Kapil Sibal is a well-intentioned guy. Please do not misunderstand him.
(yours)
N Ram and Praveen Swamy
(paid news on the front page of The Hindu, December 7 2011)
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, April 08, 2011
Down with Corruption
After the world cup, it is Anna Hazare time. Everyone is speaking up against corruption, lighting candles, skipping lunch. Kashmir to Kerala, Gujarat to Kolkata (I doubt if it goes beyond that). Aamir Khan to Baba Ramdev to Barkha Dutt to Lalit Modi.
Sure there were one-off voices that refused to join this frenzy. In Open magazine, Manu Joseph wrote that Anna Hazare has always been someone who sought media attention.
I don't think it is bad to seek media attention. But I believe this is an easy "solidarity" and a comfortable "revolution" of the middle class. They will continue to remain corrupt, the caste-class nexus continue, the Lalus and Rajas will get tried for corruption, the Chidambaram kind or Kapil Sibal or Manmohan or Ambani kind of corruptions will never even be called corruption.
It was Facebook that offered some relief from this madness. Yes -- the same facebook that worked as the backbone for this new "jasmine" revolution.
Anoop Kumar linked to this story and said: "Read about the heady mix of caste and corruption. On how an honest dalit, a top official, is treated for trying to crack down on corrupt officials
"Where were you, Dear Anna Hazare, when Lakhs of Crores were misused (and still misusing) and diverting which are supposed to spent for development of Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes under Schedule caste sub plan and tribal sub plan? is this Not corruption??"
Rasshad Al-Hindi wrote: "....if only Irom Sharmila was Anna Hazare."
Kuffir Nalgundwar wrote: "it's not about anna hazare.. he's been roy-ized by several 'civil' society celebrities who consider themselves the 'right' people to rule. it's not about corruption either. it's about hindu society's inability to digest even formal democracy and its tendency to send the 'wrong' people into parliament."
Ajith Kumar A S wrote: "a great chance for revolutionaries to enjoy fighting against corruption without being charged with UAPA! Anna Hazare is calling! hurry up"
Sanjeev Sreedharan wrote: "the idea of mother india that looms large over this reformation is undoubtedly more dreadful than any corruption that could befall the subcontinent." (see image)
Dilip Mandal wrote: "बिल्कुल जातिवार जनगणना विरोधी आंदोलन (मेरी जाति हिंदुस्तानी) और आरक्षण विरोधी आंदोलन वाला माहौल है। मुट्ठी भर लोगों का आंदोलन, क्विंटल भरकर मीडिया कवरेज, आरएसएस का समर्थन, हवन, गायत्री मंत्र, सिविल सोसायटी फिल्म स्टार आदि का समर्थन, राजनीति को गाली, सरकार के साथ अंदर से तालमेल।"
Anu wrote: "
The problem is not that the Lokpal bill will unleash anything against the dalits. The problem is the hypocrisy of indian civil society in defining the term corruption and limiting it to politicians."
[Thanks to my facebook friends and to Rasshad Al-Hindi. Anoop Kumar is likely to come up with a more detailed write-up on this issue].
Sure there were one-off voices that refused to join this frenzy. In Open magazine, Manu Joseph wrote that Anna Hazare has always been someone who sought media attention.
I don't think it is bad to seek media attention. But I believe this is an easy "solidarity" and a comfortable "revolution" of the middle class. They will continue to remain corrupt, the caste-class nexus continue, the Lalus and Rajas will get tried for corruption, the Chidambaram kind or Kapil Sibal or Manmohan or Ambani kind of corruptions will never even be called corruption.
It was Facebook that offered some relief from this madness. Yes -- the same facebook that worked as the backbone for this new "jasmine" revolution.
Anoop Kumar linked to this story and said: "Read about the heady mix of caste and corruption. On how an honest dalit, a top official, is treated for trying to crack down on corrupt officials
"Where were you, Dear Anna Hazare, when Lakhs of Crores were misused (and still misusing) and diverting which are supposed to spent for development of Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes under Schedule caste sub plan and tribal sub plan? is this Not corruption??"
Rasshad Al-Hindi wrote: "....if only Irom Sharmila was Anna Hazare."
Kuffir Nalgundwar wrote: "it's not about anna hazare.. he's been roy-ized by several 'civil' society celebrities who consider themselves the 'right' people to rule. it's not about corruption either. it's about hindu society's inability to digest even formal democracy and its tendency to send the 'wrong' people into parliament."
Ajith Kumar A S wrote: "a great chance for revolutionaries to enjoy fighting against corruption without being charged with UAPA! Anna Hazare is calling! hurry up"
Sanjeev Sreedharan wrote: "the idea of mother india that looms large over this reformation is undoubtedly more dreadful than any corruption that could befall the subcontinent." (see image)
Anu wrote: "
The problem is not that the Lokpal bill will unleash anything against the dalits. The problem is the hypocrisy of indian civil society in defining the term corruption and limiting it to politicians."
[Thanks to my facebook friends and to Rasshad Al-Hindi. Anoop Kumar is likely to come up with a more detailed write-up on this issue].
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Shahina the Terrorist
This report about my friend Shahina came in Malayalam newspaper Janmabhoomi. Titled "Shahina tried to sabotage the Delhi blast case as well", it says "Shahina, who tried to sabotage the Bangalore blast case, is understood to have tried to sabotage the investigations of the Delhi blasts that happened in 2008 September."
So how did Shahina sabotage the Bangalore blast case? By exposing some bogus witnesses the Police had manufactured. The case against her is that she intimidated and tried to influence the witnesses. (A video of her "intimidating" one of the witnesses could be found here).
Seeing this report in Janmabhoomi, I don't know whether to cry or laugh.
In this case, I know Shahina and was with her during the post Delhi blast days. So I know this is nonsense. But in many other cases we see similar reports -- in Janmabhoomi, in Mathrubhumi, in Kerala Kaumudi.. and we tend to believe at least a large part of it. Because we do not have any reason not to believe it.
This news tells me how foolish I was. A late realization, but I think better late than never. Thanks Shahina for being a twist in the story. I know it has not been that great an experience for you, but still.
