A Time To Reflect

charukesi July 30th, 2005

Do we really need 24/7 rolling news? asks Hasan Suroor in the Hindu. (Link via India Uncut) : this is Amit Varma’s take on this - Who is “we”, and what is meant by “need”? If there is a market for 24/7 news, then it’ll exist, as it should. If not, it won’t.

I don’t see this an an expression of a political ideology (as Amit does) - instead, I wonder - which came first, the market or the product?

Existential question, I know. But I see less and less of conventional marketing now - where a product was designed and launched according to the market need. Now, what rules is the hoary marketing rule - be there first - or create a category where you are first.

Seems to me this is the case with television news channels too.

Newspapers facing competition have resorted to the ‘give-them-more’ tactics. More pages, more lifestyle and general interest topics (not necessarily more news, of course).

And television channels, fortunate enought o be more flexible than their print brothers, believe in two things :

1.Give them more…

So now we have regular hourly, half hourly news reports. Followed by repeats of these hourly news reports. And then special programs. On different topics.

Crime, politics, parties, movies, fashion, health, sports. Where does a channel like Zoom end and a news channel begin?

And did I mention crime? And politics? What about crime then? Don’t forget crime. Sansani, Jurm, Vardaat, Kaal Kapaal Mahakaal, Crime Patrol, Crime Reporter.

Sex scandal in Patna beauty parlour was the scoop of the day on one of these channels last week… All the right ingredients : Bihar, beauty, sex - but hardly prime time news material?

2.And give it to them first - or scream loudly enough for people to believe that…

I was watching news on Wednesday - and each news channel worth its name had an “exclusive” on the rains - each channel claimed to be the first to send a man up in space for an ariel view of the city - I remember falling asleep watching Sreenivasan Jain on a chopper… The US and the then USSR would have been less hostile and competitive about their space program way back in the 1960s…

A strange situation where all television news channels are equally sabse tez…

Which brings me back to the original question - slightly altered to ask - is there really such a thing as 24/7 rolling news?

• Media Matters , - Television
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charukesi July 30th, 2005

If you live around the western suburbs in Bombay and have been wondering about that strange smell in the air, here it is the puzzle solved for you. It is because Mr. Big Bacchan has not had a bath for three days

Big B didn’t bathe for 3 days - says an authoritative source, viz. the Deccan Chronicle on their front page.

They in turn got it straight from the er, wife’s mouth - all the way from Delhi. She saw the fact that Mr. Bacchan has not been able to have a bath as the “collapse of administration in Mumbai”…

In the course of the conversation, she also made a careful mistake, taking care to correct herself immediately and make her meaning clear…

In her enthusiasm, Ms Bachchan referred to Mulayam Singh Yadav as the “Prime Minister of UP” but corrected herself immediately. “But, God willing, he will become Prime Minister of the country one day,” she said.

God save the country is all I can think of saying, apart from commiserating with the Bacchans.

However, others around me here in Madras do not share my sentiment - the water situation here is so bad I suspect many of them go without a bath for many days, and regularly at that…

And oh, the Bachhans also had another mini trauma in the house - Her son, actor Abhishek Bachchan, also had a tough time. “There was five feet of water in the house and my son had to balance a tray with some eatables and a bottle of water on his head to reach his grandmother, who was on the first floor of the house,” said Ms Bachchan. “Fortunately, he is a tall man,” she added wryly

Absolutely fortunately.

Also Sonia writes about another hmmm, celebrity’s ordeal carrying pastries high above his head. His misery was multiplied further by the fact that he was just returning from a manicure and pedicure from the parlour.

The rain gods have indeed been cruel - all I can hope and pray for now is for this celebrity to get another appointment double quick at his parlour, so some of his trauma is lessened…

Time and pedicure, the greatest healers…. Please join me in my prayers…

And all ToI bashers, look - ToI is not the only newspaper with well, unusual perspectives on what constitutes news and front page news. These two items I have linked to here are from Deccan Chronicle and Mumbai Mirror respectively.

