Too much seriousness is a killer. Just think about it. Every day when we wake up in the morning, newspapers, television and the Internet assail us with stories of untimely deaths, unacceptable corruption, unmanageable population, unwanted systemic failures. Should these stories turn into permanent residents of our mindscape, our smiles would disappear for eternity. Preoccupied with what is spiritually emasculating, the mind will be unable to respond to the little joys of life. Is this what we need? I don’t think so. I don’t think anybody does.
Everybody has his or her own way of enjoying life. I do that by seeking humor in news. I don’t aspire for Wodehousean comic subtlety in news-based offerings. But, this is what I get. Following a television channel’s sting operation, the India Against Corruption leader Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that an NGO for the physically disabled run by Union Minister Salman Khurshid and his wife Louise has misappropriated funds. In a frantic attempt to defend Khurshid, his colleague Beni Prasad Verma said, “I don’t think a person like Khurshid will do anything for an amount like 71 lakh. It is a very small amount for a Central minister.” He added, “If it would have been Rs 71 crore, I would have been serious.” The already beleaguered Congress party was in a tight spot. After all, Verma had suggested that small-time corruption was beneath the dignity of a Central minister. Could that get any worse? The media grabbed the opportunity. Stories of large-scale corruption involving ministers were recycled once again. I thought of Verma and laughed. What a guy!
Entertainment journalism entertains. It can make you howl with uncontrollable laughter. In the last few days, two events have taken place. The first, Amitabh Bachchan’s 70th birthday. Bachchan’s wife Jaya had planned the grand celebrations. Nothing wrong with that. He is a rock star. Seventy is a significant milestone. They have the money to splurge. The celebration plans were supposed to be wrapped in mystery. ‘Secret plans’ as an expression was used more often than it had been for Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening act of the London Olympics. The funny thing: one newspaper printed a bit about the plans, another, another bit, while some television channel host chirped about something else. The text of the reports went along these lines. ‘Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday celebrations whose plans are a closely guarded secret will have will have this and that and….’ I laughed.
Hollywood has Brangelina. The Hindi film industry – I should have used Bollywood for a change – has Saifeena. Just like Bachchan’s birthday, Saif Ali Khan’s marriage to Kareena Kapoor was a major event. I am still trying to figure out why. But it was. Once again, entertainment journalism which is mostly based on PR releases and personal equations with stars decided to shake the nation with its series of revelations about the plans that had been made in the ssshhh…mode. Secrets kept on tumbling out of the unlocked closet. The choice of words echoed the Bachchan-related reports. ‘Saifeena’s marriage plans are a closely guarded secret. Saif mother’s Sharmila Tagore has planned….” I laughed, although the intensity of joy was somewhat less. Too similar, too soon, that’s why.
Finding humor where there is supposed to be none can simplify our lives. When there is a flood and someone drowns, our media is known to rush to the spot and ask the victim’s father, “How are you feeling?” Come on. His son has died. How would he feel? The earnestness with which the reporter asks is so ridiculous that the tragedy gets eclipsed for a while. After a reasonably well-off businessman was arrested for his alleged involvement in the August 1 serial blasts in Mumbai’s neighbor Pune, the media did many stories. The brother of the accused said that his brother was being framed, for instance. Every time any such accused is arrested, we come across the same ideas. Only, names change. Some might find the reluctance to use imagination – or perhaps, the inability to think differently – very irritating. I laugh.
Unintentionally funny politicians are interesting. Some arrogant film stars spawn comic moments. A TV host’s pretentious accent, a reporter’s dumb questions, a print journalist’s badly written report: the India media can make us smile, one way or the other. What the media has to offer beyond that – and there is a lot of that too – is what matters. They tell me what we ought to know. That doesn’t make me smile.
