views on news 22 november 2016

VIEWS ON NEWSNOVEMBER 22, 2016 `50

www.viewsonnewsonline.com

Modi creates a stir 24The nation wants to know why 18

BBC PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS Celebrating the wild 34

AE DIL... Mastering the art of cliches 40

Exit Arnab Goenka Awards

GLOWING TRIBUTES Girish Nikam remembered fondly 26

Paranoid stateThe one-day ban on NDTV indicates how averse the

center is to questioning

HIMAL SOUTHASIAN, the only review magazine of long-form journalism covering South Asia, published its lastissue on November 15. One of its editors, Aunohita Mo-jumdar, wrote the lead in that issue, explaining the rea-sons behind the closure decision and how it is part of awider phenomenon in the region limiting freedom of ex-pression and that of the press.

On August 24 this year, Himal, which started publishing in 1987, announced that it would suspendpublication, citing non-cooperation by regulatory stateagencies in Nepal “that has made it impossible to con-tinue operations after 29 years of publication”. The deci-sion had been taken on August 22 by the executive boardof the Southasia Trust.

In fact, the highly-reputed magazine, meant for thediscerning reader, hadcontinued productiondespite repeated chal-lenges over the pastthree years. It withstoodthe repercussions of thepolitical attack on Himal

in Nepal’s parliament inApril 2014, as well astargeting of Kanak ManiDixit, Himal’s foundingeditor. In April, Dixit wasjailed on charges ofabuse of authority whilerunning a cooperativetransport firm in Nepaland for owning dispro-portionate assets. Manyindeed feel the closure

is the outcome of pressures exerted on Himal by thecountry’s anti-graft body.

A notice put out earlier on the magazine’s websiteread, “Himal is being silenced not by direct attack orovert censorship but the use of the arms of bureaucracyto paralyse its functioning… With no notification or ex-planation, grants meant for Himal were not approved overseven months of waiting, obtaining work permits for non-Nepali editorial staff became impossible, and there wereunreasonable delays in processing payments for interna-tional contributors. Our dwindling workforce tried to over-come these and other challenges, but in the endsuspension was the only option.”

A significant section of the press in South Asia is in-creasingly being defined by the commercial motive, withprofits displacing editorial considerations, Mojumdarsays. “The idea of journalism as a public service is beingreplaced by that of media as a vehicle for advertising rev-enue”, and this is leading to the setting of the editorialnarrative or “policy” beforehand by top managements ofmedia houses, and discouraging in-depth reportage andfocus on issues that matter most or to most. Issues suchas farmer suicides, income inequalities, labor rights andthe environment have thereby become the last priorityand get little or no coverage. Ostentatious stories onLGBTQI parades and women’s safety which parade one’sliberalism while assuring wide readership derived fromconsumer prurience or paranoia hog the space. As dowussy-minded, hysterical stories on urban inconven-iences, but do they address town planning and trafficproblems in a holistic manner? That question is moot.

Again, was this deliberate clouding of the journalist’sgaze responsible for the MSM (mainstream media, in in-ternet language) spectacularly failing to call the 2016 US

GOODBYE HIMAL, HELLO TYRANNY

EDIT

OR

’S N

OTE

4 VIEWS ON NEWS November 22, 2016

presidential elections? Everyone was wrong! Well, manyin the media themselves certainly seem to think so, asevidenced by some stories that have been published inthe wake. Yes, it is a time to introspect.

On the other hand, Mojumdar writes, and it is increas-ingly being felt here in India as well, that “this approach[of today’s media managements] views the well-being ofthe people interchangeably with the well-being of the gov-ernment and the so-called ‘realpolitik’ perspective sup-plants comprehensive critical analysis”. This, perhaps,explains the one-day ban on NDTV India proposed by thegovernment (which was later stayed by the SupremeCourt) for harming the nation’s “security interests” bytelecasting “strategic information” live during thePathankot airbase terrorist attack.

However, this is not the first time that such a ban has

been put in place. Previously, too, Janmat was bannedfor a month for showing a manipulated sting and Al

Jazeera for a week for showing the wrong map of Kash-mir. Indeed, Comedy Central, AXN and FTV have all beenbanned for different reasons. Which begs a new question.Granted, the news channels may have committed a mis-step or two in their hurry to be the first to break news andgain TRPs, but is a ban the way to go? Evoking the darkmemories of the Emergency during his speech at theRamnath Goenka Awards does not absolve our primeminister of this onerous responsibility.

SILENCE, HE SAID(Clockwise from left)The cover of Himal,which closed thismonth under statepressure, footage ofthe Pathankot at-tack coverage airedby NDTV India;Himal editor KanakMani Dixit

On August 24 this year,Himal, which started publish-

ing in 1987, announced itwould suspend publication,

citing non-cooperation byregulatory agencies in Nepal“that has made it impossible

to continue operations”.

VIEWS ON NEWS November 22, 2016 5

C O N

LEAD

Center’s Strong Hand

11

Journalists and readers respond over the internet to the government’s

sudden crackdown on television media

Shooting the MessengerThough the one-day ban on NDTV was stayed, it evoked some

bad memories

12


Ravish vs TheEstablishmentA seminar on gender empow-

erment points out that the

sexes are not polar opposites

and rivals but balance and

complement each other

16

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Staff Writers Usha Rani DasKaran Kaushik

Senior Sub-Editor Shailaja Paramathma

Bureau Chief BN Tamta, DehradunPrincipal Correspondent Harendra Chowdhary, Mathura

Reporters Alok Singh, AllahabadGaurav Sharma, Varanasi

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Photographers Anil ShakyaBhavana Gaur

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Cover design: Anthony Lawrence

FILM REVIEW

1825

40

Modi Hits theRight Notes His presence at the Ramnath Goenka

Awards caused a stir, but the PM silenced

critics by invoking the Emergency Now that Arnab Goswami is exiting TimesNow, who will tell the nation what it wants

to know? A reporter ponders

Abrupt End to a Noisy Affair

SPOTLIGHT

Mushkil to Endure It

VIEWS ON NEWS November 22, 2016 7

PHOTO FEATURE

34This year’s BBC photo awards saw

contestants put in months of field

research into the animal world

Walk on theWild Side

20An imaginary file at the CIA headquarters

marked the Goswami Dossier tries to analyze

the dreams of the redoubtable news anchor

Sound of Silence

EVENTS

Clichés and poor writing mark this

KJo movie made on the done-to-

death topic of love unrequitted

26Last of aVanishing TribeGirish Nikam, a stalwart who worked

with major national dailies before join-

ing RSTV, passed away on November 7

OBIT

24The work of S Nihal Singh and a few others

was acknowledged when they received the

Press Council of India’s national awards

They Deserved It!

26Last of aVanishing Tribe

OBIT

28Not That Hard to KickAjith Pillai’s debut novel Junkland Jour-neys explores Mumbai in the eighties

through the eyes of former drug addict

BOOKS

R E G U L A R SEdit ..................................................4Quotes ............................................8Media-Go-Round ..........................33As The World Turns .......................45Webcrawler ...................................47Breaking News..............................48Design Review ..............................52

ENVIRONMENT

42Spare theGangaThe holy river is under tremendous

strain, and yet Indians ignore it in

their quest for easy salvation


U O T E S

“You say a lot of nicethings about journalists

which makes us nervous.Mr Ramnath Goenka

sacked a journalist whenhe heard the CM of a state

tell him ‘aapka reporterbahut achha kaam kar

raha hai’ (your reporter isdoing good work).”

—Raj Kamal Jha, Chief Editor, The Indian Express, addressing

Prime Minister Narendra Modi atthe Ramnath Goenka Awards

function in New Delhi

“Certain politicians are making a hue and cryfor these terrorists but not lending a word of

solace for the martyred jawans. I condemnsuch leaders and the dirty politics they are

doing. But for the government and the publicthe nation and the state is foremost and I

appeal to everyone to stop playing dirty politics. Patriotism is important.”

—Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan,on the political debate following the killing of eight SIMI

members who escaped from Bhopal jail, in FirstPost

“I am not the kind of personwho will collect moss. I am arolling stone…. ThroughNewsHour I have tried todismantle and disrupt oldpillars that have been therefor a long time and I will continue to do that.” —Arnab Goswami, in the edit room

while resigning from Times Now

“For the first time, we arenot being allowed to meetthe families of our soldiers.Kaisa Hindustan banaya jaraha hai? (What sort of acountry are we living in?).”

—Congress Vice-President RahulGandhi, on being stopped from

meeting the family of theformer armyman who committed

suicide on the OROP issue

“The Italy Congress leadersare mourning. Why doesthe Congress have so muchsympathy for terroristswhether they belong toSIMI or LeT.”

—BJP Party Secretary ShrikantSharma, at a press conference

“I will forever be grateful to themedia. Otherwise, who knewme? After Independence if anypolitician has received this kindof special attention, I think I am the only one.”

—Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Ramnath Goenka Awards function in

New Delhi

9VIEWS ON NEWS November 22, 2016

Sagarika Ghose, journalist

“Dreaded terrorists” break out of jail then stick together for 10 hrs waiting to be shot in a group? Darling, yeh haijailbreak. Sanjeev Kapoor, chef

When I am detached, my internal stage isbeyond fluctuation. I am able to enjoyeach and every thing that comes my wayand be light.

Subramanian Swamy,

BJP leader

One of the emails to Hillary from her staffdeals with Buddhu taking up the struggleof “indigenous tribes “ of Orissa. Whatwas US interest?

Suhel Seth, socialite

When I last checked SIMI was a terrorist outfit and not folks delivering milk! So let’s stop this sympathy crap!

Shekhar Gupta, journalist

Most “damning” eyewitness account says #SIMI men shouted slogans,threw stones. Summarily executed forthat. Philippines’ Duterte wd approve.

Rajdeep Sardesai,

journalist

In today’s India standing with Govt is equal to standing with nation. And netas with Swiss bank accounts will give sermons on ‘nationalism’.

Imran Khan, Pak politician

Congratulations to the nation. Today’s SC decision is a day for celebration. Whenppl stand up for their rights democracy isstrengthened.

Tavleen Singh, journalist

Why do our sympathies always lie with jihadists instead of those who are tryingto save us from them?

“My biggest worry is that discipline gets compromised when non-official channels areused to air serious issues…. I feel pained whensocial media is used to express concerns, withoutreaching out to us directly.”

—Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, on OROP and the politicization of an army veteran’s

suicide, in The Indian Express

“To replace your Chairman withoutas much as a word of explanationand without affording him the opportunity of defending himself....must be unique in the annals of corporate history.”

—Cyrus Mistry, in a letter to the board members of the Tata Group

“I am ashamed of KaranJohar. I didn’t expect thisfrom him at all. My dadhas sung songs for Karan’sfather (Yash Johar) and thisis what he has done now.”

—Mohammad Rafi’s son, Shahid Rafi, on derogatory

dialogue regarding the legendarysinger in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, in

DNA India

“If you can listen to thesame joke about your parents then we are wrong.If your blood boils thathow can someone saysomething like this aboutmy parents, then hum sahihain beta.”

—Sonu Nigam, on the controversy over dialogue regard-ing Mohammad Rafi in Ae Dil Hai

Mushkil, to Bollywoodlife.com

EDIA-GO-ROUND

Assaults on journalists on duty havebecome commonplace and in yet

another incident, lensmen and re-porters were assaulted by the securityguards at the Tata Group headquarters,at Bombay House, when they wentthere to report on an Indian Hotelsboard meeting. Several photographers,

including HT staffer Arijit Sen and AtulKamble from Mid-Day, were injured.Tata Sons, which has been in the newsover the sacking of its chairman CyrusMistry, later apologized. In the meeting,all six independent directors of the firm came out in unanimous support of Mistry.

