We are living in extremely strange and bizarre times where everything seems to be controlled by the media. Which news should stay in limelight, which news should be forgotten or which news should citizens read/watch/discuss/debate is all decided by the media. And surprisingly, we, the people, unconditionally toe according to this unwritten rule of the fourth estate. We happily absorb what the news channels or newspapers dish in front of us. When they move on, we do the same without any complaints.

Take for instance the Viveka Babajee suicide case that was the ‘breaking news’ everywhere some 40 days back. The scene was ugly as two of her boyfriends seem to blame each other for her death. Eminent writers like Shobhaa De, Queenie Dhoody etc also discussed about her and offered condolences. Last I heard was Viveka’s spokesperson releasing pictures of her and one of her boyfriend Gautam Vora which clearly showed that a lot was brewing between them which was contrary to Vora’s statement that they were ‘merely friends’. I expected a lot more to happen post this episode. But to my shock, the papers stopped writing about Viveka from the next day! So did news channels. None of the readers desired to know what happened next in that case. Media left that case behind and so did the aam aadmi!

This kind of behavior is not limited to these trivial cases but also to the high profile ones. What happened to Ajmal Qasab after he was awarded the death punishment on May 6? He’s the most hated man of the country but today, thanks to our fast-paced life and media which speedily hops from one news to another, we have all forgotten about that horrific episode short-termed as26/11!

Last week, Amit Shah, Modi’s aide was the man in action. By today, he’s almost history! Rahul Mahajan and his battered wife Dimpy have taken the place of attention. Few days ago, Dimpy, who exhibited the scars made by Rahul on her body, is now defending her beloved hubby against the accusations of Payal Rohatgi! Further, she, at first, went to the media with her sob story and after 48 hours, she requests the media to ‘request her privacy and let her live in peace’! Media is going full-throttle on this episode and people are busy seeing this tamasha. In 2-3 days, this too would be forgotten and someone else will grab the place and the eyeballs too. And yet again, no one would care as to what happened to Dimpy simply because the media wouldn’t be focusing on it!

However, can the media really be blamed? If there’s nothing to report, why waste time on that news? It’s better to move on than stick to the same, old news. However, my complaint is against the people who readily gobble down whatever the news channels put forward, however crappy the news maybe. My complaint is against all those wannabes who get their 15 seconds/minutes/hours of fame by doing something stupid which is beautifully presented in front of the viewers. Rahul Mahajan, BigB tweeting about Raavan etc occupy a more important place in papers, channels and in our lives than the growing inflation, malaria epidemic in Mumbai, fast eroding vegetation in the name of development and other such attention-deserving issues. A change can happen only when the people realize that something’s wrong with the present-day scenario. Until that happens, keep yourself updated about the latest ‘breaking news’. After all, it might be a boring and uninteresting piece of info by tomorrow!