* * *
(In September 2008, a significant part of an article by Shahina that appeared in The Hoot was used in an email that the media houses received "from Indian Mujahideen". She wrote about that experience in Hindustan Times later. The blog post mentioned in that note can be found on this diary, here).
So how did Shahina sabotage the Bangalore blast case? By exposing some bogus witnesses the Police had manufactured. The case against her is that she intimidated and tried to influence the witnesses. (A video of her "intimidating" one of the witnesses could be found here).
Seeing this report in Janmabhoomi, I don't know whether to cry or laugh.
In this case, I know Shahina and was with her during the post Delhi blast days. So I know this is nonsense. But in many other cases we see similar reports -- in Janmabhoomi, in Mathrubhumi, in Kerala Kaumudi.. and we tend to believe at least a large part of it. Because we do not have any reason not to believe it.
This news tells me how foolish I was. A late realization, but I think better late than never. Thanks Shahina for being a twist in the story. I know it has not been that great an experience for you, but still.
* * *
(In September 2008, a significant part of an article by Shahina that appeared in The Hoot was used in an email that the media houses received "from Indian Mujahideen". She wrote about that experience in Hindustan Times later. The blog post mentioned in that note can be found on this diary, here).
Friday, July 30, 2010
Divisive Mindsets at Work
There hasn't been any posts on this diary since the one on Raavan. A lot of things happened during this time.
First there was an unfortunate incident of a college teacher's hand getting chopped off in Kerala. I wrote about it on Kafila. [A Dialogue with God and Dialogues that go missing, with Bobby Kunhu].
The frenzy created by the media and the ire against one community are still on the high. A couple of days back the honourable chief minister came up with a statement that said some Muslim groups are working with an agenda of making Muslims a majority in Kerala. (Numbers suggest otherwise -- The decrease in population growth rate between 1981-91 and 1991-2001 is 34.2% for Kerala. For Malappuram district, it is much higher: 40.4%. We can wait for 2011 census figures for the current trend.) I think that statement from a chief minister of a state was extremely irresponsible, in the mildest terms. He even hinted at a 'reverse Love Jihaad', of Muslim women 'trapping' Hindu men. (A report on the sources of the 'original' Love Jihad can be found here: "Love Jihad was no Farce").
Then there was news about how the induction of Dalit women as cooks for the mid-day meals in schools in Uttar Pradesh angered a section of people. A report on it on the India Today website was very funny, in a sad way. It was as if the schoolkids were all living happily together, and then some "Dalit cooks" came and divided them. I first wrote about it on The Hoot ("Casteist reporting" -- The report on India Today site has changed since then) and followed it up with a post on Insight young voices blog ("Dalit cooks expose divisive mindsets").
All this is certainly disturbing, even if it isn't suprising. It tells us how divided we stand. It tells us we have a long way to go in our journey to becoming a civil society. It tells us progress cannot be gauged in economic terms alone.
First there was an unfortunate incident of a college teacher's hand getting chopped off in Kerala. I wrote about it on Kafila. [A Dialogue with God and Dialogues that go missing, with Bobby Kunhu].
The frenzy created by the media and the ire against one community are still on the high. A couple of days back the honourable chief minister came up with a statement that said some Muslim groups are working with an agenda of making Muslims a majority in Kerala. (Numbers suggest otherwise -- The decrease in population growth rate between 1981-91 and 1991-2001 is 34.2% for Kerala. For Malappuram district, it is much higher: 40.4%. We can wait for 2011 census figures for the current trend.) I think that statement from a chief minister of a state was extremely irresponsible, in the mildest terms. He even hinted at a 'reverse Love Jihaad', of Muslim women 'trapping' Hindu men. (A report on the sources of the 'original' Love Jihad can be found here: "Love Jihad was no Farce").
Then there was news about how the induction of Dalit women as cooks for the mid-day meals in schools in Uttar Pradesh angered a section of people. A report on it on the India Today website was very funny, in a sad way. It was as if the schoolkids were all living happily together, and then some "Dalit cooks" came and divided them. I first wrote about it on The Hoot ("Casteist reporting" -- The report on India Today site has changed since then) and followed it up with a post on Insight young voices blog ("Dalit cooks expose divisive mindsets").
All this is certainly disturbing, even if it isn't suprising. It tells us how divided we stand. It tells us we have a long way to go in our journey to becoming a civil society. It tells us progress cannot be gauged in economic terms alone.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Frontpages and advertisements
One senior journalist in Kerala expressed his shock at seeing the front page of 'The Hindu' on December 4 morning. Apparently, the whole page was split down into two in the middle by a huge "hit on the face" Ad by Uninor GSM.
I can understand his shock. I guess this is the first time The Hindu is running such an ad on its front page.
However, what I found more disturbing (difficult to feel 'shocked' with anything that the media does these days) was Sri Lankan government's series of big front page advertisements that the same newspaper carried with its chief editor's name on it (even the photographs were credited to N. Ram) more than an year ago. Below are some of them.
The Hindu front page, 2008 October 17
The Hindu front page, 2008 October 29
Editorial page, same day
..and
The Hindu front page, 2009 July 6
Compared to all this, I find a "hit on the face" commercial quite harmless. It is not even paid news, as it demarcates itself clearly as an advertisement.
Even outside the Sri Lanka episode, I think it is dangerous to ascribe a holier than thou status to The Hindu. They claim that themselves, and we somewhere accept it too. Despite N. Ram's CPM credentials (or owing to it?), I have felt that they have very Tamil Brahmin sensibilities. The Sri Lanka episode could be read as a part of it.
(Btw it is fun to listen to some Iyers and Iyengars swearing by the 'real' English language that The Hindu uses:-))
In Delhi or Bombay, Times of India or Hindustan Times carry full-page ads on their front page quite often. I am no big fan of those newspapers either, but at least they do not come with the pretensions of being 'the serious newspaper'.
I can understand his shock. I guess this is the first time The Hindu is running such an ad on its front page.
However, what I found more disturbing (difficult to feel 'shocked' with anything that the media does these days) was Sri Lankan government's series of big front page advertisements that the same newspaper carried with its chief editor's name on it (even the photographs were credited to N. Ram) more than an year ago. Below are some of them.