Public broadcaster Doordar-

shan is trying to work onits failed slot auction policy forthe third time. It has issued afresh request for proposal

document, seeking bids fromproduction houses. The pub-caster has relaxed severalconditions so that more pro-duction houses can participatein the auction. The move is a

part of the New ContentAcquisition Schemewhich was recentlyapproved by theboard of PrasarBharati under whichthe channel will pro-cure content througha bidding process.

DD to auction primetime slots

The Indian embassy in Qatarprevented journalist and au-

thor Rana Ayyub from address-ing a public gathering in Doha.Ayyub is the author of the re-cently released book, Gujarat

Files—Anatomy of a Cover

Up, which indicts top officialsand politicians, including theBJP’s current party presi-dent, Amit Shah, for their rolein the 2002 anti-Muslim riots.Ayyub was invited as thechief speaker at a program tocelebrate the 85th birth an-niversary of former presidentAPJ Abdul Kalam. She was

told by the organizers that theywere instructed to either cancelthe event or drop her from thelist of speakers.

Gagging free speech

The government is planning to makechanges in the 60-year-old

cinematography law to improve the functioning of the Censor Board of FilmCertification (CBFC) which has beenplagued by many controversies. Infor-mation and Broadcasting Minister MVenkaiah Naidu is examining the recommendations made by the Justice

Mudgal Committee and the BenegalCommittee but cannot give a timeline asof now on bringing the measure in Parliament. “I can’t give you any time-frame because of the winter session. Idon’t think I will be able to completethis. My efforts will certainly be to takeup the new legislation in the sessionthereafter,” Naidu told PTI.

New law on CBFC functioning soon

Lensmen assaulted atBombay House



Lead

HERE is some

awkward irony in

what Prime Minis-

ter Narendra Modi

said at the Indian

Express’ Ramnath Goenka awards

function, and what his government

initiated barely a day later. At the Ex-

press event, Modi had waxed eloquent

on the role of the press and this telling

phrase—“We need to reflect on the

Emergency so no leader dare repeat

it.” A day later, his government re-

peats what was the hallmark of the

Emergency—shutting down media

outlets that were critical of, or embar-

rassed, the powers that be. NDTV, the

target of the Centre’s ire, has been or-

dered to shut shop for 24 hours, an unprece-

dented action in non-Emergency In-dia, for

allegedly showing footage of the Pathankot attack

whi-ch could have compromised security and put

lives in danger. This is a draconian step by any

standards, and more suited to times of war. Un-

less the government believes they are at war, pre-

sumably with Pakistan, to resort to such a move

is nothing but an attack on independent media.

For one, I watched all channels during the pe-

riod that the attack was being telecast live by

every news channel. NDTV’s coverage was no

different from the other leading channels, if any-

thing it was less hysterical. What it did was de-

scribe exactly what sort of weaponry and

ammunition were stored inside the base and how

it could affect lives and the operation underway

to eliminate the terrorists. That is hardly tanta-

mount to being anti-national, as the government’s

directive seems to suggest. The Editors Guild has

rightly condemned the move and demanded that

the directive be withdrawn. For someone who

was a journalist with independent media during

the Emergency, this brings back some bad mem-

ories of those dark days.

Shooting the messengerThe one-day ban on NDTV evokes some bad memoriesBY DILIP BOBB

T

During the Pathankot attack, NDTV’s coverage was no different from the otherleading channels, if anything it was less hysterical… That is hardly tantamount to being anti-national.

What new-age media had to say about the NDTV ban

Why target NDTV India? While Modi has expressed his problem with English language news outfits, both electronic and print, the case of NDTV India—a Hindi channel—is particularly curious since it was only launched in 2003, after the2002 Gujarat violence. But it has been facing boycott by BJP spokespersons forseveral months, triggered by the network’s decision to criticize the govern-ment’s handling of the Jawaharlal Nehru University crisis early this year.

—Scroll.in

How deep is the paranoia

Lead


Apart from the subjectivity in-volved, the ministry’s ban order alsoreeks of arbitrariness. On the face ofit, every single news channel thatweek violated Section 6(1)p by pro-viding live coverage of the counter-terrorist operation as it unfoldedbut also by not confining them-selves to official briefings. So why has the government chosento throw the book at NDTV India?Could it be because it is the onechannel in Hindi that has givenample space in its programmes forsubjects and viewpoints that don’t

show the BJP and the governmentin the best light (notwithstandingthe ill-advised self-censorship thatthe group’s English channel in-dulged in recently)?Media freedom stems from the pub-lic’s right to life, liberty, free speechand information. Restrictions on this freedom cannotbe left to the executive. NDTV mustfight this matter out in court and itis the sacred duty of the entire Indian media to support the chan-nel in this.

—The Wire

My question is this: We have aPrime Minister who came in with ahuge mandate. He is still popularand little of the sheen has worn off.Narendra Modi has voraciously addressed issues that no govern-ment has had the courage to do. Hehas changed foreign policy on itshead with an aggressive stance tosome and peaceful overtures to oth-ers. He has zero tolerance for cor-ruption in his ministries. He surelywon me over when he roundly toldoff parents for not supervising theirsons’ activities. He is the only PrimeMinister who has addressed thecleanliness issue and toilets. Who else could have pushed

“Haath Muh Bum”? He has workedon making India a manufacturinghub. When he stands with worldleaders, he carries himself withaplomb. Then why, oh why, is itnecessary to reduce his stature byscrutinising the press with a fine-toothcomb, pulling out the weedswho criticise his government, andbehave as if every negative reportcan actually hurt him? NarendraModi is not that fragile; in fact, heis far from fragile. The country isnot the BJP party where all rivalshave to be cut to get to the top. Youare at the top. Get used to it. Bemagnanimous.

—News Laundry

As citizens of a free nation and asjournalists, we are keenly awarethat an independent media isamong the pillars of a vibrantdemocracy. For India to progress,we must move forward in the direc-tion of more democracy, not less.Bans on news organisations are abig, dangerous step backward. Attempts to muzzle the free pressmust be resisted—we owe it to our

fellow citizens.The news media are a vital line ofdefence with regard to the invalu-able right to expression, speech, in-formation and dissent. Actions andutterances that endorse attempts tocrush these rights, bit by bit—anewspaper here, a television chan-nel there unless they toe the line—will lead us to the precipice.

—The Hoot

“I’m all for discreet reporting ofanti-terror operations by our security forces. But I have asneaking fear that the govern-ment is making an example ofNDTV India that's way aheadin sobriety than its competitors,as a signal to the rest of themedia. Unhappy augury, I’d say. Sincerely think that the govern-ment should withdraw its deci-sion to lock down the channelfor a day.”

—Vinod Sharma, Political Editor, Hindustan Times, on Facebook


It is clear that irrespective ofthe party in power, the I&Bministry has been goingafter TV channels, armedwith the Cable TelevisionNetworks (Regulation) Act1995 and the rules framedunder it. For years now, theministry’s pen-pushers havebeen gleefully playing theroles of Editors-in-Chief forthe channels from theircomfortable office in Delhi's

Shastri Bhavan and evi-dently enjoying themselves.Based on their subjectivejudgement of what’s rightwhat’s not, they have beendishing out orders, andsometimes getting into even minute editorial management. In some past cases, they orderedchannels to shift pro-grammes to late hours.

—First Post

“precisely, only thebhakts are happythat ravish &#NDTVIndia havebeen targeted,what could bemore politicalthan that”

—Hartosh Singh Bal.Political Editor, The

Caravan, on his Twitter Handle

I think the government’s moveto ban the channel for a daywas totally uncalled for and awrong decision. I condemn it.In the time of satellite televi-sion, when everything is beingrecorded by channels, it is un-fair to just blame one channel,that it leaked sensitive infor-mation. I am with the Editor’sGuild on this matter.

—Alok Mehta, veteran journalist, to VoN

The fallout over theimpending ban istelling, in some wayseven more revelatorythan the ban itself. Be-yond the noise and rollof drums, there arefour strands thatemerge. One, banningonly one media housewhen several others areequally guilty of thesame type of reportingat this or other timessmacks of hypocrisy atbest and playing to thegalleries at worst. Thismay also be a way forthe government tolessen the heat on itselffor not looking into al-leged corruptioncharges against thechannel. ‘Look we didsomething’ is probablyhow that could drift.Second, the G-37(same people, sametime, same channels) isgetting it rather wrongbecause they are re-markably uniform intheir narrow assump-

tion that this is aprecedent-setting ban.It is not. No ban re-sembles another whichis why the need for asystem is pressing, asystem that is robustand protects the rightsof journalists as well asthat of their employerswhile respecting India'sinstitutions and itspeople. More of that inanother post. The third strand whichis a corollary of the sec-ond, is the ridiculousand rather arrogantposition that just be-cause a national net-work has been pulledup, we are getting thefirst whiff of an Emer-gency-like situation.The very people whoare crying the Emer-gency wolf are touringIndia addressing meet-ings and seminars ontolerance and intoler-ance. Yet others advisethe government onmatters as diverse as

policy and media. Stu-pidity and complicityhave rarely been soamply served in recentweeks. This is a dan-gerous mix. The fourth piece is per-fidious because amongthe alarmists aremedia people includingsome senior journalistsand media bodies whocan be rather whimsi-cal in choosing to con-demn or deciding toignore problems withthe media. I use theword perfidy knowingfully well that it is notuncommon for editorsand others to be du-plicitous about whynews stories areprimed, played downor killed. The ban onNDTV India must becalled out, but so mustthe numerous other instances when journalists have evenbeen killed in their line of work.

—The News Minute


Lead

Lead


T does not happen every day that

one gets to see mime artistes ap-

pear on a prime time news show

but when they do, the result is a

brilliant take on authority and its

draconian measures. NDTV India’s star anchor,

Ravish Kumar, is known for his wit. What hap-

pens when Kumar uses satire to take a dig at the

government’s action against his own team? Well,

it is this: His prime time show gets a historical

episode and #RavishKumar trends on

social media.

Meanwhile, NDTV India just moved the

Supreme Court against the one-day ban, holding

it to be “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.

Kumar decided to respond to the ban im-

posed by the ministry of information and broad-

casting on NDTV India for allegedly revealing

strategic information during its coverage of the

Pathankot airbase attack in January.

Scheduled for November 9, the day-long

blackout order on NDTV India as well as two

other channels, News Time Assam and Care-

world TV, left the media fraternity outraged. The

move has been termed a “direct violation of the

freedom of the media” by the Editors Guild.

While veterans said that the ban was “reminis-

cent of the Emergency”, the Mumbai Press Club

termed it an attack on freedom of expression and

demanded it be immediately withdrawn.

Kumar invited mime artistes Ishu and Rajesh

Nirmal to play the roles of Authority and Troll

while he sat in the interviewer’s chair. The idea

was to understand what questions a person in

authority would be comfortable answering and

what would make him blow a safety valve.

This is not the first time that Kumar has

raised his voice against the system in a unique

fashion. In February, he had blacked out the

screen during his show following the JNU con-

troversy. “Yeh andhera hi aaj ke TV ki tasveer hai

(this darkness is the picture of television today),”

Ravish’sPowerful

take on Authority

The news anchor uses an art form to raisepertinent questions on the nature of

present-day governanceBY KARAN KAUSHIK

I


Kumar had then said.

Nine months have passed, little seems to have

changed. Kumar’s question during the show, “If

we can’t ask questions, what can we do?”

haunted the journalist community. One point

the show made was that the authorities really

don’t have much to say for themselves and their

behavior. Another was that subtlety could also

be a way to register protest effectively

and one need not always resort to high-

decibel quarrelling.

