Something evil had entered the city of Mumbai. What was once India’s economic hub is now a burnt down scenario of grief and terror , frightfully similar to ground zero.We are left with many unanswered questions: Will there be a war? Why is this happening? But we have to keep in mind the bigger question: “What now for cricket in India?”
The devastating knock-on effects of the Mumbai attacks are already being felt across the globe. The England cricket team's ongoing India tour was thrown into doubt on Wednesday night after 120 people were killed in the carnage. Cricket Australia suspended all travel to India. Reports claim that what many have defined as India’s 9/11 has left senior England team players “concerned”.
I would like to reassure the public that there will be no questions left unanswered. Well, unless you are wondering what blood type is needed and where, or unless you are stranded and need to find your relatives. I mean not even the Indian media bother, so why should we? As if this type of information was vital during a war crisis, it’s BORING! Now, our brave and responsible media have enough space in their packed agendas to provide us with real time updates on issues that are actually relevant to us, the “ great western audience”.
As always in these situations there are attention seekers, who exploit the democratic medium that is the internet to be a nuisance. Javits Rajendran: “22:27 Hrs Nov 27: The only news channel that is broadcasting any news about the Mumbai attacks right now is CNBC (which is a business news channel). Pathetic!” You wanted the news, there it is. Now what does he expect, the whole media world to constantly revolve around one little accident? I say he is pathetic!
British journalists often use an interesting catchphrase: "put a Union Jack on it!" It simply means that in order to interest the British public, the media need to find a national angl
e. It makes perfect sense; a silly city in the middle of nowhere has absolutely nothing to do with England. A bunch of foreign people is no longer news to anyone . I mean if they would have been puppies or horses or even gardens, then that would have been a tragedy.
I am not surprised. This is what, as journalists, we are taught from day one. Find the local angle, that makes sense, but then lets not kid ourselves with all the 'we live in a global village' talk.There is a centre and there is a periphery, and as usual the media never fails to show us who is we and who is them. If the Taj Mahal is burning, but before it burnt we didn't even know it existed.
pictures: Flickr
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