Vietnamese customs officials arrested a man yesterday (April 14), for trying to smuggle 18 live birds in his trousers.
And, in other news, also yesterday, Kate Middleton and Prince William watched from cockpit, as their plane made a dramatic landing at the 'world's most dangerous airport'.
Apparently, only eight pilots in the world are qualified to land here, in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
Well, most of us, you will admit, pay more attention to strange news items like these, from around the world, than to normal news.
And, by normal, I mean those news items about corrupt politicians, terrorist attacks, high-rise fires, celebrity scandals, train accidents, and, well, even missing aeroplanes.
But before I am lambasted as being insensitive, let me say that our continuous exposure to regulat news is somehow numbing our senses. Making us think of it as commonplace and trite.
So, shouldn’t we be happy that today’s media sometimes gives us relief? From the mundane and morose, with what is shocking and sensational?
Sometimes with news headlines. And sometimes with news itself.
Tucked into small print in some columns of newspapers, or scrolling as news-tickers across our TV screens, you will find some juicy tidbits of news which cannot be simply termed normal.
Newspapers and news channels know they must pander to us. And, as purveyors of sensationalism, they try to satisfy the voyeurs of the abnormal.
Uh ho. I just hope the editor of this newspaper won’t scarp my column, for the above sentence!
But there is no denying the truth that truth is often stranger than fiction. And, therefore, it is that proverbial ‘man biting a dog’ which is sensational news! And not ‘a dog biting a man’!
Journalists have been told this so many times that many have, for long, been on a search for that elusive man. The one who would bravely sink his teeth, into a dog’s leg.
But, mind you, that is not the real reason why, when asked how their jobs are, many of them say, “It’s a dog’s life”!
Sometimes the subeditors cannot do anything about the news, or the news-headlines, they are supposed to publish.
After all, truth has to be told. Funny or not.
Just look at these news headlines: “Police Station Robbed”, “Truck Carrying Fruit Crashes On Highway. Creates Jam”, “One-armed Man Applauds the Kindness of Strangers”, “Safety Meeting ends in Accident”, “Marijuana Issue sent to Joint Committee”, “Study Shows Frequent Sex Enhances Pregnancy Chances”, or “Homeless man under House Arrest”.
For instance, researchers, who analysed Shakespeare’s grave with radar imaging technology have concluded that his skull may have been stolen from his grave 200 years ago!
Interestingly, next week, on 23 April, the world’s literary enthusiasts will commemorate his 400th death anniversary. By placing flowers on his grave, but probably with doubts in their hearts.
Last month, women in UK protested against taxes on sanitary items, dubbed ‘tampon taxes’, and were able to convince EU leaders, of 28 states, to remove the taxes. One of the placards at the protest simply read: “This Tax Ends Now. Period.”
And did you read the news about a California man who got arrested for an overdue video cassette tape, which he had borrowed from a video library, in 2002, and failed to return?
Well, you know, now!
Like you know, now, many other useful news. Perhaps.
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