Pertinently, the show included an excerpt

from the interview of Minister of State for Home

Kiren Rijiju, who was asked about the encounter

killing of eight SIMI men in a village near

Bhopal. He told reporters that the habit of ques-

tioning the authorities and the police is not

“good culture” and that it should stop.

“When did authority and police rise above

questioning? Authority means accountability.

Without it, power becomes something else alto-

gether. When we cannot ask questions,when we

cannot speak freely, what can we do?” Kumar

asked on the show.

The show, which left social media users in

awe of Kumar, was a one-of-a-kind episode.

Kumar began by talking about the rising pollu-

tion levels in the capital and then linked the pol-

luted air with the political air in the state so

skillfully that social media users started talking

about the show and asking their peers to “stop

everything and watch this now”.

While the websites were abuzz with news of

the show, The Telegraph used a TV grab from the

show in its lead story. The Kolkata newspaper

carried images of polluted Delhi and Kumar’s

show under the common headline: “Something

is rotten in the state of Delhi”.

Introducing the show, Kumar quoted from

The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Rajkamal

Jha’s vote of thanks speech during the recently-

held Ramnath Goenka Awards, wherein he said:

“Criticism from government is a badge of honor

for journalists”. Kumar requested young journal-

ists to heed Jha’s advice.

Some of the questions Kumar put forward to

the authority figure and the troll on his show

were—“Who is this chap with you, is he a troll?”

“What will you do when you run out of notices?

Sell paddy?” “Where do you tweet from, Uzbek-

istan or Nepal?” “Does the troll have more au-

thority than you? Is he also the one who is

accountable for failures and losses?” These had

the audience in splits, as did the pair of

mime artists.

Kumar talked about the rising pollution levels in the capital and linked it with the polluted air in the state so skillfully that it created a buzz instantly on social media.

Spotlight


HE news anchor of the

high-pitch prime-time de-

bate show The Newshour,

Arnab Goswami, has an-

nounced his resignation as

president, news, and editor-

in-chief of leading English news channels Times

Now and ET Now.

In an editorial meeting with 40 employees of

the news channel, Goswami reportedly said he

would be part of independent media and has

plans of opening his own TV channel. The move

came after his absence from The Newshour for a

few days and murmurs about his likely exit.

According to sources, Goswami repeatedly

told his colleagues that “the game has just begun”

and that “independent media is going to thrive”.

He did appear on his show Tuesday night after

eight days of absence when the channel flashed

“Arnab is back” before the show began.

Under Goswami’s leadership, Times Now has

become one of the most watched news channels

and his own show has been dominating prime

time among English news channels.

The News Minute has reported that Goswami

will be a prominent stakeholder in the venture

and the new channel will also fulfil his ambition

of making a larger global footprint and not just

remaining a prime time sensation of Indian tel-

evision news. The grapevine has it that this

channel will be funded by Angel Investor, which

is based out of south India. In his hour-long

farewell speech at the Mumbai studios of Times

Now, he reportedly said that his news channel

What the Nation Wants to Know

Arnab Goswami’s sudden exit from TimesNow got the nation talking like never before

BY KARAN KAUSHIK

T


would give BBC and CNN a run for their money,

sparking speculation on whether it actually her-

alded the entry of Fox News in India. Others

pointed out that Vineet Jain has been tweeting

against the Times Now policy vis-à-vis Pakistan

and opined that that had, in fact, been the reason

for his departure.

Goswami is one of those you may love

or despise but can’t ignore. His resig-

nation triggered a frenzy of commen-

tary on social media. From observing a

“one-minute noise” as a tribute to the anchor to

lamenting the lack of it in the channel post his

resignation, Twitterati came up with sharp quips,

as always. Goswami has always been a soft target

of Twitter trolls and stand-up comics across the

country. But now, social media users feel that the

channel has lost its USP with his exit.

Goswami has achieved such a cult status

among the general public that not only leading

newspapers (HT, The Indian Express, The

Hindu) and online media outlets (Firstpost,

Quint) had the story of his resignation on their

sites but FM radio stations, too, announced the

news early in the morning.

Goswami, born in Guwahati, comes from a

well-known Assamese family. His paternal

grandfather was a lawyer, a Congress leader and

an independence activist while his maternal

grandfather was a Communist, eminent writer

and leader of the opposition in Assam for many

years. Goswami’s father has contested elections

as a BJP candidate and his maternal uncle has

been head of the Assam unit of the same party.

Goswami got a degree in sociology from the

Hindu College in Delhi University and com-

pleted his master’s in social anthropology from

Oxford. He began his career as a journalist with

The Telegraph in Kolkata but soon joined NDTV

in 1995. In 2000, he added an academic feather

to his cap, becoming a Visiting DC Pavate Fellow

in the international studies department at Sidney

Sussex College, Cambridge University.

Ever since the launch of Times Now in 2006,

Goswami has been at the helm and it is he who

has been responsible for changing the way de-

bates on news channels are conducted all over

India. Often criticized for being jingoistic and

judgmental on his show, Goswami has a dedi-

cated viewer base of people who love his direct

interrogative style. But he has faced flak for si-

lencing the interviewees’ voices on his show.

Some of his most famous arguments on The

Newshour include those with President Pranab

Mukherjee’s son, Abhijeet Mukherjee, on the lat-

ter’s “dented and painted women” remark, the

“never ever ever” reprimand of BJP member

Meenakshi Lekhi, the snubbing of BJP leader

Kailash Vijayvargiya on the Asaram Bapu rape

case and the face-off with former police officer

Shamsher Khan, who was asked by Goswami to

leave his show for insulting women over the

triple talaq issue.

Even so, Goswami has been criticized for his

unusually submissive behaviour during his in-

terviews of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and MNS chief Raj

Thackeray on his show, Frankly Speaking, avoid-

ing key questions and letting them dictate the

course of the conversation.

The journalist was recently given Y category

security cover from the government after the In-

telligence Bureau perceived a threat to his life

from Pakistan-based terrorist groups. The move

to provide security cover to a journalist was crit-

icized by many, including former Supreme

Court judge Markandey Katju.

Goswami has been criticized for his unusually submissive behaviour duringhis interviews of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP RahulGandhi and MNS chief Raj Thackeray.

Feel the Silencerust the CIA to take note of

a magazine like The Cara-

van. Its December 2012

issue, devoted to the media,

has Times Now Editor-in-

Chief and superman news

anchor Arnab Goswami on the cover. “Feel The

Noise” screams the headline under the picture

of the man who sends shivers down the spines

of millions of TV sets every evening at prime

time. Apparently, the undercover CIA operative

in Delhi dispatched a copy of the magazine to

his boss in Washington who in turn forwarded

it to the White House where an official, taking a

cue from apna PMO, sent it back, ordering “a

discreet inquiry”.

Thus came into existence a file at the CIA

headquarters marked the Goswami Dossier. Re-

searchers who traversed back and forth through

the 15 pages (12,000 plus words) of The Caravan

story could “arrive” at very few original conclu-

sions (despite going through the exercise of

reading the text backwards in a Greyhound bus).

To be fair, it must be noted here that no stone or

Google search was left unturned by the CIA to

divine information. In fact, a smart aleck at the

agency, who once wrote a paper on the Spanish

Inquisition and its impact on Brit Glam Rock

Thus came into existence a file at the CIA headquarters marked theGoswami Dossier. To be fair, it must be noted here that no stone or Googlesearch was left unturned by the CIA to divine information. By AJITH PILLAI

T

Spotlight


even tried to establish a link between the maga-

zine’s headline and “Cum On Feel the Noize”, a

1973 chartbuster from Slade, that bunch of long-

haired chaps from Wolverhampton.

An analysis by a team of pop psychoanalysts

of the song’s chorus—“So, cum on feel the noize/

Girls grab the boys/ We get wild, wild, wild”—

failed to yield more than the broad deduction

that Goswami liked a studio full of noise and this

perhaps reminded him of the comforting audio

levels at the bazaars where gossip was openly

traded in Guwahati, a city where he spent some

time during his younger days.

Anyway, that didn’t amount to much by way

of insight and the CIA virtually closed the

dossier when someone noticed a curious entry—

an observation by a former colleague of

Goswami that “Arnab lived, ate, slept and dreamt

TV”. This was communicated to the higher-ups

in the agency with the noting that “decoding Mr

Goswami’s dreams may perhaps be worth

the while.”

That’s where NASA came into the picture.

The space agency, as is well known, has several

quirky inventors who remind one of “Q”—the

incredible gadget guru in James Bond movies.

Well, to cut a long story short, NASA’s mad sci-

entist who goes by the name Hi-Q had just de-

veloped the dream decoder — a device attached

to a spy satellite which could snoop into the in-

nermost recesses of the mind and translate im-

pulses in the brain into simple English. (A test

done on a sleeping New York cop yielded this re-

sult—“Man, don’t gimme burgers when I’m

askin’ for caviar and honey”).

Well, the decoder was programmed to catch

Goswami as he slunk into REM (Rapid Eye

Movement) sleep when dreams with maxi-

Goswami liked a studio full of noise as itperhaps reminded him of the audio levelsat the bazaars where gossip was openlytraded in Guwahati, where hespent some time during his younger days.


mum recall occur. The first three nights threw

up nothing remarkable—the usual happy

dreams; Arnab whipping up furious passions as

politicians and activists wearing Stetson hats and

riding high horses took pot-shots at each other

with tongues that looked like Colt 45s; the acer-

bic Goswami testing the skills of sheepish cricket

board members by asking them to recite multi-

plication tables and demanding that they explain

to the nation how they divide and rule when

they can’t multiply. “Gentlemen, the arithmetic

has changed and the tables have turned,” he fi-

nally says as he switches to another dream where

he takes on forest department officials guilty of

providing the lions of Gir with watered down

eau de cologne when the beasts were demanding

“original fragrance Brut deodorant.”

Finally, after all those happy dreams, the pa-

tient monitoring paid off on the fourth night.

Hi-Q was all excited as the printer at the

receiving station in San Bernardino came alive.

So here goes the transcript marked “Dream Se-

quence 10”:

Setting: Times Now studios, Mumbai. Sub-

ject sees a TV monitor on which he is shown

conducting a debate. Topic: Who is future prime

ministerial material —Rahul Gandhi or Naren-

dra Modi? Participants: Mani Shankar Aiyar,

Digvijay Singh (both Congress), Venkaiah

Naidu, Nirmala Sitharaman (BJP), D. Raja (CPI)

and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M).

Arnab Gowami (AG): On Newshour tonight

we debate the question that the nation wants ad-

dressed. And it wants it addressed with urgency

Anupam Kher Verified account @AnupamPkher 18h18 hours agoDear #ArnabGoswami. This is called Stardom. Whole country is talkingabout you. Because you took country's side & made a DIFFERENCE. #JaiHo

Ashoke Pandit @ ashokepandit 18h18 hours agoNever in d past has an anchor leaving a news channel become national newsin itself. Shows d popularity of the man #ArnabGoswami. @TimesNow

MODIfied Ritesh . @IamRitzV 18h18 hours agoHe put his Nation First! He raised questions! He bashed Anti-natnls! TonightNation Wants To Know when will u make a come back #ArnabGoswami

Amit Golani Verified account D@GolOpinions 6h6 hours agoPakistan claim moral victory after #ArnabGoswami resigns

Tinu Cherian AbrahamVerified account D@tinucherian 7h7 hours agoPositions suitable for #ArnabGoswami & that he has 'prior experience' * ArmyChief * Chief Justice * Foreign Affairs Min(Pak) * executioner

MediaCrooks D@mediacrooks 8h8 hours agoIf #ArnabGoswami says “Game has just begun”... Remember... Mukesh Ambani did say “I like Arnab... I watch him”...

