Facing the Media is More Difficult than Bathing a Leper Mother Theresa

The unabated free for all that has played out in public over the last week has convinced me that we have become a 'lot' of blame shifters who have managed to determine that there is water on the moon, but not yet managed to develop the ability to reach out to each other with compassion when a conflict or crisis emerges. We choose instead, to point accusatory fingers at each other and hurl stones that are hewn from our own ignorance. An ignorance that is further cemented by a mostly negligent media that prefers in part to act like a pseudo detective, only sniffing around areas and unearthing those facts that can be converted to grab maximum eye balls while putting forth selective, CONSTANT and contradictory information. This information is then used out of context, sensationalized and analyzed until all interest is squeezed out of it and is soon discarded for some new novelty. I hope, but genuinely doubt that when this trying time comes to an end, the same amount of attention and media space will be focused on the responsibility and courage displayed by these two young men, who when caught in a bizarre and sinister twist of fate, did what all responsible and forthright citizens are meant to, but rarely do report it to the authorities.

Vilas Varak and my brother Rahul Bhatt have NOT been named suspects in a heinous terror plot contrary to what is being repeated in certain circles. How could they? Considering it was 'them' who alerted the sluggish authorities about their connection to David Headley. Why then do they require this supposed 'clean chit' from a nodal agency who is yet to prove their credentials and capabilities to the Nation. Should this agency not get a 'clean chit' from the people of India first? Yet, such is the circus surrounding this situation that there has already been widespread speculation amongst everybody who is anybody as well as everybody who is nobody, conceiving theories about who David Headley was, how he came in contact with Vilas Vark and Rahul Bhatt and what motivated the duo to let him befriend them. And all this while choosing to cast aside the uncomfortable truth that Headley was absorbed with such ease into our city and scheme of things. Not only was David Headley permitted to enter the country unrestricted, hire office space at a commercial hub, rent an apartment in one of Mumbai's most plush areas, enroll at a high end gym without completing the required formalities but also to place ads in newspapers to lure clients for a supposed immigration business that never was. But despite these facts being shared, there is a mindset that does not wish to absorb some details, or dare to demand 'how' and 'why', choosing instead to cast blame on the very shoulders that helped bring most of this information to light. There were dozens of other people who interacted with Headley during the course of his visits and stay in the city as well as key locations across India. How come not one of them came forth to volunteer information when they heard his name flashed as promptly as Vilas and Rahul did? In fact some have still not. They choose instead to speak with silence… out of cowardice, arrogance or fear I'm not sure.

I'm also not sure if there will be a light at the end of the tunnel or a tunnel at the end of the light, but I do know that this is just the beginning. Along the way, more truths will be unearthed and some buried. Some lies will be fabricated and more aired. Sadly, some of these wild deliberations will invariably become part of public record and we will come exceedingly close to misconstruing them as hard, cold facts.

My father always enforced the belief that 'truth, like fire, does not require any PR'. I used to tend to agree. Of late though, I am inclined to vehemently disagree. Today, it's a trussed up lie that does not require PR. It finds its way into the mainstream of public opinion and consciousness with far more ease and regularity, than the naked truth ever does. Through these trying times though, what is extremely moving, is the generosity and kindness of strangers as compared to the benign indifference of most friends Like a flood of sunlight on a night that threatens not to end