****

Dilip D’Souza went out for a walk and came back with this wallet box - This morning was the last straw. I’m switching, starting tomorrow. I encourage others to do the same. And more important, write to the Times to tell them exactly why you are doing it. Not email, but fax or post. Registered post.

Anyone remember the old Tamil song - kaatru vaanga ponaen oru kavidai vaangi vandaen (I went out to get some fresh air - and I got back some poetry)

Also remembered this old campaign started by a few popular bloggers a couple of years ago - Say No to! Media Slaughter (from Mahesh Shantaram’s blog filter coffee). Maybe it is time for another one now.

Spread the word around…

• Media Matters , - Print
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charukesi July 29th, 2005

Were you one of those stuck in the Bombay rains without a ToI? Lucky you.

Or one of those even luckier ones to receive helpful hints from Airtel on finding where the nearest coffee shop was…?

Rashmi Bansal says stop selling for once - SMS from Airtel: Stuck in the rain? (half of Bombay is , today!). Dial 501 for information on the nearest coffee shop.

%&^%$$*. Would it kill them to provide some useful info instead. Like which train lines are down, when the water is expected to recede etc etc etc?

It would not kill them, but then that would just not be in keeping with tested and proven cellphone marketing strategies… Imagine trying to provide socially useful information… (why do I have this uncomfortable feeling that Airtel belives that information about the nearest coffee shop is s.u.i)

And if you think only Airtel has behaved irresponsibly, it is because they were the only network to survive in Bombay during the first 24 hours when everything else went kaput. (I know from repeated franctic attempts to call my husband in Bombay)

And Uma writes of how the people of Bombay have survived an even greater tragedy than the rains - living without ToI for a whole day. Gasp! Nature can be so cruel…Thousands “marooned without ToI”.

I guess it would have been a lot of help to those stuck on the roads - as toilet paper, I mean…

Marketing above all. Everything else be damned.

There has been so much said and written about the paper wars in Bombay that it seems superfluous to say any more. (but then, when have I ever let that stop me ? :))

***

One newspaper, with a history of being the mouthpiece of the Congress (the Indian National Congress, not the family owned private limited company that it is today) plans a dhamaka launch in Bombay - from hundreds of stories they could have used, they chose one that was sure to stir controversy and communal sentiments - the Salman Khan tapes - why after all these years, like a greedy child holding on to a toffee - to be savoured - for maximum pleasure - or in this case, impact.

Because the launch is in Bombay - and the twin themes of bollywood and bhai log are closer to Bombay than anything else. Showing Bombay in a new light - never mind how much such “scoops” take journalism as a whole into darkness…

And then the other, the one without which people felt marooned the last couple of days. Why was the Mumbai Mirror launched at all - is there a need for such a newspaper in the market? This was clearly Bennett and Coleman’s way of anticipating the DNA attack. In other words, a pre-emptive strike… Flanking the market - we have a newspaper and a tabloid. Either way, we are prepared for DNA - the newspaper with the marketing brain and muscle of two media giants behind it…

Except it didn’t quite turn out that way. Sensible people across Bombay turned around to ask why the group needed a second tabloid when there was already one in the form of ToI. Surey, tabloid is not just about size but about content too… And if it just about size and local news, then Mid Day was already there in the market and there to stay.

Therefore, the ‘free with your daily newspaper’ strategy… I wonder how long ToI can go on with this scheme, as deep as their pockets go… What happens when the sampling stops - and people discover what is really in their DNA…?

And that also makes me wonder about DNA’s launch strategy - hornets everywhere, just waiting for their nests to be stirred…

• Branding and Marketing , - Print
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charukesi July 28th, 2005

Kaps from Sambharmafia has this poem which he has sent for a contest - this post is triggered by the discussion on that on his blog.

The gist of his poem is ‘Tamilians have progressed far, while Tamil has been left behind’… I responded to this on his blog with a question - if the Tamilian had clung on to Tamil, would he have progressed this far?

