What a dude!

He's been labelled the Indian Idol No. 1. And today's ToI had not one, but four stories on him, and he also adorned the masthead. Nope, it isn't Narain Karthikeyan, not even Sourav Ganguly, and neither is it Shah Rukh Khan. It's Lord Shiva! (Sorry, 'him' should have been 'Him' in the previous sentence).

Ok, so it's Maha Shivratri, but do we need a lesson on Lord Shiva? Bachi Karkaria's nonsensical anchor story is just another waste of space, and reading beyond the first paragraph of that story is a waste of time.

Does ToI plan to turn into a pseudo-religious newspaper? As if the spiritual columns were not enough, we now get religious lessons too! So during Ganesha festival, let's expect a four-page special report on Ganesha. And during Navratri, let's read about the Goddess. And during Janmashtmi, maybe they can inform us about Krishna as well. What about Prophet Mohammed, Buddha and Jesus Christ? Can the newspaper please teach us about them too?

Shall we call this the beginning of the religionisation of the Indian media?