The fatter, the fitter
by J. L. Gupta
I HAVE a big mouth. A still bigger appetite. Yet, once upon a time, I was thin as a reed. Most of my bones could be seen and felt. I could have been hired to act as a moving skeleton in a horror movie. I could have made a reasonable living as a scare crow.
The dying days of monsoon have left a thin strip of central India flattened by heavy downpour and submerged by swollen rivers. Much of Surat in Gujarat and all of Hazira, the point from where natural gas is pumped through giant pipes, are under water. Gas supply has been switched off to consumer industries in north India, mostly fertiliser and electric generation plants. It looks like a few dark days for some pockets in this region. Surats trouble looks like a minor hiccup compared to what the three eastern states are going through. Gorakhpur, several northern Bihar towns and Malda are going through nightmarish days for the first time in living memory. Bangladesh, rather two-thirds of the country, has been under deep river waters since July, yes July. Lack of drinking water and food is the lot of the flood victims who exist either huddled in miserable tents pitched on a few square metres of dry highways or perched on rooftops. A medical man in Bihar predicts much loss of life once the water subsides and the erratic supply of drinking water and food stops. Water-borne diseases will take a huge toll, unless the authorities quickly move in with preventive steps. Their performance in handling relief does not inspire much confidence.
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I HAVE a big mouth. A still bigger appetite. Yet, once upon a time, I was thin as a reed. Most of my bones could be seen and felt. I could have been hired to act as a moving skeleton in a horror movie. I could have made a reasonable living as a scare crow.
I watched the coverage on both the BBC and CNN. And I must concede that with all its local advantages, CNN came off second best. The BBC put on its best newscasters who were able to cope with the fast-moving situation. They kept a fine balance between the debates in the House, the continuing instant reportage from their correspondents in Washington and elsewhere and expert comments from both American and European experts in the studio. It was a shining example of both responsible and lively coverage and one of the BBCs best in recent times.
At the same time, there was the India-Pakistan match from Toronto and the finals of the US Open Tennis. Never have I surfed so adroitly, making the most of the gaps for advertisement to watch action on the other channel. Eventually, of course, I plumped for tennis, sitting up till the early hours. Yes, for once we had a choice, a difficult but exciting choice, those sudden moments when TV justifies its existence.
There is a scene in the film where the father and son speak only during a cricket match. I immediately identified with that as I think every male child at some point of time, once the ego starts to kicks in tries to distant himself from his father. It is like showing I am my own man. In a way, making this film has brought me closer to my father. Not that we had a bad relationship, but just that we were strong at communicating with each other. This film broke even those doors for me. Even when I wanted to give up engineering and take to films, it was my mother who communicated it to my father. But today it is a lot different. I just pick up the phone and speak to him. That is the change making this film has brought about in my own life.
An inactive response would be to make cheesy Youtube videos about the 'indomitable spirit of Mumbai' without managing any substantive change. To thrash about like spoiled children for a couple of weeks before retreating into that comfortable cocoon of familiarity. I've read reports that multiple, specific intelligence warnings precipitated this attack, but were not acted upon. I've been told that Mumbai has no elite counter-terrorism encounter force to speak of, and that the city police were hopelessly outgunned by the attackers' modern, automatic weapons. If these concerns aren't addressed, such inactivity would indeed be pathetic, almost resigning ourselves to it happening again in the future.