Palagummi
Sainath, a journalist and a photo journalist, calls himself a “Rural Reporter”.
He focuses on the rural affairs, social inequality, poverty and the lives of
those affected by these phenomena. He is
the Rural Affairs Editor for ‘The Hindu’. Amartya Sen, an economist himself has
called him “one of the world’s greatest experts on Famine and Hunger”.
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P
Sainath’s documentaries “Nero’s Guests” and “Globalising Inequality” captured
my attention and forced me to ponder over some facts that I had either been
ignoring or was unaware of! Living in our urban shells, we never realised that
‘Farmer Suicides’ have been such a grave issue. We never realised that the
inequality among the rich and the poor and in the amount of attention given to
both the classes has been increasing ever since. Mr. Sainath, with his
emotionally charged narration and the well researched facts and data, has been
successful in spreading the awareness and the message loud and clear.
Both the documentaries highlight the fact that
the ‘Beautiful people’ are given more importance in our society than the people
whose hardwork results in their ‘beauty’! When hundreds of farmers were taking
their lives in many parts of India, it wasn’t reported because it wasn’t seen
as important. But in the same span of time, the ‘Lakme India Fashion Week’ was
happening and almost all the major news channels and papers had their reporters
sent there to report the event Live. When Tsunami hit 11 countries…India was
one of the 5 majorly affected countries. In Nagapattinam, a small town in Tamil
Nadu, nearly 30,000 houses were swept away. There was a huge loss of life and
property in the coastal regions. But that year the SENSEX hit one of its historic
highs! Not only in India, but, it happened with the stock exchanges of all the
five countries which were the worst affected. “More the misery, better the
stock exchanges did”. ‘Stock Markets’ are made the central indicators of
identifying how a nation is doing. So, more the people suffer, more the stock
markets boom and hence the nation is supposed to be prospering! Inequality is
increasing at a brutally high rate. When there were nearly 30,000 houses being
swept away due to Tsunami; at the same span of time, there were nearly 84,000
houses being demolished in the slums of Mumbai for the ‘development of the
city’! The poor people didn’t even get a chance to take away their belongings
(eg. Birth certificates, Marks cards, utensils etc.). Bulldozers ran on their
homes and they were helpless. When the bulldozer drivers and police constables
(who were giving protection to the abolishers) were interviewed, they said that
they did this “weeping in their hearts” because they knew that they
lived in slums too and they would be the next! This barbaric act by the
Maharashtra govt. was not brought into light by the media. Many stories were
killed in the newsrooms and the people were still unaware and ignorant of what
was happening around them.
Mr.
Sainath’s anguish and frustration are clearly visible by the tone of his
speech. He is disappointed by the way ‘Inequality’ is soaring high in the
society and people still… are not ready to take it seriously. His tone can be
compared to that of Brutus in Julius Ceaser. He is cynical towards the
indifference of the Media, the Government and the People, who are working as
the factors of increasing ‘INEQUALITY’ and degrading the lives of the poor for
their convenience. The title “Nero’s guests” is a direct indication to the
people…to us! We are being ‘Nero’s guests’ by letting the farmers and the poor
people live in misery and ‘burn at stake’. Mr. Sainath has asked a direct
question and has given a choice to his audience and to everyone that whether
they want to be as heartless, indifferent and self involved as ‘Nero’s guests’
or not! He wants us to understand the reality and face it…not run away from it.
Mr. Sainath’s documentaries give us a better understanding of the Real face of
the fast growing economies. He has put forth a question on the field he himself
works in. He is saddened by how today’s media is functioning, which sees only
Profit!
Media directs our thought process and the way
we look at the world. It shows us the ‘GLAMOUR’ and the news it feels would
sell! It is becoming a major factor for driving people away from the reality.
It gives us the ‘BREAKING NEWS’ and we happily adhere to it. Our way of
thinking is being conditioned and it is not wholly Media’s fault. We have become
indifferent to the reality ourselves! We enjoy the spiced up news but don’t
have the strength to face or listen to the brutal reality.
References:
- - Mohita Munot
1st CEP
1313159
1st CEP
1313159
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