BREAKING NEWS!!!

Dear One,

Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News!

Are you kidding me? Do you still think, there is any breaking news left for us to see or hear? Same shit - New day - Every day, is what breaking news is all about today. Each day is a reminder of how miserable and monotonous our life has become. You turn to any page of a news paper, and you are sure to notice black & white words of failed marriages, brutal killings and rape, attack on a senior, this political party or that throwing foolish tantrums and much more non-sensical stuff splashed all over, day in and out.

Sometimes I wonder, life would be so much better without the news papers. I don't mean in any way to run away from reality or live uninformed in my alter world, but just think about it; I feel, it prepares me to be knowledgeably desolate and gloomy for the rest of the day. Imagine instead, getting up in the morning to the music of the birds, the morning sun smiling on your face, the gentle breeze greeting you great morning and your wife making a cup of the best coffee for you...WOW!!!

Are you still kidding me? Stop dreaming. Nothing of this sort either happens, for goodness sake.

Day to day life is losing it's flavor by over sensationalism and professionally inked gossips. We have become a breed of prying humans, feasting our senses on people's issues and troubles. I strongly think, this mass flow of unedited information is making us callous and heartless individuals, waiting to pass our expert comments or judgement to say the least. We gasp a bit in righteous shock and it's all over for the day. Life continues waiting for another piece of sensational news the next day. No doubt, the information age has made us better informed and up to date, however it has cost us a huge price in return. We have lost our peace of mind and the simple pleasure of being truly and blissfully ignorant of all these dubious and mind polluting information.

I remember my childhood days, when my father woke up early in the morning, took the day's newspaper, and set out to the nearby park to read it with deliberate ease and pleasure. Although later, he had to travel a clean distance everyday to his workplace, this daily morning ritual never changed for years. After the reading stint, he would come back a happy man, replete with enough information to face his day with unassuming joy and confidence.

Coming back to the present day, my sister carries on this legacy of addictive and ritualistic reading of the newspaper, before plunging ahead in the day to day activities. Albeit, the outcome of this activity is exponentially different from what my father experienced ages ago. As my sister begins ingesting the daily dose of reality, her facial expressions goes from seemingly serene to frantic rage. She doesn't hesitate a bit to express her mounting anger by mouthing off refined local abuses against the perpetrators of the day. New Day - New News - Newer Abuses seems to be her unsung daily motto.

Comparing my dad and sister's tryst with the newspaper, I see a sea of changes in views and temperaments. Those day's were simple and uncomplicated, and today we are trying to make sense of our senseless existence, with newspapers adding to the ever-abundant woes. Maybe we are well connected with the world, but we are miles away from the basic connection - Human Connection. We fret and fume over the day's happenings with renewed vengeance, only to lose out on the day itself. We carry the day's informational burden in our heads, and spread the good (bad & ugly) word to one and all, making their day as miserable as ours.

News has lost it's true potential and intent. It no longer prompts us to take informed measures, instead it makes us cringe or sympathize in our chairs with an irresponsible detached heart. That's one main reason I quit reading the daily newspaper. It was filling me hollow anger and pessimism and slowly poisoning my soul with hopelessness. Any news was no good news for me. My mind was looking out for the dark clouds, minus the silver lining. I was seeing only rattling about the various flaws in the system, least bothered to do anything about it. How many of you share the same plight as mine - Talk and only talk. Do nothing ever after knowing everything.

My mornings now, are less cluttered and stress free. I start my day with a hot cup of coffee and a positive read. I no longer crave for morning gossip at other's expense. In no way, I miss the important happenings of the day; as the day proceeds, I skim the information and digest the necessary and let go the unwanted. I raise my voice against injustice in my own personal way, and manage to support a good cause - intently, silently and peacefully.

Life without newspaper is still very much the same, however with a small twist - I am at peace with myself. I no longer get hyper with useless rage or shake my head in disdain and mindlessly blame the authorities over some remote mishap or glitch. I read what I want to read and make an informed decision on what I want to do about it. Now, for me, some news is surely good news.

News is about making you do something, and not just to sit and do nothing. Think about it?

Are you still reading the Newspaper?

Peace in oneself. Peace in the world.