A JOURNAL OF THE PRESS INSTITUTE OF INDIA ISSN 0042-5303

July-September 2019
Volume 11 Issue 3 Rs 60

There’s the trillion-dollar India,

and then there is Bharat
As one more Independence Day is about to come by and
pass, these (in the story below) are the images around
Sakuntala Narasimhan in Bengaluru, the IT capital of India. CONTENTS
Education, health, even water for survival, are beyond the • Does the Budget take care of
reach of those who are not monied. And this group below the basic needs, weaker sections? /
Bharat Dogra
poverty line constitutes a few millions in India
• Research, analyse, substantiate
• Next to my apartment is a vacant plot where a multi-storeyed block with facts, be professional /
N. Bhaskara Rao
is coming up. Workers are busy erecting scaffolding and pouring
concrete and raising pillars. Every morning, these pillars are watered • Print lags behind digital in
generously with a hose pipe connected to a borewell outlet, while the gender-based news coverage /
contractor stands by and supervises. At the entrance to the site is a Manjira Majumdar
small structure put together with tarpaulin and corrugated tin sheets, • Food price volatility wrecking
where a family of migrant workers working on the construction lives – havoc on the poor / Vibhuti Patel
a husband and wife, with two children under six. They have no toilet, • A struggle that’s been on for 60
no electricity, no water – in fact, the city is reeling under a severe water years, and about press freedom /
shortage which is expected to get worse by next month due to erratic Nava Thakuria
monsoons. But the concrete pillars get a generous treatment with ample • A brave publisher who fought
water. The woman labourer tries to catch a couple of buckets of water on behalf of the people /
from the hose pipe (not directly, but from what spills over as the men Mrinal Chatterjee
hose down the pillar) and this the family uses for drinking, cooking, • How PR functions as a
washing and bathing. responsible profession in the US /
C.V. Narasimha Reddi
And we are talking of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwaas’
(together with all, everybody’s progress, everybody’s trust). The ‘sab’ • Shades of conflict expressed
does not include those who are disadvantaged and deprived. Like this well in recent Indian cinema /
Shoma A. Chatterji
migrant family. I see photographs of politicians having meetings to
discuss the ‘drought situation’ in air-conditioned rooms at the legis- • Frustration, controversy aside,
lature, with a bottle of branded drinking water at each seat. Some of there was much to savour /
Partab Ramchand
the VIPs take a sip, the remaining is tossed out as trash along with the
plastic bottles. If you are a VIP, neither drought nor floods affect you. • A lineage that harks back to a
Hail democracy, hail Bharat that is India. Free, independent, galloping moneylender, and to Tagore /
towards becoming one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Madhura Dutta

• On the other side of the construction is the road leading to the Indian • A woman’s artistic expression
and a symbol of an identity /
Institute of Science. The road is lined with bungalows with gardens, Ranjita Biswas
where the upper economic strata live. A car is parked at the entrance
to many of these bungalows. As I walk towards the institute in the • Remembering Pauline Kael /
Vijaya Mulay / Ruma Guha
(Continued on page 3) Thakurta / Girish Karnad

July-September 2019 VIDURA 1

FROM THE EDITOR

As the haves wallow in ‘luxury’,

the have-nots continue to suffer
A
s I write this, India’s 72nd well as his endeavour to bring such conditions of service, the misery of
Independence Day is just a facilities to the common person, but workers, insecurity of employment,
couple of days away. That it certainly is a comment about the and rampant exploitation
may be a short time in the life of a reality that stares us in the face 72 Vibhuti Patel refers to a World
nation but it is nevertheless quite years after Independence. Bank report stating that 33 per cent
a distance to measure progress by. And this sentiment is what Sakun- or 400 million of the world’s poor
There is no doubt that India has tala Narasimhan echoes when she are in India. An alarming statistic.
made progress in various fields, writes about the trillion-dollar More than two-thirds of Indians
possibly the most in science and India and a Bharat where dollars live in rural areas and nearly 50 per
technology and medical science. are unheard of. Indeed, education, cent of the workforce is employed
Today, Mukesh Ambani launched health, even water for survival, are in agriculture. Most cultivators are
Jio Fiber, announced the Jio-Mi- beyond the reach of the margina- small, marginal farmers and poor
crosoft Cloud partnership and the lised in India, those who lives hinge peasants who own less than three
$75 billion deal with Saudi Aramco. around the poverty line – millions. acres of land. There are no other
Jio Giga Fiber will be rolled out in Let’s spare a thought for the widow opportunities for them to enhance
a few weeks from now, offering (mentioned in Narasimhan’s article) their income. It is very important,
free voice calls for life from land- bringing up three daughters, who is therefore, for the decision-makers
line phones, high speed broadband unable to procure her entitlement of in the agricultural sector to contain
of minimum speed of 100 mbps, ration rice, sugar and dal, though food inflation, Patel says. Farm-
free high definition TV and dish she has Aadhar and BPL cards. The ers often resort to distress sale of
at minimum monthly subscription poor woman, month after month, their products. It is a monopoly
of Rs 700. And, what’s more, from buys her requirements of rice in the market where corporate houses are
mid-2020, premium Jio Giga Fiber open market, paying prices that she the price-makers and farmers are
customers will also get to watch just cannot afford. the price-takers, she says. Patel is
new movies on the same day of its Speaking for the marginalised, convinced that it is the rapid and
release, meaning they can watch Bharat Dogra says there should be unpredictable changes in food
movies at home the same day they much greater concern for the weaker prices that have wreaked havoc
are released in theatres! Unimagi- sections and their basic needs in on factory-labour and product
nable once, but reality now. So, this budgetary allocations. Basic needs markets, politics and social stabil-
is one side of India. include access to health care ser- ity. She offers suggestions: To deal
The other side is, how many people vices. For the bulk of rural people, with urban and rural hunger, com-
can afford such luxury? Yes, luxury. the nearest source of health care is munity-managed food banks must
When Rs 700 means a lot to them, the community health centre where be created; restaurants can be told
even when considered as monthly more than 70 per cent of the posts not to destroy unsold food but to
expenditure. After all, food, cloth- of specialists (surgeons, physicians, deposit it in local food banks; and
ing and shelter, the basics, matter paediatricians) remain unfilled or farmers should be encouraged to
much more than being able to watch vacant, he points out. In another sell their products directly to cus-
a movie on the day of its release on article, Dogra cites the many efforts tomers without any interference by
television. It is a story of extremes – that have been taken over the years governments.
one side that can enjoy Jio Fiber and by trade unions to help workers
the other that can only look forward and how such efforts have been a Sashi Nair
to its next meal. This is, of course, no source of hope and inspiration even editorpiirind@gmail.com
comment on the exceptional entre- though they can never be completely
preneurship shown by Ambani as successful. He points to the poor

2 VIDURA July-September 2019


(Continued from page 1)
mornings, each car is being
washed down with either hose
pipes or buckets of water, to
remove dust, leaving them
shiny. Facing the bungalows
are a row of slum dwellings,
small one-room shelters hous-
ing low-income families (no toi-
lets, no water pipes. of course).
Another example of the well-
off affording to spend water afford. The children cannot go which is further away. “With
on washing their cars when the
city has a massive water short-
age, with even borewells run-
ning dry. The economists call it
the “inequality divide” but the
slum dweller will not under-
stand such technical terms,
being mostly illiterate.
• Revathi, a widow bringing
up three daughters under
12, is unable to procure her
July-September 2019 VIDURA
entitlement of ration rice, sugar
and dal, though she has Aadhar
and BPL (below poverty line)
cards. The ration shop owner
doesn’t provide a satisfactory
explanation and says there is a
large board put up at his shop
that gives information. She can-
not read. Month after month,
she buys her requirements of
rice in the open market, pay-
ing prices that she just cannot
hungry. She asked a memsahib
(lady) to help, the woman went
with Revathi to the ration shop
but the fellow was brusque and
abusive, and since he has her
mobile number on her Aadhar,
he calls her up and threatens
her for complaining about him.
The memsahib even wrote to
the minister for Food and Civil
Supplies and got a prompt sorry sir, I shall try my best
Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
reply saying that he was giv-
ing instructions to his staff to
investigate the problem. You
can guess what happened
thereafter – the lower level staff
at the minister’s office phoned
the ration shop to say a com-
plaint had been sent against
him. Now Revathi is scared to
go anywhere near the shop and
is trying to get her name trans-
ferred to another ration shop
no male in the family, and three
daughters to raise and protect,
I cannot afford to cross swords
with goondas, amma,” she says
pathetically. Sabka vishwaas?
• While I am in an autorick-
shaw, the driver gets a call on
his mobile, and as he stops to
take the call, I hear him say-
ing repeatedly, “No, sir, I m
3

A picture that appeared in the Express in Bengaluru – for rised as a schoolgirl.
the poor, such meals are more than a luxury.
sir… please sir…”, pleading
most abjectly. I ask him what
the problem is, and he says he
had taken a loan of one lakh
rupees for buying his autorick-
shaw but has defaulted on two
instalments of monthly repay-
ment because his wife fell sick
and he had to spend money on
hospital bills. Now the bank is
abusing him and threatening to
confiscate his vehicle. Just that vate clinic,” says the vegetable
morning, I have read a report
in the day’s papers about
former airline owner Vijay
Mallya, fleeing abroad after medical expenses. Vanita too
defaulting on loan repayments
of over Rs 9000 crore. Banks
have instructions not to har-
ass small loan defaulters, but,
of course, it is easier to bully
and threaten an autorickshaw
driver than a liquor baron with
Photos: SN
A picture from Deccan Herald – the woes common citizens have to undergo daily.
4 VIDURA
money enough to hire
the best and most
expensive of lawyers
to wriggle out of his
case. Have money,
will buy power and
protection – that’s the
current mantra in the
corridors of power.
Democracy? Not gent. Democracy? Not really.
according to the defi-
nition that I memo-
• Vanita and Pushpa
are the same age, and
both pregnant. Vanita is the
wife of a senior IT professional,
and Pushpa works as her maid
servant. When Pushpa devel-
oped complications, she went
to the nearest government
clinic (supposed to be free) but
the doctor was never there. “He
comes around 10, or 10.30 but
signs the register and locks up
and goes away to his own pri-
cart owner stationed opposite
the clinic. Pushpa had a mis-
carriage, which meant more
developed complications but
went to a posh 5-star private
hospital where she had surgery
and her premature baby was
put in an incubator for three
weeks and saved. Those who
need medical attention don’t
get it, and those who can afford
the best get it because they can
pay for it, although at election
time political parties release
full-page advertisements boast-
ing about how much they have
done for the poor. On paper.
The lives of the rich are more
precious than those of the indi-
• Pushpa’s sister-in-law Malas-
weeps and cleans Vanita’s
neighbour Seetha’s flat; both
Mala and Seetha have teen-
age daughters entering pre-
university classes this year.
Seetha’s daughter has got into
a private college (considered
prestigious and one of the best
in the metropolis) by paying a
hefty donation of Rs one lakh,
while Mala’s couldn’t get into
the government college which
is supposed to be ‘free’ but
imposes a demand of Rs 50000
for admission. Her mother has
no idea where to complain, how
to expose such unfair practices.
A benefactor offered to pay
Rs 25000 to help out, but the
remaining half of the demand
is still way beyond what Mala
can afford.
Education, health, even basics like
water for survival, are beyond the
reach of those who are not monied.
And this group below the poverty
line constitutes a few millions in
our country (one of the largest in
the world). Let’s now raise the
national flag and celebrate 72 years
of ‘freedom’ and development, and
then listen to politicians making
grand speeches.
<
(The writer, based in Bengaluru, is
a recipient of the Media Foundation’s
Chameli Devi Award for Outstanding
Woman Journalist 1983. Her
fortnightly columns on gender issues
and consumer rights ran in the
Deccan Herald for 27 years. She had
earlier worked for The Times of India
Group in Mumbai.)
July-September 2019
Does the Budget take care of
basic needs, weaker sections?
While the Union Budget is widely analysed from several different points of view, perhaps the most
relevant one is the extent to which it helps the weaker sections in meeting their basic needs, says
Bharat Dogra. This is reflected in allocations for various sections of social sector, he adds, stressing
that there should be far greater concern for weaker sections and their basic needs in budgetary
allocations

A
persisting trend of several
recent budgets has been
that while big announce-
ments regarding big gains to
weaker sections and common peo-
ple are repeatedly made, these are
frequently not backed by adequate
allocations. One way of examining
the trend is to broadly see the share
of important sectors as a part of the
overall budget or as a part of GDP.
A review of the final budget for unfilled or vacant. tion victory, instead of going back
2019-20 titled Promises and Pri-
orities, prepared by the Centre for
Budget and Governance Account-
ability (CBGA), has calculated that
combining together all the employ-
ment generating and promoting
schemes, the total expenditure has
hovered around 0.4 per cent of GDP
and 3 per cent of total Union budget
expenditure. This is quite less, keep-
ing in view the widespread concern
over increasing unemployment.
The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal
Vikas Yojana has been much high-
lighted in the context of employ-
ment. However, its allocation has
been decreased in the final bud-
get compared to the interim. The
Mudra Yojana is also often publi-
cised. However, its actual expen-
diture peaked in 2016-17 and the
allocation has been much lower
since then.
The Union Government’s expen-
diture on health has been stag-
nant – around just 0.3 per cent of
the GDP since 2014-15 and as a
share of the total Union Budget
this has hovered around 2 per cent
during the past five years. This is However, in the budget esti-
extremely low compared to the
standards of most countries, and
quite shocking keeping in view the
pressing health needs, particularly
in the context of the rural areas and
weaker sections.
For the bulk of rural people the
nearest source of health care is the
community health centre or CHC
and as many as 73 per cent of the
posts of specialists (surgeons, phy-
sicians, paediatricians ) remain
The share of the allocations for
the Department for Rural Develop-
ment in the total Union Budget has
declined from 4.7 per cent in 2018-19
(revised estimates) to 4.2 per cent in
the recently presented final budget for the development of scheduled
for 2019-20. In the allocations for
the department, the allocation for
the rural employment guarantee
scheme has also declined margin-
ally, although this should have seen
a big increase, keeping in view its
importance for water conservation
works which the government has
emphasised in several policy state-
ments and which are badly needed
at a bigger level.
Educational progress of disad-
vantaged communities is widely
seen as a preferred means of their
progress as well of increasing over-
all equality. Hence, it is to be wel-
comed that in the revised budget
for the previous year (2018-19), the
allocation for Schemes for Educa-
tional Development of Scheduled (The writer is a senior freelance
Castes was raised from Rs 3650
crore (budget estimate) to Rs 6425
crore – a big increase indeed.
mate for 2019-20 we find that the
allocation has again been reduced
to Rs 3815 crore, which is margin-
ally lower than the actual expendi-
ture for 2017-18. In such a situation,
a question is bound to be asked
whether the sudden increase in the
revised budget last year was only
for the sake of electoral advantage.
Even if it was, the government
should have gracefully maintained
the increase after its great elec-
immediately to the significantly
lower allocation made earlier.
The overall allocation of the Min-
istry of Social Justice and Empow-
erment, which is the nodal ministry
castes , has also decreased in the
final budget for 2019-20 compared
to the revised estimate of the previ-
ous year’s budget. According to an
evaluation made by Equals -- Cen-
tre for Promotion of Social Justice,
there has been a decline in the allo-
cation for persons with disabilities
when seen as a share of the total
expenditure of the Union Govern-
ment. While in 2018-19 this share
amounted to 0.11 per cent, in the
final budget for 2019-20 this share
amounts to just 0.07 per cent.
Clearly, there should be much
higher concern for weaker sections
and their basic needs in budgetary
allocations.
<
journalist and author who has
been associated with several social
movements and initiatives.)

July-September 2019 VIDURA 5

 Research, analyse, substantiate
with facts, be professional
News journalism is in the midst of a crisis. And yet we continue talk about symptoms rather than the
root causes. More than twenty years ago, N. Bhaskara Rao says, he had signalled the twist and shift
in the paradigm itself, even cautioned the unions and associations of working journalists that they were
going to be the worst affected as much as the people of the country were

T
oday, journalists the world
over are under threat,
harassment and risk of life.
The trend is to mussel indepen-
dent journalism and investigative
reportage, which is already shrink-
ing anyway.
We are today at a point when
it is no longer the journalist who
Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
matters for news media. Yes, that they have adjusted and adopted to
profession itself may no longer be changed priorities in the media and
a factor. alignments outside.
Yesterday’s schools of journalism Nevertheless, it is time to intro-
are today’s school of communica- spect. There are four areas to go
tion, which means more corporate into. First, the context of journal-
communication, which is what ism and journalists. There are
public relations is all about. Jour- three angles here. Freedom of the
nalists exist today only to the extent press, what it means today and

6 VIDURA July-September 2019

who decides – it is the government online sites like The Hoot, Vidura, outside. Second, take to research
and the corporates who decide the etc, with voice in support of the and analysis. Substantiate with facts
scope of press freedom today, not profession. And then the research and figures what is being pursued;
so much the Constitution of India. is for the numbers – that relate to avoid being viewed as allusive.
Second, is journalism just a job or those who have seen the matter, Third, professional objectivity
a profession? If it is a profession, not necessarily those who have should be visible. Be cautious and
with what standards and self-reg- read. A good example for making concerned while using words like
ulations? Third, the human devel- a difference is how AP Union of activism, conspiracy, Dalit, etc
opment angle – unless this larger Journalists had brought out paid and in covering the fake, false and
context is understood, the deeper news phenomena to fore. The planted. Fourth, while reporting,
malice troubling journalism cannot need is for more such studies and adopt to anecdotes, humour, analo-
be addressed. initiatives. gies (even while ‘bandwagoning’).
A second factor for the para- The task is without doubt chal- Bust and black out false and fake
digm shift is conflict of interest lenging. It is a national task. Jour- plants. Fifth, cover citizen and civil
sweeping the nation. Of late, this nalists themselves should come society and basic concerns relating
important aspect is ignored or forward, no one else can help to the grassroots far more. Move
swept under carpet. This has to retrieve journalism. The unions and away from the TRP mindframe and
do with the fundamental ques- associations should come together, related priorities.
<
tion – is news media a service or analyse the substantive issues in a
a business or both and with what transparent and forthright manner. (The writer is founder, Centre
restrains or under what regulatory Sadly, such bodies are dwindling, for Media Studies, New Delhi,
jurisdiction? It’s a lobby of the getting isolated or limiting them- and the author of The TRP Trick,
powerful that decides what mat- selves to micro issues. Unleashing Power of News
ters in the news media. This is also I have been a teacher, researcher, Channels – An Indian Perspective,
because journalists are cornered analyst and policy advocate for and Poll Surveys in News Media.
and divided, hankering for indi- over 60 years with several studies He has pioneered applied social
vidual advantages more, without on different aspects of mass media, research, including electoral studies,
substantiating facts and figures. journalism and communication. in India over the past 50 years.)
So much for counting journalism I have a five-point agenda for the
as a community of professionals journalist fraternity.
or as critical stakeholders. First, show of strength and soli-
The third factor is the way jour- darity. This has to be on larger issues
nalists have slipped as a credible within once own organisation and
force. Despite the Wage Board etc,
the issue was never taken up at a
macro level in a systematic way,
resulting in fake, planted news
and compulsions of new media
becoming routine. With objectivity
Singapore, Nigeria editors head
and independence giving way to
manipulation, influence and quick
World Editors Forum
profits, journalists have lost out. Warren Fernandez, editor-in-chief of the Straits Times and SPH’s English,
Such a trend today is not limited Malay and Tamil publications in Singapore, was elected as the new
to journalists. That is the challenge president of the World Editors Forum at the annual board meeting in
independent and objective voices Glasgow, Scotland on 1 June. Nigerian-based Toyosi Ogunseye, who
are facing world over. heads language services for BBC World Service, West Africa, was elected
A fourth factor is decay of vice-president. They replace President Dave Callaway, formerly editor of
instruments and institutions of a USA Today and CEO of TheStreet.com, and Marcelo Rech, vice-president
profession. For example, journal- of Journalism, Groupo RBS, Brazil.
ism or communication schools are The World Editors Forum is the network for editors within WAN-IFRA.
no longer run by journalists but Its board of 24 editors advise WAN-IFRA on matters affecting newsrooms,
by management and PR people. quality journalism and press freedom.
<
The TRP mania further misleads
a nation. The school syllabus is
more about management and PR.
There are no longer magazines or

July-September 2019 VIDURA 7

Print lags behind digital in
gender-based news coverage
Taking a close look at the dichotomy between print media and digital media in India in terms of content,
with particular reference to women-specific news coverage is Manjira Majumdar. News coverage and
analysis, she says, demonstrates that online content went beyond the boundaries of print to include
details such as participation of women. Will the print media make more space for it?

A
s the tussle between print
and digital media rages
on in the world, and the
effects of the advertisement-reve-
nue model on the two sides is being
studied and debated on in India,
another picture has emerged. We
find that there is a clear distinction Veteran journalist Rami Chhabra
between print media and web or
digital media as far as content is
concerned. Exclusive online con-
tent today scores higher in terms of
volume, and in sheer variety.
This was most evident during the
run up to the Lok Sabha Elections of pation and the threats to women’s
2019, considered one of the biggest
events of the country. Independent
research in this niche area revealed
that there was a great chasm in con-
tent dividing the print and digital
mediums.
In particular, gender-specific
news coverage and analysis demon-
strated that online content did not
always replicate the print medium;
rather it went beyond the boundar-
ies of print to include details such as
participation of women in electoral
politics, both state- and party-wise,
their profiles, women’s issues and cannot be built unless women hold
their voting patterns. Concerns and up half the sky, Chhabra stressed.
achievements of women were bet-
ter represented in the web media.
The micro-research study revealed
that the print media made hardly
any separate space for women
candidates, leave alone concerns
related to women, children and the
transgender community. Except for
a number of mandatory news items
on how the transgender community
can now vote under the category
of third gender, or on all-women
polling booths, one had to really
search for articles on the deeper
aspects of this broad subject in the
print media.
Gender-related expectations mat-
ter a great deal in electoral politics
and in government formation, too.
wrote in her opinion column in The
Indian Express (June 24, 2019) that
the new India as envisioned by our
leaders, needs to urgently put in
place measures to reverse the mas-
sive drop in women’s work partici-
freedom of movement.
The plummeting workforce par-
ticipation in past years and the
#MeToo movement highlight the
growing insecurity women face on
the streets and in workplaces/ pub-
lic places, she pointed out. Besides
emphasising women’s fundamental
and constitutional rights to dignity
and security, bridging the gender
gap in work participation, according
to a McKinsey estimate, would add
$770 billion to the Indian economy
by 2025. ‘Naya India’ (New India)
Even though parties such as TMC
(West Bengal) and BJD (Orissa)
fielded a large number of women real development. The reports were
candidates, the reports on this were
reduced to sheer data or names.
The human interest story behind
the women was definitely missing the vote’ devoted exclusively to
in print coverage. Women made
up 41 per cent of the TMC’s candi-
dates but except for the two young
women who replaced some politi-
cal heavyweights of the past, even
the names of hardly any of the oth-
ers weren’t known.
And after winning the polls, their
primary brief, even the two publi-
cised candidates have now been
relegated from Page One, where
they belong, to Page 3, which was
where they belonged earlier. The
web media, on the other hand,
exploded with analyses, opinion
pieces and stories providing views
and counter-views.
Let us zero in on a few websites:
IndiaSpend, Feminism India, Scroll,
The Print, Quint and DailyO, News
Minute and News 18, all of which
gave us a variety of stories and
comprehensive research data the
print industry can access if it so
wishes.
A month before the elections,
Adrija Bose of News 18 travelled
across Uttar Pradesh to understand
how gender played a role in elec-
toral politics by interviewing 200
women, and filed a comprehensive
series of articles. Her stories ranged
from the expectations of the women
of the Musahar community (a
scheduled class community, origi-
nally known as rat catchers) to the
aspirations of Muslim women, who
want hate politics to make way for
from the ground and not through
party spokespersons.
Scroll.in had a series titled ‘Half
women and politics under its over-
all series The Election Fix.
Since the online media today can
accommodate videos and podcasts
in addition to text and photos, it

8 VIDURA July-September 2019


Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
clearly has an advantage in terms
of multimedia presentation, which
is the current buzz.The Wire’s mul-
timedia presentations focused on
women’s expectations from the
elections. News Minute, another
independent website, did a wide-
ranging series from a gender per-
spective, covering the four southern
states.
From educating readers on
the Women’s Reservation Bill to
unique storytelling by two journal-
ists, Preethi Nagaraj and Vasan-
thi Hariprakash of Pickle Jar Poll
Express, who travelled through
rural Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and
Kerala, the website tried to include
as many women’s voices as pos-
sible from the length and breadth
of southern India. The transgender
angle was widely covered as well.
Under Gender Check, a sec-
tion titled Why India Needs More
Women To Contest 2019 Elections
on the IndiaSpend web portal that of films) grew by 42 per cent, with
specialises in data journalism,
was a complete dossier of facts
July-September 2019 VIDURA
and figures. Likewise, Feminism for users even though some in the
in India, a gender-based site, had
comprehensive figures on women gling to survive. Those platforms
MLAs, MPs and panchayat office-
bearers and leaders to add to the
total picture. DailyO, true to its
name, offered a variety of opinions facing a greater threat, with rising
related to the politics of gender,
going beyond conservative views.
Perhaps due to a number of bud-
getary controls and restraints, the
print media just could not match
the fast output of its digital coun-
terpart. It wasn’t that election news
was absent in print; it was just not
as detailed and nuanced. Being an
older institution, print just could
not keep pace. For its older follow-
ers, and millions outside the coun-
try still hooked to their favourite
newspapers virtually, it was a bit of
a letdown.
The print industry has its own jus-
tifications for the situation. In 2018,
digital media (including streaming
advertising growing 34 per cent. In
that year, magazines contributed
about four per cent of
the total print segment
revenues. This num-
ber has been shrinking
due to falling adver-
tisement revenue and
subscriptions and the
growing popular-
ity of digital media.
(Source: FICCI Ernst &
Young (E & Y) report
on Media & Entertain-
ment (M&E) 2019).
The print sector
was projected to get a
boost in advertisement
revenue and increased
regional readership
during the time of the
general elections as
per an FICCI report.
While that is yet to be
calculated, the sector
still faces stiff com-
petition from digital
platforms which pro-
vide on-the-go and
on-demand content
latter category are reportedly strug-
which belong to large media groups
perhaps have greater chances of
survival. But the print segment is
costs affecting profitability.
For traditionalists, the print still
holds a mirror up to society and its
support in highlighting issues is cru-
cial in bridging the gap between the
aspirations of the people, and the
efforts of policy makers and lead-
ers. Print in a way is more “reflec-
tive”. So even if online content did
have a wider coverage of women’s
issues, it is still not enough.
<
(The writer is a Kolkata-based
independent journalist and
lecturer in Print/ Journalism.)
9
The new media: co-opting
technology for trespass?
If autonomy, freedom and privacy are paramount basic human rights, how do we protect ourselves against intrusive,
snooping technology that stretches the reach of the new media, asks Sakuntala Narasimhan

