Lack of Creativity or probably Responsibility?

I am a complete music-lover. I love listening to almost any kind of music and bollywood songs are somethin that always attract me. I love venturing into listening to never heard of songs and figuring out if I like them.

But since the past few years, I have feel that the industry is facing some serious lack of talent. There are rarely any songs I come across that are really worth an "ear". You may be able to dance to them, but listening to them happens to be a bad idea most of the times.

There is no doubt about the fact that there are a few lyricists who do a brilliant job, but nevertheless, they cannot make up for the "sleazy" lyrics that are entertained in the industry. One of the songs that I recently came across that "convinced" me to write this article was "Dum Maro Dum" - The new version or may I call it the "Deepika" gig.

Honestly, the lyrics are horrendous [which i honestly feel is an understatement]. They are just ridiculous and "cheap". I agree that "rebel" is the point, but there are always different ways of portraying it. Just like the way I mentioned in my previous article "Role of the media", it depends on the person who is writing the song as to how to portray the message and I am convinced this was not the definitely the best one.

It also becomes inevitable to compare the song to the old "Zeenat" version. That was about rebel too, but very "sensibly" put across. If you blame at the kids being "matured more than their age", this is what we are feeding them with. Just dropping clothes off a popular face's body, one cannot cover up for irresponsible lyrics.

I started off writing this article about how the lyrics were sleazy, but in the course of writing, I feel they are irresponsible. Kids are what you bring them as, and this is exactly what we are feeding into the younger generation. So we should either take charge, or not complain about the way they are.

Looking for a greater concern

"Hike in the fuel prices? No issue. Thanks to Morgan A.E.C ... " [Not sure what the company name was :) ]

This was a hoarding that i saw put up on my way to office today. It really led me to some deeper thinking and introspection. Is it that the only issue people have the with the hike in fuel prices is the "money"? Are we really driven only by the glitter on wealth? Are finances our only concern?

I definitely realise that it is a marketing strategy and they are trying to find a selling point for their product. Nevertheless, it does bring these questions to my mind. There are very few people who see fuel prices as a dithering environment or lack of resources. What they think of is the actual "cost" in monetary terms. "Ecology", "eco-friendly" etc. have started seeming to be mere words to flaunt for a greater public without a real thought put into it.

That brings me to the other side of the coin- people who over-use the "eco" term without really keeping into consideration the real cost factor for the masses. A lot of designers I know or have seen are raving about their eco-products. The media appreciates this effort as a step towards an eco-friendly living. But a step by whom and for whom. Its just a few may be. The products are so heavily prices that a common man - the one who forms the majority in the world - can never afford it. I agree that eco-friendly products may be more expensive but it shouldn't be placed in a way that a person with an average income cannot afford it.

The real challenge is to promote "green environment and lifestyle" to the masses. Why do we have green products mostly in accessories that are a product set for the slightly more "well earning" crowd. Fancy bags, Lamps, Swanky home accessories, etc. dont fit into a common man's mind set.
A person earning little also buys his child a bag for school. But he cannot afford 4-5 different bags for a different day. Then why dont we make such utility bags at a lower cost? Its easy to design for the rich and target an affluent audience, but why dont a lot of designers take up the challenge of designing for the average?

No matter how many efforts are being made to promote green living, it brings me back to the idea "Eco-friendly is for the rich". I am forced to think about this idea!

Our society has become so "money driven" that money is as important oxygen. But we miss the point that the increase in the money is not getting us more oxygen. It is probably decreasing it! Sustainability and wealth should never be dependent - atleast not directly proportional.

Role of the media

Media, in my opinion, is one of the strongest and the most influential industries in India and across the globe. There are no two-minds about the fact that it has brought in a lot of awareness in the minds and the mind sets of the people but there are very few who really look into the split side of the powers of the media.

There are just more than a few questions that come to my mind when I watch a news channel or read a newspaper.

Why do I prefer reading only the gossip columns of the newspapers?
With time, I realised that my interest in any form of news gradually decreased. And this was marked by the "Godhra kand". Amidst all the chaos, I was gearing up for my 10th board exams. My exams got postponed and I was so well geared that I got fed up of reading the same syllabus again and again. So I switched to watching some TV. News was pretty much the only things getting aired then - Local or national. I noticed that there was violence shown all the time. Even if nothing big had happened, the news channels would air the same footage again and again through the day to give an impression of high-scale violence. It started making me feel that it was more of staging somethings and feeding violence into a person's mind more than authentic journalism. [By authentic journalism, I mean Journalism that is targeted towards spreading awareness and not violence. It would mean that it is more than just a money making business. A stand that is carefully taken so that you dont convey a biased opinion to your audience]. News eventually started feeling very repulsive. It seemed like it was just a well crafted story rather than an authentic experience/information. Gradually, I started feeling that gossip columns were more real. They did what they were meant to do and did not pretend to be real or authentic. As superficial as they are, they are still just "gossip columns" that are merely a "believe it or not" thing. [That might have gone all over the place, but the subject I was addressing here had a very varied context.]

That brings me to my next question.

Why is our journalism promoting violence and feeding it so deep into people's minds?
May it be the 9-11 footages or footages from the recent catastrophe that struck Japan, I dont really remember seeing a lot of dead bodies. Those were violent images but not smothered with blood. That is what I would call an intelligent piece of information. There are kids who see/follow newspapers/news channels and from an artist's point of view, I firmly believe that you can depict the real picture without being literal.

I have seen a lot of Indian media people covering deadbodies, people smothered in blood, bombed bodies etc. Is that really essential? In order to say that there was an attack that happened, do we really need to cover the body of the person who was stabbed? What is it that media is trying to feed into the viewer's/reader's mind? Is it really the information that they want to convey or are they just trying to feed our minds with sheer violence and a resultant baggage of hatred?

Ah! That was a lot of introspection for now. See ya later :)