ShainaNCVerified account D@ShainaNC 14h14 hours agoDear #ArnabGoswami change is the essence of life. @TimesNow loss will besomeone's gain as u r a journalist of integrity.#ArnabQuitsTimesNow

Champ McLovin D@BolshoyBooze 18h18 hours ago#ArnabGoswami's return will be bigger than return of Superman, Batman andSpiderman, all put together

Aditya Menon D@AdityaMenon22 20h20 hours ago#ArnabGoswami quits. TIMES NOW can finally write its name in lower casenow

Virender Swag D@virender_swag 20h20 hours ago#ArnabGoswami resigned from Times Now to Join Pakistan Channel to KillTerrorists Live on TV

Harsh GoenkaVerified account D@hvgoenka 20h20 hours agoWith #ArnabGoswami resigning, the Nation should go into mourning and ob-serve ' two minutes noise'.

Alankar Sawai D@AlankarSawai 20h20 hours agoArnab Goswami took the plea to have a noise free Diwali very seriously. Heresigned from Times Now. Noise pollution will be down by 80%.

Sorabh PantVerified account D@hankypanty 20h20 hours agoI guess Y Security could not give Job Security. #ArnabGoswami

Sorabh PantVerified account D@hankypanty 20h20 hours agoWHAT? Arnab Goswami resigns from Times Now? Is this real? BUT, WE DID-N'T LET HIM FINISH! LET HIM FINISH! LET HIM FINISH! 1 MINUTE

Peace_Noble D@khybereagle 31m31 minutes agoPeace_Noble Retweeted BBC Urdu#Delhi air pollution up, noise pollution down #arnabgoswami resigns!@geonews_urdu

Twitterati Zapped“One has heard of

politicians walking outof TV debates but thismust be the first timein broadcast history

that an anchor has hadto stage a walkout.”


Spotlight

on this channel— your channel. Ladies and gen-

tlemen, it’s the big Rahul Gandhi versus Naren-

dra Modi debate ahead of the 2014 elections and

Times Now has a line-up which will discuss the

plusses and minuses of both leaders threadbare

so that the people of this country can decide for

themselves. So, let me set the ball rolling by ask-

ing Mani Shankar Aiyar to give his assessment

of Rahul Gandhi.

Mani Shankar Aiyar (MSA): Arnab, for

once I have nothing to say.

AG: What do you mean? Surely, you’re not

on national television to say that you are at a loss

for words when it comes to commenting on

Rahul Gandhi! Saying something like that on

this channel could cost you a Congress ticket.

MSA: Arnab, this loss of words can happen.

Some get stolen; others are taken away by force

and some others you eat when you are put on a

diet and hunger strikes. As for the Congress

ticket, I believe a rail reservation can get me a lot

further. Also, I must take the opportunity to tell

the nation—I mean the viewers of Times Now—

something that one of my school-teachers told

me—speech is silver but silence is gold and the

price of the first can never outstrip the worth of

the second.

AG: I guess the fury of the debate is getting

to Mani, so, we’ll get back to him later. But Divi-

jay Singh you surely must have a view given that

you are Rahul Gandhi’s close adviser…

Digvijay Singh (DVS): Well, ever since they

put up blinds in my room it’s curtains as far as

views go. So like Mani, I’m speechless.

AG: Ok, I think the Congress is truly vexed

and therefore tongue-tied. So, let’s go over to

Venkaiah Naidu…

Venkaiah Naidu (VN): Silence is not only

gold but also platinum. So, I say, Rajdeep, sorry,

Arnab, what’s the point in speaking when you

can’t walk the talk with me on NDTV 24x7?

Same and ditto are the views of Nirmala who

wants to exercise her fundamental right to be

seen but not heard. As some poet said a thing of

silence is a joy forever.

AG (visibly angry): What’s happening? Loss

of words, right to silence, walk the talk,

no views…

Sitaram Yechury: I must point out that the

Left parties are strictly going by recent research

which conclusively proves that chances of mak-

ing mistakes is directly proportional to how

much you speak or write. So we would rather err

on the side of silence.

AG: Something is surely wrong, horribly

gone wrong…

DVS: Arnab, you’ll love this story. Last week

I went for dinner to my friends, the Lambas, in

Bhopal. They’re known to invite guests for a

meal and go through the evening without utter-

ing a word. I had almost forgotten the practice

the family follows till I accepted their invite.

Well, after dessert Lamba senior scribbled a note

and passed it to me. It read: “Digvijay Singhji,

hope you enjoyed your dinner and the Silence of

the Lambas!” After that I vowed not to talk pol-

itics, at least not on national television.

AG (worked up): I think I better call off this

discussion right now on Times Now. One has

heard of politicians walking out of TV debates

but this must be the first time in broadcast his-

tory that an anchor has had to stage a walkout.

And it’s all happening exclusively on your chan-

nel. But remember, ladies and gentlemen—the

nation is watching… .

Subject gets up in cold sweat. Immense relief

is writ large on his face as he slowly realizes he

just had a nightmare. (Transcript Ends)

“Feel The Noise” screams the headlineunder the picture of the man who sends shivers down the spines of millions of TV sets every evening at prime time.


Event


HERE were murmurs, if not

howls of protest, when the

anti-establishment newspaper,

The Indian Express, chose to

invite Prime Minister Naren-

dra Mo-di—a man who has a sharply adversarial

relationship with a polarised media, divided be-

tween unrelenting critics and unqualified admir-

ers. It has been said that The Indian Express has

fallen in line, as it were. It is a perception that

will remain in the air and be part of the buzz for

a while.

What was surprising, and perhaps not so sur-

prising, was Modi’s speech at the awards cere-

mony. He made the more-than-customary ref-

erence to the Emergency, and said that each gen-

eration has to take stock of it so that no political

leader even dares to think of imposing Emer-

gency again. The exact words he used were: “Aaj

nishpakh bhaav se us (the Emergency period) ka

meemamsa har peedhi mein hoti rehni chahiye

(Today, in an objective manner there is a need

to have a critical look at that period).”

The prime minister said that there should be

criticism of the government, but there is also

need to be on guard against tearing the social

fabric. It is a double-edged assurance where gov-

ernments can argue that what the media is say-

ing by way of criticizing the government is

damaging the social fabric.

The other emphatic view by Modi, and there

would be many of his critics who would remain

skeptical, is that government should not have

anything to do with the media. He probably

wanted to say that government-owned media

would be a contradiction in terms.

If Modi really meant what he said then he

should perhaps dismantle the Ministry of Infor-

mation and Broadcasting, and remove the insid-

ious controls over All India Radio (AIR) and

Doordarshan (DD). Whether he likes it or not,

AIR and DD are seen as government mouth-

pieces, and the favorites of the government find

a place in their ranks.

The other interesting idea that Modi threw

up was the need for India as an emerging power

to have a global media organization rivaling the

dominance of the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. It

seems that Modi and his government would

throw their weight behind such a venture if any

of the country’s media moguls was willing to

step out on to the world stage. The question, of

course, remains whether the Indian global

media arm is expected to present Indian na-

tional interests. It cannot be denied that BBC

and CNN, whatever their protestations of objec-

tivity, do reflect the national concerns of the

United Kingdom and the United States, respec-

tively. They are not too different from the official

China Central Television (CCTV).

Modi HitsRight Notes

The PM batted for a globalmedia company from India at

the RNG awards’ functionBY PARSA VENKATESHWAR RAO JR

TCOURTING MEDIA?Modi at the RNG

awards’ ceremony

Senior journalist AkshayaMukul, in a gesture ofprotest against the rising intolerance in the country,boycotted the RamnathGoenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. Mukulhad been conferred theaward in the non-fictioncategory for his book, GitaPress and the Making ofHindu India, . The authorsaid he was honored to re-ceive the award but did notwish to be felicitated byModi who was the Guest ofHonor at the awards cere-mony. “I cannot live with the idea of Modi and me inthe same frame, smiling atthe camera even as hehands over the award tome,” Mukul told The Cara-van. His book discusses the rise of the nationalistand militant Hindu right-wing forces.

Journo refusesaward fromPM Modi


Event

BJECTIVE and effective jour-

nalists from even remote areas

are being acknowledged with

the Press Council of India’s

National Awards for Excel-

lence for the past four years.

Instituted in 2012, the National Awards for

Excellence in Journalism have been given for

outstanding contribution in different categories.

For the year 2016, the Press Council has an-

nounced the names of the winners. Veteran

journalist Surendra Nihal Singh has been se-

lected for the highest Raja Ram Mohan Award,

carrying a cash award of `1 lakh. Earlier, Singh,

a former editor of The Statesman, won the pres-

tigious International Editor Award in New York

for opposing imposition of Emergency by Prime

Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

The awards will be conferred on November

16, during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the

Press Council at Vigyan Bhavan. The eight-

member jury comprised Ravindra Kumar (con-

venor), five members of the council and three

other prominent professionals.

There are several other categories. Ren-

jith John of Deepika Daily of Kerala is

being awarded in the Rural Journalism

& Development category which carries a cash

award of `50,000. The Special Mention Certifi-

cate in the same category will be shared by

Arvind Kumar Singh (freelancer from the capi-

tal) and Xavier Selvakumar of Dinamilar daily

from Coimbatore.

Among the photo journalists, TP Dhanesh of

Malayala Manorama and Pritam Bandyopad-

hyay of The Asian Age have been selected in the

Single News Picture category which has a cash

award of `25,000. The Special Mention Certifi-

cate in the category is being given to Vijay

Verma of PTI, New Delhi.

The Photo Feature category, carrying a cash

award of `50,000, has been won by Renuka Puri

of The Indian Express, New Delhi.

The award for the Best Newspaper Art in the

feature category of photo journalism goes to

Baiju Poulose of Malayala Manorama, while the

Special Mention Certificate will be given to

Rohit Bose of the same organization.

However, there is a reason for disappoint-

ment. This year’s PCI awards are dampened by

the fact that no award is being given for inves-

tigative journalism.

PCI Awards AnnouncedFormer Statesman Editor Surendra Nihal Singh gets Raja Ram Mohan AwardBY ABU TURAB

O

STELLAR CAREERS Nihal Singh was at thehelm of The Statesman and The Indian Express, andpenned an autobiographicalwork titled Ink in My Veins

Obit


IRISH Nikam: Life is fleeting,

fragile—and unfair. Journalists

know it well because we see this

all the time. It’s the nature of

our business. News of Girish’s

death popped up on my screen as I wrapped up

my story on a deadline. But I shut it out of my

eye line till I hit the send button. I wanted to

grieve without interruption and distraction—for

an immense friend.

We knew it was coming, but I had no idea it

would be so soon after the episode in the US last

year, because he looked as good as new when I

met him earlier this year. American plumbing, I

joked to him.

He had just landed in NYC to cover Prime

Minister Modi’s visit late September last year

when he had a heart attack the same evening,

soon after he checked into the hotel. I knew he

was coming to NYC that evening and expected

him to phone me. Instead, I got a call from his

colleague telling me of his heart attack.

The immediate attention, the so-called

“golden hour” saved him, he told me later, when

I went up to see him. Morbid hacks that we are,

we talked about whether he would have survived

in Bangalore or Delhi, with the ambulance pos-

sibly stuck in traffic or breaking down on way

to hospital.

