MxMIndia

Category: BLOGS

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    BJP suffers the wrath of young India

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    It was wishful thinking on my part that Porngate would slowly lose currency on television. Quite the opposite happened, in fact, as emotions in TV studios ratcheted up as the day progressed. By the evening, this was the worst transgression ever committed. Bad as it was, it is still open to question whether it deserved quite so much rage. It usually seems that TV channels inIndiaare quite sympathetic to the rightwing – except of course those which are seen as open Congress supporters.

     

    But even those with saffronish tinges – or especially those with saffronish twinges – were the angriest with these porn-watching Karnakata ministers. A humble theory could be that the extreme Hindutva rightwing in Karnataka has been making life miserable for young people and this was revenge time for the young people in television.

     

    The Times of India in its editorial took a sober tone but was no less damning of the behaviour of these MLAs. Nor did it fail to rip into the moral hypocrisy of the Hindutva rightwing. The Hindustan Times decided to take a more jokey tone, which seems as inappropriate as TV’s relentless coverage. Hindustan Times kindly informed us that the minister was mistaken in thinking he was watching a rape when it actually was a “bukkake”. One could thank the newspaper for increasing our knowledge of terms used in pornography but one is not sure if this has any connection to the case in point.

     

    One has to agree with author and columnist Shobhaa De when she said on Times Now that this was one of the rare times that she actually felt sorry for BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman, in having to defend her party’s action (or inaction) against the three ministers.

     

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    It was heartening to read Shailaja Bajpai in her TV review column in Indian Express asking whether such intrusive coverage was necessary about cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s cancer. It is also intriguing that the cricketer tweeted that he had not spoken to any newspapers since his latest treatment started. So where did all those “interviews” come from?

     

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    The Economic Times has front-paged (I’ve decided this is a convenient noun to make into a verb!) a story about how Indian companies are now trying to be kinder to employees who are being laid off. The usual tendency is apparently to be as insensitive as possible. Citibank, for instance, is now looking for jobs for the 100 people it “let go” of. Does this give heart to people who think their jobs are on the chopping block?

     

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    Pranab Mukherjee, Union finance minister, is losing sleep over the size ofIndia’s subsidy burden. I suppose that in itself is good news.

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Time to rethink on Katju?

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So which was bigger – the slap that Bollywood mega star apparently gave small-time director Shirish Kunder or the attack on The Times of India Mumbai offices by supporters of a Shiv Sena politician?

     

    This is from Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju’s letter to the chief minister of Maharashtra: “Please, therefore, let me know at the earliest what action have you taken against the hooligans who committed this outrage. In particular, please inform me whether the delinquents have been arrested and any criminal proceedings launched against them.

     

    I may mention that this is not the first time that such an incident has happened in Maharashtra. I had written to you earlier also about such assaults and harrassment (sic) of journalists. I, therefore, must tell you now that the Press Council may now have to take a serious view of the matter and take suitable action if such incidents are not curbed in your state.”

     

    It is heartening indeed for the press to get such support and perhaps we need to rethink our views on the honourable judge, his views on journalists notwithstanding? By the way, the misspelling of harassment is not mine; I have cut and pasted the extract from the letter. I make no comment here.

     

    At any rate, with the famous Khan-Kunder slap, Katju’s deepest fears about the media were fully realised. This made headline and front page news. But I think there is room for debate here. After all, Shah Rukh Khan is one of India’s biggest stars. If he gets caught in a late night fisticuffs at a fancy night club, then it is certainly news. The problem for me is that enough juice about this fight was not provided. I must confess I had no idea who this Kunder chap was when I first read about the fight on Twitter. It was later I realised that he is husband of Farah Khan, choreographer-turned-director. Most of the stories which appeared were written by insiders for insiders so outsiders like me, who had no idea of the stories within the stories, were left confused. I would say that this is a problem which journalists have to address – make everything clear to your readers. Do not assume that they know as much as you do about a particular subject which you have specialised in.

     

    As far as the attack on The Times of India is concerned, this is one more in a long list of intimidation tactics used on the media by political parties. And as long as nothing is done to those who instigate or participate in such attacks, they will continue. Hooliganism has almost become an accepted way of life and neither our government nor the police seem to be bothered.

