The Exile, Candle Vigils, Media Stings et al

By Seikholen Thomsong

Eye opener
I had been away from my original place of work and I felt like an exile. Working in Delhi was an eye opener in so many ways. It was a totally different experience from working in a battalion. The level of interaction with other officials was more. The city provides ample opportunities for self-growth whether one remains in the organization or leaves.

Being exempted from normal duties has its flip side. There is consternation all around with certain people never seeing the logic as to why a man should cool his heels in Delhi while they sweat it out in some deserts. Certain people always think that you are having a good time while they work their ‘behinds’ off. It is only them who work and nobody else. That is office politics at its best. The more you crib the more you sound like you are the only one working. And from the bottom to the top, that is what we have been doing except for all those exceptions to the rule.

One such person, who happened to live just in front of my quarters, promptly shot off a letter to the department dealing with postings at the AHQ, in March this year. The reply however came in early May. The vacation that people thought I was on was about to end. I was to revert back to my unit where I had spent the last five years of my life.

Aping The West Blindly
Didn’t our elders tell us we would make an ass of ourselves if we imitate others blindly? We Indians just cannot stop imitating others. We might justify by saying that it is the curiosity that a culture, anywhere in the world, has for others apart from its own. We remember seeing pictures of Candlelit Vigils, on our TVs, being taken out on some streets in western countries when lives have been lost due to calamities or accidents. It is to remember the relatives who had lost their lives.

Candle vigils: What do they stand for?
However the fad of such a vigil did not catch much early on in India. The film ‘Rang De Basanti’ then hit the box offices of movie theatres all over India. Suddenly it became fashionable to hold candle vigils. Whether you care two hoots for Jessica Lal or not is not the issue. But who knows you just might feature in some page three or four of a newspaper if you are lucky! A candle vigil to remember some poor departed souls is fine because I feel candle vigils are just for that.

I flipped through the pages of a newspaper this morning, saw medicos out on some candle vigil and was zapped. To my knowledge no one has died so far in this anti-reservation strikes all over India. Well, if they meant to say that their vigil was symbolic of the demise of MERIT then perhaps they are right. But we are yet to arrive to a conclusion if merit actually has died over some reservation of quotas. But if, like I suspect, the medicos held their vigil, just because candle vigils are done sometimes, without actually knowing what it stands for then they are making one big ass of themselves by aping the west blindly.

Media’s Love at First Sting
The Indian media fell in love with sting operations once Tehelka and its Operation West End shook the monolithic institutions of the defense establishment and the political oligarchy. I am not saying that it was the first instance of sting journalism in our country. I am sure we have heard of Arun Shourie and his kind of investigative journalism that earned the Indian Express so much influence, fame and respect. Mr. Shourie is an excellent journalist when he is perhaps compelled to be objective as a journalist. But go through some of the books he had written and you would find they are so often colored by his prejudices.

The I&B Minister, Mr. PR Dasmunshi, has said that his ministry would not urge restrain on Sting Operations resorted to by the media. He said the media organizations should be self-regulating. He also stated that complaints should be sent to the Press Council. The Pioneer carried this report.

Toothless tiger
However any student of media or journalists themselves would know how toothless an organization the Press Council actually is. Regarding sting operations, we have seen so many un-ethical and downright tasteless methods of ‘news gathering’ passed off as sting operations. The finest example of sting operation was the Watergate Scandal, which I am sure we have heard about.

Making up for lost ground
Being away for so many months would take me time to settle down once I am back. I would have to work my ass off literally to regain lost ground. The top honcho is a gentleman from down south. He is a nice man who would never hesitate to help you out. Unfortunately the temperament of kings, rulers and bosses is ruled by the feedback they get from the people in their immediate vicinity. Heaven only knows what kind of people has his patient ears.

So as I set out back to where I belong, I say a little prayer for the Lord to grant me the wisdom so as to discharge my duties without any fear or favor, without being influenced by the people around me who might not exactly wish me well.