For want of better reporting – News, the next big flick?

Now this might seem the usual rant to many, but as a journalist I really don’t understand or can quite relate to some of the media clamor that we have come to witness day-in and day-out in the name of media coverage!

Gone are the days, when a formal but simply dressed man/woman read the news with nearly no human expressions and absolutely no emotions. Or when reading newspapers was passé as there was nothing in it apart from dry, plain stories that had unfolded a day before.

I agree that this was absolutely the other end of the spectrum and not something to boast about, however with media and news turning out to be a million dollar industry it certainly deserves better treatment than a B grade movie!

As this is a vast topic with many significant sections under its umbrella, I start with one of the most paradoxical of all, the print media.

The print media were popularized in India mainly for want of a view that challenges the government decisions in pre-independence era, where British managed and pro-colonial newspapers were in vogue. The newspapers and the journalists were looked upon as intellectual and objective people. The respect was tremendous though for a long time there was no dough in it.

Contrast to it is the state of current day newspapers. The Times of India supplement for eg: (i.e the city special, like Bangalore times, pune times etc) seem to find no news worth reporting that is happening in the city. The news there, starts with Bollywood, Hollywood, Kollywood, Sandalwood ( and the many other woods that exist) stars food, wardrobe, vacation or even their wedding plans and ends at some of the pubs, nightlife and party images.

It is sad that the most pressing issues for them that the citizens face is not poor infrastructure, corruption or portable water but non –existence of night life, pubs being closed early and drinks not being served late in the night! A society magazine too has something to give to its readers; I however can’t phantom the reason of this supplement apart from the fact that it provides ample space for advertisers.

I agree that advertisements are a major revenue source and the whole idea of a supplement was also aimed at getting maximum local advertisements. But compromising news and features for want of advertisements beats me!

Now, before I am branded as an anti-Times group let me clarify some points -

It is also true that some of the times supplements like education times, accent, property plus etc are extremely good and informative (they atleast have articles worth reading!) yet there is usually much left to be desired.

I must also mention and applaud their latest effort and initiative Teach India. Launched at the apt moment with brilliant ads and promotion, this one takes the cake. The very simplicity of getting people to sign up for just 2 hours in a week works out well for those who want to do more for the society yet are hard pressed for time to dedicate long hours. I just wish such bursts of brilliance occur regularly and not far in between. It’s only such initiatives that instill hope about this newspaper. You can be a volunteer by signing up here -

http://www.teach.timesofindia.com/login_join.aspx?strvalue=join

A farce named Election… or is it an ideal process turned dirty?

Elections in Bangalore concluded recently. As all the usual elections, there were huge political rallies all over Karnataka, lots of promises to the public and many allegations were exchanged. The political parties were busy trying to earn some mileage over the others and woo the voters.

In the meanwhile the Election commission was working overtime to keep a check on the election procedures and keeping a strict vigil to avoid any malpractices or voters influencing tactics. The illegal liquor truckloads were being caught every now and then while illegally stored huge numbers of saris and TV sets were uncovered every alternate day. Certainly no political party was taking the Karnataka elections lightly. There were huge stakes involved and it showed.

I had been busy shifting the whole day on the Election day and hence decided to take a worthwhile break and visit the humble parlor. While I was there I overheard the cleaning lady talking about her election experience. She was happy, as her vote had fetched her more than Rs. 200! She lives in a slum and all the political parties had been making rounds of their colony and giving them some money for voting to a political party. It seemed all the major political parties had distributed money in her area. The one who paid highest possibly got the maximum votes! Further they were taken and brought back in cars. While chit chatting with the parlor girl she also disclosed that they were being paid and offered lunch to come around the city and participate in rallies during the campaign.

It made me think was there any value and reason to our current election system. The basis on which this whole procedure was designed and the reasoning of empowering our country men – was it really being achieved? Were the words like landslide victory and people’s mandate hollow?

But it made me think, even after all such practices our state or general elections turnout is never beyond 60 percent. It means that if every citizen truthfully executes his simple duty of voting, we could get a reversed or at least a better mandate! Still the educated and rational thinkers of our country’s population choose to shy away from voting. Some feel it is a waste of time, some think it doesn’t make a difference, some are plain lazy while others think it is not a status symbol to be voting! For me, these people are equally guilty as are the political parties, of ruining a powerful tool if not more. In the current 60 percent the educated or middle class population does atleast 30 percent voting, so if the remaining 40 percent joined in this political nexus could be easily broken.
I can’t blame the poor woman for her rational. She knows well that after the elections these leaders wont visit her colony or think about her for the next 4 years. For her, survival is more important than virtue and hence she just made hay while the sun shines!

IPL - a glittery fanfare in Bangalore

A little late but nevertheless....

The IPL twenty20 series had a grand opening in Bangalore and the atmosphere in Bangalore was certainly electrifying. With the home team playing, people were busy laying their hands on last minute tickets that were available.

The event started at around six, and looking at the kind of celebrities who adorned the event, the Airport must have been chocked for most of the time in the past 2 days. The glittery event also saw the captains of all the teams being formally introduced and they signed a memorandum promising to keep the spirit of the game alive.

There was no dearth of music, excitement, fun, food, glitter and in front of a packed stadium the opening match of the grand IPL series kick-started. I am not much of a cricket fan so; spare me from naming any of the players or grading their performance!

The energy was superb and the show that Sharukh Khan and his band, Oh! Yes there was a huge parade from the Bollywood industry that had come to witness this event was enthusiastic. It must have reminded them of college sports events!

The result as everybody knows - Kolkatta washed out Bangalore and there was nothing called as face saving grace in this game. The highlight for the Bangalore newspaper hence was the party before/after the game than the actual game! I wouldn’t blame them much for this; they hardly had anything to write about.

All in all the kick start to the game was fabulous, what needs to be seen is if the energy levels remain the same till the end of the series or the bubble bursts after the initial hoopla!

Azadi Express!

I went to see the Azadi Express, a mobile exhibition put together by the government of India and Indian Railways and what good time other than 26th January? So nik & me got ready and rushed to the Bangalore cantonment to catch a glimpse of the exhibition.

We reached there at around 10.30 and saying that there was a long queue is saying anything but the least! After finally tracing the end of the line we stood patiently for our turn, which by the way came after 1 ½ hr!! However during the wait it was heartening to see so many parents accompanying their children to see this ‘Azadi Express’. People had come from as far as South Bangalore to see this rare exhibition.

The exhibition was organized in a train that was painted in our tri-colour. The paintings on both sides of the coaches traced the Indian Freedom struggle from 1857. So on one coach was painted the Soldier Mutiny while the other coach adorned the Dandi March. It was fun just looking at those painting and hearing the young ones accompanying their parent’s squeal out the freedom fighters names with joy.

Our patient wait finally bore fruit and we entered the train, and I must say it was a real brush with the past. The exhibition was put together very well with a good blend of photos, murals, thermocol cut-outs etc. However, the ‘desh-bhakti’ songs being played along with the announcements made by the volunteers was a little turnoff, and out of place!

Be it the old newspapers and their headlines describing the major events that took place, The Queens declaration after 1857, illustrations depicting the 1857 war, murals showing the brutality in the aftermath of 1857, photos showing the non-co-operation movement, Dandimarch, India’s first Independence day celebration…. You name it and it was there, all being unfolded like an illustrated story! It ended with the achievements of India as a nation after 1947 till 2007. The progress depicted in photographs and models included from fields like agriculture, defense, research, medicine, education, industry etc.
All in all it was an enriching experience, and a wonderful start to the Republic Day!