Saturday, May 10, 2008

Fashion Shows AND Farmers' Suicides - Part II

This is a quick post in response to the comments to my previous post. My point was that the perceived gap is just going to increase if journalists choose to focus on Fashion Week. BUT recognizing that this is what sells, why not use this as a forum to facilitate understanding of serious issues like the suicides?

Furthermore, I strongly believe that as long as Vidarbha seems like a different world to the people who are more interested in Ritu Kumar's new line (yes, I know who Ritu Kumar is), they're not going to feel compelled to try to understand what is going on, what it means, or how they can help. It will always be someone else's problem.

I came to rural India because I recognize it as a part of who I am. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up with the idea of two Indias. Based on discussions I have had with people in the cities, however, I'm not sure many people in "that" India see rural India as part of who they are. This is a divide that I feel journalism can help eliminate.

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