Shaping a New Idiom

How Bharat Jodo Yatra was not a mere walk across the nation. An extract

G.N. Devy

At a time when the Indian rupee had further taken a tumble, the unseasonal rains had wreaked havoc on standing crops, the Bilkis Bano case convicts had appeared on the board at the Supreme Court, the country had slid down several spaces in a global hunger report, the Congress presidential elections had come to a boiling point and the Bharat Jodo Yatra had seen a maximum turnout in an area where it least expected to have mass support, most television channels were occupied discussing the fight over mad dogs versus angry citizens. As a fond dog lover, who has had some of the happiest moments in being with dogs, I fully agree with the argument that their care—pet or stray—is our responsibility. However, for TV channels to dedicate so much time to this discussion when even more critical issues face the nation is either unknowingly or by design a distraction. That many channels sought to choose to distract the nation is a telling comment on the condition of the Indian media-either pet or stray.

It is unnecessary to openly articulate that electronic media has become a solid wall standing between citizens and the government, blocking information that it is expected to convey to citizens. We no longer have any reliable and credible way of knowing the TRPs of different channels, but anecdotal accounts indicate clearly that most people who used to watch TV news channels have switched to other ways of getting news and information. Are print media houses any different? The answer is a resounding no. It is only the small-circulation papers, non-corporate productions, that are, if at all, spreading ink on paper to serve the age-old purpose for which newspapers came into existence.

It is also no longer breaking news that not just the media, but most other pillars of democracy too have come crumbli