Photo-essay on Mumbai Trip-II: Lighter moments

Here are some more photos from the trip that we undertook last year.

This is where, our guide said, Lataji stays in a flat but there was no means to verify that. If someone is sure, please come forward and confirm or deny this.

One of the modern day pilgrimages: the fortressed residence of Shah Rukh Khan

A moment of tortured patience. We wait in Siligudhi station; exhausted and exasperated. Everyone fatigued and  just happy to be sitting. 

One of the rural railway platforms in lull hours

Sujan Dai and his tanhaii. He is now married and no longer so but then he was pretty lonely and sad (wish he  never sees this description, he will grill me if not kill.)

Indian Media: Who will guard the guards?

(A shorter version of  this article appeared in Foreign Policy Journal as 'The Rot Behind the Facade of Free Media in India' on March 17, 2013)

Even as the months-old scandal related to a media conglomerate in India recedes in public memory, the questions related to the long term implications of collusion between the corporations and the media houses persist. With some respectable exceptions, the future of journalism at its essence looks grim in India given the philosophy and the clout of the agenda-setters.

There are two ways of cleansing corrupt or unethical practices: one, by forcing the people to abstain from them; the other, by redefining the erstwhile corrupt and unethical practices as 'not so'. A cursory examination at the way many societies deal with such practices makes it very clear that the latter of the two is often more feasible and in many instances the only possible way of dealing with the issue.

 World Map showing the percent of national populations living on less than $1.25 per day. UN Estimates 2000-2007: With India ranking next to few African countries from the bottom with a value of 41-60%, news related to poverty are not just worthy of contemplation by the 'leader's in Indian media (Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons). Contrast this with the glamorous news item about the Indian billionaires below.

Probably, there is no more tantalizing example of such kind of adaptation to corrupt practices than the Indian media. From the outcry against the 'paid news' over past many years to revelation of fake stings by the TV channels, the darker side of Indian media has been recurrently illuminated even though for brief periods. Past two years have been boom time for the Indian media as the sensationalism around the multitude of massive financial scams has ensured that people are glued to the TV channels or the newspapers and magazines. While the corrupt activities of politicians are gleefully covered, the issue of corporate corruption remains a near-taboo and introspection into the state of media industry itself is nearly missing, particularly among the 'leaders' of the Indian media world. 

As expected, the by now five-month-old scandal related to a sting by a business tycoon against a TV conglomerate is being forgotten as if no such thing had ever occurred. Apparently, agents of one of the prominent TV channels were secretly videoed while trying to extort large sums of money from a business group (through an arrangement by which favorable coverage would be given and damaging stories avoided in exchange for a lucrative advertisement deal). While one commentator or the other deplores the collusion between the business houses and the media in which backdrop the sting took place, most media outlets are now desperately trying to break some fresh news, catch some new scam or orchestrate a new sting as opposed to following the stale story.

A facsimile of The Times of India’s August 28, 2011 page with the ‘marketing feature’ on Bt Cotton. The same stories, word-by-word, had appeared earlier as real news on Oct 31, 2008. (Source: The Hindu article by P. Sainath). Contrast this with the grim data of Farmer suicides below, taken from National Crime Records Bureau, that also includes the state depicted to 'reap gold' in the TOI feature

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This raises some fundamental questions about the nature and relevance of media as an important vehicle of social discourse in India. What is journalism really set to accomplish? Does it have any responsibility towards society other than enriching the media houses and employing a sizable workforce of journalists?

Ordinarily, journalism is supposed to be one of the important checks to the power of the rulers and the powerful elites in any society. Indeed nearly every functioning democracy in world today boasts of a 'free and independent' media and even the dictators try to give an aura of press freedom. (Incidentally, in a ludicrous interview with the film crew behind the revealing documentary 'Who killed Natasha?', Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of Chechen Republic, says something to this effect: so long as Natasha Estemirova was there, she would write all nonsense against us and we would be able to say to our critics 'here, see we have democracy and space for dissenting voice'. Now she is no longer there and we cannot say that. So, why would we kill her?)