S
upposing a letter addressed to one of the options. It also means surrender my mobile connection).
you was delivered open and that my incoming message has Are we becoming slaves to technol-
the contents had been exam- been read and contents examined, ogy, through the use of new media,
ined. You would be indignant and to give me suitable responses. instead of technology making lives
protest, right? Is the convenience of not having easier for us?
Supposing an intruder got inside to key in a reply (but merely click, I can delete unwanted messages
your dwelling in spite of your lock- lazily, on one of the three options) as spam, but this still involves my
ing and bolting doors, and thrust worth the inconvenience of having spending time on deletion and is a
a sales spiel on you, you would be my interactions – however harm- distraction. Thanks to ‘technology’.
indignant and protest, right? less they may be, nothing to do It still means that advertisers have
Supposing you were sending a with terrorist activities -- moni- my email ID. I am not sure I like
query to your friend, and some- tored and pried ? Is it any differ- that.
one peeping over your shoulder ent from having someone peeping There exists a Telecom Regula-
came up with suggestions on how over your shoulder, to watch your tory Authority of India (TRAI) that
you should word your query, you interactions? is meant to oversee telecom service
would be indignant and protest, Then there is spam -- promo- providers. But TRAI does not enter-
right? tional messages sent in for any- tain individual complaints, and ser-
Supposing someone --- an anony- thing from life insurance to real vice providers merrily break rules
mous third party -- listened in on estate and dubious investment despite ‘regulations’ and advisories
your telephone conversations and opportunities: ‘Win up to 20 lakhs by TRAI. Where once there were
suggested suitable responses, you in your account’ or ‘Create your just print media, radio and hoard-
would be indignant and protest, own Demat account for free…’ ings (and later, television), today a
right? – that come in and clutter one’s plethora of media options ensnare
But that’s exactly what is hap- inbox, despite having registered and entrap citizens (and earn prof-
pening with sophisticated new for DND (Do Not Disturb). its for themselves in the process of
technology that enables strangers Via computer and mobile phones, harvesting email IDs and mobile
to monitor your interactions and SMS texts, etc, these unwanted, numbers). And everyone, includ-
keep track of your correspondence. intrusive, promotional messages ing the prime minister’s office, uses
I open my email account, and a keep coming in, despite the filter this information, to flood unsus-
query pops up, against a message and firewalls. Even the prime min- pecting citizens, with unsolicited
that I had sent my brother three ister’s office sends in messages, messages.
days earlier; the query says, in red whether I am interested or not. If This is nothing short of intrusion
letters: “Sent three days ago; want sophisticated technology did not by other (sophisticated) means.
to send a reminder?” facilitate their outreach, would You can shut the door on intrusive
Which means that someone (the they have mailed conventional salesmen, switch off the radio or
computer?) has read my query and envelopes with the same messages, TV, but you cannot avoid open-
kept track of whether I received before the advent of email? ing your inbox to check for mes-
a response from my brother. If I How do I protect myself from sages. Once upon a time (before
receive a message from a friend, such unwanted intrusions, if even the advent of computers and smart
the computer adds, at the bottom, filters and DND don’t help? Why phones), I used to send my articles
three options for me to click on as should I be vulnerable, for spiels, to editors as hard, manually typed
my reply – ‘No, thanks’, ‘All right, just because I have technology copies. Today, even conference
I will’ or ‘Will think it over’. Which that I cannot do without (I cannot papers have to be submitted only
means all I need to do is click on even order cooking gas refills if I online. You cannot survive without

10 VIDURA July-September 2019

 Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
them, and you can’t protect your- The World Health Organisation mobile or computer, but when I
self against unwanted intrusions (WHO) recently came up with a switch on, for legitimate work, the
despite instructions to block them. report condemning ‘screen addic- unwanted, intrusive messages, still
What is scary is the addition of tion’, so it is not just adults who are pop up. We are trapped.
‘reply options’, meaning that my victimised but also young impres- While composing a report on my
message has been read and sifted, sionable minds that become ready- laptop, a box suddenly pops up.
for ‘appropriate responses’. Am I made targets for promotions via new ‘Something I can do for you?’ it
supposed to be ‘too busy’ to key in media. One report even says that the says; I presume my hand acciden-
my own replies? But isn’t that what spread of social media was respon- tally brushed against some key, for
we are all bemoaning -- that life is sible for the victory of the BJP in the that to happen. Itirritating and dis-
too rushed? recent national elections. Unlike tracting, nonetheless. <
If opening a personal letter is not conventional media, social media
done and denounced as bad manners, do not get controlled by monitoring
why is scrutinising a personal mes- mechanisms, and anyone is free to
sage (albeit by a computer) accept- send messages to hundreds, indeed
able? How many of us have thought tens of thousands, of individuals,
of protesting? Frankenstein used to known and unknown.
be in the realms of fiction; today, are Supriya Sule, member of Parlia-
we seeing the media expand into ment, has put up a petition (on
areas that were undreamt of, just a change.org), seeking the right to
few decades ago? ‘switch off’. I can switch off my

July-September 2019 VIDURA 11

 Rights of workers – huge gains
from small beginnings
Almost 90 per cent of India’s workforce does not have the benefit of well-organised unions. Bharat Dogra details the
tireless efforts of the National Campaign Committee for Construction Labour over the past 30-odd years to protect
the rights of the huge segment of construction workers

D
emocracy opens up win- of unorganised labour, including and barring a few exceptions, active
dows of opportunities for domestic workers. participation of almost all national-
initiatives to facilitate work- Almost 90 per cent of India’s level trade unions as well as several
ers to attain their rights, as well as workforce does not have the benefit local unions, on crucial issues con-
the possibility of the spread of such of well-organised unions. While it cerning the welfare of construction
initiatives. This, in turn, strengthens is important for trade unions to use workers.
democracy and justice. In India, innovative methods to strengthen Before the creation of NCC-CL,
several such efforts to help workers the solidarity of unorganised some localised efforts to assert
(including porters, dock and port workers, it is equally important construction workers’ rights had
workers, coal and iron ore miners) for other civil society members, achieved reasonable success in
have been a source of hope and such as lawyers, social activists, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Tamil
inspiration even though they can voluntary organisations and con- Nadu, the efforts were led by the
never be completely successful, and cerned citizens, to get together for Tamil Manila Kattida Thozhila-
some problems persist while new broad-based efforts to help various lar Sangam (TMKTS - The Tamil
ones arise. One such effort is the sections of unorganised workers Nadu State Construction Workers’
National Campaign Committee for obtain legal protection and rights. Union).
Construction Labour (NCC-CL). Since 1985, NCC-CL has been This was an independent trade
Construction labour is the second active in this regard. It started as a union not affiliated to any politi-
biggest segment of workers in India. loosely structured but determined cal party or national trade union.
Some of the key activists involved group of workers, social and legal It consisted of local, district and
in the effort subsequently also took activists. Over the years, it has suc- state-level units with elected rep-
up issues relating to other sections ceeded in obtaining the support, resentatives at each level. Its efforts
played a notable role in the passing
of the Tamil Nadu Manual Workers
Act in 1982. In 1983 the Tamil Nadu
Government sought to introduce a
new legislation for construction
workers which fell much below the
expectation of the TMKTS and had
some undesirable features as well.
The TMKTS launched a state-wide
campaign against this legislation.
The experience gained at the state
level encouraged the TMKTS lead-
ership to make wider efforts at the
national level for legislation to meet
the needs of construction workers.
Earlier, the First National Commis-
sion of Labour as well as the Labour
Ministry’s Industrial Committee on
Photos: BD

Building and Construction Industry

had emphasised the need for com-
prehensive legislation.
On 7th February this year – a rally in Delhi protesting against the proposed labour In1981, M. Kalyansundaram and
code. George Fernandes, two members

12 VIDURA July-September 2019

of Parliament, introduced private
member bills relating to the wel-
fare of construction workers. The
former bill was withdrawn on an
assurance by the government that
it was contemplating a comprehen-
sive legislation on the subject. In
February 1985, the Labour Minis-
try constituted a Tripartite Working Pictures from earlier protests – the Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam organised a
Group (TWG) for the Building and one-day demonstration at the Main Labour Chowk of Haiderpur, North-West Delhi last
Construction Industry, consisting year to support the the Central Trade Union national strike.
of representatives of the Govern-
ment, builders’ associations and a public-spirited lawyer, and Sub- instability by a Tripartite Construc-
trade unions. hash Bhatnagar, a leading trade tion Labour Board consisting of
In November 1985, thanks to union and social activist, was the workers, employers and govern-
the initiative taken by the TMKTS coordinator. ment representatives. It would pro-
(particularly its leading activist Others in the core group who vide a minimum guaranteed wage
R. Geetha) and some other labour played an important role for several per month as well as determine and
and legal activists, a national semi- years included Justice P.S. Potti, provide appropriate conditions of
nar on construction labour (with former chief justice of the Gujarat service, thus alleviating the mis-
special emphasis on legal protec- High Court, T.S. Sankaran, former ery of workers, which stems from
tion) was organised at Delhi. PRIA, additional secretary in the Ministry insecurity of employment and ram-
CILAS and Legal Aid and Advice of Labour, and well-known trade pant exploitation. The board would
Centre were among the bodies union activists like D. Thankap- collect a cess for its administrative
which supported this effort. The pan, N.P. Swamy and R. Geetha. In expenses and a welfare levy from
seminar brought together about 250 the next few years an increasingly employers to fund social security
construction workers, trade union important co-ordinating role was and labour welfare schemes. It
activists, lawyers and jurists, vol- played by Nirmala Sundaram, who would also resolve relevant indus-
untary organisations and govern- left a deep and lasting impression trial disputes.”
ment officials to consider various on the entire movement within a NCC-CL also made concerted
aspects of protective legislation for short period till her she met an efforts to create a consensus on
construction labour. untimely end in 1996, aged just 40 main features of legislation among
The seminar concluded that the years. representatives of various national
existing legislations were both NCC-CL’s first task was to pre- trade unions, using the forum of
inappropriate and inadequate to pare a draft comprehensive legisla- TWG for the purpose.
meet the real needs of construc- tion that would ensure the welfare On 5th December 1986, the draft
tion workers. It recommended that and social security of construction bill and scheme, signed by over four
a comprehensive draft legislation workers. Construction workers lakh workers from all over the coun-
be prepared, keeping in view the were closely involved in the draft- try, were submitted to the Petition
real situation of the industry and ing of the legislation. Several work- Committee of the Lok Sabha. Thou-
the real needs of the workers. It shops and seminars were organised sands of workers wrote postcards
was also agreed that a nationwide in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and to the Prime Minister requesting an
campaign should be launched to Bangalore. This effort benefited early hearing. Finally, NCC-CL was
make this comprehensive legisla- from the experience relating to the invited to present its demands and
tion a reality and to mobilise con- enactment of legislations for dock- evidence before the Petition Com-
struction workers on this issue. The workers and headload workers. mittee on 30th September, 1988.
realisation of the need for such a Special care was taken to keep in Along with oral evidence, a num-
campaign led to the immediate for- view the production process which ber of significant documents were
mation of NCC-CL. operates through a long chain of also submitted.
The committee was fortunate to contractors and subcontractors, Meanwhile, the government
have from the outset as its chair- creating a lot of instability. As the introduced a bill in the Rajya Sabha
person an outstanding public fig- NCC-CL states in a summary, “The which had a title similar to the one
ure associated with many reforms NCC-CL bill asserts that construc- submitted by NCC-CL but which
and campaign - Justice V.R. Krishna tion workers can only be assured fell woefully short of workers’
Iyer, a retired Supreme Court judge. social security and labour wel- aspirations. NCC-CL now had a
Its convenor was R. Venkatramani, fare by substituting the existing new task on its hands. The serious

July-September 2019 VIDURA 13

shortcomings of the bill had to be
explained at many fora to many
people within a short time. It man-
aged to submit a well-argued cri-
tique of the government bill to the
Petition Committee.
On 25th July 1989, the Petition
Committee submitted its report to Maharashtra.
the Lok Sabha. The report upheld In November 1995, two ordi-
the stand of the NCC-CL and said: nances on construction labour were
“The committee recommends that issued by the government. As these
the bill pending in the Rajya Sabha fell short of the model draft bill pre-
be withdrawn and a fresh compre-
hensive bill be introduced so as to
cater to the long felt demands of a
hitherto neglected segment of the
working class.”
What is more, the committee
expressed strong appreciation of
the work done by the NCC-CL,
saying it had “done considerable
useful work at the grassroots level
to organise the construction work-
ers with a view to enabling them
to demand central legislation as a
right to provide security of employ-
ment and other social welfare
measures.”
The Petitions Committee also
noted that “it would have been
appropriate if (NCC-CL) had also
been invited by the Ministry for
consultation and discussion on the
proposed legislation... Even now
the representatives of (NCC-CL)
which is headed by an eminent per-
son like Justice Krishna Iyer, may be
invited for an exchange of views on
the scope and objects of the Bill and
how these can be best attained.”
It went so far as to say that “it is
for the Government to ensure that
the legislation which is finally cre-
ated encompassed all the above
features to the extent practicable.”
Meanwhile, a new government
assumed power at the Centre and
agreed to withdraw the highly
inadequate government bill.
In March 1989 nearly one mil-
lion signatures had been collected
in support of NCC-CL’s demand
for comprehensive legislation. In
December 1991 a National Federa-
tion of Construction Labour was set
up, headquartered in Bangalore.
14
NCC-CL continued its efforts for Two important pieces of central
central legislation by organising legislation were then applicable
meetings and dharnas (protests), and all over India – the Building and
supporting organisations working Construction Workers (Regulation
for legislation with the same spirit of Employment and Conditions of
in States like Kerala, Karnataka, Service) Act, 1996 and the Building
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and and Other Construction Workers
Welfare Cess Act, 1996.
NCC-CL was of course quite
emphatic about the shortcomings of
this legislation. As Justice Krishna
Iyer wrote to the then Prime Min-
pared by NCC-CL, the committee ister Deva Gowda, “...the construc-
once again had to take urgent steps tion welfare board has no powers of
to prevent retrograde legislation. enforcement. The bill does not pro-
NCC-CL worked hard to spread vide for compulsory registration of
awareness, particularly among MPs both the workers and the employ-
and trade unions, about the gross ers through the mechanism of the
inadequacy of these ordinances to board. Consequently, while the Act
meet the aspirations of construction aims to ameliorate the conditions of
workers. This campaign helped the construction workers, it would
construction workers’ demands fail to achieve the object by the
find a place in the election manifes- reason of the absence of a suitable
tos and programmes of some politi- enforcing body with powers. That
cal parties, including the Common is why we say that the construc-
Minimum Programme of the United tion workers welfare board should
Front. be instead a property constituted
On 26th February 1996, construc- board with the requisite power and
tion workers observed a nation- authority, with appropriate func-
wide Protest Day. In Delhi, the tions for the purposeful enforce-
day-long dharna organised by Nir- ment of law.”
man Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam NCC-CL has been working cease-
was joined by over 50 delegations lessly to ensure proper implemen-
of construction workers (supported tation of the laws. There were long
by fish workers and other labour delays and unsatisfactory imple-
groups) from various parts of the mentation. On several occasions
country. legal action initiated by the NCC-CL
In July 1996, two bills on con- with the help of public-spirited
struction workers were introduced lawyers resulted in favorable deci-
in Parliament. NCC-CL worked sions from various courts, including
hard to take the message of bet- the Supreme Court. This took the
ter legislation to more and more struggle for the rights of construc-
MPs and some of them supported tion workers a step further.
the suggestions in Parliamentary On the whole, the implementa-
debate. Some important amend- tion of the legislation is still far
ments were adopted, such as the from complete, but on the plus side,
provision relating to cess collection a protective legislative framework
for the welfare of workers being which can potentially benefit mil-
deposited with the Boards and not lions of workers is now available.
with the Consolidated Fund. The However, some new threats to this
legislation which was eventually legislation are emerging due to new
passed was much better than the labour reforms and even GST- and
originally introduced one, although cess-related changes. Therefore,
it still fell short of the aspirations NCC-CL has to be alert to defend
of the NCC-CL as reflected in its achieved gains while taking its
model draft bill. efforts forward.
<
VIDURA July-September 2019
Food price volatility wrecking
havoc on the poor
At a time when hunger, food and nutrition security of the population and food sovereignty itself are at
stake, Vibhuti Patel looks at the effects of agricultural liberalisation in India, the dynamics of the food
market, the double standards of the developed nations, the failure of the Doha round of Trade Talks,
and possible remedies. Developing social safety nets for the socio-economically marginalised and poor
famers as well as urban, rural and tribal consumers needs the combined and concerted efforts of state
and non-state players, she says

T
hough India embarked on
economic liberalisation in
1991, the agrarian sector was
liberalised only in 2004 when more
than 400 agrarian commodities
were exposed to global competi-
tion. Food price volatility became a
perennial problem after that.
During 2014-2017, food prices
rose to record highs. Futures trad-
ing by hedge fund speculators and
commercialisation and corporati-
sation of food markets were found
to be the major culprits. Free play
of market forces is hampered and
needs corrective measures. Many
poor nations in Africa, Latin Amer-
ica and Asia have experienced food
riots in the neo-liberal context; the
political systems have abandoned
responsibility to ensure food sov-
ereignty as an agrarian policy and
food security to its toiling masses
through the public distribution
system.
Corruption and cronyism at
micro-meso and macro levels does
not allow the bottom layer of the either floods or drought are 2009 and 2013 reveals that increase
pyramid to afford higher food
prices. Food and nutrition security
for the poor is at stake. Macroeco-
nomic policies and political deci-
sions serving the vested interests of
big players have created food price
volatility.
Food security concerns
According to the World Bank, 33 per
cent or 400 million, of the world’s
poor are in India. If India is able to
address food price volatility, it will
have major implications for global
food security and fulfillthe com-
mitment to the First Sustainable tress sale of their products, as in
Development Goal (UN SDG-1), the monopoly market, corporate
namely, Eradication of Extreme
Hunger and Poverty.
According to the 2011 Census
of India, more than two-thirds of
Indians live in rural areas and their
expenditure on food consumption
constitutes nearly half of the total
food consumption expenditure of
the Indian. Nearly 50 per cent of the
workforce is employed in agricul-
ture. The majority of them are agri-
cultural workers. Most cultivators
are small, marginal farmers and
poor peasants who own 1-3 acres
of land. There are no other oppor-
tunities for them to enhance their
income.In this context, it is very
important for the decision-makers
in the agricultural sector to contain
food inflation. the production scenario. Sensitiv-
Concerns for food sovereignty
Each time prices of grain, pulses,
vegetables and milk shoot up,
blamed, while at the grassroots
level, farmers report bumper
crops. Corporate houses buy vege-
tables – tomatoes, potatoes, onions
and pulses – at throwaway prices.
International pressure through
the World Trade Organisation and
the General Agreement on Trade
and Tariff force poor countries Price fluctuations in essential
not to give farm subsidies such as
support price and lets the market
reign supreme without accepting
the fact that there is no perfect
competition.
Farmers have to resort to dis-
houses are price makers and farm-
ers are price takers. Thus, even after
improvement in the food produc-
tion, the situation has not improved.
Occasional tightening of exports of
pulses and sugar and liberalising
import of onions and fruits remain
symbolic gestures.
The concentration of food infla-
tion in India in a few commodity
groups such as vegetables, fruits,
milk, pulses and cereals and eggs-
fish-meat is marked by production
shocks and the government failing
to play a facilitator’s role in terms
of improving storage facilities,
introducing a rational procurement
policy, augmenting buffer stocks
and adjusting trade policy with
ity to farmers’ needs is very impor-
tant to prevent de-motivation and
consequent production shortfalls.
Trend analysis of inflation between
in demand for pulses, milk, edible
oils, eggs-meat-fish and in the cost
of production are the major fac-
tors behind food inflation. In other
words, both demand and supply
factors are responsible for food
price volatility.
commodities
Annual trends of price fluctuation
in essential commodities show that
different commodities were hit by
inflation in different years and that

July-September 2019 VIDURA 15

Illustration: Arun Ramkumar

no single commodity showed uni- long-term structural trends in food producing regions due to extreme
formly high inflation. Currently, prices that we can prepare for and weather (droughts in Maharash-
food inflation is marked by price adjust to. It is important to accept tra and floods Bihar) and higher
rise in milk, cereals, vegetables, that volatility cuts both ways – cost of inputs (water, electricity,
meat, eggs, and fish. Tur dal contrib- prices go up and down. The only fertilizer, pesticides and transport
uted majorly to food price inflation. reason food prices are going up linked to oil prices). Policy deci-
Prices of edible oils were stable. so much this year is because they sions to increase bio-fuel content in
Intra-year price volatility in fruits came down so fast after reaching gasoline have resulted is volatility
and vegetables and commodities 2008 peaks. Both rapid increases in food prices.
that have greater weightage in the and rapid declines in food prices In this situation, speculators enter
national consumption basket is wor- can create problems. futures markets in a big way. They
risome. Supply side factors such as make money out of understanding
quantum of production, wages and Dynamics of food markets the market dynamics and provid-
support price for cereals need fixing Characteristics of food markets ing insurance against volatility.
and both supply and demand fac- determine food price volatility. They do not create the volatility
tors responsible for price fluctua- Both supply and demand curves themselves, except under extraordi-
tions in pulses need to be addressed. of food markets are highly inelas- nary conditions such as man-made
The price of eggs, meat, fish, milk, tic, and in the short run none of or natural disasters. The volatility
and fruits and vegetables appear to them respond much to price varia- inherent in the food marketplace
be driven mainly by demand. tion. Shelf life of food products is causes speculation, not the other
The food price challenge is about limited and there is seasonality. way around.
price volatility. It is the rapid and Hence, small shocks in either sup-
unpredictable changes in food ply or demand will result in large Remedial measures
prices that wreak havoc on factory- price changes. So what is the way out? Unless the
labour and product markets, poli- Today, we have many shocks: link between food prices and oil
tics and social stability, rather than supply shocks in important food prices is broken, not much can be

16 VIDURA July-September 2019

achieved. The current global food
system worked well in a world of
cheap, stable energy prices which
allowed food to be grown in
concentrated locations and trans-
ported over huge distances to meet
demand. Volatility in oil-prices
results in volatility in food prices.
As a macro policy, the government
needs to promote more localised
and more diversified production nario does not give any single
and consumption, less use of fertil-
izer, and less wastage (20 per cent
of all food gets spoiled in storage
and transport today).
To deal with urban and rural
hunger, community-managed food
banks must be created. Like France,
all nation states need to tell restau-
rants not to destroy unsold food
but deposit it in local food banks.
Farmers should be encouraged to
sell their products directly to cus-
tomers without any interference
by governments. At the same time,
investment in agricultural produc-
tion and infrastructure need to be
enhanced to address increasing
demand.
The technology to increase yields
is well-known but requires invest-
ments; large portions of agricultural
land in India are rain-fed and sub-
ject to the vagaries of the weather.
Mechanised tilling of the soil is
only done in green belt areas. India
needs a second Green Revolution.
Debt-ridden farmers’ suicides
have been a stark reality after lib-
eralisation of agriculture. Govern-
ments must make sure that rural
farmers get fair prices, while the
urban masses get affordable food. households will face the prospect
Budgetary allocation for the pub-
lic distribution system must be
enhanced, and distribution chan-
nels must also be improved with
regard to quality of food, packaging
and storage. Local markets must be
protected against volatility in the
global price of food.
Rich countries are protecting the
interests of their farmers. America
subsidises almond farmers, Japan
subsidises rice farmers, France
subsidises grape farmers, Europe
July-September 2019 VIDURA
subsidises dairy farmers, but at the
World Economic Forum the same
rich counties pressure poor nations
to withdraw farmers’ subsidies in
the name of stabilisation. India has
Photo: MSSRF
stood firm against these double
standards.
Global vs local economic realities
The current global economic sce-
High time the government considered
farmers’ woes seriously.
country the incentive to liberalise
its agricultural trade so long as the results in long-term deteriora-
distortions of rich countries – and tion of brain development. Hence,
the volatility in global markets India has universalised mid-day
they encourage – remain. And this meal schemes for children as well
brings us to the failure of the Doha as for pregnant and lactating moth-
Round of Trade talks, even after ers. The Tamil Nadu Government
several years of negotiations. The provides meals to destitute elderly
main bottleneck was the impasse also. Building social safety nets in
on agriculture policy. It shows that India for sustained food security
the political will to take collective for all is a worthy but long-term
action to reduce food price volatil- project.
ity is lacking; there is no trust that Major swings in food prices are
the market will deliver access to happening regularly and proving
food better than a government. to be highly destabilising for devel-
opment, poverty reduction and
Conclusion social harmony. The solution lie in
Policy makers and politicians in three areas – improving food mar-
developing countries care more kets and agricultural production by
about volatile food prices than addressing demand and supply fac-
those in developed countries tors, building political will to inte-
because their citizens are more grate food markets in such a way
directly affected by the ups-and- that economic interests of famers
downs of these costs. Hunger, food in poor countries are not compro-
and nutrition security of the popu- mised, and judicious implementa-
lation and food sovereignty are at tion of The National Food Security
stake. Today, affordable food is not Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act),
available for the poor. Studies have which aims to provide subsidised
shown that the poor are spending food grains to approximately two-
more than 2/3rd of their income on thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
food. If food prices double, these Developing social safety nets in
India for the socio-economically
of starvation. marginalised and poor famers as
The solution? Safety nets of social well as urban, rural and tribal con-
security and social protection for sumers needs the combined and
the poor, to cushion the blow of concerted efforts of state and non-
rapid changes in food prices. India state players.
<
passed the Right to Food Act, 2013
that guarantees food and nutrition (The writer is professor, Advanced
security to all its citizens. Centre for Women’s Studies, School of
Good safety nets require effective Development Studies, Tata Institute
targeting. Who should be protected? of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai.)
The children, especially the very
young, as there is ample evidence
that early childhood malnutrition
17
VIEW FROM THE NORTHEAST

A struggle that’s been on for 60

years, and about press freedom
There is a view gaining ground that the Dalai Lama should be given the chance to return to his seat
in Potala with dignity during his lifetime, says Nava Thakuria. The people of the Northeastern States
would also like His Holiness to make his return journey to Lhasa along the same route across the
Arunachal border that he had chosen to enter the country 60 years back, he points out

I
ts 60 years now since Tibetans
started their struggle against
the communist regime of China
for their rights over language, tra-
dition and culture. On 10th March
1959, thousands of Tibetans came
out on to the streets in the pictur-
esque capital city of Lhasa, protest-
ing against Chinese occupation.
Tibetans barricaded the Potala
Palace, the iconic centre of Tibetan
Buddhism, where their supreme
leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, lived.
Soon, the uprising gained momen-
tum. The protesters demanded that
the Hun Chinese leave their land
but were met with harsh, repressive
measures by the People’s Libera-
tion Army of the Beijing adminis-
tration. The Dalai Lama, along with
thousands of his followers, left for
India and crossed into this country
in mid-April 1959. The then Indian
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
welcomed the Dalai Lama and over
90000 Tibetan exiles, offering them Chinese, based on equality, mutual
political asylum. They were allowed
to stay in Dharamshala township of
Himachal Pradesh.
Soon after the Tibetan leader’s Part Of China But The Middle Way
arrival in India, an all-India Con-
vention on Tibet was held. Under
the leadership of legendary social-
ist Jayprakash Narayan, the con-
vention expressed unconditional
support, solidarity and friendship
to the Tibetan people. Today His
Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is only
the spiritual head of the Tibetan
people as he relinquished political
power in 2011. However, the Nobel
Laureate continues his non-violent
struggle for his people and hopes Lama he said: “Tibetans must get
for a dignified return to his seat in their constitutional rights to safe-
Lhasa. guard and practise their language,
It may be recalled that the Bei- tradition and culture. The Beijing
jing Administration, which sees the administration should go for con-
spiritual leader as a separatist agi- stitutional amendments for pro-
tator, had rejected the demand for viding genuine autonomy to the
genuine autonomy for the Tibet- Tibetan people.”
ans. Lobsang Sangay, president of The 6th All India Tibet Support
the Central Tibetan Administration Groups Conference held on June
(formerly Tibetan Government-in- 15 and 16 proposed that the Dalai
exile), stresses that Tibet was never Lama be given India’s highest
a part of China. He said his organi- civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in
sation is now pursuing a middle acknowledgement of his immense
approach to resolve the issue of contributions in creating goodwill
Tibet, with a view of minimising for the country and for being an
the repression of Tibetans in their ambassador for the Indian values
own land. of non-violence, compassion and
Sikyong, as he is popularly religious harmony in the world.
known, says that the middle path Rinchin Khandu Khrimey,
was conceived by Parampawan national convener of Core Group
Dalai Lama. He feels it is a brilliant for Tibetan Cause and a former
strategy with the potential to bring parliamentarian from Arunachal
stability and peaceful co-existence Pradesh, said the Dalai Lama had
between the Tibetans and Hun always considered India as the
land of his guru (spiritual guide)
respect and co-operation. as the country is steeped in the
A Hindi translation of Sangay’s Nalanda tradition of Buddhism. A
book titled, Tibet Was Never A firm believer in the Gandhian phi-
losophy of non-violence, the Dalai
Approach Remains A Visible Solu- Lama has authored over 50 books
tion, was launched recently in on different issues.
Dharamshala. Organised by Core The Dharamshala Declaration,
Group for Tibetan Cause (an apex read out to over 200 delegates,
coordinating body of Tibet sup- called on New Delhi to prevail over
port groups in India) and facili- the People’s Republic of China for
tated by India Tibet Coordination a constructive negotiation with the
Office in New Delhi, the meeting representatives of CTA for a sus-
passed a Dharamshala Declara- tainable solutionto the Tibet issue.
tion too. It also appealed to the international
In a recent interaction with the community to support the CTA in its
author in Dharamshala, the Dalai relentless quest for dignity, justice

