Media or mother in law?

by A Bisht

I begin with some folklore from north-western India:

In a remote village, a bossy woman lived with her daughter-in-law. Although her son and husband lived with them too, it's she who held sway over the entire family. One person who was always on her radar was the daughter-in-law. Like most mothers-in-law she used to point out flaws in almost everything her daughter-in-law did. As this woman took her role so seriously this reforming activity fast became a habit. The habit brought in her the ingenuity to find faults where they were none.

One day while her daughter-in-law was preparing dough for the rotis (bread made out of wheat flour), to be cooked for the dinner, she stared at her rather furiously. When the daughter-in-law reacted with a questioning expression, pat came her reply—why do you move so much while making the dough?

The reason for this story is to drive home the analogy between the bossy mother-in-law and the Indian electronic media.

Isn't it true that the Indian electronic media functions just like the mother-in-law? Doesn't it specialize in pointing out flaws in almost anything?

Sourav Ganguly announced his retirement this week. He gave a terse, to the point statement to the media. Whatever are the reasons behind the decision; if he has decided to quit the game; his decision should be respected.

And the announcement should be taken on face value.

But as the adage goes "Old habits die hard"; the media (e) which was at Ganguly's throat for not making way for the youngsters only a week ago; is now showing its concern about the future of Indian cricket after the departure of the fab four.

Youngsters who up to now seemed more than good heirs to the fab four legacy suddenly became unworthy.

It's high time the Electronic media start acting responsibly and shed this rather irritating habit.

[PS to Media: It's not all too hard to get rid off this anomaly—just make sure you watch your previously telecast programmes once in a while.]

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