He KISSED Her…! The Media Blowup.
-- Collin Remegius Noronha

Its amazing how the media can so easily blow ‘NOTHING’ out of proportion. Our nation is certainly moving into the future. The Indian horizons are widening each day. But our country has particularly taken a little too long to make it here. And we would expect our media to help accelerate the process, but they just have to practice making a mountain out of a mole for a news story, good or bad. People in other parts of the world have come to know that the average Indian citizen is not very comfortable speaking openly about the SEX. So they decide to come over and help our people get out of this shell, and we say make yourself at home, and when they do, we raise hell…! Why? The media fraternity in India have not completely understood or basically misunderstood their role in making our nation a Global Nation. True, their first priority is to bring people nationwide up to speed with all the happenings in the country. But that certainly does not imply, project a mole with the magnitude of a mountain and light an unwanted spark in the common man mindset. Take for instance, this incident where Mr. Gere kissed Ms. Shilpa Shetty. It is more than obvious that there was nothing obscene about it. We should consider our nation blessed to have an American Super Star of his stature, come over to our country to address an issue that we should be taking care of ourselves. If Mr. Gere really didn’t have the heart to help our people, he could easily find a problem in his own country that could use his attention. But he uses his time to come over to India and do something good for the Indian people and I believe its only fair that we give him his space. There was a similar incident when Brad Pitt and his family were here sometime ago to shoot a film. Sadly, these guests and their security personnel have to be prepared for any form of barbarism, whether from media persons or the common Indian. And ever so often we find the precautions our guests take, are so very necessary, because they are often caught in the middle of hostile situations. It is high time the media understood that they are in a certain way, the projection of Indian society to the world, and that they should make it a point to paint a very wholesome, true and pretty picture. Why should Shilpa or Mr. Gere apologize? What wrong have they done? Do we really want to give Mr. Gere a chance to help India with this growing problem? In situations like these, the media in our country should facilitate exercises that will help our people better understand the ways of our fellow humans, as different as they maybe, and that they are entitled to a pleasant, hassle free stay in India.