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Monday, September 17, 2012

Special Guest Article: Journalism and Literature


Though journalism is junior to literature in terms of age they move hand in hand. They depend on each other in terms of format as well as a little bit of content. Such dependence can be compared to neighbourhood living when neighbours living together owe a lot to mutual exchange.

Journalism deals mainly with information which is supposed to be factual in nature. The legendary proverb says "facts are sacred, opinion is free". It justifies the importance of information which we expect to get from the practice of journalism. On the contrary, literature goes for elaboration of the human lives entangled with subtle niceties which are deliberately transformed into art form. When journalism paves the foundation of history with factual information, literature delves into the depth of human relationships.

When journalism tries to capture a time or a situation on the basis of factual information, literature goes to explore the factors as well as sensibilities leading to the levels of perceptions and understandings. For understanding Mahatma Gandhi, newspapers can be of immense help so far as information details are concerned. But understanding Gandhi in literary format must have to be different. Literature accommodates imagination while journalism puts no entry to the artifice to it at the expense of factual information. But ironically this contrast has failed to go against the good impact of live-in condition of journalism and literature. Today's print journalism stands greatly on the story telling techniques of literature. Print journalism has been tablodized conveying multi colours. 

About the Author-

Dr. Baidyanath Bhattacharyya is teaching journalism for about three decades. Author of five books in journalism, mass communication and guest editor of a reputed online media journal, Dr. Bhattacharyya is considered one of the experts in journalism education.

Kumartuli: The Puja Flavour & Some Images

Goddess Durga Getting Decked Up With Other Family Members
Lord Ganesha Getting A Dash Of Colour
Biswakarma Idols Being Ferried In A Tempo




Goddess Durga Awaiting The Final Touch
The Beauty Of Lord Ganesha
Kumartuli Artisans At Work

Almighty Goddess Durga
Goddess Durga Fighting It Out With Evil
Durga Coming in Plenty

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Indian Women: Fighting with Physical Abuse

Women were regarded as central part of the society from time immemorial though society continued to be patriarchal. Women were worshipped as goddess; adored as mother, wife and sister. But some incidents of recent times show that they are nothing more than objects of flesh and blood to satiate carnal pleasure through force. Every day when people flip through newspapers in search of good news like development in the country, economic progression etc they are confronted with just the opposite story. Women are been assaulted, molested and tortured both physically and mentally by men who can best be equated with beasts.
 
Leaving aside the Vedic age when women commanded a lot of respect they have always been looked down upon as a commodity which is for pleasure and enjoyment. It is depressing to digest debates across the country which partly blames the tempting dressing of women leading to their rape. But these discussions cannot be accepted when globalisation is in full swing and when the global transfer of culture and ideas has reached a sizable proportion. In western societies women are much liberal in deciding what to wear which may raise eye brows in Indian standards but still the crime rate is lower compared to us. Primitive thinking of parda system is still in the mind of people who think dressing sense of women is all to blame. However, dress hardly matters to the perverts. We read in newspaper or see in television that a girl wearing salwar suit gets raped and furthermore women who are wearing sarees are also not spared. A woman who wears provocative dresses (according to Indian sensibilities) attracts a lot of lustful onlookers. 
 
Now we can come to a conclusion that cultural backwardness of Indian society is the main factor for lack of respect to women. We hear or read that our country has undergone a revolution or it is developing day by day but the actual scenario is bleak. Society is thinking over ways which enable women to get more opportunities so that they can be placed on an equal footing with men through legislations and enactments. Today we find women as ministers, chief minister, prime minster, president, top executives, sports-person etc but the fundamental question regarding respect to women still comes secondary. At present women irrespective of their age are searching for "security”. Now question is- who will ensure their security? 


About the Author

Nilika Banerjee is student of Journalism & Mass Communication at Rani Birla Girl's College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the Dispassionate Observer.

 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Are We Independent? I Think ‘No.’ What Do You Think?


