Aakaashwani….

“You say it best, when you say nothing at all,” ended this soulful song (read love song) by Ronan Keating and just when I was expecting the next ‘escape to dreamnoid’ to be played on 107.1 megahertz….came a firm and clear voice which said, “Yeh aakaashwani hai. Ab aap hindi mein samaachaar suniye.” 

Is that a way of persuading people to listen to the news? That statement was more of a command than an effort to persuade – I thought. I was too tempted to change the radio station, but AIR Rainbow is the only one which plays great English numbers in Mumbai. So I hung around…..

The Hindi samaachar was read and as I was listening to it, I realized something very peculiar. There was no attempt to emote the news, make it sound sensational or something that I had to feel great or devastated about. It sounded so strange and yes, it also reminded me of how the news was read 50 years ago (my only access to that being the way it’s portrayed in Hindi movies).

So initially I felt uneasy, but later I was getting the hang of it. It was NEWS, an update and was merely being READ. I wondered why the initial hitch from my end and then came this whole understanding of IMPACT OF MEDIA ON OUR MINDS. I choose to limit myself to new alone…..it’s good to be focused.

So today there are more than dozens of news channels, each one fighting to raise their TRPs, working hard to churn out new ideas, looking for ‘The BREAKING NEWS’ (how should it matter to us who BROKE it as long as we get the accurate information), covering a plethora of fields…..trying to make an impact, awakening the masses, forcing them to think, Phew!!! Indeed the media guys have come a long way.

Now what is the ultimate purpose of media? I wondered….I am too small to talk about it. But I could look at two primary objectives –

1.       INFORM

2.       SENSITISE

Everything else is just a gimmick or to be more rational a means to be in business!!

Going back to Aakaashwani, I appreciated the way in which news was merely ‘READ’ and allowed the receiver to do whatever he wanted with the data. I think such news will make a person think rather than forcing them to think in a particular manner. This can be allowed to a particular extent….health, social issues, politics, business- it’s alright, but what about fashion, entertainment and the likes.

We are made to believe what is NOT to be true. MEDIA gives us a direction, not parents, not teachers, not books, not mentors….

Among many beliefs that these news channels instill in us, the most dangerous is the FEAR instilled in us.

It happens so slowly and subtly that we just begin to believe that this place is in such a chaos. Some even choose to end their LIFE. Ridiculous!!

With growing negativities around us, people are becoming more and more insecure about living. Think! How a news channel flashes gory pictures, states the information, over and over again until a viewer switches off the TV screen or succumbs to the projected ‘reality’. What does it leave him with?? As long as it is to SENSITISE, it is great. But I am sure the number of people who do something about it are much lesser than the ones who develop fears and insecurities.

Not to forget, how the medium of television is aiding this process (with a new technology being introduced every couple of months – just for us to have a real life experience!!) Literal REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE – seems to have become a dream with the advent of technology. Anyways…these are all inter-related but I don’t wish to digress.

Aakaashwani taught me detachment, treat news as news and think ‘What can I do about it?’ Their job is to deliver news and my job is to figure out what to do with the news!!! 

JAI HIND!