Shraddha Sankhe

Communicating: A Revolution Or An Evolution?

2011-10-04T09:34:00.002+05:30

It is not about my mom who loves Skype because that’s the only way we‘meet’. It isn’t about Google chat where I discuss what’s for lunch with my roommate on a relatively lucky day. In fact, I should not have been surprised at all. I was expecting my weekly assignment grades in an email from a professor. He preferred to tweet me instead. That summer internship application for 2012 was sent via LinkedIn Jobs (resume too).

Remember how an email would contain a salutation, an introduction, a little message and a conclusion. Boring? Yes, vintage too.

Blogs redefined the limits of human opinion and creativity. Noticed how Facebook Timeline made us sit up and notice the power of a human ‘story of a lifetime’? It’s raining innovation-all in communication! Yes, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity still holds some meaning even after CERN’s newest finding. But nobody cared more than they did for Google Plus’ worldwide release. Then Facebook launched the Timeline, first with a video discreetly giving out details to TechCrunch, Mashable and other tech blogs on ‘how to activate Timeline’. Amazon has websitized (a cousin of “humanized”) the concept of Content Is King by launching the Kindle Fire. Wait a minute, iPhone 5 will be on your newspaper’s front page 3 days from now. Phew!

Remember those slam books? I would run behind my favorite teachers in school and ask them to fill in those crafty books. Then I would read them and gossip about the ‘favorite movie’ jotted down by ‘that girl’. My best calligraphic skills came out when I made greeting cards for the best friend. Every year was a newer task, a better gift to collect and hey, I actually bought red ribbons for my pals on Friendship Day! I don’t do that anymore. I save money, paper and time. I use Facebook. Last, I wished a friend living two apartments away (on the same floor) without even visiting his Facebook wall. Thank you for the newest settings, Zuckerburg. And thanks for inspiring Zuckerburg, Google Plus! Yet emails are still boring.

If you’re aspiring to be somebody, the best way is to broadcast your ambitions and face your inhibitions. I wanted to be a journalist after messing with Chartered Accountancy. I tweeted. And heck, I loved what journalists tweeted. I believed broadcasting views (and rants) was the way to go. But just as I garnered over a thousand followers, I stopped ranting. No. I only stopped tweeting rants. Now I have a secret blog. Has the world crashed for the broadcast mindcasters? Now I tweet news and write a million emails. We are a lot more private because of the bigger networking avenues. Hence the ephemeral use of “settings” as a noun!

In Journalism, I am taught that Objectivity is a norm; a Biblical virtue. Social networks teach us that transparency is the new objectivity. In fact, social interaction has been the most underrated virtue of social networks. My dentist room mate is hooked on to Dr. Atul Gawande’s tweets and my engineer friend gets free educational posters from NASA’s web blog. Surprise birthday parties are morphed (badly) by Facebook events and Google is the new grandmother—all created and answered by real humans. Recently, Kodak, the photo-film company, filed for insolvency because of prevalence of digital photography. Will an (another) innovation kill social networks which is primarily us, the products? Wait a minute! Are WE the products of the social networks? Do they use us to sell advertisements and concert tickets? Should we be okay with it? I think so. Because content is the king. Try following nobody on Twitter. Perhaps zero friends on Facebook send a better message. October is here. iPhone 5 is releasing. And my current phone just conked off. Coincidence?

The Classic Theories

2011-10-02T22:36:00.000+05:30

The following is the email I sent with a reflection of the papers I read this week. I read:

Framing, Agenda-Setting and Priming: The Evolution of Three Media Effects Models by Dietram A Scheufele and David Tawskbury
Stepping Back From The Gate: Online Newspaper Editors And The Co-Production Of Content In Campaign 2004 by Jane B Singer
Framing The News by Capella and Jamieson
The Agenda-Setting Function Of The Press by Maxwell McCombs

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Professor,

This week's readings were the most educational! I found a lot of additional data to read and make my own observations. The reflection is a bit long. I hope that's okay. Among other things, I'd like to add one important article (slightly unrelated to the readings) which I found in the very opinionated The Economist. Thought of sharing it.

Who Should Run The Internet? http://www.economist.com/node/21530955?fsrc=scn/tw/te/ar/aplaythingofpowerfulnations

Thank you.

The Classic Theories

In Framing, Agenda-Setting and Priming: The Evolution of Three Media Effects Models, the authors Dietram A Scheufele and David Tawskbury have one important thing—the media-effect research.

The authors have explained three most important fundamentals here:

· Framing is the assumption how an issue is characterized in news reports can influence on how it is understood by audiences

· Agenda-setting is the idea that there is a co-relation between the emphasis that mass media place on certain issues

· Priming is nothing but a change in the standards that people use to make political evaluation.

The authors sort out differences in the three approaches in news production, news processing and finally elaborating on the effects a certain issue may have on the audiences. The reading is primarily a theoretical reading. It questions the media approach towards certain issues (definitely political, in particular).

In Stepping Back From The Gate: Online Newspaper Editors And The Co-Production Of Content In Campaign 2004 the author Jane B Singer primarily aims to concentrate on the changing roles of Journalism in a democracy where internet has changed the dynamics of news. He says:

· Information collected during the election period post the year 2000 has shown that the audience participates and personalizes the knowledge gained through newspapers and other media.

· Journalists are no longer only gatekeepers of democracy; they lead the real democracy by enhancing the participation of the public.

· There are no (or fewer) gates or limitations to knowledge of information. All this BECAUSE of the Internet. True. But one factor he misses to point out is the mass availability of various media (with their respective agendas, which is another issue).

· The case of study of 2004 follow up of 2000’s election is presented which primarily shows the interactive Journalism which led to participatory inputs from the audiences, thus enhancing the entire medium of information and empowering the people.

· Blogs were a participatory way of journalism. However, “journalism diaries” have been widely replaces by Social networks. There are now tutorials for journalists for educating them on newer facets of the old dot com sites which can be customized. (http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/facebook-journalists/)

The article has a focus on an election that’s not the most recent. In 2009, Pew Research released a research (http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/15--The-Internet-and-Civic-Engagement.aspx) that said that there is a wide divide among the Internet consumers (who are of course, the consumers of news/audiences). Economic factors play a role in determining a certain consumer’s choice of participatory actions. But as an Indian studying the dynamics of politics, I read another article, which said that political affiliation/choice has a major role to play. Activism among audiences may not be necessarily an internet-triggered phenomenon.(http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/09/pew-internet-has-not-changed-activism-yet.ars)

(Among other things, Democratic party has a larger online presence than the Republican. Does this tell us about agenda-setting (another reading)? Interestingly, the Democrats have an official iPhone/Android app. Republicans don’t.)

In Framing The News, authors Capella and Jamieson explain the difference between what is said and how what is said is said. That means the perceptions of audiences can vary depending on the presentation of data.

· Interpretation of text differs according to the frame in which the news/data/information is structured.

· Knowledge of information beforehand (preexistent) can hold a major chunk in interpreting a certain unrelated text. Framing is nothing but making sense with reference to an old context.

· The biggest strength of people engaging in framing (of news) is the racial, gender-type, even financial stereotypes in the society.

· The best example of framing can be the classification of news in to different genres—business, entertainment, international etc.

· Selection of news sources, visuals, case studies—all depend on the frames chosen by the journalist. From my knowledge, frames are either episodic or thematic.

· The authors ask if framing is an effect. They give a rather theoretical analysis but do not seem to answer the question. Are journalists who (always) have a frame in mind as regards an issue right in framing in a certain way? As we discussed in class, can liberal journalists who are rather transparent in their attitudes having any effect on the values of reporting? I think the answer (as stated in class too) is yes.

Maxwell McCombs writes in The Agenda-Setting Function Of The Press what one can see in social media today—editors giving direction to a certain class of audience towards news stories thus slanting the entire demography of population influenced by those certain people (my own interpretation).

· Agenda is beyond sorting priorities. Agenda-setting is finding ways to grabbing eyeballs, attention in the most riveting ways.

· If framing depends on stereotypes, agenda-setting contributes to the creation of stereotypes. Those images put in our minds are due to the effects of the press/media coverage.

· The author explains with political examples how agenda-setting works.

· As discussed in class, several smaller newspapers get information of what will be published in the next day’s New York Times. This is perhaps the best example of agenda setting—also described by the author in the reading.

· Author has asked “who sets the agenda” which is the fundamental need for Objectivity. Author says press sets the agenda for the press. New York Times, cited as an “elite media” by the author and even Noam Chomsky in his various articles is among the premier agenda-setting media.

· Public judgment—where the press leads the audiences to have an opinion is largely biased. For example, most broadcast news channels in India created a saint out of Mr. Anna Hazare when he went on a 13 day fast. Ironically, the reporters of the channels tweeted incessantly about the possible failure of Indian democracy. The nation was (naturally) swayed by the ‘sacrifice’ of Mr. Hazare rather than the tweets. A brilliant case study as today is the 142^ndbirth anniversary of Mr M K Gandhi (Hazare has been idolized as the new Gandhi).

The readings of the week show the causal mechanisms in news media. Be it online news, a tweet or an opinion set out by press—there are three basic steps that are common to all media (from review of Iyengar and Kinder: News that matters http://www.brucesabin.com/news_that_matters.html)

Priming: Affects what you'll have at the top of your head when you make a judgment.
Framing: media tells you how to think about something. Is it an indigenous rights issue, or an environmentalist story?
Agenda-setting effects: There's a "lead story" effect. If you see prominent place given to unemployment stores (early, long stories in a broadcast), you pay more attention to it.

I was compelled to read What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream by Noam Chomsky. http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199710--.htm He says almost everything that the authors say about the agenda-setting (in particular). His views are dynamic. He says, “Corporations are basically tyrannies, hierarchic, controlled from above. If you don’t like what they are doing you get out”—another perspective!

Objectivity & Persuation

2011-09-27T20:39:00.002+05:30

Persuation and Objectivity

In the paper, The Pursuit of Objectivity by Margaret Duffy and Fred Vultee mainly discuss:

That journalism is mainly a value proposition
That journalists should think of objectivity and neutrality in a newer light (the world is a dynamic place to be)
That journalists should realize that they are acting as the advocates of the community (the issues are real)
That journalists should understand the difference between public and private interests and how bias can change the vitality of an issue

What Duffy and Vultee are trying to say:

Language is rhetorical, full of values and persuasive. This part of the reading is purely the philosophy of Journalism that Duffy and Vultee want the student journalists to understand. Language is the platter and a metaphor that bases the entire ideological sequence of telling (and investigating) a story. Narratives are the best examples. And I believe Carey when he calls the narratives "dramatic"--the philosophy works in the real world.
Journalism ought to live up to the creeds, ideas of great men and the philosophies of value proposition. I absolutely loved when I got a Twitter response of "Why? Are you God?" when I tweeted "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable". That tells the public's view of journalism. They DO NOT think that journalism can stick to the ideals. And to stick is the goal, Duffy/Vultee convince us (mildly). I read Walter William's creed and realized that it is indeed not speaking about being Objective. Duffee/Vultee are spot on in noting that!
Duffy speaks about identifying the best facts to make a story. Here I would like to add a link to a 2007 video which won the NPPA award the same year for best General News. The video won an award for being creative and informative. But in reality it could very well be a advocative video. The story-telling is excellent.http://www.nasites.net/projects/1296/generalnews.asp
The authors speak of accuracy and authority and how interdependent both are. So is credibility. And objectivity and persuasion play a big role when it concerns say, a media organization. Example: The Robert Murdoch empire and Dow Jones.

The authors speak about the demise of legacy journalism-the public journalism. They clearly state that it's more important to be persuasive in the right spirit without holding a bias. Personally, this seems tough. Journalists are citizens too.

Most importantly, the authors insist that the journalists of the new media do not leave the ethics of the profession in the process of embracing newer ideals. Accuracy perhaps has become the next-big-thing for people especially because the technology makes it impossible to forget (or forgive) bad journalism. For example, Johann Hari and the case of plagiarism. I wonder how persuasive Johann Hari will need to be as a journalist now that his fraud is caught. Journalism is all about trust, after all.

I noticed Duffy/Vultee's notes of references where they discussed newspapers' social media policies.

So I did an additional reading of Washington Post's Twitter Policy. The policy was widely criticized by traditional journalists. The Post's top editor Raju Narisetti ( he graduated from Indiana University, definitely understands American standards of journalism) tweeted his personal opinion on healthcare policy. Later he was was made to delete his Twitter account for being very biased (or influencial?) This amplifies Duffy/Vultee's research findings. Persuasion and research are indeed the core of journalism. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ombudsman-blog/2009/09/post_editor_ends_tweets_as_new.html?wprss=ombudsman-blog

Also, Narisetti's Twitter account link (he activated it later): http://twitter.com/#!/rajunarisetti

Also, as I wrote last week

In Obama as Anti-American by Page and Young Duffy- forwarded emails covering President Obama suggest that they are not merely a joke. A Republican (perhaps) perspective could have created a mass movement of photo editors and spammers. Michael Slater, in 2007, said that such forwarded emails do create a social or a psychological impact among people. This is clearly the misuse of media. Interestingly, the research recalls the 'birther' issue of President Obama. New York Times ran a story about the forwarded emails questioning Obama's birth certificate authenticity. What followed is history. The question is whether one ought to ignore such emails? Should the media denounce the emails too? If not, wouldn't that add more mileage to the conspiracy theory? I received a forwarded email which questioned the authenticity (with all evidence, almost real) of Indian national anthem. However, in United States, the politics is a lot more serious an issue than say, another democratic nation like India (educated population irrespective of political ignorance).

The week's readings amplify the fact that “Events occur in the world and are relayed back to the world by reporters.” h ttp://www.writework.com/essay/journalistic-persuasion-essay-journalism

Duffy and Vultee appeal student journalists (in particular) to practice “frankly persuasive” journalism to face the ever-changing radical audiences. Because the audiences (the people) and media (the watchdogs) together sustain a democracy.

Reflection 4 -Bias and Objectivity.

2011-09-18T03:06:00.000+05:30

Bias and Objectivity

I read: Schudson, “The objectivity norm in American journalism”

Alterman, Eric, “What liberal media?” Chapter 4
Lichter, S. Robert, “Consistently liberal: But does it matter?”
Duffy, Page and Young, “Obama as Anti-American.”

This week's readings chiefly point to the pillars of journalism principles: Objectivity, Independence and Truth--without which Journalism is just...wrong.

Michael Schudson's The Objectivity Norm in American Journalism chiefly deals with four concepts: Norms, objectivity, partisan press and professionalism. Schudson's narrative is talks about the acceptance of a concept—a norm-the history behind adopting a rule, understanding the behavior of the journalists which must have required a 'norm' to be accepted. The author describes the differences between objective and partisan press (and journalists). He digs into the historical references that made objectivity a concept a notch above partisan attitudes. He had explored the much assumed but never understood economic and technological (inventions?) reasons behind the attitudes turning to a more objective reporting in the colonial American press. Again, he insists that certain social behaviors led objectivity become a norm. Durkheimian and Weberian conditions are introduced by Schudson which present distinct reasons behind objectivity as a norm.

He describes the convenient neutrality adopted by printers of colonial American society which showed path to a more non-partisan journalism. Controversies were condemned. Strong political affiliations among newspapers led to heated political criticisms too (I understand it did). Whether Thomas Jefferson's presidential win lead to expiration of the Sedition Act of 1798 is not clearly explained. Schudson, however, explains perfectly the commercial pursuits of the printers of the 19th century. Commercialization created penny papers which in turn looked for news in all spheres. And this needed fairness, another push towards objectivity. Schudson vividly describes differences in coverage of news among Republican and Democratic party-affiliated newspapers and the rise of interviews as a journalism activity.

"Newspapers should be free from opinion and bias of any kind" mentioned the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1922-23 (page 162). By the late 1920s, disaffiliation from politics was seen among journalists. Last, I noticed the subtle suggestion of Schudson in the last passage hinting the differences in American and European journalism. Reminded me of the class discussion on "American professionalism and European art".

To begin with The Punditocracy Two of Eric Alterman's book What Liberal Media?, I chose to read two essays in addition to this reading. Edward S. Herman studied David 'Dean' Broder's columns and wrote an essay http://www.fair.org/extra/9411/david-broder.html that's compelling enough to read if one (an Indian like me, who understands little of American politics of the past) has to realize the facts mentioned in the main reading. I also read an article from St. Petersburg Times http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2011/mar/11/remembering-david-broder/ which spoke of the latest about the man in discussion in the first half of the reading (author later tells about other media pundits). Eric Alterman provides a thorough leftist outlook at several instances provided amply. He claims that the 'pundits' of media whether in print or on television are in some manner conservative in their approach. He question the liberalism, hence the name of the book. I believe he co-relates media influence in the public sphere with the media expertise that is often considered to be liberal in a capitalist and developed nation. Alterman writes with an aim to bust the 'liberal media' myth.

This reading tells the importance of truth in a scenario where there could be biased, prejudiced sphere of news and public opinion.

The next reading by S. Robert Lichter's Consistently Liberal: But Does It matter? makes one wonder...are media people whether elite or not really the 'nattering nabobs of negativism"? The author bases his narrative on various surveys (one of them is by Gallup) which raises the issue of media-bias. Even Schudson mentioned the same among Democratic and Republic party-affiliated newspapers (in broader sense, the media). That leftist or rightist leaning media could be broadcasting news about politics that's not always fair, is the overall theme in the first few pages of the reading. I found an article, the latest survey by Gallup which highlights the facts about re-election of presidents. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8768811/What-Barack-Obamas-approval-ratings-cant-tell-us.html

The ideological imbalance among the journalists over political affiliation is very clear. Every journalist has a leaning (towards a political ideology) power (journalist is a citizen first, right?) but would/should that affect his professional outlook? Further, Lichter in Politics and Press says, 'the liberal tilt is all the more notable because the conservative tag has long proven more popular with the American public." The question of ideology vs. profession and/or coverage is the underlying theme of Lichter's essay.

