DO.Lead form the front. The next stage of India poised. If you read the “Times of India”, I am sure you must’ve come across these phrases almost a hundred times. This, I understand, is part of a campaign that the newspaper started on the 15th of August which marked the 60th anniversary of India. Since then, the paper is filled with snippets of patriotism and stories of how great leaders made a difference in the lives of their countrymen. And that is not all. Take a look at their Sunday supplement, Times Life, and you will see how India just got sexy at 60. How people are doing stuff they were shy of doing before. But the best part is the choice of the face of the campaign, Sharukh khan. Now how many of you know he’s a born leader who has changed many a lives? Perhaps, you should substitute ‘leader’ by ‘entertainer’ and ‘lives’ by ‘characters’.
Now I really like this newspaper. In fact, the Times has some of the best journalists and columnists of the country and they regularly churn out quite innovative content. But there are some things I can’t fathom. What good are these campaigns? What are they trying to achieve through them? The subject is pretty abstract and I can see no particular motive in it. As far as having a leader goes, I think we have enough of them already. We just need them to act like one. It’s an eyesore to read in papers everyday that India is progressing. They make it seem like everything happened instantaneously. The only thing that makes sense is publishing the articles about the various leaders of the world. Other than that, the whole idea seems worthless, even childish. India today doesn’t need a leader. A newspaper which tells it the way it is would suffice.
