News

Ever wonder how there is something above and beyond the media frenzy?

In the United States (and more so in India), the media decides what should be the big news item of the day! The government controls the press or different political parties carve out percentages of the "free" press and invariably the news is what the controlling parties want the people to hear.

To top things off, the media today has the ability to blur the lines between reality and fantasy and you really cannot differentiate between "Times of India", "Rediff" and "The Onion"! Seriously the "real" news looks more ridiculous than the spoofs.

In the US it is always Iraq, Afghanistan, Bush, Hilary, Obama.

Once in a while though something happens that gives the media a reality check. Case in point is the cyclone in Burma and the Earthquake in China. They will push the standard news items to the background for a few days.

Then they will be pushed to the last page or a footnote when the next troop surge is announced or when Hilary or Obama do something attention grabbing!

Hope the news from Burma and China stays in the news for a few more days so those people get the attention they deserve from the rest of the world.

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Interesting view of things

Today in the letters to the newsdesk section of the news on public radio, a listener had pointed out an interesting fact.

The student who went on a rampage at Virginia Tech., was being showcased as a "Korean kid"! What is interesting is that he was born in Korea, but he lived his entire life here, went to school here, went to college here, was raised as an American and for all practical purposes was predominantly exposed to American culture.

The newscasters are trying to imply that his actions have something to do with his "Koreanity". Scary part is that, it is simply a question of time before someone in the media actually publicizes the word "Koreanity" and someone else misspells it as "Koranity" and before you know it you have the President triumphantly declaring that he has found the connection between the shootings and the Koran!

The USA today is scary. Over the years I have spoken to many teenagers and college students here, from the time I came here as a graduate student to the the present day. I just thank my stars that I managed to grow up in India in the eighties, an environment where students focused on their studies, were too young to chase the other sex when they were in high school (had no peer pressure to lose their viriginity before graduation !) or had to work and study at the same time.

Kids in this country have a tough time for the most part because they share the financial burden of their education (partially or completely), have peer pressure to do things that distract them from their studies and their future, do not have good examples and role models to keep them focussed and have a system that is more than happy to dole out overpriced student loans, condoms and depression pills to school kids as solutions to their problems as opposed to getting to the root cause.

The lucky ones do get to have role models, parents or relatives that support them during their education process and have the ability to focus and prioritize their goals. It is a fact that the most brilliant and creative people I have met over the last decade are of American origin. If a person has to succeed in spite of all these distractions and responsibilities, they have to be really good. Maybe that explains that creativity!

I have already written many a post on raising my kids here. I can only hope that if I support their education, keep them focussed , put them with kids whose parents share the same hopes and fears (yes, fear works at a lot of levels here) , then they will succeed!

Time and place do play a part in how people grow and develop, probably more than their birthplace or nationality. The media has a lot of growing up to do!

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