The need to rethink press conferences

I donrsquot see the point of press conferences I used to when I was young but itrsquos been so long since I attended one that I donrsquot think we need them anymore I suspect this is now the way most Indians think about the rest of the world too If something doesnrsquot affect us directly and our lives are unchanged by its presence or absence we probably donrsquot need it at all Itrsquos a pretty good way to look at things so I see the merit of adopting this lsquohead in the sandrsquo approach more often Itrsquos increasingly obvious that this is already Indiarsquos official government policy tooThe thought about press conferences came to mind because of what occurred a few weeks ago in Norway when the honourable Prime Minister was asked a question by a journalist from that countrySomeone at the Indian embassy must have failed to send the journalist a memo so I didnrsquot think too much about her blunder And yet it was undeniably strange to see someone asking an Indian politician an unscripted question given how rare the occurrence has become in recent years Everyone in India knows that unscripted questions are only for politicians who arenrsquot actually in power so the lack of tact on display in that room came as a bit of a shock For a while I even wondered if she would lose her job until I remembered that she wasnrsquot employed by an Indian newspaper and would therefore be safe from any professional damageWhat do we need press conferences for these days anyway Everything done by the government of India is explained and accounted for all the time and fullpage advertisements in newspapers every other week fill in any possible gaps in our knowledge so what possible questions can anyone have for these elected representatives All I can think of are queries about their personal preferences like what their favourite fruit is or how they consume itIt sometimes feels like something we collectively imagined Did we really have these gatherings where journalists could ask politicians to explain their actions I know we did even if young Indians will struggle with the concept We had a great many of them too at the state and national level and I remember some of them as being quite aggressive Of course this was when journalists werenrsquot paid salaries by industrialists and when the profession was still treated as a respectable oneThe one good thing that came out of Norway was how the Indian embassy handled everything with grace and intelligence Thatrsquos another thing we have grown accustomed to in recent years the acumen of Indians in the foreign service When asked about irrelevant issues such as trust and transparency embassy officials responded with a short history of yoga and an explanation of how magnificently we handled the COVID crisis that killed just 533849 Indians The ease with which they provided answers to questions that werenrsquot even asked was a masterclass in a long line of masterclasses we now routinely have access to I wonrsquot be surprised if those erudite men and women are promoted any day now because they deserve itWatching that onesided conversation also revealed a path forward for how press conferences should evolve in coming years if they continue to exist at all Indian ambassadors everywhere can transform these events from something utterly pointless into a potential marketing campaign for the country I propose the creation of governmentapproved talking points for all Indian embassies around the worldThese could include not just the obvious examples of yoga and ayurveda but other things such as Paneer Tikka Bollywood Bengal Tigers the Taj Mahal and Vegetable Samosas Officials can then toggle between these subjects whenever they are asked about Indiarsquos human rights record why it has dropped in the World Press Freedom Index or anything else that has the potential to tarnish the Make in India PR campaign that has been underway for over a decade nowWe are moving towards a future where transparency is unnecessary and irrelevant because we finally have politicians who are working tirelessly for our good Itrsquos why we are living longer and healthier lives why our children have more job opportunities than ever and why poverty as well as homelessness have almost been eradicated along with the gap between rich and poor Anyone who doesnrsquot accept these official facts and figures is either an enemy of this country or another Norwegian journalistWhen he isnrsquot ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He can be contacted at wwwlindsaypereiracomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper