Why I like Chetan Bhagat & TOI!
There are many people who dislike certain
entities with a vengeance. Having preferences is fine. But intense loathing for
no specific reason is a bit unreasonable and unfair. Two such popular and identifiable
entities which have faced a lot of such uncalled for hatred form the title of
this blog.
Once upon a time, I also was among
those people who used to say I loathe Chetan Bhagat’s writing. And then, I came
across this article which brought to the fore as to how successful he is. By
success, I do not mean the money he minted. I measure his success by the scale
of his reach. Through his work, he made a large population of India, read
English stories. There was a huge barrier between English educated Indians and
English book readers in India. It is that barrier that he brought down. If I do
not like his simpleton English, that doesn’t necessarily mean I can go ahead
and declare that such kind of writing is substandard and indulge is some Chetan
bashing! There is a space for such writing and it has an audience which needs
to be respected.
Likewise is the case with Times of
India. There is a whole section of people who seem disgusted by TOI. It is the
world’s largest circulated English daily. I repeat, the World’s largest! That
demands some respect. Yes, it has sections that covers latest pet dog’s name of
Bollywood stars. But there is a readership for that too and that is why it is
up there. It also has a business page which gives you interesting insights in
to the M&As and Corporate strategies. It is up to you as to which one you
would want to read!
Now what is this obsessive
compulsion to make others like what we like? One positive reason is a sense of
familiarity .Quite often we take a liking towards people who share the same
preferences as oneself. That is completely normal. It stems from the fact that
it takes much lesser effort to connect with the other person.
But there are other reasons too.
One has got a lot to do with being pretentious. Take the above two scenarios. There
are many who would like to project themselves as Literature reading- thinking
pseudo intellects. These are the same people who can’t tell an oxymoron from a
euphemism! They do not want to associate themselves with the above two
entities so as to guard their fictitious equity.
There is an acute lack of openness too.If a person is well read, he/she will be
shrewd enough to understand the reasoning behind their existence. They will
also be open enough to acknowledge the plurality of things. They will not be
among those who childishly insist that only those entities should exist in this
world which they like!
Then there is the lack of faith in
oneself. There is this compulsive urge to herd together. For instance, I might
like reading novels in regional languages. But it is not the in thing. It is
not very acceptable. So I also join the band wagon of the popular opinion.
It is time we start accepting pluralities
around us. As much as we like our likings, we should know others also are free
to like their likings J.
Arun Babu
Arun, the reason likes of me dislike TOI is because its too much business and very less news. I can compare TOI with The Sun of UK which has a very high readership but very less credibility. The reason why TOI still has some credibility left in India because some of the older generation still knows that once it stood for journalism, but from last 15 years, they even started selling their editorial sections to the business houses and political parties. The place that should be reserved for unbiased opinion became the place for establishing propaganda by highest payers.
ReplyDeleteI do not have any qualms in sensible criticism like this.. I have an issue when people go on and question the right of existence of such entities..You might not like it..but there are people who do...Some people just don't get it..
DeleteArun,
ReplyDeleteBoth of you have different point of views here.
The purpose behind this write up was why you like TOI or Chetan.
I would say if its about taste then we have similar rights of like and dislike in a democratic setup. What you have put to support your point is totally agreeable. If the point is reach then you stay agreed upon but look at the context where people detest Chetan or TOI. Its the veil something under which they sell something else.
Chetan's intent of reach and adoption is OK but you should not call it a good contribution to literature and I wonder what has gone wrong with TOI. Look at the misuse of English. I see some some terms that I never saw before. If you use words like Dhonified or something like that it definitely sounds against the ethics of journalism. Even dislikes should be accepted here. But yes question like right to existence is a little far fetched.
I completely agree with you Rahul.. there are flaws that can be disliked and should be disliked..I have an issue when people take it to an extent of loathing and that too for all the wrong reasons...
DeleteArun, my problem with both Chetan Bhagat and TOI is that they never try to elevate their audience. They discriminate their own readers and garishly insult them with their writings in the pretext of simplicity. Just imagine the impact of the largest selling newspaper and the most widely read author can have on the society. Sadly, both drain their effort on quantity and not on quality. NOM.
ReplyDeleteSandy, regarding Chetan Bhagat, he is making a large population read english stories for the first time. That in itself is an upliftment. Regarding TOI, I agree to your point.
DeleteCB books are easy to read. I need not keep a dictionary handy and I can read few pages and comfortably slip into a snoaring sleep..Reading his books are like..watching my favourite music video on tv..or watching my favourite cartoon.....its just entertainment.
ReplyDeleteIf at all I get time, I go for 'The Hindu'. Because when it comes to reading newspapers I want to read good english.- Parvathy