Another 15th August, another Independence Day. The nation is all decked up in the try color to celebrate the most remarkable day in the history of India. TV channels are too busy scheduling the top 10 patriotic films (like Border, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Rang De Basanti etc), FM stations cannot think of anything else but playing “Bharat Humko Jaan Se Pyara Hai”, “Bande Mataram” (Rehman’s version), “Sandeshe Aatein Hain” etc throughout the day. You can see families sitting in front of the TV set, watching the spectacular march past by Indian army and paramilitary forces. But amidst all these festivities where is the Independence? Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can you touch it? Can you decipher it?

Independence means “Freedom from the control, influence, support, aid, or the like, of others.” On 15 August, 1945, India, as a country, acquired freedom from the control of British rulers. We all knew how the brave-hearts broke the shackle of dominance and snatched away the liberty from the firm clench of those Britons. So I’m not going to repeat that tale once again here. But the question is, after 66 years of independence, can I call myself independent? Can you call yourself so? Can I freely express my thoughts about anything and everything? Can you ask the government to show you how they utilize the taxes you pay or how you are being benefited from that? Can you stand up and spit out your anger against the social and political injustice? Above all, what about your collective individual independence?

pic source: Munna Kumar Photos(picasa)

When a country becomes independent that does not only mean that the country is free from any foreign oppression or injustice; that also signifies the fact that the common citizenry of that country is also free from any injustice, oppression, hardship etc.

India, the largest democratic sovereign country, ensures justice, liberty, equality and fraternity to her every citizen.

But –

  • Can those little boys and girls working as labors free themselves and ask for equality?
  • Can those millions of common people demand an answer from the government using their Right to Information?
  • Can you or I stop paying the taxes until the government gives us a detailed account of those each and every paisa we have paid from our own pockets?
  • Can an adult person of this country choose ‘No Vote’ during election? After all, if we are independent then we should have the power to choose no one as our candidate to the upper or lower house of the Parliament.
  • When a court violates the laws it has set for itself, a victim is left with a no other choice than to accept it as his or her own misfortune.
  • From presidential election to Rajya Sabha election, we are just puppets in the hands of the politicians or better say, our representatives. What a sarcasm it is!

And regarding India’s independence as a country - it still cannot decide its own nuclear deals, it cannot prohibit the intruders from crossing the LOC and it cannot make its own choice when it comes to purchasing arms & ammunitions from a foreign trader. And the list goes on…

Still we hoist the national flag; still the school children sing patriotic songs with folded hands; still all the TV reality shows bring their exclusive themed programs on air; and still we proudly call ourselves Independent. 

About the Author

Durba Sengupta is a Content Writer by profession. A student of Journalism and Mass Communication, she is a complete bookworm and a movie buff. Being an optimist, she dreams of a day when a few words like poverty and corruption will no longer be in use.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the Dispassionate Observer.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Olympic Dream

Curtains have fallen on the Olympic Games in London, 2012. A spectacular Ending ceremony was the crowning glory of the greatest sporting event on Earth. Indian contingent fought, ended up getting six medals (two silver and four bronze medals) and showed promise of getting few more medals in the near future. The country went the Hero way, "Hero Go, India Go". Like many others I also eagerly followed the developments and posted in facebook when one of our athletes won a medal. Suddenly we were finding wrestling interesting and badminton enjoyable.
However, this euphoria is short lived. India loves its cricketers. They are our national heroes and all corporate support is for them. A good show in national and international circuit ensures a number of advertisements across television channels ranging from fairness creams to motorbikes. Sushil Kumar, Vijay Kumar or a Yogeshwar Dutt, getting a lot of cash reward after their achievement in Olympics, will go into oblivion after sometime. We as a nation love to listent to pulsating music during the cricket matches in IPL and enjoy the game! We like to watch all the antics of film stars like Shahrukh Khan and cheer wildly for cricketers like Saurav Ganguly (whether performing or non performing), Sachin Tendulkar (no more what he used to be), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (all smiles and all luck) and a number of other stars. Media in the country love to report over days on the Harvajan-Sreesanth slap-gate.

As Nirmal Shekar opines in The Hindu, "Let’s look forward to another wild parade through the streets of Mumbai with the boys peacocking from an open-top bus. Let’s unabashedly hail their heroics, throw fresh flowers and encomiums at them even as my fellow professionals try to pull out every adjective in their vocabulary to celebrate the great achievement.

