Monthly Archives: November 2020

#JusticeForSSR now has NO place on news channels. Who gained, who lost?

Roughly few months ago, some Indian news channels had promised to give justice to the deceased Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR). As per the official version, the actor died of suicide on 14 June at his residence in Mumbai.

But these channels, like plenty of What’s App forwards, started spreading the theory that he was murdered and if there’s anyone who can give justice to Rajput, it is them. Hence, there was non-stop coverage on his death with channels ready to interview just about anyone who can speak on SSR – from Karni Sena members to anybody claiming to be the late actor’s friend.

One channel claimed to have all the proofs to support their claim of murder even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who was handed over the case, still hasn’t come up with any such murder theory.

This resulted in crores of viewers getting carried away by the hyper coverage. They kept sharing posts related to SSR almost every minute while appealing to the authorities to punish SSR’s supposed murderers in the strictest way.

All this while, the fake news circulation on What’s App and social media reached another low. Among the many fake messages, the one that takes the cake was that SSR’s ‘murder’ was seen live by some Hindi film stars in their homes. I recently met one highly educated person who considers this ‘news’ about SSR to be absolutely true. And there are many more like him.

The sub-plot of the murder theory was the drugs angle in which SSR’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty and few others were arrested. These arrests were celebrated as if India got another freedom.

However, over the last few weeks, the campaign for SSR’s death has just died down. The timing for this is most interesting. It strangely coincided with the Bihar elections, which were recently over. As the people of the state finished casting their vote, SSR’s case faded away from the TV screens.

It was also during the campaign for the Bihar elections that BJP came out with a pamphlet with SSR’s face on it. [See below and read more about it HERE]. A clear indication that his death was just a political tool for them.

In this entire circus, it was the common public that was taken for a ride. Crores of people invested their time, energy and data while getting agitated online, considering themselves to be some sort of warriors. Only for it to boil down to nothing.

You indirectly helped these TV channels earn money, ratings and market their brand value. Today, the same channels have dropped the #JusticeForSSR issue like a hot potato. Just before publishing the report, a cursory check to these news channels showed that SSR’s death found no place on any of them.

Some news channels and political parties aren’t the only ones to gain from it. A YouTuber reportedly earned Rs 15 lakh from making fake videos related to SSR’s death. And his isn’t the only YouTube channel to gain from it. Again, it was the common public who made him earn a bomb.

Also, we didn’t realize when #JusticeForSSR slowly transformed into justice for a ‘news’ anchor, who was recently arrested. As soon as he was released on bail, his jubilant celebrations made it look like the last scene of a movie while the end credits are rolling – a contemporary way to say ‘The End!’

Also read: ‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

SSR’s death definitely won’t be the last issue out of which a tamasha was created. There will be many more in the future.

The question to be asked is whether we will take this as a lesson learnt or get carried away again in the future. Going by how heavily people got influenced this time, I personally don’t have much hopes.

Sorry babu…

Additional reading:

Expecting MIRACLES from CBI in Sushant case isn’t smart

Book Review: The Vault of Vishnu by Ashwin Sanghi

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After mixing contemporary issues with history and mythology in more than a handful of novels in his Bharata Series, author Ashwin Sanghi has become a master at that. He has continued the same with his latest offering The Vault Of Vishnu. And once again, the story he has told is way different than any of his previous books.

This time, the author has focused on the troubled political relationship between India and China. It starts off with a group of Indian soldiers mercilessly killed by the Chinese forces in Doklam. But what’s odd in the killings is that the Chinese forces appear like a mixture of humans and monkeys.

Paramjit Khurana aka Pam of the DRDO (Defence Research and Developmental Organization) is given the task to find more about the killings to help India’s defence personnel. She has a troubled past. Her father, who passionately served in the Indian defence forces, got killed under mysterious circumstances when she was a child.

Pam takes the help of the veteran intelligence officer Mark whose company works jointly with the DRDO. She had had a past with him, about which she is not proud.

Simultaneously, The Vault Of Vishnu also traces the centuries old journey of a Chinese Buddhist monk to India in search of something extremely valuable.

The Vault Of Vishnu is also about the ex-defence officer Dr Raja Rao, who is in his 90s, and his daughter Anu.

The synopsis might indicate that the book is a fast-paced action thriller but it’s not. Of course, it tells the story of India’s border issues with China. But it uses a nuanced storytelling method with attention to details.

However, this doesn’t mean that it’s not a page-turner. Sanghi, in his usual manner, has narrated an interesting tale in his usual gripping manner by giving proper space to every sub-plot. Those who are used to reading the author’s books will find the narrative extremely friendly.

Although the parallel story of the Chinese monk’s travel is way different than the present day tale about Pam, it doesn’t appear that way. This part also generates interest as you get absorbed in the monk’s journey. It is only in some parts in the pre-climax that it appears a bit stretched, especially the inclusion of too much of information about the monk’s travel.

Also read: Book Review: The Rozabal Line by Ashwin Sanghi

This part of the story gets you spellbound by Sanghi’s vast knowledge about history and mythology and his enormous research skills, which includes even the smallest of details.

The author’s rich language not only explains the tale in a simple manner but it also gets you hooked. This is also something Sanghi is used to doing.

Also read: Book Review: The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi

A large part of your satisfaction with The Vault Of Vishnu comes with a major twist in the end that you didn’t see coming. Although it appears filmi, it still gives you a pleasant jolt.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review by: Keyur Seta

Publishers: Westlands Books

Pages: 313

Can we get BETTER Cricket highlights please?

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Cricket is like a religion in India. Along with watching matches involving their country, the Indian fans are also interested in following neutral matches. In fact, following other countries’ domestic matches is also an area of interest in India nowadays.

