaf's breakfast, what he ate for lunch, how close he sat with his wife in front of Taj Mahal, how romantic the couple looked.

The media looked more like an ardent fan of the general. It's another matter that rarely major foreign policy decisions are made under media glare. Media's loss of credibility with the masses is neither new, nor unprecedented. Apparently not much has changed after 20 years.

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