He was full of praise for the American sys-

tem, full of gratitude that they had not asked any

question about money or insurance and instead

saved his life first. Wouldn’t have happened in

India, he insisted, telling me how cynical every-

one and everything in India had become. We

argued, as usual, with me raging against the US

healthcare system and how lousy it was, and how

easy it still was in India to just drop into the

home of a neighborhood physician. As usual, he

ribbed me about having been away from India

too long.

Our arguments, over 30 years of friendship,

ranged across life’s experience, and life and death

itself. Dhyan was about to be born when Girish

had his heart attack in NYC, and once the initial

danger had passed and all the plumbing of his

blood vessels was done, he insisted that I should

first take care of my home front.

“Magnay, don’t die on me,” I warned him,

using the colloquial in Kannada (our mother

tongue) for the Hindi equivalent of saaley. “Illa

guru, I still have plenty of life in me and plenty

of work to do,” he said somberly.

A few days later, he phoned, saying he was

bored stiff and tired of American hospital food.

Last of a Vanishing Tribe

Girish Nikam, 59, a stalwart who worked withthe Star of Mysore, The Indian Express, India

Today, Deccan Chronicle and News Todaybefore joining Rajya Sabha TV, died of a

major heart attack on November 7. Seniorjournalists Chidanand Rajghatta and

Inderjit Badhwar pay tribute

G


He thought he had recovered, but the doctors

would not let him go before some more lab tests

came in, and he was worried about mounting

bills. We discussed the US healthcare system, in-

surance etc, but his immediate need was food –

spicy food. He wanted to eat some hot Indian

chicken curry.

So the next day I tootled up to NYC, carrying

the aroma of home-made chicken curry and red

rice all along the Amtrak corridor. We spend a

few precious hours discussing everything under

the sun, as he scarfed down the meal. We walked

around the hospital corridors for an hour, mar-

veling at the number of Indian-origin physicians

there (some of whom handled his case).

I took the night train back. It was an only-

for-Girish trip. Dhyan stayed in his mummy’s

tummy in deference to our meeting, arriving a

few days later.

In February this year, we were in Bangalore,

and of course he had to come and meet us,

having missed seeing Dhyan soon after he

was born. He was enormously fond of Diya, and

they nattered non-stop like old friends. Friends,

including Nirupama and Sudhakar, dropped in,

and we all had a jolly good time that afternoon

talking politics and history. He looked good, and

I was pleased that he had dropped some weight

although I kept a sharp eye on his eating and

drinking, and gave him a small lecture, sounding

insufferable even to my own ears.

He said he was working out a bit, and gener-

ally felt better. We talked of second innings and

third innings (in another context; it was an in-

sider joke between us).

There was seldom a week we wouldn’t chat,

thanks to FB, both directly and on the back

channel. I rarely declined his invitation – often

demand – to be on his TV show, largely because

(I joked to him more than once), he at least al-

lowed people to complete their sentences, unlike

a certain anchor friend of ours he was not very

fond of.

In our last exchange on FB msgr few weeks

back, I asked him to be done with his questions

to me in the top half of his show because I had

another appointment and he would end up hear-

ing the sound of the metro train I was going to

take if he kept me on air. He obliged. We should

have kept each other waiting.

Rest in peace, my friend.

— Chidanand Rajghatta

Girish Nikam suffered a heart attack. Passedaway at 7 pm at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.He did a program on media freedom on RS TV

before he collapsed. This is a huge loss to the nation’smedia, and to me personally. Along with Farzand hewas among the last of a vanishing tribe of incorrupt-ible. We were always in touch after leaving IndiaToday.He was my co-author on my book on NiiraRadia. He wrote extensively for India Legal magazineand he featured me often on RS TV.

I am heartbroken. I learned of this tragedy fromParsa Venkateshwara Rao Jr, who along with DilipBobb, Ramesh Menon and Ajith Pillai work with meat India Legal magazine. We are all in grief thisevening and want to share it with all those whoknew and loved him.

—Inderjit Badhwar

OK, it was one year back, around thistime (New York time), that I was ad-mitted to the NewYork-Presbyterian

Hospital in an unconscious state, goingthrough a heart failure. This is probably thefirst pics taken in the ICU. The prompt andprofessional care that I received after beingrushed in an ambulance, from my Hotelroom, is supposed to have saved my life. Ineed to thank many people who came tolook me up and kept in touch on FB andwished and prayed for me from all over the

world. Special thanks, of course to GurdeepSingh Sappal, who was there with me andhandled the crisis with great aplomb andsensitivity. Some people asked, did you seethe gates to Hell or Heaven, during thatperiod you were almost gone? I am sorryto disappoint them, Heaven certainly not,even Hell was not visible!! And certainlynot the 72 virgins or angels, or even forthat matter our good old Yama! I am surehe is waiting, but i guess he will have towait for some time now!

When Nikam thanked well-wishers

A loss for Indian media

Books

N retrospect it seemed ridicu-

lous. For the life of him Hari

couldn't believe that he could

have been so careless. But when

slip-ups happen they just occur.

Like a road accident. When it's

over, the sequence that led to its occurrence can

be visualized in great detail. Suddenly all the ways

in which it could have been avoided come

to mind.

So it was with Hari. He and Vandy had given

the other junkies a slip and had settled down to a

quiet smoke on the steps leading to the Asiatic

Society Library when the cop van pulled up. The

two had not been alert enough, although they

ought to have been careful not to smoke at a pub-

lic place from where there was no easy escape. As

a result of this oversight, he and Vandy were

caught red handed with fourteen vials of brown

between them. The policemen didn't bother to

ask any questions. They just bundled them into

the van and drove them to the Colaba police sta-

tion nearby.

“Name," thundered the sub inspector.

Hari and Vandy instinctively did not reveal

their real identities.

“Address?”

TAKING OFF Author Ajith Pillai (right) with politicalcommentator Saeed Naqvi

Is It so Hard toGive It up?AJITH PILLAI’S debut novel Junkland Journeys explores the dark lanes of Mumbai in theEighties through the eyes of former drug addict Hari Menon. An extract

I


“We are both from Kerala," Hari said, his

voice quivering.

"Why are you in Bombay? Don't you have

enough drugs in Kerala?"

At this point one of the constables interjected

in Marathi. He wondered whether Kerala was in

India. Had they chanced upon two LTTE opera-

tives? He was asked to shut up by his superior.

"Where do you stay in Bombay?"

"At Antop Hill with a friend."

"Are the two of you married?"

"No, but we plan to get married soon."

"If you smoke this sugar for some more time

then you won't have to. Don't you know gard

makes you impotent?" That was the inspector's

idea of a joke.

He emptied out Hari's wallet. It had two

creased hundred rupee notes and a tiny pocket

diary with telephone numbers. Vandy's handbag

was empty save for a few currency notes, a chap-

stick and a comb. The cops had already taken

possession of the vials of brown sugar.

"What do you do in Bombay?" the

inspector asked.

"We are here on a holiday."

"What do you do in Kerala?"

"Nothing in particular."

"What about your parents?”

"Both our parents are school teachers,"

Hari responded.

The inspector was disappointed. This was

turning out to be a waste of time. He turned to

the constable and said in Marathi: "We can't get

anything out of them. And summoning their par-

ents from Kerala is not worth the trouble. Any-

way we can't expect too much money from some

poorly paid school teachers."

The inspector turned to Hari: "What about the

friend you are staying with? Contact him. Tell

him to come here immediately. You know you

two are in serious trouble. I can book you for ped-

dling and then you are in for some ten years. It is

a non-bailable offence. If you plead you are an ad-

dict then we will send you to the psychiatry wing

of a government hospital. Very few people come

out sane from there.” The inspector loved spelling

out depressing scenarios—it seemed to give him

some sadistic pleasure.

For a brief moment Hari wracked his brain.

Who could he turn to? His father, Cherry, AB...

Gunbhai, the smooth operator he had encoun-

tered during his aimless wanderings through the

city. Yes, he was the one person who could help.

He asked the inspector for the pocket diary, lo-

cated Gunbhai's number and requested the use of

the telephone on the officer's desk.

Luckily, Gunbhai picked up on the fifth ring.

Hari mustered whatever Tamil he knew and con-

veyed to him that he was in a jam at the Colaba

police station.

The voice at the other end was reassuring.

"Don't worry. I will sort things out. It will take me

an hour to get there."

Hari heaved a sigh of relief. "My friend will be

here in an hour," he told the inspector who

launched off on a sermon which reminded


REFUGE OF THEHOPELESS Getting togetherfor a smoke

word with the police officer in private. He then

made a few calls. Within half an hour things were

sorted out and Hari and Vandy were let off with

the stern warning that they should not be seen

doing anything illegal within the jurisdiction of

the police station. “Go back to Kerala. Don't

waste your life here,” was sub inspector Man-

shinde's parting advice.

Gunbhai led the two of them to the nearby

Olympia restaurant and ordered tea and biscuits.

"Okay, the problem is solved. But, tell me, how

did you get into this mess and who is this girl?"

Gunbhai was curious.

“Oh, I couldn't introduce her earlier. This is

Vandy—Vandana. Vandy, this is Gunbhai.”

Gunbhai described himself as Hari's friend. "I

am what they call a social worker although at

times I also indulge in some anti-social activity,"

Gunbhai could be quite witty at the oddest

of times.

Hari told him his side of the story. He skipped

most of the details since Gunbhai seemed to

know all about brown sugar addiction. “I know

Hari of Bhola the pimp. "You come from re-

spectable families," the inspector said, "Now look

at what you have done to yourselves." He turned

to Vandy, addressing her for the first time: "I'm

sure your parents didn't bring you up and send

you to a good school and college for this. You are

educated people, not rag pickers. And what is all

this boyfriend-girlfriend business. In Sangli,

where I come from, a boy meets a girl for a few

minutes and then the parents sit down with the

pundit and decide an auspicious date for the mar-

riage. At your age you should be a mother of

two kids..."

The inspector droned on. Finally, and merci-

fully, Gunbhai announced his arrival. He had a

DREARY WORLDShuklaji Street in

Kamathipura, a hub for Mumbai’s drug addicts

The two had not been alert enough, although they ought to have been

careful not to smoke at a public place from where there was no

easy escape.


Books

how bad it gets. Some of the boys in Dharavi were

into it. You have to somehow get yourself out of

this mess.” Thankfully, Gunbhai did not comment

on Hari's unkempt look or emaciated body. He

merely said he wanted to help and could put Hari

and Vandy in touch with some doctors who spe-

cialized in treating addicts. “These are private

doctors and they run good clinics with AC rooms

—not like those filthy wards in the government

hospitals.”

“But...” Hari did not know how to say that he

did not wish to see a doctor.

"Don't bother about the money. I'll take care

of that. Just leave it to Gunbhai."

Hari was in a bind. He could not brush off

Gunbhai after he had extended himself to help

him. Then a thought flashed through his mind—

perhaps he and Vandy would be left alone once

he revealed that he was Captain Jimmy Menon's

son and that his father would look after their hos-

pitalization and rehabilitation. But this revelation

only goaded Gunbhai into action.

“Why didn't you ever tell me that before?”

Gunbhai was incredulous.

“You know him?”

“Who doesn't know Captain sahib. Why, I was

the one who helped resolve the big strike at the

Andheri unit of the biscuit factory. Ask him, your

father was very appreciative of my work. He may

have kept me at a distance from his family, but I

know your father very well. I also know your

brothers who help him with his business. It’s

rather strange that the Captain never told me he

had a third son...”

Now that he knew who Hari was, Gunbhai

was even more determined to get him and his

girlfriend out of the hole they had fallen into. “I

must take you two to a doctor. If not, God will not

forgive me,” Gunbhai was adamant.

