Commend and not Condemn

The book I am reading these days says in Chapter 1 – you cannot get anything done using criticism. Rule 1 of your life should be to never criticize. Therefore, in this post, one will commend rather than condemn.

It is extremely commendable that all protests against organized retail have started, not when Big Bazaar started, not when there was Pantaloons, Weekender, Spencer’s Hyper etc.,(Spencers and Food Bazaar sell fruits and vegetables too, as does Subhiksha) but against Reliance only. That people speak about Organised Retail and protest against Reliance outlets only. I love the collective amnesia surrounding other organized retail players.

I also think its stupendously wonderful that the day we lost 2 officers and several jawans after a 3 day cross fire in Kashmir, this news got one column space on the front page, and the news of the Blueline buses killing 1 person got about 5 column widths on the front page. The media is absolutely great! The day the Ajmer Sharif blast happened – a blast so low intensity that there were no casualties on the spot, there was also a suicidal attack on a CRPF post. But that was a postscript in the paper. You see, our armed forces are a nationally sponsored bunch of suicidically inclined people. Their deaths mean nothing. (I am not sure how much footage the soldiers who die in Iraq get at home. Anyone who knows? )

It is also fantastic that the media immediately drew parallels with the Mecca Masjid blast, as soon as the Ajmer blast happened, but forgot a simple point of concurrence – they were both extremely low intensity blasts. All other points of similarity – real or imaginary - were so well drawn out. Sensationalism is great! What you cannot exaggerate, you cannot report. I love that attitude! Anyone looking for matter of fact reporting is a dodo.