The Hindu front page, 2008 October 17
The Hindu front page, 2008 October 29
Editorial page, same day
..and
The Hindu front page, 2009 July 6
Compared to all this, I find a "hit on the face" commercial quite harmless. It is not even paid news, as it demarcates itself clearly as an advertisement.
Even outside the Sri Lanka episode, I think it is dangerous to ascribe a holier than thou status to The Hindu. They claim that themselves, and we somewhere accept it too. Despite N. Ram's CPM credentials (or owing to it?), I have felt that they have very Tamil Brahmin sensibilities. The Sri Lanka episode could be read as a part of it.
(Btw it is fun to listen to some Iyers and Iyengars swearing by the 'real' English language that The Hindu uses:-))
In Delhi or Bombay, Times of India or Hindustan Times carry full-page ads on their front page quite often. I am no big fan of those newspapers either, but at least they do not come with the pretensions of being 'the serious newspaper'.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Gillette: The worst an ad can get?
(I know an ad campaign can get much worse. The title is not to be taken very seriously).
* * *
We live in a time when we are fed ads disguising as news. We have got quite used to it over last four or five years, and many of us have even developed a skill to tell an ad from a news byte. Yet, we look at some of these ads and feel like throwing up.
This time it was Gillette.
On September 17, HT City carried a survey report that 91% of Delhi women were turned off by unshaven men, 82 percent of Delhi men are clean-shaven (I refuse to buy that), and across the metros most women found clean-shaven men more kissable.
It went on to add that 47% of the respondents thought clean shaven men are more likely to become millionaires (what if 53% thought otherwise), 47% thought mistakes are overlooked if they are made by clean-shaven men, and 50% think that your Visa application will be rejected if you have a stubbled look. The survey was conducted by -- no marks for guessing -- Gillette India.
The survey also gave details of how women liked their favourite stars -- Hritik Roshan, John Abraham, Abhiskek Bachchan and SRK among others -- whether clean-shaven, stubbled or full-bearded.
If you thought this was a subtle and tasteless campaign for selling blades, the worse was waiting to come.
Audio ads on Delhi FM stations said, "Bankers are more likely to reject your loan application if you have a stubble." Since there is no such thing as 'news' on most private FM channels, this had to be a "commercial". The rest of the ad was essentially "Buy Gillette Mach 3 and shave off that stubble" or something like that.
This series of ads seem to be taking us back in time in more ways than one.
This is not about being better than your competitor. Somewhere, these ads give me an impression that people don't know there is something called razors. One gets a deja vu of the 19th century "don't stay dirty, get Pears" kind of ads.
(Note that this one can not be compared to adversitements like that of Nokia Navigator phones, as it is not the case that a company is introducing shaving blades in the market for the first time.)
Two, these ads are plain racist.
Do the creators of this campaign really think it is hip to boast about cultural biases like mistakes being overlooked if you are clean-shaven and all that? If they really do, I think they need to take a lesson from another series of ads in town. "I am not fair but I am lovely -- I am not yesterday" -- say hoardings that carry an image of a beautiful dark model. "Is it true that women make bad drivers?" "Ask Sunita Williams", goes another ad on air. Advertising Mail Today newspaper, of India Today group.
Two days later, Delhi Times showed us clean shaven make-overs of Milind Soman and Kunal Kapoor. The news, of the launch of 'Gillette Mach 3 Turbo' in New Delhi, went like this:
"It was part of their macho appeal -- Milind Soman's rugged beard and wild, long locks, and Kunal Kapoor's urbane but sexy stubble. But the two hunks have recently shaved off their stubble and chosen to go for the smooth, clean look. What made them do it was Gillette Mach 3 Turbo."
The actors, however, had a different story to tell. They did not quite owe up to the 'stubbles are for losers' campaign. They refused to disown the stubbled/bearded looks that they were in for quite some time now.
"I've never had any problem playing with my looks. We're actors, and need to meet the demands of different characters. And with Gillette, the best thing is it doesn't scratch your skin. When I decided to go for a makeover, it's the only one I could think of," says Kunal.
Milind said, "I don't know if women like men clean-shaven or with a stubble, but one thing is for sure -- a guy has to be confident about his looks."
Thank god, it is not the end of the world. Even as Gillette is doing its bit to kill the confidence of the sexy stubbled men.
* * * *
[The Hoot carried this article, with a few modifications. I felt there was too much stress on "ads as news" in the way they presented it. It was initially titled as "Ads disguised as news" or something. Later they changed the title after my comment.]
[Image: from The Hoot]
* * *
We live in a time when we are fed ads disguising as news. We have got quite used to it over last four or five years, and many of us have even developed a skill to tell an ad from a news byte. Yet, we look at some of these ads and feel like throwing up.
This time it was Gillette.
On September 17, HT City carried a survey report that 91% of Delhi women were turned off by unshaven men, 82 percent of Delhi men are clean-shaven (I refuse to buy that), and across the metros most women found clean-shaven men more kissable.
It went on to add that 47% of the respondents thought clean shaven men are more likely to become millionaires (what if 53% thought otherwise), 47% thought mistakes are overlooked if they are made by clean-shaven men, and 50% think that your Visa application will be rejected if you have a stubbled look. The survey was conducted by -- no marks for guessing -- Gillette India.
The survey also gave details of how women liked their favourite stars -- Hritik Roshan, John Abraham, Abhiskek Bachchan and SRK among others -- whether clean-shaven, stubbled or full-bearded.
If you thought this was a subtle and tasteless campaign for selling blades, the worse was waiting to come.
Audio ads on Delhi FM stations said, "Bankers are more likely to reject your loan application if you have a stubble." Since there is no such thing as 'news' on most private FM channels, this had to be a "commercial". The rest of the ad was essentially "Buy Gillette Mach 3 and shave off that stubble" or something like that.
This series of ads seem to be taking us back in time in more ways than one.
This is not about being better than your competitor. Somewhere, these ads give me an impression that people don't know there is something called razors. One gets a deja vu of the 19th century "don't stay dirty, get Pears" kind of ads.
(Note that this one can not be compared to adversitements like that of Nokia Navigator phones, as it is not the case that a company is introducing shaving blades in the market for the first time.)
Two, these ads are plain racist.