18 VIDURA July-September 2019


and peace for millions of Tibetans
(inside and outside Tibet).
The declaration strongly con-
demned the Chinese Govern-
ment for its systematic violations
of human rights in Tibet and
expressed concern over the mili-
tarisation of the Tibetan Region,
as it threatens the peace of the
Sub-continent. It demanded that make his return journey to Lhasa
the Tibetans be allowed complete
freedom in matters of language Arunachal border that he had cho-
and religion.
Various speakers at the meeting
also expressed grave concern over
the relentless exploitation of natu-
ral resources in Tibet, which is a
huge source of fresh water. They
apprehended that the disturbances
in the Tibetan plateau might have
severe ecological implications in
various neighbouring countries
July-September 2019 VIDURA
like India, Bangladesh, Myanmar
and Thailand.
Meanwhile, there is a view gain-
ing ground that the Dalai Lama
should be given the chance to
return to his seat in Potala with
dignity during his lifetime. The
people of the Northeastern States in the Antop Hill locality of Mum-
would also like His Holiness to
along the same route across the
sen to enter the country 60 years
back.
India ranks 140 in World Media
Freedom Index
After years of poor showing in the
area of safety of journalists, India
has slightly improved its statistics,
with only two murders of scribes
being reported in the first six months Korea and Turkmenistan continue
Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
of this year, as against the six killed
last year.
Anand Narayan and Chakresh
Jain were the two journalists who
lost their lives so far in 2019. Both
fell to assailants in June. Narayan
(38) was murdered at his residence
bai on June 4, while Jain (40) was
burnt to death in Madhya Pradesh
on June 19.
In the latest World Media Free-
dom Index, published by the Paris-
based Reporters sans Frontieres/
Reporters without Borders, Norway
tops the list of countries with admi-
rable media freedom, followed by
Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands,
Denmark, Switzerland, New Zea-
land, Jamaica and Belgium. On the
other hand, Vietnam, China, North
19
to be at the bottom of the list, placed dissemination of false information, other worrying trends that need to
at 176, 177, 179 and 180, respec- and hate speeches calling for kill- be addressed in the Indian sub-con-
tively. India is ranked 140. ing of journalists whose work dis- tinent include the high level of cen-
RSF says the number of countries pleases those in power and their sorship and self-censorship, lack of
regarded as safe, where journal- supporters”, he noted. pluralism in certain countries and
ists can work in complete security, “Violence against journalists, political affiliation of media group
continues to decline, as authoritar- including police violence, attacks owners.
<
ian regimes have tightened their by Maoist fighters and reprisals
grip on the media. Journalists have by criminal groups or corrupt (The author is a senior journalist
to work against totalitarian propa- politicians, is one of the most strik- and political commentator based in
ganda, censorship, intimidation, ing characteristics of the current the Northeast. He is secretary of the
physical violence and cyber-harass- state of press freedom in India. Kill- Guwahati Press Club.)
ment across the world. ing of journalists in connection with
With mainstream journalism their works indicates many dangers
going increasingly online and the that journalists often face, especially
advent of alternative media, newer those working for regional media
threats are rising up, observed outlets in rural India,” Daniel said.
Daniel Bastard of the RSF. “We Speaking to this writer recently
are now seeing online harass- from Paris, Daniel, who heads
ment of journalists by troll armies, RSF’s South Asian desk, added that

Programme to support local journalism in Europe

WAN-IFRA is launching a European news transformation and coaching programme for regional and local news
publishers, in partnership with the Google News Initiative. Publishers are invited to apply now.
Table Stakes Europe (www.tablestakes-europe.org) uses a performance challenge as the basis for participating
news publishers to identify and close shortfalls in their core digital capabilities (the so-called ‘table stakes’, an
expression for the money needed to have a seat at the take in a poker game).
The programme comes from the US where publishers like The Philadelphia Inquirer, Dallas Morning News,
Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, and Minneapolis Star Tribune were among the first news organisations
to experiment with the methodology. A year later, these organisations had learned and developed skills and
capabilities improved not only their journalism but also their economics. Since these first results, more than seventy
news organisations have now worked through the programme over three years.
“Most change efforts fail because they violate a core principle: Performance results are the primary objective
of change, not change activities. Instead of falling into the change-for-the-sake-of-change trap, participants will
identify and commit to success against a performance challenge that meets the Programme’s objectives” explains
Doug Smith, WAN-IFRA associate consultant and architect of the programme.
Announced in Glasgow, Scotland during the World News Media Congress, and funded by GNI in its first year
in Europe, the programme will provide an opportunity for a dozen or so local and regional news enterprises to
identify and make significant progress in addressing their biggest current challenges. The Table Stakes manual
is for local news organisations, identifying what’s required to play and win the game of news in the 21st Century.
The Programme builds upon the successful track record of an initiative funded initially by Knight Foundation
and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, and developed with major metropolitan daily news organisations in
the US. It is meant to accelerate journalism’s shift to digital from print, help newsrooms evolve their practices,
reach new audiences and better engage their communities. Seven common themes have emerged to tie together
the granular, specific table stakes for core work, workflow, roles, skills, technology, tools, organisation and
culture. All are predicated on the belief that putting the audience at the center is the only and best way to deliver
value.
The deadline for application to the programme is 1st September 2019. The programme will begin in October
2019 and will run for about 12 months.
<

20 VIDURA July-September 2019

GREAT INDIAN EDITORS

A brave publisher who fought

on behalf of the people
The British administrators used to call him ‘Father of Indian unrest’. Jawaharlal Nehru called him
‘Father of the Indian revolution.’ It was Bal Gangadhar Tilak who for the first time used the newspapers
consistently for the cause of social and political uprising in India, a feat ably carried forward by Mahatma
Gandhi later. Mrinal Chatterjee on Tilak’s life and times

K
eshav Gangadhar Tilak,
popularly known as Bal
Gangadhar Tilak co-
founded two of the most prominent
newspapers in Maharashtra – the
Kesari (The Lion) in Marathi and
The Mahratta in English – in asso-
ciation with Gopal Agarkar and
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, both
noted figures in the Indian Free-
dom Movement. Agarkar left Kes-
ari in 1887 to start his own news
paper, Sudharak (The Reformer),
after which Tilak continued to run
the paper on his own.
Tilak used his newspapers for
three main purposes other than dis-
semination of news. First, to bring
to light the injustices meted out
by the alien rulers and insensitive
administration. In the first issue of Five strong articles against the gov-
Kesari, the Marathi weekly, which
was founded in 1881, he wrote: connection with the bomb blast and
“Just as street lights and rounds of
police constables bring to light any-
thing wrong or unjust happening
on the roads in the dark, the edito-
rial pen brings to light the injustices
and wrongs of the administra-
tion.” In fact the editorials of Kesari
were generally about the suffer-
ing of the people under the British
administration.
Second, to form public opinion. ine in Maharashtra and people had
During the trial of a sedition case
against him in 1908 for the strong
articles that he wrote in Kesari, he
argued in the court that it is the
duty of a newspaper to form pub-
lic opinion.Tilak as an editor often
used to call people to fight for his of the citizens and made an appeal
or her rights.
Third, to propagate rational Tilak argued and advocated for
thought. Often, his thoughts were greater power in the hands of the
not in sync with the popular sen- Indians. He always backed his
timent. He believed newspapers arguments against British rule with
should follow rational thinking. information from important gov-
In 1908, Khudiram Bose, a young ernment reports or parliamentary
revolutionary from Medinipur, debates in London. As an editor, he
Bengal, threw a bomb on an English had on several occasions difference
officer but it missed the target and of opinions with the senior Con-
fell on the car in which two English gress leaders and social thinkers
women were travelling and killed and reformers. But he stuck to his
them in the blast. The government line of thinking.
was enraged and took recource to Tilak was born in the Ratnagiri
severe suppressive measures. District in Maharashtra on July 22,
In his editorial published in 1856. His father Gangadhar Shastri
Kesari, Tilak expressed his dislike was a Sanskrit scholar of repute and
towards such terrorist activity but a school teacher. His family soon
argued that the government’s sup- moved to Pune, where Tilak pur-
pression policy was responsible for sued most of his education.
building up such radical attitudes. Tilak was amongst one of the first
generations of Indians to receive a
ernment were published in Kesari in college education. He obtained his
matriculation in 1872. He was a bril-
Tilak was arrested on 24 June 1908 liant student, with a special interest
for sedition. in Mathematics, which he eventu-
Tilak, however, was a fearless edi- ally taught as a schoolteacher. He
tor. He continued writing what he continued his higher education at
thought was right despite severe Deccan College in Pune where, in
coercive action by the alien rulers. 1877, he earned first class Bachelor
He constantly wrote against the of Arts degrees in Mathematics and
malpractices of the administration, Sanskrit. In 1879, he obtained his
their omissions and commissions. LLB degree from Government Law
In 1896-97, there was a severe fam- College, University of Mumbai.
Despite being a vocal critic of the
no food to eat. Tilak wrote an article English education system, Tilak
in Kesari and brought it to the notice emphasised the importance of
of the British Government what its good education and higher studies
duties were under the Famine Relief among the youth of India. After his
Code. He also warned the officers studies, he turned down lucrative
who were trying to throttle the rights job offers in the colonial govern-
ment and started out as a school-
to the people to fight for justice. teacher and gradually became an

July-September 2019 VIDURA 21


Photos: MC
Tilak’s editorials in Kesari were blunt
and bold.
advocate of modern education
among Indians. With this purpose,
he founded the Deccan Education
Society in 1884, along with other charter. Tilak did not agree with
like-minded Marathi educationists.
The Society established the Fergus-
son College (1885) and the New
English School in Pune. as follows: “Britain has not set any making him stand against promi-
Tilak chose to devote himself
to the larger cause of India’s free-
dom struggle and national awak-
ening. He realised the importance
of women education and women
empowerment in society and
worked throughout his life to pop-
ularise these ideas, both as a social
activist and journalist. Although
Tilak personally disapproved early
marriage, he opposed the 1891
Age of Consent Bill and termed it
a dangerous precedent, interfering
with Hinduism. The act proposed
to raise the minimum legal age for
girl’s marriage from 10 to 12 years.
One of the tools Tilak used to
propagate the cause of social
reform was the press. Like many
of his predecessors like Raja Ram
Mohun Roy, Tilak used the news-
paper to criticise the existing social
evils and the tyranny of the Brit-
ish Raj. Thanks to the publications,
Tilak became immensely popular
for his bitter criticisms of the colo-
nial rulers. He was also critical of
many moderate nationalists who
22
No better recognition than appearing on
an Indian postage stamp.
favoured social reforms along
Western lines and political reforms
along constitutional lines.
Gokhale had started to present his
views that the movement started by
the Congress should be as per the
his views. In an article ‘Sanadshir moderate leaders of the party. He
or Kayadeshir (As per the charter or
legal)’, he refuted Gokhale’s views
charter of rights to Hindustan;
therefore, it would be ridiculous to
say that the movement should be
conducted as per the charter. Hin-
dustan is governed as per the laws
made by the British. The question,
therefore, remains is whether the
movement is legal or not. When
there is alienation of law and mor-
als, if need be, one should break the
laws to follow the morals and qui-
etly accept whatever punishment is
given for the same.”
In 1896, when the entire nation was
gripped by the famine and plague,
the British Government declared
that there was no cause for anxiety.
The government also rejected the
need to start a famine relief fund.
The attitude of the government was Tilak differed in their ideologies for
severely criticised by both the news-
papers. Tilak ruthlessly published
reports about the devastation caused
by starvation and plague and gov-
ernment’s absolute utter irresponsi-
bility and lack of concern.
Meanwhile, a British officer was In 1908, an assassination attempt of
murdered by some miscreants and
the administration blamed Tilak’s
“provoking writings” for it. Tilak
was accused of prompting to mur-
der and sentenced to a year and a
half imprisonment. The trial and
sentence made him quite popu-
lar among the Indian mass which
started calling him Lokamanya
(beloved leader of the people).
After being released from prison
in present-day Mumbai, Tilak
was adored as a national hero. He
adopted a new slogan to convey
his message to the common people,
“Swaraj (self-rule) is my birthright
and I shall have it.” Gradually, Tilak
devoted more time and energy in
political activities than in journal-
ism. But he continued to write and
propagate his views.
Tilak began his political career
by joining the Indian National
Congress in 1890. During the time,
he was at loggerheads with many
considered the constitutional agita-
tion against the British futile, thus
nent moderate leaders like Gopal
Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale believed
that the right course for India for
self-government was to adopt con-
stitutional means and cooperate
with the British Government.
On the contrary, Tilak’s messages
were protest, boycott and agitation.
Tilak found his own share of allies
in fellow extremist leaders like
Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal and
Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab. The trio
was referred to as the Lal-Bal-Pal.
Meanwhile, in the 1907 session of
the Indian National Congress, a
massive conflict broke out between
the moderate and extremist fac-
tions of the party, splitting it into
two factions. Though Gokhale and
attaining freedom, they had great
respect for each other’s patriotism,
intelligence, work and sacrifice.
When Gokhale died, Tilak wrote an
editorial in Kesari and paid a glow-
ing tribute to Gokhale.
a British officer went awry, leading
VIDURA July-September 2019
to the death of two women. Two
Bengali youths were found guilty,
whom Tilak defended through his
papers. The British took advantage
of this and the rift in the INC, and
sentenced him to a six-year prison
sentence and deported him to Man-
dalay in Burma.
It was the time when Tilak set-
tled down to compose his mag-
num opus, the Śrīmad Bhagavadgitā
Rahasya (Secret of the Bhagavadg-
ita) — otherwise known as Bhaga-
vad Gita or Gita Rahasya, a unique
work of the most-hallowed book of
the Hindus. He also wrote The Arc-
tic Home in the Vedas in 1903, where
he argued that the Vedas could only
have been composed in the Arctic,
and the Aryans might have brought
them south after the beginning of
the last Ice Age.
After his release in 1914, on the
eve of the First World War, Tilak
once more plunged into politics. He
launched the All India Home Rule
League, along with Annie Besant
and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. After
years of trying to reunite the mod-
erate and radical factions, he gave
up and focused on the Home Rule
League, which sought self-rule.
In 1918, Tilak visited England
as leader of the Indian Home Rule
League. He realised that the Labour
Party was a growing force in Brit-
ish politics, and he established firm Indian newspaper editors who have,
relationships with its leaders. His
foresight was proved to be fruitful
when a Labour Government, led
by Clement Richard Attlee, granted the development of society and to
independence to India in 1947.
In 1919, the year of the Jallian-
wala Bagh genocide, his health had
declined a great deal. By mid-July
1920, his condition worsened and
on August 1, he breathed his last.
Tilak used to tell his collegues in
Kesari and Mahratta, “You are not
writing for the university students.
Imagine you are talking to a vil-
lager. Be sure of your facts. Let your
words be as clear as daylight.” After
almost hundred years of his death-
his words are still relevant.
<
(The author presently heads the
Eastern India campus of the Indian
Institute of Mass Communication
in Dhenkanal, Odisha. This is the
tenth in a series of profiles of great
through the course of their work and
career, made a signal contribution
to India’s Freedom Movement, to
the development of Journalism. This
article was written in association with
Hrusikesh Mishra.)

Gandhian Peace March to cover 17 countries in a

year before ending in Geneva
A Gandhian Peace March will start from Delhi on October 2 this year from Raj Ghat, Delhi. It will cover ten
thousand kms in 17 countries before ending at Geneva on 25 September, International Peace Day, in 2020. This
march called Jai Jagat is part of a wider movement of world peace of the same name, based on Gandhiji’s ideas
for bringing peace to a deeply troubled world.
Jai Jagat is a greeting regularly used by Gandhians and members of the Sarvodaya Movement. Literally, it
translates as Victory of All in the World, or more properly as Well-Being of All in the World. The message it
seeks to convey really is ‘peace to all in the world’. The greeting, and the movement built on it , emphasises the
universe as family principle and, hence, moves away from narrow nationalism. As the need for world cooperation
is increasing to resolve the survival problems which affect all people in the world, the importance of the Jai Jagat
thinking increases more than ever before.
The march and movement also commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba
Gandhi.
P.V. Rajagopal, who has led the various organisations of Ekta Parishad in India for several years, is the overall
coordinator of the Jai Jagat March and the wider movement. Ekta Parishad has been deeply involved in struggles
of landless people and small farmers, with a special focus on tribal communities.
As preparations are being made for the big march, the organisers have appealed for economic support and
volunteers. Several organisations and eminent persons in India, Europe, Canada and other countries have extended
support. As a part of the preparatory work, ahimsa or non-violence training sessions are also being organised in
several countries. <

Bharat Dogra, New Delhi

July-September 2019 VIDURA 23

James Augustus Hicky and the
romance of India’s first paper
James Augustus Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, the first newspaper in Asia, was first published on 29th
January, 1780. Hickey was aware of the dangers of printing a newspaper. In his early life in London’s
printing industry, he had seen journalists punished and jailed. He resolved to avoid party politics and
scandal that had spelt doom for so many journalists. He expressed a level of social consciousness that
was well ahead of his time. R.V. Rajan unravels a fascinating story

I
t all began during Warren Hast- Alipore, near which the Imhoffs remained behind closed doors but
ings’ second trip to Madras in lived. It wasn’t long before the for the crusading zeal of a man who
1769 to take up a job with the Imhoffs were once again supported may be considered modern India’s
East India Company. Aboard The by Hastings and all Calcutta was first journalist, a wild Irishman
Duke of Grafton on which Hastings not only agog at the goings-on but seeking fame and fortune – James
was travelling, there was a young also rife with rumours of bargains Augustus Hicky, the founder of
couple, Baron Karl von Imhoff that the Baron and Governor were India’s first newspaper, the Bengal
and his wife, Maria Chapuset. The trying to strike. Whatever the truth Gazette, in 1780.
Baron was a painter, and Maria, behind the rumours, Calcutta had This is the story of Hicky’s early
an attractive 22-year-old, was a no doubt about the relationship years, of the forces that he came up
woman of wit and intelligence. The between the Governor-General- against, how the corrupt authori-
combination appealed to the wid- designate, the first to hold that ties determined to stop him and his
ower, Hastings. post in India, and the fashionable resourcefulness. The product of five
A poor sailor, Hastings became Baroness whose quaint English years of research by Andrew Otis in
progressively ill during the long was so charming the archives of India, UK and Ger-
nine-month voyage. Maria nursed Official news finally reached Cal- many, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette: The
him through it all. Her intelligent cutta in 1777 that the Baron, who Untold Story of India’s First Newspa-
conversation during the time led had been summoned to England per is an essential and compelling
to Maria Imhoff becoming Warren by the Company, had been granted addition to the history of journal-
Hastings’ official hostess aboard a divorce in June 1775 on grounds ism in the Subcontinent.
the ship. of incompatibility and being “an
Once in Madras, Hastings not abandoned conjugal mate”. Then *************************
only set up house for the Imhoffs Warren Hastings surprised all Cal-
but also moved close to them. After cutta by marrying, on August 8, After tiring of several jobs in Eng-
ten months in Madras and painting 1777, Anna Maria Appolonia Cha- land, Hicky decided to try his luck
half the settlement, Imhoff wanted puset, the bride being given away in India. He reached Calcutta in
to try his luck in Calcutta – and by his former schoolmate and the February 1773. His first job was
the Council agreed. But Imhoff then Chief Justice Sir Elijah Impey. to prescribe medicines, attend
left his wife and son behind and The Governor-General soon to bleeding patients and remov-
Hastings visited them regularly presented to Calcutta society, at a ing abscesses. Later, he borrowed
till Maria sailed for Calcutta to join reception, Britain’s first First Lady money to begin a business, pur-
her husband in October 1771. His of India, whom all Calcutta thereaf- chasing a small vessel to trade along
affair with Maria might have died ter called his ‘governess’. “Beloved the coast of India between Calcutta
a natural death but for the develop- Marian” not only held his heart in and Madras. Unfortunately, vessel
ment that was to change his whole thrall, but also had a “fixed ascen- and cargo were badly damaged in
life. He was appointed Governor of dancy over his mind”. To please bad weather and he was in deep
Bengal. Marian was to gain the favour of the trouble, unable to return the loan
By February 1772, Hastings Governor-General. But the expres- taken from bankers. And on 20th
was installed in Council House, sion of favour on several occasions October, 1776, he entered jail as a
Calcutta, to begin the most glori- bordered on gross misuse of office. debtor.
ous years of his career. He regu- The rumours about the corruption The bankers had seized every-
larly visited his small property in indulged in by Maria would have thing Hickey had – his ship, his

24 VIDURA July-September 2019

 Photos: Madras Musings
L-r: Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, Warren Hastings, and Maria Chapuset.

house, even his furniture. Fortu- the printing of new regulations. to stay away from politics would be
nately, an amount of Rs 2000 he had They stymied him at every turn. harder to keep than to make.
given to a trusted friend helped him He began to think of other ways
put the skills in printing that he had to make money. He felt that he *************************
learned earlier to good use. could be much more than a job
Hicky began working from his printer, someone who could pro- Hicky’s Bengal Gazette became a
hut in the jail, printing handbills, vide society with a useful service. sensation within a few weeks of its
advertisements, almanacs, docu- He thought he could do this by launch. “As a novelty every person
ments for the Supreme Court and bringing out a newspaper. read it and was delighted,” wrote
even insurance forms. After many Hicky spent the next few days the lawyer, William Hicky. People
long months, he scraped together posting notices all over the city were happy to have a newspaper.
a few hundred rupees, enough to about the launch of his newspaper. Printed on Saturdays, each issue
order a set of printing supplies from He promised to revolutionise news had four pages and cost one rupee,
England. William Hicky, a law- reporting in India and act as a similar in price to newspapers in
yer in the Supreme Court, helped community bulletin board, where England at the time. Hicky dedi-
Hicky win his cases and get rid everyone could post and reply to cated the first two or three pages
of all his debts, setting him free to advertisements. His proposal came to news and opinion letters, with
begin a business that would launch at a perfect time as news was in the remainder being for advertise-
him into prosperity. great demand in Calcutta because ments. He saw his newspaper as a
While still in jail, Hicky had of the ongoing wars in three conti- forum where people of many back-
got a contract with the East India nents which had disrupted trade. grounds could voice ideas for bet-
Company to print bills for the As the first journalist in India, he terment of society. As promised, he
Army, etc. It was his first con- would have a monopoly over news avoided politics.
tract with the Company. He was and he could expect many subscrib- As Hicky ventured into more
the only printer in Calcutta at the ers among hundreds of European topics, he touched upon the role
time. Armed with this experience, officers and thousands of British that women should fill in society.
he approached Sir Eyre Coote, the soldiers. He was also unusual for his times,
commander-in chief of the Com- Hicky was aware of the dangers reporting on the poor and lower
pany Army, for printing the new of printing a newspaper. In his early classes. He expressed a level of
regulations which Coote hoped life in London’s printing industry social consciousness that was well
would lay the foundation for the he had seen journalists punished ahead of his time. Sometimes, he
Army’s Code of Conduct for years and jailed for what they published. went a step further. His support of
to come. He resolved to avoid party politics the poor would turn into criticism
For Hicky, it was a huge order. and scandal that had spelt doom of the rich.
<
He borrowed money for the proj- for so many other journalists. In
ect, hired assistants for the print- his proposal for his newspaper he (The writer, former chairman,
ing line, carpenters, blacksmiths promised “rigid adherence to truth Anugrah Madison Advertising, has
and brass men to make equip- and facts” and a commitment to not authored a few books post-retirement.
ment. But unfortunately, Coote print anything that could “possibly This is the first of a two-part series.)
left Calcutta after giving him convey the smallest offence to any
the project. Since it was given to single individual”.
him without the knowledge of Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, the first
Governor General Warren Hast- newspaper in Asia, was first pub-
ings, he found himself in trouble. lished on 29th January, 1780. But
Many officers were opposed to Hicky soon realised that his promise

July-September 2019 VIDURA 25

How PR functions as a
responsible profession in the US
C.V. Narasimha Reddi discusses public relations as it is practiced in its hub – the United States – and
in other countries. He highlights some interesting features of the US version of the subject

T
he concept of Public Relations information service to influence the of the military PR section is giving
(PR) emerged in America people with propaganda material.” background briefing and escorting
at the beginning of the 20th As there is a strong private sector journalists for coverage to battlefield
Century and the US became the and a very strong private media, no military operations.
hub of global PR in the 21st Cen- need was felt for government to have
tury. Today, every organisation, be a separate Ministry of Information. Corporate sector
it public or private, practices public The PR service is organised at five Many corporations in the US have
relations with a global perspective levels: The White House, Congress, become global, controlling subsid-
to reach out to domestic and inter- federal agencies, state govern- iary companies that often produce
national stakeholders. ments, and local governments. This a bouquet of products under the
At the invitation of two universities is to ensure dissemination of infor- same corporate banner. Corporate
– San Jose State University, Califor- mation at every level clearly, effi- communications is the division in
nia and The University of Minnesota ciently, and to the widest number charge of relationships with stake-
– I visited the US in September and of people, about policies and pro- holders. Companies such as IBM
October 2018. My journey had twin grammes of the various agencies. and Coca Cola, which operate in a
missions – to give publicity to the highly competitive environment are
Indian model of Public Relations, The White House more sensitive than others to policy
and to study the practice of Public At the apex of government PR is the issues, public attitudes and cor-
Relations, its current trends, and PR White House. The President of the porate reputation. Consequently,
education, in the US. United States receives more media their corporate communications
attention than the Congress and all departments place more emphasis
PR in the US Government the federal agencies combined. The on establishing interactive social
While the Indian Government has White House press secretary plays media sites, regular contact with
a separate Ministry of Information a great role in media relations, issu- traditional media, sponsorship of
and Broadcasting, a legacy of Brit- ing press releases and responding to events, writing executive speeches,
ish colonialism, to inform, educate reporters’ questions at daily brief- media releases and counselling
and motivate people as active part- ings in order to portray the president management about issues that could
ners of democratic polity, the US in the best possible manner. In fact, potentially affect the bottom line.
Government, without such a cen- the press secretary is the ‘face and Public relations in the corporate
tralised office, has an independent voice’ of the president both to the sector is divided into specialised
and self-contained Public Affairs media and to the public worldwide. sections such as media relations,
Unit in each ministry and every investor relations, consumer affairs,
federal department. If the Indian Public affairs government relations, community
system is all-in-one, the US Public In the US Government, the term relations, employee communica-
Information unit acts as one-to-one. ‘public relations’ is not used. Instead tion, reputation management and
When asked why there is no cen- ‘public affairs’ is what is in vogue. crisis management. Each section
tralised Ministry of Information in Public Affairs officials are attached to has either a manager or a director,
the US, Dennis L. Wilcox, professor various federal agencies. One of the who functions under the control of
emeritus of PR and the past direc- largest public affairs operations in a vice-president.
tor, School of Journalism and Mass the federal government is conducted
Communication, San Jose State Uni- by the Department of Defence that Global PR
versity, said, “People in the US are oversees the armed forces. About Global public relations, also called
suspicious of the Federal Govern- one million news releases are issued international PR, is the planned and
ment, thinking it might misuse the annually. One of the assignments organised efforts of a corporation, an

26 VIDURA July-September 2019

 • PR education: PR education
is offered as a major subject
at the UG level on par with
Journalism. This is to ensure
specialisation.
• PR agencies: PR agencies which
brought professionalism both
at national and international
levels play a dominant role in
corporate PR.
• Media relations: Effective rela-
tions with the media gets top
Photo: CVNR

priority in corporate commu-

nications so as to reach out to
all stakeholders. In-house PR
entrusts media relations to PR
The writer seen addressing Public Relations students at San Jose State University, agencies.
California.
• Thought leaders: Since jour-
institution or a government to estab- relations was the establishment of nalists rarely cover technical
lish and build relationships with the accreditation programmes. The subjects, thought leaders are
engaged for storytelling at
public of other nations. When many Public Relations Society of America
thought leaders’ workshops
corporations became global, the was the first in the world to intro- and for writing articles with
need for global communication was duce professional accreditation by-lines. Such workshops get
felt and the United States and Euro- about 60 years ago. The core topics maximum media coverage.
pean nations began exporting their for the two-and-a-half-hour exam • Private media: Private sector and
public relations expertise to Asian include: research, planning, execu- private media are strong,which
and African countries. tion and evaluation of programmes, has a direct bearing on corpo-
Hill & Knowlton, for example, ethics and law, communication rate communications.
claims to be the first US PR Agency models and theories, business • Innovation: Innovation is the
to launch a PR event in China. Global literacy, management skills, cri- key to the success of USA, in sci-
PR firms not only established their sis communication management, entific and technological devel-
branches in other countries but are media relations, information tech- opment, making it the number
also affiliated with Indian and Chi- nology, history and current trends one economy of the world. This
nese firms. In fact, US PR today is in PR, and advanced communica- has impacted PR too.
the guiding force across the world. tion skills. • Professional accreditation:
Based on my observations and PRSA introduced professional
PR education interaction with academia and PR accreditation to improve stand-
Higher education is big business professionals, I have identified 10 ards and professionalism in
in the United States. The country is interesting features of PR in Amer- PR. Candidates have to appear
ahead of all others in the world both for a two-tier exam – one online
ica. India can benefit from these
before a panel of PR peers and
in PR education and PR literature. features: the second, a two-and-a-half
Many US universities have a three- hour written exam on core top-
tier PR education at undergraduate, • Research: PR research has
become more sophisticated ics of PR. Those who pass earn
postgraduate and doctorate levels. A the APR (Accredited in Public
with the concept of evaluation.
unique feature, when compared to Relations) title.
<
India, is that PR is offered as a major • Policy-making: PR is used by
course at the UG level to ensure top management in policy-
making rather than just for (The writer is former director,
specialisation. Four majors – Journal- State Information and Public
communicating.
ism, Public Relations, Advertising Relations Department, Andhra
and Mass Communication – are • Persuasion banned: Congress
has banned the concept of per- Pradesh, and editor of Public
offered, while at the PG level Mass Relations Voice.)
suading people in government
Communication with different spe- as it amounts to influencing the
cialisations is available. minds of people. Instead, the
emphasis is on dissemination
Professional accreditation of information so that people
One major step to improve the stan- can form their own opinions on
dard and professionalism of public a given subject.

