In response to my post of September 9 (on the recent bombing of the High Court) Shernaz Italia writes from Delhi:
‘The terror of the 80s … I had forgotten. Thinking back I know it felt different somehow. There was no means of instant communication, as you rightly pointed out. I remember being stuck in the Taj Palace hotel for two days after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. I was working on a feature film on Mountbatten as a production office runner, and could not get home to CP because of the riots. I just about managed to call my parents before their phone went dead and had to hope they were ok by the time I could get back.
The relentless media onslaught was not there either. There were still some responsible journalists who were judicious with words, judicious with time, and caring of sentiment of those affected. I knew it had changed forever when the person who had taken over an international news bureau in 1994 said to me – “I’m here for prime time news on the domestic network; unless over a hundred thousand die, I’d rather spend my afternoon playing golf”.
So who do you turn to? Finally it is only the common man who will lend a hand.’
Shenny