Do the creators of this campaign really think it is hip to boast about cultural biases like mistakes being overlooked if you are clean-shaven and all that? If they really do, I think they need to take a lesson from another series of ads in town. "I am not fair but I am lovely -- I am not yesterday" -- say hoardings that carry an image of a beautiful dark model. "Is it true that women make bad drivers?" "Ask Sunita Williams", goes another ad on air. Advertising Mail Today newspaper, of India Today group.
Two days later, Delhi Times showed us clean shaven make-overs of Milind Soman and Kunal Kapoor. The news, of the launch of 'Gillette Mach 3 Turbo' in New Delhi, went like this:
"It was part of their macho appeal -- Milind Soman's rugged beard and wild, long locks, and Kunal Kapoor's urbane but sexy stubble. But the two hunks have recently shaved off their stubble and chosen to go for the smooth, clean look. What made them do it was Gillette Mach 3 Turbo."
The actors, however, had a different story to tell. They did not quite owe up to the 'stubbles are for losers' campaign. They refused to disown the stubbled/bearded looks that they were in for quite some time now.
"I've never had any problem playing with my looks. We're actors, and need to meet the demands of different characters. And with Gillette, the best thing is it doesn't scratch your skin. When I decided to go for a makeover, it's the only one I could think of," says Kunal.
Milind said, "I don't know if women like men clean-shaven or with a stubble, but one thing is for sure -- a guy has to be confident about his looks."
Thank god, it is not the end of the world. Even as Gillette is doing its bit to kill the confidence of the sexy stubbled men.
* * * *
[The Hoot carried this article, with a few modifications. I felt there was too much stress on "ads as news" in the way they presented it. It was initially titled as "Ads disguised as news" or something. Later they changed the title after my comment.]
[Image: from The Hoot]
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Costume Designers of Delhi Police
Wondered how it came about that the three arrested suspects came to be in possession of brand new Taliban rumaals, which they could readily pull out of their pockets to cover their faces, asked SADANAND MENON in Karutha Mashi.
Original Malayalam version appeared in Malayalam Vaarika of the Indian Express, Oct. 3, 2008. Translated version, The uses and misuses of photographs, on The Hoot.
Police later admitted that they had bought these rumaals in bulk to cover faces of accused. What is the point that they want to prove?
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Sad website for Cannes :-(
I was trying to check out the films in Competition and other sections at Cannes film festival. So I go to the official website of Festival de Cannes and get disappointed. The schedule of screenings is up, but many links lead you to this page that says "The content you have requested will be online soon. Please come back and check our site regularly."
For example, "In Competition" page (under "Official Selection") says "Each year, about twenty feature films are selected to be in Competition and in the running for the Palme d'Or. They make up the main part of the Official Selection which is screened at the Grand Theatre Lumière.
Click here to see the full 2007 list."
You click and you are told "the content will be online soon". This holds for all sections under "Official Selection" and also to many other links on the festival page.
This is on May 17. GMT 4:27pm. The festival is from May 16 to 27, 2007.
This when they are celebrating 60 years of movies. The festival 2007 page boasts that "2007 is not just any year for the Festival de Cannes, as not only do we reflect on sixty years of movie-making history but also look forward to what the future of film holds."
[Festival logo source: wikipedia]
Monday, May 14, 2007
Reservation Quota to be hiked to 95%
So goes an advertisement for Videocon Airconditioners. One of the most offensive ads I have seen in recent times. With a tagline "Stay cool No matter what". It wins the uncool ad award hands down.
The ad shows the front page of a newspaper "NOON NEWS" that carries this news:
Reservation Quota to be hiked to 95%
"The superior court today accepted the government's plea to increase reservation quota in educational institutes. High-profile institutes such as IISs and the IINs too, will now have to reserve almost 95% of their seats for candidates belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and backward class (BC) from the coming academic year.." (it goes on)
How is it that such a blatant mockery of people belonging to scheduled castes and backward classes passing off without a resistance? Or has everyone taken the tagline too seriously?
[Ad on the backside of Air Deccan magazine Simplifly May 2007 issue]
The ad shows the front page of a newspaper "NOON NEWS" that carries this news:
Reservation Quota to be hiked to 95%
"The superior court today accepted the government's plea to increase reservation quota in educational institutes. High-profile institutes such as IISs and the IINs too, will now have to reserve almost 95% of their seats for candidates belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and backward class (BC) from the coming academic year.." (it goes on)
How is it that such a blatant mockery of people belonging to scheduled castes and backward classes passing off without a resistance? Or has everyone taken the tagline too seriously?
[Ad on the backside of Air Deccan magazine Simplifly May 2007 issue]
Sunday, May 13, 2007
People choose BSP in UP
Today I remember another May 13 post that appeared three years back on this diary. Titled "Nobody's India", that short post read, "The people of India have shown that nobody could take them for granted. The democracy is the winner, as Sidhu would put it:)"
I am happy to see BSP coming to power in UP and that too with a clear majority.
The multi-sided contests have done good to UP. In particular, SP and BSP have revolutionized the way UP vote.
There's this one Yadav who runs a xerox shop in Kanpur. He offers puja at a framed photograph of Mulayam Singh Yadav. He says he never voted in an election till Mulayam came. Not because he didn't have his GOD to vote for, but because the OBCs were not allowed to vote. The Brahmins and Kshatriyas took charge of the polling booths.
Former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao called it a miracle of democracy (that an untouchable is becoming a CM) when Mayavati came to power for the first time, in 1995. That miracle couldn't have been possible without the social revolution that has taken place since late eighties.
* * *
What relates the UP results to 2004 general election results is the way the poll predictions, opinion polls and exit polls have all gone for a toss. That time everyone was sure of a second term for NDA, and this time nobody had an element of doubt it would be a hung assembly, and also that BJP would get considerable number of seats. Some flashback: Landslide for Atal, Feb 2 2004. Media obsession: Elections: Vajpayee vs Sonia?, Feb 12 and ToI working overtime, Mar 18.
* * *
[image from Sunday Express, April 29 2007]
Friday, April 27, 2007
Times of India to republish photograph
It seems people at Times Of India have agreed to republish the photo with credit. See Seema's blog for details.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Taking Sides (Seema vs ToI this time)
The Original..
..and The clone.
