Taimur is to India what cat videos are to the Internet.
And hey - that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, cat videos have changed humanity. We are now paying attention to litter more than ever (pun intended!).
And here’s why we think you need Taimur reportage more than ever. Tell us if you agree with us!
1. Taimur’s Photos Can Offer us Intelligent Social Commentary
Sometimes, the media cheekily slips in some brutal truths in Taimur reportage from time to time. How else would you explain this photograph of Taimur with the building name, ‘Fortune Heights’?
Maybe the reporter intended to show us the contrast between people who live inside ‘Fortune Heights’ and people who live outside of it. Or maybe he just wanted to say a big, public “F**k you” to his beat.
Who knows?
2. Real News - The Taimur Way
Even though this particular story was considered ridiculous by many of you, we saw in it an interesting way to get the audience thinking about other kids not as privileged as this little one.
Taimur’s toy got lost. It became national news.
Consider this for a moment: 180 children go missing in India every day...
That’s 180 toys abandoned.
Does this story interest you NOW?
3. Above Party Lines
Taimur’s cuteness is the only thing Republic TV and NDTV agree on.
- 01/02
- 02/02
At a time when the media is more divided than ever, this is a pleasant surprise!
Taimur’s power lies in the fact that he has managed to get the whole media together - outside Kareena’s house!
4. Taimur To Increase Newspaper Circulation?
We now have a page that uses Taimur’s photos to talk about real issues.
If only newspapers applied the same strategy, they would not have to fight a dwindling readership!
5. Taimur is Representing India!
Taimur recently made an appearance on Phuket News.. Phuket news, guys.
India’s obsession with kids is now becoming world news. For a nation that’s struggling to control its population, we don’t necessarily know if that’s good publicity or not.
6. Taimur is Bringing Attention to Women’s Labour
Taimur is perhaps the only Indian guy who hasn’t shied away from admitting that a woman, apart from his mum, is helping him grow. In fact, he has ensured she gets ample publicity!
7. Acche Din
Taimur is actually providing employment to a lot of people.. from entertainment reporters, to content creators..
Roughly 1. 7 crore people are unemployed in India right now. Now, if everybody started selling pakodas, India would get really, really fat.
Despite all of this, the media is being lampooned for its Taimur coverage. In an interview, Mr. Randhir Kapoor even went to the extent of saying Taimur’s childhood is being robbed.
Now now, that’s a bit too dramatic.
I mean, which robber stands in the same spot everyday.... except maybe a lazy one? Perhaps the right word for the paps could be ‘pic(k)-pockets’ - they take pics of baby T and pocket them for the sake of their jobs!
BTW, I saw a #bantaimurnews hashtag on Twitter. It had one tweet.. c’mon guys!
Even detergent companies’ digital campaigns are more rocking than this. So, the next time you want to express your anger against Taimur-centred reportage, try the hashtag Jhaago zara!
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)