Barkha Dutt is wrong!
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KR Ravi | Oct 13, 2008
In an article in The Hindustan Times, television star Barkha Dutt contrasts presidential debates in the US with poll campaigns in India.
I notice that, on most occasions, when Indians (including yours truly till I moved to the US) compare India to the US, they go misty eyed, gushing with total admiration for the US and serious regret if not condemnation for India. I can’t really blame them. After all they form their opinions based on what they have heard from the media, their friends and relatives, and of course from Hollywood.
Invariably, one forms an opinion that is at best partially correct. The opinion leaders may not have or give the correct picture. They may have their biases and prejudices with their own frames of reference. They may have limited knowledge and experience or may exaggerate. Barkha Dutt’s article needs to be read with a pinch of salt.
She gushes at the way the presidential debates in the US deal with ideas in contrast to India where election speeches are peppered with references to religion, caste and such other topics. Dutt asks if we will ever have candidates talking of serious matters like Kashmir, nuclear deal, etc.
Well let me tell you what I see, read and hear in the US media these days.
At the start of the campaign season, the issues that were debated by the candidates were the ones that are close to the American heart Рreligion, gay rights, Darwinism Vs. creationism, Christianity Vs. black liberation theology, Obama’s pastor friend, Obama’s early adulthood friend who went on to be a radical, an Obama friend who was later accused of being a shady guy, McCain being old and a liar and Obama being a part-time Muslim and so on. You get the idea.
It is only now, with the Wall Street crash that the candidates have started talking of the economy to a limited extent.
As the election day draws nearer, I can fairly confidently predict that the quality of debate will be no different from the tu tu, mai mai kind all too evident in India.
In fact, there are uncanny resemblances between the events in the two countries.
A report in the US media says that Obama’s list of donors contains names of non-existing, bogus or benami donors. Sounds familiar in India? Does it remind you of Mayawati?
It has been announced officially that the voters’ list in Ohio has many bogus voters РBihar style!
Sex, sleaze and other salacious stuff have tumbled out in election campaigns in earlier years. One can never know that we will not see an outbreak of such titillating stuff as the election day approaches.
Maybe Barkha Dutt might have something else to tell us then.
 
Filed Under: Miscellaneous
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Burkha Dutt( Boorkkhha Dooottt) has self hyped her image. That is India’s first war correspondent, covered Kargil war et al. She is just an ordinary , timid Indian girl who has been supported by NDTV and not one of the of famed war correpsondents that cover the “Dogs of War”. Burkha Dutt has her own education and background from which she stands on a pedestal and throws drivel. Her peers have been doing well in Sardesai with his wife Sagarika and Arnab Goswami. Burkah is now tea partying with the Pakistani bosses and shows up well with the NDTV business channels and the NDTV Arab channel. The Indianness is all but gone.
But the GENnnxt does not care. Booorkkha or no Burkha. And smarter, more articulate and less in the head people will soon replace people of her ilk and it will be soon talk shows about a Sachin (“world’s best”) and other more titillating matters that matter most to the Hindustani ( I almost forgot “Indian” palate)
Armoredfish said it as it should be. Current fashion is you wear Khadi (chic) and bash people with good english. Our lady got into the giant wheel when all the seats were empty and there was just one giantwheel. Now there are too many giantwheels and so you still cre=ave attention and so make comments. Pretty Stupid Fellows who do not know the map of India forget knowing India are on the Ibox giving gyaan on what they themselves know very little or nothing about. You know it appeals to sounds prophet like.