Waiting to Die

"Goody has few weeks to live"

"Goody has days to live"

"Goody in her final hours"

These were some of the headlines I read in the "International news" segment of newspapers that I get. NDTV had a news feature on her today and it just got me wondering a lot of things.

For those who do not know what I am talking about, let me brief you a little bit.

Remember Jade Goody, the participant on UK reality TV show "Big Brother" who came under a lot of fire for her racial remarks on co-participant Shilpa Shetty? She decided to take part in the Indian version of the show and soon discovered that she was suffering from Cervical cancer. Ever since the discovery of this fatal condition, she is yet again in the news, with her publicists informing the press about her deteriorating condition on a daily basis. The life and death of Jade Goody will be broadcast on TV channels and reporters wait outside her hospital 24/7 for any news whatsoever.

She has two children from a previous marriage and married her boyfriend in February this year.

Now this got me thinking as to what goes on inside a person's mind when they know that their death is near and the doctors give you a time line of so and so days to live?  And the way media is making news out of one person's misery, I do not know but it seems very insensitive to me. I followed the whole BIG BROTHER fiasco with as much interest as I follow any other news. Yes I did not like the things she said to Shilpa Shetty, who is not a saint herself either. Save for THE AMAZING RACE, I have never watched any other reality TV show with any sort of enthusiasm. 

I mean we talk about privacy of celebrities and their lives. Surely death is another such moment -- if not for them, at least for their families. I know Jade herself publicised the events as they unfolded, but the way media is waiting for any sort of updates just seems to me like they are asking just one question - "When will she die??".

Maybe it is just me and my demented thoughts, but I really feel sorry for the sad state of things in our times. One cannot even die in peace. I cannot even try to imagine what her family is going through....and her children. I do not know much about the kind of person that Mrs Goody is, or if the tabloids have made her so... but fact remains that she is going to die and I just wished the media didn't make it a circus-like event.

P.S. Posting after a long time, hope all of you are doing good. :)