A day in the life of india...

Every morning we let into our homes a crap worth 4 rupees.

It not only pollutes our homes but also our minds and to some extent even our thinking!

It's called the times of India.

"It's just a damn newspaper!"...you would say,

"NO...it's a way of life, it's a culture".

It peeps into our homes in the wee hours of the morning and soon becomes an integral part of our lives.

Now you would ask, "What is your problem, Rutuja??"

Well,here's my answer..."Aren't newspapers supposed to be mirrors of the world, reflecting the happenings of your world and beyond, keeping a neutral and unbiased proposition with a touch of humanity?"

Well then if my definition is correct, then the TOI is certainly not that!

It doesnt start with headlines of the day..but with an ad just below the TOI logo. This is just the beginning of their money-minded attitude. The news are modified to suit the tastes of elitist society. Just when you thought that oil-for-food was the biggest scam of the year orchestrated by "highly respected" certain Singh,it was nicely shoven from the front pages to 'hardly-ever-read' backpages of the daily.And the biggest joke of the year was a word to word analysis of medical report of the BIG B !! We certainly did not need that! especially when we were still recovering from the shocks and gasps of 100 crore scam that Mr.Singh gifted us.

I have seriously began to doubt my knowledge in the queen's language as i cannot find words to describe what i feel about the TOI supplement-BOMBAY TIMES.

Do we, the middle class, really need the daily dose of page 3 culture? the hugs and air kisses?? the sight of skimpily-clad elitists getting drunk and all high??? the fashion and false eyelashes????

I am sure that many teenagers today will face a problem recognising Sudha Murthy but will closely follow the fashion tips by one Mrs. Parmeshwar Godrej!

Once i committed the heinous crime of reading the heading of a strip called "Dr. Mojo". Thank god my conscience prevented me from reading any further!!

Its time we answer these questions ourselves. Who are our role models? Who are the people we look upto? Its for us to decide and to each his own!

By the way.... I really loved, "A day in the life of india...Times of India" ads...quite heart-touching! but so unlike the actual thing!

But you know what?? I'm stuck like dope, on this thing called hope.

So, my new year's gonna begin with "The Hindustan Times".

Happy new year to all!

And Happy reading too!!