In the pic is a building at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. Photo by Seema. I wish ToI carried those three words.
Seema has posted on her blog a letter to ToI for which she hasn't got a reply.
"I'm happy to see that my photo of a building by Padamashree Laurie Baker being published in you esteemed new paper, that too in editorial page. Same time it is really saddening to see that I am not attributed for the work I've done..
The picture you have given in this editorial is taken by me here in Trivandrum. you can find this picture here in this link. If you look into the copyright agreement section of the site you can see that I used Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 (Creative Commons) license for my work. I do want people to use my work with their creative work.."
* * *
Krishnakumar writes in a comment to the post on Ore Kadal: "There is always another side to every story. Why not wait and see?"
We have heard the "both sides" stories for a long time. In my experience that kind of a desparate attempt to "balance out" is often the most cruel thing to do. Like Mani Ratnam does in Bombay about the Bombay riots.
I know Times of India will sure have their side of this story.
I'd rather go by someone I know I can trust. Like Subhash or my friend Seema.
[Title courtesy: Taking Sides is the title of a 2001 film by Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó].
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Mithunda's take on Singur/Nandigram
"The film begins with the customary disclaimer.. But Mithunda's latest box-office wonder is about land acquisition in a burning Bengal", goes the review of Bong film Tulkalam in The Telegraph by Chandrima S. Bhattacharya (could not find it on the web edition).
Hindustan Times has a special story by Drimi Chowdhuri titled Bengali cinema raises issue of land acquisition. "Filmmaker Haranath Chakroborty’s "Tulkalam" starring Mithun Chakraborty and Rachana Banerjee has struck a chord with viewers. The movie is running to packed houses in Minar, Bijoli and Chhabighar which are mostly haunted by Bengali cine-goers looking for something more than the regular commercial fare.."
"The city’s commercial theatre district, Chitpore, that has always shown a penchant for recent happenings, is also tapping in on the issue. All the theatre companies involved with production seem to be changing their storyline, even though their titles prominently feature Nandigram.."
The Telegraph review can't conclude without a reference to the "Left intellectuals":
"Such direct political reference is not usual in a mainstream Bengali movie. The issue must be so hot that it can't be swept under the carpet any more. Neither by Left intellectuals nor by Mithunda. The carpet will catch fire.."
Funny. The carpets of The Telegraphs and The Indian Expresses and Anand Bazar Patrikas seem to be catching fire. All these "development-mongers" vehemently supported the WB Govt on the land acquisitions and kept quiet about the first round of violent turn of events in Nandigram this January (that led to the March 14 firing).
["Villagers have become extremely wary of journalists, they turn back some of them, and claim that at least the biggest newspaper group, ABP, has sold itself to the state government. The variations are whether the buying party is the state government, the CPI(M), or the chief minister..", wrote Aloke Thakore in The Hoot].
So now, they are all busy taking digs at Left Intellectualism (IE article on "Why left intellectualism is so damaging", refering to some statement by some CPM intellectuals who are not sure where to stand.) Understandably turning a blind eye to most other left intellectuals who stood firm against the WB Govt's development policies even before the March 14 firings at Nandigram. In a desparate attempt to make sure everything goes "right", the way WB Govt and CPM has been moving. So that any voice against them, intellectual or not, are not taken seriously by anyone.
But no matter how muchever they try, the fire is very much here. Unlike what they would like to believe ("Unfortunately, real rural Bengal does not have a Mithun", says Ms Bhattacharya), the people are standing up for their rights and won't give in without a fight. And they are aware who are trying to take them for granted and who are benefitting from it.
* * *
Tailpiece: It seems March 15 and March 16 issues of Ananda Bazar Patrika went missing from their web archives!
Hindustan Times has a special story by Drimi Chowdhuri titled Bengali cinema raises issue of land acquisition. "Filmmaker Haranath Chakroborty’s "Tulkalam" starring Mithun Chakraborty and Rachana Banerjee has struck a chord with viewers. The movie is running to packed houses in Minar, Bijoli and Chhabighar which are mostly haunted by Bengali cine-goers looking for something more than the regular commercial fare.."
"The city’s commercial theatre district, Chitpore, that has always shown a penchant for recent happenings, is also tapping in on the issue. All the theatre companies involved with production seem to be changing their storyline, even though their titles prominently feature Nandigram.."
The Telegraph review can't conclude without a reference to the "Left intellectuals":
"Such direct political reference is not usual in a mainstream Bengali movie. The issue must be so hot that it can't be swept under the carpet any more. Neither by Left intellectuals nor by Mithunda. The carpet will catch fire.."
Funny. The carpets of The Telegraphs and The Indian Expresses and Anand Bazar Patrikas seem to be catching fire. All these "development-mongers" vehemently supported the WB Govt on the land acquisitions and kept quiet about the first round of violent turn of events in Nandigram this January (that led to the March 14 firing).
["Villagers have become extremely wary of journalists, they turn back some of them, and claim that at least the biggest newspaper group, ABP, has sold itself to the state government. The variations are whether the buying party is the state government, the CPI(M), or the chief minister..", wrote Aloke Thakore in The Hoot].
So now, they are all busy taking digs at Left Intellectualism (IE article on "Why left intellectualism is so damaging", refering to some statement by some CPM intellectuals who are not sure where to stand.) Understandably turning a blind eye to most other left intellectuals who stood firm against the WB Govt's development policies even before the March 14 firings at Nandigram. In a desparate attempt to make sure everything goes "right", the way WB Govt and CPM has been moving. So that any voice against them, intellectual or not, are not taken seriously by anyone.
But no matter how muchever they try, the fire is very much here. Unlike what they would like to believe ("Unfortunately, real rural Bengal does not have a Mithun", says Ms Bhattacharya), the people are standing up for their rights and won't give in without a fight. And they are aware who are trying to take them for granted and who are benefitting from it.
* * *
Tailpiece: It seems March 15 and March 16 issues of Ananda Bazar Patrika went missing from their web archives!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The World Cup is not over, boss!
The World Cup Madness in our media seems to have ended. That is a relief. Thanks to the Bangladesh and Sri Lankan teams who showed us where our "Blue Army" belongs.