     

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    What does one make of the excitement over baby Falak, the infant abandoned at AIIMS, Delhi on Republic Day? Instead of minute by minute updates on the condition of this unfortunate child, one would have expected newspapers at least to delve further into the status of abandoned and abused children in India. We expended much outrage over the actions of the Norwegian child services over the Bhattacharyas’ children but perhaps we need to examine whether we need such agencies ourselves. Right now what is happening with this baby is not concern; it is outright sensationalism.

     

  • 100 days of MxM in the words of Contributing Editor Ranjona Banerji.

    Ranjona Banerji: After 100 days, I have fun dissecting what I see on TV

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Turning 100 is always auspicious and MxMIndia hits a well-deserved century today – the first of course, not yet the 100th 100th.

     

    In the beginning, I have to confess, I cursed MxMIndia for forcing me to watch TV news. Newspapers I can devour, but watching the hysteria which passes for debate every night on TV was trauma I could do without.

     

    After 100 days, I can’t really say I love it yet but I do have lots of fun dissecting what I see every morning. And I’ve gained a real appreciation for the tough lives of our TV anchors. Really. It’s not easy, sort of manufacturing sensation out of fairly ordinary news events. And yet, night after night they endeavour and yell away, full of outrage and nation-building or saving vigour.

     

    I thought working consecutive night shifts on a news desk was a tough job but this must be absolutely mind-numbingly exhausting. On the other hand, maybe that explains a lot – the shallowness, the lack of depth or understanding, the shrillness, the vacuous questions…

     

    Yet strangely, sometimes the hosts are completely overshadowed by their guests who scream, interrupt and insult each other with a total disregard for good manners or good sense. I’m guessing they watch a lot of the Jerry Springer shows in their spare time.

     

    Often to escape, I watch Hard Talk or Anderson Cooper to calm myself down a bit but then sometimes I catch Piers Morgan in passing and then I take 24 hours to recover. That’s when I’m a little kinder to Indian news anchors the next day.

     

    * * *

     

    The biggest thanks for the last 100 days must go to Anna Hazare and his Merry Men and One Woman. They managed to occupy all the news time available as they entangled us in their coils. It was fascinating to watch how TV was first all chuffed at saving the nation from corruption. And then, one by one, the questions started – CNNIBN, NDTV, NewsX, Headlines Today and the last to keep the flag flying, Times Now.

     

    By the time the circus reached Mumbai and tried set up tent at the MMRDA grounds at Bandra-Kurla, the party for Hazare & Co was over. And sadly so was it for TV-created hysteria.

     

    I’m waiting now to see what the next 100 days will bring. Any ideas?

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Media gets it wrong on Republic Day

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Republic Day is not about freedom from colonial rule, it’s about the Constitution and the way we rule ourselves. How did the media respond? After 63 years, maybe they feel that there’s little left to say, even though we have, in 2011, suffered a number of crises that examine or question our schedule of rights, responsibilities, freedoms and systems.

     

    Even the advertisers got it wrong. Bank of America, for instance, talked about some medieval version of the Panchatantra that they had helped restore. Wonderful news though that is, it has nothing whatsoever to do with India becoming a Republic. The Google doodle was some very cute cavorting elephants – but cute does not quite cover what Republic Day means.

     

    Anna Hazare used the opportunity to declare that “gram sabhas” are more important than the Lok Sabha. Luckily Mumbai is newspaper-free on January 27 or Hazare’s urban supporters would have been really confused. He was not, you see, talking about a sprouted moong salad or any other health food. What he means is that village assemblies are more important and should be more powerful than the elected representatives chosen by systems laid down in our very carefully constructed Constitution. As The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition put it, “Struggling to stay relevant amid signs of growing public indifference, Anna Hazare…” The Deccan Chronicle’s Hyderabad edition, it must be pointed out, did not bother to front-page Hazare archaic notions.

     

    But what the DC does have is an interesting story about how Nitin Gadkari, BJP party president, has changed his tune a bit about Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for prime minister. Now he says Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are in the race too. Perhaps the BJP, which is so enamoured of the US presidential system, now wants to internally implement the US political party system for choosing presidential candidates. It will be great fun if they do it – Modi, Swaraj and Jaitley locked in public fights with each other for the privilege of running for prime minister. Can you imagine the amount of fodder for our TV anchors?