Hari was quick to realize that he had to act

quickly before things went out of hand. First of

all he swore Gunbhai to secrecy. “My father

should hear nothing of this mess. I left home, say-

ing I’m off on an extended holiday. He probably

thinks I am in some resort in the hills or relaxing

on a beach in Goa. As for seeing a doctor, I know

someone who I can trust. Can we go to him?”

Gunbhai was agreeable to that. “I don’t care

who the doctor is. All I want to see is that you are

treated and looked after well. They tell me it is dif-

ficult to kick the habit.”

So off they drove to the suburbs with Gunbhai

at the wheel. It took them an hour and a half to

reach Dr. Bhansali’s rehab clinic close to the Bori-

vali National Park. Hari had been there on several

occasions but as the doctor’s friend. Today, he was

a patient. So he sat in the waiting room for his and

Vandy’s turn.

“Well, look who’s here! You seem to have

changed," Dr. Bhansali was effusive. He intro-

duced himself to Vandy and asked her and Hari

to be comfortable.

“Okay, tell me what the two of you have been

doing with yourselves. And what can I do for

you,” the doctor could see that the two

needed help.

Hari was tentative. “How do I put it? Since I

met you last a lot of things have happened. I met

Vandy, we became really close. But the two of us

also went astray. Things didn't stop with hash and

grass—we are like deep into smack and white."

“What made you come to me? Do you want to

give up or were you forcefully brought here?”

“Well, a bit of both,” Hari took time to answer

the question. Hari and Vandy shared their expe-

riences. At the end of it the doctor said that he

was ready to help but he would first have to put

them through motivational therapy. He ex-

Hari heaved a sigh of relief. “My friendwill be here in an hour,” he told the inspector who launched off on a sermon which reminded Hari of Bhola the pimp.


on going the way we are. Forget our health, we

also run the risk of being nabbed by the cops.

We could end up in the cooler for ten or

twelve years...”

The next few weeks whizzed by. There were

therapy sessions every evening which Hari slowly

began looking forward to. When the doctor felt

the two of them were motivated enough, their

parents were informed. Belying all his son’s fears,

Captain Menon was calm and collected and as-

sured Hari that he was with him. “Get well first.

That’s the first priority. After that we can think of

other things.” Vandy’s mother broke down when

she saw her daughter but her husband calmed her

down. He said he had full faith in the doctor. The

Captain chose not to take his wife into confi-

dence. “She won’t be able to handle it. So, I have

not breathed a word to your mother. I will per-

haps break it to her later,” he told his son.

It was on a Friday evening that Hari and

Vandy were formally admitted to the clinic. A few

hours before that they had their last smoke. Was

it that difficult giving up? At that point Hari cer-

tainly believed it was impossible. But, looking

back, it was not the uphill struggle it was made

out to be.

No doubt, the withdrawals were almost un-

bearable. But there were several addicts who

could not afford expensive hospitals and thera-

pists who just gave up on their own. “All that was

required was will power but we believed that it

was like climbing Everest,” he confessed to Vandy

in retrospect.

“Maybe, we were weak-willed.”

Vandy and he were checked into separate

rooms. The results of the routine pre-detox tests

gave an all-clear and they were ready. “Think of

it as a dive into the deep end of a pool. When you

surface you will be in a new world.” That was Dr.

Bhansali’s parting words as he gave each of them

a handful of pills. As he lay down Hari could feel

sleep slowly overcoming him. For the first time

in his life he said a little prayer...

plained the detox and rehab process in detail. But

he put a rider—their parents would have to be in-

formed before he could start any treatment.

Meanwhile, they could try to cut down their drug

intake and come to the clinic for therapy sessions

every evening.

“Don't worry, everything will work out,” the

doctor was most reassuring.

Though he was initially repulsed by the very

idea of seeking medical help, Hari could later

sense a surge of relief. After thanking Gunbhai

profusely and promising him that he and Vandy

wouldn't miss their next appointment with the

doctor, they went to Dongri to score.

Later that evening they introspected over all

that had happened. Was it for the good? Hari was

convinced it was. “We couldn’t have carried on

for too long. We had to stop sometime.” But

Vandy was a little unsure. “I heard that the detox

process can be pretty painful despite all the med-

ication they give you.”

She was also worried about her parents being

brought into the picture. “My folks will be deeply

upset. I shudder at the thought of them coming

here and seeing me in this state. Do we have to

really go through this?”

As Hari saw it, fate had ordained that they

must give up. “Of course we will have to face our

parents. But think of what will happen if we keep

JUNKLANDJOURNEYS

Author Ajith PillaiPublisher Authors Upfront/ParanjoyPages: 259; price: `325


Books

EDIA-GO-ROUND

Journalists in Kerala have beenbanned from reporting from the

premises of courts in the state for along time now. Even after interven-tions by the state governor, chiefminister, senior political leaders andpress associations, the scenario re-mains bleak. In an attempt to im-prove the situation, the RegionalCommittee of the Indian Newspaper

Society and Kerala Television Federa-tion has written an open letter to theChief Justice of India on the occa-sion of Kerala High Court’s birthday.The letter said: “Repeated assur-ances given to the media now seemin vain, with no access to daily or-ders and judgments so as to enablereal-time coverage. The media roomcontinues to remain closed.”

After spendingmore than 80

days in jail, TausifAhmed Bhat, aKashmiri youth inChhattisgarh ar-rested for liking acartoon on Face-

book, has finallybeen granted bail by Jus-tice Goutam Bhat of theChhattisgarh High Court,on his fourth bail plea. The

judge said that Bhat wasnot the author of the postand no violence had taken place after the postwas published.

Kashmiri youth gets bail after 80 days The government is seeking out-

side professional help to trans-form Doordarshan, which hasbeen lagging in terms of revenuesand viewership because of thepopularity of private sec-tor channels. An organi-zation under the Ministryof Information and Broad-casting has issued a ten-der to look for aconsultant to revive thepublic broadcaster as asuccessful medium ofmass communication.The consultant will have

to undertake a comprehensiveview on the projects and initiativesexecuted by Doordarshan and pre-pare a solution for addressing thedifficulties faced by it.

DD set for revival

Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay

has run into troubleafter a lawyer from Mum-bai wrote a strong letter tothe ministry of informationand broadcasting, thepresident of India and theCBFC chairperson, askingfor strict action againstDevgn for insulting LordShiva in the song “Bolo

Har Har”. The letterclaimed that the ShivaPanchakshara Strotramhas been used in aprovocative and offensivemanner. CBFC ChairpersonPahlaj Nihalani com-mented: “We’ve taken serious note of the letter,as it addresses a religioussentiment.”

Shivaay in trouble

Kerala journos write letter

—Compiled by Karan Kaushik


This year’s BBC photography awards saw contestants submitting pic-tures taken after months of rigorous on-field research into the habits of

the wild animals that they wanted to shoot. The more they learnt, thelonger was the wait for the right shot. To give you a taste of the compe-

tition, we reprint some winning shots. Especially eye-catching is the“Urban category at night” winner, taken by an Indian

Photo FeatureSkills

Into the Wild


ALLEY CAT(Facing page) This wonNayan Khanolkar first

place in “Urban category at night,” and

took four months time. Itwas shot in a suburb of

Mumbai bordering the Sanjay

Gandhi National Park,which sees frequent close encounters and occasional

attacks by the cats, whenthe leopards slink in

looking for food. For theWarli people this is an

accepted part of their lifeand culture.

ENTWINED LIVES (Right) Photographer Tim

Laman won the 2016Wildlife

Photographer of the Year(WPY) competition. Heused a remote cameraplaced in the rainforest

canopy of Gunung PalungNational Park in

Indonesian Borneo to capture this orangutan

climbing high into a tree toreach some figs

THE PANGOLIN PIT(Left) Paul Hilton won theWildlife PhotojournalistAward: Single image category for this picture.The composition shows aseizure of 4,000 frozenpangolins that were destined to be illegallyshipped from Belawan inSumatra to Chinese andVietnamese markets.


THE MOON AND THE CROW(Above) Taken by

16-year-old GideonKnight this shows a

crow in a tree backlit bythe moon. It is another

perspective on thewildlife that exists inour towns and cities.

ROAD TO DESTRUCTION(Right) Picture by TimLaman in IndonesianBorneo and Sumatra.

The El Niño weatherevent turned the 2015

dry season into adrought, and

extensive fires spiralledout of control, sending

heat and smoke acrossthe region.

Photo FeatureSkills


PURSUED BY FIRE(Left) Photo by TimLaman shows an orangutan and her offspring seeking refuge fromthe burning forest. In 2015, fires affected much of Indonesia. They destroyed vast tractsof habitat, criticallyendangering theBornean orangutans.

END OF THE LINE?(Below) Caretakers inBorneo are takingrescued Borneanbaby orangutans toplay in the forest,where they will learnsome of the basicskills of survival.


EVICTION ATTEMPT(Left) Ganesh H Shankar captures an Indian rose-ringed parakeet in the Keoladeo nationalpark trying to evict a Bengal monitor lizard who had taken upresidence in its nesting hole.

WIND COMPOSITIONValter Binotto’s winner in theplants and fungi category is thispicture of a hazel tree near hishome in northern Italy. Interestingly, a hazel tree has bothmale and female flowers.

Photo FeatureSkills


REQUIEM FOR AN OWL(Above) Winner in theblack and white cate-gory, Mats Andersson’spicture captures a loneEurasian pygmy owl inthe forest near hishome in Bashult, southern Sweden.

SNAPPER PARTY(Left) The winner in theunderwater category,Tony Wu, captured thisschool of two spot redsnappers when theygathered to spawnaround Palau in thewestern Pacific Ocean.


Film Review


OVE and friendship have been

two of the Hindi film industry’s

most preferred subjects. Any

guess on who are synonymous

with these subjects? Well, it is

the Chopras and the Johars. And what happens

when Karan Johar decides to make yet another

movie celebrating love and friendship? He fails

to live up to expectations.

Given all the hype the movie garnered over

the past month because of Pakistani actor Fawad

Khan’s presence in it and for being a Diwali re-

lease, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (directed by Johar, who

is also one of the producers and writers of the

film) did manage to lure audiences to cinema

halls but fell flat at many levels.

The multi-starrer, romantic movie is packed

with all the ingredients typical of the Johar

stamp—foreign locales, offensively-rich charac-

ters, Bollywood clichés, lavish apartments, sce-

nic chiffon saree sequences and, of course, the

big fat Indian wedding. What the movie

lacks is a powerful script and the inten-

sity that is required from a plot woven

around love.

ADHM is a shallow film, high on

verbosity and cheap sex appeal. It is re-

plete with Bollywood references and

songs—a trick only a lazy director

would fall back on. Not only that, it also

has references from Johar’s own movies

right at the start! Self-referential = Self-

reverential.

ADHM focuses on the idea of being

unable to let go of the one you are madly,

crazily and stupidly in love with. It also

tells you that it is alright for you to show

not one but two middle fingers to the

love of your life for not reciprocating

your feelings. It tells you that Urdu poets

can have homes like those of multi-bil-

Director Karan Johar’s typical formula fails tocreate any magic for viewers

BY KARAN KAUSHIK

LWEAK PLOT

Anushka Sharma and RanbirKapoor in the film

Mushkil to Watcha Clichéd Film


lionaires. It drives the message that boyfriends are

like mo-vies—both suitable for “time pass” only.

And it tells you what Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar already

did— to be a great singer, heartbreak is a must.

