It is a common practice to sum up the events of a year about to wind up. In this post ,we will look at some of the things in a couple of fields which have undergone small but positive changes and some others which still continue to remain more or less the same, in their good, bad or ugly format.
Politics:
David beats Goliath…
Perhaps, the biggest surprise event of 2013 has been the rise of the Mango Man party in the country, in virtually no time. The country which had become used to the (in)efficiencies of the 2 grand old parties got another option and they seized it with both hands. It showed us that one can achieve something if one dares to dream big, even in a field like politics where oligopoly always has its ugly head raised high. Now, whether the party will perform upto the self created expectations or not, whether it will deliver its promises or not is a topic of discussion for some other day. The fact remains that it did manage to bring in some encouraging change in a field like politics and manage to give some sleepless nights to the old mighty.
But corruption remains stubborn…
The scam cases are continuing to build up so fast in our country that one might run out of words in the dictionary to be prefixed to the popular word ‘gate’. 2013 was no exception, with perhaps even the most vocal TV new reporters and masala news makers losing the count of it. High profile arrests of a few have been reduced to just non-consequential events with the accused walking free out of prison in virtually no time.
Indian television
Dawn of TV 2.0 ?….
Indian TV has always been characterized by saas-bahu dramas and serious-turned-comedy crime serials. In came a TV series which featured a few top actors of the Indian cinema. The serial although too short in length considering the average duration of Indian sop dramas running into decades, did manage to bring in a complete new image which was immediately accepted by the young audience. Whether it remains a one off change in Indian TV or encourages other serial makers to tow its path remains to be seen.
No real change here…
Our News channels debates remind me of Group Discussions in Management Schools. Everyone is simply shouting, neither debating nor listening to each other, the only difference here being that the GD moderator keeps quiet and is definitely not the most heard or the loudest voice unlike in our news channels discussions. Adding a few big bossy serials to , and barring a few exceptions like the one in section above from the list, one can very well say that the quality of Indian TV is still nowhere near to the global standards set by their western counterparts and has still a lot of homework to do.
Bombay talkies..
Small but significant steps forward…
Biopics generally don’t cut ice, especially if they revolve around a character from a sport which is not cricket. The film Milkha Singh changed it all aided by delivery of a spectacular performance from a person who is fast becoming a big all-rounder in Indian cinema. Another film on assassination of a former PM of our country brought some welcoming refresh. Indian cinema needs more of these refreshes to get bigger attention in the global scene and shed the perception of a masala movie making industry.
Yet some score an undeserving century..
Breaking 100 crore mark in revenues has now become as simple as hitting sixes in IPL. Any Tom, Dick and Harry can do it. The worrisome part remains that there is still a huge question mark on the quality of film making in our country. Multi Record breakers and blockbusters like Chennai Express and Dhoom 3 cannot exactly be called as masterpieces. The sad part is that my article on the poor quality of Indian films written 2 years back still very much holds ground…
In civil administration also there have been a few positives like intention to make lokpal to have some teeth..but civil cases, especially those against women continue to remain more than a blot on our country’s image. Infrastructural woes, inflation worries, mismanagement and lack of control of man-made and natural disasters, etc continue to more than simply hurt us. We haven’t been quite successful in a couple of other areas with respect to implementation of important changes.There remain a few ifs and buts which could have made things better, but the past is past now. The year 2013 needs to be introspected in respect of its failures and successes to bring in more positive changes in the year lying ahead of us.
Wishing all a very happy and prosperous new year…!!!!
Shekhar's Thoughts 