     

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    Talking of TV (as I ran through the channels on Republic Day), the terrible story of a battered baby at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences dominated the headlines, together with the Indian cricket teams continuing travails in Australia. Virat Kohli’s century in Adelaide got some accolades but it was mainly doom and gloom. The battered baby got front page lead in the Delhi edition of the Hindustan Times, so can I forecast a more “people-friendly” 2012 in the media?

     

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    For the first time in several years, the Republic Day awards did not cause media hysteria. If Sachin Tendulkar had got his 100th 100th, the fact that he did not get a Bharat Ratna may have been a matter of huge melodrama. As it happens, no one got a Bharat Ratna.

     

    My only observation here is possibly a very visible parochialism where newspapers were happiest about awards given to local people. Now not only do you have to be jingoistic about India as a media person, you also have to fall prey to all the foibles of regional identity politics. I hope that’s not a prediction!

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    TV journos, please develop some sense

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    If you have ever felt that you wanted to get bored to the point of death, as a sort of scientific experiment, you would do worse than to try and make sense of daytime TV news. Having just listened to a 5 minute conversation between an anchor and reporter about the latest on the controversy about the army chief’s age, all I could fathom was that the Supreme Court has dismissed a petition. Meanwhile, the anchor and reporter repeated the same thing about five times, over and over again. Plenty of ‘of courses’ and ‘in facts’, in fact, of course, studded this conversation.

     

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    West Bengal’s hospitals have always had plenty of horror stories in and around them but now that TV has tasted blood there, one can see that there is unlikely to be an escape from the scanner right now. Mamata Banerjee had better watch out.

     

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    Mid-Day was first off the block to tell us about extraordinary behaviour of the captain of the capsized ship, Costa Concordia, as he apparently ran away from his ship – later he said he tripped and fell into a lifeboat. The transcript of the conversation between the Italian Coastguard and the captain was an eye-opener. The captain has been accused of trying some kind of stunt which led to the cruise liner running aground. Indian TV and newspapers have as usual only concentrated on the Indians affected by this accident which makes looking for the complete picture a tedious task. Is there no life – or death – outside our geographical borders?

     

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    Suresh Kalmadi gets bail and as usual, our TV channels behave as if he has been acquitted of corruption charges. There are few simple things for journalists to remember here: you are innocent until proven guilty in India, bail is a permissible legal option and I throw this in for good measure: it is okay to criticise the armed forces.
    This hysterical self-righteousness demonstrated by most of our TV reporters is not just annoying, it is potentially dangerous.

     

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    It might also help if our TV reporters and anchors develop a sense of humour instead of trying to save India’s sensitivities from the BBC programme Top Gear. Surely, we can work on the principle that we are a mature society and can take a few jokes? Or, perhaps Indian news channels should have special telecasts for Indians living abroad who get quite upset quite easily? Then those of us left behind in India can live our lives in peace.

     

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    Meanwhile, we still don’t know if writer Salman Rushdie is coming to the Jaipur Lit Fest or not. So much for investigative journalism or a well-constructed publicity stunt?

     

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    Veteran and respected journalist Harish Khare has quit as media adviser to the Prime Minister, says The Times of India because he is upset at the appointment of TV journalist Pankaj Pachauri as communications adviser. Is this something to watch out for?

     

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    The death of TOI’s film critic Nikhat Kazmi on Friday morning was a sad way to start the day.

     

  • Ranjona Banerji reviews the content on news television and the morning papers

    Much ado as Sen does a Katju

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Amartya Sen has done a Markandey Katju on the Indian media, but unlike the outspoken Press Council chief, the Nobel Prize winning economist has piled on some flattery first – free, fair, objective, pillar of democracy and so on.

     

    (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2781128.ece?homepage=true)

     

    But his basic grouses are lack of grievance redressal protocols and a somewhat ambivalent approach towards accuracy. Do these problems sound a bit like from someone who has been at the receiving end? Well, yes. He explains his personal problems in great detail anyway, mainly to do with being misquoted.

     

    The other issue is one of having some sort of ombudsman (person?). Not too many newspapers bother and I am not sure of what happens in the world of TV.

     

    But what was intriguing was the whining and moaning by journalists on social media sites. No one ever talks about consumers, said one (the implication being that readers are to blame for the rubbish that goes into papers and on TV) or that Sen was just saying the same old thing. The comments under the article, of course, praised it wholesale – media bashing is such fun!