The ads with our "heroes" are off air, there's no more "Ooh Aah India" (sounds like some porn scene) and all that crap. Yes, there's still some post-mortem going on to find out who are the real culprits (like this one), who all will lose job, who will be new captain, who will be new coach and all that. And there is a Bob Woolmer mystery for the Poirot fans. [He gave his life to Cricket - cricket world pays tribute]
All that is fine, but would that mean we stop covering the world cup matches?
Do our newspaper biggies feel that we are only supposed to follow the world cup only as long as Indian team stayed in the race?
Don't know if this lack of enthusiasm has anything to do with the loss of advertising revenues on ads that featured Indian players. Whatever the reason be, we have stopped getting updates about the previous day's scores. (I get The Telegraph at home, a city edition). One has to be content with two days old match reports and score cards. And of course, the coach-captain-senior players drama.
Is all the fizz over at this world cup? It's far from it. Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa are all playing good cricket. England is also very much in the race. To see how they tackle in-form Sri Lankans in today's match would be interesting. Even the West Indies is not out of the World Cup yet.
May be we will get a better coverage as the super eight stage nears an end. Thats all we can hope for now!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
"Cattle class" tera journalism!
"..But it’s the token of respect they have earned that the occupants of the crammed “cattle class” may appreciate more..", goes The Telegraph main story on the Railway Budget, titled "Cattle class to comfort zone".
Our "mainstream" media can so blatantly stoop to any low when they are sure nobody would take it up and make it an issue like they did with the Shilpa Shetty (non?) issue a few weeks back. They also seem to be assuming that the "class" that travels in general compartments don't read their paper.
Our "mainstream" media can so blatantly stoop to any low when they are sure nobody would take it up and make it an issue like they did with the Shilpa Shetty (non?) issue a few weeks back. They also seem to be assuming that the "class" that travels in general compartments don't read their paper.
Friday, February 23, 2007
More Missing People, Crying Mothers
This time, Samjhautha Express. Killing about 70 people on the spot. Another shot at making fear prevail over any attempts towards peace.
[From India eNews: Diaries from Samjhauta: "It was exactly one year to the day that I had boarded the Delhi-Attari Express that would take me onward to Lahore via the Samjhauta Express from Attari. One year hence I cannot but be overcome by emotions to hear the news of the tragedy that took place last Sunday..", writes Rudroneel Ghosh.]
The tragedy, security lapses, images of the suspects, and an image of a BSF man on a horseback alongside the train (that one on the front page of today's The Telegraph) are all over the newspapers and television. And Pakistan and India getting into a word of wars again.
You think it's just the scale of the horror of the incident that makes the media jump on it so happily? I think thats just a part of it.
Now, think Nithari. Another feast that the media has had in recent times, despite the news of the missing children coming out very late. What made it easy meat? Missing children? Skeletons? Crying moms? May be all of that, but looking closer, I see something common: An easy villain.
(Almost every news report related to Nithari had Moninder Singh's photo with it. And for "us" on this side, there is an "easy villain" in ISI every time any act of terror happens in this country. This time it wasn't so easy, as many of the people who died were Pakistanis. Still the media is playing that "Pak hand" card, though in a more subtle way.).
Here's another story that had both missing clildren and people continuously living in fear. And yes, it has crying Mothers too.
Families of missing people from Jammu and Kashmir were on a day-long hunger strike yesterday (Thursday, February 22) in New Delhi.
I heard this from a journalist friend in Delhi. I try googling but can't find anything on it in our leading "National" newspapers. The only news article I could find on this is from "Greater Kashmir", that calls it a "part of a campaign to mobilise public support against human rights violations in the strife-torn state."
"Sixty family members of the missing people, mostly women, arrived here [Delhi] on Monday from Srinagar in a bus to participate in the campaign", goes the news.
[The false encounter killings in Kashmir came to news again recently, with former Superintendent of Police Hansraj Parihar and his deputy in Ganderbal, Bhadur Ram, arrested for allegedly killing five south Kashmir villagers in fake encounters after dubbing them as Pakistani militants, for reward money. I had read that news at a couple of places but all I could find now with Google was a single Indian Express article: "There is a man who says his brother, a Special Police official, was picked up from home, tortured to death and to hide the truth..."
Then a Kashmiri Observer article about a protest strike in Kashmir. And a statement in Peoples Democracy. Is there a filter working inside Google India like, say, the one in China? I am not sure.]
[From India eNews: Diaries from Samjhauta: "It was exactly one year to the day that I had boarded the Delhi-Attari Express that would take me onward to Lahore via the Samjhauta Express from Attari. One year hence I cannot but be overcome by emotions to hear the news of the tragedy that took place last Sunday..", writes Rudroneel Ghosh.]
The tragedy, security lapses, images of the suspects, and an image of a BSF man on a horseback alongside the train (that one on the front page of today's The Telegraph) are all over the newspapers and television. And Pakistan and India getting into a word of wars again.
You think it's just the scale of the horror of the incident that makes the media jump on it so happily? I think thats just a part of it.
Now, think Nithari. Another feast that the media has had in recent times, despite the news of the missing children coming out very late. What made it easy meat? Missing children? Skeletons? Crying moms? May be all of that, but looking closer, I see something common: An easy villain.
(Almost every news report related to Nithari had Moninder Singh's photo with it. And for "us" on this side, there is an "easy villain" in ISI every time any act of terror happens in this country. This time it wasn't so easy, as many of the people who died were Pakistanis. Still the media is playing that "Pak hand" card, though in a more subtle way.).
Here's another story that had both missing clildren and people continuously living in fear. And yes, it has crying Mothers too.
Families of missing people from Jammu and Kashmir were on a day-long hunger strike yesterday (Thursday, February 22) in New Delhi.
I heard this from a journalist friend in Delhi. I try googling but can't find anything on it in our leading "National" newspapers. The only news article I could find on this is from "Greater Kashmir", that calls it a "part of a campaign to mobilise public support against human rights violations in the strife-torn state."
"Sixty family members of the missing people, mostly women, arrived here [Delhi] on Monday from Srinagar in a bus to participate in the campaign", goes the news.
