India @ 65

15th August is here. Our Independence Day. And also time for me to blog about the state of the nation. An annual tradition which is now going into its 6th edition. (Previous editions are here: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007).

When I had written the 1st such post back in 2007, the inspiration was the India themed logo on Orkut (Remember the social networking pioneer!). 5 years down the line Orkut has all but disappeared while Facebook and Twitter rule the roost with even "revolutions" being orchestrated through Facebook. A Facebook "Like" is all that  is needed to voice your opinion on topics ranging from Anti-Corruption movement to Sachin Tendulkar's retirement (or not) to Poonam Pandey's clothes (or the lack of them).

Olympics are the flavor of the season. Before Beijing '08, if someone had said India would win 6 medals in a single edition of the Games, the person would have been a fit case for psychitatric help. Now a 6 medal haul has still left people with a sense of slight disappointment. We are not exactly world beaters yet but things have begun to look up (read - increased awareness) for the other (read non-cricket) Indian sports . All that these sports bodies require now is to be stop being the fiefdom of certain politicians and to gain a stronger footing on the world governing council. Lessons to be learnt from BCCI.

India has a new President. Not that it affects anybody's life. The rest of the government stays same, with real power in the " hand" weilding the remote. The day more than half the country suffers a power cut, the minister in charge is promoted to the home ministry. Guess this alone says a lot about the state of our governance. With each passing day, the government finds new and new ways to go lower in the public opinion. How they are surviving remains a continued mystery. Of course, a bungling opposition party helps the case. And as the experience in West Bengal is showing the alternative, if any, to the current regime may be akin to jumping from the pot into the fire. The anti-corruption forces are not helping their own cause by getting distracted through their own nit-pickings. A fit case for a "Dark Knight" rising here but will we get one?

And in general the public is in outrage mode, without bothering about the details. Issue comes up. Lots of air time taken up. Lots of social media outrage. Outrage flounders. Next issue comes up. Cycle repeats. Issue could be anything - high profile crime, violence in a region, corruption, celebrity death, terrorist activity, some comments on Indain culture (?), any random media-generated controversy. Whatever the scale the cycle remains same.

Television had one new offering. It was fresh, it was different and it was a little gut-wrenching. Some harsh truths were presented like never before. Satyamev Jayate did bring something good on the idiot box. Otherwise we have either the "Breaking News" media, the "Paid media" and the increasingly unreal "Reality TV" showing channels.  As for the movie something different is being attempted every few weeks but none are really working.

In general, a dark picture emerging. But we can always hope for a better tomorrow.

Happy Independece Day