     

    Like Katju, Sen also pointed out that the media largely ignores the concerns of Unfortunate India, while concentrating on celebs, moneybags, film stars and the middle class.

     

    Still, one would imagine that journalists, being so used to dishing it out, should also learn to suck it up. Sen is not the Press Council chairman telling us what to do with a toothless threat hanging over our heads nor does he harp on about our inability to quote Ghalib couplets at the drop of a hat. It’s just a point of view.

     

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    Katju has come to the defence of Bigg Boss occupant (I think the latest edition is over) and porn actress Sunny Leone, saying that she’s not done any of those not-yet-respectable things in India so no one should target her. It’s an interesting way of getting round our moral policing hounds. Will it work for Salman Rushdie too, do you think?

     

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    Arnab Goswami tried to hold a discussion on the Deoband request to deny a visa to writer Salman Rushdie. However the guests were such that it would never have made for a fair or even constructive debate – Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, All India Majlis-e-Ittihad al-Muslimin; Alka Raghuvanshi, curator, India Habitat Centre; Sheebha Aslam Fehmi, Islamic feminist writer  and journalist and Zafaryab Jilani, Convener, Babri Masjid Action Committee. Jilani looked tired (been there, done that), Raghuvanshi hardly managed to say anything, Fehmi put up a lone defence for the liberal voice and Owaise shouted louder than everything else. Goswami pointed out that he could not single-handedly solve the problems of the nation, on being baited by Owaisi.

     

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    Now that Tuesday morning’s papers have told us that some prospective medical students were caught cheating in an entrance exam, there is hysteria in TV land over the fact that merit is being murdered. Please.

  • The idea worked earlier, and it works now. The only question is this: Is it completely ethical for the marketer to ride on a player's rather serious illness?

    Debrief: Birla Sun Life: Topicality enhances efficacy

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Last year, Birla Sun Life ran a TV campaign where some cricketers expressed their career insecurities. I recall reviewing that work, and had quite liked it. Mainly because of the message extension: If loaded cricketers can worry about their future, we middle class wallahs should be alarmed. This was also the first campaign in India where celebs spoke like ordinary citizens. Some people will recall Yuvraj Singh’s famous words: “Jab tak balla chal raha hai, thaath hai. Jab balla nahin chalega toh….”

     

    Well, Birla Sun Life is back with Yuvi. And this time the idea works even better because soon after the World Cup win, our hunky batsman was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour. This meant he was left out of the team. (Though the up-side is that Yuvi must be secretly thankful for not being a part of the team that’s been badly humiliated in recent times.) In the commercial, the cricketer once again expresses apprehensions over an uncertain future and the need for insurance. And he also alludes to his sickness.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtJ8qM-o3J4[/youtube]

    Well, the idea worked earlier, and it works now. The only question is this: Is it completely ethical for the marketer to ride on a player’s rather serious illness? And, is it correct for the player to play along with this idea? Is it the case of being opportunistic? To be honest, there are no easy answers to this one. I would only say that Birla Sun Life has played a clever card out here. And since Yuvi didn’t mind the marketing ploy, that should be fine, I guess.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 3. Clever use of human tragedy.

     

  • Anil Thakraney finds the launch TVC for the zippy, stylish Hyundai Eon a "total wash out"

    Hyundai Eon: India Yawn

    Hyundai, reportedly, has spent obscene sums of money to perfect their new little hatchback called Eon. And I wish a very small part of that moolah had been kept aside for creating some wonderful advertising. The zippy, stylish car deserves it. Sadly, their launch commercial is a total wash out. And the less said about the press ads the better.

     

    What happens in the ad is what happens in every second commercial inIndia. Youngsters having fun. Youngsters partying. Youngsters doing masti. Youngsters doing blah, blah, blah. And this, as you can expect, is peppered with the usual shots of the car in action. In short: No idea. No interesting story. No engaging situations. Every single principle of good advertising trashed. The result: Eon stays as just another car launch in the Indian market. And we’ll suss it out when we have the time.

     

    Criminal waste of money. Here’s a small car that’s determined to threaten the popular Maruti Alto, that desires to becomeIndia’s No 1 entry level car, and the ad doesn’t give you a single reason why you should be excited. If 900 crore rupees (wow!) has gone into the R&D, surely there are interesting facets of the car that need to be highlighted.

