DailyPost 2370
SHEER TALKING IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN!
Is the Indian public domain full of talking endlessly for no constructive purpose for the people or the nation or for the process of building a strong, robust and a deliverable democracy. What does talking in the public domain mean? This is necessary to understand to realize how our public space conversation is so cluttered so that it possibly cannot deliver anything. Talking in the public domain means utterances, written and oral, through the multi-media world of today, of the decision makers, political leaders, powerful and influential persons with clout and then its resonance / echo / criticism et al in the same space.
What is the talking about? The talking is mostly about flimsy and superficial stuff, based on ego or vested interest or personal vendetta in the garb of serving the larger interests of people. It would also include serious and worthwhile topics which are plagiarized and finally brought down to the same level. In this decimation, the topic and its purpose is lost, as it slowly descends into a verbal dual and continues to remain so, till the time, some other issue / topic emerges, is once again battered black and blue and is thrown to meet the same fate.
It is a truism that the knowledgeable and men of expertise and wisdom keep away from the public for the fear of ending in a slugfest. Who wants to ruin one’s career and name in that manner? The persons today who are talking in the public domain have an axe to grind. Barely anybody is working in public interest, for the welfare of the people or for raising any issue which are futuristic, reformative or dealing with science and technology. None would take about movements to improve community or any strictly legal issue or in the interest of education and health but for lip service.
The beauty of these public domain talkers is that have never soiled their hands, rattled their grey matter and painstakingly delivered. They job is to talk with a vested interest and reap the benefits from it. From whatever professions they come from, this is what they profess and practice. Which are the main battlegrounds where the death of logic, rationale, talent, merit and never say never die approach is celebrated? We can start from the legislatures top to bottom and to the local self-governing bodies too. The electronic media, more so the news channels, in their new yet reasonably old format which is more of cockfight thrilling the transformed villager audiences, watching on the flat screens. Then we have the world of social media, with toxicity, venom and language unmatched. Lots belong to the prepaid and post-paid varieties. Where do we go from here?
UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE LOST OUR PUBLIC DOMAIN.
Sanjay Sahay