Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Age?
quot;I8217;m old enough to do all the things I wanna do. And so far I8217;m getting along fine.quot;
So, where did he spring out of, all of a sudden?
Well, he8217;s been around long enough it seems quot;I am the legitimate child of an Iranian refugee and a home grown Parsi from Gamadia Colony, Tardeo.quot;
quot;I was selling mosquito mats and coconut oil and not doing myself a favour in the long run. So he got out of the mad ad world and crashed straight into MTV8217;s colour-coordinated office at Film Centre. quot;Coming from the ad industry, the kind of freedom I8217;ve now got is great.quot;
q But what8217;s his claim to fame?
quot;I8217;m certainly not teaching rocket science here.quot; OK, we at least know the one thing MTV8217;s Creative Director doesn8217;t do. What he has to his credit, instead, is the unique distinction of fathering a 70-year-old man! Yes, the same geriatric lift-man8217; who claims MTV stands for MahaThirdClass Viewing8217; from hoardings all around the city. quot;We8217;ve created a person called MTV, to give it a definite identity. And this old man takes every single aspect of the channel and tears it apart. So, among other things, he calls our VJs, PJs.quot; Well, that8217;s not totally far-fetched either.
Alright, who is this great scholar 8212; with a serious opinion on everything under the sun?
quot;Actually he8217;s a big mouth in a small space, a tiny claustrophobic lift. Put differently, he8217;s a lunatic 8212; an exaggerated icon for authority and, in that sense, a man on a mission. He8217;s panned all our shows 8212; he calls Made in India Mad in India8217; and MTV Housefull Blousefull8217;, and wonders why Club MTV is called a club at all, since it has no building, and doesn8217;t serve any soft drinks either.quot;
Yes, but why does he shout at no one in general and the entire universe in particular?
Because he8217;s the new Angry Old Man8217; move over Mr B. quot;He8217;s the latest in my series of icons after the Maalishwala8217;and the Roopa baniyan8217; series. He has his own idiosyncracies and a definite way of speaking he8217;s sarcastic and anything that8217;s nice is sure to be killed in the very next phrase that drops out of his mouth.quot;
Yes, but what8217;s the idea behind such destructive propaganda?
It8217;s apparently called the Bonding via Alienation8217; route and an extension of the channel8217;s Indianise, Humanise and Humourise8217; policy. quot;He8217;s my Mr Angry. And he8217;s agitated because he doesn8217;t like the channel, which is because he doesn8217;t understand it. You see, he8217;s 70 years old. He cannot comprehend the ways of the modern world 8212; he doesn8217;t understand remote controls and washing machines. I think I8217;ll go over with Malaika and teach him a few things.quot; That sure sounds good!
But what8217;s his specific problem with MTV?
quot;You see, secretly he likes the channel. Because the most obvious form of love is hate. Only, he doesn8217;t know it.quot; Neither did we!
And where did Cyrus find this nameless wonder?
Somewhereon the streets of this great city. quot;I chose him for his mouth.quot; Hey, let8217;s keep obscenity out of this. quot;No, no, I mean his peculiar teeth and the effect they create when he starts shouting.quot;
And how is the world reacting to his tirade?
quot;I8217;ve found a lot of people, including my daughter, imitating his voice.quot; And his irreverent one-liners seem to be catching up as well. quot;I8217;ve actually seen my friends refer to their girlfriends as shameless ladies8217;, as the old man would put it. Looks like we have more than one lunatic on the loose.
What8217;s next on the lift-man8217;s agenda?
May be, he8217;ll get out of the lift and take to the streets, float a political party and contest the next election. quot;He8217;s planning to continue his campaign in his own way. And he won8217;t accept a bribe either. So, he8217;ll be back with more mayhem.quot;
So, what is the father of the lift-man8217; most likely to say?
quot;N-joy.quot; We should have known that.
q And least likely to say?
quot;I try my best.quot;
