A voice in the darkness

It was hardly the stuff dream homecomings are made of. The sickening noise from the engines of the Indian Airlines (rechristened Indian) aircraft preparing for take-off, ensured that my first annual vacation to India began with a two-hour tribulation at Dubai airport. Our ageing plane had ‘surprisingly’ developed a technical snag. At least, that is what the grumpy air hostesses and sleepy pilot said. So much for the Rs 500-crore merger of Air India and Indian, India’s national carriers. One more reason to turn up one’s nose at everything Indian. It’s not difficult to comprehend why people from the subcontinent flock to Dubai like moths to a flame. Exchange rates aside, quality of life is the most pressing of arguments put forward by fellow expatriates. My recent vacation home bolstered this belief, but it also made me realise why dirhams can’t buy happiness and why India will always be home. Landing in Mumbai, after a year of living in Dubai was unnerving. The claustrophobic Fiat Pa...

After five years of working on the newsdesk of three newspapers I find myself pondering over one question, 'Whither commitment?' Is journalism all about achieving cult status and big bucks today? Not that these virtues are a problem. Prannoy Roy makes a lot of money, Vinod Mehta does too and so do a number of other senior journalists. So why do I respect people like Roy and Mehta while I can't stand some of the other journalists? Commitment, lack of initiative and a lot of times, paucity of grey matter! Yeah, a lot of people tell me, 'What do you know about people like Roy, they do this, they do that...' That's fine, I judge people by the manner in which they speak and conduct themselves. And, of course, what they produce! Today, quality has been slaughtered at the altar of sensationalism. Yes, there are feature editors who believe that Britney going bald merits a pointer on the front page. Tell them about a pile of children's bones found in the vicinity of ...