Michael Jackson, one of the most iconic pop singers the world has ever known and will ever know, is no more. He wasn't just a singer or a dancer. He was a PHENOMENON. But one that nobody could explain!
And now that he is gone, that too so suddenly, the media has gone berserk. I always keep thinking everytime the media covers an event/story, that this is it - they really cant stoop lower than this. This is the pits. And just like the phoenix rising from the ashes, they just beat me. Every single time. They just outdo themselves in how low they can stoop and to what depth they can fall to, just to get a nice juicy story.
They just are not able to come to terms with the fact that he died of a cardiac arrest. That it could be as simple as that. I mean why would they when you come to think of it - Pop Superstar dies of cardiac arrest. Period. What next? This kind of news would be fodder for just a couple of days. Nothing exciting about it right. So what do they do? Spice it up. Tadka mar ke. He was doing drugs. His doctor conspired. Maybe he is still alive. The body was his body doubles. Maybe he was murdered. Endless of such theories. I sat in utter disbelief and absolute disgust watching some of the topmost media channels in India (both English and Hindi) playing out such a news item. A popular music 'youth icon' channel had a ticker running at the bottom which was anything but a tribute - it was ridiculing all the things he did wrong in his life - from his drug abuse to him dangling a baby in front of the media. And what are we expected to do - laugh at the things written in this ticker? Take it light? Is this what the youth of today is meant to symbolise? To smirk at someone even in their death? And such a kind of a channel claims to be the 'nerve center' of todays youth? Absolute, utter crap.
All the media wants to just milk his last moments too. Its like such a simple, straight forward death was something disgusting that MJ did for them. Couldnt he have died in a headline-exploding kind of fashion? Like a suicide maybe? Which may have had them churning out of stories for atleast a month? Anyways, they are doing their best to try and come up with as many stories and versions to keep people hooked and engaged.
I just cant overcome the disgust. Its about time that a regulatory authority was set up for our media channels. In their hunger for just about any remotely juicy news bit, they have fallen so low that they probably dont even know the kind of abyss they have fallen into it. It probably doesnt matter to them. They perhaps have gotten way too numb to feel anything. Who cares you are in an abyss? As long as you can provide an 'entertaining' news story.
I am sure this endless speculation about the King of Pops death is going to keep this bunch of circus clowns quiet busy for a while. Some of them have features on his wacko ways and his 'troubled life'. One of the blogs stated that he was never able to love himself. Agreed. Probably thats an accurate assessment. But so what?? Anyone who has ready his brief life story (wikipedia has a good one) would be horrified beyond their gut at what he went through. I am just shell shocked that someone could even get past such a tortured childhood to become someone so iconic. Did he abuse those kids? Maybe he did. Maybe he didnt. And if he did, he certainly certainly was in the wrong. Being insecure and feeling sorry for yourself or being a big star doesn't give you the right to abuse anybody else. But what I want to say is that all this is besides the point now. Now that he is gone, doesnt he deserve to be left alone. To truly REST IN PEACE. Or is that just another term that has become so fancy with the media people to use and print, that the very significance of the phrase itself has been lost on them?
Michael, dont bother about the media circus playing down here. Just be oblivious to it all. For of all the times, it is now, that you truly need to and deserve to REST IN PEACE.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
NEVER STOP TRYING!
How difficult is it to go about achieving something? A little? A lot? I would think very. And the difficulty usually doesn't lie in the physicality of the task to be achieved (or intellectuality in cases where there is no physicality required) but usually in the emotional and mental preparation. The majority of which is due to the different kind of people around us. I know this is beginning to sound really generic - but think about it. Take any task you may have ever wanted to do/achieve. Losing weight. Learning a new game/sport. Picking up a new process at work. Getting married to whom you want to. Cooking. Taking an exam. Buying that shirt/dress you want to. Going to a movie.
Standalone I doubt if any of these tasks really are difficult to achieve. Some are downright easy. Some require some effort. And others like losing weight require a hell lot of effort! The tasks always vary in the nature of their requirement from us as individuals. But what really is common to all of them most of the time is that we hardly take a real true 'individualistic' decision. Losing weight - agreed, we do it for ourselves. But also mostly for someone else. Or if nothing else, from all tat peer pressure and the way society looks at overweight individuals. Learning a new game/sport - you learn it in a batch usually from someone really experienced usually. But why this task becomes difficult is bcos there are others who pick it up quicker. Or the coach expects you to learn it with the flow. But what if you are one of those who take a really long while to 'get it'? Does that mean you should give up learning it jus bcos you cant keep up with the batch or the coach cant really afford to give you extra time? Cooking - we always keep thinking of how this will eventually end up being liked. Is the salt alrite? Is it too spicy? I hope they like it?
My point is this. You need to be really really motivated to get to where you want to. The task itself is never such a barrier or roadblock as much as the people on the way to achieving it are. Now dont get me wrong. This is not to label all humans as inhumans! There would always be those who would stick up for you, support you, counsel you no matter what. The biggest and best amongst these would be your parents. But there would also always be a lot of them who will try and make you believe that you cant really get there. Thats when you need to really kill the urge to retaliate right then and instead maintain a kind of stoic calm. And thats where you would require all the patience and courage in the world. And thats what would be the difficult aspect of the task that you would need to clear.