In the fourth and last reading for the week, Obama as Anti-American by Page and Young Duffy- forwarded emails covering President Obama suggest that they are not merely a joke. A Republican (perhaps) perspective could have created a mass movement of photo editors and spammers. Michael Slater, in 2007, said that such forwarded emails do create a social or a psychological impact among people. This is clearly the misuse of media. Interestingly, the research recalls the 'birther' issue of President Obama. New York Times ran a story about the forwarded emails questioning Obama's birth certificate authenticity. What followed is history. The question is whether one ought to ignore such emails? Should the media denounce the emails too? If not, wouldn't that add more mileage to the conspiracy theory? I received a forwarded email which questioned the authenticity (with all evidence, almost real) of Indian national anthem. However, in United States, the politics is a lot more serious an issue than say, another democratic nation like India (educated population irrespective of political ignorance).

The week's readings throw light on the responsibility of media in the public sphere. It is easy to fall prey to biased personal ideologies, pundit influence or even a spam.

Journalists and Citizens.

2011-09-12T04:22:00.001+05:30

J800 Reflection paper #3

TomRosenstiel and Amy Mitchell of the Project for Excellence inJournalism hint at an evolution in Journalism in their annual reportof The Stateof the News Media 2011. In Overview of their survey they havemade several wise observations. They say newspaper newsrooms andpockets are shrinking. That's no surprise for American media. Theysay, "It may be that in the digital realm the news industryis no longer in control of its own future". It's true thatnew media is primarily an interdependent work-force. Most media havelost their independence in serving to sell their ads and get higher'hits' on their websites. The authors also mention Google as anaggregator and social networks which help bring audiences to the newsmedia. The authors say the control is no longer with the newsorganization. And that's because software, website codes and newsapplications have taken over where printing press and live camerastook to a slower path.

Rosentieland Mitchel remind us of the 20th century media which served as anintermediary for the consumers. Now, they say, "Softwareprogrammers, content aggregators and device makers control access tothe public". Statisticsthat they mention amply suggest that the consumers now relymore on online news. The sales of electronic tablets (let alonedesktop, laptops, library computers and cyber cafes-which have notbeen considered directly) tell just how popular and commercialdigital news is. Advertisers now prefer ad spaces on websites, mobilephone applications and social networks. A point to note, however, isthat in spite of journalists shifting base and adapting to broadcastnews on the web, the ad revenues go in to the pockets of theaggregators. Furthermore, thanks to multimedia presentation,aggregation, blogging and user content--anybody can be a journalistsreporting a story from their backyard. Is this good? Rosenstiel andMitchell disagree.

Theduo in Survey:Mobile News & Paying Onlinehave elaborated these findings with a lot of statistics to supportthe research. Princeton Survey ResearchAssociates International surveyed 2251 adults (18 and older) fromJanuary 12 to 25, 2011 for the study. This reading emphasizes therising importance of mobile news and the willingness of consumers topay for online news in 2011. The authors elaborate how local news hasgone mobile with people wanting the latest on weather, restaurantsand general local news. Mobile apps get their due share in the study,however, the research says only 1% of the population surveyed usedmobile apps (Yet mobile apps for news are perceived to be popularamong online users. This is my observation.)

Greattechnology but who pays? The study also shows willingness of theconsumers to pay for online news. According to me, the most importantquestion that was asked to the consumers in the 2011 is about theimportance of newspapers. Only 28% of the population said that itlack of newspapers would impact their ability to get localinformation and news.

Whilethe first reading emphasized qualitatively, the second readingelaborated the facts quantitively.

TheEconomist, known for its acerbic critique and fond praises in itsprint edition of the magazine is hugely popular on its website,iPhone and iPad apps and Facebook and Twitter pages. When real-timemedia sits up and writes a feature on just how the internetrevolution has changed the business, it's a lesson for us, studentjournalists. Al Jazeera, wrongly perceived to be a broadcast channelof Al Qaeda broke away from the stereotype when it employed reportersfrom all over the world who spoke English flawlessly. But the realimpact was created when the channel went live--online. Al JazeeraEnglish has a website and a Facebook page that broadcasts LIVE news.The article in The Economist, BulletinsFrom The Future (September 9, 2011) have an undertone of adrama, with crescendo of new media rising with every new Retweet onTwitter. The article speaks about the participation in journalism byall, a threat to journalists; likewise, a source that's available inplenty. The Economist seems optimistic about this trend in thearticle. The graphs suggest certain infographic skills that alljournalists ought to learn in new media. India and Africa havenewspaper industry still on the rise. It is such thanks todevelopment, rising literacy or more intrinsic issues like biggerpopulation, regional languages and culture of "readingnewspapers" (personal experience).

OnFriday, September 7, 2011 the Twitter account of NationalBroadcasting Company (NBC) was hacked.¹The hackers tweeted that New York had been attacked again. Luckilywithin minutes NBC had Twitter shut down the @NBC account for a whileto improve things (and change password--effective measure).Information and credibility are the most important assets of a mediacorporation. Wikileaks, an online organization is working to breakthese very assets of several governments by publishing leaked secretdocuments.

Thereadings have one common message : there ought to be a breaking newsin Breaking News—quick, relevant and participatory.

1http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44464766/ns/us_news-security/

What is this thing called News? [J8000 Reflection paper #2]

2011-09-07T00:17:00.003+05:30

The decline of United States Postal Services was the most popular story on New York Times' website on September 6, 2011. To add to the irony was the shimmering number one rank of the story among the most emailed stories. The story did not however get the top position among the perceived-to-be-young most blogged story on NYTimes.Com. Does this tell us how a story has a different meaning and importance across the consumers' demography? Robert M. Entman in Democracy Without Citizens points out that attitudes towards the unfamiliar are more susceptible to media influence than those toward the familiar. What is "familiar" here:the bloggers (which does not necessarily include only the youths) or the perception that postal services WAS a means of communication and that it can no longer sustain unless bailed out by the Congress is a million dollar question.

Furthermore, Entman liberally warned, "More journalists and scholars have been ruined by self-importance than by liquor". Most journalism history reflects upon the biographies of publishers, editors and reporters. Very seldom do we find a journalism practice becoming a standard because a certain news organization adopted it and succeeded. In fact, only after 1974 Objectivity became a celebrated standard among the mainstream journalists (a first among the many that followed later) after James Carrie wrote a paper called Problems In Journalism History.¹

The sheer headline and the lead could make a story effective and in turn popular. And to this popularity sells a news organization its "product". Amalgamating the wisdoms of both Herbert Gans and James Carrie, a news organization could position its news story among the right audience for a positive (or likewise a "What do you think?") perspective. Gans in Journalistic Practices and Problems points out that there are nobody lies in a news story, they only misspeak, are misrepresented or quoted out of context.Gans' interpretation of journalists as the representatives of the elite has much to do with most journalism controversies in democratic countries.

A case study: Representatives of elites and credibility

Barkha Dutt is a Columbia University Journalism Graduate and India's most popular female war reporter and political journalist for broadcast news channel NDTV (India's first English news channel). All was well till December 2010. She was caught on tape in a telephonic conversation with a political lobbyist of a under-trial "corrupt" politician. Political lobbying is illegal in India. Her credibility suffered. The educated masses of India launched a social media campaign against her and several other journalists (also caught on tape of the same politician) using a Twitter hashtag #BarkhaGate. The Watergate scandal thoroughly inspired many citizens to join this online "movement". With much deliberation, Miss Dutt publicly apologizedand now retains her editorial position in NDTV news. The tragic paradox was that none of the broadcast news media produced a single newscast highlighting this story. The electronic news media reflected a cartel-like industrious ignorance much to the chagrin of the print media.

James Carrie inspires one to believe that news consumers want to know more than just facts. The "why" in a certain news story reflected right from the lead is one of the best practices one could adopt. Although this approach is more along the lines of News Discovery and Delivery than news perception, it does open doors to understand what exactly is "liked" (a social media term, Facebook) by the audiences. The problem arises when journalists choose what to report on, hey says. There would be a problem in their approach, ideals or understanding of what the audience wants. A latest survey (released August 30, 2011) by Pew Research Center throws light on the differences in news coverage and the news interest among the news consumers. The US Economy created a 41% interest among the audiences to which 21% news coverage was delivered. In contrast, Libya was covered extensively, 25% and the interest generated was just 5%. This reflects to an extent what the people want and why.

Moral of the story: What is the latest news? Answer: Journalism is evolving.

1Micheal Schudson : Introduction/The Problem of Journalism History, 1996.

Media today. J8000 Reflection paper.

2011-08-31T08:48:00.000+05:30

Hurricane Irene now has a Twitter account.

Thus read a headline on Mashable.Com. Every news media as on Saturday, the 27th August 2011 went out to ask the audiences to post a photograph of the hurricane situation in their area (refers to Virginia, North Carolina and New York states). This could well be another latest example of the citizen journalism project.

The news media refers to the public radio stations, broadcast channels and online and offline (refers to print copies of) newspapers. The common ground for each media now is the World Wide Web. No matter how big the reach, the website ensures a broadcast and archival of information: second after second. This common ground has introduced a wild reform in the perception of news. The perception of news among both the news distributers and news consumers depends largely on two main wheels:

News discovery and
News delivery.

News discovery requires a steady look-out for information. News delivery, on the other hand, is a concept of looking and keep looking for the newest ways for the news to remain new.

"The buzzword for the future, no matter what platform, is interactive multimedia, which both represents user control as well as the multiple forms of media incorporated into a single format," Rich Gordon, a journalism professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism (Linda Rosencrance, Computerworld.Com).

One ought to note the differences in every society and its perception of WHAT is news. This could be understood by counter questions: What is a society? What kind of news is expected by the society? The introductory passages of The Requirements: Commission on the Freedom of Press hint that a society is a self-governing republic of a continental size where market may not necessarily reflect the economics of the changing world. A pragmatic approach would consider the "continental republic" to be United States of America. But on a larger view, every community with its own needs and desires for a democratic growth could be the society one would consider while "selling the business product" (Michael Schudson).

Furthermore, the society, much in deliberation, looks for certain aspects of a news product. Let us call these aspects as “the requirements”:

True, comprehensive and intelligent account of a day's events
A platform for an opinion
The means of expressing the opinion
The methods of presenting and clarifying (if need be) the goals of society
To connect, to reach out to others in the society.

This boxes next to this bullet list of "the requirements" is tick-marked splendidly by social media news organizations in the wake of mid 2011. For instance, the Hurricane Irene and its Twitter account's example would lead us to understand that each bullet point offers exactly what a social network in a news organization would carry on a platter. Such a new media covers both the wheels in the perception of news : discovery and delivery of news.

The paper Presses and Democracies by Daniel C. Hallin and Robert Giles (March 4, 1982) has a very interesting take on the state involvement in the discovery and delivery of news. The authors highlight "political parallelism" in news media. The systematic archive of information in politics and the corresponding reactions could well be a thesis subject for many a interested researchers. The very purpose of media is to record, understand, discover and deliver the information at the most accurate and the most urgent basis. The authors speak of "the degree of autonomy" in news discovery which highlights the excellent news coverage of the News Of The World controversy. The British tabloid reportedly bribed policemen in England to source their stories. The case highlights what the authors iterates: that "professionalism" in journalism has been highly contested.

Going back to Hurricane Irene's reportage, Poynter launched a Twitter (social media dominance, again) opinion poll on Sunday, August 28, 2011. It was titled, "Public service or weather porn, how much coverage of Hurricane Irene has been valuable, how much hype?". The results as at noon showed 47% of the poll participants felt that the news coverage was "too much with too much hysteria". While 28% chose, "Some coverage overhyped storm", 17% felt that the coverage was just right. Wouldn't perception play a huge role here? Did Poynter assume all the poll participants were from the East coast of United States? Were all the poll participants news consumers directly affected by a hurricane or a storm ever in their lives? The million dollar question is: Can we really choose to ignore news coverage that directly affects us?

Hurricane Irene did leave a lot of questions unanswered. On another note, former CEO of Apple Steve Jobs garnered mighty news coverage for his successor Tim Cook. Reuters, the news organization as on August 26, 2011 covered the story of the changing CEOs of world's most tech-rich company. Its renowned staff blogger Felix Salmon wrote a piece titled, "Why I’m talking about Tim Cook’s sexuality". The tone of the piece was explanatory, almost telling the fact that this could really not matter in Apple's performance. But a perception it was, an opinion it had. Felix Salmon received a total of 44 comments on his piece which highlighted the fact that Tim Cook could well be the world's most powerful homosexual man. The comments were surprisingly very supportive of Tim Cook and Salmon's picking on the former's sexuality. Rest, it is important we know that the new CEO has never spoken about his sexual preference. Reading back this paragraph will enlighten us on how media could intrude and how blogs (WWW again) could well be the new platform which is 'okay' to suffice as an opining 'forum'. The participatory journalistic practices are expected to rise beyond Citizen Journalism. And that could be great news.

As at 1:15 PM, Hurricane Irene's Twitter account @irene had 11435 followers. However all is not well press meets tweets. “As is usual in the excitement of breaking news events, Twitter became home to a lot of misinformation too”, New York Times reported.

Settling in. (New podcast)

2011-08-18T05:59:00.002+05:30

The rest is still unwritten

2011-07-24T12:28:00.007+05:30

“See how Breaking News shies away all the intelligent discussion for THOSE few minutes? It's the most exciting thing about my job.” ~ Me.

I was searching for a more suitable time to write this down. But since I am short of hours, leave alone days, I guess what you’re reading is a completely unedited mesh (mess, actually) of my hushed points on the speech I’d have given if we did throw a party. A farewell party. That didn’t happen. Thank God!

My parents and I are in an odd state today. I need independence, sure. But I need my parents to shout my name every few hours for a reassuring reality check. Of course, I would still ask for a cup of tea and wait till it is fully cold to gulp it down. The cupboard will remain just as unorganized. The study table will be a “gutter”. Worse, I will be least apologetic about tweeting more than talking to my parents.

“Skype hai na!”

Communication. My mother had a mini operation of some kind when I was in class 3. I remember being the fat me, sitting on her stomach (can’t imagine now) and learning the spellings for the dictation test at school next day. COM-MUNI-CAT-I-ON. I made a career (like, still in process) based on this very word I learnt on her stomach! TO-GET-HER, the word I now understand the meaning of. Damn. I had a brilliant childhood. Most would call it, a basic children’s right. Sorry, this is utter luxury for me, the only child. Proud.

Yes, I have finally “taught” Skype login to my parents. They will now simply switch on the computer and see Skype’s green logo shining on the right hand side bottom. Then I will hit video-call from MacBook Pro 13’ (yay!) and get them see my whole house ( a big one at that). That’s the plan. I’m counting on my home desktop computer’s Google Desktop Note pad where all the email addresses with passwords are screaming their way to signing in themselves (if only, they could). But my parents would. Skype bilkul hai!

CA nahi?

“One of the most beautiful things in the world is a woman fucking the past and embracing the future.” ~ @CGawker, Twitter.

Let me clarify. I am not and was never destined to be a Chartered Accountant. I am far more intelligent than I was in class 12 when a certain Bhatia Sir “pushed” a class of aspiring somethings into Chartered Accountancy. I was a sheep. Then I woke up to a bad score in Bachelor of Commerce graduate exam. Then I was an intern at Youth Ki Awaaz. Then I stood first in entrance exam at Mumbai University’s Journalism course. Then I became an editor ar Youth Ki Awaaz. Then I pursued a small dream. And I got into 6 sexy, awesome, fabulous universities. And that included the coveted New York University with a Business and Economic Reporting course with a semi-MBA at Stern NYU. But I don’t regret choosing Mizzou over NYU. All the emails sent to NYU’s Prof. Solomon will remain archived, in my treasured cockles of heart. Hey, I will be a Broadcast Journalist. And please do not Google “Shraddha Sankhe CNN IBN”. You might just get a fat (still, am) tooth-gapped girl (bad adjective auxillary) telling you why she never burst fire crackers. National television. Weekend. Telecast 5 times for 2 days. I almost lived my dream. Realization: Just two months after my Citizen Journalist show was telecast, a little boy replaced me as the youngest Citizen Journalist. Theek hai.

Young, still.

I needed my Post Grad Journalism result ASAP from Mumbai University. Knowing the efficiency of the bureaucracy of the administration, I called up my course co-ordinator-- the very famous Prof. Gomes. The guy has a mind of his own. He wanted me to be a guest lecturer for MU’s Bachelor of Mass Media class! So yes, for now, I am the youngest guest lecturer for the Mumbai University. *Drumroll*

On a more earthy ground, I have learnt some life saving skills. I can now make chapatti (Indian Bread), fish, chicken, instant noodles and a variety of survival foods that will ensure my room-mate…let me introduce Dr. Aditi Avhad, a dentist (from- hold your breath…Mumbai!), doesn’t curse my soul too often. She’s like Harleen, totally cool and worth cooking for. Remember: I need motivation to do anything. This dentist woman sure ensures my mother doesn’t have to worry about her daughter’s loneliness. Sure, I will have enough hair-pulling fights with her too. But generally I am the gentler kind. (Dear ADT, do NOT read the last line. Kust jidding!)

Oh and this just happened.

Mum walked into the room. Hugged me. And sobbed. And in less than one second, I knew my eyes were moist. I cannot imagine this with dad. He’s the more emotional kind.