Meanwhile, Mary Kom would probably be running from pillar to post to find a cooking gas cylinder in Manipur, Yogeshwar Dutt would be walking to the nearest tea stall in his hometown, unmolested, his stellar achievement long forgotten.

The peerless Viswanathan Anand’s fifth world chess title would be a distant memory and he would be preparing for yet another tournament that nobody cares about even as Jeev Milka Singh tees off somewhere that nobody has heard of. Birdie and eagles…well, we haven’t been to a bird sanctuary in a while; should make it a point to visit one."1

The sad reality of our country is that we concentrate too much on cricket as other sports get neglected. I was listening to one anchor in a regional news channel as she expressed her displeasure on the small number of medals for a country with such a big population. She was arguing that poor infrastructure on the part of the government is the main roadblock. Agreeing with the fact that politics have ruined the prospects of the country and infrastructure has been poor there is also one big concern. The Indian mindset has to change. How can we expect great results from our athletes when we just brush them aside as non entities? Only during Olympics we find a lot of national spirit and feel disappointed when Abhinav Bindra fails to qualify. While Virat Kohli finds a problem of plenty to choose from advertisements, Mary Kom knows she cannot expect the same.

It is easy to point fingers at politicians and lament at the present conditions or results. Politicians are part of the society and it is the reflection of the society itself on their deeds. What do we do to cheer our athletes all the year round? We choose to avoid national hockey matches when they are telecast on television for the excitement of cricket. If a badminton match of Saina Nehwal can generate TRP's to the level of a cricket match then gradually corporates will pour in money because they understand business. Now where from will the TRP come if we choose to ignore her matches most of the time?

The governmental fund outlay has improved over what it used to be in the past and the results are showing in the increasing medal tally. However, for a nation to compete with giants like U.S.A and China there needs to be strong public backing behind national athletes. Media can serve a better purpose if they give these athletes good coverage throughout the year. Media also have to look into infrastructural deficiencies and form public opinion for their fast overhaul. They need to report about new talents and raise voice for more and more corporate involvement. Cricket is a beautiful game and the power structure revolves round it, however, it is time that we stop getting disappointed finding ourselves in 55th spot in the final medal tally and look within ourselves to feel whether we are doing justice to other sports apart from cricket in the country. Playing hockey is not encouraged in schools; badminton, table tennis, chess, wrestling or other sports are always considered secondary to academics. Talents are lost when parents pursue a promising badminton player to leave the game for better prospects in engineering. Cricket, though, is in a different league because mothers flock with their would be Sachin's, Sourav's, Dravid's, Dhoni's to cricket coaching centres. They are adamant to see their children making a century at Lords and soon become the sought after advertising model. We cannot expect the good when we ourselves deliver the worst. It is commendable that in spite of being pushed aside these athletes spring up from nowhere and produce good results. They are aware that all their valiant deeds for the nation will be forgotten when Shahrukh Khan will dance to the tunes of a popular Hindi film number with his Knights, post an IPL match.



1. Nirmal Shekar's Column in The Hindu retrieved from: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/nirmal_shekar/article3758296.ece?textsize=small&test=2

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Anand at the top of the World

On 30th May India achieved a new feat in the world of chess. Viswanathan Anand, 42, secured his fifth World Championship title defeating Boris Gelfand of Israel in the ‘toughest’ title clash at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. He made India proud by achieving this glory and challenge Russian monopoly in World Chess. It was high tension drama. Intensity of the battle made everyone forget that both the players had played 12- classical games over the past three weeks.

pic source: e Khabar (picasa)




In 1988 Anand became India's first grandmaster. He achieved the distinction of receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991-92, India's highest sporting honour and the Padma Vibhushan in 2007, the country's second highest civilian award, making him the first sports person in India's history to receive the award. Anand's strong presence in the international arena started in 1995 with his attempt at the world championship crown where he lost to Russian Gary Kasparov 10.5-7.5 in the PCA world championship match.

This is fourth successive world championship victory for Anand. He is the only player in the history of chess to win the world championship in all the formats- knockout, round- robin tournament and individual matches.

Anand will be the world champion till his next title clash, which will make him the world champion for a cumulative nine years now (2000-2002 and 2007- 2014). He pocketed about USD 1.4 million- 55 percent of the total prize fund of USD 2.55 million- while Gelfand got the remaining amount. No doubt it was a great moment for India.

