When my journalism career started, I spent the first year doing what came to be known as festival reporting. It was a never-ending routine. Festival reporting was simple – you just reported festivals which were in plenty in the Hindu calendar year. After some experience, I could do the work blindfolded. After all, how many readers would remember that the same news item on the same festival had appeared last year and this, and in all probability would be repeated next year!
Repetition is part of journalism. A lot of it tends to get repeated and it is not often that routine news needs to be challenged to be drastically changed and rewritten. Take 2015 AD. The city was keenly expecting its annual tryst with the monsoon. Reporters keep close track of the monsoon and the bolder ones made brave predictions. Yet, the monsoon is often elusive and seldom follows the dictates of the weather bureau.
Take for instance my 40th year of monsoon watching in 2014. The beginning was predictable and by end of June 30, the city had got a good drenching. So did the following months. By August end, the vital lakes which provided water to the city were overflowing. We sighed in relief, no water cuts in 2014. But slowly, the water supply worsened and by the beginning of September, around 30 per cent cuts were imposed. Besides cloud seeding, pujas and homas were held at – many places, but the skies did not open up. On the day of my flight to New York, finally, the miracle happened. Rain slammed the city from dawn and did not stop for 60 hours, wiping out the rain deficit, and echoing the sentiments of Aamir Khan’s movie ‘3 Idiots,’ ‘ALL IS WELL’.
Was it time for a gentle reminder not to take things for granted? The 2015 monsoon was predicted as normal. By the end of June, the lakes were almost full. The complacent population was happy, the farm lobby was exuberant. Well, no one bothered when July rainfall in the city was just a token. August is normally a bountiful monsoon month. The festivals came and went – Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi – yet, no sign of rains. Already there was a 30 per cent water cut. Would it go up higher? Trains no longer served drinking water to thirsty passengers. People may not agree with me, but to me the Water Story was number one. The media tackled it from every angle including how Bollywood celebrities tackled it!
Politics was no doubt prominent – Bihar was on everyone’s lips but the polls really made headlines in the city. The term ‘Bihari’ assumed new dimensions. That, plus several other major events rocked the city like the 588th postponement of Mumbai university examinations. Dengue which normally spared Mumbai, embraced the city in its arms, with the Sena-BJP taking full credit for ushering it into the city.
It was not just entertainment in Mumbai journalism. It is now highly academic with ‘Litfests’ happening every week at every nook and corner. Every media topic, particularly sex in its various forms, flourish in the literary scene. Ageless sex wonders like ‘Germaine Greer’ made welcome appearances on the literary scene and nothing could stop our sex literature queen Madam Shobhaa De from rushing in for a bit of nostalgic chit chat. That was part of the annual cultural scene which titillated Mumbai.
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V. Gangadhar
The writer is a well-known satirist.[/column]