[The false encounter killings in Kashmir came to news again recently, with former Superintendent of Police Hansraj Parihar and his deputy in Ganderbal, Bhadur Ram, arrested for allegedly killing five south Kashmir villagers in fake encounters after dubbing them as Pakistani militants, for reward money. I had read that news at a couple of places but all I could find now with Google was a single Indian Express article: "There is a man who says his brother, a Special Police official, was picked up from home, tortured to death and to hide the truth..."
Then a Kashmiri Observer article about a protest strike in Kashmir. And a statement in Peoples Democracy. Is there a filter working inside Google India like, say, the one in China? I am not sure.]
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Low class cricketer
Dhoni-dom is not quite the stardom that we are used to in Indian cricket.
I am not refering only to the guy's cricketing skills here. MSD is a class apart, literally. He belongs to the lower class.
You'd know what I mean if you've seen the ads that feature him.
We have seen stars drink Pepsi or Coke (or Boost!), ride Santro, wear Mayur or Siyaram suitings, show off their Rbk (and RSS, of late), be part of the Samsung team, eat Chyavanprash.. Whereas Dhoni's larger-than-life figure is all over in the interiors of the country in billboards that target the labour and farmer class.
So unlike our "master"s, "Maharaja"s and "Wall"s, Dhoni comes out as the "common man" of Indian cricket.
(One does not forget an under-19 captain who brought home the world cup and later became part of the senior team, he had the common man appeal in him but he never became a sellable star on his own. Sehvag was another person who came close).
Coming from Bihar Ranji team (and later Jharkhand), MSD has a way of his own. In everything. (Ever heard of anyone from a Bihar team making it to the Indian team before?) And with his game, he makes sure he can't be ignored by anyone for long.
The Telegraph carries an opinion page article on Feb 15:
"What stood out from the beginning was Dhoni's confident poise, the fact that he played from the start like an adult.. Dhoni never looked the young debutant, he never seemed tentative. He seemed to know what his business was and went about it with a calm self-possession that contrasted nicely with the violence of his methods.."
The article tries to find the reason:
"This might have had something to do with his apprenticeship in first-class cricket, which was a relatively long one. He had played five years of first-class cricket when he was selected to represent India.."
One of the earliest articles I could find on the man says: "I am sure M.S.Dhoni would get his turn to play for India and if he can produce atleast 60% of what he had played against Pakistan A and Kenya, then my word is that this guy would be a resounding success in the near future.."
He lived up to those words. In style.
In a game that is dominated by the "whites" of this country.
Coming back to the Telegraph article, that calls him "part Bheem, part Ekalavya":
"Indian teams are organized around codes of deference: "junior" players behave a certain way around "senior" players.. Dhoni, like Sehwag, doesn't fit into that mould.."
Let us hope he stays -- as a dependable player, as a star, and as a common man.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Heroes and heroines at the Games
Jaspal Rana, the 18-year old wonderkid we saw a while ago, is back in action, and I can't believe it's been 12 long years! He's named the best athlete at the Asian Games at Doha. I hope he does not go back to oblivion again as he did once. (It seems he was fighting some illness).
While we remember Rana's name even after quite a long time, most athletes don't enjoy so much of our attention. Mahesh and Paes are making news for wrong reasons. Sania has become more of page 3 than the sports page. Other names and snaps are in the newspapers when they fetch us medals at the Games, but the names go unregistered. Let me raise a toast for you guys (we are going to forget you all in a few days anyway)..
Sinimol Paulose who won bronze in 1500m;
Yogeshwar Dutt who won a wrestling bronze;
Archery team that won bronze;
Sailing team that won silver;
Aboobakker Thanikkal, Joseph Abraham, Bhupinder Singh and K M Binu who won silver in the men's 4x400m relay;
Pinki Pramanik, Satti Geetha, Chitra Soman and Manjeet Kaur who won gold in women's 4x400m (she also won a silver in the individual 400m) ...
(I have already forgotten the rest!)
While we remember Rana's name even after quite a long time, most athletes don't enjoy so much of our attention. Mahesh and Paes are making news for wrong reasons. Sania has become more of page 3 than the sports page. Other names and snaps are in the newspapers when they fetch us medals at the Games, but the names go unregistered. Let me raise a toast for you guys (we are going to forget you all in a few days anyway)..
Sinimol Paulose who won bronze in 1500m;
Yogeshwar Dutt who won a wrestling bronze;
Archery team that won bronze;
Sailing team that won silver;
Aboobakker Thanikkal, Joseph Abraham, Bhupinder Singh and K M Binu who won silver in the men's 4x400m relay;
Pinki Pramanik, Satti Geetha, Chitra Soman and Manjeet Kaur who won gold in women's 4x400m (she also won a silver in the individual 400m) ...
(I have already forgotten the rest!)
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Police Story
"According to reports in a leading daily (August 26 and September 4), Hoshangabad police charged a couple with the murder of their twelve-year-old son. Their son was indeed missing, and a body was found near the railway track. The parents confessed to the crime, and spent over 45 days in jail.."
"Six months after his murder, young Gabbar turned up in town.."
"As for the parents who confessed to the murder of a son who was alive — “They broke three of my fingers with sticks,” said the father.."
"It further involved, in the face of incontrovertible evidence of the boy being alive, reiterations in court of the police version under oath, urging the court instead to prosecute Gabbar’s family for producing another person as Gabbar.."
* * *
The above (and below) quotes are from an interesting story by Nivedita in today's Telegraph, where she asks this question that she finds nightmarish:
"what happens to police procedures and media reportage when nothing less than national security is at stake?"
She asks, "Would this blatant miscarriage of justice have been reported in the media if the parents had been arrested on a different sort of charge? If Gabbar himself had not turned up alive? What if Gabbar had been killed in an encounter?"
"Last month, a woman widely known in academic and activist circles in Delhi — Sunita of Daanish Books, a small alternative publisher — was detained by the police in Chandrapur, where she had set up a book exhibition.."
"..when concerned phone calls and faxes started pouring in, the police claimed that they had “clinching evidence” (a phrase they repeatedly used) that this Sunita was a Maoist activist from Jehanabad, where her Maoist husband had been killed some years ago in an encounter. During her interrogation, the official insisted that she admit she was from Jehanabad, despite her assertion that she is from Bhagalpur, and that she had never lost a husband to police bullets. A policeman told her confidently at one point, Hum saabit kar ke rahenge ki aap vohi Sunita hain, Jehanabad ki.."