So yes, I’m leaving home tomorrow. Nothing historic or earth shattering about it. Many students are doing the same. Not too many Journalism grad students though. I got my US Visa way too early. And it’s time I finally leave the nest (LOL. I didn’t really want to even use this term).

Last, if you care. Do read the following advice to myself or simply listen to the video (okay, watch it too). http://youtu.be/b7k0a5hYnSI (Natasha Bedingfield)

Reaching for something in the distance

So close that you can almost taste it

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you

Only you can let it in

Drench yourself in words unspoken

Live you life with arms wide open

Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten.

In a nutshell, I’ll be at Chicago, later Columbia, MO this week. Will write more often.

P.S.: Mizzou is not Mizoram.

Dad clicks. I grin. Mum watches with silent pride. I think I will save this photo for my great-grand-kid.

Indian Health Ministry: Debased and debauched

2011-07-06T11:48:00.004+05:30

“MSM (Men havingSex with Men) is unnatural and not good for India. It is a disease which hascome to India from other countries where men have sex with men”—Ghulam NabiAzad, India’s Union Health Minister.

In all probability, most of the youngsters will clearlyfeel agitated about Mr. Azad’s comments on what he calls “unnatural sex” amongmen. It is very easy to feel the anger,express it and somehow move on. Just as nobody really comes ahead with acharity or the like support for any cause unless a personal loss is entangledin the effort—this issue might just die away till the Breaking News flashes anew statement of somebody of the Minister’s stature. Perhaps it is the Minister’s stature that remindsus that Men Having Sex with Men is not a disease, just a very narrowperspective. Oh and the revered Minister has no qualifications to be/speak on PublicHealth and (read: personal) Sexuality issues other than his loyalty to theCongress alliance. Queer enough?

Such a sharp irony, Mr. Azad spilled venom just at a national convention on HIVand AIDS, a meeting that was supposed to have fostered compassion and created awareness about the virus. Earlier hehad suggested that watching television would “educate” the masses enough aboutthe HIV virus. But his post-Article 377 statement seems totally unapologetic.He clarified later that he had been “misquoted” and the “disease” was actuallyHIV he was referring to. That was very convenient, Sir.

Days after NewYork, United States legalized Gay Marriage; Twitter the micro-blogging websitewas on a self-attuned happy brigade. And why not? If we demand liberaleconomies in a liberal world, we sure expect liberal sexuality too, right?Although New York was the sixth yet United States’ largest state to legalizegay marriage, it has infused life into the gay movements of the world. Obviously,it didn’t come too easily for the New Yorkers either. The last minute decisionreversal by two Republican senators turned the magic wand in favor of thethousands of gay couples in New York state.

Perhaps it is the Minister’s stature that reminds us that Men Having Sex with Men is not a disease, just a very narrow perspective. Oh and the revered Minister has no qualifications to be/speak on Public Health and (read: personal) Sexuality issues other than his loyalty to the Congress alliance. Queer enough?

Quick flashback:Baba Ramdev made a statement in 2009 to the Supreme Court saying, “(Homosexuality)can be treated like any other congenital defect. Such tendencies can be treatedby yoga, pranayam and other meditation techniques.” Isn’t that awesome? All wehave to do is believe and lo! We’re no more “tied down by a queer sexuality”!WTF? Also read what Pope Benedict XVI declared, “Homosexuality is a destruction ofGod’s work”.

Coming back to India, it has been two good years afterArticle 377 was scrapped leading to decriminalization of homosexuality betweenconsenting adults, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community by Delhi High Court. “A disease from Western countries” isapparently among the hilarious opinions coming from a Health Minister of acountry with a civilization older than his perception of the West. Just notethat we hold a grudge against the Manusmriti for introducing and worse,documenting the “rules” of the caste-system in India. The much in questionnon-epic is apparently responsible for punishments denounced towards “homosexualindividuals”. Hey, so India WAS indeed homosexual, wasn’t it? Back then perhapsScience taught them Earth was flat. So they believed them. But now Science saysotherwise. So we believe the neo-believers. Likewise, can we perhaps…just growup in our sexual thinking, right Minister Sir?

A blackneighbor is welcomed but not a black son-in-law. Similar harsh reality in Indiais honor killing – a practice we grew up witnessing in headlines andneighborhood. We’re young believers who ought to right the wrong. Perhaps anopen mind comes with a global experience and this could well be a “Westerninfluence”. Calling homosexuality a disease has been a foot-in-mouth moment forMr. Ghulam Nabi Azad. We must understand that his comments have led to antecedentsof outrage in the national and international communities. And this outrage iswhat will goad true justice to the LGBT community in India. We do hope.

The choice of a choice

2011-06-26T14:47:00.008+05:30

I waited for over 3 weeks for my internet connection to be restored. A wrong IP address was one of the nightmares I got the previous night. The next day, the inevitable happened. “No Local Area Connection” flashed on the right hand side bottom of my screen and I knew I was doomed. With no internet, I could not tweet, a rather addictive social media worship I religiously follow. I was expecting a dull life. And dull it was, the whole three quarters of the month. Plugging and replugging the LAN cable in different sockets hoping something will make the internet work. Oh, you suggest I must have contacted my Internet Service Provider? I did that. I called up Reliance Broadband ignoring all the irony attached to the name. Their technical department, apparently, never got the full information from the Customer Service. So I had to repeat my name, username, alternate telephone number every time the phone that was put on hold got disconnected after 25 odd minutes. Trust me, I could have bribed these guys if I could. Sure, go ahead, hate me. Worse, go…fast.

Do we realize how old some of our common technology is? Email is a 40 year old technology (Ray Tomlinson sent the first email in 1971). So is a cousin who loves to give me “Lose fat, get fit” advices. Blatantly putting, we are wrong to assume that democracy will welcome a clean government with a clean historical background (and value). And we love to pick up the wrong issues. Sushma Swaraj’s embarrassment after a jig at the Gandhi Samadhi more than made up (in advance) for a very bad choice of issue- Finance Minister’s office bugging. Ah, but I love email. Like, Gmail is smart (widely criticized) for the “You may consider sending this email to Bleh, Blah and Bloh”. At least internet servers know what to choose, duh.

Facebook has my ‘friends’ LIKING certain Support <insert a name> ‘s fast/dharna or anger rally. Sweet, isn’t it? Mumbai sure sends the largest chunk of tax to the Central Government. Sad, only 43% votes on the Election Day (2009 figure). You don’t have your city’s ‘immigrants’ voting, officially—so you must stop that “Statistics include us, not them”. Immigrants make the best labor for the city; known to have a smaller ego, they work far better than the Marathi manoos’ demands (Of course, if you’re reading this from another city, move on). The point is email turned 40; Indian democracy will be 64 this year. Have we learnt anything political riotousness…I mean righteousness? Yes, we, you-the middle class. Trust me; you’d still pay a bribe. Who’re you kidding?

With no disrespect to Baba Ramdev, I read that saints and rishi-munis of the bygone centuries stood on one foot for months, without food to offer sacrifice to the Almighty. They were in search of a light, a glorious blessing from the Supreme Being. A bit disheartening to see what global warming has done to human body’s constitution and the ‘system’. I can see Supreme Beings are Supreme Courts with lesser chances of divine intervention than the media folks. Y U NO LIKE BREAKING NEWS? Jokes apart, I am all praises for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The man knows it takes food to shout out angry slogans. He expressed his opinion just a few days after his father’s funeral; and he won my heart. After all, no matter the paradox, a hungry man is an angry man. Psst…a certain diplomatic spread rumors that SoniaG and RahulG (with respect, see) were not in the country during the Lokpal meetings. Apparently, they were. Choices, remember? Let’s move on. Pehle Alps…

In the Marathi movie called, Mani Mangalsutra, the lead protagonist Hrishita Bhat (yes, her!) plays a woman of morals who’s a widow and in love with a school teacher. And she lives with him without getting married facing weird glances, hushed gossip and a court case questioning her morality. The film is based in 1970s, the culture of live in relationship was more like an enemy-UFO. Don’t watch it if you’re not open to relationship concepts other than your chosen one. Chances are you’d applaud New York State’s nod at approving Gay marriages. But you’d still stare at a Gay couple walking on a beach near you. Much like a helpful, “hry, I fond a typo in ur blof.” Take it or leave it, you mustn’t sway and this is coming from a woman who has Gemini twins wrecking her mind all the time.

Did you read about foreign investors feeling jittery to invest their blood and sweat earnings (exaggerated) in India? Local political failures, very inexorable land law pitfalls, wild media statements, bad breaking news (no surprise here, even the US suffers from these, so nevermind) and a dance of economics at the hand of political finger (tee-hee, nice dig) and worse, a bad Opposition party are some of the political issues. You see how the Tata’s are being swept out of already swept off West Bengal state? The situation is execrable that it makes you question the basics of Agriculture vs. Industry.

Pakistan was much civilized (happy, glorious, industrious, better airports too) in the 1980s, much after the war. While India was busy sending diplomatic love letters to the neighbor on the East, Pakistan seemed to have lost its charm amidst military heads. For India though, things are dipping. By things I mean, economy, which did badly and which will sway. Oh, analogy. Recession may finally touch the Indian shores, after all. But wait, the US is with us, a second coming for her. Phew. I had wished to be in a Grad School founded in 1921, NOT in 1921 itself!

Among other things, I moved on from Reliance Broadband. I even got a Rs. 550 bill for the whole month without internet. Did I say, I wanted to bribe these guys? I realized the world cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. Make a choice of making a choice. Chances are you’d see a world much worse (or better)...may be when Twitter turns 40!

When winter comes, will spring be far behind?

Note: Just about sometimes, the picture of a story has got nothing to do with the story. C-word.

Picture courtesy: http://nataliedee.com/

Cell Phones & Brain Cancer : A Report.

2011-06-02T13:34:00.023+05:30

There is some news about the health detriments from ourfavorite toy-the cell phone. World Health Organization on Tuesday, May 31^st issued a statement warning the peoplewho use cell phones about an increased risk of two rare, unpublished, braincancers. This risk is classified in the same category of “possiblycarcinogenic” as that of lead, chloroform and coffee. The radiationemitted by cell phones used for a prolonged period, say, over 10 years, is abig Cancer risk according to the 31 member international panel of WHO.

"For now, I’m far more concerned about being rammed by someone talking on his or her cell phone while driving than I am about getting brain cancer from a phone"

The data was collected for WHO by multi-country researcherInterphone Studies and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) withresearch inputs from Swedish Cancer scientist Lennart Hardell. The data,WHO admits, lacks “scientific evidence”. The rare type of Cancers kept underwraps could actually be somewhere close to the Acoustic Neuromas and Glioma accordingto the WHO2006 report which also says, “Recent studies have reported anincreased risk of acoustic neuroma and some brain tumors in people who use an analogue mobile phone for more than ten years.Also no data is available on the reproduction of these effects when digital mobile phones are used”.

Mobile phones have been in extensive use over a relativelyshort period of time leaping from an acoustic cell phone to the latest (anormal sight in everybody’s hand) GSM/CDMA enabled second generation digitalphones. There are approximately 5 billion cell phone subscribersglobally. There is no surprise that (read: smart) mobile phone technology isnot restricted to making and receiving calls only. Abhay Bhangale, aSoftware Engineer from Chicago uses his iPhone 4 for texting, photos,chatting, checking mails, music and as an iPod while Tong Niu, a New York Citystudent uses her phone as a calculator and a timer in addition to all the usesmentioned.

The risk is almost negligible for those who’re not excessivecell phone users like Rahul Nuthakki, a Civil Engineering student fromBrisbane, Australia. But the risk almost doubles when one sees the largerpicture as a public health issue. Also, there have been debates as to how farone must sleep from a cell phone. There is, however, enough evidence that Indianshave no separate fear of radiation from cell phones; it is assumed to besimilar in all parts of the world. Dr. Jonathan Samet, chairman of theDepartment of Preventive Medicine at University of South California's Keck School ofMedicine and the Chairman of the panel that issued the report said, “We havehalf the world's population already using cell phones, and people are usingthem younger and longer. We clearly need to keep track of this".

Joel M. Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family andCommunity Health at UCBerkeley's School ofPublic Health told LA Times, “This is a major scientific consensusconference that has basically implicated cell phone radiation with increasedtumor risk. I think they are particularly concerned about cell phones justbecause of the widespread utilization. It's not like it's some esoteric chemicalused by industry that they think may be carcinogenic. Everyone is exposed tocell phones”.

According to InternationalCommission on Non-Iconizing Radiation Protection’s 2009 report, the causes for brain tumorare not as direct as cell phone radiation. To date, no adverse healtheffects have been established for mobile phone use. John Walls, vice president forCTIA- The Wireless Association., in a statement issued on same day as WHO,rejected the warning saying, “Coffee and pickled vegetables are also listed as"possibly carcinogenic". It is a review of what alreadyexisted".

However, the biggest doubt was expressed by Harvard MedicalSchool’s publication HarvardHeart Letter. Its editor P J Skerret wrote, “I thinkthe IARC decision puts cell phones on notice—a formal “we’ve got our eyes onyou” warning—more than it fingers phones as a cause of brain cancer. For now,I’m far more concerned about being rammed by someone talking on his or her cellphone while driving than I am about getting brain cancer from a phone”.

When asked if the warning will affect his cell phone use,Shriraj Mohan, a Mechanical Engineer from Detroit was quick to reply, “Nope.Besides, I don't believe that prolonged usage causes cancer”. AbhayBhangale gives a tip indirectly, “I almost always use my handsfree and neverstick my phone up my ear. So my phone is always 2 feet away from my brain as Italk to anyone”. Apparently, the WHO has informed consumers that even in thephone’s manual, it likely says something to the effect of, “We recommend youhold your mobile device about an inch away from your ear”.

Tong Niu has solid reasons to nix the WHO claim saying, “I'mnot really convinced. They didn't really conduct new research and thecarcinogenic effects of cell phone use have always been around. Also, I think WHO said that using cellphones for one hour a day can double your chances of getting a rare type ofbrain cancer. And while that is scary, if my original chances of getting thecancer were 1%, increasing it to 2% isn't that much of a difference”.
--

I got an opportunity to get in touch with Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Professorat University of Massachusetts Medical School, Health Behavior Scientist and aPsychologist. I asked her about her opinion regarding the warnings issued. Heranswers seem to address the situation in a more pragmatic manner:

Me: Asa doctor yourself, Dr. Sherry, would such a warning deter you from using yourphone? Is it even practical to do so?

Dr. Pagoto: No, this information does not deter me from use. Cell phonewaves have been given a 2B classification by the WHO, also included in thatcategory is coffee, food dyes, progesterone-only contraceptives, and a host ofmedications that are in regular use (see the list here http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ClassificationsGroupOrder.pdf) . The data do not appear to be strongenough to make a strong recommendation against use.

Me: Honestly,is there much to be scared of? We're exposed to TV and random radio waves everyday. (Your opinion on this as a psychologist would add more weight.)

Dr. Pagoto: What I hear the WHO saying is that there is some, very limited data tosuggest a possible association. I think that is probably true for manythings, this one just happens to get a lot of press. You should be morescared of heart disease because that is what is most likely to kill you (#1cause of death), not a brain tumor. If we all took healthy actions toreduce our risk of heart disease (e.g., regular exercise, low saturated fat,high fiber diet, proper sleep), that would improve public health a lot morethan reducing cell phone use. I think it’s more important to focus on thecauses of diseases that are MOST likely to kill us, rather than those that areleast likely to kill us.

Me: Thedoctor community has been divided in two opinions (in the last 2 days itself).Some say it's a myth, ramming into someone while speaking is a bigger risk thangetting brain cancer. What would be your opinion on this?

Dr. Pagoto: The data as they stand only suggest a correlation, which could beaccounted for by a host of other factors. One challenge is that it wouldbe difficult to establish causation given the ubiquity of cell phone use (nocontrol group) and we couldn’t randomize people to exposure vs no exposure totest for a causal effect, due to ethical reasons, as well as my latter pointabout ubiquity of use (almost everyone is exposed and people who are notexposed (no cell phone) might be different in many ways from people who are).

It is important tonote that the jury is still out on the WHO warnings. Some claim that it is amyth, a few would give in to a conspiracy theory that many billion cell phoneusers are indeed the coin clinkers for the few mobile manufacturers of theworld. Is there a lobby that has influenced a decision to broadcast thewarning? Or is there a lobby that has resulted this ‘warning’ to be precisely‘mild, inconclusive or ‘still in progress’ yet very serious & final’?

My take is that we cannot say “No” when our mouth is greased. Indeed,it’s impossible to replace cell phones with any of the latest (or old)communication device/technology. Like the adage that says, “Too much of good istoo bad”, we need to know the repercussions of excessive dependency on cellphones before it is too late. The issuance of warning by the World HealthOrganization is the ringing bell of this ‘knowledge’.

iDiaries 25

2011-05-25T18:08:00.009+05:30

For starters, I am still in India learning how to make real Pathare Prabhu (my mum is) bhujne-bhaat of prawns, pomfret or the essential Bombay duck! I have had several curious well wishers wanting to know how and when to see me next-now that I am in the US. Then the little percentage of the closer buddies who can name United States’ 50 states on the fingertips argue with me. “MO is Montana and not Missouri!”. Thank you ,Google for being there. So this has been a great moment-getting a wonderful university. And the cherry on the cake—the Fellowship!

