Anant Gupta and the Media Cirus.

It’s a common fact that with the many 24 hour news channels on air today, and with news of real political or social importance being in short supply, news of no real interest or importance is aired. One day it's how Indian cricket is in its best shape ever and the next they're sounding the death toll for the sport - it's ridiculous what they do to somehow manage to fill up their slots. In fact, when Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna was released, one channel was predicting what a huge hit its going to be and another was predicting it was going to flop miserably.

But today I witnessed possibly the most disgusting low that the Indian media could go. If you've been reading the papers over the last couple of days, you'd know about the kidnapping case - the son of the CEO of Adobe India, Naresh Gupta was kidnapped. Three year old Anant was snatched away on his way to school and over the last couple of days the media has more-or-less camped outside the Gupta household taking pictures of the distraught family and airing private grief for public consumption.

Anyway, today Anant was returned to the Gupta's - apparently he was dropped off in an auto outside the house. And then hell broke loose. Or a media carnival. Whichever you think is worse... It started off with that anchor Zaka Jacob at the residence, smirking at the camera, claiming that it was an "unforgettable day". Damn right it was - it was a bloody circus. Headlines Today got a "scoop" by getting an "exclusive interview" from the 3 year old kid! Can you imagine! What a disgusting thing to do. A travesty of news reporting - it was so damn cheap. The kid was up there answering the questions thrown at him, but I mean he doesn’t know what he's doing... He didn't even know he was kidnapped - he was up there saying that he was with three "Bhayas" and had gone to their house for a couple of days and that they'd let him go and stuff - it just doesn't seem fair to allow such irresponsible reporting.

And what about the parents? They're more than culpable - making a circus out of the whole thing... And these are the same people who pleaded that the media keep calm and respect their privacy. They're distributing sweets and giving interviews - even Anant's 2nd standard sister got her sound bytes in ("I don't know how he came back. I fed him sweets and I am very happy"). If another bunch of kidnappers walked in with a press card, they'd be able to walk away with the kid without anyone noticing.

What a bloody farce! It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so damn pathetic...