Most human beings are insecure by nature. And insecure not in every sense or activity. But in those that they themselves dont excel in. Or sometimes they may excel in, but may fear that someone may be 'better' than them. It is really really funny. But even amongst friends this is pretty common. For example - you want to lose that weight. There would be times when they would stand by you. But there would also be equal number of times, when they would be vivid in their description on why its difficult for you to achieve. Or who may taunt you cos you ended up missing your morning walk twenty times out of thirty. They will never ever stand up and appreciate you for the ten days that you did. Or even apart from friends, there would be people(colleagues, neighbours, etc.) who would smirk at how you are always 'wanting' to lose weight. Or are always 'going to launch a succesful business' this time around. Or are still waiting 'for the right person' to get married to.
Think about it - why should you give a damn to these people? Let it be anybody. Friends. Family. Neighbours. Colleagues. ANYBODY. Who understands you better than you yourself? And by taking them seriously, who stands to be vindicated? If you take their comments seriously, it would just hurt you and may make you lose whatever little bit of inner strength may be left in you. And if you give up on the task, it is these kind of people who stand vindicated. And who would come back to you and tell you - "see I told you so".
The thing is we got to figure out for ourselves whose comments are really worth listening to and whose are not. You may not be regular at the task you have set out on. You WILL fall. But what you should never do is to STOP TRYING. B'cos the minute you stop trying, it means giving up and accepting what others have just been saying all along. To which there are two aspects - analyse it realistically and accept that there was truth to what was being said and that this is really not your cup of tea and move on. Or analyse and see if you can really gather strength to still achieve this goal of yours? And even if there is a glimmer of chance that you can still achieve this, then I would say GO FOR IT. It is worth a try atleast.
Standalone I doubt if any of these tasks really are difficult to achieve. Some are downright easy. Some require some effort. And others like losing weight require a hell lot of effort! The tasks always vary in the nature of their requirement from us as individuals. But what really is common to all of them most of the time is that we hardly take a real true 'individualistic' decision. Losing weight - agreed, we do it for ourselves. But also mostly for someone else. Or if nothing else, from all tat peer pressure and the way society looks at overweight individuals. Learning a new game/sport - you learn it in a batch usually from someone really experienced usually. But why this task becomes difficult is bcos there are others who pick it up quicker. Or the coach expects you to learn it with the flow. But what if you are one of those who take a really long while to 'get it'? Does that mean you should give up learning it jus bcos you cant keep up with the batch or the coach cant really afford to give you extra time? Cooking - we always keep thinking of how this will eventually end up being liked. Is the salt alrite? Is it too spicy? I hope they like it?
My point is this. You need to be really really motivated to get to where you want to. The task itself is never such a barrier or roadblock as much as the people on the way to achieving it are. Now dont get me wrong. This is not to label all humans as inhumans! There would always be those who would stick up for you, support you, counsel you no matter what. The biggest and best amongst these would be your parents. But there would also always be a lot of them who will try and make you believe that you cant really get there. Thats when you need to really kill the urge to retaliate right then and instead maintain a kind of stoic calm. And thats where you would require all the patience and courage in the world. And thats what would be the difficult aspect of the task that you would need to clear.
Most human beings are insecure by nature. And insecure not in every sense or activity. But in those that they themselves dont excel in. Or sometimes they may excel in, but may fear that someone may be 'better' than them. It is really really funny. But even amongst friends this is pretty common. For example - you want to lose that weight. There would be times when they would stand by you. But there would also be equal number of times, when they would be vivid in their description on why its difficult for you to achieve. Or who may taunt you cos you ended up missing your morning walk twenty times out of thirty. They will never ever stand up and appreciate you for the ten days that you did. Or even apart from friends, there would be people(colleagues, neighbours, etc.) who would smirk at how you are always 'wanting' to lose weight. Or are always 'going to launch a succesful business' this time around. Or are still waiting 'for the right person' to get married to.
Think about it - why should you give a damn to these people? Let it be anybody. Friends. Family. Neighbours. Colleagues. ANYBODY. Who understands you better than you yourself? And by taking them seriously, who stands to be vindicated? If you take their comments seriously, it would just hurt you and may make you lose whatever little bit of inner strength may be left in you. And if you give up on the task, it is these kind of people who stand vindicated. And who would come back to you and tell you - "see I told you so".
The thing is we got to figure out for ourselves whose comments are really worth listening to and whose are not. You may not be regular at the task you have set out on. You WILL fall. But what you should never do is to STOP TRYING. B'cos the minute you stop trying, it means giving up and accepting what others have just been saying all along. To which there are two aspects - analyse it realistically and accept that there was truth to what was being said and that this is really not your cup of tea and move on. Or analyse and see if you can really gather strength to still achieve this goal of yours? And even if there is a glimmer of chance that you can still achieve this, then I would say GO FOR IT. It is worth a try atleast.
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