I used to have nightovers with Harleen discussing just one thing. Journalism. And how I could go about it. We both were in a completely different phase of life. Confused. She wanted to be the best cake-maker and a Portfolio Manager. And me…

I know many are still curious about how I went about doing this. This wasn’t a flash decision. It came, it stuck and almost made my father wonder why he (and mum) decided to have just one child. “At least the other one could have fulfilled our dreams without leaving everything (Chartered Accountancy) halfway!”. A 21 month internship as a CA trainee and BCom studies almost guarantees that you never look anywhere else. You’re busy ticking with green pens on papers and receipts as an Auditor. Or may be if you were me, you would have faced some angry faces not understanding how a girl cannot ever tally her balance sheet!

Upsetting time, a year passed by (2009) when I just used to stare at New York University’s Business and Economic Reporting course. Many ask how I landed on the decision of journalism and that too studying the nuances of the profession from the USA. Here’s a little note that will help me recall the wonderful waiting time, frenzy email-checking that has now become a Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and bleh. Just read on!

I have written for several children’s newspapers as a kid back then. I recorded my voice in my Philips tape recorder when I used to stay in Dahisar East. So writing and broadcast was in-built. And trust me, I think I can never get over the remarks my classmates passed that my photos turn out to be ugly and that my teeth are ‘weird’. Things like that affected me as a kid. So I stayed alone and did things which regular kids did not do. I had no relatives praising me back then. Reading, watching MTV and podcasting were what I did when I bunked tuitions. Podcasting is one such thing that stuck to me, big time. And I’m glad Audacity is one such software that is freely available on the Internet.

One late night in September 2009 when I refused to study further for Accountancy for my Bachelor of Commerce exams, I browsed through Wall Street Journal’s author page. I was awe-struck how none of them had Commerce or Chartered Accountancy background. The world became a pretty place for me! Because I had always hated Accountancy. I got to work with some beautiful people in Accountancy industry, but I hated the subject. Hell, I knew that was it. That’s how I came to research, recheck and get in touch with NYU’s Director Dr. Stephen Solomon. Dr. Solomon like a true professional, answered every question a random Mumbai girl had typed in an email which was at least grammatically perfect and spelling-wise precise. I can say, I knew what I wanted to do because of his guidance. I’ll meet him someday and perhaps interview him too. #notetoself . My father was suddenly convinced. He saw some passion in me, he says. So the convincing part was through.

The real USA study’s research began much later after I completed my B.Com. Apparently, my research was so good, I knew what I had to do till the Visa stage…but I met some nice people who guided my through and helped in whenever I needed them. (Read Shraddha Kurmi, Avinash Veer and Hiren Rathod, they will kill me if I don’t tag them here!) I gave 17 exams in 2010. 2 Graduate Record Exams, 2 Test of English as a Foreign Language, 3 Journalism entrance exams, rest college and post-college exams! I applied to 9 universities in the US. I got through 6. Indiana University was the first one to accept me. I think I can even tell you the telephone numbers of Bloomington’s local pizza joint. That’s my research! Then came University of Maryland’s reject. I almost died. I wanted that university to accept me! Ah then came Ohio University’s Scripps College’s admit from the dean himself! He was ‘happy and privileged to have a student like you (me) on board’. So also came Ball State University, University of Oregon and hold your breath Mizzou’s and NYU’s admit on the same day!

New York University was the real thing. The Director of school, Dr. Solomon wanted to talk to me along with Prof. Adam Penenberg (world’s first digital investigative journalist!) on phone. We spoke at 7:30am and I think I didn’t impress them too much. I got an admit! But alas, a private school in NYC is hellish for the parents. Then the Japan earthquake happened. I was in Thailand hating every moment of the non-WiFi helplessness. Days passed by without me having to get to check my emails! Finally, I checked and found that NYU and Mizzou had emailed me saying they’ve accepted me. Phew!

Mizzou: World’s number one university with its own NBC and NPR affiliate wanted me to be part of its Master’s program. A bloody honor! NYU failed to impress my dad’s pocket. And Mizzou offered me to apply for the Smith Patterson Fellowship. This was the winning moment of my life! I had worked hard on the website which Shriraj Mohan gifted me (the domain, best gift) in the summer of 2010. I had discussed several issues with Jaimin Desai cursing everybody who disagreed with us. I had killed every subject’s potential in my B.Com exam thinking of the next issue I could write on. I had become so narcissistic with my iDiaries, poems and everything around me. All the hard work, all the research and all the blog posts came to my rescue to get this Fellowship. I was in touch with various doctors, forensic experts and hospitals over the period of one year. Dammit, CNN IBN had me go on air to promote eco-friendly Diwali! Things had gone well and it was on the 17th March (mum’s birthday) that I hit “Send” on the email attaching my heavy resume (just like me) and the letter of interest. And to let out the cat- my letter of interest was the most boring, straight faced and real application I wrote in a long time. All my journalistic experience, internships and editorship at Youth Ki Awaaz (I ain't ever leaving this beauty!) was literally spread out in paragraph form and that worked. On March 29, I was emailed by Mr. Jonathan Stemmle from the Health Communication Research Center at the School of Journalism that I was among the 3 finalists. And on April 1 (fool’s day!) I received an email with a subject I was dying to hear, “Congratulations!”.

Kill me, I am showing off. My father didn’t say, even in humor, that he wished he had another kid to make him proud-ever again after that day. But he now says, "Don't be lazy" some twenty million times a day. I am apparently on a hiatus. ;)

Among other things, I am leaving Mumbai on the July 27th, 2011 in an Air India (obviously!) flight.

Are you still reading...? Hey, you've just read my iDiaries! And in true iDiairies style (if you're an old reader)...

Thank you for reading!

My Nation Needs A Bigger Spine

2011-04-17T17:21:00.001+05:30

Perhaps itis truth I search within I try not to fathom

Tough decisionsfollowed by archaic laws mock the chasm.

Goodjudgments, bad regimes have fallen apart mighty

My nationwas different; the skin of pachyderm-she wears plenty.

Those handswhich stooped to bribe rise in anger

What shallhappen of the GenY when the daddy GenX struts in slander?

Opinions arebiases, I tell you

Nobody likesto be advised but they’d love to be wooed

When Electionsand happy nations don’t go hand in hand

Why’d thebabies care when the mommies never demand?

Nation talksand talk their leaders aplenty

Games happenaround round tables, wouldn’t expository win the War gently?

Every facsimileof the saint demands a little popularity, an arm-candy

Who werethey kidding when they called them Gandhi?

They love tofight so they need not talk

Theystultify my nation’s youth, vulnerable they’re mocked

She’s sad,my nation, her children bleed blue for the sportive blooper

Not soon, Inow fathom

Thebombastic, boisterous and bogus will clear the fog

Unfortunately, my nation needs a bigger spine to kill the demagogue.

Have you observed, lately? #Journalism

2011-03-19T11:16:00.009+05:30

“Journalismis the future. The past has been graced with news reporting that raised issuesimportant and pertinent. And the present of the profession is ever dynamic.” = Cliché.

As a student of journalism for the past oneyear and a livid observer of mad news, I expected Journalism to be a widelyhomogenous structure: anybody can write, gather and report news without beingtermed, tagged or accredited with that word-journalist. When I wrote poems, Iwrote stories. Unfortunately, I was already aware that a natural disaster,human error or an economic crash is termed all but a ‘news story’ byjournalists. Dynamism is present in every atom of the profession. CitizenJournalists are trained to report news. Acclaimed news reporters form theglobal community telling us what’s happening in the no-fly-zones. People changeopinions based on the Twitter and Facebook celebs’ apparent Left-leaning/Right-leaning moves. (Yes, Washington Post in reference here). Newspapersfortunately are pulling up their socks. All the ways, not tried, ever testedwill come to the forefront before going back to the golden old days. Internetafter all is beyond computers. iPhone 5 design has been leaked from the China workspaces. Japan has us, non-Japanese doing all thepanicking. You already know that Fast Company, Salon, TruthOut and BitchMagazine are drawing the niche audiences. The information technology (no, notjust I.T.) is changing. Congratulations, world. The phase of elitist newspapers ( and reporting, per se) has finallybegun.

NewYork Times has drawn some flak, more applauds and most importantly, shown thedoor to the free online content era. Every month, we can read up to 20 newsstories-the top stories-as the paper prefers to term them. Canada is the firsttest-nation on the NYTimes Paywall. Interestingly, if we log on to the website,we can see the headlines. Just a copy-paste of the headlines on the Googlesearch bar and voila! The news story is right there flashing every adverb inadvertentlyused by the authors! The new era is finding alternative resources. Or perhapsjust going back to where we begun from : The hard copies of the newspapers(which have no paywall to disturb the sequence). Unfortunately, we can no longer affordanything after having enjoyed the liberty free of charge (electricity,internet service provider fees not included). ‎"Paying bills bycharging bills", colloquially a close cousin of firewall is a very roughdefinition of a paywall. Although The Economist (my self-declared FAVORITE) andthe Wall Street Journal already have the much (not) revered log-in pages to remind us of the (not) freecontent, NYTimes has drawn much more attention, unsurprising as it is theoldest in the field.

[#Rant:Come on, I want to read Paul Krugman, Thomas Friedman and Mowreen Dowd, nomatter what! Nick Kristof, thankfully tweets.]

Andanyway, the rant is the answer to HOW the paper will be FORTUNATELY, paying itsbills. No voila.

NPR’sCan I just tell you? and Planet Money have educated the good listeners of mygeneration. Public Broadcasting couldsoon be history if American policymakers have their way. Unfortunately, wenever had Indian radio that played beyond music and everything non-journalisticin a selling fashion. AIR does remind us of the ‘news’, sadly much after we’veretweeted the news article. Things have changed because I repeat, dynamism isat work again. (Ironically in India, even Channel V and MTV do not play musiceither, anymore. #NotNewsThis)

“Technologyis the next Economics in Politics of the world”. I love to remind my readers ofthis adage. No, Economics won’t ever goaway. Technology perhaps will eradicate the future trials and tribulationsbefore setting upon a trend of another round of trials. Vague? Problems will exist, economically more so. Just perfect, thatword. Vagueness is what we can expect when acclaimed newspapers shift base fromcopy sheets to online to elitist copies, once again. Not because history oughtto repeat, but because the economic downturns haven’t seen such lows since 1930s(2008 America in reference, here). The JournalistGurus and the company Management (no ruling out the freshly baked MBAs) willfind a new way to deliver news (in an old fashion?)

As we know, fashion repeats more often thanhistory; every 23 years to be precise. And “Can I Just Tell You?” thatJournalism is the newest Fashion. Jobs have been replaced by Internships.Graduate Schools have more enrollments than they ever witnessed. And the worldwill be, may I repeat, the differently similar tomorrow. Because news willhappen. People will change. And it is up to the Op-Ed writers to observe andnotice the trends, straight out of Convergence Journalism lectures. Editorials,dare I say, no longer 'opionionate'. They just narrate pieces of history, have youobserved, lately?

It's the name. iDiaries 23

2011-03-01T10:08:00.002+05:30

After two solid recommendations of his book, it’s tough notto Google his name. HishamJaballa Matar is a Libyan national who posed as half Egyption, halfAmerican for most of his school years. I’d be lying if I don’t admit that I ampretty eager to read his book ‘In The Country Of Men’. But what struck me mostthough is not his nationality which is now a global issue with Muammar Qaddafi’sfrequent (read: dynamic, literally) statements about Libya and the lack ofpeace thereof. It’s the name. He lived without it; almost accepting that he isBob. Bob Dylan and Bob Marley must have been smiling from the heaven. I likethis author for his honest confession. To think again, is it really tough tolive away from one’s name (nation and identity) without a nemesis? Of course,the very asking seems hard.

I doodled my name twenty million times before deciding what mysignature would look like. From the fat potato-like SHRADDHA to the curvaceous Shraddha-ittook me one and a half decade. After reading Financial Times’ excerpt of Matar’s book-I’m wondering if democracy (or its closest cousin) really comes with somuch ‘effort’. Thank God, this post you’re reading isn’t published somewhere aroundthe Republic/Independence day (of India) when every tabloid wants you to feelpatriotic and very fashionably so. Honestly, I think we’ve started thinkingglobally.

Confession number 2: I’ve never readso much about Libya in my life till I read after the protests began. My concernwas to first mentally locate Libya on world map and confirm that Libya is indeedin north Africa. I did a little researchafter Matar’s book’s recommendations came by my Facebook wall and home page. Butit is the name that I most got engaged in. Matar writes, “I was totry to forget my name. If someone called Hisham, I was not to turn.”Didn’t that touch you yet? This reminds of the fictional book (read: strong,handsome, non-real) characters hiding identities to accomplish missions inforeign lands. I could very well be termed naive for having expressed surprise atthis real man’s real ordeal. Indeed, I am naïve then.

Identity shed out of no choice is worse thanidentity stolen.

Did youread about Foreign correspondents and sexual abuse, lately? Perhaps the Indianswill agree-we don’t need to be foreign correspondents to see, hear or readabout sexual harassment/abuse. It’s just all around us. Judith Matloff’s piece in TruthOut had the urgency to warn the reporter in me-that the world is meanand very gender-specific. “Groping hands and lewd come-onsare stoically accepted as part of the job” shesays. None of the (western) reporters, she says, are willing to report theirrapes in the Middle East and India because that would mean they’re less strongto handle ‘situations and furthermore, assignments’. Gender equality fallsshort here. Names still won’t be reported, things will happen to be toleratedsilently.

Contrastingreality is me shouting (not literally) in class for a gender-neutral law with aPowerPoint Presentation equally loud on Feminism. Gender is your asset as wellyour liability. India’s Union Minister Veerappa Moily’s July 2010 nudge atGender-neutral laws is a welcome reality. Of course, if it’s the Indian societyhe is set to reform-Conditions would apply.

On another note, I happened to read a doctor posting a noteon Twitter. “Do not sign on courier delivery notes/envelopes without checking. Ifit is an unknown sender, simply reject the package. This could be used againstyou in the court of law as the lawyers mail the empty envelopes to your enemieswho’d sue you”. It’s another low on the naivety. But please, be careful. Lovethe enemies enough to not outsmart you in legal cases, not with names. Atleast.

I’m writing a thesis on Journalism in the Internet environment. Also,I’ve been reading Stephen Lamble, an Australian Journalist and Professor’s bookThe Daily Miracle. For the past two weeks, I have learnt enough about theAustralian media to understand that sting operations do not happen in Australiabecause the law doesn’t allow. I wonder what Tehelka has to say. Honestly did you read Tarun Tejpal’s note clarifying Tehelka’s position on India’s first everorganized Comic Con event? Some readers apparently dug up “Muslim issue” evenin the editor’s note. Wake up call needed, dear big hearts. We’re secular,remember? But alas, this is no Republic/Independence day!

Again, just telling-God is one. What’s in a name? Well, like really, it’s all in the name.

An Egypt-inspired Chinese Revolution: Why ask?

2011-02-16T15:00:00.011+05:30

Thebackground:

Inmy Journalism class, we're taught by a popular newspaper's copy editor whomakes us ask him questions; any questions-even about his food habits,his pet's name or perhaps the Copenhagen Summit. Just anything thatwe students feel pertinent (usually with reference to currentaffairs) is a question. So one fellow student asked on the 19th dayof the Egypt revolution, "Professor, will an Egypt happen inIndia? I mean Kashmir here." Then we had a long discussion onthe history of Kashmir as the princely state right upto a Pharmacompany's CEO being mistaken as Farooq Abdullah in an outspokensmaller town of India.

Rewindingback to day 7 of the Egypt revolution: I tweeted this: "I wonderwhat the Chinese are thinking right now #Egypt". So naturally Iasked a lot of people about their opinion of China. Unsurprisingly,most had no opinions.Few said they're in love with the ChineseSchezwan dosa outside Mithibai college. And just one spoke about theChinese, not the nation but the people. Thus spoke my father. Hisrecent visit to China was out of sheer curiosity. I rememeber hisadmiring (enviable?) statement, "China is the next Singapore". Then came an economist friend who said, "Africa is the China ofthe future". Ouch.

Thepertinent question:

Willthe Chinese ever wake up to a revolution to overthrow theirrulers/regime/Government?

TheIndian in me felt revolted. Why China? Because China is a democracyof sorts, but not exactly a democracy at all. The urban Chinese arehappy folks. They face the 'usual urban' problems like we, Indians,Americans or even Pakistanis fight each day, bravely. It would beunethical to say if the rural Chinese are happy people. Happiness isrelative. So is relativity.

Ina 2010 documentary, "The Traveling Court", a certain'rural' divorce case in the Qingling Mountains of couple X (I'd notname them here) in a Chinese Shaanxi village, the jury and the judgescrossed mountains and rivers (on motorbike and on foot) to get thecourt in action. The couple got divorced in their daughter's schoolhall. The State Judiciary I observed was quick, sympathetic and gaveutmost importance to legal papers (marriage certificate, ration cardin this case) in matters personal and otherwise. In another case, thesame judges went to another village where an old man who adopted ason wanted to change his will; his daughter-in-law was tormenting himnot to. Under pressure he did sign a will but immediately "calledup" a local urban court (not police station/lawyer) and within aweek the trial took place at his residence. On another note, it isunknown if the couple/old man had any further contacts with judicialpeople, whether their village was really a village after all, whetherat the same time other cases were pending or not in the local urbancourts etc. The travelling court is one of the admired feature of theChina.

UnlikeIndia, the Chinese go by the merit system. Because of a CommunistGovernment, it is almost impossible to break the hierarchy chain.Simply put, the university topper becomes the Mayor of the town. As acorollary to the above cases mentioned, one of the judges mentionedis a 24 years old Law class topper from Shaanxi province of China. Sothe urban elites with limited resources can still be a part of theGovernment (Communist or not) and not remain hungry. They can helpsupport their restricted family size (remember 1 kid Chinese policy?)and have a rather disciplined (read: constantly monitored) life.Money becomes secondary when standard of living rises. Once elitetransport system is available in larger cities, it raises the bar ofexpectations in smaller towns. Development of infrastructure hasmushroomed in a lot of smaller districts of China in the last twodecades.