July-September 2019 VIDURA 27

Cinema journalism isn’t yellow
press, time it is treated seriously
Film journalism is an important facet of the whole cinema-watching experience. It is a sort of aqueduct
between the cine fraternity and the audience. It beautifully combines the distinct features of cinema
with those of journalism. Bharati Bharali talks of the evolution of this genre in Assam and says cinema
journalism should be treated as a part of professional journalism, rather than as gossip or yellow
journalism or a mere promotional tool for cinema

B
ijoli, the first Bengali cine The feeling of disappointment pro-
magazine, which came out
in 1920, is also believed to be
one of the earliest film magazines Jyoti Prasad Rasanawali (a compila-
in India. It marked the coming
together of cinema and journalism
in the country.
In Assam, cine journalism can be
traced back to the 1960s. Though
the birth of Assamese cinema took
place in the 1930s, there were no
film journalists per se in the state till
the 1950s.
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, the father
of Assamese cinema, can also be
considered the pioneer of cine jour-
nalism. He was not impressed by
the reviews published about his
film. He believed that a film critic and writer-editor Pabitra Kumar
needs to understand the language
of a film before he can criticise it. The late Choudhury and Deka
Roopkat was one of the early popular
film magazines.
Golden Lotus Award (best film
pelled him to write several essays on critic) in the Indian Panorama. Com-
various aspects of the film industry. memorating the contribution of the
late Deka, the State Government of
tion on Jyoti Prasad Agarwala) is a Assam instituted the Pabitra Kumar
testament of his feel for Assamese Deka Award for Best Film Critic in
cinema since its inception. the state in 2010.
During the 1960s, many newspa- From the mid-1960s, film-related
pers occasionally published reviews news was published on the culture
of films. In addition, posters of pages of various daily newspapers
films appeared on the first pages on Fridays or Saturdays. No Page
of newspapers as advertisements 3 exists even today, and cinema
on or before the day of the release remains a part of cultural report-
of the film. Nevertheless, there was ing. It is worth mentioning here
no sustained cine journalism in the that contributions by Nirod Choud-
state until well-known Assamese hury, back in the 1960s-70s, made
short story-writer Nirod Choud- the culture section of the Assamese
hury and film critic Phani Talukdar weekly, Asom Bani, one of the most
popular pages of the time.
Deka took it up as a passion. Chitra Sangbad, an Assamese
weekly newspaper dedicated to cin-
wrote film reviews, highlighted ema, was launched in 1990. It was
various aspects of cinema, pub- edited by Surjya Hazarika. Some of
lished books on the subject, and the popular magazines that focused
took steps to promote cinema in on cinema in Assam till the 1990s
Assam. Their contribution inspired include Roopkar (edited by Pabitra
many to come into the field. Kumar Deka), Awakash (edited by
They were followed by Shekhar Arun Lochan Das and Bikram),
Jyoti Bhuyan and Kamal Lochan Das. Chitram, ShilpirPrithibi (edited by
Other eminent exponents of film Beni Madhab and Hem Bora; it
journalism include Apurba Kumar ran till 2004), and Ranghar (edited
Das, Kamal Lochan Das, Arun by SashiPhukan). The magazines
Lochan Das, Prafulla Kumar Dutta, basically covered news regarding
Utpal Dutta, Razek Ali Ahmed, release of films, shooting details
Sibanu Borah, Kamal Kumar Bhaga- and sound recording, along with
wati, Pranab Kumar Sarma, Azhar- film reviews.
Alam, Chandan Sarma, Monoranjan Some, like Roopkar, also pub-
Kalita, Hem Chandra Doley, Pro- lished advertisements of lead actors
mod Kalita, Utpal Mena, Nayan in black and white as a part of the
Prasad and Parthajit Barua. promotion of films. Parntik, a socio-
Apurba Kumar Sarma and Manoj cultural and political fortnightly,
Barpujari were recipients of the edited by eminent film director,

28 VIDURA July-September 2019

 Photos: BB
L-r: Pabitra Kumar Deka, Nirod Choudhury and Phani Talukdar— their collective passion brought a new meaning to cinema
journalism in Assam.

Bhabendra Nath Saikia, introduced including world cinema, bridging provide information on Assamese
a classic narrative style, promoting the gap caused by poor Internet cinema.
citizen journalism on film criticism penetration. In this context, the FICCI-KPMG
and discussion since its inception in Bisoi Cinema (Topic Cinema) is Report 2018 points out that reve-
the 1980s. The style is maintained the latest addition (2018) to the cin- nue from digital cinema has grown
till date. ema journalism scenario of Assam. quickly in India over the Past cou-
Popular monthlies such as Bis- Edited by Manoj Borpujari, the ple of years, indicating a plethora of
moy, Rahasya andTrishnaatur pub- quarterly magazine aims to build opportunities in the coming years.
lished film-related news. Many cine literacy. In terms of content, Of course, Assamese film makers
current film journalists began their it is inclines more towards serious have made use of the initiatives
careers with these magazines. In discussion than news alone. for promoting their films in social
2003, Sa Re Ga Ma, edited by Janar- Today, cine journalism has media, opening Facebook pages,
dan Goswami, came out. It cov- acquired a new avatar. Emulat- acquiring crowd funding, interact-
ered almost all aspects of cinema, ing the transition of film screening ing with students etc.
from big screens to With changing technology, the
mini screens of smart cinema industry in Assam needs
phones, cine journal- solid cine journalism. Cinema
ism has become pop- journalists can cultivate cinema
corn literature. Online literacy among the audience. They
streaming and perpet- can groom a ‘good’ audience for
uation via social media cinema, inculcate the ability to
have transformed cin- make the right choices, encourage
ema viewing experi- sentiment for Assamese cinema
ence too, from being a and, hence, indirectly promote
part of a large society the industry. Cinema journalism
to a very personalised should be treated as a part of pro-
and customised view- fessional journalism, rather than as
ing experience. ‘gossip’ or ‘yellow journalism’ or a
Filmmakers prefer mere promotional tool for cinema.
digital platforms over
<
traditional or conven-
tional mediums, and (The writer is assistant professor,
instead of the usual Department of Communication and
press meets, filmmak- Journalism, Gauhati University.
ers enjoy social media She wishes to acknowledge the
reviews that are fresh contribution of Utpal Dutta, Manoj
and instant on release Barpujari and Titiksha Das in helping
of teasers, songs or the her collect information for this piece.)
Chitra Sambad, a weekly focused on cinema, was film itself. Platforms
launched in 1990. like Kotha Sobi.com

July-September 2019 VIDURA 29

Is crowdfunding the solution
for independent filmmakers?
While ‘crowdfunding’ may seem a relatively new term, the concept as such isn’t new. In the good old
days, people who wanted to make a film raised money with help from friends, peers, and known ones.
Today, of course, thanks to Facebook and platforms like Ketto, Wishberry and Catapoolt, crowdfunding
seems much easier, says Mou Mukherjee

D
oodh Pither Gachh directed shaped into various forms often Manthan (1976), directed by
by Ujjwal Basu, 2019, fea- stuffed with coconut and other Shyam Benegal, was the first movie
turing Daminee Beni Basu, sweet ingredients) too can grow to be crowdfunded in India exhibit-
Kaushik Roy and Harshil Das, has from a seed if planted and taken ing the power of ‘collective might’.
something unusual, apart from care properly. The film won the National Film
the storyline. The unusual part is Few years ago, it would have Awards in multiple categories in
about its funding. Films, especially been impossible to think of such an 1977 and was also the Indian sub-
with an unusual storyline, rarely unusual theme getting screened, mission for the Academy Award
find producers in the traditional but with various crowdfunding for Best Foreign Language Film for
commercial set-up and that, too, platforms acting as venture capital- 1976. Verghese Kurien enthusiasti-
in regional cinema. Very few pro- ists, the dreams of many budding cally reached out to the five lakh
ducers love to experiment with film directors in regional cinema milkmen, all members of the Guja-
non-traditional themes. However, have come true. rat Co-operative Milk Marketing
thanks to crowdfunding, the scene New Media or social media has Federation, with an invitation to be
has changed completely – young been instrumental in bringing producers of the film by donating
Turks are venturing into produc- about changes that have helped Rs 2 each.
ing films without having to worry cinema in India in terms of revenue Shyam Benegal’s Susman (1978),
about funding. generation, promotions, distribu- a film about the handloom weavers
Doodh Pither Gachh is a crowd- tion, online viewership and even in India, was funded by the hand-
funded film in Bengali – 950 fami- capital investment. A new set of loom centres in Banaras and Kar-
lies in a village called Aranghata consumers have emerged with nataka. Antarnaad (1991), a film on
in the district of Nadia, raised entrepreneurial capabilities, who the Swadhyay Movement, which
about Rs 19 lakh to fund the film. are ready to invest in films – they campaigned on a socio-economic
The story ios about a small boy are now actively involved in mak- scheme by the farming and fish-
and his beliefs called Gour; he has ing films, starting from ideation ing community was also shown in
a strong conviction that just as to production to shooting to pro- Kenya, East Africa and Uganda.
fruits and vegetables grow from a motion. There is an out-of the box In recent times, films from all
seed, the peethey (a typical Bengali thinking and a spirit to venture out genre with all possible themes in all
dish made from wheat flour and into something new. languages are making a beeline on

How does crowdfunding work? A look at the diagrams will help you understand better.

30 VIDURA July-September 2019

 Photos: MM
Posters for Bultir Result, a Bengali film, and Punyakoti, an animated film in Sanskrit based on Tamil folkcore.

various crowdfunding platforms a language but it also tries to potray through numerous checks and bal-
like Wishberry and Kett o. In 2017, its culture through puppetry, so ances before doing so.
Bengali language fi lm Bultir Result, popular in Karnataka. The whole process of crowd-
directed by Pinaki Sarkar, made a Bengali movies like Call Of The funding is transparent where both
debut as a crowdfunded fi lm in Open Road, Friday Night Origi- the producers and the directors
the regional language and man- nals, Kojagori and Yatharth are in are active participants. While the
aged to raise Rs 8 lakh. The story the pipeline. As Kett o (a crowd- going may be tough in some states
revolved around a small town girl, funded platform) owners, actor like West Bengal, the distribution of
Bulti, from Badkula, who after Kunal Kapoor and Varun Seth, fi lms is always a problematic issue.
scoring the highest markets in West say, it is just the beginning and Nevertheless, the gains are often
Bengal’s board exams is fl ooded with regional fi lm makers att empt- quite bright.
<
with appreciation and hounded ing much more daring subjects the
by media, turning her life up side regional fi lm industry is bound to (The writer is an educator based
down. see some good fi lms. in Kolkata whose areas of interest
Lucia, a Kannada thriller directed While crowdfunding may be a include media studies
by Pawan Kumar, managed to raise new term, the concept was there. and new media.)
Rs 51 lakh in 2013. The fi lm’s intro- Earlier, people who wanted to
duction mentions: “First Kannada make a fi lm raised money with
fi lm produced by the audience”. help from friends, peers and
Wishberry in 2015 raised funds known ones. Today, Facebook and
worth Rs 41 lakh for the world’s fi rst platforms like Kett o, Wishberry
Sanskrit animated movie, Punya- and Catapoolt are bringing peo-
koti, based on Tamil folklore. Not ple together under the same roof.
only does it try to revive Sanskrit as Those who invest in projects do go

RIND Survey

Our Journals
To read articles,
plase visit
www.pressinstitute.in

Lucia, a Kannada thriller that managed to raise Rs 51 lakh with the help of crowdfunding.

July-September 2019 VIDURA 31

 Shades of conflict expressed
well in recent Indian cinema
Cinema as a medium of expression, explores the theme of conflict from many angles, and Indian movies
have given expression to the concept well beyond its official definition. Here, Shoma A. Chatterji looks
at a few of the films that stood out for content and treatment

T
he United Nations defines thumping Marathi hit, Sairat, a con- cinema, especially since the onset of
any conflict where there are flict based on caste, status and social the 21st Century, has focussed on con-
more than 1000 battlefield class snowballs into widespread vio- flict in all its shades – individual, col-
deaths as a ‘major conflict’. In 1965, lence spearheaded by the powerful lective, and even national, such as in
there were 10 major conflicts, and father of the girl against the low-caste Vishaal Bharadwaj’s Haider loosely
in 1992, the number went up to 50 and middle-class boy she elopes adapted from William Shakespeare’s
with another 84 lesser conflicts. In with. The conflict also assumes a Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.
the post-Cold War era, most of these political colour because the father is
were civil or intra-state conflicts. a powerful politician too. Contradictions in Lagaan
States were involved in internal Hindu-Muslim conflicts in India Amir Khan, with his sharp intelli-
conflicts resulting in major casual- have been going on for centuries gence and ability to convey a social
ties within civilian population. This and this has been a popular theme message and turn a mainstream film
definition does not quite cover the in Indian cinema from many years. into a relevant socio-political state-
broader question of what conflict The depiction of Hindi Muslim riots ment, gives a token nod to the Dalits
can or cannot do to a person. always presents disturbing and neg- in Lagaan. Bhuvan accidentally dis-
Sometimes, conflict raises ques- ative images. Films like Krantiveer, covers that this young man with a
tions of choice while at other times, Black Friday, Fiza, Parzania, Zakhm limp hand can spin a ball extremely
it raises counter questions to other and Bombay are a few that represent well, and stresses how his disability
questions. Conflict sometimes con- the conflicts in different narratives. is an asset and not a liability for the
nects to ethical principles of life and In the larger framework, however, cricket team.
values too, such as a difference in individual conflicts within a single Thus, very cleverly, Khan blends
the values of parents and children individual, interpersonal conflicts the ‘disability’ ticket and the ‘Dalit’
and their respective beliefs in secu- between and among individuals, con- ticket into one. Very convenient, if
larism and/ or fundamental reli- flicts between two classes/ communi-
gious beliefs and practices. ties/ groups of people, are addressed
In the recent film, Dhadak, for more through media outlets in gen-
instance, an adaptation of the eral and cinema in particular. Indian
Photos: SC

Posters from Haider and Lagaan (above), and of Chak De India, Parched, Uri and Raazi on other pages.

32 VIDURA July-September 2019

you add the Dalit’s silence to this, who wishes to redeem himself from the team. He doesn’t mind the fact
Bhuvan includes him in his cricket the stigma of having deliberately that the players are turning against
team. This angers the other mem- lost the hockey match for the Indian him, but if that results in the girls
bers, who refuse to practise and team, for which he was thrown out working together towards one goal,
participate with an untouchable, but of the Indian team forever. The con- then, he feels, he would have taken
Bhuvan manages to persuade them flict includes self-questioning on the first step towards the team’s
and they go to the extent of praising whether the wrongful accusation success.
him for “opening their eyes”. was because he was a Muslim in
The young man’s name is Kachra, the Indian team and the match in Parched – conflict within rural
which means waste or garbage question was against Pakistan; this women
in colloquial Hindi, perhaps lay- conflict is individual, collective and The word ‘parched’ has a wide
ing bare the truth of his identity political too. range of meanings, including sear-
and social status. S. Anand, author As an official coach for the Indian ing, scorching, blistering, flaming,
and journalist, points out that women’s hockey team chosen to blazing hot, baking, burning, fiery,
though Kachra seems pleased to represent India in international torrid and withering. The story
be included in the mainstream, hockey, Kabir needs to gain the con- is placed in contemporary times
albeit only for the match, his voice fidence of the girls who are familiar within the remote heartlands of
is never heard. He is almost dumb with his history, resolve the conflict Rajasthan. This partly explains the
and takes his marginalisation for within himself on putting together ambience and the climate of the
granted. Anand pertinently points girls from different states and social place that is parched, devoid of
out that “he is never asked whether backgrounds, and discipline the water bodies and the moisture that
he would like to be included in girls within and outside the game, rains bring.
such a game. It is not clear whether on and off the field, which creates Another meaning of ‘parched’
this Dalit, portrayed so pathetically, other kinds of conflict because some refers to an individual’s thirst, to
is even aware of why the game is of the girls do not have faith in him dehydration, which, in the film,
being played.” and believe the gossip that haunts reaches beyond the physical dimen-
Anand further points out that in his past. sions to imply the ‘parched’ lives
Lagaan, no character is identified by The conflict within this disparate of women and girls – thirsty for
his caste or faith other than Kachra. group of girls who do not even love, for a sense of belonging, for
Why? Because he is the ideal peg to speak a common language is finally a degree of self-esteem, and, most
demonstrate Amir Khan and Asu- resolved when he indirectly and importantly, the desperate thirst for
tosh Gowarikar’s lip service to the strategically plays out a solidarity sex. The collective thirst simmers
Dalits. The triumph lies in the fact game when one of them is teased
that Lagaan was a massive commer- by some boys at a cafeteria and he
cial hit and we were mesmerised allows them to fight together to
right through the two-hour- forty- protect the victim. His aim is simple
minute screening time. and clear – to get this team to win
the upcoming Women’s Hockey
Chak De India World Cup in Australia. Kabir’s first
The film It deals with the tremendous and foremost aim as far coaching
inner conflict within Kabir Khan is concerned is to bring unity into

July-September 2019 VIDURA 33

inside the women to finally burst uses stunning tech-
into tongues of fire, consuming the nique and brilliant
environment that has smothered acting by almost all
their existence for so long. members of the cast
The men in the village are per- to drive the message
sonifications of ‘dryness’ and lack home. This film deals
of ‘moisture’. They hardly earn a with conflict, like all
living or contribute to housework. war films, both at the
Yet, they retain the right to decide individual level and at
that a young girl of the village the collective level, as
must go back to her husband who the script has interna-
does not touch her, has a woman tional implications. But
on the side, and keeps silent when no one is killed on the
his wife is raped by his father and Indian side, which is a
his brother every night because bit difficult to believe
it is her duty to live or die in the or to take seriously as
husband’s house. They are stupid a recreation of history.
to label Naobi, a Manipuri girl, as Meghna Gulzar’s
a ‘foreigner’ spoiling the minds Raazi is based on a
of the village women by helping true story from the
them to get work. book, Calling Sehmat,
by former Lt Com-
Uri – the ‘surgical strike’ mander Harinder
The film is a bold attempt by deb- Sikka. A very young
utant director Aditya Dhar that Sehmat (Alia Bhatt)
pushed up the box-office pros- who has just begun to
pects of such films and also the enjoy her college life
average box office expectations of is manipulated into becoming a that. This is a film that projects and
all Bollywood films. It is based on spy. This is achieved through care- represents the inner conflict of the
the surgical strikes conducted in ful and shrewd brainwashing by protagonist, Sehmat, a conflict
2016 by the Indian Army against her spy father (Rajit Kapoor), who imposed on her by circumstances
militant launch pads in Pakistan- will soon die of cancer and needs beyond her control.
<
occupied Kashmir (PoK). Around someone to replace him in the intel-
35 to 50 terrorists were reportedly ligence circle of the Indian espio- (The writer is a senior journalist
killed in the covert operation, in nage system. Who better than his and film historian based in Kolkata.
retaliation to the terrorist attack own daughter? She is taken out of She was presented the South Asia
on Uri that killed 19 Indian college and placed under an intel- Laadli Media and Advertising Award
soldiers. ligence officer expert in training for Gender Sensitivity 2017.
Subsequently, Pakistan denied interns in espionage skills. There- This is an abstract of a presentation
the incident. In spite of trying to fore, she is not really a genuinely she made at a seminar on political
recreate history, the film romanti- committed spy because no one has narratives in Indian cinema held in
cises history to a large extent and asked her whether she would like January at the Indian Institute of
to be one. In fact, she was not given Mass Communication,
the space to refuse. Dhenkanal, Odisha.)
Sehmat becomes a pawn in a
well-designed plan that includes
marriage to the younger son of a
top-ranking defence officer (Shishir
Sharma). In other words, not only
is she manipulated into the intel-
ligence department, but her mar-
riage is really a part of the entire
espionage strategy. Her ‘commit-
ment to the cause of the country’,
therefore, is a product of pure
manipulation and nothing beyond

34 VIDURA July-September 2019

 A fictional detective becomes
the subject of a master film
Feluda was Satyajit Ray’s famous detective. Shoma A. Chatterji talks about impact of the fictional character, and
of a documentary made by Sagnik Chatterjee to celebrate Feluda’s 50th birthday

F
eluda is identified almost To commemorate the first Feluda feature-length documentary on
completely with the person novel’s 50th birthday, young direc- Feluda is really striking. “Once,
who created him – Satyajit tor Sagnik Chatterjee has made a scriptwriter Shama Zaidi told me a
Ray, considered one of the ten best wonderful documentary film called strange story. She said that during
filmmakers in the world, accord- Feluda – 50 Years of Ray’s Detec- the making of Shatranj Ke Khiladi,
ing to a cover story in Time maga- tive, exploring different aspects of she was travelling by train from
zine some years ago. Ray began Feluda and, in the process, shedding Delhi to Lucknow along with Satya-
his career as a commercial artist. considerable light on Ray’s literary jit Ray. His height drew the atten-
He designed book covers and the talents. Feluda turned 50 in 2017 tion of some of the passengers and
logo of Nandan, the cinema com- and the film, begun several years one of them asked Zaidi who the
plex in Kolkata. But his tryst with ago, is being released now because tall gentleman who seemed to be
the world of fiction began with a it was stalled for a few years when very familiar, was. When she told
series of adventure thrillers with the producer backed out. them that it was Satyajit Ray, the
a detective as the central charac- Chatterjee got interested in films man immediately said, “Oh! The
ter. Though this character’s given when he happened to watch Ray’s man who writes books for children,
name was Pradosh Mitter, fans Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne as a right?” I was thrilled because till
everywhere know him as Feluda. young boy. He went on to become then, I had no clue that his Feluda
Ray created a new world through a serious film buff. After getting his stories had travelled beyond Ben-
Feluda’s adventures while solving master’s in Mass Communications gal and had a pan-Indian identity.
crimes. The character remained from Symbiosis, Pune, he joined He was no less famous as a writer
confined to the pages of the printed Govind Nihalani as assistant, and it than he was as a great filmmaker.
book till Ray, the filmmaker, turned out to be a fascinating learn- Perhaps, it was then that the seeds
decided to bring him to life on cel- ing experience. of this film were sown in me,” Sag-
luloid, in a film named Sonar Kella However, the incident that trig- nik says.
(The Golden Fort.) gered his desire to make an entire, Sagnik began to work with Ray’s
son Sandip Ray on films and this
must have brought him closer to
Ray and his working style. He has
produced and directed this film,
his debut. It is both a tribute to the
fictional character Feluda and his
‘family’ and creator, Satyajit Ray.
Chatterjee has ingenuously used
the framing device of a little girl
talking about her fondness for
Feluda books, which began when
her father read them to her. The
editing is quite smooth while the
Photos: Sagnik Chatterjee

cinematography wanders a bit. The

music is principally drawn from
Ray’s own compositions. The run-
ning commentary by Mir is reason-
ably paced and well-articulated,
and does not intrude into the
Sagknik Chatterjee (right) with the legendary Soumitra Chatterjee. content; rather, it enhances it. The

July-September 2019 VIDURA 35

Eye-catching book covers and posters that celebrate the Feluda magic.

research is sound and substantial, the common man in tough situa- overnight star the day following
and that gives a special edge to the tions which he overcomes. It’s noth- the release of Sonar Kella. Sandip
entire film. ing but the triumph of a regular Ray adds that his father received
Says Sagnik, “Documentaries and citizen. Also, I love the relationship much more fan mail from admir-
even fictional biopics are made on between Feluda, Topshe, Jatayu and ers of Feluda than from admirers
writers, painters, musicians and so Sidhu Jetha. This is unique because of his films.
on, but this is a film which devotes the chemistry between Feluda and The film is roughly divided into
one hour and 52 minutes to a fic- his nephew-cum-assistant Topshe two halves. The first is filled with
tional character who does not exist is much stronger than the blood the views of directors, fans span-
but is very real to those who have ties they share. Shidhu Jetha, who ning two generations, fans from
known him through his adventures knows everything about every- abroad, scholars of Feluda and even
and interesting ways of solving thing, I am told, was inspired by one popular author who has writ-
crimes. This has been a wonderful a real-life character. Feluda intro- ten detective thrillers himself. The
learning experience because during duces us to the concept of the global second half is devoted to the films
research and shooting, I met very citizen,” explains Sagnik. made on Feluda’s adventures, by
important people from different The titles of the novels were often both Satyajit Ray and Sandip Ray.
fields who have been associated alliterative, such as Gangtokey Gon- The part gets to drag after a point
with Ray or his Feluda in different dogol or, Joto Kando Kathmandu and needs some sharp editing.
ways. Te, or, Bombaiyer Bombetey. Also, Says Sagnik, “The written lan-
“I met and spoke to Soumi- Ray, a trained commercial artist, guage, the nature of the crime,
tra Chatterjee who portrayed the did vivid illustrations for the nov- humour and characters are very
first Feluda; then, Sabyasachi els himself and they are very lucid modern. Any young adult today
Chakraborty, the next Feluda. But and entertaining. He also designed can easily relate to these factors.
what excited me was my meeting the covers and the graphics of the Another important factor is the
with Ashish Nandi who analysed titles. childlike naiveté that makes the
Feluda from a completely different The film showcases the massive characters and events very lovable
perspective, investing the character collection of covers of Feluda books for readers of all ages.”
<
with the quality of cosmopolitanism over time while Soumitra Chat-
devoid of glamour but with empha- terjee surprises us when he says
sis on values and human intellect.” that though he was an established
“I feel the characters in Feluda actor when he played Feluda for
novels are a sheer delight. Ray puts the first time, he found himself an

36 VIDURA July-September 2019

 Media campaign throws light
on untreated post-flush ‘poo’
Building of toilets under the Swacchh Bharat programme has only made matters worse, with faecal
sludge generated from toilets in small towns and cities finding their way into rivers and streams owing
to inadequate sewerage systems and sewage treatment plants, says Rina Mukherji. The solution,
she points out, lies in opting for modern septic tanks that will treat faecal sludge at the local level
before it gets into drains

I
ndia generates a staggering 1.7 So, are toilets the problem? Not advocate decentralised treatment of
million tonnes of faecal waste really. faecal waste.
a day, yet 78 per cent remains The solution lies in opting for Navrangi Re focuses on urban
untreated and is disposed off into modern septic tanks that will treat sanitation by showing how, in a
rivers, lakes and drains. faecal sludge at the local level in small-town neighbourhood, the
An analysis by the Centre for Sci- a decentralised manner before it lack of a septic tank in a particular
ence & Environment (CSE) showed sent into the drains and conveyed home results in fecal sludge directly
that in 2009, although India gener- through the sewerage system to flowing into drains, causing a hor-
ated sewage amounting to 38255 mil- STPs. rible stench and sickness all over.
lion litres daily (MLD), its capacity to In the absence of a septic tank, The message is conveyed through
treat was only 11788 MLD, a mere 30 solid waste enters drains and water a light comedy and is all about how
per cent of the total waste generated. bodies untreated, posing a major everyone joins hands to enlighten
However, the actual sewage health hazard. This is what BBC the recalcitrant neighbour.
treated was even less – 8251 MLD, Media Action’s # Flush keBaad Proj- The campaign has been using vox
just about 22 per cent. In fact, on a ect, funded by the Bill & Melinda pops, informational factoids, Bolly-
rough estimate, around 70 per cent Gates Foundation, through Ashoka wood-type rap and star videos to
of the faecal waste generated in India University, is out to convey to peo- alert people to the dangers of open
goes untreated, according to the Cen- ple since its launch on March 29 this discharge of faecal waste. So far,
tral Pollution Control Board. year. it has garnered 7.7 million unique
Building of toilets everywhere The media package is made of a users, with 2.7 million total views.
under the Swacchh Bharat pro- television serial, Navrangi Re, tele- Audience engagement on social
gramme, has only made matters cast on the Colors Rishtey TV chan- media is estimated at 8-11 per cent.
worse, with faecal sludge gener- nel, and a digital film in the form
<
ated from toilets in small towns of a qawwali opera that talks of the
and cities, finding their way into disposal of faecal sludge once it is (The writer is a senior journalist
rivers and streams owing to inad- flushed down a toilet. based in Pune.)
equate sewerage systems and sew- The campaign has also used mes-
age treatment plants (STPs). sages on Facebook and Twitter to
Photos: RM

A retro grab (left) from the digital film carrying the message and a promo shot of Navrangi Re. The serial is being telecast on
Colors Rishtey.