     

    ‘India On’, the ad says. Maybe it is. But the ad certainly is not on.

     

    [youtube width=”350″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgAFK95qlm4[/youtube]
    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 1. For a good photocopy job!


  • The chocolates aren’t rammed down our throats, the brand comes across as this nice, gentle soul who reminds you of your responsibilities. This endears us to Cadbury.

    Anil Thakraney’s Debrief: Very touching

    Brilliant start by Cadbury to the Diwali festival season. Their new ‘Lonely Maa’ commercial tugs at the heart-strings. It’s a simple treatment. An elderly lady is seen struggling with the computer to connect with her son who lives in another city/nation. And that insensitive chap only communicates with her via the web. Because he’s too busy focussing on his career. The poor lady isn’t able to log in, accidentally spills tea on the comp, and looks utterly lost, dejected and lonely.

     

     

    Outstanding. And here’s why: The chocolates aren’t rammed down our throats, the brand comes across as this nice, gentle soul who reminds you of your responsibilities. This endears us to Cadbury. The insight is timely and relevant. Many youngsters give their careers top priority, and find no time to spend with their aged parents. And they imagine that virtual connect is good enough. It isn’t! And most importantly, the treatment. The film is executed with so much heart, as a viewer, you badly want to reach out to the old lady and comfort her. Help her. Take care of her. And this is how brands build an emotional bond with their consumers. Way to go!


    I would be very surprised if this ad doesn’t win many trophies.

     

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 5. This is what advertising ought to be.

     

     

    Anil Thakraney’s ad review column DeBrief appears twice a week.

  • The question bothering me is the question that I am sure is bothering all brand managers: How did Mumbai Mirror as a brand gain from this event?

    Hard Knocks: Did the flash mob benefit MM?

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Good event idea from Mumbai Mirror, they organized a flash mob dance at Churchgate station with Tamil star Dhanush in tow. Not a very original idea, you have to say, because the event simply married the two viral sensations of the year… the Kolaveri video and the CST flash mob dance. Still, an event worth organizing for a city tabloid. Especially because of its appeal to young Mumbaikars.

     

    The question bothering me is the question that I am sure is bothering all brand managers: How did Mumbai Mirror as a brand gain from this event? Okay, they ran a cover story on it, but that edition will be tomorrow’s fish paper (as it happens to all akbaars), so where does it go from here? Even if the event goes viral, which is what the brand manager of the newspaper might be hoping for, how does it build the Mirror’s own brand image? What return on investment did they get on the venture?

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nABTOlE8avE[/youtube]

    Here’s a link to the video and you would notice someone else has hi-jacked the party, and after many views I could not spot the Mumbai Mirror branding anywhere. In fact, I spotted translites of other brands in the background, those already present at the Churchgate station. The least the Mirror team ought to have done was to flood the station with their creatives on the big day.

     

    I don’t know the answers, quite frankly. What I do know is that riding the net viral bandwagon is a great idea for brand marketing. At a relatively low cost, it can get you instant access to millions of consumers. But how does one ensure the brand remains the parent of the videos? That it gets paid back for its investment? I really think these answers need to be found before brand managers start salivating over this fantastic new medium.

     

    ———————————————————————————–

     

    PS: Haha. Deadly press release from Droga5,New York. Wonder if the local media fell for it. In India, I am quite certain, something like this would have been promptly published.

    Link: http://www.droga5.com/pressrelease/

  • The publishers of the Deccan Herald are either being very brave. Or very foolish. Either way, let's wish them luck. They'll need loads of it.

    Anil Thakraney: Deccan Herald’s Mission Impossible

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Having learnt to live a life in India where just about anything is possible, nothing ever unnerves me. But I must say I woke up on Sunday morning to rather shocking news, it totally rattled me. No, not that Anna Sahib is going on another fast (that’s no news, really), but that Bangalore’s Deccan Herald has launched a Delhi edition. To be honest, I am still reeling from this totally sensational khabar.

     

    Here are few reasons why the Deccan Herald simply CANNOT be undertaking this suicidal mission: One, newspapers are closing down all over the world. And India, because of its massive reading population and a continuous flow of new readers, will survive this danger for some more years. But closures will happen, it’s only a matter of time. In fact, quite ironically, Deccan Herald’s foray into Delhi comes close on the heels of Mid Day’s closure out there. Given that, prudence lies in beefing up strong editions and putting all the resources into your main markets, so that the demise can be postponed as much as possible. One would imagine that the proprietors of the Deccan Herald would go all out to spruce up their Bangalore edition. And what do they do? They go to Delhi! Wow!