The perilous journey that the journalists have to undertake in dictatorships apart, journalism as a profession in democratic world with liberal economies, where there are little prospects of outright government interference or repression, also face different but by no means less serious challenges. Also, they are remarkably different from the challenges posed by a dictatorial regime. It is in this context that Indian journalism and media industry, as the guards of most populous democracy in the world, form a subject for a relevant case study.  

Many faces of India: Railway and Mumbai Metropolis (Photo-essay)

A train journey is usually supposed to be a soothing experience as the giant rolling in the iron tracks sees to it that there are as little jolts associated with other forms of land travel as possible. For all of our 6 strong team, trip to Mumbai was supposed to be like a holiday. But the first hiccup in Siligudhi ensured that  our journey had to start with sleep deprivation and the ailment persisted throughout the trip. Here are some snippets taken from the train or the platform, intended to show some aspects of life in India related to railway. 


 

One who has muscle has his way: In this poorly taken photograph (that I took with trepidation of getting the Camera stolen), a crowd is seen attempting to board on the general or 'Chalu' compartments of the train in one of the Mumbai stations. The queue was woefully long for available seats and frail people were the ones to suffer the most: some of them could not board at all while more muscular young men fought the batons of the clerks to jostle in

Railway under expansion: New tracks being laid at one point in Bihar. Continuous expansion of the existing railway infrastructure is a priority in India. Contrast that with the few kilometers of nearly defunct railway tract in Nepal's Janakpur region. India's drive to upgrade infrastructure seems to be in full speed even though many of the recent mega-scams relate to such projects.

One face of right wing extremism: In this writing which was ditto in many of the toilets of our train, one alleges Indian National Congress of promoting terrorism for vote bank politics and declares 'Diggi' (Probably Digvijaya Singh) as the 'Gaddar' (betrayer, a bad one). This also spits venom at Rahul Gandhi as 'Half Indian' and Sonia Gandhi as 'Full Italian' and urges them to leave India. 

This one looks more formal and acceptable but even this is somewhat ambiguous; reading 'We are Hindi and Hindustan is our motherland'. If connotation of Hindi is Indian, it could be acceptable even though many would object the choice of words. But if it connotes 'Hindus' and tries to exclude others, then that is really troubling. May be one who wrote and pasted it knows what it was all about.

One of many stations; this one in Bihar, in lull hours. 

Mumbai Trip Day 1: Travails at Siligudhi

(I have restarted the series on Mumbai trip after unexpected surge in interest of readers in two short pieces that I posted earlier.)


To me, a journey to India means many things. One is a journey from one of the most turbulent and unstable South Asian country at geopolitical periphery to the regional center, an emerging Asian power. The other is to a land where most of our forefathers (including my own father) made a living by escaping the hunger of barren lands in Nepali mountains. They sustained their lives through the robust economic activities in the plains of India first under the British and then the Independent India.

Now the largest traffic of Nepali migrant workers has been diverted to the Gulf countries because of the boom in the energy economy of the deserts. Yet Nepal's relationship (and dependence) with India has not significantly diluted. From the poorest and most illiterate Nepalis from the Far-West who cannot afford the exorbitant fee of brokers in Kathmandu for a Gulf opportunity to the thousands of girl children and adolescents who fall prey to the smugglers to be sold in the sex market, and to the not infrequent fools hoodwinked by sinister criminals to sell their kidneys as way out to poverty; India forms the doubtless destination. In every journey to India, it is usual to find an illiterate migrant worker being harassed and extorted either by the petty criminals or, as frequently, by the Indian police personnel especially near the borders with Nepal. On the positive side, India today forms an attractive destination for thousands of Nepali students and skilled workers and this time we were also travelling for a high-end training in the financial capital of India. Even though the Delhi pilgrimages of the Nepali politicians come to controversy and are frequently derided, that has formed a vital political process in Nepal, both in the times of change and the stagnation.