July-September 2019 VIDURA 37

CRICKET WORLD CUP

Frustration, controversy aside,

there was much to savour
Whether there was frustration over the weather which caused four matches to be abandoned, or
criticism about the umpiring standards, or the controversy over the final, in many ways it was arguably
the finest one-day international competition of all, says Partab Ramchand. The good far outweighed
the bad and the 2019 World Cup will take its place as among the best in the competition’s history, he
is convinced

I
f an author sent the manuscript been England, and in the third it Now that the Cricket World Cup
of what happened in June’s would have been New Zealand. is over, it’s time to take stock of the
World Cup final to a pub- Days after the final, England good, the bad and ugly aspects of
lisher it would have been rejected Captain Eoin Morgan was quoted the 12th edition of the competition.
right away. And if a film maker as saying that it was perhaps not Thankfully, there were hardly any
approached a financier with a a fair result. “I don’t think it is ugly aspects. On the contrary, Kane
screenplay resembling the events, fair to have a result like that when Williamson saw to it that the noble
the latter would have refused to there is very little between the traditions of the sport were upheld.
back the project. ‘Too far fetched’ sides,” he said. Yes, and the man- As a leader of men, he is unequalled
would have been the refrain and ner in which players from both in his philosophical attitude, his
they would not have been far off sides conducted themselves on calm demeanor and his willingness
from the mark. It does not happen the field endeared them to the mil- to accept a situation in which any
in fiction books let alone in reality, lions of followers of the game who other captain would have ranted
they would have said and, yet, the sat through the unbelievable and and raved. This man was the apo-
drama that unfolded before our extended proceedings transfixed theosis of grace and dignity.
eyes was very much real life and and unable to drag themselves The New Zealand captain’s
not reel life. from the dramatic events and ask- approach then would head the
I have never been one for a tro- ing the inevitable question, ‘Has list of good things to be associated
phy to be shared. There should be a there been another cricket match with the World Cup but on the field
winner and there should be a loser. like this?’ there was much to savour. Several
After all, that is what sport is basi- For all its twists and turns, for brilliant batting and bowling per-
cally all about. But I am prepared to the several heroic performances, formances, fielding and catching
admit that the 2019 Cricket World and for its finish that was straight efforts that took one’s breath away
Cup should have been shared by out of the realms of fantasy, the and the many games that went
England and New Zealand. The final is not just easily the greatest down to the wire.
boundary count was an unsatis- World Cup final but takes its place As a tactician too Williamson
factory solution for picking the alongside two other finishes that excelled and his captaincy was cer-
winner. will never be erased from the minds tainly one reason why New Zealand
After such a denouement – a tied of cricket fans – Birmingham 1999, virtually finished joint champions.
match followed by a tied super over and Johanessburg 2006. But being a The chorus of sharing the trophy
– they should have been ‘adjudged World Cup final will always give it got more vociferous in the days fol-
joint winners’ even if I have never a special aura. lowing the final and while that may
particularly liked that phrase. But One can safely bet that the not happen it illustrates that while
even if there had to be a winner and absurdly fanciful double result – a England might have won the tro-
a loser, the head-to-head result in tied game followed by a tied super phy, New Zealand won the hearts.
the group stage, who finished ahead over – will never again be repeated. Before the tournament com-
in the points table or with lesser A World Cup that came in for a menced, there was talk of the first
number of wickets lost in the final, lot of criticism – some valid, some total of 500 being registered. On
would have been a more acceptable unreasonable – ended in a most the contrary, not even 400 was put
way to end the deadlock. In the first bewitching manner even if contro- up, with the highest being 397 for
two cases, the winner would have versy was never far off. six. While there were four totals in

38 VIDURA July-September 2019

 individual score was table, provided further glimpses of
166, whereas four their improvement.
years ago there were Yes, there was frustration over the
three higher scores weather which caused four matches
including two double to be abandoned, and there was
hundreds. criticism about the umpiring stan-
The fluctuating for- dards. And the controversy over
tunes of the teams were the final will not go away quickly
another highlight. The which is a pity, for in many ways it
Photos: Internet

points table changed was arguably the finest ODI of all.

almost every other But the good far outweighed the
day and till late in the bad and the 2019 World Cup will
league stage when take its place as among the best in
seven teams had either the competition’s history.
<
The victorious England team with the trophy.
a realistic or theoretical
excess of 350, four times sides were chance of making the semifinals. (The writer is a senior sports
bowled out for less than 160. The Among the teams, the biggest dis- journalist based in Chennai. He had
bowlers held their own and while appointment was South Africa who worked for The Indian Express and
there were 30 hundreds and seven were never in the hunt for a place the ABP Group for many years.)
batsmen who scored over 500 in the last four. West Indies, too,
runs, there were ten five-wicket did not live up to their reputation
hauls and four bowlers with 20 as dark horses but, Bangladesh,
wickets or more. The highest despite finishing eighth in the final

Bowling came off better than batting

When the Indian team left for England to commence their World Cup campaign, the general feeling was that the
bowling would play a key part in it. Despite batting being the team’s traditional strength, the unsolved questions
about the middle order meant that the Indians would be over dependent on the top order. Against this, the bowling
looked to be balanced with three pacemen of proven skill, two wrist spinners who had enjoyed a great deal of
success of late and a few all-rounders who could do their bit with the ball.
In retrospect, with the campaign ending with the semi-final defeat to New Zealand, it can be said that, overall,
the bowling came off better than the batting. It was hoped that the middle order muddle would somehow be solved
during the matches but this was not the case. The vast majority of the runs came from the top order as evidenced
by figures – Rohit Sharma (648), Virat Kohli (443) and KL Rahul (361). The last named covered up adequately
for Shikhar Dhawan, though it is a moot point whether the experienced left-hander would have provided more
substance had he not been injured.
Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar and M.S. Dhoni manned the middle
order and, as confirmed by the stats, they did not exactly set the Thames on fire. They never really inspired
confidence and there was always the feeling that the Indians would fall short of a match-winning total. Quite often,
it was to the credit of the bowlers who bailed the side out.
Not unexpectedly, it was the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar who were
the stand out performers. Bumrah, of course, was a towering influence but the other two, in the comparatively
limited opportunities, were among the wickets. Pandya proved to be a capable back-up seamer but Kuldeep Yadav
and Yuzvendra Chahal performed below expectations.
The two wrist spinners obviously could not come to terms with English conditions and perhaps it might have been
better if Ravindra Jadeja was drafted into the playing eleven on a more regular basis. He would have bolstered the
batting and fielding too as illustrated by his performance against New Zealand.
In the ultimate analysis, it was the over dependence on the top order that derailed the Indian campaign in the
semi-final. This meant that once the Indians were five for three while chasing a target of 240 against New Zealand,
the match was as good as over. <

Partab Ramchand

July-September 2019 VIDURA 39

 A lineage that harks back to a
moneylender, and to Tagore
She knew little about her mother’s maternal family; she was also less informed about the history of her
maternal lineage. However, Madhura Dutta recently stumbled on a few facts and stories which left
her awestruck, amused and smiling. She learnt how progressive the Kolkata-based Marwari business
community could be in terms of their contribution to people and society

I
am not a full Bengali by lineage. until my husband, who is particu- addition to being a showroom, was
My mother, who was born and larly interested in researching fam- custom-built to house a factory with
brought up in Calcutta, studied ily trees, started digging for more modern equipment, employing 250
in a Bengali-medium school and information. I remember at night to 300 hands in jewellery-making.
at Presidency College. She became after dinner, he would catch my It is also documented that because
a professor in a renowned college mother and pester her to get infor- of the high skill, quality and excel-
in North Kolkata, and she was the mation to complete the family tree. lence of their jewellery work, they
daughter of a Parekh family hail- As I used to lie on the divan listen- had gained wide repute as a new
ing from Bikaner. Her pedigree is ing to their conversations, names firm and became very successful.
that of a Marwari and Jain business such as Bhim Singh Parekh would They also started a free technical
community. pop up leaving me perplexed. school with the object of teaching
My mother is a Bengali by heart I knew even less about my moth- the “better class of the Indian peo-
and soul. She got married to my er’s maternal family, as she was ple the art of manufacturing jewel-
father from a well-known Dutta also less informed about the his- lery suited to modern requirements
family against all odds, overcom- tory of her maternal lineage. There in the European and Indian styles.
ing reservations of both families. was no particular story to tell until This was practically a necessity to
My kin on the side of my moth- we recently stumbled on a few facts the business as the men who pro-
er’s father were, however, strictly and stories which left us awestruck, fessed the art as a caste profession
Marwaris and Jains and practised amused and smiling. For me, par- and were the traditional producers
all their customs and rituals with ticularly, it was eye opener to learn carrying on the craft for generations,
vigour. I was clearly an outcaste. how progressive the Kolkata-based were unreliable in the extreme, and
I was not curious about my fore- Marwari business community was the firm had experienced consid-
fathers and earlier generations in terms of their contribution to erable inconvenience owing to the
people and society. delays occasioned by their irregular
My mother’s mother, Neelam, attendance”.
married Bhim Singh Parekh at the Being a person working in the
age of 12, and was the daughter of development sector and having
one Motichand Nakhat. Motichand worked in the sectors of livelihood,
was the son of Lala Phool Chand, skills, and crafts, I understood
who according to The Cyclopedia how progressive and advanced the
of India: Biographical, Historical, thought of opening a free technical
Administrative, Commercial - Vol- institute of excellence was. What is
ume 2 (1908), was “mookim and even more impressive is that the
court jeweller, a famous and hon- technical school did not confine its
est jeweller in Bengal, and one of instruction entirely to the jeweller’s
the most influential members of the art, though it was the main objec-
Jain Community of the time”. tive. The curriculum included Eng-
Photo: MD

Motichand partnered with Sett lish Literature, Sanskrit, Hindi and

Labhchand to establish the jewellery Bengali. It was open to all Jains and
firm, Labhchand and Motichand, Hindu youths, and certain provi-
Motichand Nakhat, the writer’s great based at the Marble House at 41, sions were also made for boarding
grandfather. Dhurrumtollah Street, which in and lodging.

40 VIDURA July-September 2019


Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
The firm also apparently made a from any field are the greatest
prominent stall at an industrial exhi-
bition in Calcutta (1906-07), where society, and my belief and admira-
they exhibited the actual process of
diamond cutting, showcasing the on learning all this.
skills and craftsmanship of Indian
artisans in practice. This generated
much interest among national and
international visitors at the stall.
Looking at our current policies and
programmes of Make in India, Skill marised in the excellent timeline of
India and efforts towards building Rabindranath’s life available online
cultural entrepreneurship, I wonder
at how much of those ideas were laid
out successfully in our artisan and
handicrafts industries in the past.
Motichand Nakhat also estab-
lished, in memory of his father,
Phoolchand, at a cost of around
60000 rupees, a “large dharmsala or
traveller’s house at No. 9, Shama To make matters worse, Balen-
Bai’s Lane, Bara Bazar” that was
“quite up to modern requirements
in ventilation and sanitation”. In
our current state of adminstration,
governance and politics, it seems
that we are still grappling with the
same issues that our social reform-
ers and business communities had
actually faced and tried to address
more than a century ago.
I have myself believed that entre-
preneurs with social sensitivity
July-September 2019 VIDURA
other than my mother’s grandfa-
ther, Motichand Nakhat!
We learn more about the loan
from Rabindranath’s letter to Pri-
yanath Sen on 17 November 1899
(Chithipatra, Volume 8, letter num-
ber 93), where he quotes a letter he
has received from attorney Amar-
nath Ghosh, which read as follows:
“The document in favour of my
client Babu Moti Chand Nakhat
requires registration: as three
months have expired, the document
must at once be registered or a fresh
one executed so that you will have 4
months within which the 2nd docu-
ment may be registered. An early
reply will oblige.”
Rabindranath is understandably
confused and concerned about such
a legal notice. He goes on to express
his uncertainty and dismay about
the notice and what trouble such a
“party” (loan provider) could cause
changemakers and contributors in
him if he is unable to pay back the
loan within the allotted time of one
tion became more strongly rooted
year, and beseeches Priyanath to
find him a way out.
In 1899, Rabindranath Tagore was
According to Rabi Tirtha, the
trying to run the family business,
loan was eventually repaid by tak-
Tagore & Co, in partnership with
ing another loan from Sir Taraknath
his nephew, Balendranath. The
Palit, presumably on better terms,
activities of the business are sum-
which was then repaid using money
from Rabindranath’s Nobel prize
several years later!
<
at Rabi Tirtha’s website. From there,
we learn that Rabindranath wrote in
(The writer is senior advisor -
a letter to Basanta Kumar Gupta on
Crafts, Heritage and Livelihood at
12th March 1899 that the company
JCB India’s CSR Foundation, which
had suffered considerable losses in
works in Ballabhgarh, Jaipur, Pune,
its Barishal operations due to the
Baroda. She has a docorate from the
incompetence and possible dishon-
School of Media and Cultural Studies,
esty of its overseer Nishikanta.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and
an MA in Sustainable Development
dranath, who was suffering from
from Staffordshire University, UK.
tuberculosis, passed away in
She has bachelor’s and master’s
August, leaving Rabindranath
degrees in Sociology from the
solely responsible for the liabilities
University of Calcutta.)
of the company. Rabindranath had
already asked his friend Priyanath
Sen to secure a loan of 40000 rupees
to keep the company afloat.
Apparently, the loan was finally
secured around the 25th of August,
at the rate of 7 per cent interest. And
the provider of the loan was none
41
Superstitions – to consider,
or to ignore?
Instead of debunking everything that is old as ‘illogical’, and everything modern as ‘better’, perhaps we should look
for logical reasons underlying traditional beliefs, says Sakuntala Narasimhan
Kamalamma, 89, is from a con- no one keeps cows, but supersti- worshipped and nurtured with
servative, traditional South Indian tions carried over through gen- devotion. Women circumambu-
family. She will not drink even erations die hard. However, not all lated the plant, chanting prayers,
water from outside (a prohibition superstitions are illogical. every morning and evening. The
called madi and achaaram in the My music guru, the late Sangita plant is said to be an avatar of the
South, meaning purity). She uses Kalanidhi Musiri Subramanya Iyer, goddess, but whether that is expla-
a bamboo pole to dry her washed who was a stalwart among 20th nation enough or not, the fact is
clothes, on a line overhead, so that Century musicians, would never that tulasi does have scientifically
it is not touched by hand and the eat lunch till he had fed a few crows proved curative properties and
clothes will be ‘clean and pure’ for first. Some days, he would have to keeps mosquitoes away (without
use next day. wait for a while, but it was an invari- the use of pesticides that can have
“Superstition,” says her grandson ant ritual. Superstition or a habit harmful side-effects on humans).
derisively. Kamalamma retorted that ensures that birds get food Today, modern homes have the
when I asked her, “Don’t doctors too? After all, ecologists and envi- money plant, instead of tulasi.
use gloves and sterilised pincers, ronmentalists today emphasise that There is a belief that pregnant
to avoid infection? This is also to birds, bees and animals are impor- women should not be outdoors
avoid infection. Used and worn tant parts of our eco system and during an eclipse as it could harm
clothes could carry infections, so cannot be allowed to disappear. the foetus. Bunkum, say modern
we have to be careful, not to touch One does not enter the kitchen youngsters, but there exist scientific
washed clothes with hands that to cook without a bath first. Again, papers saying that radiation during
could carry germs.” She sure has a based on cleanliness. Just as doctors eclipse can do harm for develop-
point. In the days before antibiotics, do not enter wards without wash- ing feotuses (just like X-rays can).
the only way to avoid the spread of ing hands and wearing sterilised Astronomers and astrophysicists
infection was to segregate ‘used’ coats. Perhaps, there was a scien- are exploring the atmospheric ema-
and ‘clean’. tific rationale, underlying some so- nations during eclipses and coming
Madhav (name changed) is a called superstitions? up with new data.
highly qualified, ‘foreign-returned’ Once, when Kamalamma was vis- In the name of ‘impurity’, women
academic. During every meal, he iting Delhi, there was no drinking who had just given birth were for-
has to leave a small portion of food water in the house. She wouldn’t bidden entry to the kitchen for a
uneaten. It is a habit inculcated even drink water from the North ritual 21-day period. Forget purity,
in him from childhood. “Thoda- Indian neighbours. But she found it certainly ensured that the woman
chusaapidathey,” (don’t clean off the a solution – “get water in a silver got some much-needed rest from
plate, meaning leave some left- tumbler” she said, and proceeded to cooking chores till her body had
overs) his mother used to insist. add two drops of curds to it before recovered from \childbirth. The
To his wife, this looks like wasting she drank it. We children laughed same rule about prohibition applied
food, and she disapproves, but this – but years later I saw a scientific even if she had had a miscarriage.
is a superstition in the South, the paper on how silver destroys germs By dubbing it superstition, today’s
probable rationale being that the and how curds do the same. Again, women get denied some rest to
leftovers will go to the cattle shed, a scientific basis for ‘superstition’ recover – and often pay a price in
through a duct, along with waste perhaps, which we have forgotten? terms of health.
from the kitchen, and will be eaten Tulasi (basil) leaves and camphor, It worked in a joint family where
by the cows in the backyard. (his added to drinking water (especially someone else could take over the
mother did have cows at the back in temples) are likewise, said to kitchen duties while the woman
of their village home.) be effective in destroying harm- rested, but in nuclear households,
It doesn’t make sense in today’s ful bacteria. Every household had there is no help. Unless the man
milieu, in urban households since a tulasi plant that was revered, of the house pitches in – why not ,

42 VIDURA July-September 2019

 Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
when women can go out and work doctor also claimed that there was bag at your neighbour’s before the
in an office? We have forgotten to a scientific explanation for piercing rahu kalam starts, so that you have
look at lifestyles and routines in a the ear lobe and nose – like acu- technically ‘left the house’ before-
holistic manner – so women often puncture, it helped prevent diph- hand (and collect your bag at the
end up shortchanged in the name theria, in the days before antibiotics appropriate time, and proceed.)
of ‘modernity’. and vaccines were invented. Cheating? Not really – perhaps it
A medical doctor, commenting Some men do wear ear decora- is just one way of mentally assuring
on some of our traditional practices, tions (it has become a fashion, in yourself that you have not broken
once remarked that the custom of fact, with young men and even any rules of prohibition and that
putting a bindi (pottu) in the centre World Cup cricketers wearing ear everything will turn out all right.
of the forehead resulted in the eyes studs) but I have yet to see a male And attitude, as the mind-body
focusing, for a few seconds, on that opting for nose rings. connection researchers will tell you,
spot, which exercises particular Some superstitions also carry an makes a big difference, to one’s con-
muscles in the eye. Perhaps – but escape route. Leaving home on an fidence and self-assurance.
<
then how come men don’t need to important journey during the rahu-
exercise their eye muscles ? And kalam (inauspicious hour and a half
why are widows forbidden to wear during each day) was/ is consid-
a bindi? Don’t their eye muscles ered undesirable (the work you set
need to be exercised too? out on, will not succeed) but not to
Unfortunately, that doctor is no worry – if you have to take a train
more, so I can’t ask him. And some or flight during that inauspicious
men do sport a pottu. The same time, you can always leave a token

July-September 2019 VIDURA 43

Thrown in at the deep end, but
bouncing back with fortitude
“There have been a lot of congratulatory posts from my family recently, each so amazed at my
graduating that you’d think I might not have paid the brain bill for several years. But since it’s all out
there anyway, I figure it’s time I told the full story myself, for anyone who cares to read it.” That was
Arul Purushottam Srinivasan on his Facebook page. Let us now read his story

A
s my dad’s post explains,
I was diagnosed with thy-
roid cancer in April 2014, a
few months before I was supposed
to join Purdue Unicersity (in the
US). But this is not meant to be an debated and argued a lot, but in the
emotional post. Even back then, my
doctors told me that if I had to have
cancer, this was the best one of all
the varieties. Rest assured that I’m
now happy and healthy, and I only
suffer from very ordinary human have to take supplements everyday,
ailments like sinus headaches,
acne, stubbed toes and the occa-
sional Game of Thrones spoiler.
Still, cancer was a little annoying vated the convenient superpower
when I had it. I spent a couple of
months in and out of hospitals and
I had more doctors than friends.
They cut my throat (the doctors, not
my friends), pilfered my thyroid,
and, in the process, snipped a nerve
to my shoulder and shocked some
vocal cords. Worst of all, they fully
shaved only one side of my head
before the neck surgery, and didn’t
let me even out the other side after
the surgery (don’t ask why).
So, for a few weeks, I looked like tests every three months (and will
Cruella from 101 Dalmatians when
people came to visit. A few days
after the surgery, I downed 150 mil-
licurie of radioactive-iodine, spent
two days in quarantine where I
binge-watched Death Note behind
lead walls, and then underwent
various tests. Finally, in June 2014,
the doctors informed us that the
cancer was gone.
Then there came the question of
Purdue. I said (or more accurately,
croaked) that I still really wanted to
study in the US despite the possi- I got past those initial semesters
bility of relapse, my frailty and my and received positive news (which,
voice, and my parents probably for me, has always been “it’s nega-
wondered If there was something tive”), there was no reason to quit.
wrong with my brain as well. We Giving up after that would be like
Mario rage-quitting after beating
end, my awesome, awesome par- Bowser. The real heroes of this story
ents set aside the obvious fears that were my parents – really. The way
they had and allowed me to enroll they have supported, tolerated and
at Purdue. motivated me through all my ups
Since I am devoid of thyroid, I and downs is unreal.
My dad has taken me to every
which quickly became a morning single doctor’s appointment, X-ray,
habit in my first semester at Pur- ultrasound, blood test, iodine scan
due. Thanks to that, I soon culti- and everything else in Chennai,
over the past five years. He has
of swallowing tablets without maintained a chronological record
water. My inaudible voice cost me of the details and results of every
participation points in some classes single one of the events so systemi-
but, on the bright side, for about six cally (almost psychotically) that it
months, I could perform one of the puts the various hospitals’ medical
gruffest Batman impersonations in records departments to shame.
the Midwest. During the month of my iodine-
Things sailed pretty smoothly free diet each year, I couldn’t eat
after my second semester. With almost any kind of processed food,
voice therapy exercises, Batman since they all invariably contained
gradually became articulate South iodised salt. Through those months,
Indian Bruce Wayne. I had blood my mom learned how to make
homemade cheese, bread, ketchup
continue to, forever) but the news and various other things from
has always been good. I also had to scratch (using non-iodised salt) that
follow month-long iodine-free diets her fussy son couldn’t live without.
(did you know that even chocolates They’ve done a lot. They’ve been
contain iodised salt?) followed by strong, patient, trusting and just
radioactive-iodine tests every sum- all-round awesome.
mer in Chennai. These tested for Three days ago, I graduated from
any recurring cancer, and these Purdue. I’ll try to avoid the myriad
have always turned out negative as cliches about graduating (obviously
well. Purdue was like a second home
Thanks to the consistent good and I’ll miss my friends, and I’m
news, tackling college has been, glad to be done), so I’ll paraphrase
well… It was hard initially, but once Purdue’s president Mitch Daniels

44 VIDURA July-September 2019

Illustration: Arun Ramkumar
instead: “As every mechanical engi-
neer knows, without friction, there
is no traction.”
I’m glad things happened the
way they did (thyroid cancer, los-
ing my voice, becoming Batman,
everything) because these hurdles
July-September 2019 VIDURA
are what have given me the forti- at the age of 17. This is a cancer
tude and confidence to keep going. survivor’s brief story, laced with
humour and positivity.
<
An inspiration for all.)
(The writer is a student of Sishya &
Vidya Mandir School in Chennai who
discovered that he had thyroid cancer
45
HERITAGE

A backstage view of a dance

debut in Silappathikaram
The Tamil Region has always been a hub of dance in India. But formal repertoires as we know them
today are quite different from the bouquet that made up stage performances in the times of the Cholas,
the Cheras and the Pandyas, all great patrons of art. Meenakshi Devraj decodes a fictional account
of a debut dance performance to give us a peek into the history of the dances that were once staged
at such performances.

