- Tarun Pall left a comment pointing me to his post that revealed something shocking. It seems that some intrepid journalist bravely carried out an undercover operation and exposed the nefarious goings on at the Delhi Bloggers’ Meet.
A sting operation at a Bloggers Meet? That young man will go far. He will one day get a Pulitzer for a hidden camera expose of the Prime Minister’s Independence day speech.
- The journalist in question happens to be a Manipuri. Tony a blogger who also happens to be from Manipur, is worried that the sins of one Manipuri will be visited on him when he comes for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Bloggers’ Meet this Sunday. For the avoidance of doubt, he has a post with his photograph in it, so that no one mistakes him for a sting operator.
Now of course, people say that we should not judge people on the basis of their ethnic groups, but I disagree. Where would we be without Surd jokes? Isn’t the world better off because I made jokes about Mallus? (I had to suspend making Mallu jokes as the communists started calling a strike in Kerala everytime I made a joke on my blog. ) So I think that it is time to make jokes about Manipuris too. It is better than not knowing at all about them. So please pick up some half-baked information about Manipur, develop some prejudices and think of some jokes double-quick, so that Tony is at ease at the meet.
Actually, a good source of information would be Tony’s blog on Manipur. It is a nice read, so if you want half-baked information to develop prejudices, you will have to skim through it.
- Coming back to the sting operation, the Delhi Bloggers are very angry that the undercover operator-journalist misquoted them.
Do you get angry at the water for flowing? Do you get angry at fire for burning? Do you get angry at Windows for showing the Blue Screen of Death? They cannot help it. It is their Dharma. Likewise, one should treat journalists misquoting you with equanimity. They cannot help it.
- At least one great thinker – George Bernard Shaw thought that it might be a medical condition. In his play “The Doctor’s Dilemma”, he wrote:
Walpole returns with The Newspaper Man, a cheerful, affable young man who is disabled for ordinary business pursuits by a congenital erroneousness which renders him incapable of describing accurately anything he sees, or understanding or reporting accurately anything he hears. As the only employment in which these defects do not matter is journalism (for a newspaper, not having to act on its description and reports, but only to sell them to idly curious people, has nothing but honor to lose by inaccuracy and unveracity), he has perforce become a journalist, and has to keep up an air of high spirits through a daily struggle with his own illiteracy and the precariousness of his employment. He has a note-book, and ocasionally attempts to make a note; but as he cannot write shorthand, and does not write with ease in any hand, he generally gives it up as a bad job before he succeeds in finishing a sentence.
- The best way to avoid getting misquoted by a journalist is to not speak to one. But with sting operations becoming so common, this advice becomes quite difficult to follow. There might be a journalist lurking at every corner. Your closest friend, whom you’ve known for many years, could be a journalist. Contrary to rumours, not all sting operators at Blog Meets are Manipuris. They could be from any ethnic group, even Mallus. This is a real threat, but there is no need to press the panic button. Just take normal precautions. Maintain detailed minutes of blog meets. Take all participants’ signature on those minutes on stamp paper. If possible, get laptops and blog the meet as it is happening, so that there is no misunderstanding later over what exactly was said. If necessary, do not talk at all. Just sit around the table and chat over messenger, so that there is a complete trail of the whole conversation.
- Apparently, the journalist in question has a blog too where he has claimed that any self-respecting blogger would have objected to someone calling a meet of bloggers from Delhi the Delhi Bloggers Meet. As none of you have objected to my naming the upcoming meet the Bombay Bloggers’ Meet, I presume that you are all devoid of shame. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Nice one ravi, and I won’t mind a joke as long as A Manipuri is just called a Manipuri and not confused any other narrow eyed, stub nosed similar looking races..Jokes apart, we sure will have a helluva meet. looking forward to a good turn-up lest we also end up at the front page of Bombay times.. On second thought, it won’t be a bad idea!! to be on front page
:))
Almost on par with the post on Secularism and Sardars and Kshatriyas and Renunciation.
Hmm, have apologised for initial indignation here
As for Manipuris being sting operation specialists, don’t all Sherpas climb Mount Everest?
And don’t all Punjus munch on butter chicken, short-circuiting their keyboard when attempting to blog? *plop* *bzzzt* *smoke starts rising*. Whoops.
Stereotypes must have a root…
Interestly (or maybe not interestingly) there aren’t many ethnic jokes about us Marathi people, apart from the fact that we don’t make very good businessmen, and most of these jokes are made by Marathi people themselves.
Allow us to come up in the world, please make ethnic jokes about us.
james..coming soon..coming bloody soon..
ha ha Ravi you are really funny…esp. when you said “If possible, get laptops and blog the meet as it is happening, so that there is no misunderstanding later over what exactly was said. If necessary, do not talk at all. Just sit around the table and chat over messenger, so that there is a complete trail of the whole conversation” and this “As none of you have objected to my naming the upcoming meet the Bombay Bloggers’ Meet, I presume that you are all devoid of shame.” will frequent your page…kiu…ciao
a very recent fan of blogging and an ardent admirer now. Just love your heading…