Over the last 20 years or so, the number of cricket series have increased manifolds. But at the same time, lives of not just working professionals but also of students have become more hectic. We have too many things to do in a single day. Hence, it’s not possible to dedicate a long duration of a day solely to watch a cricket match.

So, the only way we can keep himself or herself updated about every match around the world is by watching the highlights of those games. With the habit of watching videos on mobile phones spreading far and wide, it has become easy to watch highlights of the match you missed anytime and anywhere.

However, today many a times what we get in the name of highlights is disappointing to say the least. At a time when we have access to watch highlights as many times as we want, the worst we could expect is the people behind the highlights messing it up.

Somehow, the editors or channels showing us the highlights of a match believe that it should only contain wickets, fours and sixes. This thought process is the major problem with highlights today.

If you feel highlights should only cover these three aspects, I am sorry to say you are not aware of the most important function of highlights. Which is to know when a particular game turned on its head or what the biggest turning point of the match was.

And many a times, these match-turning moments are dot balls, as far as the highlight of limited over matches is concerned. If you feel a match can tilt from one side to another only during fours, sixes and wickets, I am sorry to say you are wrong. In white ball cricket, dot balls, especially in the end, are as precious and game-turning as wickets.

For example, I remember watching the highlights of T20 match where a team needed 7 runs of 6 balls. But we were directly shown the last ball where it needed 5 off 1 ball. What happened in the previous few balls was the turning point of the match, which, astonishingly, doesn’t get featured in the highlights.

Just imagine, a person takes out time excitedly to watch the highlights of a close game only to realize that it doesn’t feature the most important part of the match!

I completely understand that highlights need to be crisp. But this is where the person responsible for the highlights should know what to retain and what not to. And if that person believes retaining replays of a crowd catch is more important than the dot balls that changed the match, it really won’t help.

Also read: Forgotten spells: When Srinath rattled South Africans singlehandedly

I personally feel it’s okay to skip one or two boundaries to show the biggest turning point of a match. It is understandable somehow in TV highlights where it’s necessary to complete the package in a stipulated time. But online highlights are not of any stipulated duration. So, adding just another 30-40 seconds that actually changed the match shouldn’t hurt.

Earlier in the year, the veteran cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle also pointed out in a Facebook post that today you won’t find the game-changing moments in the highlights [Unable to find the post. If someone is able to, do share].

Additional reading:

One of Wasim Akram’s greatest achievements is forgotten

Forgotten innings: Lance Klusener’s 99 v/s Sri Lanka

Srinath’s Titan Cup performance is proof that stats don’t show the real picture

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Javagal Srinath has been one of the best fast bowlers to have played for India. The pacer was always ready to give his all whenever the team needed, irrespective of the conditions and the format. He is the second highest wicket taker for India in one-day internationals (ODIs) with 315 wickets.

But the bowler had an unusually unbelievable record in the Titan Cup in 1996. For those who are too young, the Titan Cup was a triangular series played between India, South Africa and Australia in India. Surprisingly, Australia failed to win a single match in the entire series, where each team played each other thrice. So, India and South Africa reached the finals.

The proteas were in terrific form all through the league matches; winning all of them comfortably. However, SA somehow couldn’t chase India’s total of 220 in the final and lost the title to the hosts.

But something unusual about the Titan Cup popped up into my memory recently. It’s about Javagal Srinath’s performance with the ball. You would be stunned to know how many wickets he took in the entire tournament.

As strange as it may sound, the bowler could pick up only 1 wicket in the entire series in which India played a total of six matches, including the final. He played all six matches and opened the bowling in all of them.

Generally, one would attribute bad performance for such a record. But that was not the case with Srinath. I remember the pacer bowling with dedication in every match of the series. In fact, this info about him picking just 1 wicket is hardly known because he never faced any criticism for it. Rightly so because he bowled well in the series.

In most of the matches, he bowled economically and didn’t make it easy for the batsmen. This helped bowlers from the other end pick up wickets. But instances of putting pressure never get a mention in scorecards.

The one wicket Javagal Srinath took was in India’s second last match against Australia in Mohali. It was an important one of Michael Slater, who was out leg before wicket. The match was an unofficial semi-final for both the teams.

Also read: Forgotten innings: Lance Klusener’s 99 w/s Sri Lanka in the final

We have heard a lot of cricket experts or commentators say that statistics don’t show you the real picture. Javagal Srinath’s performance in the Titan Cup is a shining example of it. There are days when even the greatest of spells don’t yield results. This is where it gives a feeling that luck also plays a role to some extent in the sport.

But despite this, it would be wrong to say that Javagal Srinath had a quiet tournament. He made up for it with the bat. He was the hero when India was struggling to chase a modest score of 215 against Australia in a league match and were 8 down. Srinath saw India home with some fine support from his Karnataka team-mate Anil Kumble.

Back then, it was an era of pinch-hitters and Srinath was India’s most favored one for that role. In the league match against South Africa at Rajkot, Srinath top scored with 53 runs [his highest score] after coming one down as a pinch-hitter. Not many would have expected him to be India’s highest scorer in any match.

While writing this, another major example of stats not being the ultimate truth comes to my mind. Rohit Sharma scored a mammoth 264 against Sri Lanka in Kolkata in 2014. Nine years earlier to that, Sachin Tendulkar scored 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup.

The score of 264 is way more than 98. Yet, Tendulkar’s innings is held in much higher regards than Sharma’s.

I am sure there are many more such examples.

Additional reading:

One of Wasim Akram’s biggest achievements is forgotten

Forgotten spells: When Srinath rattled South African batting order singlehandedly