Despatch from Dubai: Don’t believe Indian TV news – we are safe and secure

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So who is running away from the United Arab Emirates? I spoke to several blue-collar workers and they literally laughed me off. Said Bishajit, a driver of 15 years, “The war here is being handled. Problem is at home these news channels scaring our families so much they are saying we should fly back at once.”

There’s a lot of anxiety being shovelled from screen to home to expats. The pressure would be comical if it was not so tragic.

Their mood, already tempered by the usual stresses of expatriate life, is now fraught with a new, profound anxiety – not just for their own safety, but for the psychological weight of reassuring families back home who are consuming non-stop news, often alarming and fake.

Said marketing expert Sabina Khandwani, Indian TV media is permanently on steroids. They are not journalists but C-grade actors hashing out masala on screens to a mind-numbing level.

And yet no one switches off their TVs or YouTube channels because they have become used to seeing and consuming garbage. TRP’s should stand for Totally Rubbish Publishing.