A new form of "Hindu"ism

While I was blog-hopping, this morning I came across this particular blog which prompted me to post a comment and then I thought, "Heck, why not convert that into a blog". The topic in q was of course an issue really close to my heart (Reading between lines not quite allowed). Urs truly has been this ardent follower of the Hindu, the paper not the religion and have held on to it through college years, where there were many an opposing voice vouching for the other sleazy ones.

The reasons these others offered me were anything from

It is not colorful enough
(I know they simply mean the skin revelation is not “deep” enough)
There are not too many pictures
(Hello, this is a newspaper for God’s sake not some third class kid’s cartoon book)
The newspaper assumes these serious tones
(This, dear opposer, is a newspaper not one of those “101 jokes” book )
There is no Page 3
(I guess you need to refresh some of those counting skills)
There are not enough “scoops”
(No! They don’t pounce on some rumor spreading around town about some pretty actress whose boyfriend was sighted in a vague restaurant with dim lighting, with his girl friend. This would occupy 2 to 3 whole pages with pictures et al about the lovey dovey coochie cooing in those other “news”papers)
They are very biased towards Chennai
(Fair Aryans it has its very roots in Chennai)
to
I am not preparing for Cat and other competitive exams
(I was just left speechless)

I would patiently offer very many arguments citing good language, high class journalism, no melodramatic style of reporting covering just the bare facts (no pun absolutely), a good editorial section blah blah. At the end of all this, the monosyllabic response that I get is “Whatever!” in those Poo of K3G fame, tones.

A newspaper is such a part of your growing up that you tend to grow so attached to it. It comes as a package along with your grandparents and a full sized family. It is the first sight that greets you and its absence in the morning, would increase your discomfort levels. After all these years of a filter coffee and The Hindu early in the morning (as early as 8 on weekdays) replete with its Nirmal Shekar sports coverage and the Crossword and off late Sudoku, it would be very difficult to switch tastes. But maybe this is precisely what their argument is also, “After all these years of sleaze, cheesy news clippings how can one start reading a newspaper which offers so much for the intelligentsia, in a serious reporting format”. Each to his/her own taste! For now I am content having a try at today’s Crossy in the Hindu.