Unwholesome: the industrial Mumbai sends all its sewage to Sea and  the beach bears the burden

This time, I was travelling into India proper after about 5 years. Many things had changed including the power equation in the center and many states of India. Yet many more things were the same. This time we were entering India through West Bengal from the eastern border of Nepal. Crossing the Kakarbhitta bridge was a new experience for me. Later on, this border crossing was to prominently feature in Gaura Prasain's book 'Mera Jeevanka Pana' (she hoodwinked the women-smugglers there to escape after being solidly trapped by them).

Costliest residence in earth worried about ecology? Grass sprouts at the back of Ambani  house

After a tough bargaining with the driver of a Tata Sumo, we started the journey inside Indian territory. Soon I was excited to discover that we were passing through Naxalbari, the famous/notorious place from where the today's Naxalite movement in India derives the name for having been triggered by a famous incident in this land half a century or so back. Even though the leftists were routed in the last elections in West Bengal bringing the by-now-all-powerful Mamata Benarjee to power, this part of land away from Kolkata seemed to have little impact of the change of guard at the center. The most noticeable things for a traveler were the intractable potholes in the road. As the evening set, the vehicle swerved through some unusual short-cuts in the villages as my mind was filled by the legacy of Naxalite movement in India.

किन NCell का राम्रा समाचार मात्र आउँछन् नेपाली मिडियामा ?

 The hype surrounding the rise of Ncell as the top mobile phone and internet service provider in Nepal has kept adding layers to it. Is that all that matters in the success story, however? Are there any downsides of the story? If any, why are they not duly covered by Nepali media?

Ramesh Kumar, a reporter at Himal media puts his objection to the hype in a lucid paragraph in his facebook page. He also insinuates at the complicity of the Nepali media with the private giant as a result of which they refrain from disclosing or reporting on the blatant acts of the company: it has just abstained from paying billions of rupees in income tax, another name of robbery of professional scale. 

 Here I reproduce the words with his permission:
 
यो देशमा एन सेल नामक एक निजी दुरसञ्चार सेवा प्रदायक कम्पनी छ । सेवाको आवरणमा लुट्नु त्यसको धन्दा हो । एन सेलले अदृश्य रुपमा उपभोक्ता मात्र लुटिरहेको छैन, राज्यलाई बुझाउने करमा समेत झेल गरेको छ । एनसेलले भन्सार र राजस्व छलेको दुई घटना करिब एक महिना अघि राजस्व न्यायाधिकरणले प्रमाणित गरिदिइसकेको छ ।

Media Murders Rock Fragile Nepal

published by Asia Times on atimes.net/speakingfreely on March 10

Recent assassinations of prominent media personalities in Nepal with alleged complicity of the country's politicized police have furthered the rising sense of insecurity among ordinary people. The impunity with which suspected 'anti-Idia' Muslims in Nepal are being bumped off compounds the crisis of constitutional stalemate and protrends total anarchy.

Nepal's security has been in a dilapidated state ever since the armed rebellion by the leftist guerillas started in 1996. A decade of fierce armed conflict followed by a highly volatile transitional period both have shaken and demoralized the security apparatus thoroughly. What is shocking everyone at the moment is the phenomenon in which the incidents that used to be sporadic have now become endemic with increasing institutionalization of crime. The clandestine involvement of the former and possibly the serving police officers in the high-profile killing of Media entrepreneur Jamim Shah has drawn the ire from media community as well as public. To add insult to injury, another media entrepreneur in south-eastern town of Janakpur, Arun Singhaniya was subsequently shot dead.

The security lapses that made it possible to kill Shah in broad daylight in one of the most 'secure' and busy area in Kathmandu are flabbergasting. But what dwarfs the inexcusable negligence by police personnel is the shoddy role played by the leadership of the police and the politicians, particularly the minister of Home affairs in the aftermath. The pervading feeling of hopelessness in all quarters after it became clear that the mastermind was the notorious international gangster Chhota Rajan, was easily visible. Even the prime minister could only regret and admit that his government was incapable of providing the required security but there was no unambiguous assurance that the similar further incidents would be avoided.