India'sShanghai Dream is easily a decade old. Shanghai, apparently was ashanty-town. The women are still traditional; but that does notnecessarily reflect on their clothes. The entire population issomehow absorbed in a certain profession- even agriculturecontributes to the 10.76% of the Annual Chinese GDP (2010). Thepeople of China must be a happy lot, right?

Anythinganti-regime is banned in China (close similarity to Egypt-CHECK).Facebook and Twitter are banned. And blogs (even minutely related toanti-regime "notions, thoughts or suggestions") simplydisappear from the Chinese online diaspora. Freedom of Speech israre. Ironically, Nobel Laureates for Peace (Liu Xiabao), no matterhow progressive, are considered a threat to the nation (regime).Newspapers are strictly Government monitored (Egypt-CHECK). There areno popular leaders (HU = HOSNI?) unlike India. There is one majorreligion in China (Egypt-CHECK). Again, onus on the people, theycannot "choose" their profession. The university topper maynot always want to be the town Mayor. The cities are clean. But howare the habits? Every other Chinese adult (men and women) smokealmost incessantly. This information, apparently, comes from myfather who spent weeks just "observing" the people and thespotless roads.

Wishfulthinking is not Journalism.

TheEconomist posted a poll "Does the Chinese Government haveanything to fear from Revolt of Egypt?" Guess what I found! Ivoted six times at different hours. Every single time the result was aYes-No 50-50. So are my favorite editors leaving a lot for theChinese people to decide?

Theanswer to the question mentioned in the title:

AnyChinese reading this? May be they love being second biggest worldeconomy. Perhaps they miss Facebook and opinionating. Freedomcan/should not be subsidized. Ditto for opinions and speculations.Only, let us first define freedom. In Mandarin, of course! Still, thequestion remains.

Some Chinese (Shanghai) photos you'd see just here:

Shanghai Metro.

The street 1.

The street 2.

World Expo: 2010 at Shanghai

Inside China's exhibit house.

China's exhibit house: From outside. (It was the largest!)

My untold 14th February, 2011

2011-02-15T12:35:00.001+05:30

"I'd read this again when I next complain about not having ample time/money to buy a new microphone for my podcasts and repair my Sony Cybershot. Because money is not the only thing. This might not make much sense if you're not a train-hopping, traffic dodging resident/visitor of the Mumbai city.

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There was a lone, old, blind man who played a “dholak” on the railway bridge of the Santacruz station. He played his music so passionately with head nodding in true ecstasy, one wouldn't guage if he really was begging. He never asked for alms, not directly. He played the dholak all evening, five days a week. Nobody really dropped in a ruppee or two. But they watched him in sheer wonder. I confirmed the news, he is dead now. It is not unnatural that none of the fellow hawkers, beggars and passers-by know how and when he passed away. I wonder where he'd be now. God sure loves the true devout of music. I could very well pass a judgment here,now that he is dead. But hey he wasn't begging for money. He was begging for appreciation. He will be remembered.

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“Krishna is a 62 year old woman claiming that she is 42. She loves to oil her grandchildren's hair and loves vada pav. She has a broken foot, no teeth and she hasn't bathed for days. Her daughter and son-in-law are “out looking for work”. So she and the kids “party” on the roads to earn a dime or so. Cream biscuits would be enough to make their day. A Sunday “langar” from the closeby Gurudwara is a feast, so is the full moon day when a certain lady from Juhu brings lots of bananas. Those must be super-Sunday breakfasts! But she pinches little Lata to make her wail in anger, irritation and eventually pain-so that the “Mems” sitting in the autorickshaw right next to the Juhu-Versova signal footpath feel pity. She repeats this whenever her torn saree-pocket stops chinking with coins.

Realization is a tough word, even tougher than the confusion it creates when you write realisation or realization. The S and Z are specifically elaborated (surprisingly, in English medium) on in the class right next to Krishna's “shanty”. The shanty is a blue plastic which triples up as a changing room, bathroom and kitchen. The bedroom of course, is the footpath. The class is the local footpath classes conducted by local municipal teachers or some CEOs who're into charity. That's good, really. The kids in vicinity are allured by sweet words, sweet food and very sweet looks. Then there is Lata who refuses to sit with Bhanum, who pulls her hair. She hates to learn Hindi. She wants to learn “Inglis” because that's what gets her most five-rupee coins when the signal shows red. Did I mention that one of the "mem" was I? I happily shared my box of chakli with these women. Who said I needed a guy to date?""

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("Even my mother doesn't know this yet. On another note, I must've grown a little more appreciative of my current microphone now, I'm sure. Right, alter ego?")

The dream sequence: One World

2011-02-01T17:26:00.003+05:30

Idon't know why Bo Sodersten surprised me in the first 8 pages of thesecond edition of his International Economics where he subtly hintedat a focused on trade, a dependent world. He doesn't mention this-notin a single statement-but he does give a hope to me that someeconomists then (1971) and much before the trade policies weredevised-thought of colonizing the world surprisingly unlike, theBritish and the French. In plain-speak, I read a lot of lines hintingme to believe that some one was thinking just like me. Apassport-free, border-less world. An inter-connected mass of citiessharing their culture with those on the other side of the globewithout waiting to get a visa or a consent. A world of logic, aculture of patriotism, a tradition of communication. Yes? Sorry, Iwas reading a serious book on Economics-a subject which never dreamed beyond the assumptions of national boundaries.

“Itmust be fiction” is the first reaction I received when I tweetedthis thought. Egyptians defy the Regime, Tunisia inspires a largernation, Pakistan gets very defensive, India sends a plane. Americashows confused concern, British papers hint at Britain's apparentapprehensiveness-almost stating Egypt to be a greater threat thanPakistan. A free world of free trade is a nightmare. But some tradeis better than no trade. Was I was growing up to believe thatPakistan could not manufacture a pin and India was industrializedbecause of JRD Tata? Nations are prime. And national interests areon prime-time. We've really not surpassed the Global Village mirage.Will we ever become one world?

Ona different note, the world is emphatically foolish when speakingabout the boundary-less nations. “Oh-no-violence-no-war” is whatI am referring to. We need an inter-connect of people, culture andeconomies, really. And this could almost be something closer toSocialism, no? I tweeted yesterday, “I dislike Socialism as it isslow, mostly crowded and we can never appreciate it”. I'm a proudFeminist. But I am apprehensive of adding a “Right-wing” there,lest I hurt some sentiments.

Isglobalization limitless? Would you teach your kids Mandarin, and thegrand-kids Swahili? Would you demand Democracy if you lived in arigidly religious State?

No,Yes and a Yes are the popular answers. Realism surpasses idealism,but only in popularity. Globalization gave me Bo Sodersten's book.But it gave me little on his opinion of India beyond satin, linen andspices. I refer to adoption of Mandarin because China holds a (much)richer future. Swahili, I'm told would be needed, on behest of Chinaholding control of the now-poorer African nations, in the nearfuture. See, I read and speak to a lot of economists who predict.Economics is an anology of Astrology. Please give me a great reasonto not believe this.

Democracyand religion go hand-in-hand. I'd want somebody to disagree. Butpopular opinion says, “If it were not for India's secular status,it would not have been a free democracy”. I asked this on Quora(I'm sorry if you're not invited there yet). The best answer I gotwas, “I bet democracy would still function as it does, but withreligious singularity, it would just not be a fair or a nice one.Pointless (edited)”.

Emphaticallyspeaking, Adam Smith influenced me in class 12 with his “AbsoluteAdvantage of Trade” theory to believe that the world reallydeserves no boundaries for the economic and financial benefits of thepeople. Patriotism is much of a culture, to be preserved just likereligion. The world needs to fight not just economic upheaval butalso the environmental wrath (call it Ol' Mister Badluck with angryMother Nature). And honestly, Davos, Cancun or a UNCTAD (Doha-comingsoon) meeting is just a hint. A subtle hint. Like, the one BoSodersten gives. Need I say more?

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P.S.: Ever argued with anIndian Government servant? He may be twice less as educated as you,may speak worse English, Marathi, Hindi-almost on the boundaries offoul-mouthing you and his audacious pride could take you by surprise.Fighting bureaucracy is the biggest war-especially with a determinedempty pocket. I am fighting one at a place X. And its repercussionscould kill somebody's career. Not mine, so stay rest assured.

PODCAST:

iDiaries 22.

2011-01-22T10:49:00.011+05:30

Iremember staring at my own face early in the morning and saying, “Everybody hasa choice. And every choice is a result of past actions.” Little did I knowthen, that the toothpaste I was complaining about wasn’t the only wrong choice Icould have made. In the plethora of events that we experience each day, my headdoes little other than sympathize with my innuendo-that action of inaction I doeach day. As Professor Gomes, my Journalism course co-ordinator says, “There isa me in me. Do not violate it”. Truly, we’re more than racist and unequal. We’rejust like the rest.

The long anticipated period of idleness really came around after all, theissues-feminism and social-took a backseat. I started reading Ayn Rand interpretatingmy own meaning of all the libel of the heartless soul. If I didn’t make enoughsense in the “libel of the heartless soul”, I’d clarify that the soul was mine.You’d love Roark as much as you’d want to hate him. Because he doesn’t exist. Iwas reading The Fountainhead.

I readabout the Do-It-Yourself abortion methods on the internet. Honestly, I wasperplexed reading teens wanting to explore territories we sought only as a lastresort in the beginning of the life so young. The two pills you take to killthe 8 week or less old foetus to cause the uterus to bleed to its heart’scontent. The baby would die afterall. How confused can the 21 year oldopen-minded head be-knowing that this could be such a saver for some ‘fucked-up’idiots. That’s the purpose. The purpose is not science versus convenience. Itis conscience versus science. Think about it. Would you advocate an abortion ina world where every American teen mom has a rural Indian mother dying of abad pregnnacy health care? I would. But I won’t. I’m sorry if I confused you. Iwanted a thorough companion in this cause. I’m reading up more. A featureshould follow.

Everwondered why the résumé you send to the prospective recruiters could have thisnew feature on social networks? Your presence on the internet should get younew points soon. I’m eager to add my Twitter and website statistics in myrésumé. Word is: Technology will replace Economics in the Politics of theworld. Any PhD students killing time over Economics will vouch for this one.Social Networks are the veins. Much like the World Wide Web. The financialbubble has burst way too often. But money never went out of fashion. Technology isthe money of the consumers. And those comments on Facebook page of TheEconomist are worth millions. Absorb them.

P.S.: Doyou speak Mandarin? You’d need it soon to teach your kids. China is scaring me.We’re the oldest civilisation. And we’re the ones who invented zero. Sorry, thosewere not compliments.

This very troublesome, irksome, vain.

2011-01-14T10:25:00.000+05:30

Mostly miffed, something in the mind
Very troublesome, irksome, vain is
Creating a rift.

Tried to give a second chance for
The heart to heal, the head to work
All the possible solutions behind me lurk.

No, I am terrified of my anger, won't
Won't do what has usually been done.
Very restless I'd go to bed and
Will 'starve the beast'-that out of context theory
I read.

I'd dance the fingers on empty book
Kill the nail color, bite every nook
Look, look my personality; you'd see
Bitten nails, frustrated nail color shall
Go in vain too; with that lame feeling I'd fall

To sleep again I'd wake up next
My day'd be awesome, my noon'd be numb and
The night'd trouble me till I do that

Thing to rhyme, that word I'd make
To do this again and once again, I'd get
Done with this drag-this now, this next

This very troublesome, irksome, vain Conquest.

[I'm sorry, Alter Ego. That thing about the fingernails is untruth. ]

"Please don't change her name!"

2011-01-04T19:48:00.003+05:30

“Now it's a phrase applicable to no one,

Lying just where you left it, scattered through

Old lists, old programmes, a school prize or two,

Packets of letters tied with tartan ribbon -

Then is it secentless, weightless, strengthlesswholly
Untruthful? Try whispering it slowly.
No, it means you.”

-Philip Larkin

After attendingnumerous weddings in December, it is very easy to forget the sumptuous dinnerparties and Gulab Jamuns showered with Vanilla ice cream. Common knowledgeleads you to question the bride X, ask her things you curiously know in theheart. And with a stab in the heart, she admits, her husband, parents-in lawand the million others would love to call her Y. Common knowledge makes youunderstand the situation and you wish you questioned the poor woman. Marriagesare not opposed by feminists yet? I wonder why!

Rituals, kundalimatching and various other beautiful excuses wait to explore the human patiencein an Indian bride. Educated, proud and very independent, the woman cries her wayout of the pandal she stood hours smiling for the cameras. We, Indians, lovethat attention, you know. We call it Reception—where guests spoil the beautifulchair-setting, make circles and block the way, talk loudly, dress up gaudilyand they just love to comment on the bride’s outfit.

The woman in mewould never change her name after marriage. What’s in a name?, you’d ask,morphing Shakespeare. A lot! I’d say. Identity to be one, independence as thesecond lead. And why, the third. Let me explore.

Sambhajinagar isknown for United Nations World Heritage sites Ajanta and Ellora caves. Oh did Ijust say “Sambhajinagar”? Aurangabad, that’s the maiden name, almost. Shiv Senaand Bharatiya Junta Party will now flex some muscles to do what has not yetbeen done in the naming ceremonial ritualistic idealism (no, no pun intended, Idon’t want to be banned). And if the Saffron muscles have enough punch in theirprotein shakes, we’d soon have to refer to Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Shivaji’seldest son’s name. And wait, Bombay, okay Mumbai airport might just get arelatively homely feeling with Chikkalthana Domestic Airport, Aurangabad beingnamed after Sambhaji Maharaj as Sambhaji Raje Domestic Airport. When history isforced down our throats, dear rich servants of the poor public, it isloathsome.

Among otherexamples, I’d rather only mention them and let you decide. Trivandrum wasThiruvananthapuram before the Britishers annointed it in an easier spelling. Butthen how can Kerela politicos tolerate being maimed down to an easier spelling!Honestly, they’d ask us, “Eh? You think Thi-ru-va-nan-tha-pu-ram is a toughie?”.Chennai was Madras, Mammlapuram was Mahabalipuram, Varanasi came from Benarasand Palakkad was Palghat. Ahmedabad (the maiden name) apparently, has rarelybeen referred to as Gandhi Nagar (our apparent, post-wedding naamkaran).

Like the Indianbride, Mumbai misses Bombay. Legal or official names do little to take thegrace away from whatever is left of the city. I don’t usually go arounddiscussing the “spirit” of Mumbai and the “charm” of Bombay. But yes, we haveit, most know it, few loath it when over-used-I’m one of those kinds.

May be youshould ask somebody you know who’s changing the name. It is pretty simpleaccusing the Saffron humans of their apathy towards our charming Bombay,Calcutta and Bangalore. May be we may not really be a part of the identitycrisis Aurangabad faces once the tourists start arriving at Sambhajinagar. Atleast, you and I could help one woman retain her identity. Think about it. Iask again, why did the feminists miss this point? Perhaps, loss of blood andflesh is more painful than loss of existent idenitity. With 842 girls among1000 boys, it is difficult to talk about living. Hence, existence. Sigh.

What a metaphorical relation a bride could share with a city! And please please, don't change her name!

-A Feminist.

My name isShraddha Sankhe. It will never go out of fashion.

Podcast on the issue-Listen here: http://www.shraddhasankhe.com/podcasts/self

iDiaries 21. (Warning: Avoidable)

2010-12-27T18:25:00.003+05:30

Just three and a half a minutes ago, I was contemplating theeffects of writing this part of iDiaries. Not only has my typing slowed a bit,my brain needs some serious exercise. After solving calculus, rote-learned afew thousand words and written feature essays, I presumably needed a break.Then came five emails last night. Sadhogopal Ram read my iDiaries and commentedon them. I lay in bed, reading my own writing work with a bad feeling dawningupon me. I used, “dude!” three times in each iDiaries parts. Also, I foundseveral typos. And went overboard with “trying to be funny” syndrome. Have Igrown up? Totally. Now I judge people’s writings. Not that efficiently, becauseI have still to grow. But hey, you’re reading an old woman’s personal diary.Say, hello!

After having realized that it is the opinion that peoplelike to read first thing after a news report-I smiled slyly. Isn’t that what Ihave been doing right from August 2009? I left my Chartered AccountancyArticleship for study leave back then. And may I say, with much madness, Iexplored the plethora of my own spectrums in much brighter light. Like, I realizedI could compose poetry. I did so pretty well then. It is tough, speaking inpoetry, no matter how much you hate me for it—I still compose the best rhymingtweets when I am sad. Yes, sadness and poetry go together. They’re married. Andthey’re austere. Rest, please imagine.

In my Journalism course, I am not learning much. I amexploring. Thank God, Mumbai University has courseswhich helps students find their true self in the most creative fashion. I wrote afeature on an issue I am sure, the Professor was unaware about. Yes, I amtotally showing it off. Thank you! Examinations never felt so good. There, Isaid it. Now Murphy’s Law will do the rest. Shucks!

This year will end the decade. I remember, in 2000, I sangSar Kiye Yeh Pahar in the shower. In 2004, I took the cassette player to thebathroom and danced in the shower. In 2007, I played the song so loudly on theCD player, the neighbors complained. And in 2010, I play the song quietly onthe iPod. I don’t play the song in the shower anymore. Please stop imaginingthings. Like, really. I really love the song.