Here’s the storyline: Ayaan (Ranbir) falls for

Aleezey (Anushka) who is already in love with

DJ Ali (Fawad Khan) and wants Ayaan just as a

friend sans “benefits”. The two spend a lot of

their screen time bar-hopping and dancing to

Hindi break-up songs in London. They even

take a trip to Paris and end up enacting hit Bol-

lywood tracks from Yash Chopra’s Chandni.

The protagonist, Ayaan, is again the super-

rich guy typical of Johar’s films. Aleezey is a

modern girl from Lucknow who has enrolled

herself in a French class, a Bollywood dance class

and every other class. Even though she is an en-

lightened and liberal Muslim girl, a nose ring

and super-dark kajal seem necessary for the di-

rector to make her religion evident.

While Ayaan is neck deep in love with

Aleezey and just can’t let her go, the latter begins

a relationship with DJ Ali leaving him heartbro-

ken. Enter Saba (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), an

Urdu poetess who, however, looks nothing like

one. She lives in a massive apartment with fur-

niture and more furniture and dresses in diva-

like attire. Suddenly the movie turns

super-pretentious, with flowery dialogue taking

centerstage, with no impact at all.

The first half of the movie is still tolerable but

it’s the second half that is hard to sit through.

Even a three-minute cameo by Shahrukh Khan

does not help matters. There’s too much talking

going on in the movie and the viewer does not

get a break even for a minute. And as if so many

clichés weren’t enough, Johar takes the help of

cancer to kickstart the waterworks but leaves the

audience pining to go home instead.

The only aspect of the film worth your

money is the music, which has been composed

by Preetam. The title song is a powerful one and

comes quite late in the movie. “Bulleya” and

“Channa Mereya” are other enjoyable tunes.

Coming to the performances, Anushka is the

best of the lot. She is her natural self and delivers

her dialogue with nonchalant ease. Ranbir se-

ems repetitive, though he is intense, cries beau-

tifully and looks dashing in his resplendent cos-

tumes. Aishwarya looks stunning but is a disas-

ter in her role while Fawad steals the limelight

whenever he appears on-screen. Lisa Haydon is

hilarious in her cameo as Ayaan’s girlfriend.

These are the only characters in the movie.

Aleezey is an obedient daughter who is even

ready to date a man of her father’s choice

but when it comes to getting married, going

through a divorce and struggling with cancer,

her parents have no role and it’s only Ayan who

stands by her.

The original script would have shown Alee-

zay, Ali and Saba as Pakistanis from Lahore. The

setting was changed to Lucknow after threats

from the MNS. The message would have been

that of love knowing no borders—but, unfortu-

nately, it did not work out that way.

ADHM is ashallow film,high on verbosity andcheap sex appeal. It isreplete withBollywoodreferencesand songs—atrick only alazy directorwould fallback on. Italso drawsfrom Johar’searlier films.

Environment


RONICALLY, for all the fame that

precedes it, the Ganga town of

Haridwar is not actually posi-

tioned upon her natural banks,

but along the Upper Ganga Canal

(UGC). The start of this British engineering

feat of the 19th century is at the Bhimgoga Bar-

rage near the Har-ki-Pauri ghat from where it

draws out almost the entire flow of the Ganga’s

water supply to go on to feed the hungry fields

and homes of the North Indian “doab” or “two

rivers,” a vast area of land between the Ganga and

Yamuna rivers.

The Ganga’s natural course, depleted and

limping, continues a little way after Haridwar.

This is her late youth. From here she is to become

The Goddess Can Take No More

The holy river of India is under tremendousduress, and Indians choose to ignore it

BY SUSAN M GRIFFITH-JONES

I


a worker in society, no longer tumbling carefree

through the mountains as crystal clear streams

virtually untouched by polluted hands, but

enrolled in the needy day-to-day life of man as he

too courses his path from cradle to grave.

Although the UGC was initially proposed

as a navigation canal, it was finally set

up to irrigate land as far as Nanu in Ali-

garh district. The main canal is 290 kilometers

long, but comprises important branches such as

those of Kanpur and Etawah. There was neither

an existing extensive canal system in the country

or the world in the 1850s upon which to model

the project or the work at commencement, nor a

science of soil mechanics and hydraulic engineer-

ing to match soil type.

The brains of the project, Sir Proby Cautley,

adopted the simple scheme of using the natural

curves of nature and a compromising approach

and, as a result, the reach of the canal from the

head works to its 32nd kilometer may well be

classified among the greatest feats of irrigation

engineering in India. Indeed, the Solani Aque-

duct that lies upon this stretch was ranked as one

of the most remarkable massive structures of

brick masonry in the world at the time.

The Lower Ganga Canal is 100 kilometers

long and was sanctioned in 1872 to irrigate the

lower portion of the Ganga-Yamuna doab. A weir

across the Ganga at Narora, which is situated

much farther down from Haridwar, does much

of the work of sorting out her flow here; however,

there are still large tracts of land suitable for agri-

culture, which do not yet have irrigation facilities

and mostly lie arid.

A water scientist in Varanasi, Prof UK Chaud-

hery, a retired professor of the Benares Hindu

University, mentioned to me that from the Bhim-

goga Barrage and onwards, “Ganga may be con-

sidered officially dead as 95 percent of water that

is reduced from her flow in Haridwar is causing

her the most dangerous cancer. Since there are

two types of water in a river

system—that which flows

on the surface and the

groundwater beneath, the-

se must be balanced and

flow smoothly together for

the entire basin of the river

to be in balance. This is not

just a problem here on Ri-

ver Ganga, but throughout

many river systems of

today’s world.”

Indeed, as her natural

path twists and turns across

the land towards Kanpur,

the many alluvial deposits

found along the way cause

islands of reeds and river

plants to abound where

historically dacoits and

other bandits are said to

have hidden out. Here, huge fields of vegetables

are tended to by folk from the sleepy villages that

dot her banks, where people live virtually as they

have for centuries.

These crops are now sprayed with the most

deadly pesticides and chemical fertilizers to

ensure a higher yield of harvest. The use of chem-

icals upon naturally fertile soil finally depletes it

of its ability to nourish itself, rendering it unsuit-

able for cultivation.

This stretch of the Ganga is Mahabharata

land. Ferrymen carry locals to and fro across the

river and back for a few rupees per person and

life along the river goes on as it has since the time

of the Pandavas. I have a feeling here of the ages

stretching far into the distance, like layers of

onion skin, encompassing the era of the Mahab-

harata and the ancient and medieval rulers of

North India such as the Mauryas, the Mughals

and, more recently, the British—layers of different

cultures, religions and psychologies pooling into

the genes of the people here.

OF ENGINEERING AND FAITH(Above) A map of the naturalflow of the Ganga and theUpper Ganga Canal on whichthe ghats are located

(Facing page) Devoteesthrong the ghats at Haridwar


But one story has remained like a golden

thread throughout the ages and that is of the

Ganga. Though she is worshipped, yet due to the

needs of a burgeoning population she is being

abused, as a patchwork of severed and pieced to-

gether sections between barrages and dams,

canals and fertilized fields, with her entirety be-

coming fragmented and disunited.

After her furious pace through the mountains,

you get the feeling that the Ganga enters a kind

of lethargy where the natural course of her stream

remains just a few feet at the most. There are

many sandbanks and even though her course is

wide in many places, often islands make her seem

thinner and less voluptuous than she really is.

Brijghat is the nearest “Ganga” to Delhi, an

hour-and-a-half ’s drive from the city, and

weekends are busy here. The ghats are

much cleaner and far less crowded in comparison

to other places along the river’s course and Ganga

devotees from afar come to bathe in her waters.

Most famous for its annual Ganga fair, which is

held every year on the full moon day in the

month of Kartik, the ghats become like a mini-

Varanasi, as thousands flock to take a dip.

Along the left bank is a large marble

platform overlooking the river where

stalls line the ghats, selling the usual

Ganga paraphernalia—small white plas-

tic jerry cans to take home your Ganga-

jal, powders of red, saffron and purple

and even wood for the funeral pyre.

At the water’s edge, bobbing up and down,

wait small boats that can take you to the nearest

sandbank in the centre of the river where chai

stalls and puja spots abound. The boats get stuck

on several occasions while making the crossing,

but Ganga devotees don’t mind. They simply

jump overboard and seem to be walking on the

water itself when you look at them from afar,

paddling until they find enough depth to take a

dip and to get the boat moving along naturally

again. Shouts of joy and revelry resound amid

these activities.

It is clear that Hindu India loves the Ganga

and nothing will dissuade them from enjoying

her waters, no matter how much they are told

about her levels of “pollution”. Pollution is a tricky

word here as, speaking from faith perspective, as

a goddess she can never be polluted and to say so

may be to discredit her goddess status. She, who

is believed to have the power to purify herself and

anyone who comes into contact with her, can

never be such in the eyes of devotees.

Scientific facts and water tests show otherwise,

but the minds that exult in her goddess attributes

seem to be unmoved.

GIVE THE RIVER A LIFE!Unmindful of the harm they

are causing, devotees pollute the waters through

their practices

Indians love the Ganga andnothing will dissuade themfrom taking a dip,no matter howmuch they are told about the“pollution” levels.

Environment


After the news of Tata Sonssacking its chairman, Cyrus

Mistry, shook the Indian businessworld, it prompted plenty of humoron Twitter. People compared thescenario with the turmoil beingfaced by the Samajwadi Party andsimilar news came from this party

on the same day. While one Twitter user who

goes by the handle @GabbarS-ingh tweeted : “Cyrus Mistry to bereplaced now, mostly by RatanTata. Tata sons is the new Sama-jwadi Party”, another user joked:“What Tata Sons told Cyrus Mis-

try? Tata.” Some userstweeted head-lines, including “Mistry Mys-tery” and somethought that#Cyrusmistryand #Akhilesh-yadav are now friends.

Web Crawler What Went Viral

One for the camera

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s picture where he is

seen clicking photographs of acaged Royal Bengal tiger hasgone viral.

The PM was at the JungleSafari Park in Chhattisgarh’s new capital city, Naya Raipur,during its inauguration cere-mony. Modi later tweeted: “Onefor the camera... at the NandanVan Jungle Safari.” News agency

ANI also tweeted a video of thephoto shoot and social mediawas set abuzz. People trolledModi and even compared hispicture with a photograph ofJawaharlal Nehru where he isseen with a tiger. “After stealingNehru’s jacket, PM NarendraModi trying to copy his lifestylenow by clicking picture ofNehru’s pet tiger,” a page “His-

tory of India” tweeted.

Sushma’s help awaited

External affairsminister Sushma

Swaraj is known forhelping people by re-sponsing to theirtweets, but there isone tweet she hasn’tyet reacted to. An In-dian woman, PurviThacker, had askedfor Swaraj’s help in gettingher best friend, a Pakistani,a visa to attend her weddingin India. Thacker started a#GetSarahToIndia Twitter

campaign after her friend’svisa was rejected in thewake of the Uri attacks.Thacker tweeted: “That my

best friend cannot be therefor what will be my biggestday is something I cannotcome to terms with. Forgetthe hustling, the paper work,the months of coordinationand prayers—we didn’tknow that it would end upwith a rejection.”

Woman confronts thieves

A CCTV footage of an Indian-originwoman’s brave act of confronting

two machete-wielding thieves with asteel chair and chasing them out of hershop has gone viral. Two robbers hadentered Hamalata Patel’s store in Wins-ford, Cheshire, while it was empty andtried to rob the store.

Patel shouted at them and chasedthem out of the shop with a steel chairkept for old customers. “They wereshouting at me and I just told them if youneed it then take it, but one of thembanged the machete on the counter andstarted to damage the shop so I just lostthe plot,” PTI quoted Patel as saying.

