Sir

The media is a hard place to be. You live under a constant pressure of breaking the news. We did it first, we often claim! But there are times when we need to sit down and question our conscience. How far have we come, and how insensitive we are! For the past few days, I have seen the mockery of the life of one of the most celebrated superstars of this country – Dharmendra!

A senior, reputed anchor, offering condolences to his family, a senior artist from the music fraternity singing songs to offer tribute, some reputed members of the fraternity putting up Rest In Peace messages, and all of this while the man we love was struggling and fighting hard, putting up the toughest fight he could, to breathe, to live!

Honestly, I was numb! I was speechless at this eagerness to talk about someone in the past tense, not bothering to know if he struggles. But here’s what surprised me the most – We as human beings were waiting for the news of someone’s death! Like really? How dead should our morals be to wait for the confirmation of someone’s passing away! What was needed was prayers for Dharmendra Sir’s recovery! All he needs is his fans praying for his well-being!

Superstars shower immense love on their fans. They never shy away from crediting their stardom to their fans. But here we are, the so-called fans who waited for a death confirmation, rather than celebrating his will to fight and survive! Honestly, all this added trauma to his family in such a distressing time could have been eased with an apology!

But we turned this into a further circus outside his home and pushed it to a point where Sunny Deol lost his cool at the media! I wonder how they must feel when they see their stressed video from the hospital room, which is being shamelessly circulated, without anyone’s consent, because, yes, a superstar’s life is for public display! Why bother!

While I was numb at all that happened in the past few days, one of my friends pointed out, if someone would have told me that my parents are no more while they are alive, I don’t know, what would I have done to that person, and that hit me so hard! Imagine, the distress we have been causing to someone’s family who is just praying for their father, grandfather, husband, brother, to get well soon, just fight and just live!

Dear Dharmendra Sir,

I know, no apology or sorry can undo what we have done to you and your family in the last few days! But, Sir, you keep fighting to recover and live a healthy life till you can! You fight, Sir, and get well soon, and slap us hard with that fighting spirit so that we can feel ashamed not as professionals but as human beings.

We are a bunch of gossip mongers feeding on stardom and as fans we are a spineless bunch! Once you recover, we will be the same hypocrites who would cheer loudly and praise your fighting spirit. But you fight hard to make us feel ashamed for the basic decency we’ve lost as human beings! We have become so inert, so morally bankrupt, that we wait not for someone’s revival, but for their death. Make us feel ashamed for turning into an obtuse race that now waits for the news of someone’s passing away, rather than waiting for the news of their recovery!

Sorry will never be enough!

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