Where I come from is the perspective of widening one’s horizons - not clinging to but moving on - but that does not mean necessarily leaving behind your roots - in this case, language. Kap’s point is about how
1. people find it unfashionable to speak in Tamil
2. children in schools do not even need to learn Tamil as a second ior third laguage

The two are different things - and I think the concern is about the former - I did not, for instance learn Tamil in school - not for one single year in all my school life in Madras - but I speak, read and write the language very well…

As for the other bit, I see this happening all around me - this is not just one language or about one state - ‘vernac’ is just not cool - sure, it is more uncool in some places than others, but there it is.

On the other hand, there is this evolving language of *lish - any local language married with English - Hinglish, Tamlish, whatever… This is more often than not, lingua franca among the young in age and heart…

So where is this post leading? To another related thought I have about how Tamil is coping with this ‘neglect’. I use Tamil here as an example; this discussion is not limited to that language alone…

****

Mainstream media has resolved to stick to its guns and maintain the language in all its grammatical sanctity - which, like this sentence means, most people have no clue about what a newsreader is saying on a Tamil news program or a writer in a Tamil weekly. Very often, I (remember I prided myself on knowing Tamil very well) find Tamil news going way above my head.

duh, whajijasay?

The message is clear. Chaste Tamil is where it is at. An ‘exclusive’ strategy.

On the other hand is the language used by presenters of entertainment programs - they bear no resemblance to any language one knows. I strain to listen and understand and find traces of a language I know - but so mutilated in form that it is not easy to even accept it as Tamil - all for the sake of sounding cool and in tune with the times. An ‘inclusive’ strategy.

What is happening here? Is this language schizophrenic? Can any language be, for that matter?

Or is this society’s (as represented by main-stream media) way of coping with seeming erosion in usage of a language? Is this happening with any other Indian langauges as well?

I did some research on the net and found this - Dodson and Jones (1984) document peoples’ emotional involvement behind the maintenance of threatened languages, such as Welsh, “highlighting the assumption that media provision in a minority language will stem the decline in the number of users of that languages” (ibid) Kuo (1984) discussing Mandarin in Singapore shows “the conscious use of television in promoting an additional national languages, which is not used outside the official spheres, to serve as an ethnic and cultural marker of national identity”. (ibid)

Is that why English is becoming less and less formal - with increased usage, the language (and its speakers) do not feel threatened in any way - and it needs to be flexible and friendly enough to welcome and retain all new speakers…

Many rambling thoughts - and many questions, as usual…

• Language & writing
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charukesi July 27th, 2005

In response to my recent post ‘the long ride to freedom‘, Michael Higgins says that he would be more comfortable if such work were to be done by an NGO.

I have always been uncomfortable with the government versus non governmental debate - in fact, I do not think of it as a ‘versus‘ issue at all, as it often turns out to be… but this is another post altogether…

What this post is about is the third and what I consider the most important element of development work, the community. Most important and most neglected in popular discourse about social development. Take the case of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the least developed states in India - mainly the result of chronic mismanagement by the Nizams of Hyderabad who ruled the region like medieval sultans until ceding power to the Indian government in 1948. Till recently, over half the population could not read or write and healthcare facilities were extremely limited.

In 1997, the then chief Minster, Chandrababu Naidu, a media savvy politician introduced the Janmabhoomi Programme. This Programme, to me, embodies the ideal format towards addressing the developmental needs of the state, viz. through community mobilization.

The Janmabhoomi programme envisages the beneficiaries themselves identifying the specific needs of the community such as roads, electricity, health care and school buildings. The beneficiaries are expected to contribute actively to the project, either by way of money or labour and also supervise the work. In fact, Shramadanam, or contribution of labour is the biggest expectation from the comminuty.

The Janmabhoomi addresses a variety of developmental issues in five core areas : Community Works, Primary Education, Primary Health and Family welfare, Environment Conservation, Responsive Governance.

The reasoning behind this program is simple : if you want the Government to do something about your problems :
1. bring them to the attention of the state
2. be prepared to contribute your time and effort to the cause, the Government will pitch in with the money and regulated effort

Lesson to the community : stop cribbing and do something. In this case, the people of the State are stake-holders and direct beneficiaries of the Programme. Which I think is very fair.

