We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Where are India's intellectuals?

Where are India's intellectuals?

Every time I read Indian newspapers these days I constantly feel depressed by the sheer size of ignorance in Indian media and its commercialization. I feel a strong urge to ask for all the Indian intellectuals to pose the question of where as a society is India's common person headed to? And what is the role of the intellectuals in shaping up this society's future? Does Indian middle class finally agrees that it can't sideline itself from its obligations for other underprivileged sections of society, because the unequal growth will lead to more crimes and hatred among the already divided Indian society? Does it agrees that it has a role to play in Indian politics? Does India's intellectuals (across the entire world) understand their role in guiding this directionless middle class for a better India?

The sheer madness that Indian government is doing in short sighted laws and poor governance makes me deeply worried. The speeches to satisfy the crowd mentality by offering short term solutions rather than asking the tough questions of what is it that is wrong in the Indian society at its fundamentals, is never highlighted by the media.

It's the Indian media that an ordinary Indian person gets educated from in his/ her daily tough life, be it by the means of the daily ritual of morning newspaper reading, or the nightly TV news watching. Media's responsibility is tremendous. By sensationalizing the hot issues like "Hang the rapist" and making it as splashy for gaining TRPs, not only the long term solutions sidelined, but also a great opportunity to make long term changes in a society's perspective of introspection missed totally.

I wish India's intellectuals make their presence felt in guiding this directionless transformation in the Indian society. 

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