     

    Next. Delhi is a very crowded newspaper market, and it’s pretty much dominated by the very deep pocket wallahs, the TOI and the HT. It took the Times many years and lots of moolah before it could manage to eat into HT’s market share. And there are other cash rich players too. In this fish market scenario bravely trots in the low profile southern Deccan Herald, hoping to make a dent in the market. And from what I know, owners of the DH aren’t exactly loaded like the owners of the TOI and the HT, so they will always struggle to get noticed.

     

    And finally, what sort of freshness can the DH bring to an alien territory? The name ‘Deccan’ itself cues south of India. Why would a Dilliwallah be interested in finding out from a southie what’s going on in his backyard. And where he must wine and dine. Makes no editorial sense at all.

     

    Well, all I can say is that the publishers of the Deccan Herald are either being very brave. Or very foolish. Either way, let’s wish them luck. They’ll need loads of it.

     

    ***

     

    PS: Some of the more enterprising ex-O&M guys organised an agency reunion in Mumbai last week. To catch up and mark David Ogilvy’s 100th centenary. Was fantastic meeting the old boys and gals, it felt like homecoming. I must say this: no reunion brings me as much joy as the one with the Ogilvy gang. Not school, not college, not other organization reunions. Must be Sir Ogilvy’s magical touch. Can’t think of another reason.

     

    Anil Thakraney is a Mumbai-based columnist and commentator and is a former adman and editor. He is Editor-at-Large, MxMIndia. The views expressed here are his own.

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Journos should learn a lesson from Mumbai’s voter turnout

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    So, as cynical journalists had assumed, a quarter of the way into Anna Hazare’s movement last year, this great upsurge of feeling for the country by young India was something of a hoax. When it came down to it – exercising your franchise, the biggest right and responsibility in a democracy – Mumbai has been found wanting. Hindustan Times’ headline puts it most succinctly: “Typical. Apathetic. Mumbai”.

     

    Newspapers also concentrated on rich and young Mumbai, both of which failed to show up. The Indian Express didn’t hold back taking about Mumbai sticking to its normal habit, “with voter disinterest in a handful of plush areas dragging down overall voter percentages”.

     

    As The Times of India points out, “The tony neighbourhoods of Colaba, Churchgate and Cuffe Parade repeated their past record with a measly turnout of 34 per cent, the lowest in the city.”

     

    The various reasons given for this voter apathy have been the chance for a long vacation, confusion over voter lists and general disorganisation. One woman is quoted about complaining that it took hour half an hour to vote – obviously too big a price to pay.

     

    As Mid-Day says in its editorial, “It is all very well to tweet about how this city is going to the dogs, create a Facebook page on how the roads are pathetic or organise candlelight marches to protest against terror attacks. The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. On that count, Mumbai is starving itself.”

     

    The Hindustan Times also went straight for the jugular – young people who are all aware and concerned in cyberspace but cannot translate that fervour into real life. (Aside to Election Commission: how about online voting for our youth who can’t be bothered to walk to a polling booth?)

     

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    On TV on Friday morning, the focus, for me, had to be on the Hindi and Marathi channels since the English channels were not unnaturally concerned with other news – Amitabh Bachchan’s operation, a fleeting glimpse of Aishwariya Rai carrying a baby bundle, the killing of two Indian fishermen by an Italian ship and something to do with Salma Hayek, which I didn’t bother to find out about.

     

    Sahara Mumbai, Sahara Samay and Star News suspended their precious stones and astrological forecast sections to provide trends, results and analysis of the elections in Maharashtra.

     

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    Perhaps in Mumbai’s voting pattern there is a lesson for journalists not to be too taken up with marketing hype about young India and to get carried away with what is said on social media. You have to keep track of everything but need not believe everything you hear and see on the Internet.

     

    Also, it is important to consider that India is not a society or a nation under threat or on the verge of civil war (whatever TV may tell you every night). We have no need for a social revolution like the Middle East for instance. Therefore, passion in cyberspace will not necessarily translate into anything at all in real life.