How much can the State do? How many small villages and towns can be completely covered by the Government? As for NGOs and private non-profit initiatives, they are by definition limited in their area of operations and therefore, impact. (Also thinking here about the recent discussion on innovation)

I believe the solution to sustained impact leading to development at a macro level, is community mobilization and involvement. Any amount of intervention by the Government / non-profit bodies can at best be limited and short-term, without the active participation of the community.

I do not have any inane statistics here to prove any point, but I instinctively believe that this is a model that all states with a welfare focus (this effectively excludes the BIMARU region) would do well to emulate.

Or, are the risks too high for other politicians to take?

As I write this, I found out that this programme has been renamed “Indiramma Grama Swaraj” by the current Chief Minister. Indramma Rajyam (the rule of Mother Indira ) is his main slogan - long gone are the days of Rama Rajyam obviously… And with this name change, the focus has shifted effectively and conclusively from development to politics…

Any idea on the current status of the programme?

• Society & Development
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charukesi July 27th, 2005

But this time, as I said, airport - not airport coach. So relax, breathe easy, all….

I had an early morning flight to Bombay back from Delhi - after waiting for a few hours, watching the crowds pushing and shoving (very reminiscent of Dadar station at peak time) and seeing no possibility of a flight taking off towards Bombay - or me finding a seat on that, I took a flight to Chennai instead. Anyway, very short of mother’s sambhar powder and TLC - need to replenish both…

And my husband has been stuck at the airport since 2 pm. yesterday (a little more than 30 hours now) - waiting to take an evening flight to Bangalore. When I last heard, the enterprising man had set up a table near the door at the airport restaurant and had started a small Drones Clubish session there with a few like-minded bored souls. viz, betting on the shirt colour of the nex man to walk in through the door… Happy times…

Coming back to Delhi airport, actually the scene there was no worse than that at Bombay airport when I left - the crowds and the chaos, I mean.

More airlines, more discounted fares means more and more people flying. Except the facilities available at the airports have remained the same. Malthus would no doubt have explained this in a more pithy fashion, but what I am saying is that infrastructure has not managed to keep pace even slightly with this growth in air traffic. Result - chaos, even in non emergency situations.

I noticed that Kingfisher Airlines flies out of the terminal reserved for Indian Airlines (and Air India), both in Bombay and Delhi. Wonder what strings were pulled where….

In all this, the only entertainment I derived was from the thought of Mr. Sahara Shriji Roy kicking himself for his short-sightedness in not anticipating this kind of explosive growth in airlines… Obviously, Mr. Kingfisher Shriji Mallya is way ahead in this game now, with this master-stroke….

Gasp! All that gyan. Think will retire to a corner to mediate - and call myself Sri Sri Charukesi from now on?

• Pot-pourri
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charukesi July 26th, 2005

Jalandhar is a small town in many ways - nice friendly people who want to know everyting about you and invite you home for garam khaana (hot food) right after the first meeting…

And small enough for people to commute by cycle rickshaw… Five rupees can take you a long way in this city. And people bargaining with the rickshaw puller - paanch rupaiye kyon? paas hi to jaana hai - teen rupaiye le lo (why five rupees for such a short distance - take three rupees)

I guiltily think about how little five rupees means to me. I wave away the rickshaws who stop near me and start walking…

What is worse - to ride on one of them, with another human being pulling you? or walking away and depriving him of this opportunity to earn his living? I never know…

****
Another thing is the number of travel agents and ads for airlines - in the half kilometere stretch that I walked between my hotel to my work place, I counted nine travel agents, one one side of the road, that is… Japan Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Slovakia Airlines, Gulf Air. You name it.

Ad most of these travel agents offer an additional service too - filling up of visa forms. One of them says that they make a lot of money this way, apart from the regular service of procuring the visa for their customers…

And many old people who say that families spend between a lakh to three lakhs on this business of sending a young relative abroad year after year. Families which cannot afford it but manage it somehow…

Each family has one or two young people abroad - among whom many of them have disappeared - there is no news of or from them… for many years now.

Yet people want to go… and keep going. And many never come back…

• - Cities and places
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charukesi July 23rd, 2005

My flight landed in Delhi and I found myself sitting next to this girl on the airport coach to the terminal.

