If you belonged to a certain generation, as I do, this was possibly the song you danced to, in college. British Band ‘Right Said Fred’ having a bit of fun with “I am too sexy” …

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39YUXIKrOFk&w=420&h=315]

Someone at the Times of India – the world’ most read English Daily – has possibly danced to the same tune. And, loved the song so much, they applied the concept to their news paper… Apparently, the paper is too sexy for its readers

In an inexplicable piece they have done a piece on how their readers are not middle-class but affluent

TOI has a readership of 7.4 million. That seems like a terribly large number, till you compare it with the total size of the Indian population, which is approximately 1.2 billion. In short, TOI’s readers actually constitute 0.6% of the Indian population. And logically speaking, they obviously know English, which is still the language of the elite in India.

How big is the Indian middle class itself? In 2010, a report by Asian Development Bank stated that India’s middle class – defined as those able to spend between $2 and $20 a day in 2005 purchasing power parity dollars – had expanded to about 420 million. By this definition, TOI readers are not only just 0.6% of India’s overall population, they also constitute barely 1.8% of its middle class.

Interestingly, the report defined those who could spend more than $20 a day as affluent. India has approximately 26 million of them. It’s a safe bet that most of TOI’s readers would fall into this category.

So, if at all a word has to be used to describe TOI readers, it should be “affluent”. Though perhaps it might be more accurate to dub them the creamiest of layers. Because when you compare their incomes and spending power with the Indian average, it is clear that they form the very peak of the pyramid.

Dear Big Bazaar, Vijay Sales,  and all other chains that publish their discount ads in the ToI for lakhs, maybe you should be looking at a different medium. All you companies that have recruitment ads for entry level positions — aahem the affluent don’t apply for jobs, they are invited . And, for those of you who put money in matrimonial columns run by the ToI … the elite don’t find matches via newspaper columns… Why would anyone in their sane mind want to alienate their audience & their advertiser?

Dear ToI editors, what were you thinking. or are elite papers that cater to the affluent incapable of that virtue ….

btw – the parents still subscribe to the ToI. No, they are neither elite, nor affluent but terribly middle class …:D

Times of India has linked back to this blog. in a section called ‘women molested’ *face palm*

and, it links back to this page on the ToI Website

I must appreciate the Time’s of India’s ability to get all searchers of all sort of stuff onto its site.. I wonder if there is a page for “indian p*rn”

Wikileaks is in the news again.

Last Week, Julian Assange threw a hissy fit, and made all the remaining files available freely via his site. Unlike the last time, the cables ‘outed’ this time did not censor the information to hide the identity of people involved. These include political activists, spies, informants, environmentalists, essentially sources of all types. This has, possibly, put the lives of thousands – especially those in totalitarian regimes – at risk.

In a piece that I wrote for the DNA I had suggested that One reads wikileaks As gossip. Nice, juicy gossip. Read WikiLeaks, smirk, and move on. For me Julian Assange was a self righteous, self appointed guardian of political morality (an oxymoron like no other), and he would do anything to bring the edifices crumbling down. And, the best way to do that is to create & spread distrust in all existing systems and relationships.

Tortuous Convolvulus is one of the most fascinating comic book characters. He appears in Asterix and the Roman Agent. Tortuous Convolvulus is a troublemaker par excellence — he just has to walk past two people to get them to start fighting. He causes distrust, strife and fights wherever he steps foot. He is the ultimate anarchist – who revels in the discord that he is able to create. He is used by Caesar to create divisions in Asterix’ village — till common sense, shared values and a wee bit of magic potion saves the village.

Julian Assange, the Australian who is on the United States’s ‘most hated’ list — is a modern day Tortuous Convolvulus. While on the face of it WikiLeaks — the organisation that he directs — has the stated aim of creating ‘open governments’ in the long run, in the short run WikiLeaks has become the ultimate tool of creating distrust and discord.

Every Publication & Government has condemned the redacted leaks. In particular The Guardian, New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel and Le Monde – which were the partners for the original wikileaks put out a statement dissociating themselves from this set of leaks.

“We deplore the decision of WikiLeaks to publish the unredacted state department cables, which may put sources at risk,” the organisations said in a joint statement.”

So, given all this hue and cry on privacy and risk – you would expect the world’s best selling Newspaper to show some rectitude in naming names.

And, then ToI- goes on to name the girl friend. I suppose putting stuff in quotes and attributing it to someone else saves them from libel… It also upholds their reputation of having a tabloid soul in a broadsheet’s body.

I wonder if they will do a story on a media magnate who is rumored to personally train and groom slightly over teen contestants for an allegedly leading event .. or one about a leading media organisation that is supposed to take money to create favorable stories.

I could talk about media and ethics – but wait there is a pink unicorn outside my window, and i am off to have a conversation with it …

(no. i dont’ particularly care about Yedurappa or his ‘girlfriend’ – but i do believe that stories like this should not be put out without verification).

Dear Editor,
The Times of India – the world’s largest English Language Daily

Siva – is the greatest of all Gods, beyond space and time. Eternal. can neither be born nor can he die …
Visa – is the permission to enter a country …

What were you smoking ?:) or have you outsourced your role to the wordprocessor ?

The kind of stuff that makes you choke over your breakfast. This from the world’s most read English Language Newspaper.