THE TOXIC TRASH

 


“In Beverly Hills…

They don’t throw their garbage away;

they make it into television shows.”

Woody Allen

 

A couple of nights ago, I wanted to talk to one of my friends. It was around 11.45 in the night. So, even though he was my friend, I was a bit apprehensive about calling him at that time of the night. So, I texted him, saying, that if he was still awake, I wanted to talk on something urgent. He immediately called me. “Sorry for disturbing you at this time;” I said, “I really thought, that you had gone off to sleep.”

My friend, who is in his early fifties, lives alone in the house. These are Covid times; and to many of us, despite being surrounded by our family members, these have been quite lonely and scary times. I have been concerned about my friend, and, have enquired about him several times.

When I called him late that night, he sounded charged up… The reason? He was deeply involved in one of the T.V. debates on Sushant Singh Rajput… “Whatever people may say about this anchor, I just love him,” said my friend in excitement, “He is destroying the Maharashtra Government!”

Honestly, my concern for my friend became even graver. Of all the things one should carry to bed, this ‘toxic trash’ – the commonsense tells us – should be the last one… Say a prayer and sleep… Kiss goodnight and sleep… Play a beautiful song and sleep… Gaze at the stars and sleep… Laugh, do small talks, even gossip and sleep… and, yes, yes, do love and sleep… But, for heaven’s sake, don’t watch those toxic T.V. debates before you go to sleep…

But, then, common sense, as we all know, is the most uncommon thing in life. Those T.V. channels, and their anchors, know our dumb minds well, and, they thrive on our dumbness…  We fail to realize how dangerously they play on our weak minds… SSR is only the fodder for the toxic guns… The target, invariably, is clear… The agenda is clearly set!

My friend is my friend… I care for him. But, in this matter, he is not willing to take my advice. I have tried and failed… So, while he kept praising the particular anchor for doing the ‘destruction job’, I only said, “No comment… Let’s go to sleep. Good Night.”



Some years ago, I had asked a well-known Lawyer, with all my innocence: “You Lawyers argue tooth-and-nail so many matters in the court; doesn’t it disturb your sleep?”

The Lawyer grinned: “We don’t get sleep without them.”

One man’s food is another man’s poison, right? It seems, my friend needs the ‘Toxic trash’ to lull him to sleep, while I desire to stay away from it in order to put myself to sleep.

Heard, last evening, a fiery spokesperson of a political party died in the thick of a T.V. debate… I am unable to understand the cause!

The show, meanwhile, goes on…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic.: www.youtube.com

 

Video: Yogesh Joshi

 

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