Super rich, super thin. Super brat.

Purple streaks in her hair. Over-sized sunglasses. Pale make up. And a t-shirt reaching just below the chest.

And faded jeans. With strategically placed cuts in five different places. And the cuts enlarged to give it a frayed look. When she sat down, the cloth gave way at the knees to give a glimpse of unnaturally pink flesh there - knee makeup, do you think?

(I was itching to take a photograph - to record this for posterity - for this blog, actually - but I resisted that temptation. Not because she would mind - but because I was afraid she would charge me for it)

Made me think about how similar the lives of the super haves and the entirely have-nots are.

I see poor people wearing torn clothes all the time - not because they have carefully cut it themselves with a blade. Or wearing faded clothes. And not paying a premium price for that cool ‘faded’ look.

And the streaks on the hair. Sure, not purple. But matted and brown. For lack of any kind of cleaning. Or “hair-care”.

Oh, the super-thin body too. Except there are no fad diets (suggested by fat lifestyle and health consultants) here - only starvation.

Take away that healthy glow on her face. And my airport-coach friend could have belonged anywhere else. Except she was carrying a Danielle Steele in her hand (hardcover - purple hair and torn jeans okay but this was the last straw).

****
The hotel I am staying in has a restaurant called laidbackwaters. That is exactly how and where I want to be right now.

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I just saw that Charu is “hot on desipundit lately“. Champagne! preferably at the above-mentioned kind of location.

• The World of Indsight
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charukesi July 19th, 2005

I know, I know I am a big fan of conversational blogging and was right ahead during the comments-please crusade a few months ago. But when I see what some bloggers go through, thanks to sickos who post rot on their comments section, I am forced to rethink - well, almost.

Uma MD regularly goes through the comments-on-comments-off routine - and I know you will agree that her blog is more fun with the comments on…

And now Mangs has switched off comments on her blog.

I hate to see this happen with people who want to keep their blogs - and minds - open to conversations (as for bloggers who switch off their comments seeking better quality interactions through email, this is not relevant).

Spam comments, I have learnt to deal with. Hail wordpress!

Anonymous pathetic ones like this (on this post), I have learnt to ignore - or laugh at.

I am surprised that such things happen in India. Trust me, I never thought sexual harrassment is common or prevalent in our country. Maybe, I never bothered to look beyond books, the one thing I care about.

What happened to Mangs was sad but I think Mangs over-reacted. Yes, she over-reacted! What “Sanjeev Kumar” has already got is “cruel and unusual punishment”. And, no I think people are responsible for the acts of volition. If he were a psychopath or repeat offender (how do I know? Psychology classes!), she would have realized how the system wouldn’t have got anything in either US or India.

And this was from someone who signed in as anonymous coward. I kid you not.

But nasty ones?

Surely there must be a better way to control comments?

What are you comments on this ?

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charukesi July 19th, 2005

Actually make that ‘woman at work’… i.e. me. Working from home is great fun - especially when you have several windows open (both on your computer and in your home) - allows me to practise multitasking with great ease.

Multitasking - in less polite company - such as my husband’s, also known as “begging to be distracted” (but he is just jealous - he has to leave for work every morning at 8.15, which is about the time I sit with my coffee and newspapers).

Have some travel coming up later this week - Delhi and Jallandhar (yes, what all people do for a living). Will try to blog whenever possible. The last time I was in Punjab on work (Ludhiana - a few years ago), I went all eagerly hoping to see yellow sunflower fields and Sridevi in yellow chiffons and… you get the gist. Now I am older - and wiser (alright, alright) - and no longer hope to see yellow sunflower fields and Sridevi in yellow chiffon in Punjab.

Maybe just the sunflower fields… Or maybe just Sridevi…

Or just the yellow chiffon? No, let me get back to work now.

And for a better understanding of what being ‘at work’ means, this picture (taken last week at Chembur signal from my car)… (And the next time, you eat your vegetables, think of where they might have been)

And do have a look at the ‘hard at work’ set on my flickr…

• The World of Indsight
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