WHY I WORRY ABOUT MY COUNTRY?

As regards the things that I wish to change in India, there are legions of them. The ills like endemic corruption, shifting the blame syndrome, greed, insensitivity and the social evils like stray cattle, stray dogs, monkey menace and the shame of littered and rotten garbage have consumed tons of paper and umpteen numbers of hours to bring them upfront for solutions but sadly, the status quo stands. Why waste time to write about something, which has been written upon ad nauseum?

Rather I would discourse about a new aversion of mine,which is no less worrying. The grueling, randomly chosen political polemics, which have become the order of the day on TV channels during evening prime time. You guessed it right. The all too noisy TV debates on the so-called subjects of national importance have become the present day template.

After bidding permanent adieu to cheap  and puerile comedy shows and outrageous serials, which are dished out to viewers on TV,  my only time for scheduled sitting, is evening TV news. Firstly, you prepare yourself, wait for the participants to be announced, and finally decide to suffer because of the presence of a couple of moderate voices. However, as the debate progresses the atmosphere is vitiated with arguments and counter arguments, peppered with remote and ambiguous references, sidelining the real issues. Clearly, the race for gaining some unknown points ensues with voice decibel rising to an uncomfortable pitch. In the meantime  warfare of words  and display of oratory minus substance hijacks the discussion. The daggers are drawn perpetually and more often than not, the projected sound bites acquire black and white shroud. Politeness goes for a toss. Jibes rule the roost. Some sane voices intervene, but they soon die down in the cacophony of discordant notes.

One needs to develop a detached approach and a half-asleep mode to sit through the political dramas played on the TV screen in your living room day after day. That the viewing public is aware and can sift the truth from half-truths and baked truths leashed via their double speak, bothers them not. The body language of the panelists and the tone of their voices convey a lot. The viewers can fairly well, read between the lines of their word  play, which is unstoppable and therefore sucks.

The clear divide between black and white without any middle ground frustrates the average viewer who really desires to be enlightened about  national issues. Here the aim is to earn some dubious points. Negative vibes floating around exasperate. The goings on become unpalatable soon and one starts switching channels.

In fact, the matters of national interest are too complex to be solved or understood in the course of half an hour of TV discussions. Let’s leave them to the collective wisdom of our elected representatives in the parliament. Moreover, just wait for the positive changes incorporated and delivered on the ground, for the good of the general public which will evidence the efficacy of the administrative measures and government policies.

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 Instead, the TV channel CEOs should focus on educating the public about the burning social issues, and work for people participation in solving them.

They should introduce programs to help people become well informed  with the use of technology. For this enabling them to be computer savvy is a must.

They need to evolve packages about health consciousness especially Ayurveda and other alternatives to allopathic medicines, which the poor can’t afford.

People Should be advised to introspect  and warned about the involvement in  

anti-social activities like destruction of public and private property over trivial issues, and violent protests.

Young people need to be persuaded to participate in value based activities concerning their areas.

Surely experts in human resource development know what is  required for nation building and how to execute it.

Friends, leave your thoughts on the subject.