In 2011, I expect it will snow, wherever I am. The friendsknow what I am talking of. The heavy-protocols on not spilling the beans “orelse” pretty keeps me happy. But hey, Twitter friends know it. Facebook friendsdon’t. Irony, thy name is secret!

When you lose touch on writing personal diaries, there arewonderful chances on killing the conclusion. An anticlimax usually never worksfor me. I believe in making the reader “think” if not understand the issue.Unfortunately, I realize I have little to explain, elaborate or entertain(thelast verb was unnecessary, added just for the effect, thank me later). I’m notmaking a “phodcast” of this. I realize, it is tough to stick to the rightdiction and accent when one has severe sneezing bouts. Oh, now that this is mypersonal diary, I forgot to mention, I have cold. I hurt my right knee threetimes in the exam hall this morning. The silly last bench involved me walking ahalf a kilometer long runway(sorry, for this one) and go get the answer sheetsupplements. And then the professor smiled and commented on my awesome braceswith yellow elastic bands. That was not required, and even this isn’t required.

Tells herself: This is no log book. So shut the up.

Thank you for reading my “irrelevant vignette of madnessblah”. I love myself. I almost killed the blog home page because I shall beposting it there. So the awesome previous (read: serious articles) will behidden. And most will judge me on this piece of writing.

Such is the ordeal of a diary maintained in a fashion soeschatological.

(P.S.: You mustn’t hate me if you do not know the meaning ofthe E-word. Please, please Google it).

P.P.S.: Thank you for reading my iDiaries. Yay. Another one.Allow me a smiley. :B (I look like that now. Braces, remember?)

Academic Essay: Technology and Ethics

2010-12-02T15:28:00.008+05:30

What began as a mere exposé of a popular Indian Journalist’s voice caught on tape to the people’s reaction to #barkhagate on Twitter is inexplicable. Barkha Dutt, the Padma Shri awardee and people’s favorite English language Journalist is the Group Editor of India’s first English 24 x 7 news channel-NDTV 24 x7. The Indians who pin hopes on getting every piece of information from television and print sources remained completely unaware of the revolution that was taking place on Internet especially micro-blogging website, Twitter. The said lady was bombarded with thousands of tweets of angry online Indians with the hashtag #barkhagate which blatantly speaking- questioned her integrity. Later, Ms. Dutt conducted a live debate on her channel trying to clear out the air and expunge the fervid reactions. Unfortunately, the damage was already done.

Journalism in the background of growing awareness of scientific ways-technology here-is one Herculean task. One could totally get done with research in one hit of a button, however, the responsibility and more so the credibility of the source poses a greater risk to the information sender and the information taker. The innocuous give and take of information-often referred to as raw data for news-in Ms. Barkha Dutt’s case-the tapped phone calls to Corporate lobbyist Ms. Nira Radia have been the chief source for digging a deeper and a more important question-Why did the media as a whole -completely black out the controversy from television and newspapers for one long fortnight? Are journalists only meant to ask questions and not apologize if mistaken but only accept their ‘gullibility’ as Ms. Dutt claimed? Can technology finally fill that gap between news readers and the supposed news-presenters?

As a student of Journalism, I conducted independent research on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Email by exchanging several missives with people actively involved in investigating the 2G telecom scam in India. Apparently, the 2G scam marks the #barkhagate controversy coming a full circle. Public Relations Officers, Senior Journalists and several Editors of television, print and online journalism channels were at once easily approachable and perhaps humbled by the alarming enigma of a people’s movement online. I honestly learnt much more than my classroom ‘gyaan’ on ethical Journalistic practices on the internet. The blogs and tweets were like a revamp and an attempted medication for the many stalwarts in Indian Journalism to reinstate a feeling of fairness and truth among the people of India.

While the ethical issues were left to defend for themselves with claims of corruption waning the impact of media on impressionable young minds, the technology did its part in bringing back whatever grace that was left of the noble profession by the people and emphatically for the people. The biggest issue now will not be about the survival of technology in a democratic setting in an unethical background. It will be an exact opposite of that, I believe.

(I have left out Vir Sanghvi as he is not a part of my case-study).

Thalaikoothal: The custom of murdering the parents

2010-11-16T20:49:00.002+05:30

I believe- if some of thebest emotions are poured into an article you write or a work you do- whenyou’re fervid with anger or some feeling strong enough to melt your heart…you’dalso move the human race and perhaps make it more human. I’d add that it iswhen the heart is rendered helpless and unsupported by our loved ones…therealities show their ugly face and tell us just how inhuman humanity or a partof it-could be. Something that happens in the districts of Tamil Nadu couldunravel all the composure we maintain as sons and lovers of Mother Nature. The practice of thalaikoothalraged my heartbeats. I’m appalled even by the mere cacophonous sound of thisvery word-thalaikoothal especiallyafter I knew what it stood for.

Shahina KK of Tehelka perfectlyputs it, “Several glasses of coconut water. Amouthful of mud. Perhaps a poison injection. She is just one of many oldparents in Tamil Nadu dying in this way. But no one blinks at these ritualmurders.” Shahina is talkingabout Mariamma who could be killed because her family cannot afford to have heranymore. Yes, if you could add a mind over this matter-Mariamma is an old womanin Tamil Nadu. And she is not angry. She has accepted this as a matter of fateand circumstances. There are many more such parents who’re starved for days andthen made to gulp down milk. So much milk, and in a ‘close the nose’ fashionthat the milk being poured in the throat reaches the respiratory track andultimately kills the person as “Astarving person cannot withstand even a moment’s suffocation,” says60-year-old Paul Raj, co-ordinator of a district elders’ welfare association inShahina’s report.

This brings us to a level perhapsthe greatest of leaders may not have expected as visionaries of a country thatteaches children to believe that “Parents are Supreme Gods”. India has facedriots, famines, floods and draughts. So many unnamed mortals died a silentdeath under the plethora of money-less existence. Truly, the rich is becomingricher. And the poor is unfortunately, being murdered-by the sweat of realityand the dust and grime left of the ash of their dreams-broken, killed and burnt.

A reader, Bhaskarjyoti Mali rightlysays, “I was reading an article about how afamily was inviting the whole Bollywood for a wedding, spending several croresand then this! Such a contrast!” Another reader Jaimin Desai adds, “Hunger, poverty kills thousands daily. Butnobody gives it a second thought. 'India shining' is true only forthose who've got a few shillings.”.

Thalaikoothal is anaccepted practice in all the poverty-stricken districts of Tamil Nadu. So shouldwe simply build a well in every district of every town-so that anyone whothinks he has an ‘expensive’ family member can have them go and jump in? Wouldn’tthat also reduce all the head-ache of buying so much oil, milk and injections? Shouldthe children who murder their parents be allowed to have children of their own?There are questions most authorities fail to ask. Local doctors, village headsand district magistrates are witnesses to the ritual murders and collectiveabandoning from the distinction between crime, custom and reality.

Are we so poor that we unmask the devil of helpless poverty tokill our parents by our own hands? Helpless poverty. That’s a term we’ve hearda million times-mostly over-used. Has poverty depressed our humanity to ablithe? Can we improve the situation? Can we change what we see? Is the urban India evenaware that people are not just dying out of poverty but they’re killing too? Orare we too late already?

Image courtesy: merinews.photos.

Go To Hell, Authors. (A Frustrated Account of an Indian Reader)

2010-11-11T22:16:00.003+05:30

If you’re following me on Twitter or if we’re friends onFacebook, you’d better guess what this about. Hint: See my status updates.

I am done with reading 56 pages of Anita Desai’s Journey ToIthaca. I have never written book reviews. I do not intend to do that now. The cataclysmof a book left a river of thought running upstream. I better get down to notethis. It could help some book scientist understand the human mind when it wantsto clarify, castigate and carp on a chassis of a book based on the supposeddiscovery of India.To tell you the truth, if Miss Desai wants to sue me, she’d win the lawsuit.Because I am giving a very unqualified opinion. Because I am only a 56 page oldreader of the Journey to Ithaca.And I did not like the fact that Indiais connected to Hinduism just as Goa is shownbeing connected to marijuana. Perhaps, it is. Perhaps it is just another stereotypeI am reading. Perhaps my statements are lame and unreadable. Perhaps the worldis not round after all. Because I see it flat. You don’t? Go write an angryaccount against me. Please.

My point here isn’t about Ms. Desai’s book alone. It is thepicture the media paints when it shows an Indian marriage on TV. The bride isalways in red. The groom is always smiling proudly. The relatives are alwaysHindu or Sikh. Balle Balle is always the dance move an unassuming ‘uncleji’ isseen doing in his son’s baraat. And if ever a Maharashtrian is on TV…it iseither in the daily soap-girl’s mum-crying and wailing for mercy or the sassy “itnepaise main itnaich milenga” maid servant. Hello? Who’re we fooling? Gujju isalways the badly accented ‘ben’ often teased under the horrendous “Kantaben”thingy? Why? Makes it easy to target the FMCG ads?

Coming back to India…trust me I am very touchywhen it comes to my nation. I really can tolerate all types of Indiastereotypes as long as it’s all good fun. Ms. Desai unfortunately crossed thelaxman-rekha when she cast two foreigners in her book-one of ‘em who wants torun back home away from the cawing crows. And the other-shown to be aloner-wants to discover the mystery of India. So like Slumdog Millionaire,we see people shitting, dogs barking, children dying and India dirtyingits own name in front of the firangis. I have smelt the obnoxious smells justas I landed on Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport.I have seen Asia’s largest slums closely. AndI have stayed in an area which had the Dahisar Police Station in the backdropgiving the ‘third degree treatment’ to the captives(thieves may be). So yes, India needs alittle cleanliness and an etiquette movement. And a deodorant too. But as anIndian author, Miss Desai did think of releasing the book outside India too. Andshe must have been really honest to show that picture to the world.

Aravind Adiga won the Man Booker Prize. Please read TheWhite Tiger. It has a story that could move the human in you. It is austerestory. It has substance, alright. And it has India and the appalling realitiesas the backdrop. Ms. Desai’s book has the similar setting. And she has Hinduismoutlined to display the mystery map-waiting to be unraveled by theforeigners-troubled already by their lives—all in the book of course.

So am I running away from reality? I asked myself this. Istopped typing for 2 minutes. And I got my answer: I am in reality right now. Iwalk the dark streets of my lane because the street lights are installed onlyon the 8^th day of Ganapati Festival-two days prior to theVisarjan-as the traffic is diverted here. I love cows. There is a cowshed here.And the cows are really like these silent creatures. Thankfully, they don’t dropgoodluck like the pigeons do. And the reality I am in does not allow Indianslike me to rant our their frustration in order to manifest itself in a note tobe published online. Most do not complain. Most have to travel. The Mercedesowners of the nation who get featured in 9pm news call us… “The Undying Spiritof Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Pune/Kolkata etc”.

Ms. Desai, we’re the hospitable ones. We know. And we loveto shit near the Chandrabhaga river in Pandharpur because we, the warkaris ofthe Panduranga-do not have latrines. But why would you reveal this fact to theworld in a way you did from the mouth of a marijuana smoking Iranian girl? Don’tIranians have their own set of troubles?

What do I expect in a book? Those who know me personallywould think I am being super biased towards Shashi Tharoor, the author. Butthose who don’t-please realize I’m an average Indian who happens to be aJournalist too. Me, the Indian, currently may sound very biased but this veryIndian read books of authors from continents more than one. So this Indian isvery arrogant in her bias towards books and the ideals passed on by ‘em. Riotof Shashi Tharoor had an American PhD student coming to an Indian village,falling in love with a District Magistrate and see Hindus and Muslimsfight-only till the confused police discovers she is lying dead somewhere. So we have had authors handling many morecomplex foreigner-India-unravel mystery-kind of stories.

Ms. Desai, I may sound very frustrated. But I really lovedthat acknowledgement page of your book. You did research a lot. I hope you loveme back. And I pray you do not sue a frustrated Journalist who wanted to soundreal-and not necessarily biased.

Sorry and thanks.

I love my people too much. I love their mistakes doubly. Goto hell, authors, who think you know all about the nation sitting some placeelse.

Jai Hind.

I'm so apathetic. I only do my bit.

2010-11-09T01:38:00.000+05:30

There aretimes when I read and read just too many essays to have a feeling of overblownpatience. I really find myself full of so many ideas all waiting for theirnumber to come around in to the little grey matter bag about to be exploded toexpress themselves. Am I turning patient?—is not the question. The questionis-there is little doubt that there is a question. Statement it is—I havesuddenly become more accommodative. I don’t cringe at my typos. I don’t yell atmum. Worse, I forget to sleep at night. Things are same, the world is revolvingjust too much around the mind. I’m slow now.

Thesentiment of slowness has come around rather suddenly. Accepting things as theyare-is a supreme teaching from the Bhagvad Gita. I trust things for their ownselves. I let things just happen. I let the people kill the environment now. Imust care little. And why must I bother at all? I smile at the beggar now. AndI make sure I wink back at the eunach who touches my hand every time I amwaiting for the signal to turn green in an autorickshaw. Apathy, it is not.Silent Socialism perhaps.

Socialismcan be active too, you see. You can blast heads and minds and house too. Or youcan go the philanthropic ways and make people believe in right causes, get theminvolved etc. Perhaps most ideas come and go when the blasting is in progress.And worse case is when we are the ones being blasted on TV by some authenticfake relationship. An antitheses, I observe in every television interaction. Afiction I notice in every dialogue. We’re progressing so much…we never realize thatwe’re perhaps gone too far too soon.

SilentSocialism is bad. It never shouts out. It never lets your neighbor know thatyou pick up their unattended newspaper from the dusty floor and push it insidefrom their little window. I do that, nobody knows. Socialism is such asubjective yet dynamic term. I want to do some hungry soul a favor. But mostwould think socialism is the opposite of capitalism. That sure does happen whenyou read too much Economics. And when newspapers create their own definitionsof terms. Just yesterday, I read something appalling. Media, an industry Ibelong to now, is a little biased, no? I think I am biased too. And very veryslow.

Things willhappen-good and bad. And I realized that I will be a spectator. A kid at atraffic signal (Santacruz-Vakola junction, Mumbai) came to me asking for a rupee.(If you’re a regular reader of my work, you’d know how strongly I feel againstbeggary). I gave him the usual worried look and I noticed something very painful. Painful for the child too. The kid was around7 years old and naked. His right testicle was swollen at least 10 times beyondthe usual size. I was shocked to notice he was walking in pain butbegging-nevertheless. The moment the signal turned green, the autorickshawmoved an inch but stopped just short of crossing the junction. I could notcontrol my angst. I paid off the driver and went in search of that kid. PerhapsI could make him eat something. I was feeling guilty for ignoring him 120seconds back. Somehow I was willing to pay a bribe to see that kid suffer atleast an iota lesser. But I did not see him again. I waited for a few minutes.How could I simply ask somebody on the road-“Where on earth is that kid withswollen genitals?” Could no passers-by notice it? I feel lame and slow anyway.I did nothing. I only wrote about it. I am a slow social activist. I’m doing mybit. Unfortunately, it is doesn’t count. Not for that kid.

You, Me and Determination: All It Takes To Change The World

2010-11-04T23:54:00.000+05:30

Allan Octavian Hume, anEnglishman and an active member of the Theosophic Society back in 1880s in

India

led a movement which changed a generation. When Hume and seventeen of hisIndian educated men came together, they did something inexplicable. WyomeshChandra Bannerjee, Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Dinshaw Washa andfew more notable men met once a year to make sure the British Governmentconsidered their demands which were initially limited to education and share inthe Government jobs. As the years passed, the discussion turned into awell-organised movement with the participation of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, LalaLajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and others. The Indian National Congress led India toindependence.

The power of speech andthe strength of a will are almost venerable. No matter how allayed a world ofissues and problems we live in, it is impossible really to not raise a voice. Acogent word could change the world- is a belief that leaders choose to follow.A fantastic argument is that the Government, nature and fate have too manyadvisors, condemners and admirers. So will the system really hear our opinions?Will it ever consider them? Will the world become a better place? Wequestioned. And we won. Yes-is the answer-and we’d rather treat it like thedogmatic challenge. The pen can really touch the hearts and move the world.What is needed is an organization of efforts and one magic word-DETERMINATION.

When we hear someone makestrong statements like, “Stand up for acause”, “Join the movement”, “Make change possible” –what we expectis only signing up for a ‘cause’ and waiting for things to change. Things hereare corruption, people talking ill of our homeland, men influenced by explosiveideas and women looking down upon themselves. Rural India is growing up at a rateexcruciatingly slow, cities are enervating, education is rote-learning itselfand the national animals are dying. People want to make a quick buck sitting ingovernment offices, the chewing gum along with the wrapper are everywhere butin the trash bin, the festivals mean killing the environment and somebody’ssleep and the problem of untouchability is as strong as voyeurism among allclasses. Marriage is the death of honor if done outside the community anddivorce only means that the woman is at fault. Getting up early is not a habitbut a necessary evil so that no body sees you do your morning chores in theopen areas. Tap water is a dream, a bathroom is a luxury. A part of your incomenever comes to you because it is may be funding a ‘development’ cause-at mostin a well known politician’s speech may be. Farmers want to die. War heroes dieand their widows watch their promised homes being ransacked by sons and loversof influential and rich people.

There have been mixedopinions about Arundhati Roy and her initiative to promote Azaadi in Kashmir. Certain issues, many assume are esoteric. Fewtalk, most ignore and the nation sleeps only to wake up to another issue to geteven with. Whither Kashmir? Freedom orEnslavement” , has made many ayouths fervid with anger and questions that need a lot more than just rants.Let us all come together to talk, get educated and really BE THE CHANGE onSunday, November 7^th, 2010 at 5pm at http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/events/kashmir/ .

