A Tale of Two Books

Two books from two great celebrities have created waves and raised controversies. Whose to be blamed? The celebrities? We, the people? Or the media?

Two great celebrities, releasing their books consecutively, both creating waves of controversy, a touch of sensation, and the media hype, was all it required to make a tale of two books. Within a short spell of about a week, it was two books that ruled the media of all sorts. If one book was from an eminent political and the present opposition leader, the other book came from a person who had held the most prestigious post in world cricket, that of Indian cricket coach. While these books spelled a Pandora’s Box to the respective fields their authors belong, it proved a hen that lay golden eggs to the ever opportunistic media.

The first book in question, is titled, “A call to honour”, penned down by Mr. Jaswant Singh, about his memoirs of life and his career. What created ripples was the fact that he referred into his book, about a ‘mole’ in the PMO during the tenure of Mr. P. V. Narsimha Rao as the Prime Minister of India that leaked out critical and confidential information to the US. This set the world of politics flabbergasted, and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh challenging Mr. Singh to reveal the names. Accusations followed by accusations, the situation finally turned out to be a virtual loggerhead between the two ‘Singhs’, and the sensational media reports adding fuel to the fire, and escalating the curiosity among the people. The issue finally turned out to be a dead duck, with Mr. Jaswant Singh refusing to reveal the name of the ‘mole’, and only revealing that the person was a bureaucrat holding a post of very high authority. The US rubbished away the allegations, the name’s still not revealed and finally, it was the media, the author and the publishers, who were raking up the moolah.

If that was not enough, then to add to the woes, another book titled “Indian Summers”, this time coming from Mr. John Wright was on center-stage. The book was about his experiences during his stint as the Indian cricket coach. First, the controversy was on Wright’s exposé about the domineering of the then captain, Saurav Ganguly. Wright also revealed about the politics taking place in the selection, and selection on the basis of favoritism and zone-biases. If this seemed too stale and obsolete, what came next was even more remarkable. Wright also revealed that Sachin Tendulkar was aghast and not happy with Rahul Dravid’s decision to declare innings when Sachin was playing not out on 194, just six short of this maiden double centuary, in Multan, Pakistan. He spoke about the dispute that took place in the dressing room that day.

The books surely spilled out a number of facts to raise a million eyebrows. The facts were equally shocking and very significant in their respective fields. But, all these controversies have more of the ills. The mole-story, that finally led nowhere, but only to political instabilities, creating differences within the parties itself. If Mr. Jaswant Singh had to reveal the facts, then should have done it with total conviction, not afraid of spilling out the name, and being firm on his stand. If he was concerned about the consequences of the aftermath, then he shouldn’t have revealed the half-cooked facts, in the first place. This is a very critical issue, and the complete truth behind this should be definitely put to light.

Secondly, the incidents that Wright spoke about in his book, was only a hidden truth that everyone knew about. But raising up the past issues again, may lead to opening up of old wounds. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid still play for one team, and that’s team India, and India needs them to be together, to bring laurels for the country. What has happened in the past has happened, and it shouldn’t be looked back. Because they say, life goes on…

Celebrity books have come in the past, and will continue coming in the future. Sure, they become a success like as the celebrity himself. Books offer a freedom of expressions and celebrities get an opportunity to make them heard amongst the people that made them what they are. The books will create controversies, and will continue to. But always, at the end of the day, there will be only one clear and obvious winner – ‘The Media!!!’