There is a story told by the Master about the time he was speaking to journalists in India in 2008. It merits recounting given the uncertain times we live in, times when force or violence appear to speak louder than peace and non-violence. This was a day news came in of a terrorist attack somewhere in India. How does a journalist report the bad news, the violence, the destruction that must find space on the front pages but constitutes material that can only feed into more anger and despair?Writing in his book ‘The Art of Communicating’, Thay explains: “We should reflect and discuss events in a way that will not increase the despair and the anger in people. Instead, we can help them understand why things happen, so their insight and compassion increase. We can make a big difference with the practice of looking deeply. The solution isn’t to hide the truth.”He captured these and other thoughts in a message that can become the hallmark of all good journalism, and will help call out the hatred that is being spewed these days from many media outlets: “You have to report in such a way that we don’t water the seeds of fear, anger and vengeance in people.”In essence, these are Indian messages that we need to rediscover and re-engage with because they have been lost in the land of their birth. The India of today is an India sliding down from the high standards that has made the nation standout and become known for its many gifts. We cannot deny the blemishes. But we cannot but be proud of the richness. Today, we can see the direction that the nation has been set on isn’t the one where moral standing is enhanced. This is certainly seen in the way the narrative of India has been changed in a lightning-fast time-frame but this slide to rancorous divisions, a readiness to tear down the neighbour, didn’t begin today or in recent times. We have been on the downhill journey for a while; recent events and narratives have only hastened the trajectory.India’s fall is mirrored across many facets today: the growing inequality, the violence against the downtrodden and the minorities, the rise of the hate speech, the ugly spats force-created on television, the demonisation of dissent and a manner and way of speaking that has violence woven into it.It is not just the politics that is bad. Our television shows promote insult as comedy, making fun of others has become a ticket to stardom, running down others is equated with celebrating entrepreneurship. In general, space must be wrested, fisticuffs must be shown and shouting down others is a part of the game.
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