T
he story of Silappathikaram,
a famous epic in Tamil,
revolves around the Cho-
las, Pandyas and Cheras, the three
main ancient Tamil kingdoms.
The story starts in the Chola land
of Kaveripoompattinam (today’s Here’s a brief description of
Poompuhar). In this section, there
is a detailed description of how
Madhavi, one of the main charac-
ters of the epic, staged her debut
dance performance before an Early
Chola king.
Today, the debut on-stage per-
formance of any classical dance is
referred to as arangetram (arangam
means stage and etram means climb-
ing in Tamil). But Madhavi’s maiden
dance performance was not referred
to as arangetram in Silappathikaram.
There seems to have been no partic-
ular term for such a landmark event
during the Early Chola period.
There are some similarities
between Madhavi’s dance debut
and the arangetram programme fol-
lowed in modern times. Madhavi
began her performance with a set
of songs honouring the Gods, just
as today, the arengatrams start with
a salutation to the gods. The songs
were called Devabani. There are two
types of Devabani – Perundevabani
and Sirudevabani. The former hon-
ours the major gods, while the latter all over his body. This was the next
glorifies the lesser ones. dance on the agenda of Madhavi’s
Madhavi first danced to a deva-
bani praising Lord Vishnu. She
then performed to four Sirudeva-
bani compositions praising the four
Varna boothas. Later, she danced to
a Sirudevabani honouring the moon. done by Lord Krishna after defeat-
Dance in those days was referred to ing his wicked uncle Kamsa’s
as koothu in Tamil. After dancing to plan of sending an asura (demon)
the Devabanis, Madhavi presented in the form of an elephant named
11 koothus – dances believed to have Kuvalayapida to kill him. Another
been performed by various deities. piece of Tamil literature describes
the dance being performed with a
them: doll named Alli – Alli Pavai, liter-
ally – which is possibly how it got
1. Kodukotti its name.
Kodukotti was the first koothu Mad-
hvai performed during her debut. 4. Malladal or Mal
The devas had wanted Lord Siva Next, Madhavi presented the Mal-
to protect them by burning the ladal, which was first performed
three cities of the asuras. Lord Siva by Lord Krishna when he wrestled
obliged and destroyed the cities and killed the asura, Banasura. Mal
by shooting fire-tipped arrows at means wrestling.
them. Kodukotti is the dance said to
have been performed by Lord Siva 5. Thudi Koothu or Thudi
after this destruction. He danced at Thudi Koothu is said to be have been
a burial ground along with his con- performed by Lord Muruga after
sort, Uma Devi. Kodukotti means destroying an asura, Soorabathma,
strong clapping. The dance features in the middle of the sea. He played
loud clapping, and that’s perhaps the thudi, a musical instrument he
how it got its name. loved, during this dance, and that’s
why it’s called Thudi Koothu. Mad-
2. Panduranga Koothu or havi performed the dance before
Pandurangam the Chola King.
Another dance performed by Lord
Siva. Pandu means white, and ranga 6. Kudai Koothu
is colour. The dance got its name Next on the agenda, another dance
from the belief that Lord Shiva per- performed by Lord Muruga, this
formed it for the benefit of Lord time in celebration of the time
Brahma, after applying white ash when the asuras gave up arms.
He is believed to have lowered
an umbrella – kudai – before the
arengatram. asuras, hence the name.
3. Alli Koothu or Alliyam 7. Kuda Koothu or Kudam
The next dance that Madhavi per- The story goes that Lord Kama’s
formed was believed to have been son Anirudhan was imprisoned for

46 VIDURA July-September 2019

 11. Kadaiya Koothu or Kadayam
The last koothu performed by Mad-
havi was the Kadaiya Koothu,
believed to have been done by
Lord Indira’s wife Indirani. Kada-
ichi is the Tamil word for a woman
farmer. Indirani is said to have
taken the form of a woman farmer
and danced in a field at the North-
ern gate of Bana’s city.
Silappathikaram mentions that all
Photo: Saravanakumar Ramachandran

the dances were performed follow-

ing the principles mentioned in the
relevant ancient treatises on dance,
with appropriate jewels, postures
and music.
Dance in the Tamil Region has
undergone many changes over the
years and, unfortunately, many of
the koothus performed in the Early
Chola period have disappeared
Kuda Koothu depicted on a Tamil Nadu temple pillar. from modern repertoires <

having taken Banasura’s daughter 10. Paavai Koothu or Pavaiyadal (The writer, a software engineer,
Uzhai captive. In order to rescue The word paavai is used to refer to a is interested in history and Tamil
him, Lord Vishnu danced the Kuda beautiful doll. Goddess Lakshmi, in culture and has researched on Tamil
Koothu, balancing pots (kudams) to the form of a beautiful doll, danced Sangam Literature, Chennai history
divert the attention of the guards. the Paavai Koothu to destroy the and temples. She runs a YouTube
The Tamil folk dance, Karakattam, asuras clad in battle dress. That channel in her name, focused on Tamil
performed while the dancer bal- was the next item in Madhavi’s Literature.)
ances a pot on the head, probably debut stage performance.
had its roots in this koothu.

8. Pedi Koothu or Pediyadal

Next, Madhavi performed the Pedi
Koothu, believed to have originally
been danced by Kama to free his L.V. Navaneeth is The Hindu’s new
son from Bana’s prison. The word
pedi refers to a man who acts in chief executive officer
manner associated with the oppo-
site gender. Kama performed the L.V. Navaneeth has been appointed the new chief executive officer of The
koothu dressed as a woman and Hindu. He takes over from Rajiv C. Lochan, who has decided to move on.
that’s why it is called Pedi Koothu. Navaneeth served the organisation between 1998 and 2006 in a senior
position in Advertising and Marketing. Going on to get a diverse
9. Marakaal Koothu or Mara- media experience in radio, television, media planning and buying,
kaaladal and digital advertising, he brings with him the expertise and hands-on
Madhavi went on to perform the experience to play an effective leadership role in the company in the
Marakaal Koothu of Goddess face of far-reaching changes and challenges in the media landscape
Durga. Cunning asuras had taken and in an increasingly interconnected digital ecosystem.
<
the form of scorpions, snakes,
centipedes, etc. Goddess Durga (Courtesy: The Hindu)
performed the koothu wearing
wooden slippers (marakal means
wooden slipper) to destroy the
dangerous creatures.

July-September 2019 VIDURA 47

 HERITAGE

A woman’s artistic expression

and a symbol of an identity
Why do people draw on floors, walls or on any other background, something that animals do not do?
Is it an inner urge that push them to express themselves in lines and images? Whether you look at the
ancient cave paintings at Lascaux and Chauvet in France, San Bushmen rock art in Africa, or paintings
on walls and floors of earthen huts in adivasi houses in Central India, there is something common to
them – an urge to create, to give flight to thoughts, though the forms and the materials used may be
different, explains Ranjita Biswas

I
n India, we see floor art in dif-
ferent forms which has been
intertwined with religious
motifs and beliefs – be it mandana
in Rajasthan, rangoli in Maharash-
tra, sathia in Gujarat, chowkpurana or
sonarakhna in Uttar Pradesh, likhnu in
Himachal Pradesh, apna in Almora
and Nainital Region, kolam in Tamil
Nadu, muggulu in Andhra Pradesh,
pakhamba in Manipur and jinnuti
in Orissa. They are mostly done by
women, and passed on from mother
to daughter for generations.
Writes Stephen P. Huyler (Painted
Prayers, Women’s Art in Village India): based paste made from uncooked
“It forms a common thread that unites
the innumerable cultures of India,
peoples who are otherwise divided
by race, language, caste, religion,
and occupation. In a society domi-
nated by men, it is the inheritance
Photo: Swati Ghosh
and artistic expression of the woman niche owes a lot to Nobel Laureate
through their own techniques and Rabindranath Tagore as articulated
symbols – prayers painted or ‘writ- by author Swati Ghosh in her well-
ten’ from the heart.” documented book, Design Move-
In Bengal, the decorative floor art ment in Tagore’s Santiniketan: Alpana
is called alpana, its origin going back – An Experiment in Aestheticism.
to the hoary past. It is common to see Tagore often spent time in Selai-
alpana drawings during auspicious daha, his country home of the
occasions like Durga Puja or Lakshmi zamindari (now in Bangladesh).
Puja. Even beyond Bengal, in places He became interested in folk cul-
where Bengalis live across India, ture like baulgeet – songs of the
sometimes in diaspora too, alpana is mendicants, ethnic handicrafts, etc
done during these occasions. through interaction with the local
Traditionally drawn in white, the villagers. He found that many of the
effect is achieved by using a water- them were on the decline for differ-
ent reasons, not the least for lack of
rice kernel of unprocessed sun- patronage by urbanites newly intro-
dried paddy, called atop chaal. Tiny duced to Western culture under the
pieces of clean cotton cloth or cot- British colonialists.
ton ball is dipped in the paste and Tagore tried to rescue and revive
held in between the fingers and them, including the alpana draw-
then pressed to release the liquid ing. He came across them drawn on
to draw the pattern with the finger. brown papers by village women and
Most alpanas are drawn with unin- started collecting the samples. He
terrupted lines and done freehand. also tried to enthuse his literary and
Interestingly, the word alpana artist friends about this age-old art.
or alpona is believed to have been As Tagore gave shape to his
derived from the Sanskrit word dream institution, Visva Bharati in
alimpan which means ‘to plaster’ Santiniketan, among other works
or ‘to coat with’ – the art of mak- of art he introduced at Kala Bha-
ing ails or embankments based on vana’s repertoire, was the floor art
the belief that the decorative paint- of alpana, sometimes also drawn on

Swati Ghosh’s book has this stunning
cover.
ings kept the habitats safe and
prosperous through their magical
symbols. Once taken for granted as
something women do during pujas,
alpana has since been recognised as
a highly creative art.
The emergence of the folk art
and it being able to create its own
walls. And thus “...alpana became
an integral part of Santniketan’s
decorations”. There are beauti-
ful examples of how folk art and
modern sensibility merge together
in many of the elaborate works in
evidence in Santiniketan. Besides,
“This passion and deep love for the

48 VIDURA July-September 2019

Photos: Avisek Mitra

Fascinating alpana designs and (on extreme right) an alpana batik scarf using fish motif.

art and culture was something that visual traces of floor paintings are Bangladesh has not only carried
he wanted to transmit to the youth found in one of the seals of Mohen- forward the tradition but it has
and student community of Bengal,” jo-Daro. According to Pupul Jaya- even introduced in it a secular ele-
the author writes. kar, the doyen of cottage industry ment by adopting it to observe pub-
To Tagore, alpana and other folk movement, it was geometric in form, lic functions. Take for instance, the
arts were also symbols of the coun- and resembled a mandala, symbolic celebration of the Bhasha Divas or
try’s own identity at a time when in drawings and painting adhering Ekushey celebration (February 21,
the Swadeshi Movement was at its to Tantricism, at the core of which is when Bangladesh observes it as the
peak. “Patriotism for Rabindranath worship of generic deities. Mother Language Day). The main
translated into the knowledge of Such beliefs and practices were venue of the celebration in Dhaka
and familiarity with the people of eventually absorbed by the vrata rit- shows off wonderful work in alpana
the country and their cultural back- uals. Thus, the floor paintings prac- design on the street leading to it.
ground,” Ghosh observes. Tagore’s tised during vrata rituals are not mere The same fervour is observed dur-
inspiration later coalesced even to decorations but are also perhaps pro- ing the Nababorsho or traditional
handicraft products, like the San- found expressions of desire. New Year’s Day in April as well.
tiniketan leather bags, pouches, Like in many parts of India, in One cannot say if it has inspired
block printed stoles, etc, which are Bengal too, women are known to the recent movement in Kolkata
still very popular. observe vratas (or broto) on vari- showcasing alpana as a public art,
Ghosh’s book dwells on alpanas, ous occasions. Some of the rituals like installations – though tempo-
classical and popular as well. In require some particular alpana. The rary, covering a huge stretch of
Bengal’s alpana “... the distinctive Bhaduli broto is observed after the the street in front of a Durga Puja
feature is its creeper like movement. monsoons. In the past, travelling pandal colourfully done by art col-
This has elevated them to classical afar was a risky task, more so during lege students . Of course, they used
ornamentation.” At the time when and after the rains. Menfolk often set paint brushes instead of fingers but
Kala Bhavana was coming up, the out by the rivers and seas for fishing the designs were done in authen-
existing ones were vrata alpanas. and other commercial activities. So, tic style. Even the Under-17 FIFA
Vratas were/ are rituals women fol- the women would pray for their safe World Cup Football (2017) venue
lowed for wish fulfillment. They return by drawing motifs symbolis- in Kolkata’sYuva Bharati Krirangan
can be scriptural and the popular. ing boats, rivers, seas, dangerous displayed a beautiful work in alpana
“The scriptural or the holy ritualis- animals, thorny bushes, etc. design at the entrance, astounding
tic evolved with the spread of Hin- In the Punyipukur broto, a water- visitors from home and abroad.
duism. But the popular ones were body is the main motif. Held at the Indeed, from rural homes in
more ancient than these, even before start of the summer, the women Bengal to international event ven-
the scriptures and mythologies were pray that the ponds and rivers, ues, alpana has moved forward.
written. Alpanas carry within them- which provide water for the paddy There are also groups like the Dari-
selves fragments of the ancient his- fields and daily necessities remain cha Foundation where extensive
tory that our ancestors lived.” full. In rural Bengal, nabanna to research work, and teaching, has
Art historians and archaeologists celebrate the harvest is a big festi- been going on the art form. One
find in the motifs an echo of the val. Women draw elaborate alpanas thing is for sure, all the initiatives
Indus Valley Civilisation, notably around the granaries where the have kept the rural art alive.
<
fish with wings, conch, scorpion paddy is to be stored.
and navagraha (nineplanets), among Alpana was common to undi- (The writer is a senor journalist
others. They point out that the first vided Bengal and neighbouring based in Kolkata.)

July-September 2019 VIDURA 49

 TRAVEL

Much more than an island, a

repository of rich culture
The island of Majuli, nestled in the midst of the mighty Brahmaputra River, has long been known as the largest river
island in the world. However, in recent times, the sobriquet has been challenged by Ilha de Marajo, an island on the
Amazon in South America. The claim based on the landmass could be true, but Majuli is accepted as the largest
inhabited river island in the world. Ranjita Biswas has more on Majuli’s old-world charm.

I
n historical books, Majuli was were often persecuted. Sankardeva There are over 20 satras in Majuli
mentioned as Ratanpur or chose Majuli as his abode for now though there were many more
Ratnapur, a lush agricultural spreading the message of his Bhakti earlier. Among them, Kamalabari,
landscape which also served as a cult and established satras or mon- Auniati, Gorumurah, Dakhinpat,
stopover for boats laden with goods asteries for the followers. Samaguri are well known.
sailing upstream and downstream. Being farsighted, Sankardeva Approaching Majuli in over-
Those were the days when the river knew that he needed to use the crowded ferries that leave the
served as the main thoroughfare, powerful medium of performing Nimatighat River Port, near Jorhat-
for ferrying goods and travellers. art to convey his doctrine as most of town in upper Assam, is an adven-
It is important to recognise that the people were illiterate and could ture by itself. Passengers, motor
Majuli is more than a geographi- not read the scriptures. So, he wrote cycles, cars somehow load into the
cal phenomenon for the people of one act plays (bhaona) on episodes ancient-looking ferries and still
Assam. It is regarded as a reposi- from the Ramayana and the life of manage to reach you to the sandy
tory of Assamese socio-cultural life Lord Krishna, composed devo- bank in winter.
built around Vaishnavism which tional songs, choreographed dances Currently, there is a plan for
took roots in Assam in the Mid- (satriya) and introduced percussion building a bridge from the south
dle Ages. Srimanta Sankardeva, a orchestras to attract the people that bank of the river. It would need
guru, social-reformer and creative proved very effective. Satriya dance engineering ingenuity indeed to
genius, introduced the doctrine of is now part of the Indian classical build a bridge in one of the most
egalitarianism and simple rituals dance repertoire. erosion-prone parts of the Brahma-
when common people were getting Today, even after centuries, San- putra. In fact, Majuli’s land mass has
weary of the excesses of ritualistic kardea’s teachings and simple way been reduced year after year due to
religion. of worship are meticulously fol- erosion and people fear for the sur-
The powerful Ahoms, who were lowed in essence and spirit at the vival of the satras. On the banks,
followers of the Shakti cult, ruled satras of Majuli which fascinate vis- you will witness rows of dykes to
Assam at that time and Vaishnavites itors from home and abroad alike. prevent the water get inland.
Photos: RB

A bhaona play in progress during the Raas festival. Right, traditional masks used by the actors in bhaonas on display.

50 VIDURA July-September 2019

L-r: The entrance to a satra; a typical dwelling of the Mising people; and the journey to Majuli across the mighty Brahmaputra.
Visiting the iconic satras is the
main attraction of Majuli, a place making craft. Today, however, it is
that would seem to be caught in a
time warp. Many ‘do’ it one day,
while others prefer to stay over-
night to soak in the ambience of
a lifestyle rare to encounter these
days. Particularly during the Raas
festival in November, the rush of
visitors multiplies when individual
satras put up bhaonas and percus-
sion performances unique to the
place. Fortunately, these days there
are guest houses, or ‘hotels’ would
seem to be slightly off the land-
scape’s character. Some satras, like
Kamalabari let out rooms to visitors
and researchers – a very simple fare,
but that’s the charm and character
of Majuli.
For performance of bhaona, masks
for the characters were needed and
Young discliples in a satra with their guru.
July-September 2019 VIDURA
so thrived here an indigenous mask
on the decline. Only at the Natun
Samagurisatra, the family of the atisatra. Priceless manuscripts
Satradhikar (head of the satra),
Kosho Kanta Dev Goswami, a Lalit
Kala Akademi winner, has contin-
ued to produce and teach mask-
making the traditional way. As
you enter his house, you would be
greeted by walls displaying masks
that relate to characters from the
epics. He talks about the various
stages of mask making from a grid
of stripped bamboo framework
to the end product, colourful and
faithful to the character like Hanu-
man or Garuda.
Cane and bamboo articles from
Majuli are famous. In olden days,
ivory artefacts were common before
the ban on elephant tusk came into
effect and Majuli had its own craft
tradition. Some of the samples can
be seen at the museum at Auni-
written on sanchi-paat (bark leaf),
instruments used during the plays,
masks, paintings on wood, huge
utensils in brass, palanquins are
displayed here too.
As you walk around, you will
see houses on stilts built over the
watery bank. They belong to the
Mising people, a plains tribe who
have been living in the Brahma-
putra Valley for centuries and are
very much a part of Majuli culture.
Mising women are famous for their
weaving skill and the beautiful
sets of mekhela-chador, a two piece
ensemble Assamese women wear,
and which figure in the shopping
list of many visitors.
Walking around, too, you will
find young boys in fine togs, some
dressed in girl’s dresses following
their teacher around who plays the
khol (percussion ) and directs plays.
Most of the satras belong to celibate
followers and do not allow women
to perform; so, for the roles of
Radha, for example, a young bhakt
enacts the role. So skillfully they do
it, that it is hard to believe that it is
a boy who is performing.
The best time to visit Majuli are
the winter months and before the
monsoon when the river is in spate
and the island is often flooded.
Despite the erosion, local people
like to believe that their unique
island will go on, like it has for
centuries.
<
51
‘One small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind’
On the 50th anniversary of the epochal event, Partab Ramchand catches the mood in India associated with the
landing on the Moon

F
ifty years! How time has Apollo 11. He tracked the story around, collecting rock samples
flown, but when it comes to through agency reports and the and posing for photographs which
momentous events, even the radio and became the most popular are now part of history. As only to
minutest details are remembered and overworked man in the office. be expected, the newspapers went
half a century later. So it is when Through him we came to know gaga over the event. Man Lands on
it comes to Apollo 11, Neil Arm- about the mission after it took off Moon became the standard banner
strong and Buzz Aldrin and the from the Kennedy Space Center in headline in almost every newspaper
moon landing in July 1969. Florida on July 16. along with lengthy reports, several
I guess my interest in such an As we waited with bated breath features and photographs, followed
ethereal and historic happen- for days about the progress, came by Man Walks on Moon. Several
ing started when as a child I first the news that the lunar module that newspapers brought out supple-
read Jules Verne’s From the Earth separated from the command mod- ments to mark the special occasion.
to the Moon and its sequel Around ule for the journey to the moon with The Eagle landed on July 20 (July
the Moon. In December 1968, when the two astronauts – Collins stayed 21 in India) and Armstrong stepped
the USA launched Apollo 8, the in the command module and con- on the lunar surface six hours later
first manned spacecraft to leave tinued to orbit the moon – had in the early hours of July 21.
the Earth’s orbit, go round the landed on the lunar surface. After spending 21 hours on the
moon and return, everyone was As we all heaved a sigh of relief moon, Armstrong and Aldrin took
left dumbstruck at how Verne had mingled with a sense of happiness off and rejoined the command mod-
so accurately predicted the event and disbelief came the words from ule and the descent to earth com-
a full hundred years before. Once Armstrong: “Houston. Tranquility menced. The astronauts jettisoned
Apollo 8 was successful, it was only Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Eagle after performing the manoeu-
a matter of time before man setting Tranquility Base was the name vres that propelled the ship out of
foot on the moon’s surface became given to the moon’s surface by the last of its 30 lunar orbits on a
a reality and this happened in July Armstrong and Aldrin, and Eagle trajectory back to earth. The com-
1969. was the name of the lunar module. mand module returned to earth and
I remember the tremendous A little later, Armstrong got out splashed down in the Pacific Ocean
excitement all over India over the of the module and set foot on the on July 24 with clockwork precision
Apollo 11 Mission. Days before the moon. For days there was consider- after eight days in space.
three astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin able speculation as to what would In India, however, our knowledge
and command module pilot Michael be Armstrong’s first words. Would was confined to what we obtained
Collins were to take off, everyone he say something that would from the radio and the newspapers.
in India was eagerly waiting for the match the mood of the historic and It was only later that we were able
historic events to unfold. Fifty years unprecedented achievement? Arm- to see a documentary at the Ameri-
ago here, people could get the news strong had the perfect words for can Center showing us details about
only from the radio and newspa- the occasion. His first step on to the the flight, the lunar landing, Arm-
pers. We were all glued to the radio lunar surface was broadcast on live strong’s words, the splashing down
for any news about Apollo 11 and TV to a worldwide audience which of the command module and how
waited eagerly for the newspapers regretfully did not include India the astronauts were quarantined on
to arrive. and he uttered the words which their return.
I was with the Indian Express in everyone is familiar with now. The photograph of the three astro-
Madras as a sports reporter at the “That’s one small step for man, one nauts in quarantine talking with
time and we had a science reporter giant leap for mankind.” President Nixon became common-
in V. Umashankar who was well Aldrin joined him some 20 min- place as it popped up everywhere.
versed about the details regarding utes later and the two walked We also heard about the phone

52 VIDURA July-September 2019

Illustration: Arun Ramkumar

conversation that Nixon had with in 1961 had proposed a national the crowd was so large and enthu-
Armstrong and Aldrin while they goal that before the decade was out, siastic that old timers said noth-
were on the moon calling it “cer- of landing a man on the moon and ing like it had been seen in the city
tainly the most historic telephone returning him safely to Earth. since the arrival of King George V
call ever made”, and later joking, As only to be expected the three in 1911.
<
“I am glad I am not paying for that astronauts became major heroes not
call”. only in America but the world over. (The writer has more than a
Nixon along with the astronauts In August, the three rode in a ticker passing interest in music, cinema and
had also signed the plague that tape parade in their honour in New anything laced with history.)
Armstrong uncovered on the moon York and Chicago.
that said: ‘Here men from the Planet The celebration was the beginning
Earth first set foot upon the moon. of a 38-day world tour which took
July 1969 AD. We came in peace the astronauts to 22 foreign coun-
for all mankind’. And, of course, tries, including India. They were
at a time like this there was also a honoured with an open car parade
thought for President Kennedy who through the roads of Mumbai and

July-September 2019 VIDURA 53

A multi-source civilisation with
a shared history
Journalist Tony Joseph delivered the 14th Pinto Memorial lecture in Thiruvananthapuram recently.
History has a lot to teach us if we listen carefully and with an open mind, he said. Talitha Mathew was
present and sends us this report

“W
e are all migrants,
we are all mixed,”
said journalist Tony
Joseph, stressing the major conclu-
sion of his controversial book on
pre-history and the story of our
ancestors – Early Indians, published
in 1918 by Juggernaut Books.
The 14th Pinto Memorial lecture
on July 5th was the occasion for
Joseph’s talk on the salient theses
of his book, which has been making
waves, challenging the exclusivist
view of nationhood – the idea that
ours is a single-source civilisation,
a mono-culture.
The notion that the Aryans
migrated to India from the steppes
of Central Asia is anathema to those
who would prefer to believe that
they are racially ‘pure’ and that the
Aryan-Vedic-Sanskrit culture origi-
nated here.
Using recent research into popu-
lation genetics and cross-checking
his conclusions with archaeologi-
cal and linguistic evidence, Tony
Joseph grappled with questions
such as:
• Who were the Harappans? largest early urban civilisation of
• Did the Aryans really migrate
to India?
• Are North Indians genetically
different from South Indians?
• Are the Scheduled Tribes well-planned cities, drainage and
distinct from the rest of the
population?
Trying to bring clarity about the
origin of the first Indians from the Tony Joseph has strayed far
mists of pre-history, the author
asserted that all recent discoveries economics to go through studies
have affirmed the African ancestry of ancient DNA through the mito-
of modern humans. Summing up chondrial DNA of the maternal
his book’s highlights, he said there line, the paternal Y-chromosomal
have been four major migrations lineage as well as ‘whole genome’
into India, the first being 65000 years studies, which he quotes to back
ago. Modern humans (homo sapiens) up the genetic connection between
out of Africa (OoA) may have swept the Zagrosians of West Asia and the
into what we now call India, met the Harappans.
archaic humans already living here, Joseph cites linguistic evidence,
and over thousands of years, ulti- too. The curious similarities
mately driven them to extinction. between Proto-Elamite spoken by
Population geneticists say that the herders from Iran and Proto-
all Indian populations have 50-65 Dravidian, the origin of Dravidian
per cent of this First Indian or OoA languages, indicate that the Harap-
ancestry. In fact, tribals do not have pans, either the early pastoralists
a monopoly of First Indian genes, or the later urbanites, moved down
claims Joseph. “Tribals are us,” he peninsular India and impacted not
says; it is only the proportion of just the agricultural practices but
First Indian heritage that varies. the languages of the south. Strange
The second migration, which one to say, some of the words are still
does not remember being men- used by Dravidian-language speak-
tioned in our school history books, ers. The Harappans were by then, a
was of herders from the Zagros racial mix of the First Indians and
Mountains of modern Iran, after the migrants from Zagros. And
7000 BCE – which led to inter- they were the Ancestral South Indi-
mixing with the First Indians in ans (ASI).
the North-western Region. And the The last major group of migrants
group catalysed first an agricultural were the Aryans, bringing Bronze
revolution and then the birth of the Age expertise from the steppes of
Central Asia, between 3000 and
the world. 4000 years ago. With them came
This was the Harappan civilisa- also the influence of Indo-European
tion, covering a staggering 1 mil- language. Aryan culture, including
lion sq km at its height, with its the Vedas, was most likely the result
of ‘interaction, adoption and adap-
developed water management tech- tation’ among those who brought
nology. It flourished from about 2600 Indo-European language to India
BCE to 1900 BCE and probably died and the already settled inhabitants.
out due to a prolonged drought. It was probably not a pre-packaged
or pre-fabricated import of scrip-
from his original field of business tures, language or culture.

