The Opinion

It is bizarre that most of us form our opinion on a lot of things based on what we hear or see and yet we get it wrong. It would not take a rocket scientist to guess that the reason for it would be that what we are getting to see or hear is wrong. Who do you think is responsible for it? Of course it is the media.

It is easy to plagiarize the way of some people who made significant changes for good by doing something that was not done earlier and which was probably criticized in the beginning but later was accepted by the world for some reason which may or may not be what it looks like now.

Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the armed wing of African National Congress. Mandela spent 27 years in prison on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid. He was called the biggest terrorist on the face of the earth at that time and today we know him as a celebrated elder statesman who has more than one hundred awards under his belt. It is not that that he was a terrorist earlier and later he changed himself and became a righteous man to win a million hearts. He was awarded all these awards, including the Noble Peace Prize for the very same activities which he performed throughout his life. There is no doubt that he is a great man and he continues to live by his values till date. However, it is strange that the world did not understand him earlier and later it did.

We have a good example of our own country. Before India achieved independence from British rule, some freedom fighters of India who did not subscribe to non-violence were labelled as terrorists by the British government. The same individuals have been lauded by Indians for the same activities and hailed as ‘patriots’. Thus two different labels have been given to the same people for the same set of actions. One is calling them terrorists while the other is calling them patriots. Those who believed that Britain had a right to rule over India called these people terrorists, while those who were of the view that Britain had no right to rule India called them patriots and freedom fighters.

These are just two proverbial examples. This has been happening since ages and no one could ever get a solution to it.

It is therefore important that we make our own decisions instead of maintaining that the majority is always right. It could be wrong as well. Like everybody, the media sells what is sold. And the sad part is that we don’t have an alternative but to buy what is sold. The laws of demand and supply are applicable here too. And if I remember my books correctly, the law of demand states that if all other factors remain equal, the higher the price of a good, the less people will demand that good. On the contrary the law of supply implies that the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied. I am not an economist but it makes sense to me that if we eliminate the good or product, the demand for it will fall and in turn the price would fall, which will lead to a drop in production of that product.

I understand that it is not a practical solution. Because if we do not confide in the media, we may not be able to form our opinion on a lot of things but wouldn’t it be better than forming a wrong opinion? Some problems need impractical solutions.

The Report

Once I did not have my homework complete and it was clear that I will be thrashed by the class teacher. I had a couple of friends sailing in the same boat. We decided to bunk school and we did. We liked it so much that we started doing the same everyday.

It was simple, and fool proof. Leave the house in the guise of leaving for school and meet up with friends and go on for a ride on the bicycles wherever the roads take you. And return home when its time to return from school. Being the students of the 8th grade we did not have any idea that we will fall short of attendance at the end of the year. We just kept a track, through those who went to school, of the days when there was no homework to be checked and went happily to school only on those days, there were hardly any. We cycled number of kilometres in the six hours we had to spend out. Our favourite hangout was Manzoorgadhi, a small village around five kilometres away from the city of Aligarh. It was a peaceful place which had widespread open fields with a couple of trees. We used to park our bicycles there, sit down under a tree and chat away to glory about how miserable the administration of the school was and how boring the teachers were. There were some who smoked cigarettes and some who imitated the teachers. I enjoyed their company but never got into smoking or mimicry. It went on for a couple of months and then the disaster struck.

We soon discovered a new place called Kasimpur, another six kilometres ahead of Manzoorgadhi. There was a big thermal power station at Kasimpur and it was surrounded by thick forest. It was a better place, we had thought. Once we were on our way to Kasimpur when we were stopped by a white Gypsy, the vehicle of course. It was from the Proctor’s Department, the administrative head of the University. My heart stopped beating for a moment. The person sitting next to the driver was a heavily built Sardar ji who looked very upset. He was dressed like a police officer and for us it was worst than being caught by the police. He came out of the vehicle and asked for our identity cards; one of my friends Gohar Altaf opened his mouth and uttered something which indicated that he was not carrying it. Sardar ji caught hold of Gohar and searched his pockets; all he found was a pack of cigarettes and a match box. At this moment I almost fainted. While it was going on, I could not help thinking how would it be like at home once it is informed that I was bunking school and smoking cigarettes. It was the probably this fear that gave me the courage to step forward and take charge of the situation.

While Sardaji was busy checking Gohar’s schoolbag, I took my identity card out and handed it over to Sardar ji. He looked at me and said, "You are cheating your parents by doing so". I apologised and asked him if he would let me explain, he did. I had no idea what I would say but I started my story. I told him that our class teacher had asked us to make some charts for the class to put on the walls and we failed to do so because of the heavy homework given by other teachers. Now if we go to school without the charts he will beat us as he does not spare anyone who does not do his work, no matter what. And what we thought was to not to go to school for a day and then prepare the charts and go the following day. While I was manufacturing this story, all three of my friends were looking down with tears in their eyes; it was not because of how miserable their condition was before they decided to bunk but because they were also worried about the pasting that they would get at their respective homes. But to my surprise, it worked. Sardar ji seemed to understand the problem. He asked me why did not we inform our parents if that was the case and now I was a lot more confident. With the same low pitched voice I replied that if any parent complains against the class teacher then after a couple of weeks their ward is subjected to false allegations such as misbehaving or stealing and that leads to suspension or even termination from school. So we had no choice but to escape for a day, we did that and we are caught.

Had it not been the cigarette pack, Sardar ji would have let us go but now he wanted to know how often we smoked. I told him that we did not buy the pack but found it lying on the road, I later realised that this explanation matched with the condition of the packet found in Gohar’s pocket. Sardar ji was not looking very convinced until I added that we did buy a match box as we thought we would try smoking and it was the very first time that we did all this. I begged him to not to take us back to school as no one will listen to us and we will get punished at school and even at home. It was at this time that my friends entered the conversation or rather beseeching. We promised to never to repeat it again and then followed a very long lecture from Sardar ji which ranged from how we were risking our lives by cycling on the highway to the cigarettes that we picked from the road could have had drugs in them.

We all looked down and listened to him silently. He noted our names, roll numbers, and addresses and asked us to head for home immediately. After boarding his vehicle he asked for the name of our class teacher and left us. We were all stunned and were so scared that we returned home early that day and claimed that it was a half day at school because of some function taking place. We were not sure of what was to follow, we religiously went to school for the next few days thinking that we could be summoned by the principal anytime. The report from the Proctor's office would not take much time to arrive at school. Days turned into weeks and there was nothing of that sort. We started to feel a little relaxed as the summer vacations arrived. I had saved myself and my friends from being caught but it was too late for me to get praised for it.

The school reopened after vacations and there was a considerable change in the behaviour of our class teacher. He seemed to be more courteous and well behaved than before. The report had finally arrived.