SlumDog makes it big. But what's in it for me?

I was reading the newspaper today morning (the notorious Times Of India), and was pained to see 4 pages on SlumDog making it big in the Oscars. When I turned to the 5th page, I saw an article on 2 kids in Bangalore drowning in a drainage. I fail to understand which of these news is more important to the Indian audience. We have terrorism in various parts of India, people dying due to hunger, poverty, disease and all that the media can think of at this time is to publish 4 pages of not so useful information in the front page.

Personally, I do not have any grudge against SM making it to the Oscars. As an Indian, I am proud of this achievement, and I think Rehman deserved it. But then, Rahman deserved this for Roja, Swades, Lagaan etc. which were much better than the one he is receiving now. When I was browsing Rediff.com, I saw this video of Anil Kapoor (Duh???) talking about how it was like to stand on the stage and receive an award, how it is a great day for India...blah blah blah. Coming from Anil Kapoor it makes sense. He has not seen a single box office success throughout his life, so making it to the OSCAR's would surely boost his image. But I think overhyping this just degrades us further in front of the global community. It sends a signal that India is a 3rd world country and it is finally making it big. I feel India has more potential and it is not necessary that we be recognised for our efforts through a foreign award. When all of this was happening, the media did not talk about Smile Pinki or the little girl who, when I last heard, was waiting for her passport and visa to travel to the awards ceremony. I think, the international audience likes to see the slums and poverty of India. Any movie which talks about this makes it big. There was this novel called "Shantharam" by Gregory David Roberts which was about the life of a escaped NZ convict in Dharavi. The book became a bestseller. Slum Dog talks about how a slum kid makes it big in the "Who wants to be a millionaire?". But there is more to India than just slums. We have a rich culture and heritage (infact more than any other country), we have friendly and loving people, we have a joint family system still in place which is not there anywhere else. We need these kinds of movies which showcase our talents than our miseries.

Now the various State Governments would confer awards for casts haling from their state. Lakhs and Crores of money would be paid to the protagonist and his kins, row-houses and farm-houses would be "donated" to them. And all of this from the innocent tax payers' money. We pay taxes for better roads, infrastructure, water, food, and basic necessities. But the BABUS think that feeding the millionaires is more important.

I would not entirely blame the media or the press for this kind of a behavior. We, the people, should understand what is of importance to us now, we need to shed off the veil of "We are like this only" until then, it is just one man's cribbing against the system.

JAI HO.