54 VIDURA July-September 2019


Photos: Tanmoy Chakraborthy
Migration of West Asian herders from Zagros after 7000 BCE, and details depicting the probable
route of migrants from the Eurasian Steppes to North India, after 3000 BCE.
The Harappans and Steppe pas- interesting offshoots of Joseph’s DNA is still in a nascent stage, and
toralists combined to produce the incursions into pre-history. One
Ancestral North Indians (ANI). such focuses on the caste system,
There were about 2000 years of free which suddenly, after a free exog-
intermingling between the ances- amous period from 2200 BCE to
tral North Indians and the ances- around 100 CE, slammed down
tral South Indians. So First Indians, barriers to inter-mixing of the vari-
West Asians from Zagros, Harap- ous population groups. Why this
pans and the Steppe pastoralists “sudden downing of the shutters?” us are mixed, but clearly some are
all contributed to the Indian racial asked the author. There is no defini-
blend, which Tony Joseph irrev- tive answer.
erently likens to a pizza, with the However, because of the caste
base comprising the First Indians in system, India has been divided and
varying proportions. Some groups, sub-divided, diminishing ‘fellow-
of course, would have higher levels feeling’ and reducing the possibil-
of Steppe ancestry, and these would ity of mutually beneficial, common with Joseph’s conclusion that ours
probably have been the custodians actions. In the Q&A session that fol-
of early Vedic culture. lowed the lecture, several questions
In addition to the book itself, the were asked about the caste system,
epilogue deals with a number of which would indicate the audience
interest in this peculiarly Indian
institution.
Another fascinating tangent in the
epilogue that the author mentioned,
is a genetic reason for lactose intol-
erance. A gene mutation labeled
13910T which lets the human body
The book jacket features the Dancing Girl The author’s photograph from the book
in bronze, from Mohenjo-Daro. jacket by Sheba Jose.
July-September 2019 VIDURA
digest milk beyond
infancy – lactase persis-
tence – is found more
in the North-west and
less in the south and
east. This accounts for
the greater dependence
on milk and milk prod-
ucts in the north and
the inclination towards
meat and fish in other
regions.
The impression one
gets overall is that
research into ancient
one must be cautious about the
conclusions one draws. Further, to
downplay the genetic differences
between Indians is not realistic,
given the results of 2000 years of
endogamy promoted by the caste
system. It may be true that all of
more visibly mixed than others.
And to say “tribals are us” may
discourage us from ‘otherising’
tribals, but is not a very convincing
assertion.
However, one cannot quarrel
is “a multi-source civilization”.
All the successive waves of migra-
tion down to the present day have
changed the way we live and think.
It is pointless to try to straitjacket
everything into a mono-culture. We
<
have a shared history.
(The writer has a background
in English Literature, social
communications media and personnel
management. She has been a
journalist, having worked for The
Indian Express, Hyderabad, and
The Sunday Leader, Colombo, and
is a teacher of English Language and
Literature in India and Sri Lanka.
For the past 10 years, she has been
working freelance for the British
Council in India.)
55
Book Review
Making a strong case for people’s unity
in resolving threats to the environment
PLANET IN PERIL
Author: Bharat Dogra
Publisher: Vitasta Publishing, New Delhi
Price: Rs 850
The growing realisation that serious environmental
problems are threatening the life-nurturing condi-
tions of Planet Earth, thereby resulting in nothing less
than a crisis of survival for mankind, has prompted
noted journalist Bharat Dogra to draw from his expe-
rience and put together this book that outlines both
the threats and possible solutions.
Among the threats facing the continuity of the world
as we know it, are the accumulation of weapons of
mass destruction, the erosion of core human values,
factors contributing to climate change, the rising use
of hazardous chemicals, GM crops and depression
among youth, fi nds Dogra.
Planet in Peril is broadly divided into six sections –
Alarm Bells Ringing, Tipping Points, Neglected Pri-
orities, The Way Forward, Social Movements and
Pitfalls of Progress. Under each, there are several
chapters, some short and pithy, others more elaborate.
Dogra discusses the various threats, their causes – the
56
philosophical and developmental aspects – as well
as solutions, drawing upon his personal experience
as well as the views of established authorities in the
respective fi elds.
The author examines the track record in handling
issues that have been apparent for some time, and
the inadequacy of these eff orts. He emphasises that
solutions should be within the framework of justice,
democracy and peace. People’s Movements, he feels,
are the only way forward, and explores how this can
be done. He says, for instance, that if a plan for reduc-
ing GHG emissions can be linked to meeting basic
needs of the people and to disarmament, then it is
much easier to mobilise mass support for it.
Some of the chapters are didactic in tone. Others are
whimsical, like Through the Eyes of Aliens, in which
he takes a look at the way extra-terrestrial visitors
might view the present situation on our Planet – the
senselessness of our priorities and the dangers towards
which we rush, unmindful of warning notes.
In Planet in Peril, Dogra makes a strong case for peo-
ple’s unity cutt ing across all boundaries and also for
a World Government to play at least a limited role
in resolving threats before it is too late. The urgency
of the issues and the consequent need for out-of-box
solutions is stressed.
In this easy-to-read book, Dogra draws on his con-
siderable journalistic experience and research on
issues related to the environment, development, jus-
tice, peace, equality and welfare.
As Medha Patkar puts it, “this book can be a medium
to further a dialogue and alliance among people’s
movements with resistance to the present paradigm
and all others presenting [a] sustainable and just
development path.”
Planet in Peril can be ordered directly from the
author, Bharat Dogra (bharatdogra1956@gmail.com)
or the from Vitasta Publishing.
<
(Reviewed by Susan Philip, assistant editor, Vidura.)
VIDURA July-September 2019
Book Review
The relevance today of the Gandhian brand of
journalism
MAHATMA GANDHI, A JOURNALIST AND EDITOR
Edited by: Mrinal Chatterjee and Snehasis Sur
Publisher: Kolkatta Press Club.
Price: Rs 175
The book, an anthology of lectures, essays and articles
by eminent persons like veteran journalist of yester-
year Nikhil Chakrabarty and historian Ramachandra
Guha, seeks to assess Gandhi’s role as editor of six
newspapers over four decades like Indian Opinion,
which he started in South Africa, Young India, Hari-
jan and others. None of them lasted, not only because
Gandhi was against newspapers being subsidised by
advertisements as it would compromise its indepen-
dence. Moreover, he was frequently imprisoned dur-
ing the Freedom Movement and the rudderless peri-
odicals had to suspend publication.
Gandhi being what he was, his fi rst commitment was in anger or malice or excite passion . Often, my vanity
to truth and that was the value he set for the journals
edited. Being a fi rm believer in non-violence, not only tive. It is a terrible ordeal, but a fi ne exercise to remove
in action but also in words, his writings were naturally
July-September 2019 VIDURA
restrained and they sought to change the British by
persuasion rather than being hyper critical. As he used
the media to reach out to the unlett ered masses like
the indigo farmers of Cooch Behar as well the elitist
Congressmen in Bombay, his message was simple and
straightforward, like the person he was.
Like Quit India. Two words that shook the British
empire. Do or die. A command to the sathyagrahis. Or
his description of the salt satyagraha as “a batt le of right
against might”. Or his dismissal of a highly negative
book on India by American Katherine Mayo as “a drain
inspector’s report”. As Gandhi put it: “It is the report
of a drain inspector sent out with the one purpose of
opening and examining the drains of the country to be
reported upon, or to give a graphic description of the
stench exuded by the opened drains.”
Or Gandhi’s equally famous criticism of Sir Staff ord
Cripps’ vague promise of a measure of independence
after the end of the World War II. Gandhi called it a
“post-dated cheque on a crashing bank”.
Such nuggets lie scatt ered if you have the patience
to go through the entire book and not be put off by the
tediously repetitive narrative given by various authors
at diff erent points of time. It is not their fault. The two
editors who have collected and published them in
this book should have taken the trouble to cut out the
repetitions.
The broad strands are visible. One, his style. Two,
the substance. As each is giving his take on Gandhi,
the focus is more on style rather than on substance.
There again, they cannot be blamed. As Ramachan-
dra Guha mentions in one article reproduced in this
book, two volumes in the collected works of Gandhi
are entirely devoted to his writings and speeches.
Now, his style. Everyone agrees that though Gandhi
was also a barrister of law from England, he shunned
the Victorian English and instead choose a style that
was simple but not coarse. If you look closely, Gandhi
was looked upon as leader by two towering person-
alities — Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru. While Patel was a man of action, Nehru was an
Anglophile. Gandhi was a happy blend of both.
References abound about his own writings about his
role as a journalist. Writing in Young India (July 2, 1925)
Gandhi wrote, “To be true to my faith, I may not write
dictates a smart expression or my anger a harsh adjec-
these weeds.”
57
Book Review

Here is another: “The sole aim of journalism should sage reached the grassroots. It also helped the elite to
be service. The true function of journalism is to edu- identify with the people.
cate the public mind and read the mind of the country Gandhi used homespun idioms and quoted from the
and to give a defi nite and fearless expression to that lives of Rama, Jesus and Prophet Mohammed. Rabi-
mind.” ndranath Tagore highlighted this aspect of Gandhi’s
Gandhi felt that an advertisement-driven newspa- success as a communicator. He wrote as early as in
per would lose its editorial independence. As he put 1921: “Mahatma Gandhi came and stood at the door
it: “It is an established practice with newspapers to India’s destitute millions, clad as one of them, speak-
depend on revenues mainly on advertisements rather ing to them in their own language…Who else has so
than on subscriptions. The result has been deplorable. unreservedly accepted the vast masses of Indian peo-
The very newspaper which writes against the drink ple as his own fl esh and blood!”
evil will publishes advertisements in praise of drinks. While acknowledging Gandhi’s bond with the
This practice has come entirely from the West. It is the masses, Jawarharlal Nehru once said: “Some of Gan-
duty of every newspaper to exercise some restraint in dhi’s phrases sometimes jarred upon me — thus his
the matt er of advertisements.” frequent reference Ramrajya as the golden age that
Gandhi made his foray into journalism in South was to return. But I was powerless to intervene, and
Africa in late 19th Century with Indian Opinion. Over I consoled myself with the thought Gandhi used the
the next decades, he edited The Young India, Navajivan words because they were known and understood by
and The Harijan. the masses.”
The fi rst newspaper he published, Indian Opinion in Gandhi himself explained: By Ramrajya, I do not
Natal, sought to refl ect the voice of the Indians liv- mean Hindu Raj. I mean Ram Raj, the kingdom of
ing under apartheid. It is not known why he never God.” Seventy years ago, Gandhi said: “Real swaraj
touched upon the majority blacks. He sought to reach will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few,
through Indian Opinion the Indians, mostly Tamils but by the capacity by all to resist authority when it is
who went as indentured labour and Gujaratis who abused.”
went for trade. Therefore, Indian Opinion was pub- A telling message to the lunatic fringe in the rul-
lished in English, Tamil, Gujarati and Hindi. ing class who hail Nathuram Godse as a nationalist
Ramachandra Guha, quoting Cape Town historian and, by implication, denounce Gandhi as an anti-
Uma Mesthrie, says Indian Opinion was not the fi rst national because he was responsible for the partition
Indian newspaper in South Africa. The fi rst was a of India. <
periodical called Indian World, started by an expatri-
ate from Madras, P.S. Aiyer. After it folded up, Aiyer (Reviewed by S. Murari, senior journalist
launched Indian News. As Aiyer operated in Natal based in Chennai.)
province, there was need for a journal for Transvaal
where Gandhi lived, and he fulfi lled that need.
So long as Gandhi was in South Africa, Indian Opin-
ion was both a mirror to his ideas and a voice for his
movement. In his autobiography, Gandhi says, “Satya-
graha would probably have been impossible without
Indian Opinion”.
The book also deals with how Gandhi was able to
communicate with the masses without the mass media.
It was an age when there was no radio or television.
AIR was started only 1930. Yet, Gandhi used news-
papers to spread his ideologies to the elite and made Education for all
them spread them to the masses.
In the days before microphones came into use, is still a distant
Gandhi addressed mass meetings where his message dream...
was relayed from those in the front row to the back
by word of mouth. Despite refusing advertisements,
The Young India touched a circulation of 45000 at one Subscribe to Rs 240 for 12 issues
stage. Gandhi urged the educated elite to read out the
newspaper to the illiterate masses. That way, his mes-

58 VIDURA July-September 2019

Book Review
Full of personal discoveries and nuggets of
information
BEYOND THE HIMALAYAS: JOURNEYING
THROUGH THE SILK ROUTE
Authors: Goutam Ghose & Michael Haggiag
Publisher: Niyogi Books
Price: Rs 1250
The Himalayas and its valleys have always fascinated
travellers, explorers, archaeologists, historians, and
others. The youngest mountain range in the world
it might be, but the majestic peaks, the thousands of
miles lying at its foothills have worked like magnets
to people with wanderlust in their hearts.
There are scores of books on the region – serious
tomes, travelogues, expedition-notes, you name it, and
perhaps it are still being writt en about in some corner Kashgar in the Uighur Region of China, once a thriv-
of the world, not forgett ing the documentaries and fea-
ture fi lms based on its topography and legends. To this outpost during British colonial days: a “strategic lis-
long list is now added the recently published Beyond
the Himalayas: Journeying through the Silk Route, jointly
writt en by fi lmmakers Goutam Ghose and Michael Empire” (Haggiag writes).
Haggiag who lives in England.
The profusely illustrated book, however, is not a
chronicle of recent travels. It harks back on the duos’
travels in 1994 as part of the Central Asian expedition,
the fi rst of its kind, organised by Major H.P.S. Ahluwa-
lia, who was a member of the fi rst Indian expedition to Turkestan (1931), Lady Catherine recalls how among a
July-September 2019 VIDURA
scale the Everest in 1965. Wounded during the Indo-
Pakistan war that year, it made him wheelchair bound,
but the physical impediment did not deter him from
planning expeditions like this one.
Together, Ghose and Haggiag, who is also greatly
interested in Buddhism, have coalesced their expe-
riences in this interesting travelogue on the old Silk
Route. In ancient times, the route originated at trading
posts in China and then progressed to West Asia, and
reached the markets of Europe.
The expedition covered 14000 km across Central
Asia, China and Tibet. Ghose’s fi lm Beyond the Hima-
layas on this trip has been shown widely. Now, this
book traces that journey in print which is as riveting,
and is an eye-opener to those who have not seen the
fi lm. Their journey, however, traced the Silk Route in
reverse, from the west to the east. From the fi rst port
of call in the ancient city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan,
capital of the legendary Timur the Lame, it progresses
towards China.
The fi ve chapters of the book, besides giving a
glimpse of the arid land intercepted by green patches
and lakes, also dwell on the Buddhist traditions in this
land and their close connection to India. Buddhism
after all branched out to the Far East and Near East, as
well as to Tibet from its birth place in India.
The journey throws light on many other aspects,
some known, some unknown. For the Indians, Babur
does not need any introduction but it’s still fascinat-
ing to travel with the authors to the Fergana Valley
near Bukhara. This is also the land of the legendary
warhorse, now extinct, immortalised by Han and Tang
Dynasty sculptors. It is well known that despite many
years in India, Babur always pined for the fl owers and
juicy fruits of the Fergana Valley.
The Buddhist trail is equally fascinating, starting in
ing trading centre on the Silk Road. It was the lone
tening post beyond the Himalayas with British India
in its cold war against the rapidly expanding Russian
The British Consulate manned by Lord George
McCartney and wife Catherine was appropriately
called Chini Bagh. They were also responsible for
drawing the att ention of the West to this culturally
rich region. In her memoir An English Lady in Chinese
59
Book Review

few knick-knacks her husband picked up were leaves with colours still intact, talks about the legends of a
of a manuscript which were sent to a Sanskrit scholar great treasure buried in a ruined fortress city in the
Professor Hoernle; he wrote back that they were “the Gobi Desert (still to be found) and throws light on less
oldest Indian hand-writt en documents then known to known facts about a few extraordinary women who
exist”, belonging to the 4th Century. travelled to Lhasa as Christian missionaries, like Ann
“A civilisation had emerged full-blown from the des- Taylor, and the fi rst European Tibetan Lama Alexan-
ert, linking for the fi rst time the four great cultures of dra David-Neel.
the ancient world: Greece, Persia, India and China,” Ghosh’s description of the Potala Palace in Lhasa,
Haggiag observes. Explorer Marc Aurel Stein called once the home of the Dalai Lama, is telling: “It is eerily
it Serindia. His chief source was the travel diary of silent. We fi nd fl oor upon fl oor of empty room [said to
Buddhist monk Xuangzang (earlier Hieu-en-Tsiang in number 1000] and corridors.... There hangs a desolate
Indian history books) who travelled to India in the 7th air about the place in spite of being well-preserved.”
Century in search of the birth place of Buddha. It is these personal discoveries and gems of informa-
Such discoveries during the expedition make the tion that make the book worth reading and keep the
book more than a diary of journey. The socio-cultural urge to travel to these lands alive though lots of things
life of the people from ancient times also come into have changed in the last two decades.
<
focus. Ghose captures the visit to the Cave of Thou-
sand Buddhas at Mogao with extraordinary murals, (Reviewed by Ranjita Biswas.)

Shedding light on various aspects of

Public Relations
PUBLIC RELATIONS: CONCEPTS, PRACTICES AND
APPLICATIONS
Editors: C.K. Sardana & K. John Babu
Publisher: Dominant Publishers and Distributors, New
Delhi
Pages: 182
Price: Rs 950
Public Relations is one of the fastest growing sectors
in the world today. It has a huge role to play in help-
ing organisations across sectors which are in need of
building and maintaining a positive image among
various stakeholders in order to achieve their goals.
Public Relations departments are also sometimes
called either Corporate Communications or Public
Aff airs (although there are slight diff erences among
the three). They are responsible for communicating
with internal as well as external stakeholders like
employees, the general public, media, government
authorities, representatives of the public and others
to ensure creation and maintenance of a favourable
image of the organisation in question.
In this context, the book, Public Relations: Concepts,
Practices and Applications, is of signifi cance. The book
has a lot to off er public relations practitioners, teach-
ers, researchers and students of the subject. The book
has 14 chapters and three case studies on crisis man-
agement. It sheds light on several aspects of public
relations, ranging from its historical and sociological
evolution to its role in achieving sustainability.
The chapter titled ‘PR in India: A historical and soci-
ological perspective’, writt en by veteran J.V. Vilanilam,
takes the readers through an interesting journey of the
evolution of public relations in India right from the
times of the Emperor Ashoka, when he had edicts and
inscriptions carved on rocks and pillars to communi-
cate with his subjects throughout his vast kingdom, to
the era of Mahatma Gandhi, who used PR, press and
publicity for generating a political conscience and for
rural development.

60 VIDURA July-September 2019

Book Review

The chapter also traces recent developments in the of social media’ expose readers to the new-age chal-
fi eld of PR in Indian as well as the global context, dis- lenges posed by the Internet and new practices such
cussing the formation of institutions like Public Rela- as social media campaigns, PR through social media,
tions Society of India (PRSI) and how government blogs, emails, etc.
machinery, including the Prime Ministers’ Offi ce, The book also discusses how PR is helpful in leverag-
gives importance to public relations. However, it does ing marketing benefi ts in diff erent ways. It argues that
not clearly discuss the sociological perspectives, bely- since PR helps organisations win the trust of custom-
ing the title. ers and stakeholders, it eventually leads to increasing
The chapter titled ‘Government Public Relations: In product and service sales. These positions are backed
the world’s largest democracy’ provides rich content in by success stories of companies like Dabur, Apollo and
a very systematic way about the goals, needs and justifi - others.
cations for government public relations functions. Con- The book mentions the aspect of PR and sustainabil-
tributed by another veteran, C.V. Narasimha Reddi, it ity in the chapter titled ‘Public Relations, CSR and sus-
off ers a detailed outline of public relations functions at tainable development’. There is also a comprehensive
both central as well as state government level and the chapter on public relations research which researchers,
diff erent organisations and agencies established for the academia and students will fi nd helpful.
job. Both teachers and students will fi nd it useful. However, some key concepts seem to be missing
Chapters like ‘Communication challenges in public in the book – like corporate communications, public
sector undertakings’ and ‘Tools of Public Relations in aff airs, media relations. These are closely linked to the
a challenging environment’ underline the modern-day subject of PR. Although the terms are mentioned a few
challenges in the fi eld. Today, work at PR departments times in some chapters, there is no in-depth coverage
is extremely fast-paced. While the former brings to the of the concepts which are vital to those trying to gain
fore the emerging challenges in the fi eld, especially in a substantive understanding of the fi eld.
<
terms of the PSUs, the latt er provides a comprehensive
description of the diff erent tools which could be used (Reviewed by Prof Pavitra Shrivastava, dean and
to meet those challenges in diff erent circumstances. head, Department of Advertising and Public Relations,
Two chapters titled, ‘Digital communication for Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism
PR’ and ‘PR in the Internet Age: The increasing role and Communication, Bhopal.)

Ravish Kumar bags Ramon Magsaysay Award

Journalist Ravish Kumar has been awarded the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award for “harnessing journalism to give
voice to the voiceless”. He is among five individuals who were declared winners of the award. The other winners of
the award, dubbed ‘Asia’s premier prize and highest honour’, include Myanmar’s Ko Swe Win, also a journalist;
Thailand’s Angkhana Neelapaijit, human rights activist; Philippines’ Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab, musician; and
South Korea’s Kim Jong-Ki, an activist working with violence and mental health issues in youth.
Kumar, 44, who is NDTV India’s senior executive editor, is one of India’s most influential TV journalists, the
award citation said. Kumar’s Prime Time programme “deals with real-life, under-reported problems of ordinary
people”, it added. “If you have become the voice of the people, you are a journalist,” the citation added.
The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Manila on September 9, 2019.
“In electing Ravish Kumar to receive the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his
unfaltering commitment to a professional, ethical journalism of the highest standards; his moral courage in standing
up for truth, integrity, and independence; and his principled belief that it is in giving full and respectful voice to
the voiceless, in speaking truth bravely yet soberly to power, that journalism fulfills its noblest aims to advance
democracy,” reads the statement on the official website.
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour. It celebrates the memory and
leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named, and is given every year to
individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service and transformative influence that ruled
the life of the late and beloved Filipino leader.
<

(Courtesy: The Hindu; with inputs from PTI)

July-September 2019 VIDURA 61

REMEMBERING PAULINE KAEL

The most influential American

film critic of her era
On the occasion of the birth centenary (June 19) of the doyenne of American film critics, Pauline Kael, Partab Ramchand
pays the legend a tribute. Kael, who received several awards for her work, passed away at the age of 82 in 2001.
But her writings continue to fascinate movie-goers and film critics

F
or years during the time According to film critic Owen Clint Eastwood and became known
when I doubled up as a sports Gleiberman, “she was more than a as his nemesis. On the other hand,
reporter and a film critic in great critic. She reinvented the form she was an enthusiastic supporter
Madras, I used to regularly visit and pioneered an entire aesthetic of of the works of directors Sam Peck-
the British Council for information writing.” inpah and Robert Altman.
on sports and the American Centre From the early 1950s to the early Kael was an opponent of the
for keeping in touch with what was 1990s, Kael wrote reviews and auteur theory. She preferred to anal-
going on in the world of films. And detailed essays that won her innu- yse films without thinking about the
invariably, I used to make a beeline merable admirers. But her gener- director’s other works and argued
for the latest issue of the New Yorker ally acerbic criticism also had her that a film should be considered a
to read Pauline Kael’s reviews. at loggerheads with both the edi- collaborative effort. In Raising Kane,
After all she was the most famous tors of the magazines she worked her famous long essay on various
of all American film critics and I for and several movie makers. She aspects of Citizen Kane, she argued
marvelled at her writing. spared no film, no film maker and that Orson Welles got too much
The choice of words and phrases, no performer, being particularly credit for the film while she harped
the manner in which Kael deeply harsh on commercial cinema. on the distinctive contributions of
analysed the film and her bit- Among the movies that did co-writer Herman Mankiewicz and
ing sarcasm was something that not escape her poison pen were cinematographer Gregg Toland.
greatly influenced me. Over the Westside Story, The Sound of Though Kael’s name is indissolu-
years, I read almost every one of Music, Lawrence of Arabia, Doc- bly linked with the New Yorker, it
her books which were a collection tor Zhivago, 2001: A Space Odys- was her writing in the high circula-
of her reviews and found them fas- sey and A Hard Day’s Night. She tion women’s magazine, McCall’s,
cinating, spell binding and unput- was particularly critical towards and the highly influential The New
downable. Many of her phrases
stayed with me for years and even
now, 18 years after her death, when
seeing old movies on YouTube or
on other movie channels, I make
it a point to read her views of that
particular film.
Probably the most influential
American film critic of her era,
Kael left a lasting impression on
many other prominent film crit-
ics. Historian Roger Ebert while
writing Kael’s obituary said that
“she had a more positive influence
on the climate for film in America
than any other single person over
Photos: PR

the last three decades. Kael had no

theory, no rules, no guidelines, no
objective standards. With her it was
all personal.’’ The remarkable Pauline Kael.

62 VIDURA July-September 2019

Republic in the early and mid 1960s In between, there also came out Asked in 1998 if she thought her
that brought her into prominence. The Citizen Kane Book, her master- criticism had affected the way films
But it is her stint with the New Yorker piece on how Orson Welles’ clas- were made, Kael said, “If I say yes,
from 1968 that really earned her a sic was made which included the I am an egotist and if I say no I have
place among the great film critics. shooting script of the film and her wasted my life.”
Initially, many considered Kael’s famous long essay, Raising Kane. But it has been admitted that the
colloquial, brash writing style an Kael wrote enthusiastically about careers of several directors were
odd fit with the sophisticated and films till 1991 when she retired, profoundly affected by Kael. Paul
genteel image that the New Yorker suffering from Parkinson’s disease Schrader, for example, was men-
enjoyed. But during her long ten- since the early 1980s. The New York tored by Kael while working as a
ure at the magazine, she was able Times referred to her retirement film critic before taking up screen
to take advantage of the fact that announcement as “earth shatter- writing and becoming a full time
she was permitted to write at length ing”, such was the impact she had director.
– and with minimal editorial influ- on the public at large. At the time, Derek Malcolm who worked for
ence – thereby achieving her great- Kael explained that she would still several years as film critic for The
est prominence. By the end of 1968, write essays for the New Yorker along Guardian claimed that “if a director
Time magazine was referring to with “some reflections and other was praised by Kael, he or she was
Kael as “one of the country’s top pieces of writing about movies”. generally allowed to work since the
movie critics”. Over the next ten years, however, money men knew there would be
Much to the delight of her legion she published no new work save for similar approbation across a wide
of followers, Kael through the 1970s an introduction to For Keeps pub- field of publications”.
and 80s published collections of her lished in 1994 in which she stated in Alternately Kael was said to have
reviews. So, through the years at reference to her film criticism: “I am the power to prevent film makers
regular intervals, we had the release frequently asked why I don’t write from working. David Lean claimed
of I Lost It At the Movies, Kiss Kiss my memoirs. I think I have.” that her criticism of his work “kept
Bang Bang, Going Steady, Deeper Kael’s influence on the suc- him making a movie for 14 years”,
Into Movies, Reeling, When the cess of a film and on movie mak- referring to the 14--year break
Lights Go Down, 5001 Nights At ers has been the subject of intense between Ryan’s Daughter in 1970
the Movies, Taking It All In, State debate but there is little doubt that to A Passage to India in 1984.
<
Of the Art, Hooked, Movie Love she commanded a large follow-
and For Keeps. ing among those in the industry.