Sometimes all ittakes to change the world is you, me and the magic D-word.

Breast Cancer- A Report

2010-10-10T22:04:00.003+05:30

In August, New York Times’ Op-Ed page covered a story about the popular novelist Fanny Burney who underwent a gruesome mastectomy surgery in 1811 without anesthesia lying on an old mattress. Her doctor had detected breast cancer where she emerged a hero. Today, it may seem very shocking to read this. Breast cancer has spread its malignant tumor all over the world. In

India

every 22^nd woman is detected with breast cancer. And many more simply never know about the disease.

Breast cancer is a case of cancer emerging in the breast tissue. Among the first noticeable signs of breast cancer are lump in the breast tissue and skin dimpling. Busting the popular myth-it can occur in men too. Breast cancer may or may not affect women with a family history of breast cancer. A regular self-examination (checking the size, shape, skin texture, looking for possible lumps, any other abnormality) in consultation with the family doctor could help detect it in the earliest stages.

Can breast cancer cause death?

Yes. But conditionally.

“Older women with hormone-receptor-positive early breast cancer who had surgery (and possibly radiation and chemotherapy) and then took tamoxifen for 5 years were more likely to die from something OTHER THAN breast cancer (heart disease, for example). The women were followed for about 4 years after they stopped taking tamoxifen” says the breastcancer.org report.

Is there any specific test to detect breast cancer?

Yes.

Mammography is used as a test to detect breast cancer. “Mammography is the process of taking a special x-ray of the breast. Mammograms can find many breast cancers before one can feel them. They can also give the doctor important information about a breast lump that was found during a self examination or during a doctor's visit.”-says Shanon Demick. This test came under a controversial scanner when it falsely detected cancers in younger women leading to anxiety and additional tests. There is a fiery debate going on among the global doctors arguing the efficiency of the test. Nevertheless, this test is considered to be the ‘gold standard’ which apparently, gives millions of women sleepless nights out of sheer anxiety.

Should we really worry about breast cancer?

Yes.

Breast cancer is killing our women’s health and tarnishing their ray of hope. It means we must pull up our socks. Basic awareness could tackle this problem in the initial stages. An open-minded conversation at home, with friends and a monthly self-check could pull down the breast cancer risk to a feeble number. Hardly any campaigns are seen being launched to fight diseases like these- on the national scale. Our women are honestly not willing to get themselves checked out of the perceived cultural upbringing. Concrete awareness programs are a solution to this.

Is breast cancer as a disease -hyped?

Yes.

Breast cancer in

India

could be just another disease affecting every 22^nd woman. But it cannot possibly overshadow the cases of rape, death caused during child birth and cervical cancer. Why then do we see more pink ribbons on international websites and advertisements? Read: ‘international’. A popular survey has revealed that most Indian doctors have given breast cancer the second most popular status among serious diseases after AIDS. What is worrisome is that there is hardly any action/measure taken to tackle other medical issues affecting women. Few initiatives are taken to tackle the problems of rural and urban health. Are we copying the West? Yes, to an extent. One must understand that the

United States of America

as a developed nation has few cases of death during childbirth and almost zero cases of say, dowry deaths. We, almost blatantly forget that we’re still poor in matters of public sanitation and rural health sector.

As the International Breast Cancer Week that just happened with a million online campaigns-including the Breast Cancer Walk (across the

United States

’ 9 major cities) and many more international initiatives to create awareness and give hope-we need to respect all the survivors of the gruesome disease-irrespective of nationalities and cultures. ‘Gruesome’ because it sometimes leads to removal of breast, mental trauma, economic upheaval and worse-a string of deadly possibilities. Let us care for and respect the patients.

Many would argue that a disease is a disease-hyped or not. ‘Health diseased is a hope deceased.’ Spread the hope. Tell others.

Attention: To the dignity of Waste-Pickers.

2010-10-07T12:46:00.006+05:30

The slums, the garbage and the stench in the city of Mumbai and other metros of India have a story to tell. When numerous women-young and old walk around the ‘dirty’ areas of the city with a large nylon bag or a basket collecting plastic, junk and biodegradable waste materials-they’re neglected and callously ignored. A few talk to them. Most cover their nose with handkerchiefs when they pass. Little known fact it is that three women from Maharashtra are representing the unknown community of Indian waste-pickers at the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Tianjin, China.

Baidabai Gaikwad from Pune, Maya Khodave from Nasik and Sushila Sable from Mumbai are waste pickers. They are talking to the world body about their plight and demanding certain rights which the Indian State has failed to provide.

They’re spreading the message of their environment-friendly ways of work. Waste-pickers are the direct link between waste management and recycling.

"Our work is dirty and hard, but it has real benefits for the larger society. Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions and saves resources. Governments should recognize our work and cooperate with our efforts to improve our working conditions and increase recycling," said Khodave.

Greenhouse gases like Methane which are produced due to dumping of organic material in land-fills are a hazard to the environment. Waste-pickers help curb this by picking and classifying the waste into dry and wet garbage and aid their recycling. Most of the ill-effects of modern day activities like deforestation and mining can be helped curbed by effective segregation of waste. Since the work of waste-pickers is considered marginal to the economy -their contribution has so far been taken for granted.

Reports say, there are over fifteen million waste-pickers in the world. With no special provisions or work management, waste-pickers are susceptible to diseases and hazardous conditions of living. While they’re considered the poorest of the poor- they sell all that they collect from bins, roadsides and dumping sites to survive with whatever they earn. Children are involved too in the Herculean task of waste-collection. While health hazards pose a risk, only a few studies have been undertaken to understand the problems faced by families dragged into waste-picking out of sheer poverty.

Beggars can’t be choosers. And we definitely do not want to take up waste picking or more formally called-the informal resource recoverer’s job as a career by any chance, right? Most citizens of the world (not just India) look down upon the work of waste-pickers. The urban poor is engaged in services we cannot thank them for in over a million years. If only Baidabai Gaikwad, , Maya Khodave and Sushila Sable help draw attention and sympathy of the policy makers of the world to this occupation. Dignity of labour could reinstate itself in our minds. No work is bad. And waste-picking is the least dirty of the jobs. It helps us check the cleanliness. It is time we realize the efforts of the million women and children with the large nylon bag. And it is time we consider giving equal privileges to all. But first, let us thank them- for being the environment checkers-. Please remember that they’re not scavengers.

The Appalling Indian ‘Finger-Rape-Test’

2010-10-07T11:16:00.002+05:30

In India, over 18 States use the finger test as the means to test whether a girl has been raped or not. It is on this test that the doctors testify their reports and the court of Law passes judgement. This test has come under fire for being outdated and assaulting a woman’s character much after she has been raped. It casts a doubt on moral grounds on the woman and has been responsible for wrong/biased judgements by defense counsels.

[(Updated) This was later reported by Human Rights Watch in greater detail.] “In cases of very young girls – girls below [age] 12 or 13 – they [police officers and hospital staff] believe it is a case of sexual abuse. But if they are older, then they believe that the girl is trying to falsely frame someone. Their belief changes the way they address the survivors. They are very rude and disrespectful. They will say things like, “Why are you crying?” “You have only been raped.” “You are not dead.” “Go sit over there.” And order them around.”, said Dr. Rajat Mitra, Director, Swanchetan, NGO that provides counseling services to rape survivors.

It is dignity on trial when the archaic finger test is conducted on rape victims in forensic labs by doctors least thoughtful of the trauma already borne by the victim. Though the Supreme Court has ruled that the results of a ‘finger test’ cannot be used against a woman, and that a rape survivor’s ‘habituation to sexual intercourse’ is immaterial, this ‘unscientific, inhuman and degrading’ test is still widely used in India, said the report.

What is the finger test?

The finger test involves a doctor inserting fingers in a rape victim’s vagina to determine the presence or absence of the hymen and the so-called “laxity” of the vagina. Appalling it is to discover that most doctors report and co-relate the ‘pain felt by victim’ during the finger test to judge whether the victim is a ‘habituated to sex’ (lesser the pain-looser the morals) thus pointing a finger on her character.

Why should it be banned?

“Finger test findings are scientifically baseless because an “old tear” of the hymen or variation of the “size” of the hymenal orifice can be due to reasons unrelated to sex. Carried out without informed consent, the test would constitute an assault, and is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment”, the research said.

Also, it is a well known fact that the hymen loss can occur during swimming, playing basket ball, running, cycling and other activities requiring physical pressure.

“This test is yet another assault on a rape survivor, placing her at risk of further humiliation,” said Aruna Kashyap, a women’s rights researcher. Moreover, it has been found that some doctors in India conduct the finger test with little or no regard for a survivor’s pain or trauma.

What makes it really pertinent is the fact that there are still more than 18 states in India which do not have modern means of forensic analysis and rape tests. Worse, they refuse to budge.

The Jharkhand High Court of 2006 gave a ruling saying, “Though the girl was aged about 20 to 23 years and was unmarried but she was found to be “habituated to intercourse.” This makes her to be of doubtful character.”

Are we sensitive?

That’s a question which is slap across the face of the forensic experts. A heinous crime followed by inhuman tests is last thing we can see happening in Indian society today. We cannot call ourselves modern until medical practices coupled with humane laws are brought in place. When Mathura, a 16 year old Adivasi girl raped by two policemen in eastern Maharashtra was called immoral by the High Court some 35 years ago, no action was taken. The victim dies a million deaths when the law of the land raises a finger on her character. Let us hope the forensic test are least interfering with the victim’s character and may a more sensitive program be launched all over India to counsel the victims and their families alike. We need an overhauling of the legal system of the country — where sexual abuse and rape happen 57 times each day to different unassuming innocent lives.

It is time we’re aware and conscious of our rights.

My Indian-ness

2010-10-02T09:37:00.004+05:30

Listen

I’m brutally honest to admit that my Indian-ness happened much later after my birth. I was born and brought up in the suburbs of Mumbai. Marathi, Hindi and English were the languages my kid-brain understood. While tenses had to be learnt in English, Hindi turned out to be an easy affair. Every kid at school spoke the accented Hindi. I spoke the Marathi-Hindi. And yes, I learnt it naturally. Quite unlike the feeling of Indian-ness.

In class 3, the art teacher instructed us all to bring along masoor dal, moong dal and rice because it was the Independence week at school. Those who’ve followed this ritual must have already guessed that we were going to make the Indian Tricolor on paper using these dals as the color. It was creative, alright. And the prize for the neatest sticking of dal to the art paper was a 2 buck Indian real Tricolor to be pinned to the identity card we had stuck to our uniforms. It was a competition par excellence. The girl with best drawing in the class seemed to be an impatient lot. She stuck and stuck and soon fished out. The boys were haphazard and most didn’t understand the importance of masoor being stuck to the top. Unbelievably, I had the Tricolor badge on my identity card after an hour. Moral of the story, I knew nothing of Indian-ness. I wanted that Tricolor. That’s it.

Class 10 had happened in a convent school. I was new to that school and made few good friends. The Independence Day parade was a compulsory affair. We were threatened to attend it. “If you miss this, you miss your hall ticket to the board exam”. So, we grudgingly woke up on a bank holiday and walked to school with a snarl. But I vividly remember the boring speech of the Chief Guest which apparently gave me goose bumps. The school band played the national anthem and no one dared look sleepy. We saluted the national flag and I was choked with emotions. Like my usual reaction to emotional reactions, I felt embarrassed and tried to cover up my expression with the blankest face ever. One thing was sure. Indian-ness was happening.

The food we eat, the songs we hear, the air we breathe and the movies we watch all are “thoos thoos ke bhare hue” with the ‘Indian-ness’ I am talking of. We’ve grown up to it. Our brains are wired to be Indian because of the environs and the people we are exposed to. Why then did I pick this Indian-ness as the subject of thought? Because like the air we breathe in naturally, we’re least conscious of our identity. We’re global with Google. We’re dazzling with Dominoe’s. And we’re running fast ahead with Reebok. It isn’t the brands I’m talking about. It is the Bajaj scooter on which I traveled to fish market with my father. It is the Chandrakanta brand of firecracker that I purchased on the eve of Diwali twelve years ago. It is Rang De Basanti I watched at pajama parties with my closest friends. It is care that presses me every Cricket World Cup. It is the anger that encompasses every time I see people avoiding to go out to vote. It is the question I ask myself when I realize that Naxalites are Indians too. And it is sure is the feeling when I see my school texts with the Indian Pledge. Indian-ness happened to me. And slowly so.

Today, October 2, 2010 is the 141^st birth anniversary of M K Gandhi and 106^th of Lal Bahadur Shastri. While the former is referred to as Baapu, the Mahatma and the Father of the Nation, the latter is the second Prime Minister of India and the first ever Bharat Ratna awardee.

Image courtesy: http://yumsiliciousbakes.blogspot.com/

Mute or mutilate!

2010-09-19T18:40:00.005+05:30

This is not about Li’l Wayne. Because: A boring lullaby is tolerable. And so is an occasional musical overtone. What really kills the audible capacity is the crescendo of the rising decibels of a forced-up philharmonic concerto! Oh well, all I mean to convey was the complex chorus of noise as painful as the cholera! Noise pollution, in plain-speak!

Now it is the Ganapati festival time. While the Ganapati idol is brought home/on the street pandal in simple chorus of aartis and prayers, the Visarjan or the immersion of the Elephant God happens as a great celebration. Unfortunately, celebration in India always equals to loud DJ-party or the good ol’ orchestra of drums and bass. We’re modern. So while Keisha’s Tic Toc makes all the ‘aunties, uncles and bachcha logs’ swoon, Munni Badnaam Hui and Kajra Re makes them go ballistic! The poor old Ganapati-the Elephant God sure thanks himself for the large ear-flaps. And the only one complaining seem to be people like me who’re criticizing a beautiful festival all thanks to the (read: loud) miscreants. I apologize to all who enjoy Visarjan-Disco. And I doubly apologize to the Lord who’s now down to be another reason to fill up the (mostly drunk-in music and you-know-what) ‘bandwallahs’ pockets. But let us all think about this. Soon this will be followed by Navratri. Diwali will only come in a few days in its usual loud cracked up ways. And before we know it New Year ’s Eve and Holi will dawn upon us. How loud can we get?

In a city like Mumbai- neatly dirtied by regular overthrow of garbage on the road from the over-looking towers and terraces, Noise Pollution Control is given the step motherly treatment. Cars, busses, trucks, airplanes, motorcycles, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, hair dryers, vacuums, sirens, dishwashers, washing machines, clothes dryers, barking dogs, screeching crows, loud voices, air conditioners, construction sites, loud music and TV's- all play their noisy role. Noise during festivals for some one’s happy hop-dancing sure is the worst way of distraction, disturbance and a drag dirge. There are times when I feel like going back to 1847 and urging the chemist Guthrie to kindly invent a chloroform for the ears! Yes, it is frustrating. And we Indians really are callous when it comes to reducing the volume. Larger the volume, better the hackneyed abundance. Shame!

To the festival Disco lovers: “Noise pollution can cause an increase in stress levels, as well as a rise in blood pressure over an extended period of time. Noise related hearing loss and tinnitus can occur as well, leading to life-long hearing problems. Sleep can be interrupted also when there are loud or annoying sounds during your sleeping hours, which in turn can affect your work and home life from a lack of sleep.”

Doesn’t that dread you? No? Try giving exams that blow-up your mind. Or better still, morph yourself into a year-old baby or simply hop into your neighborhood granny’s shoes. You might just get to know the MBA lesson on the magical term called, “Experience teaches”.

The silent killer is apparently the loudest. Noise pollution is as damaging as water and air pollution. Destroy it as early as possible, before it destroys you. Noise levels of 130 decibels or over will be painful and is very likely to cause immediate hearing damage. Common, Munni Badnaam Hui sure isn’t fun when the sound’s muted, right? Even Zandu Balm(Emami product-Do NOT sue me please!) has no respite for the ears! Ouch. So will you turn off that loudspeaker, please? As the headline goes, mute or mutilate!

Image courtesy: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/clip/quiet.html

The Ten Tacit Questions: Interview-Tushar Gandhi [EXCLUSIVE]

2010-09-17T22:52:00.001+05:30

Tushar Gandhi is the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the son of Journalist Arun Manilal Gandhi. He is the author of the book Let’s Kill Gandhi. He runs the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation and has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition, IIMSAM. He is a peace activist and has worked against Child Trafficking.

I got a chance to interview him and ask him questions about himself, the controversies and Mahatma Gandhi. He graciously answered not TEN but all the THIRTEEN questions.

Here is the un-edited interview:

A doctor’s son/grandson aspires to be a doctor. Same applies to lawyers. As the great grandson of some one of the stature of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi-why are you not involved in active politics? Why do you call yourself a failed politician?

You must understand that even in case of professions the hereditary is due to the influence exerted not part of the DNA make up. Otherwise our profession determining gene would have been identified. So I do not subscribe to the school which says that a Doctor’s heir will be medical practitioner only. Having said that with Bapu there was never a design to bequest the political mantle on his biological heirs and so he did not groom any of his four sons to take over his mantle and since the link was broken at the very first generation it did not continue any further. Some of us has got the itch and have tried our hands. Sumatra Kulkarni My aunt and my father’s cousin was a member of the Rajya Sabha, and then she tried to lobby for a nomination in the presidential election and failed. Another cousin of my father’s, Rajmohan Gandhi stood and lost against Rajeev Gandhi from Amethi when V. P. Singh fought the election on the Anti Bofors plank he was soon disillusioned and quit politics. I was desperate to have a political career at one stage I stood for election from the Mumbai Northwest Constituency on a joint Samajwadi Party and Congress ticket in 1998. I fought against Madhukar Sarpotdar of the Shiv Sena. I lost by 18,000.00 votes. I survived in politics for two more years and then called it quits realizing that I did not have the requisite abilities in me to become a successful politician under the prevalent conditions and so I have to honestly admit that I am a failed politician. No, Mahatma is not a result of a gene, it is not an inheritable quality or attribute. It is earned, not inherited.

