Pollution of a different Genre

People are aware of different kinds of pollutions viz, air, water, sound and so on. But, of late a different kind of pollution seem to be catching up and doing the rounds slowly.

With the opening up of  communications, television channels have started airing opinions freely , at times even deliberately airing questionable and skewed opinions which leave lasting  impressions in the minds of innocent viewers. The language of the land is cleverly (mis)used to portray villains as innocent victims and at times even as heroes. Channels are being used to air opinions which will not stand the scrutiny of law. But, then who cares as nobody is really bent on following up with the multitude of television channels.

Though the yellow side of the ink media has also mushroomed it is being sidelined by the Internet media whose speed and reach it can ill afford to compete with. But it is to be remembered that back in the villages and yet to develop areas , it is the newspaper media that is still ruling the roost.

A matter of concern of late is the developing negative aspects of online sources and social networking sites. In the absence of an effective controlling mechanism and authority, people are at will spreading rumours and opinions which will be hard to justify. Before one could protest the incorrectness, the matter would have been spread to millions and the damage already done.

I was rather shocked to read some articles and reviews which were strongly opinionated and when contacted clearly the author was at a loss to justify the matter. Similarly, there were some articles on why investing in Gold is not worthy and why one should not buy immovable properties, why college education is not preferred etc.,. No issues in expressing such thoughts and everyone has freedom to express one's , as I do now. But the opinions given there are so skewed and fail to stand even the next level of scrutiny proves the hollowness of the arguments advanced and makes one wonder whether such articles were written with different intentions other than economic or financial ! My only concern is whether such misconstrued opinions are being forced down the throats only to form contrived pressure groups thus giving a sociological angle to the issue.

We had once heard of child locks being employed in Televisions. While there is no realistic possibility of enforcing such controls, the authorities are also weary of stepping in as that would tantamount to trampling on the 'freedom of expression'. How to stem this rot  !! As this pollution can spread multiple times faster than others and is more likely to affect youth of impressionable age, there is a crying need for attention on this.

Why wait until they are 'Late'?

The gradual fading away of some of the popular faces and voices of yesteryear is now impacting those who are on the verge of acquiring senior citizen status. The passing away of singers PBS & TMS have certainly left a huge dent in the tamil music world which is next to impossible to fill up, to use the popular cliche . Even now, when I hear any song on radio which is invariably rendered by TMS, I sincerely miss him. I also feel that this great singer could have been more recognized, more feted.

Immediately after the passing away of any such prominent personality it has become a norm to dig deep into the archives and bring all great feats and hitherto unknown traits of the person. Why can't we do this when they are alive? An artiste , personally values the appreciations, claps and feedback far more than the remuneration he receives. In fact, in one of the proposals for the Kalyan Nagar Association in Mandaveli, Chennai, my brother suggested few months back that we must honor TMS, the aging artiste in our neighborhood for having made the audience dance to his voice for decades. I appreciate the foresight of my bro but before this could be implemented the doyen has passed away.

This morning a post by the popular personality Manushya Puthran in Face book  "ஒரு மனிதனையாவது சாவதற்குள் கொண்டாடுவோம்..அடையாளம் காண்போம்" triggered my thoughts on the subject.

Not only in film or music world, but in other areas too such as medicine, education, child welfare, environment, sports ...... there are many such greats and let us identify and appreciate them for the services they have rendered. 

No doubt, we will do it but what I plead is let us do it when they are still with us , so that they could also rejoice at the recognition.

Sweeping, Seeping and Snooping

Of late, I find many voluntary and service minded organizations indulging in cleaning the surroundings , clearing the lakes of weeds etc., This is a laudable effort in that it shows the involvement and commitment of the individuals towards a better environment that promises a better tomorrow. On the flip side, I also feel whether this could be a solution for the problems littered around us. If some organizations and good hearted people clean the place for a day or two, what lasting benefits is it going to bring? Will this not lull the civic authorities also? I feel that instead of OR in addition to this, such organizations could join hands and pressurize the civic authorities to do do their jobs. It will be better for such organizations to play a supervisory role,  monitor and track their progress instead of taking the brooms themselves. This is with due respect to these organizations and individuals whose efforts I applaud and in no way this is meant to disrespect or degrade their efforts. This is only a thought viewed with a different hat.

It is pathetic to hear about the technical and civil glitches that is surrounding the  newly built  airport terminals at Chennai. It began with the faulty design of the ramp, then a section of the roof or its false ceiling caved in and the latest is the seepage of the  roof. What is surprising is that if the roof seeps for the rain which lashed Chennai for hardly an hour, how will it stand the real fury of the North east monsoon? What happened to the quality standards and controls that are more talked about than implemented? What about the ownership of such misses that could turn costly? It is pathetic because, we talk so much but in reality none of these is observed or implemented.

On to the snooping of the US governmental agencies of one's data through the Gmail, Skype etc., - Shocking to say the least. Particularly from a country which regards high the privacy and rights of individuals, this is the least expected. At the same time, I admire the US President in admitting openly about its attempted peep at others' data, which also show the intentions of the Govt that appears to be genuine.

But, from a layman's perspective I have always wondered as to how on giving your password all the mail, cloud data  etc., are retrieved. This means someone has access to all your data and he goes on to retrieve your personal data even if your security details are lost by you after checking with some personal and private questions. For a query as to why this org which is storing the data of millions of people across the world are not (mis)using them, my conceivable answer is he does not have time to look into all the mails. If this appears naive, remember, my earlier claim of 'layman' here. But, in the unfortunate event of some sensitive data getting into the wrong hands , then you are done and dusted.

But then, it could also be argued that no one pressurized you to store all these data in a public domain protected by private people. It was on your own volition, you chose to believe them as it is without any service charges and so one has to pay for the same. It will be prudent to park only  banal data in such sensitive areas and not your private data such as passwords, bank account details, credit/debit card details, online transaction passwords etc., Prudence is more required and it is the innocent and the gullible and at times even a careless scholar could become a victim here. So, use your discretion.

If you want unhindered services, accesible from across the world with few clicks but with no cost, then one needs to be cautious. You cannot have the cake and eat it too - right ??