TRIBUTE TO VIJAYA MULAY (1921-2019)

A filmmaker who scored with

educational communication
Vijaya Mulay, one of the few pillars of all angles of the documentary film movement in India, passed away at the ripe
age of 98 at her Delhi residence on 19th May this year. Shoma A. Chatterji recalls the contributions of a woman
who was associated with so many facets of documentaries

F
rom initiating and spread- and strengthen its membership, spread of film society movement,
ing a movement towards attended film festivals, and made from the Ministry of Education
good cinema, to making short films and documentaries per- in the 1950s and 60s. Along with
documentary films, to pioneering taining to education. [Satyajit] Ray and Chidu [Chiddan-
a movement for NCERT to pro- Says Film Society movement activ- anda Dasgupta] da, Akka in Delhi…
duce educational films for national ist, writer and author V.K. Cherian: ensured government patronage for
television, Vijaya Mulay did it all. “Akka (sister) worked with Marie the budding FS movement. From
She wrote scripts, directed films, Seton to ensure the formation of the the formation of the two pioneer-
wrote about films, helped organise Delhi Film Society, the Federation ing societies, in Delhi and Patna,
the film society movement in Delhi of Film Societies of India and the through the formation of FFSI and

July-September 2019 VIDURA 63

all its landmarks, to the growth of
the movement, there is nothing
which does not have the imprint
of Akka.”
Vijaya spent her early married life
in Patna where her husband had
been transferred. When he passed
away, leaving her with three grow-
ing daughters, she took on the role
of single parent. She was no stranger
to the demands of the role, because
her mother had been a single parent,
too. She, however, completed her
bachelor’s degree. The seeds of her
love for cinema were sown in Patna
where the bioscopes aired English
films at half price on Sunday morn-
ings. She was hooked for life. Soon
after, she bagged a state scholarship
to study at the University of Leeds
and, in 1946, she moved to the UK
for a master’s in Education.
Vijaya would say that it was her
good fortune she lived in England
at a time when the performing
arts reflected new ideas and tech-
niques. She got different and better founder of the Delhi Film Society, in diversity). The animation was
perspectives of cinematic art when
she joined the Film Society at Leeds eration of Film Societies as joint Interestingly, after Vijaya passed
University. That was when her
fondness for cinema turned into a
passion.
She saw to it that her daugh-
ters were well-educated, though
she hardly had the kind of finan-
cial resources higher education
demanded. All three daughters had
successful careers of their own. The
youngest, Suhasini Mulay, stud-
ied Agricultural Technology at the
McGill University but went on to
do a degree in Mass Communica-
tions from the same university and
studied under John Grierson who
ran the Allied campaign against the
Germans during World War ll.
The eldest, Daya Verma, worked
as a research scientist in bio-
medicine and was director of the
Women’s Research and Teach-
ing Centre at McGill University in
Montreal where she had migrated
in 1965. The middle sister, Bharati
Sharma, is a garment exporter who dios of NCERT and was released by
settled down in Delhi. Vijaya lived the Films Division. It won the Best
in the UK from 1946 to 1949 and
64
Photos: SC
Vijaya Mulay – scripter, director, writer and organiser.
then returned to Patna. Sometime The film is considered one of
around 1954, she moved to Delhi India’s greatest animated story-
after she was appointed as a gov- telling films. It is well remembered
ernment education officer. by the 1980s generation as a classic
In 1959, Vijaya became the example of anekta main ekta (unity
after which she joined the Fed- by the master animator, Bhimsen.
secretary alongside film critic Chi- away, people who were children
dananda Dasgupta, with Satyajit when Ek Anek Aur Ekta was made,
Ray as its founding president. She were surprised to discover that she
also worked at the Central Board of had directed and scripted this film
Film Certification in the early 1960s. which was part of their childhood
In 1967, she met the celebrated memories.
French filmmaker Louis Malle. That In 1975, Vijaya headed the Centre
was the start of a life-long friend- for Educational Technology (CET)
ship and Malle, along with Satyajit where she made educational films
Ray, assisted Vijaya in making her which were broadcast across 2400
debut film, The Tidal Bore. villages in four languages. She was
The 18-minute film about a natural conferred the V Shantaram Award
phenomenon that wreaked havoc for Lifetime Achievement for docu-
along the Hooghly was India’s offi- mentaries at the Mumbai Interna-
cial entry at the Manheim Film Fes- tional Film Festival in 2002 by the
tival, and was also screened across Government of India.
the country by the Film Federation Vijaya also won the Vikram Sarab-
of India. hai Lifetime Achievement Award
Vijaya’s most memorable film, for educational communication in
however, is a beautiful anima- 1999. She was given the national
tion film called Ek Anek Aur Ekta award for best writing on cinema
(1974), which is just over seven for her work, From Rajahs and Yogis
minutes long. It was the very first to Gandhi and Beyond: Images of India
production from the animation stu- in International Films of the Twentieth
Century.
<
Children’s Film award in Japan.
VIDURA July-September 2019
TRIBUTE TO RUMA GUHA THAKURTA (1934-2019)

Her sonorous, sensual voice

mesmerised the audience
Ruma Guha Thakurta is a name to reckon with in the annals of music and song. The talented but modest artiste
and singer passed away in her sleep in her Kolkata home recently. Her unique voice had no parallel as far as choral
mass music went, says Shoma A. Chatterji while tracing her film and music career. Ruma set a tradition in gana
sangeet (songs of the masses) which will carry on even though she is not around, Shoma says

A
completely new genre of
music was introduced as an
expression of protest and
rebellion by Salil Chodhury under in Mashaal and Samar and, soon
the aegis of the Indian People’s
Theatre Association, which formed
an integral part of India’s freedom
struggle. Ruma Guha Thakurta car-
ried the movement forward even
after India became Independent in
make much of a mark as an actress
and never became a star.
Ashok Kumar was her co-actor
after, she married Ashok Kumar’s
youngest brother Kishore Kumar
in 1951. Amit Kumar, their only
child, was born the next year and
he grew up to become a noted
singer in his own right. But the

Photos: SC
1947. It has always taken a ‘left-of- couple had an amicable divorce
centre’ stand and confined itself to in 1958.
songs of mass awareness. There- That year, Ruma, under the
fore, her contribution to the ‘move- guidance and supervision of Salil The talented Ruma Guha Thakurta.
ment’ in Indian music will forever Choudhury, founded the Calcutta
remain significant. Youth Choir. Her maternal uncle, Ruma also built up her career
Born Ruma Ghosh in Kolkata in Satyajit Ray, was the president of as an actress in Bengali cinema
1934 into an aristocratic Brahmo the group which gave choral and and had the good fortune to act in
family steeped in music and song, harmonised performances not only films directed by noted filmmakers
music was in her genes. Her mother, in Calcutta but all over India and ranging from Satyajit Ray through
Sati Ghosh, was a gifted singer and beyond. The lyrics were borrowed Tapan Sinha to Tarun Majumdar. In
ran music classes in their home in from songs of rebellion from across Calcutta, she married Arup Guha
Kolkata besides teaching music the world and then either trans- Thakurta, scion of an aristocratic
at different places across the city. lated into Bengali or Hindi or sung Brahmo family, and the couple have
Ruma picked up music just by lis- in English. two children, Ayan, and Sromona,
tening to her mother’s tuitions. But Before shifting to Calcutta, Ruma, who is also a singer.
she began as a dancer and music along with noted lyricist Shailendra, Arup Guha Thakurta pro-
came much later in her life. had founded the Bombay Youth duced and directed a Bengali film,
The family migrated to Bombay Choir, which performed at various Benarasi (1962), in which she por-
where she stepped into Hindi films events in the city. Shailendra was trayed a prostitute who is rescued
as an actress. Her first role was in saddened by Ruma’s shift back to and brought into the mainstream
the film Jwar Bhata (1944), which Calcutta, and also by the shift of through marriage but her tragic
also marked the debut of Dilip audience preference to film music, past keeps haunting her, forcing
Kumar as an actor. She then acted which, he felt, spelled the end of the couple to flee from place to
in a double-version film, Mashaal the Bombay Youth Choir. But Ruma place. She sang the song in the film
(Hindi) and Samar (Bengali), in began a similar choir in Calcutta. herself and the husband’s role was
1944, adapted from the classic, The group celebrated its 60th anni- played by Soumitra Chatterjee. The
Rajani, authored by Bankim Chan- versary last year. It now has its own music for the film was composed
dra Chattopadhyay. The three films building in the southern part of the by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Benarasi
were produced by Bombay Talkies. city on land generously allotted by won the Best Film Award from
She also acted in two more films – the then chief minister, Buddhadeb the Bengal Film Journalists’ Asso-
Afsar and Raag Rang – but did not Bhattacharya. ciation. Shot in black and white, it

July-September 2019 VIDURA 65

was well made, but did not do well whenever her role required a song written, composed and sung by
commercially. to be sung. She played in two very Bhupen Hazarika.
Ruma did not commit herself to delightful comedies – Ashitey Songs such as the recent compo-
films very much because looking Ashio Naa and Personal Assistant sition, Amrajuddhochaina shanti chai
after the Calcutta Youth Choir, its – opposite comedian Bhanu Ban- (we do not want war, we want peace)
rehearsals and programmes kept dopadhyay. They are hits with the show that the singers and compos-
her extremely busy. However, audience even today. ers and lyricists have evolved with-
among her notable performances Ruma Guha Thakurta had a sono- out losing the spirit of rebellion.
are the one in Gamga, based on rous, sensual voice with a special Another famous number is Bharat
a novel by Samaresh Bose and twang distinctly her own and this borshosurjerek naam, meaning, Bharat
directed by Rajen Tarafdar, in added a special ‘kick’ to the Cal- is another name for the sun.
which she portrayed a parallel role cutta Choir numbers in which she In July, 1974, the 20-member CYC
alongside Sandhya Roy. She played was the leading voice, the conduc- led by Ruma Guha Thakurta won
an important cameo in Ray’s Abhi- tor and the teacher. It mesmerised the first prize at the Copenhagen
jaan and also lent her voice to the the audience. She was helped in Youth Festival. The choir took part
beautiful but very tough Tagore learning and teaching the intrica- in the 25th anniversary of Inde-
number Baaje Koruno Shurey in cies of harmonisation by Parimal pendence Day of India in Delhi.
Ray’s Monihara, one of the three Dasgupta and this, in turn, helped The CYC voices welcomed Nelson
short stories in Teen Kanya. her train her own group which now Mandela to India in 1990 and hon-
Ruma gave a sparkling perfor- has around 300 members – singers, oured Amartya Sen for winning the
mance in Palatak directed by Tarun instrumentalists, drummers and Nobel Prize in 1998. It performed at
Majumdar, as a singer in a wan- percussionists, organisers, chore- the 30th anniversary of the Commu-
dering performing group and did ographers and so on. nist Party of India (Marxist) rule in
a lovely cameo of a female kobi- The members of the CYC have a West Bengal. CYC has performed at
gayika in Antony Firingee. It hasn’t uniform – the women wear white more than 5000 shows in India and
been established whether she chose saris with printed borders and abroad since its inception in 1958.
lesser films or whether good offers matching, long-sleeved blouses, Ruma set a tradition in gana san-
did not come her way, but the fact and deck their hair with flower geet (songs of the masses) which
remains that she did play medio- while the men wear kurta-pajamas will carry on even though she is not
cre, syrupy mothers in many main- of the same colour. They perform around.
<
stream Bengali films. to a live orchestra. Their songs
Still, we remember her in the bet- transcend borders. The lyrics of
ter films like Khoniker Otithi, Nir- many were not originally Bengali,
jon Saikatey, Wheelchair, Balika for example O Ganga Tumi Boicho
Bodhu, Dadar Keerti, Ganasha- Keno, a famous CYC number, was
tru and so on. She sang playback adapted from the Assamese song

TRIBUTE TO GIRISH KARNAD (1938-2019)

Literature, theatre or cinema,

he shone as radiant as ever
Girish Karnad passed away on June 10, aged 81. The man on the street perhaps knew him only as a character
actor who occasionally acted in Hindi films, mostly off-mainstream, so thought Shoma A. Chatterji, but after his
death, with tributes pouring in from people across the spectrum, she realsied that Karnad shone as a multi-faceted
personality who contributed much to regional literature and to Kannada theatre

T
he unique quality of Girish accessibility, his lack of the intel- Karnad had been suffering from a
Karnad that, ironically, pre- lectual ‘halo’ and his ability to be severe respiratory problem for the
vented him from being iden- forthright on any and every issue past two years. But that did not stop
tified as a living icon was his easy that impacted his life and lifestyle. him from making his point at the

66 VIDURA July-September 2019

 wrote while he was in England. On
his way back to India, he began to
write what would become his most
famous play – Tughlaq. He pre-
ferred to write in his native Kan-
nada and translated his works into
English himself. Tughlaq is still
performed by theatre personali-
ties across the world, with different
interpretations.
More plays followed, such as
Hayavadana, Naagamandala, Tale
Danda, The Dreams of Tipu Sultan,
Odakalu Bimba, Maduve Album,
Photos: SC

Flowers, Benda Kalu on Toast, Anju

Malige, Hittina Hunjaand Broken
Images. The last mentioned has
The multifaceted Karnad – you couldn’t but be in awe of him. been running to full houses across
the English-speaking world ever
meeting to mark Gauri Lankesh’s of India in 1975 as soon as Indira since it was first directed by Aly-
first death anniversary. He came Gandhi declared Emergency. That que Padamsee, with Shabana Azmi
with a tube running from his nose he was later appointed chairman of playing the lead. The play fetched
to an oxygen cylinder strapped to the same Institute is another story. great reviews.
his body and placard around his Karnad’s scholarship is as mind- Karnad’s uniqueness as a play-
neck saying, Me Too Urban Naxal, boggling as much as it is multi-lay- wright lay in his ability to look
to add his voice to the protest ered. He graduated from Karnataka at Indian history and mythology
against the murders of Lankesh University with honours in Math- from a different perspective, invest
and Kaalburgi. He did not betray ematics and Statistics because “I them with his post-modernist way
either fear or shock when he learnt wanted to go abroad for further of thinking and present them in
that his name was on top of the hit studies and Mathematics was scor- an original way. For example, in
list of the right-wing Hindu funda- ing enough to get me a scholarship Yayati, inspired by a Mahabharata
mentalist group that had murdered as my father did not have the means story, he creates the fictional char-
Narayan Dhabolkar, Kaalburgi and to send me abroad.” He topped the acter of Chitralekha, the wife of
Gauri Lankesh. merit list. But he never went back Yayati’s son Puru, who, to express
Activism apart, Karnad will have to mathematics again though he his total loyalty and subservience to
a place in the annals of Indian lit- admitted many times that an under- his father, exchanges his youth for
erature for all time because of his standing of mathematics helped his father’s old age when his father
erudition, cutting across fields as him when he wrote his plays. asks him to. But Chitralekha ques-
disparate as mathematics, statistics, Karnad majored in English at tions her father-in-law, asking him
Indian history, classical literature, Oxford and became head of the how and why he destroyed her life
mythology, folklore, music, theatre students’ union there. He was a by turning her husband into a dod-
and cinema. He had attracted the Rhodes Scholar as well as a Ful- dering old man when she had cho-
wrath of a section of people when bright Scholar and won a plethora sen him for his youth and virility.
he criticised Rabindranath Tag- of awards for his writing. In Tughlaq, Karnad turns the his-
ore on a public platform, saying He won the Jnanpeeth Award, torical story of the crazy king on its
the latter’s plays were not great, the highest prize in India for lit- head by fleshing out the emperor
and hadn’t been staged during his terateurs, in 1995. He also won as a sensitive and democratic ruler
lifetime. the Sahitya Akademi Award, the who always had his subjects’ wel-
Karnad also spoke openly at a lit- Kalidas Samman, the Rajyotsava fare in mind. In Naagamandala,
erary festival against V.S. Naipaul Award, an Honorary PhD. from also made into a film later, the audi-
for his anti-Islamic comments and the University of Southern Cali- ence is presented with a question
castigated the organisers of the fes- fornia, a Padma Shri, and, to top it – who is the husband – the person
tival for felicitating Naipaul on a all, a Padma Bhushan. But he never who marries an innocent girl and
previous occasion. He is reported referred to any of these awards. indulges in self pleasure or the per-
to have resigned as director of Karnad began his foray into writ- son who gives her a real and com-
the Film and Television Institute ing with the play, Yayati, which he plete experience of life. For some

July-September 2019 VIDURA 67

plays in the initial stages, he had film while the music was by B.V. maestro looking out for the ideal
adapted the traditional Yakshagana Karanth. The film was Karnad’s protégé who would take over from
style that had influenced him as a first venture as an independent him. The film starred Jayaprada.
young boy. Other folk styles perco- director. Karnad maintained that he acted
lated into his other plays too. Karnad’s next film was Vamsha in films for the money and nothing
Karnad’s career in films began Vriksha released in 1972. This was else. But he did get some awards,
around 1970 with the Kannada film jointly directed by Karnad and mainly for his work in Kannada
Samskara, which he not only acted B. Karanth. It was based on a novel films – for acting, direction and
in but also co-wrote. He played the by S.L. Bhyirappa, with the same so on. He stands apart from other
role of Praneshacharya, a devout name. It was a novel much ahead scholars and litterateurs because of
Brahmin who loses his Brahmini- of its times, in 1924, when widow his passion for his own language,
cal principles when he is tempted remarriage was unimaginable in Kannada, and his decision to settle
by the beauty of a woman who is a Hindu family. The film won the down in Dharwad, where he moved
loved by another Brahmin. It was National Award for Best Direction to when he was 14.
based on a novel by U.R. Anantha- and three Filmfare Awards, too. The Sahitya Akademi produced
murthy and directed by Pattabhi- Karnad did not act in the film. a documentary on Karnad directed
rama Reddy who co-authored the His career in acting really began by K.M. Chaitanya who was associ-
screenplay with Karnad. It won the when Shyam Benegal picked him ated with him for a long time. It is
Best Feature Film Award at the 18th for two very important films, a short but sweet film that allows
National Film Awards, four Kan- namely, Nishant and Manthan. He Karnad to talk about his life, the
nada State Awards and one inter- shone in Basu Chatterjee’s Swami influences that shaped him since
national award. and Apne Paraye and also in Jabbar boyhood, his admiration for his
In 1973, Karnad directed Kaadu Patel’s Umbartha. He played nega- parents, specially his mother, a
(Forest) in Kannada and its screen- tive roles in Nagesh Kukkunoor’s widow who re-married and settled
play was based on a novel of the Iqbal and Dor. But the world of down to a contented life as wife and
same name by Srikirshna Alan- cinema didn’t hold much attraction mother; his forays into academics,
halli. The film bagged both the for him. theatre, plays and cinema. The crux
National Award and the 21st Film- In Ananda Bhairavi (1983), he of the film is Karnad’s association
fare State Award in the South. played a Kuchipudi guru who was with the publishers who brought
The central character is a small hell bent on breaking the taboo out all his works in Kannada, and
boy of eight called Kitti, who comes against allowing girls and women how close he became to them dur-
to live with his uncle and aunt, and to learn the dance form. To be able ing his career as a playwright.
<
the entire story is presented from to portray the role with conviction,
his perspective. Govind Nihalani he took Kuchipudi lessons. In Sur
did the cinematography for the Sangam (1985), he played a music

BusinessLine journalists bag awards

Two journalists from BusinessLine bagged awards at the 7th Annual Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial
Journalism. Radhika Merwin, senior deputy editor, BusinessLine, was the runner up in the Economic Policy category
for her report, ‘Can ARCs help ease banks’ burden?’ Rajalakshmi Nirmal, deputy editor, BusinessLine, was the
winner in the Financial Markets category for her report, Commodity Derivatives 2.0. The awards were given away
by Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Shriram Capital, in Mumbai.
A post-graduate with an MBA degree in Finance, Radhika joined BusinessLine seven years ago to pursue financial
journalism and complement her rich experience in the field of financial analysis. She actively tracks the banking/
financial services sector, fixed income/bond market, and mutual fund space.
Rajalakshmi Nirmal writes about financial markets, agri-business policy and insurance. Over the last 11 years as a
journalist, her stories have covered market trends in promoter and institutional investor behaviour, open offers, IPOs,
corporate dividends, the India-US stock market link and actionable stories on personal finance and commodities.
<

(Courtesy: The Hindu BusinessLine)

68 VIDURA July-September 2019

OTHER NEWS
C.R.L. Narasimhan no more The report delves deeper into the digital shift to
explore business issues of media in repressed or
C.R.L. Narasimhan, former asso- flawed markets. To date, little is known about their
ciate editor who also served as specific economic experiences while evidence of how
the business editor of The Hindu, revenue models adapt remains scant. Despite this lack
passed away recently after an of research, business issues remain a major factor in
illness, aged 71. Before joining the ability of media to contribute and impact their
The Hindu in December 1993, communities.
he was with the State Bank of The report identifies how digital media face a par-
India Group. A former merchant ticular set of challenges, including business pressures
C.R.L. Narasimhan. banker, CRL (as he was known to and restrictions. From the one side, they tackle issues
many in the field) quickly repositioned himself in his relating to online registration or high levels of taxation,
new role as a journalist. and the other from the added pressure of government
CRL, the financial writer, was tempered in his writ- controls on advertisers and government-controlled
ing. Yet, he was effective in pushing across his view advertising agencies. Media are concerned about digi-
point. His writing style was simple, subtle and read- tal monetisation and distribution, as well as playing a
er-friendly in terms of articulation. His understand- balancing act with technology giants, Facebook and
ing of the financial sector often pitchforked him into Google. Lack of data analysis and a shortage of adver-
a privileged position of providing informal, but criti- tising revenues were cited as key problems.
cal, feed to policy planners on assorted issues affect- The challenges are symptomatic both of new media
ing this crucial sector. He ran a weekly column titled and the new media operations of traditional media,
Financial Scene, which used to appear every Monday and significantly frustrate the ability of these media to
in the Business Review pages of The Hindu. A popu- reach their audiences and establish financial sustain-
lar column, it had wide readership and elicited quite a ability. The report addresses this by offering a toolkit
response — formal as well informal — from discerning approach to the business challenges being faced by
readers across the spectrum. media. With the exception of South Africa, all media
His knowledge of business and finance aside, what organisations included in the report operate in areas
stood out in CRL was the consistency with which he considered to be politically pressured according to
churned out his column week after week with very the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, positioned in
few misses, even when he was going through trying the lowest half of all countries globally as ranked on
times. He was tenacious in the face of persistent health press freedom.
issues. A jovial person, CRL had the uncanny ability The findings are based on data gathered between
to relate to people. 2016 and 2018 under WAN-IFRA’s Strengthening
Media and Society programme, financed by the Min-
(Courtesy: K.T. Jagannathan/ The Hindu) istry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark to promote finan-
cial sustainability and professional practice in over 80
media globally. Qualitative data was gathered in three
Adapting business models to stages to draw the lens on the lived experiences of
promote press freedom media in varying systems across multiple operations.

A new report from WAN-IFRA examines how news

media companies in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Egypt, Jordan,
Palestine, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico are experi-
menting with their revenues and adapting business
models to safeguard press freedom. Publishers glob-
ally are adapting to the digital present, yet even the
most experienced practitioners are hard-pressed to
define what constitutes sustainable and resilient busi-
ness models. The new report from WAN-IFRA and
author Clare Cook, a researcher at the Media Innova-
tion Studio, UK, responds to the challenges faced by constantly acquiring new ones. WAN-IFRA recently
media in politically and financially pressured envi-
ronments as they seek to be more resilient.
New WAN-IFRA Report on
reader retention
Sustainable business growth hinges on how well you
develop long-term customer relationships. The big-
gest – and most expensive – enemy in the subscription
economy is churn. Compared to developing sales,
churn is a considerably more difficult nut to crack but
more important for long-term growth.
Keeping existing customers is far less costly than
published a report on reducing reader churn. Cecilia
Campbell, executive programme editor, wrote the

July-September 2019 VIDURA 69

OTHER NEWS
report and spoke with dozens of publishers about their News Broadcasters Federation
reader revenue business. The report features:
formed
• A six-step quick guide to retention
• Insights from 15 publishers thriving with digital More than 50 news channels have come together to
subscriptions form the News Broadcasters Federation – the larg-
est-ever federation of news channels. The NBF will
• Honing the value proposition
represent broadcasters from all languages and parts
• Creating content to keep readers of the country. It is the first news federation in India
• Measuring, predicting and preventing churn that is not centered out of New Delhi. The Govern-
ment of India has said that it is delighted that more
The report is available free for WAN-IFRA Members than 50 news channels have already come together to
to download, and available for sale to non-members. form the NBF.
For more about the report, and to download or order Among the founder members of the NBF are the
your copy, see: www.wan-ifra.org/reader_rev_report following: Republic Media Network (Republic TV
and Republic Bharat), Puthiyathalaimurai and V6
Report looks at tackling News (Tamil Nadu), Orissa TV (Orissa), IBC24 (MP
and Chhattisgarh), Asianet News Network (Asianet
disinformation News and Suvarna News, Kerala and Karnataka), TV9
Bharatvarsh, Newslive and Northeast Live (Assam and
WAN-IFRA has released a new report that looks at
Northeast), First India News (Rajasthan), Kolkata TV
the global map of remedies adopted by governments
(West Bengal), CVR News (AP & Telangana), Polimer
whose objective is to combat the disinformation crisis,
News (Tamil Nadu), Khabar Fast (Harayana), Living
though with extremely diverse intent and effects.
India News (Punjab), Prag News (Assam), NTV (AP &
The Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford
Telangana), Maha News (AP & Telangana), TV5 News
recently called 2018 a year of techlash, in the most
(AP & Telangana), MKTV (Tamil Nadu), Vanitha TV
recent edition of Journalism, Media and Technology
(AP & Telangana), DNN and IND24 (MP), Shri San-
trends and Predictions. Politics, news media, and the
kara TV & Ayush TV (Karnataka), A1 TV (Jaipur),
public were all seen rebelling against the omnipo-
Power TV (Karnataka),Raj News (Tamil Nadu), Flow-
tence of Silicon Valley and increasingly demanded
ers TV (Kerala), CVR News Network (AP&Telangana),
that tech giants be held accountable for their influ-
National Voice (Uttar Pradesh), Nirman News (Guja-
ence on democratic processes and their exploitation
rat), Anaadi TV (MP&Chattisgarh), VRL Media (Kar-
of private data to turn massive profits. The report
nataka), Calcutta News (West Bengal),News 7 (Tamil
offers an overview of the global landscape of the rem-
Nadu), DNN & News World ( MP & Chattisgarh), M
edies adopted by governments whose objective is to
H One ( Haryana), Mantavya News (Gujarat), Gujarat
combat the disinformation crisis, but with extremely
Television ( Gujarat), S News ( West Bengal) Bansal TV
diverse intent and effects.
( MP) and Onkat TV (West Bengal).
The report analyses the regulatory response across
This is the first time in the history of Indian broad-
the Americas, Africa and the Middle East (West Asia),
casting that a group of regional and national broadcast-
Europe and Oceania. The proposals are extremely frag-
ers have come together to form a body that represents
mented: although the countries’ shared objective is to
their combined interests and perspective on matters
fight the spread of disinformation, there is no unique
related to the news broadcasting industry. The NBF is
regulatory solution and the results often raise serious
welcoming new members and looks forward to inter-
concerns for freedom of expression.
acting with relevant industry and regulatory bodies.
However, it is possible to define at least two main
trends. Some countries have criminalised the spread
Courtesy: exchange4media.com
of disinformation by sanctioning users and/or social
media platforms for failure to comply with domestic
legislation. Others have chosen not to intervene in the Mumbai Samachar celebrates
information market, electing instead to further pro- 198th anniversary
mote media literacy and forming task forces and work-
ing groups to analyze the risks. It seems at any rate While world over print media has been showing
safe to say that democracies at all stages of develop- signs of fatigue and have been closing down, Mumbai
ment feel that disinformation threatens their systems, based Gujarati daily, Mumbai Samachar will celebrate
and it needs to be regulated. its 198th anniversary on July 01. The daily newspaper

70 VIDURA July-September 2019

OTHER NEWS
will mark the occasion by hosting a charity event, a cul-
tural event in Mumbai and a series of activities across
the city aimed at promoting the Gujarati language. It
will also use the occasion to revamp the publication
by introducing twenty new writers.
“Established in 1822, Mumbai Samachar followed
Bengali newspaper Samachar Darpan, launched four
years earlier, to become the second language news-
paper to ever have been published in India. Named
Moombina Samachar, it was a weekly for the first ten a vice-president at the Spanish Asociacón de Medios
years, then a bi-weekly and since 1855 a daily in the
current format,” says Nilesh Dave, editor, as he traces
the newspaper’s history.
With a circulation of one hundred and fifty thou-
sand, Mumbai Samachar is one the leading regional CEO-Broadcast, Network18
newspapers of India read by a large section of Guja-
rati speaking people. As part of its anniversary cel-
ebrations, it will distribute oxygen masks to traffic changes. Avinash Kaul has been elevated as CEO,
constables of Mumbai. It will also start free Guja-
rati classes across Mumbai in a bid to promote the
language.
Mumbai Samachar was founded by Fardunjee Marz-
ban and is currently owned by the Cama family.
(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)
Fernando de Yarza elected
president, WAN-IFRA
Fernando de Yarza is the President of Henneo, a
news media group that includes 20 minutes and Her-
aldo de Aragon (Saragossa, Spain). He is member of
the board and the executive committee of Vocento,
the leading general interest news publisher in Spain
(ABC, and eleven regional newspapers including El
Correo). He is chairman of Taller de Editores, Spanish
largest magazine publisher; president of the Associa-
tion of European Publishers News Media Europe and
de Información.
Avinash Kaul elevated as
Network18 has announced a number of leadership
Broadcast, Network18. He was earlier COO, Network
18 and MD, A+E Networks/ TV18.
Puneet Singhvi has also been elevated as presi-
dent - Digital & Corporate Strategy. He was earlier
head - Network 18 Digital. Priyanka Kaul, who heads
the Focus business and is president for Marketing &
Special Initiatives, has been given additional charge as
CEO of Forbes. Kaul took over sales responsibilities in
November 2018.
(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)

During the 71st WAN-IFRA’s annual Congress in Glas- The Hindu Group has new head
gow, Scotland, Fernando de Yarza López-Madrazo,
president of Henneo in Spain, was elected president for brand marketing
of WAN-IFRA, the World Association of News Pub-
The Hindu Group has announced the appointment of
lishers. WAN-IFRA also appointed a new president
Aparajita Biswas as head of brand marketing. She will
and a new vice-president of the World Editors Forum.
be spearheading all marketing and consumer connect
Fourteen executives from leading news media com-
initiatives for the Group.
panies were also elected to new terms on the Board of
Biswas is a marketing specialist with more than 12
WAN-IFRA.
years of experience in brand strategy, corporate com-
Fernando de Yarza López-Madrazo was elected
munication and business development across telecom,
by WAN-IFRA members at the World News Media
FMCG and media, and has worked with brands like
Congress, World Editors Forum and Women in News
Vodafone, The Times of India, Moserbaer, Carlsberg
Summit in Glasgow. He succeeds Michael Golden,
and Coffee Day. Her last stint was with Vodafone Idea
president of WAN-IFRA since 2017. Together with
where she was head of brand communication for the
Stig Ørskov (CEO, JP/Politikens Hus, Denmark) who
Tamil Nadu circle.
was elected vice-president of the organisation at the
same meeting, Lisa MacLeod (Tiso Blackstar, South
(Courtesy: exchange4media.com)
Africa), Paul Verwilt (Mediahuis, Belgium), Gerald
Grünberger (VÖZ, Austria), Phillip Crawley (The
Globe and Mail, Canada), Karin Pettersson (Schib-
sted, Sweden), Marcelo Rech (RBS, Brazil), and War-
ren Fernandez (The Straits Times, Singapore), they
will form the new Executive Board of WAN-IFRA for
the two coming years.

July-September 2019 VIDURA 71

Registered with The Registrar of Newspapers for India under TNENG/2009/27484 72

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