Mistry exit hogs spotlight


Uttar Pradesh is gearing up forassembly elections and the

Samajwadi Party government hascrumbled with Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav locking horns withnone other than his father andSamajwadi Party chief, MulayamSingh Yadav, over state party chiefand uncle, Shivpal Yadav. WhileAkhilesh sacked Shivpal and threeministers said to be close to AmarSingh from the cabinet, Mulayamresponded by expelling his cousin,Ramgopal Yadav, national generalsecretary of the party and a knownsupporter of the chief minister, fromthe party for six years. Amidst allthis drama, Twitter saw some humoras people speculated about the

party’s future. “You have changedUP from the Land of Rama to theLand of Drama”, one user tweetedwhile another tweeted: “If Sama-jwadi Party breaks up into small political parties they will have logoslike tyre, tube, handle, paddle, chainand ghanti.”

Cops give perfect reply

Mumbai Police advised Twit-

ter users to have a noiseand pollution-free Diwali butsadly, one Twitter user didn’ttake the message in the rightspirit. When Mumbai Policetweeted: “Festivals are meant tospread cheer, not anxiety andfear #NoisePollutionFreeDiwali”,the user asked them to mindtheir own business and tweeted:“@MumbaiPolice @PIB_India

and police is meant to ensurelaw n order not to give morallessons. So mind your business guys.”

To this, the cops had a digni-fied reply. They informed himthat they are indeed ensuringlaw and order and burstingcrackers with noise beyond a certain decibel level is an offense as per Environment Protection Act.

Pretty vendor

Now that thecraze over

the chaiwala

from Pakistanhas simmereddown a little, aphotograph ofa vegetablevendor sharedby Facebook

community,Routine of

Nepal Banda, is goingviral. The internet hasfound its new muse in the“Nepali Tarkariwali” andusers are sharing her pic-ture to let everyone knowhow beautiful she is. The

girl was clicked by aNepali photographer,Rupchandra Mahajan, andsocial media was im-pressed with the work shedoes, calling her a mix ofbeauty and hard work.

Twitter laughs at SP drama

—By Karan Kaushik

If you have been following the presidential elections in US, you already know the kind of

enthusiastic supporters that Donald Trump has rallied. On the other hand, there is a lukewarm pool ofHillary voters.

Social media users came out in full support of Hillary after Shareblue, a media company, pushed the hashtag “Here I am with her” in

support of the Democratic candidate. The hashtag was tweeted more than 40,000 times in the course of a few hours. The campaign coincided with the beginning of early voting in many states, and the tweets featured inspiring messages and selfies of citizens posing with Hillary Clinton. One user tweeted: “My daughter said “Mom! My first vote was 1st Blackpresident & my second is for the 1st woman! Good job on the timing!” LOL #HereIamWithHer.

Hillary supporters

NEWSDATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

22/10/16

23/10/16

23/10/16

Two terrorists belonging to Jaesh-e-Mohammad arrested in Baramulla. AK-47, pistols confiscated. Attack on an Armyconvoy in Baramulla.

MLC Udayveer Singh expelled from SP forsix years. Singh, close to Akhilesh, hadclaimed there was a plot againstAkhilesh.

PM Modi inaugurates international ter-minal in Vadodara. Says the number ofair travelers will double in a year.

03:20 PM

22/10/16Mukesh Bhatt meets Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, says we won’t involvePak actors in movies in future. Ae Dil to release on Oct 28. 09:55 AM 09:55 AM

10:09 AM

Injured soldier Gurnam Singh dies. Hadbeen injured in Pak firing in Hiranagar,J&K.

Akhilesh Yadav expels four ministers.Narad Rai, Omprakash, Shadab Fatimaand Shivpal Yadav. Sloganeering outsideShivpal Yadav’s residence. 12:00 AM

India beats New Zealand in Mohali One-day. India leads in five match series by 2-1. Virat Kohli scores his 26th century.

O9.21 PMO9.19 PM

Firing in RS Pura from Pak side. BSF jawanSushil Singh dies. One jawan, two localsinjured.

07:10 AM 07:11 AM

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22/10/16

23/10/16

24/10/16

07:04 AM 07:05 AM 07:16 AM

12:02 AM 12:03 AM

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O9.20 PM

03:21 PM

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Here are some of the major news items aired on television channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first.

DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIMENEWS

24/10/16

27/10/16

Mulayam Singh Yadav calls meeting.Akhilesh Yadav live from meeting room: Iwill be the one distributing tickets. Netajitaught me to fight against injustice.

10:14 AM

27/10/16

27/10/16

Manipur CM has a narrow escape in firing.NSCN (IM) militants open gunfire asOkram Ibobi Singh gets out of his helicopter.

Pak High Commission official arrestedon espionage charges. Delhi police nabs Mehboob Akhtar with importantdocuments.

Diwali gift for Central govt employees. Twopercent increase in dearness allowance.

Amar Singh says I am with Akhilesh. Ifanything happens to me Ramgopal willbe responsible.

One more arrested in espionage case.Shoaib nabbed in Jodhpur. Was in touchwith Pak high Commission since last 3-4 years.

02:12 AM

24/10/16Shivpal Yadav from meeting room: Myportfolio was taken away from me. Whatwas my fault? Officers defied me on CM’sinstigation.

2:00 PM 2:00 PM

10:58 AM

10:32 AM

03:57 PM

04:31 PM 04:32 PM

12:50 PM 12:51 PM

03:57 PM

28/10/16

02:13 AM

10:32 AM

12:49 PM 12:50 PM

PM to celebrate Diwali with ITBP jawans atIndo-China border in remote Mana village.

04:31 PM

24/10/16

28/10/16

10:32 AM

10:59 AM

10:16 AM10:15 AM

2:01 PM 2:12 PM

02:12 AM

03:58 PM 03:58 PM

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10:59 AM 11:01 AM


10:16 AM

DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

29/10/16

30/10/16

31/10/16

RaGa’s letter to NaMo on OROP. Wants it tobe implemented properly.

India in finals of Hockey Asian ChampionsTrophy. Defeats Korea 5-4 in penaltyshoor-out.

India score splendid victory, defeat NZ by190 runs, clinch in one-day series. AmitMishra takes five wickets.

7:30 AM

29/10/16MLA Manorama Devi’s son Rocky Yadav sur-renders before Gaya Court in Bihar in roadrage case. Yadav is main accused in AdityaSachdeva murder case. 10:52 AM 10:53 AM

Sea of humanity pays last tributes toMartyr Mandip Singh in Kurukshetra.Singh had died in Kupwara.

SIMI terrorists escape from Bhopal jailusing bedsheet as rope. Five personnel ofBhopal Central jail suspended.

09:39 AM

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan an-nounces five lakh award for any lead on the absconding SIMI members. ADGremoved. 11:35 AM 11:35 AM11:34 AM

SIMI terrorists killed near Bhopal in encounter.

11:47 AM 11:47 AM

29/10/16

29/10/16

31/10/16

31/10/16

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NEWS


DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME

31/10/16

01/11/16

Alka Lamba raises questions on en-counter—on eight terrorists escapingand then being killed at one go withinhours.

11:54 AM

01/11/16

02/11/16

Pak might recall its officials following arrest of its official in espionage.

Mayawati demands judicial enquiry intoBhopal encounter. Claims police misusein BJP-ruled states.

FCRA License of Zakir’s NGO cancelled.Home Ministry issues notice.

Fire in a 4-storeyed building in Shahdara,Delhi. Three killed, 10 injured. E-rick-shaws were being charged in basement.

Army veteran Ramkishan Grewal commitssuicide at Jantar Mantar, Delhi. Leaves anote saying he is laying life for armymen.

03:20 PM

01/11/16Shivraj Singh Chouhan tears into thosedoubting encounter: Some people areplaying politics. Visits head constable Ra-mashankar’s family killed in jail-break.

11:15 AM 11:16 AM

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Rahul Gandhi stopped from meeting family of Grewal, Manish Sisodia takeninto custody. 02:02 PM

01/11/16

02/11/16

12:13 PM

10:45 AM

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03:21 PM

08:10 AM 08:36 AM

02:02 PM

03:22 PM

12:13 PM

10:43 AM 12:00 PM

12:00 AM

Here are some of the major news items aired on television channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first. NEWS


DESIGNS THAT MADE IMAGINATIVEUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHS, FONTS,COLOR AND WHITE SPACES TOLEAVE AN IMPRESSION By ANTHONY LAWRENCE

Design

The silhouette, like the surprise election result, isopen to interpretation. What lies ahead is open to surmises too.

Making sense of a deeply divided country, The New York

Times style.

The chaos on the cover of FT weekend magazinemirrors the confusing state of affairs in the USpost-elections.


Here’s a tempting invita-tion to participate in aworkshop on abstractand semi-abstractdrawings using poscapens with FrancescaUcci at Tindalls ArtStore, Trinity Street,Colchester, on November 18.

Time magazine on the watershed moment in American politics.

It’s not just flowers that fascinate. Artist DoreenKassel focusses on pods in his recent art work. Thepods and other interestingplant parts have beensculpted in polymer andpainted with multiple coatsof oil paint to achieve awarm, vintage feeling.


S THE WORLD TURNS

Since the failed coup in Turkey in July,the media crackdown by President

Tayyip Erdogan has been gaining ground.Recently, 10,000 more civil servants, in-cluding academics, teachers, healthworkers, prison guards and forensics ex-perts, were dismissed and 15 moremedia outlets were closed for suspectedlinks with terrorist organizations and US-

based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The unprecedented crackdown has al-

ready seen more than 100,000 peoplesacked or suspended and 37,000 ar-rested. The internet has been largelydown in the city for several days and po-lice has also used rubber pellets to breakup several hundred protesters marchingagainst these arrests.

Throttling dissent in Turkey

Similarity breeds approval?

Nabbed for false ID Facebook totrain scribes

Russian media unabashedly backed Don-ald Trump as news reports on US

elections devoted most of their time to elaborating on his allegations that Hillary

Clinton was corrupt and that the electionwas rigged. Pro-Kremlin journalist DmitryKiselyov recently said on the State-con-trolled Vesti channel: “Clinton has a choice.

Either she gets the presidency orshe goes behind bars.”

Even though Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly rejected claims thatRussia wanted to see Trump win,experts point to strong similaritiesbetween their positions on majorforeign policy issues, includingSyria and Ukraine. Interestingly,negative stories about Trump oftengot lighthearted coverage onRussian TV.

Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed Afghan woman whoappeared on the cover of National Geographic

magazine 30 years ago, was sentenced to 15 daysin jail and a fine of `110,000 by Pakistani authoritieswhen she pleaded guilty in a northwestern Pakistancourt to using an unauthorized identification card.She faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted offraud. Gula grew up in a refugee camp and is now inher 40s. After deportation to Afghanistan, she willmeet President Ashraf Ghani and the government willhelp resettle the family. Her photo had become asymbol of Afghanistan’s suffering during the 1980sSoviet occupation and the US-backed mujahideeninsurgency against it.

—Compiled by Shailaja Paramathma


Facebook is venturing into onlinetraining for journalists; it has an-

nounced new online courses toteach how to engage followers incontent created on Facebook Live,

videos, instant articles and more.The courses “focus on the threecore pillars of the news cycle: dis-covering content, creating stories,and building an audience,” said thesocial media giant. To join thecourses, having a Facebook profileis mandatory as they are availablethrough Facebook’s global trainingprogram—Blueprint. Interested jour-nalists can also join Signal, a plat-form to help content creatorsdiscover stories from Instagram

and Facebook.

.

RNI No. UPENG/2007/22571 Postal Regd. No. UP/GBD-204/2015-17

views on news 22 november 2016

News & Politics