A passionate out-pouring

I found this passionate article on Bihar, its problems, and the kind of pill that is needed to re-invent Bihar. Read it HERE. The article has been written by an IG rank officer from Bihar. It brings to the fore the pain and hope that the writer was perhaps experiencing. It seems the heart of the writer went into writing this piece. I loved it. Junta's opinion?

Are we fair to Media ???

“A journalist is a grumbler, a censurer, a giver of advice, a regent of sovereigns, a tutor of nations. Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.”Napoleon Bonaparte **[1769-1821] Wise words indeed by a legend who foresaw the perils of a rather innocuous looking bunch of people, even before it could make its impact felt. What made me think so !! to some extent looking at the comments which my previous post on Mr Chourasia generated. I could not understand if I’ve done a favour to him or have bedeviled him.It made think about the purpose and objective of commenting on his article. Do we really need to analyze so much and look so much into his article? I just hope that the likes of Chourasia Saheb's realize that they are in a position where they can influence public opinion and create a positive impact.A factual analysis of a situation is something which will be surely appreciated by one and all. We do not want truth to be buried and swept under the carpet but an in-depth deep drill analysis of the problems will serve the purpose of a responsible journalist. However the irony if the day is that Journalists are happy simply presetting their version of the story which always seems to be guided by some vested interest. It will not be an exaggeration to say that some of these articles appear to be sponsored and penned by vested elements whose objective is not to present the truth but target individuals and tarnish the image of the state. They seem to be getting some sadistic orgasm out of deriding and ridiculing the efforts of millions who belong to the state. The comments made me realize that may be journalists have got so inured by the blasts they get that it sounds music to them when people shower them with epithets.I rather empathize with these folks and wish I could tell them that they need to be little sensitive towards sentiments of general citizenry like ours which still respects and revere its mother state. The likes of Rajdeep “Royal Lantern” from the “Oye Bihari Brigade” must realize that some of us still take umbrage when people abuse our motherland and will go to any extent the avenge for the pride of the state. Having said that I think it’s fair to say that being a journalist is not an easy job, after all you have to be fair to your professions objective of presenting the truth. However the problem is that most of these people use a self defined way of presenting the truth. More than the truth is the biased and self serving and sensationalized way of presenting the truth which does the damge.The lack of objectivity, sensitivity and thorough understanding of complex social issues is something which these journalists lack. That does not means the truth is not to be reported but the same can be given a empathetic, positive and considerate coverage. Some suggestions on correcting the situation will always be welcome rather than simply playing the role of a newsmonger. The point I’m trying to make is that we expect positive responsible journalism which not only presents the truth but also creates a society which appreciates and is sensitive towards the cause of less fortunate’s and underprivileged. As Mark twain said that, "There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press."…

A remarkable love story

This post is a diversion from the core agenda of this blog. But the story is so remarkable that I can't help but post it. TOI reports that a man from Gaya in Bihar has single handedly carved out a passage through a moutain in the memory of his late wife. Read the ful report here: Padma award for Bihar 'Superman'? TOI reports, Dasharath Manjhi's love for his wife was no less. His story of cutting through the mountain near his village in Bihar's Gaya district to pave out a passage, chisel by chisel, hammer after hammer for 22 long years — single handedly — is no less inspirational. His wife died as he could not get her to the nearest hospital in time because of mountain and when his wife died he took upon himself to ensure that no one in future suffers like him because of unnecessary delay in reaching hospital. The poor Dalit's feat is, in fact, awesome, his posthumous love for his wife perhaps surpassing the legendary love story of Salim-Anarkali: For, Manjhi took upon himself the task of breaking open a mountain pass only after his beloved wife passed away. Reason? He could not take his ailing wife to the nearest hospital — six hours away in route skirting the mountain block — in time. Where the mountain failed him in saving his wife, Manjhi attacked it with primitive tools like chisel and hammer to split open a 360-feet-long, 30-feet-wide and 25-feet-high passage which now enabled villagers to reach the far-away hospital in just under an hour! Manjhi's mountain pass has reduced the distance between Atri and Wazirganj subdivisions of Gaya district from 50 km to 10 km. Remarkable, isn't it? This also personifies the cliche "where there is a will, there is a way". What does the junta feel about this love story?

Responsible handling of an unfortunate incident

Abhay Mohan Jha reports in TOI about the unfortunate incident of renowned singer Kishori Amonkar leaving the stage while performing at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. What happened was really unfortunate and it was perhaps due to some misunderstanding. Observers said a mix of a swelling crowd unable to either get in or find chairs coupled with the restiveness for Tiwari's Bhojpuri pop cooked up a cacophonous mocktail of noise which was not conducive to Amonkar's singing. What impressed me was the way the concerned journalist reported the incident. The incident was such that any journalist with a biased view of the whole thing could have turned this incident into a national debate on Bihar. Considering the sensitivity of the incident, the fact based and balanced approach taken by the journalist, Abhay Mohan Jha, must be applauded. Read the full report: Amonkar does a Panigrahi in 'Naya Bihar' The best thing about this reporting is that it highlights the way prominent Biharis present there went out of their way to pacify and ask forgiveness from a singer of such repute. The report quotes Shekhar Suman as saying, "You may find it an exaggeration but I would have even fallen prostrate in front of her for her forgiveness" It shows that even if something go amiss in the “new Bihar”, the public immediately takes it upon themselves to rectify the mistake. Good reporting by Abhay Mohan Jha. What the junta says?

