स्वमग्न अग्रलेखाची लक्षणे ...Lead and Leader

(I have used Marathi word स्वमग्न to mean self-absorbed, and not its modern meaning autistic)

Business Line, July 6 2015:

"The United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore and Australia are a few of the foreign nations that have found Nestlé’s Maggi safe to eat after India held that its sundry varieties of instant noodles suffered from toxic contamination. So what should we make of this? It is tempting to argue we should go by our own tests, our own testing protocols, and our own interpretation of food safety norms, rather than be influenced by what other countries do or say. But this is a piece of hyper-nationalistic nonsense for more than one reason. To begin with, our food safety regulations are largely borrowed from the West. They are also extremely poorly enforced. Also in Maggi’s case, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), when testing for the contaminant lead, appears to have applied a norm that is totally at variance with international practice. The FSSAI’s ban on the product took place under the glare of a largely hostile media, an atmosphere in which TRPs trumped reason, self-righteous anger prevailed over sober analyses, and ideology replaced science..."
 
I buy Loksatta (लोकसत्ता) only for one reason:  their consistent, principled stand against fascist forces in Maharashtra (महाराष्ट्र), so rare among Marathi media. But most times, I don't read their  leaders.

The paper surely has a few interesting articles, on the editorial pages and else where, especially readers' letters, from time to time. Occasionally, even a leader, especially the one that takes apart fascist or corrupt forces,  is good but it's not their forte, indeed their Achilles heel.

Many of them are rudderless, clumsily written, socialist rant. The latest example of that is their leader on the subject of Maggi.

Let us start with the title: 'मॅगी'मग्न समाजाची लक्षणे...it means nothing other than the pun on words 'मॅगी' and मग्न....

"नवमध्यमवर्गीय घराघरांतील कुलदीपक आणि दीपिकांच्या आनंदाचे आणि त्यांच्या मातोश्रींच्या पाककलानिपुणतेचे निधान असलेल्या मॅगीनामक खाद्यपदार्थावर बंदीचे फतवे निघू लागल्याने आधीच मंदीने ग्रासलेल्या या वर्गाचे जगणे हराम झाले आहे."

What world the editors live in?....so many bachelors and low income people have survived on Maggi....I know it personally....Maggi is one of the most cost effective food in this country today....and until recently safer than any street food of similar price points.....

"आपल्या पोराबाळांना इंग्रजी माध्यमांच्या शाळांत घालणारे आणि मॅगी देण्यात आपल्या पालकत्वाची कृतकृत्यता शोधणारे हे दोन्ही एकाच लायकीचे."

What nonsense they peddle? What have English medium schools to do with Maggi eating? I went to Marathi medium school and I have eaten Maggi, since 1983, as a bachelor and, even when my wife is an excellent cook and we almost never eat out.

My son went to an English medium school, does not much eat Maggi and, if it were up to me, as and when his daughter arrives, she too will go to an English medium school even if meanwhile Maggi becomes extinct....

The rest of the leader is full of sweeping generalizations and left-leaning claptrap....

Such newspaper editorials are more dangerous for the body than an occasional pack of Maggi, even if it is laced with lead!

 Artist: Perry Barlow (1892-1977), The New Yorker, January 12 1957