No one had
thought it to be of this scale, but many sought it - with ‘customized reasons’
– and it was written – there was some intention to mobilize (galvanize) the
opinion and to gain some good publicity (if not handsome, that ultimately came
out to be) – but such a windfall was never expected.
It is a plot
that was never conceived this way. It was a plot that had just some random
scribbling in the name of script, and that too, by a veteran journalist (no
more in active journalism and with political and ideological affiliations) who
was perhaps on a self-motivated agenda of scoring some points, but had no ideas
on where to pick from and where to end it.
It was a plot
with some loose elements and some misplaced words that picked up pace in a
stunning way, overshooting and over-surprising all.
It was all
quiet. The person with the idea and some elements that he had collected to push
the idea further were waiting for the takers.
And….there
was lull for a long time - before a photograph tweeted by the journalist of his
meeting with Hafiz Saeed, the dreaded terrorist and India
The wait was
getting longer and he had to do something. And he did it in style the contours
of which were not known to him when he began. He doesn’t know the elements of
its evolution either. And he doesn’t have to bother about it. All that matters
is he hit the right spot, stirring the beehive, which stung (almost) everyone.
What began as
the seismic waves of a moderate scale quake soon became a full blown Tsunami
scale spread.
And soon,
everyone was staking the claim, adding his or her part in writing the script
and in enriching the story.
Except the
countable few, all were critical of him and the high pitch of it gained many
more contributors to share inputs in developing the story the further. And it
grew, like a wildfire, in an age when ‘any publicity is seen as good publicity,
with blurred lines between good and bad’ He ruled the airwaves effectively. Whether
it was overreaction or the natural news-flow that grew on its own can be
debated and is being debated, but again, it is helping the person with the red
jacket, by keeping him in news.
And in three
days flat, a voluminous coverage was rolled out that is still hot. A name not
much known outside the journalism fraternity has become widely known overnight.
He is basking
in its glory now. What he has got in return is a return that no one could have
expected. Even he could not have expected it - even in his wildest thoughts.
Yes, the move
was an intended PR activity but its scope and scale evolved randomly and
rapidly, in an uncontrolled way that ultimately came to the benefit of the
person from where the idea had begun initially.
And he has a
windfall to spend now.