However, for Indians sports means only cricket. Others hardly find support. We forget that there are sports persons across disciplines who made Indian proud. The athletes had an impressive show in the Commonwealth Games. Proper infrastructure can do wonders for sports in the country. The focus must shift beyond cricket. Three weeks long match between Anand and Gelfand hardly got space and time in media because at that time people were glued to the IPL. Fortunately when Anand won the title IPL was just over so he got proper media attention.

It is a pity that achievers like Indian Kabaddi champions, boxers, weight lifters stayed in darkness and were treated badly by the authorities. They were deprived of the honour which they deserved. Hope things will change for good and India will soon be a super power in the sports arena.

About the Author-

Moon Jana is an announcer at All India Radio, Siliguri, West Bengal, India. She did her Masters in Journalism & Mass Communication from Visva-Bharati University.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the Dispassionate Observer.

On 30th May India achieved a new feat in the world of chess. Viswanathan Anand, 42, secured his fifth World Championship title defeating Boris Gelfand of Israel in the ‘toughest’ title clash at the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. He made India proud by achieving this glory and challenge Russian monopoly in World Chess. It was high tension drama. Intensity of the battle made everyone forget that both the players had played 12- classical games over the past three weeks.

In 1988 Anand became India's first grandmaster. He achieved the distinction of receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1991-92, India's highest sporting honour and the Padma Vibhushan in 2007, the country's second highest civilian award, making him the first sports person in India's history to receive the award. Anand's strong presence in the international arena started in 1995 with his attempt at the world championship crown where he lost to Russian Gary Kasparov 10.5-7.5 in the PCA world championship match.

This is fourth successive world championship victory for Anand. He is the only player in the history of chess to win the world championship in all the formats- knockout, round- robin tournament and individual matches.

Anand will be the world champion till his next title clash, which will make him the world champion for a cumulative nine years now (2000-2002 and 2007- 2014). He pocketed approximately USD 1.4 million- 55 percent of the total prize fund of USD 2.55 million- while Gelfand got the remaining amount. No doubt it was a great moment for India.

However, for Indians sports means only cricket. Others hardly find support. We forget that there are sports persons across disciplines who made Indian proud. The athletes had an impressive show in the Commonwealth Games. Proper infrastructure can do wonders for sports in the country. The focus must shift beyond cricket. Three weeks long match between Anand and Gelfand hardly got space and time in media because at that time people were glued to the IPL. Fortunately when Anand won the title IPL was just over so he got proper media attention.

It is a pity that achievers like Indian Kabaddi champions, boxers, weight lifters stayed in darkness and were treated badly by the authorities. They were deprived of the honour which they deserved. Hope things will change for good and India will soon be a super power in the sports arena.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Yet Another Beginning

Wish I could fly like Spiderman and scream with joy, "I am back, I am back!" I know posts in Dispassionate Observer are irregular. I can't help it..Trying to fix this for months though..alas not finding much success..Hope this time Dispassionate Observer will not disappoint. It is now a fact that this blog has been accepted by some readers and hence the page views have swelled. I am happy to see that Dispassionate Observer has gone past 10,000 page views.  I didn't expect this when I started the blog given the long absence of any posts. Thanks a lot to all those who considered it worthwhile to read the articles and thought pieces.

The problems for me compounded when I understood that I am experiencing a writer's block. My mind went blank, devoid of any ideas to work on. I turned to books, read a number of them but still the flow was not there.  Not only my blog, I promised to write for some other websites who really had beautiful plans. I know I have not done justice to them but somehow I was not feeling like writing anything.

Dispassionate Observer will hopefully do justice this time. There will be regular posts from me and a number of other authors who have made this blog what it is today. In this month of London Olympics Dispassionate Observer wishes best of luck to the Indian contingent. Depressing news about events have been the order of the day, an event like Olympics will provide some fresh air and enjoyment worldwide.

Virusasur Mardini-Mahalaya with a Difference

Mahalaya is round the corner and most of us are not feeling the vibe this time thanks to COVID-19! There is also an unusual wait of 35 days...