indian journalists: can't write, can't edit, can well cock up

Sometimes all you feel like doing after reading the morning papers is take a matchbox, go to the balcony and burn the darned things down. The problem lies with your neighbour. He/she will shout across from the next balcony which, if you live in that strange place called 'Indian city', is closer to your balcony than your own bedroom. 'hey you,' the neighbour will shout across, caring two three or four hoots about the proper name that your parents hit across as a sign of enlightenment after spending zillions of sleepless nights. 'what in the name of god do you think you are doing? you wanna burn the whole goddamn place down or what?' you can ask them to politely fuck off and mind their own bleeding business, or you can sternly tell them to please leave their balcony and go to their living room and for heaven's god sake watch some television and give you some peace of mind. But no sir, they won't let you do anything like that. They will threaten police complaint and filing defamation case, or a right to information (the latest in the media fad directory).

But the point remains just as pointed: The newspapers here in India are just unreadable. Ignore the spelling, it still remains unbloodyreadable. The other day I was reading this strange thing called HT City, which, as the masthead suggests, is a city-specific pull-out that comes free with the Hindustan times. No problem with that, but only thing that remains specific to the city every day of the year is the adverts. The damned thing had a damned piece by this damned guy called Vir Sanghvi. It was about some devilonlycares restaurant in Bandra. It went on, and on, and on, and on, and on. And on to some more. It wasted three-fourths of the goddamned page. The writing was bad. The editing, if any, was conspicuous by its absence (cliche, cliche, let's start a war in Indian newspapers on cliches). The content, or whatever I managed to gather, was unreadable. Okay, I admit I read bits and pieces, and I pardon the guy who edited the piece, for it was so lousy that it was unreadable. And if it's so unreadable the second time over, it must have been worse the first time around. So I pardon him/her.

But the point still remains just as valid even after all these words sent out to the blogosphere: WHY WAS THE DAMNED THING THERE TO DISTURB THE PEACE OF MIND OF SOME DAMNED INNOCENT READER? Who cares to read one lakh and thirty seven words about some Japanese food/restaurant serving the likes of Sanghvi in Bandra? And that reminds me, what was it doing in HT City? Is the Metro taking you off to Bandra in its next phase that's coming up sometime perhaps in the next millennium?
But till then why doesn't Sanghvi rest in peace and let my neighbours rest in peace as well?