YSR Reddy in my Inbox

-
A FWD landed in my inbox this morning. The subject line said FWD: YSR Crash. I had a fair idea of what it would contain even before I opened it. The images attached were graphic and disturbingly clear. The hi-res pictures had obviously been taken by the news photographers who had access to the crash site of YSR Reddy's chopper on Rudrakonda hill. The broken, bloated and burnt bodies were clearly visible strewn amidst the wreckage. You could make out the pilot from the stripes on his uniform. I didnt venture to guess which one of the bodies was the Chief Minister's. Thankfully, the creator of this FWD (good Lord, how morbid!) had not identified YSR in his/her 'comments' (Yes, the pics were captioned!!). Having scrolled down once, I hit Delete.

Soon afterwards, a colleague of mine, who was also marked on the FWD, sent a Reply All. Her point was that its quite reprehensible the way we are making a spectacle of someone's gruesome death. Please dont forward this mail any further, she requested. The dead deserve some dignity.

I agree. I was glad I had already deleted it, lest the inclination should ever strike to share such a macabre visual. Its enough that the news channels had covered the tragedy live. When they broke the news that the chopper had been spotted on the hilltop and it would take about 20 mins for a ground patrol to reach the peak and see if there were survivors, one of the channels even started a countdown in its ticker. If that wasnt pathetic, trivializing a disaster by making it a FWD is the absolute pits!

Later, another colleague drew a comparison with 9/11. We didnt see FWDs with gory images of the dead and destroyed after 9/11, did we? She opined that was because the Westerners are more particular about how they treat their dead.

I am not too sure about her point. Firstly, I get the feeling we DID see enough gory stuff after 9/11. And for years afterwards. Correct me if I am wrong. Secondly, we didnt see as many 9/11 FWDs because FWDs per se were not as prolific back then. There was no social media. Internet penetration in India was still limited. A few other reasons too.

Perhaps, the relevant point here is we live in a closely connected world and information flows as swiftly as water but we really must adopt a little more discretion in our communication. What we talk and how we talk, especially about the dead, ought to be with some deference. Is that too much to ask for?

Photo Credit: The pic above is from here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I want not agree on it. I regard as warm-hearted post. Particularly the appellation attracted me to study the sound story.
January 14, 2010 at 3:23 PM
Anonymous said…
Nice dispatch and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you on your information.
January 18, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sure, I bribe. But no cash. Do you take card?

-
Its been a long while since I last ventured on to this page. Frankly, I didnt think anybody reads this with any regularity. However, recently, a couple of friends nudged me out of blog-atrophy, so I guess a couple of people do read this. Good. Because I have a couple of questions for those people. Whats the minimum bribe one can slip into a traffic cop's hand if one is not going to be paying the legal fine for an offense committed? I ask for the least possible amount which doesnt leave a dent in the driver's pocket and yet ensures a hassle-free drive through. Least possible amount that will satisfy the cop-on-a-personal-fund-raising-mission. Since it was the May Day holiday, I ventured out grocery shopping expecting the roads to be less congested. (For those over-inquisitive minds who wish to know, yes, I meticulously plan my driving to coincide only with ungodly hours and unfrequented side roads.) And so they were. Just that I hadn't factored in the traffic police. Thei...
Read more

Independence Day SOTN

-
A few random thoughts on the state of the nation this 61st Independence Day: - • A country of 1 billion and we win only one medal at the Olympics. The good news is its a gold. The bad news is we haven’t got even a single silver or bronze. God, that makes the gold sound like a fluke! Hope the situation changes before the end of the games. • On TV yesterday, a CNN-IBN survey on prevalent urban Indian mindset on marriage presented the following results: o 87 per cent Indians feel that life is incomplete without marriage. o 76 per cent single people in metros believe in marriage. o Only 9% say that life can be complete without marriage o Only 32% young metro men & 22% small town women think pre-marital sex is acceptable. Remaining obviously consider it taboo. So, correct me if I guessed wrong, but one can safely conclude that we are country teeming with virgins whose overwhelming goal in life is to get married. But here's the irony - A good 48 per cent urban Indians fav...
Read more

How to Win a Customer, How to Lose a Customer

-
Image
This story is about how people do business. There is customer service and there is customer delight. And there is the yawning gap between the two. Since I toy around with all that market-speak for most of my professional work hours, I have a passable understanding of it. But it was enlightening to see them in action, in the space of a single evening. Okay, the story starts with me hurrying around Bangalore East with a largish pair of butterfly wings …yes, you read right, butterfly wings….in my hands. Don’t ask me for the backstory; suffice it to say, it’s got something to do with a kiddies fancy dress competition and my daughter wanting to be Mariposa, that Ms-Goody-Two-Shoes fairy from Barbie Land. The wings were diaphanous, purple-colored and liberally sprinkled with glitter. Where did I get them? To my utter, incredulous wonder, there is a whole shop near Ulsoor Police Station solely devoted to fancy dress costumes for kids. And he had a rack full of wings to choose from. When I pic...
Read more