There is nothing in this world greater than a Mother. Therefore when this writer read cricketer Sreesanth’s mother’s article in Mathrubhumi Daily on the innocence of her son, he didn’t feel it to be anything curious. She has only done that which all mothers will do for their devoted sons, though many of her arguments in support of her son are shallow and tedious - but let’s speak about it another day. What this writer finds ridiculous is how a newspaper like Mathrubhumi decided to give space to such an article which could only be considered as an attempt of the newspaper to cash in on the mindset of those readers with similar mindsets of the audience of those tears extracting, soap serials.
The Malayalam media, both print and TV, should take a big responsibility in spoiling a great bowling talent like Sreesanth. The unwanted and extensive coverage that they gave to Sreesanth’s on field and off field antics spun him out of equilibrium. His parents and other family member were equally interested in appearing frequently in the media that they also turned out to be a popularity-seeking family of a popularity-seeking man. The images of Sreesanth’s mother coming out of the Puja muri (room for worship) were flashed across all channels when India won the T20 World Cup in 2007. There were even commentaries that were almost on the lines that India won the title because of his mother’s prayers and not because of the on field performance of the Indian team in Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg.
Sachin Tendulkar is the most famous man in Indian cricket; MS Dhoni is the most popular player in the present day Indian cricket. How many times have you seen articles written by mothers of these famous men about their sons? Tendulkar has been famously protective about his family and has always tried to shield them from the media. MSD’s family has always been media shy and has always tried not to comment anything publicly about their world famous family member.
It takes enormous strength of character to fend off media glare and concentrate on your work. The media will try to extract everything out of you when you are in the height of your popularity, will take you to ludicrous heights with their promotional sway and will even try to pull your family into it. If you fall for it then you are sure to collapse one day and get battered, and may even pass that threshold from where there will be no chance of a come back. Personal discipline, moral courage and strong family values are what it takes to survive the media onslaught.
Though the paparazzi culture hasn’t invaded Indian media completely yet, some attributes of it have started to appear. Therefore it is not only these famous men (and women), but their families too who should guard against this villainous media. Sreesanth and his family have fallen into this trap many times; they will do well not to fall yet another time. Till such wisdom come to him and his family can we readers just stop romanticising and feeding on such cheap emotions?
