When I was made a scapegoat

Prompt: Promise (Used in a sentence)
 

 

Pic: Pixabay

It was just another weekday afternoon. Arched my neck, like a dressed chicken twisted in the sink, I felt my oesophagus strain. Staring at the roof, I rotated my eyes and shut tight to see ripples of white. "Look far ahead from time to time," the doctor had said. "Blink at regular intervals." Dilated and supple, I plucked off the last strand of resolve to see the copy evolve. How the hell can people who can't spell their own names correctly be called reporters? Editing is thankless a job. It only pays bills. All types of bills, but. Thank God for that. 

Back from a coffee break, the newsroom seemed pregnant. Suddenly. Full blown in pin-drop silence.  An almost every-week affair. Someone is delivered. Delivered of their alleged sins, when a reader complains. Chief Editor thunders. One of the staff goofs up. All are warned. Someone is questioned. Someone else is suspended. News reel runs. Edition is out. Following morning is another day. Amen.
 

"Nisha, can I have a word with you," I heard the Editor.
 

"How did this story go to press?" he pushed the paper in front of me.
 

"You approved it at yesterday's editorial meet..."
 

"But, Nisha. Not this version."
 

"Of course, yes..."
 

"Listen, to me. You were not paying attention. I had said, read carefully before using it."
 

"I had my doubts on this copy. That's why I brought up the matter at the meeting and you said, it's ok to go..." I tried replaying the previous day's conversation.

I could sense the looming dagger come my way. In fact, it was already sent out my way. It was only a matter of time  - time for me to decide where I allowed it to pierce into me. 

The Editor continued: "Well, the Chief is boiling. The ministry is involved. He wants to know who was in-charge of the shift yesterday. But don't worry, I'll handle it. Relax."

"I'll speak to the Chief..." I got up.

"No. no. no. no. Not now," the Editor jumped up. "You are walking into a hungry lion's den. Leave it to me. I'll handle it. He'll calm down in a while," he winked. "You get back to work."

"It's better to resolve the issue right away. Lemme go speak."

"Nisha, Don't you trust me. I know the Chief better than you. He would be at his wits end now. Do you want to get yourself in trouble?."

The Editor sat me down, looking into my eyes, he said, "I want to save you his wrath and the HR issues that may follow. Your promotion is due. We need to be prudent now. Leave it to me."

"But!"

"I promise you, I'll keep you out of trouble."

"But...how am I accountable!!"

"Get back to work, Nisha."

Did I need a hoodie walking back to my desk? Colleagues dropped their heads, peered their eyes on screen. It wasn't in solidarity. Yet it was to help me bear the assumed pain with dignity. To deliver themselves of innocence. Did the coffee break bring up this shame on me? Being at the wrong place at the right time... whoever said was right. 

Mind didn't allign with work at hand. Ears sensitive. Eyes sharp. I saw the Editor walk into the Chief's cabin a little later. Unpleasant glances once again darted across the room. Some walked out cigarettes in hand. Solve the jigsaw puzzle, idiots. 

The Editor walked towards me. "Chief’s agitated. Wants me to shoot a warning letter, copy to HR immediately."

"But what did I do, what's my fault, I had told you the story is sensitive, how am I responsi...."

"Relax Nisha. Let me complete. I told him it's collective responsibility."

"How is it collective responsibility!!! You approve stories. I asked you yeste..."

"Nisha, Nisha, relax. It’s all taken care of. You see, there is a way of handling him. I know him for the last 15 years. Relax. Consider the issue is closed."

"Are you sure," I asked, shamelessly and yet relieved.

"I promised you that I'll sort it out." I was confused. Something didn't seem right still.

"Hello, relax. It's over." He walked away. 

I heard the voice. The other voice. Inside me. Crawling all outside me. "Get your arse up and speak to the Chief." Heart thumped. Bowel rumbled. I hurried to the washroom. 

Now, I felt hungry. Tension breeds on hunger. Canteen is the best place to de-stress. As I snacked on a carrot cake, I heard the voice. That unsettling bark of a rumble. "You should not have taken that story, Nisha." The Chief. 

"I'm sor...y.."

He walked with his plate to another table. 

"Get your asre up, now. Go. He's alone. Speak." The other voice screamed inside me.

Cheated. Abused. Shame wrenching from within, I hurried, this time to weep on the closet, locked in the toilet.

Through the haze of tears, I made a promise to myself - 'I am getting out of this place at the earliest'.

I am with Team #CrimsonRush for the #BarAThon from 1st to 7th August 2016

Leave bedroom talks under the quilt...Couple's private talk stokes nation's ire

In today's Hitavada issue

I have always been curious to peep into a celebrity’s normal day at home. Do they do their dishes, cut veggies, clean the toilet, water plants, do laundry…like we normal mortals?

Long last, Aamir and Kiran opened their home to show me they have husband-wife conversations like in any common household...But my starving countrymen are all pouncing over one another to prove who’s best at interpreting what the star-couple’s private conversation means.

Aamir also said a few other lines apart from the ‘India-leaving’ sentence. ‘Kiran feels scared to open the newspapers everyday’… ‘I am alarmed by the number of incidents…’ Why isn’t anyone interested in those? He definitely didn’t say it for the 2-minute fame. However, the same cannot be said about all those reacting?


How many of those hollering their epiglottis out would sit munching popcorn with their feet up if their child doesn’t return home on time from campus?


How many moral polices will laze under the covers if they do not hear from their kids who stay afar from them?

It was a mother’s concern for her baby’s future that Kiren voiced to her husband. Yes, as a celebrity he should have censored that when on a public forum. Because public figures ought to speak responsibly, so as “not to stoke unrest”. But shouldn’t they speak their mind? Else, why speak.


Yes, as a celebrity he should have censored that when on a public forum


Again, always a personal story helps you connect with the audience quicker. It helps drive home the point easily. And bigger the personality, the quicker it gets soaked in.

Think of this… if a celebrity [read with all his clout to ensure protection] feels vulnerable about the incidents in the country, what about the common man? It’s not about a Khan, or Jain or Robert here. The least we as a nation could do is to exercise tolerance in our reaction. National prime time wasted on such comments, was the most disgraceful part of the issue. One channel host took a lesson citing the number of times in the past India has risen above troubles all by themselves unlike France…

Yes, we are one proud nation. We do not wait for another to help us get on our feet. We are able, capable and far better than any others on this planet. We’re the epitome of diversity and pluralism!!

And that’s exactly why we need to halt spewing our mirth and check why off late such talks are being heard frequently?

Earlier, Shah Rukh Khan came under fire for his remarks on intolerance and BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya called him 'anti-national’. There’s no dearth of elected representatives exposing their filthy minds off. If the nation can let them pass, why pounce on celebrities?

Little wonder Indian celebrities don’t take part in discussing serious national issues unlike in the West. We believe they are public property and it’s we who provide them our share of oxygen to help them earn their keep. Isn’t that why Aamir’s entire body of work of all these years was rubbished in a day?

We as a nation consider it our birth right to own our celebrities. So they better walk on our leash. Else this is what we do, tighten the noose. And then if the outside media talks of what we do on our turf, we rise up in arms lecturing them on secularism and diversity and democracy… and take them to ‘our’ Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha, too.

It’s extremely sad that the Constitutionally-granted Freedom of Speech is today tagged with an unwritten clause of the citizen’s station, his/her political allegiance and religious beliefs. Dr Ambedkar would be turning in his grave!

Hope Aamir has learnt his lesson… to leave bedroom talks under the quilt!