Grandchildren inherit the qualities of their grandparents. What qualities have you inherited from Mahatma Gandhi?

The quality that made him a Mahatma is again not due to a gene or encoded into his DNA and so it is not inheritable. He attained the status of Mahatma because of his work and his spirit and so expecting any of us to have inherited any of those qualities is a bit of a impossible ask and expectation. I always ask my audiences to accept a great grandson not a Mahatma. If I am proud of a quality I feel I have inherited from both my great grandparents is the quality of persistence and the ability to judge people from behind the masks they wear to conceal their real self. We all do that and not many have the ability to look through the mask and see the real person. I have also inherited the ability to persevere with the task taken in hand and not give up no matter how daunting and challenging it may become. From Kasturba I have inherited the quality of being steadfast and practical not in the compromising sense of the word but in the sense of being able to put things in their correct perspective. From both of them I have learned the ability of being true with myself which in turn helps make me be honest with others.

How much of an advantage or a disadvantage has it been carrying the surname Gandhi with your name?

The legacy brings with it responsibilities and expectations as your first question indicates. But honestly speaking the advantages that come along with the legacy far outweigh any disadvantage.

A great leader, great philosopher, lawyer, a scholar and a practitioner of peace and non-violence-Bapu-did not get Nobel Peace Prize which he truly deserved. It is a loss to not just the Gandhi family but also to India as a nation. What is your opinion?

I believe that the loss is that of the Nobel Peace Prize itself. Bapu did not care for any awards or recognitions. By associating with Bapu- the Nobel Peace Prize would have acquired a certain stature and credibility today it has lost out on it. I very strongly believe that the Nobel Peace Prize was at a loss not having been associated with Bapu.

What made you write Let’s Kill Gandhi-the book?

I was always angered by the campaign of lies launched by the Sangh Parivaar to justify Bapu’s murder and I felt that it was my responsibility to tell the real story of how Bapu was murdered to the nation which had grown up listening to the propaganda of misinformation and this anger finally took the shape of ‘Let’s Kill Gandhi!’

Wasn’t it more of an ideology (the anger against certain policies of Gandhiji) and less of an individual (Nathuram Godse-the Brahmin) who assassinated him?

It was a result of extreme prejudice, irrational belief and a clever manipulation of an misdirected outrage that combined to use Nathuram as the assassin. Anger against policies of Bapu was a convenient excuse, but it was a very lame excuse. His being a Brahmin and all the persons closely involved in the conspiracy being Brahmins from Poona was may be a coincidence.

Was Nathuram Godse a mad man? Or was he driven by a radical ideology? What must have Nathuram Godse and his family gained in assassinating Bapu?

Nathuram Godse was a psychologically troubled person, he was prone to extreme rage and harbored a pathological hatred for anyone who did not believe in his ideology. He had a record of very violent outbursts against those he considered his opponents and those who he considered rivals. These traits were exploited by his masters and he was very expertly maneuvered to a point where he became the assassin. Nathuram earned the veneration of people who till today subscribe to the ideology of hate and revenge. Amongst the Sanghi circles he is eulogized as Pandit Nathuram the martyr. From the point of view of those who subscribe to the same ideology of hatred, he was an idealist and inspiration but in reality he was a pathological killer, a common murderer. His family suffered the consequences of his act. I remember visiting the home of Gopal Godse in the early seventies soon after his release from prison. My grand mother wished to meet Gopal and Sindhutai his wife. She wanted to convey to them that Bapu’s family had forgiven them. I was extremely perplexed as to why we were doing it, How could we forgive some one who showed no remorse who did not repent the dastardly deed, but I did not have a say in the matter. I remember that Sindhutai was very bitter having had to live through the phase when her husband was in prison and she and her children had been abandoned. I remember Gopal Godse being very critical of how even their ideological supporters and colleagues had distanced themselves from the family at that time. It was only when in the late 80s the Sangh Parivaar came out of the closet that they started celebrating the legacy of Nathuram Godse, the murderer.

Have you encountered teachers whose ideologies lay contrarian to Gandhiji's and how did they project it to you?

Till the 10^thstandard I studied in a school run by very eminent Gandhians and freedom fighters so I did not come across any teachers who were anti Gandhi or as you say whose ideologies lay contrarian to Bapu. In college I remember there were professors who were Nickerwalas but they steered clear of having any ideological or political discussions with me but I sensed the hostility. But I have many Nickerwala friends and contrary to expectations we do not fight continuously we respectfully tolerate each other’s belief and ensure that our deferring ideologies do not clash or come in the way of our friendship.

What is the Gandhi family like today? How much of M.K Gandhi's ideology does the average Gandhi clan member agree with or follow?

The Gandhi family is very like any other large clan or family. There are many of my relatives I have never met and may not even recognize if we were not introduced. It would be very difficult to quantify how much of Bapu’s ideology each one of us has imbibed. If you ask me I myself don’t know how much of his ideology I have imbibed. In my day to day life I don’t audit all my actions to find out how much of it confirms with the ideology and philosophy of Bapu. But when the chips are down and when faced with certain situations or in performing major tasks or when faced with a crises Gandhian philosophy and ideology has come in very handy so have Gandhian methods.

Tell us something about the family, the children. How did it feel reading about Gandhiji in books while growing up? What was your first reaction to Gandhiji's reference as the Father of the Nation as a child?

Ba and Bapu had four sons Harilal, Manilal my grandfather, Ramdas and Devadas. We are roughly about a hundred and twenty living descendants from them. I was made aware of my legacy and my ancestry very early in life and so did not react when I found my great grandfather being featured in text books or in books or movies and documentaries. It was a naturally accepted fact. I remember that in school in the History class when we were studying our freedom movement every one took it for granted that I was the ultimate authority on the subject, so much so that even the teacher deferred to me. I once created a major scandal in school when without realizing it very flippantly and carelessly while answering a question I said that India gained independence in 1948 instead of 1947. I immediately realized my mistake and corrected myself but my whole school went into a state of shock. I was almost lynched. The matter was reported to my principal who was reduced to tears and my parents were called to school and I kept repeating that It was a slip of the tongue but no explanation was good enough for any of them. Till the day he dies my principal did not forgive me for that mistake I had committed. Since I had been sensitized to my ancestry I was also aware of all the titles bestowed on Bapu and so him being referred to as the Father of the Nation was not surprising or overbearing for me.

You’ve been termed as the Great Grandson who is ‘Marketing the Mahatma’ or someone who is ‘Busy Branding Bapu’. How do you react to these statements? Ref: the Mont Blanc controversy.

I will have to live with these jibes for the rest of my life and I am not bothered by the criticism and venom directed towards me. I know why I am doing certain things. I am not marketing Bapu. Bapu’s image is much in demand for endorsing products and companies. I only police its usage. By keeping the right to refusal I control the abuse of his image. In allowing the use of his image by certain products or corporations I ensure that they are not involved in any activity which is contrary to his belief and philosophy. I also believe that by charging for the use of his image funds can be garnered for a good cause there is no harm in doing so. I have never solicited fees for the use of his image for personal enrichment whenever a fee has been paid it is to a registered NGO engaged in some work which is in conformation with the spirit of Bapu’s belief and ideology. I do not believe that only some people can pay tributes to Bapu. I saw no harm in Mont Blanc bringing out a limited edition commemorative pen honoring Bapu and the money the donated went towards building a school for rescued child laborers near Kolhapur. I don’t see why then it was wrong just because Mont Blanc is a manufacturer of luxury goods?

You’ve been associated with United Nations’ Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition. And you’re involved in peace projects against Child Trafficking. Can you tell more about these?

Spirulina is a highly nutritious algae which is very effective in fighting malnutrition and in treating children suffering from acute malnutrition. I joined the initiative because I believe that starvation is one of the most violent form of poverty and invariably the victims are children and so I associated with IIMSAM which is active in Africa and Latin America, I believe that India too needs to embrace this program to alleviate the misery of its starving millions. My association with IIMSAM is in the nascent stage at the moment but I am sure one day we will be able to make a difference in the lives of Poorest of poor and the weakest of weak in India. Since I am the most publicly seen descendant many causes working in fields of Peace and non violence wish to gain acceptance by associating with the Gandhi image and so they invite me to associate with their projects and bring the Gandhi stamp with me. After satisfying myself that the work is being done ethically and with sincerity and honesty I associate with such projects one such project is the Seeds of Peace program which is jointly conducted by an NGO and the American Center For the past ten years we have been sending children from schools in Mumbai to attend a camp in Main, USA for six weeks where they interact with children from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel, Cyprus, Palestine, Israel etc. and learn to see each other as human beings instead of enemies. The program has made a difference to the outlook of the children who have been to those camps and it has rubbed off on their parents, siblings and peers too. The Mahatma Gandhi Foundation headed by me and the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute established by my father in the US are collaborating to establish a school and shelter for rescued child laborers in Kolhapur. Poverty imperils children the most and majority of the children trafficked are because of the extreme poverty faced by their parents. The situation is so perilous that the children are eventually trafficked into the sex trades or into a life of crime. They need to be removed from the perilous circumstances and placed in a safe haven where they can be nurtured and equipped with a suitable education and vocation before they can become productive members of the society.

Considering the present day scenario, how do you think we can, "Be the change" - as Gandhiji used to say?

The present scenario does not preclude one from becoming the catalyst of change by changing oneself but the present scenario faced by the youth today makes it imperative that they become the agents of change by first changing themselves. At one time I had designed a line of t-shirts with quotes of Bapuji the most popular one was the one with the slogan ‘ An ounce of practice is more effective than a ton of preaching’ young people lapped up t-shirts with that slogan. That quotation means the same as ‘be the change’. If one were to take corruption for instance, corruption is a two way street, the giver is as guilty as the one who demands the bribe. Like it is said in the trade of endangered animal products, the slogan ‘When the buying stops, the killing will.’ So will it be in case of corruption, when the giving stops the demands will also diminish. Take for example when one violates traffic rules and is caught, instead of accepting a fine the general reaction is to bribe the constable. The youth will have to change and become inspirations for others and when others see the difference they bring about they will follow and that is how lasting change is achieved and is sustained.

Image courtesy: The Hindu

Effigy burning-A report

2010-09-15T23:28:00.000+05:30

A contemporary belief is that effigy burning is matter of politics and hatred. A few believe that public anger towards popular figures catapults into a powerful protest by way of effigy burning. A lost cricket match or an irresponsible statement, just about any thing that could make some else (read: opposition parties, religious groups, radical groups) angry leads to effigy burning.

Raavan’s effigy is burnt on the tenth day of the Navratri festival in India. An arrow carrying fire is struck on of Raavan’s firecracker filled effigy as a mark of “Good wins over Evil”. Same is practiced during the festival of Holi where ‘evil’ of Holika is burnt to reinstate the goodness in the world. Similarly, on the night of November 5th, throughout Britain, people commemorate the capture of Guy Fawkes with bonfires and fireworks, and by burning an effigy of Guy.who tried to overthrow the king. This is an important historical even in Britain popularly known as The Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

July 2008 saw Assam students burning effigy of Indian HRD minister Arjun Singh over a NIT seat reservation. In June 2009, Indian Cricket Team’s Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni saw people(former fans) from his hometown Ranchi- burn his effigy. He was considered responsible for Team India’s miserable loss in the World T20 Championship held in London.
In August 2010, Aamir Khan’s Peepli Live made a few radicalists very angry. Their claim that Pipli Live mocks the farmer suicides in Maharashtra. They burnt Aamir Khan’s effigy as he is the producer of the film. This is ridiculous and borders around absurdity. In the biggest democracy of the world, a man is stoned and scoffed at merely for presenting the true face of the farmers.
It need not even be guess how the locals in Pakistan protested against the Asif-Aamir-Salman match-fixing controversy. They burnt their effigies and shouted slogans to ‘ban them or banish them.’
The protesters in Kashmir burnt effigies of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh as a sign of anger and discontent due to the continued prevalence and alleged misuse of the AFSPA act by the armed forced in the Kashmir Valley.
More recently, the Kuran burning issue was epicenter of criticism and outrage all over the world. Pastor Terry Jones invited public flak for his controversial extremist statements against Islam. And dare we say; only the effigy making industry was not complaining.

An effigy is a man-made figure, like a statue or sculpture. If you make one out of flammable materials such as wood or straw and make sure that people know who it stands for (by a sign or symbol or caricature, for instance) and then you burn it, it is a message of wishful destruction toward that person. In the background of other destructive protests, effigy burning seems rather harmless. Riots, self-immolation, suicide are more destructive. There are other harmless ways of effective protests too. So why burn effigies? The answer is publicity-cheap, almost free. Understanding of the psyche of the protesters reveals that most feel instant gratification after burning an effigy. Public anger rises, burns the straw and wood and dies down soon. What remains is the memorable archive of the file photos and videos of public outrage. Democracy could make take a huge leap if only such dedication was shown by people in demanding true and fair elections and rapid corruption grievance-redressal instead of mindless upheaval.

Effigy burning in the world where Free Speech is a fundamental right is a matter of extreme and shameful hypocrisy. As Indians or largely as global citizens, it is a matter of contempt that some body’s statements make some minds work towards a proverbial and almost a real destruction of another human. Why? Do we really have that much time or the determination to kill a bag of straw as a mark of protest? Mahatma Gandhi’s peace protests are forgotten or simply ignored. Perhaps a crash course in Satyagraha could save many a political party workers and extreme groups the cost of wood, straw and a match-stick. But, really, is anybody listening?

India and China- The political past.

2010-09-13T11:08:00.007+05:30

The political relationship of

India

and

China

has been rather peculiar. The present and the future of the relationship cannot be determined unless the events of the past are brought into the mainstream river of consideration.

The nuclear test of Pokhran II saw the then Defense Minister George Fernandes calling

China

India

’s “enemy number one”.

China

’s reactions to the remarks and the nuclear test as a whole “led to expression of grave concern but still relatively muted” as Chinese scholar Li wrote in his Security Perception and China-India Relations. Then things took a dramatic turn. The Bill Clinton led US which was rallying the nuclear tests of

India

received a letter from the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The excerpt:

“I have been deeply concerned at the deteriorating security environment, especially the nuclear environment, faced by India for some years past. We have an overt nuclear weapon state on our borders, a state which committed armed aggression against India in 1962. Although our relations with that country have improved in the last decade or so, an atmosphere of distrust persists mainly due to unsolved border problem”.

This letter was leaked in US on May 13, 1998 the day

India

conducted the second series of test and this apparently outraged

China

It was only after 1976 that the India-China relationship soured by the 1962 war- started moving on a cordial path. After this both the nations were rather busy in their own state of Affairs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister, having her own battles to fight. This included the great Indian railway strike organized by George Fernandes, the Jayprakash Narayan Movement and the Allahabad High Court judgement which unseated her as the PM. What followed was an internal Emergency which led to the Janata Party rule. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister who chose to mend fences with

China

. What’s peculiar is that

China

chose to snub him.

China

launched its war against

Vietnam

the very day Vajpayee landed in

China

for peace talks. The talks were far from peaceful.

Indira Gandhi returned to power as did

China

’s Deng Xioping. R. Prasanna effectively put it, “War, revolution and ideology gave way to engagement, transformation and pragmatism in China’s conduct of its domestic and foreign relations”.

China

was concerned with its industrialization and modernization which made it diplomatically ‘avoid’ issues concerning the borders.”

China

apparently shares borders with

Afghanistan

Bhutan

Burma

India

Kazakhstan

North Korea

, Kyrgyztan,

Laos

Mongolia

Nepal

Pakistan

Russia

Tajikistan

and

Vietnam

. Border issue was the biggest deterrent of the India-China relations and the latter was far from conspicuously ignoring it. The 1914 McMahon Line agreement which had effectively created a geographical Outer and Inner Tibet for peace was much in dispute. For instance,

China

claims Aksai Chin to be a territorial and ethno-cultural part of

Tibet

. The Arunachal Pradesh claim however is considered least negotiable as the locals have few things in common with the Tibetan Buddhists. As of today, the focus is on China-Pakistan border just as

China

has openly acknowledged Arunachal Pradesh as part of

India

, albeit with some differences. This was in response to

India

’s acceptance that

Tibet

is a part of

China

Along the 1980s,

India

and

China

were on a modernization drive and their relations only got a boost with Rajiv Gandhi making a historic visit to

China

, after 34 years by an Indian Prime Minister. The Cold war ended, the Soviet Union disintegrated and it jolted the spheres of India-strategic and military. This was an opportunity for

China

to speed ahead and it did so embarking on a race to become a world power soon.

Back to the recent past-the Chinese who bided for the Olympic Games could not afford to mar their reputation with the border countries. New Delhi expected Beijing will return to its pre-Olympic strategic game-playing after the Beijing Olympic Games but was proved wrong.

China

did oppose the nuclear future of

India

but could do little to sabotage

India

’s nuclear dream, a silent accommodation to hold their ground.

The concern in strategic spheres of the sub-continent is about

China

’s fiery growth catapulting it as the second largest economy in the World. As authors Mohan Guruswamy and Zorawas D Singh of Chasing the Dragon put it, “

India

’s autonomous capabilities in manufacturing critical military technologies and weapon platforms remain far too short of an aspiring regional power”.

As for the Chinese, the dragon is aiming for the World Super Power.

India

needs a leap, mammoth-like.