Buddha calling

Associated Press Writer, Nirmala George, presents a very balanced view of Buddhist tourism in Bihar. The tone of the language is truthful. It acknowledges the present and at the same time delves into how future can be better and what is being done to make it better. Read the full article: India's Buddhist heritage draws seekers. Few excerpts: Not that Bihar isn't trying. While the state doesn't track religious tourists, officials say the Buddhist trail is increasingly hot. Since 2002, when the Mahabodhi Temple was named a World Heritage site, Bodh Gaya has seen a steady rise in visitors. As India's torrid summer gives way to the monsoon rains and cooler weather in October, they come flocking. "In the fast-paced lives that people lead, increasingly — perhaps instinctively — there is a trend to discover our inner selves. And most of the tourists who come here are doing so in search of that inner peace," said Rama Shankar Tewari, Bihar's top tourism official. Tourism authorities are trying to cash in with an ambitious tourist campaign, "Come to India: Walk with the Buddha." As part of that, roads are being repaved, museums are being refurbished and public restrooms being built or repaired. Security around the shrines and monasteries has also been stepped up to ensure that pilgrims are not hounded too much by touts and beggars. Still, most sites have their share of children holding out stick-thin arms and trinket vendors periodically shooed away by security guards. In the words of a tourist from Spain: "Everyone warned me against visiting Bihar. Even after we landed in India, people kept saying: 'Be careful, it's Bihar.' But our experience has been splendid," said Natalie Halle, a schoolteacher from Valencia, Spain, visiting Bodh Gaya for the second time in as many years. "The serenity about this place, brings you back, and you forget all the warnings," she said. A nice piece of journalism related to tourism. My thumbs up to the author. What about junta?

Some thoughts on Gandhigiri and media

Today is Mahatma Gandhi's birthday and many newspapers are flooded with articles and news on relevance of Gandhi and Gandhigiri in today's world. That forced me to think how relevant is Gandhi in journalism. Well, I don't claim to be an expert on Gandhi; in fact I am not. But a few thoughts of Gandhi I feel are very relevant to media today. Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in others." This is something the new generation journalists should practice. Very often they are seen shouting from roof tops about what is wrong with something. They even go to the extent of writing about the ideal situation. But they say nothing about how to reach that ideal state. What I am trying to say is that media agencies and journalists proclaim themselves to be change agents and mirror of society; but very few of them try to bring about the change in themselves and their writings that will facilitate the change process they desire to see. As far as we, the media watchdogs, are concerned, we will follow the essence of Satyagraha as explained by Mahatma Gandhi in his own words, "Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force....the Force which is born of Truth and love or non-violence." May be Munnabhai is right when he says that Gandhigiri may be relevant even today if you bother to relate it with your problems. Junta's opinion?

Happy Dussehra

Chanakya and his team wish all the esteemed readers a very Happy Dussehra! The truth will triumph over Falsehood. Good will win over Evil. Constructive journalism will win over Regressive journalism. Objective journalists will tower above Subjective journalists. Amen! P.S. Thank you readers for the overwhelming response in the very first week of the launch of this blog. A little analysis of the site's traffic data shows that visitors are coming in droves from all corners of the world with around 50% coming from India and rest from other countries from various continents. We will try our best to ensure that the content of this blog do not disappoint you. Thanks once again and keep visiting Chanakya's Media Watchdog :-)

Newspapers can be injurious...

...so says Times of India in a special report. The Sunday edition of Times of India reports that traditionally journalists and media agencies are facinated by negative news more than positive ones. Read the report here: Newspapers can be injurious to health The reports makes it plain clear and also gives the reason behind it (It's money, honey!) The selection of news, especially front-page news, is largely determined by the old journalistic axiom: Bad news sells better than good news. For instance, which headline would be seen to be a bigger attention-grabber: "200 killed in plane crash" or "Five new schools opened in Jharkhand"? This report makes it clear that journalists like seeing glass as half-empty rather than half-full. This approach may be proper in some cases of news reporting but they have huge potential to do extraordinary damage when an issue needs constructive journalism. Journalists need not always act as a critic; they need to be facilitators as well. So, next time you read anything in media, do your own due diligence and reasoning before accepting or rejecting the news. What does junta say?

Problem kya hai ????

Few things never change at all and few of our journalist friends are no exception. They are just not happy with the wave of change which has been blowing in Bihar. How can you justify the concerns raised by Manoj Chaurasia in this Stateman's article? He seems to be finding it too hard to believe that Tata’s, Mahindra’s and Mr Analjit Singh, chairman of Max Healthcare visited Bihar within six days of each other. The fact that Bihar is going to get investments from all big corporate houses is something which Chaurasia babu can’t digest at all. Sample this During his visit, Mr Tata also talked about the “huge investment potential” in the state. But when asked outright where and when the Tata Group would invest in Bihar, he stalled. “I can’t say anything concrete at the moment. I will be in a position to make a statement only after I have talked to officials in Mumbai,” was his response. He was more keen that local entrepreneurs come forward: “Aap chalne lagenge to ham daudne mein aapaki madad karenge (We will help you run if you, at first start walking)”. Bhai Chaurasia what’s your problem? If Ratan Tata has decided to invest in Bihar he must have worked out his strategy well in advance. He certainly has competent and professionally qualified folks to give him inputs on a business plan. After all he need not rely on suggestions and analysis from the likes of Chaurasia for making investment decisions. The problem with the likes of Chaurasia is that they think they just can't get right readership with any positive articles. So they end up sharing their personal skepticism and frustrations with the junta….and guess what the junta thinks …well you heard it from Acharya Chanak :-)