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Editorial:
A national TV news channel chief, when asked why the Indian media was so obsessed with politicians, gave a frank answer. He said, in the absence of any other heroes [the definition probably limited to ‘celebrities’], journalists had no option but to zero in on the politicians, who were easily recognizable, always in the public domain and always willing to offer quotes and interviews. He was not wrong. Who does India have apart from politicians [when it comes to celebrities]? Some cricketers, Bollywood stars, erratic flickers in other sports, tennis for a while, and now boxing and badminton as well. We are not a very sporty population and it has remained the media-fed spectator sport of cricket and its constant supply of individual performers who have provided public icons. Okay now we also social activists and yoga and lifestyle gurus joining the list, but this might not last very long.
But while they are still ‘hot’, they are hogging all the media space. At the end of the day, even collectively, these are slim pickings to fill the demands of 24x7 news channels and newspapers that keep adding more pages, hoping to win more readers and they give primacy to politics so that there are sound-bytes and quotes always available. But politicians can be extremely fickle, changing their stands often [as the flip-flop on how the ‘civil society’ is being engaged proves]. As a result, what the media feeds audience is also superficial. People need to patronise real heroes who are consistent in their pursuits and reliable as icons. The media will scent the mood the people and start giving these personalities more media-time and that will hopefully leave the politicians to debate at an ideological level and comment on policy initiatives rather than remain obsessed with corny jingoism which makes for sensational headlines but does nothing for governing or playing a real watchdog.
Even Sikkim needs to find role-models outside the political and bureaucratic domain. Apart from the fact that such personalities are available but under-recognised, there is also the need to introduce the young to more versions of being successful means. Such exposure will also cushion some of the contradictions the young grow up with. Sikkim seems to keep forgetting that it takes more than politicians to make a society and more than political gossip to make a conversation. Every society and every generation needs heroes, role models and it would be unfair to suggest that Sikkim has not produced enough for it to present only political or bureaucratic versions of it to the young. For a population of barely over 6 lakhs, the State has done well in exporting talent to just about every field. From historians to IT pioneers, from successful entrepreneurs to respected bureaucrats, from sports-persons to surgeons, from peace-keepers to warriors, from fashion designers to cine stars, there is a famous Sikkimese in every field. What is unfortunate is that the people don’t seem to recognize these achievers beyond the occasional expressions of drummed up celebration. It is a wonder that a society that gets so emotional over politics, reservation and construction sites is also so confoundedly reticent when it comes to recognising its real achievers. What is even more confounding is that the society does have the capacity to get involved as they have displayed every time someone or some organisation decided to celebrate a genuine success. Unfortunately, too many times, these events have been marred by supporting arguments or shallow chauvinism when in fact the achievers in question have risen above the partisanship which obsesses so many others.
This shortcoming can be easily overcome if the society developed some spontaneity, a collective response which is in exceptionally short supply here. The social and community organisations could facilitate such spontaneity, but for that these organisations will have to be led by persons who are not only apolitical [as in harbouring no political ambitions], but also those who have not been part of the executive in their younger years. Admittedly not easy, but not impossible either. In some ways, it also falls on the information providers to keep introducing the audience to more achievers, more success stories… role models from wider range of pursuits.