"..during interrogation Sunita was asked, “Why do you sell books on Bhagat Singh? The British have left, haven’t they?”
"Reports in local Hindi newspapers published the police version without any further comment or corroboration.."
[link to complete story]
"Six months after his murder, young Gabbar turned up in town.."
"As for the parents who confessed to the murder of a son who was alive — “They broke three of my fingers with sticks,” said the father.."
"It further involved, in the face of incontrovertible evidence of the boy being alive, reiterations in court of the police version under oath, urging the court instead to prosecute Gabbar’s family for producing another person as Gabbar.."
* * *
The above (and below) quotes are from an interesting story by Nivedita in today's Telegraph, where she asks this question that she finds nightmarish:
"what happens to police procedures and media reportage when nothing less than national security is at stake?"
She asks, "Would this blatant miscarriage of justice have been reported in the media if the parents had been arrested on a different sort of charge? If Gabbar himself had not turned up alive? What if Gabbar had been killed in an encounter?"
"Last month, a woman widely known in academic and activist circles in Delhi — Sunita of Daanish Books, a small alternative publisher — was detained by the police in Chandrapur, where she had set up a book exhibition.."
"..when concerned phone calls and faxes started pouring in, the police claimed that they had “clinching evidence” (a phrase they repeatedly used) that this Sunita was a Maoist activist from Jehanabad, where her Maoist husband had been killed some years ago in an encounter. During her interrogation, the official insisted that she admit she was from Jehanabad, despite her assertion that she is from Bhagalpur, and that she had never lost a husband to police bullets. A policeman told her confidently at one point, Hum saabit kar ke rahenge ki aap vohi Sunita hain, Jehanabad ki.."
"..during interrogation Sunita was asked, “Why do you sell books on Bhagat Singh? The British have left, haven’t they?”
"Reports in local Hindi newspapers published the police version without any further comment or corroboration.."
[link to complete story]
Friday, November 10, 2006
Intolerance and indigestion
The Telegraph, Sunday October 8, 2006. Bharathi S. Pradhan writes about Dor:
"When you first watch Nagesh Kukunoor’s impressively shot Dor, you want to simply applaud it as good cinema. (I even sent him a text message that I loved the film and its performances.).."
"Whether it’s Ayesha’s award-worthy performance or Shreyas’ amusing moments, the credit marks pile up in favour of the director who has made engaging cinema out of a story inspired by the Malayalam film Perumazhakalam.."
I haven't seen the film (it was not even released in this city), so I can't comment on this. I'm not sure I'd have checked it out even if it were running here. I had given Perumazhakkalam a miss, after seeing some of the newspaper promos. But the article is titled "Kukunoor’s minority report". May be there are some interesting observations.
As it turns out, the observations are not just interesting. Funny, ridiculous, alarming..? Or may be all of these.
"..once you stop the gush of compliments and ponder over the film, you realise that Nagesh Kukunoor has a definite agenda other than just entertaining his audience."
[Well, what could it be?]
"He did it very subtly in Iqbal where he set the deaf and dumb aspiring cricketer smack in an agrarian Muslim family. It was done so casually, it could have been any other normal Indian family with its cricket-loving mother and sister, and a hard working farmer-father opposed to the game. There were no Allahs, subhanallahs or mashallahs punctuating every sentence. Except for one scene taken outside a mosque, there were no namaaz versus cricket practice debates either."
[Oh, that's certainly not acceptable! Wonder how we missed it in Iqbal! This guy is so clever he is pushing an agenda in such a casual manner that we don't notice!]
"In short, other than introducing the lovable little family, Nagesh never reminded you that this was a Muslim family. On hindsight, one understands that his agenda was to show a Muslim as no different from someone from the mainstream. So far, pretty fair."
[Ok, that would pass, even if it is not entirely fair.]
"But after watching Dor, one suspects Nagesh was only testing the waters with Iqbal."
[Wow! That one sentence takes the cake. "testing the waters with Iqbal". Checking whether we, who are being taught continuously by Ms. Pradhan and others how dangerous and fanatic these Muslims are, can take one film with a "normal" Muslim family!]
"In Dor he goes further and draws a stark contrast between the ‘progressive’ minority community and the ‘regressive’ Rajasthanis (read that as Hindu). Nagesh’s Muslim family has a lively, spirited heroine called Zeenat.."
[But how dare he show a lively, spirited girl in a Muslim family?]
[some storyline details snipped]
"..Very sweet, very innocuous. Except when you move to Rajasthan and contrast Zeenat with Meera, the widow whose signature must be got on that pardon-nama. It is here that Nagesh’s determined agenda to show the Muslim as progressive, independent-spirited and far-from-marching-backwards-into-the-dark-ages, moves into top gear.."
[Blasphemy!]
"Zeenat befriends Meera without revealing who she is or what she wants from her. If you think about it, it’s actually a con, winning the unsuspecting widow’s confidence when there is an ulterior motive behind the hand of friendship."
[Thanks for telling us.]
"But Nagesh strives to ensure that you don’t lose your sympathy for Zeenat. And then, he has Meera go through all the humiliation that a traditional Hindu setup gives its widows. Most of it is unfortunately true, for widows do get treated like sub-humans in the land of sati, dowry and female infanticide.."
[Point noted.]
"However, Nagesh cleverly chooses this backward-thinking traditional family as a contrast, even going so far as to have Meera’s father-in-law, otherwise a proud man, strike a pimplike business deal where the payment is his widowed daughter-in-law’s youthful body! Sure, that happens too, but it looks a trifle mischievous to take the worst elements of this (Hindu) society only to paint a glorious picture of the (Muslim) other.
Go ahead with your agenda Mr Kukunoor, we applaud any story of a normal progressive Muslim family. But must it be at the expense of bashing another community thus?"
That surely we can not take. We'll portray Muslims in general as terrorists, pimps, villains, bad guys, religious fanatics in may be all of our movies but we can not take if a not-so-pleasant picture is portrayed of one single Hindu man or one regressive community (we know that happens but thats not the point..) in a single film. We sure can not tolerate this. We can not digest this. Sorry, no Hajmola, no Gelusil will help.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
