Meyiappan Geyiappan

The name made it to the media headlines for almost a fortnight. Shutterbugs tracked every single step of this man post his name being highlighted in IPL 2013 betting scandal which later led to his arrest. Son-in-law to N Srinivasan, owner of IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings, never would have imagined himself to be behind bars in such a fashion. N Srinivasan, perhaps faced the most daunting time of his life, almost yielding to the media pressure of stepping down as BCCI chief. In true fascist style, Srinivasan managed to pull it off (his way) by just stepping aside, till the enquiry gets over. The committee has been formed and is supposed to un-earth the scandalous nature followed and practiced in IPL, atleast by son-in-law. The biggest question to me is, where is Meyiappan ?

And the answer is, he is Geyiappan !!!

This is what (eventful) media is.

The limelight has shifted to NaMo, BJP-JDU split and now at Uttarakhand devastation (my heart goes out to the lives lost) and very importantly to the Indian team victorious at Champions Trophy (kudos MSD !!!). The victory must have certainly give a huge sigh of relief to the beleaguered BCCI and also to N Srinivasan. The true politicians will again stand tall with a guileful smile. The dust has settled for now. The inquiry committee is just hand-in glove with BCCI. They will come out with a report, probably giving out prohibitory orders for Meyiappan and a definite clean chit to the henchman, Srinivasan.

With memories short-lived, IPL will again start next year in the same fanfare, albeit CSK bench will be conspicuous with Meyiappan’s absence.

The betting/ spot-fixing will again surface, probably with a different name, Geyiappan instead of Meyiappan. Crime will again get smarter of the law (or no law).

We are staying in a country where law-breakers are the law makers. Consider this, Azharuddin, who was handed a lifetime ban (lifted in 2012) for match fixing, is a sitting Member of Parliament. Doesn’t it sound insane? Are we insinuating ourselves to be the best-in class saints ?

The power-traders (Pawars, Srinivasans, Dalmiyas et al) know the game pretty well. They will bend all rules to get their interests served and will stay defiant, even with their dirty linen being washed openly in public.

The hype and hoopla around the betting scam has ended, as expected. Meyiappan, you can certainly relax peacefully, you are anyhow son-in-law (pun intended). Your pup and the law (or no law) would be the savior.

No need to be Geyiappan, stay Meyiappan.

Parliament 2.0

I remember a science question from my school days. Who invented Television? John Baird. Even though now when I Google, I find many others had given the concept with some prototypes, prior to Baird. Irrespective of the inventor/s, the invention can be termed as a medium powerful enough to bring a social, economic change.  

     

Circa 1991. India underwent economic reforms including liberalization of broadcasting industry. This opened the gates to a lot of private players, few foreign as well, to explore and leverage the Indian market. Indian channels such as NDTV, Aaj Tak, Zee started as child and now have become behemoths in their domains. They have covered, discussed, debated, exposed all events concerning the average Indian.

 

MMS. I do have a lot of regard for the Indian Premiere for his profound simplicity (as it appears to be) and sheer uprightness (as it appears to be). However, he proves to be a lame duck when it comes to being vociferous in shielding his government from the blatant scams and scandals, hitting left, right and center.

Governments post-independence had a gala time with no watchdog and only state controlled media. The scams and scandals were the brain-child of these governments, only to have become an intrepid monster with the electors being taken into account only once in 5 years. Media is now challenging and changing all this crap. Indian Parliament functions in sessions giving an easy absenteeism to the elected. The debates, even though are LIVE and recorded , tend to more of an eyewash than the real substance. Be it any scam, major or minor, the political parties all seem to be hand-in glove when it comes to paisa. The Television, media, however seems to be making a difference.

 

 

I have been watching couple of debates on NDTV and I am in the awe of anchors such as Ravish Kumar, Abhigyan Prakash. Same goes to other newschannels as well. They are upright, no-nonsense people, willing to confront the politico-honchos and make them bite the dust, right in front of the angered diaspora.  Such is the tenacity of arguments based on facts and figures that cause netas and their nominees gasping for breath and struggling for words. Media has been tearing into the tainted system burgeoning with illiterate and goon like figures and exposing their real face in the public.

All this is changing things for good. The netas are now part of debates aired by a private newschannel and this is turning into a virtual parliament. They are being made more accountable, more answerable to the general public. Any scamster is chased right to his door-step and is gherao-ed, confronted with the media. This is forcing political parties to wake-up and be more conscious of their image, branding. They are turning more and more cautious in their acts and are asking their tainted mantris to quit the posts.

I can only hope that television and media would be real savior of India in next few decades. The newschannels will continue to expose the tainted politicians and virtually put an end to their career. Political parties would be forced to cleanse themselves from head to toe for the evil elements harbored.