Desicritics Category: Media: Newspapers

Homosexuality Versus Violation of Privacy

Aditi Nadkarni — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:04:22 EST

Dr.Siras, reader and chairman of Modern Indian Languages at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), was filmed having consensual sex with a same sex partner in his on-campus home without his knowledge. This video was then sent to his university employees. This likely seems the work of a group of pranksters looking for either entertainment or the settling of some scores. Some media outlets speculate that a local news channel may have been involved in this "outing" which I find bizarre.

Our media is now invested in splashing private sex lives over the news? When did that happen? It is very easy for the decent and thinking ones among us to pick out the victim and the perpetrator in this situation. If a heterosexual couple were filmed having sex in their own home, practically everyone would immediately conclude that the couple were innocent victims of a gross violation of their privacy. Would it matter if they were doing it doggy style or in the missionary position when they were filmed without their knowledge? I don't think so. It would be a slam dunk case where police would have gone after the people who filmed the video without Dr.Siras's knowledge and Dr.Siras would've eventually been able to file a lawsuit against the perpetrators. Right? Well, apparently, our societal morals and ethics depend upon a person's sexual orientation. AMU has pronounced this as grievous conduct on part of the professor to have sex in his own home and has suspended him.

It is an interesting time in India for homosexuality and sexuality in general. We as a society have never been openly homophobic or openly opinionated at all about anything remotely sexual. We don't talk about it. We just do it and then shush other people when they bring it up. As a nation we are all secretly homophobic, especially the men of our masses, the ones who adjust their crotches in public and molest women in trains as a mark of their machoism. They might not go around bashing homosexuality in public like the right-wing Christians do in the United States but they do their bit. Raani, chhakka, hijhda, all code for eunuch, are the terms they have coined to add to the existing offensive nomenclature for those whose sexual orientation does not quite fit with rigid ideas of who should sleep with who. Our commercial filmmakers gingerly broach homosexuality in films, often doing more damage than good for the LGBT community in India. Gay men are portrayed as weak, overtly effeminate and used mostly as comic relief in films thus successfully reinforcing popular and damaging stereotypes. I have personally witnessed college kids torment a classmate who is not into girls or does not invest into building a macho image. We all watch people being teased or left out but how many of us speak up? I grew up in this very society and yet when I see a gay couple, I see a couple. When I see homophobia, I see irrationality driven by fear of the unknown.

When I first read about this case, I desperately hoped that the story would be about how AMU stood by their professor and how the police immediately were on the case, looking for the people who had violated Dr.Siras's privacy. I set myself up for disappointment. In my mind, academia and media are the the outer, growing fringe of our society's thought map defining how progressive we are as a populace, they make up the forward moving wave on which intellectuals ride out and set themselves apart from the rest of the crowd. In this case, it was television reporters who allegedly filmed a man having sexual relations within the confines of his own home and then a university condoned this by castigating the professor because the form of sex he was having was not appealing to them. When media and academia promote regressive thinking it comes as more of a shock than it would have if it were say a political party doing it to pander to voters or a religious group looking to recruit. This sort of thing could happen to any of us. Even if you, my reader, may not be a homosexual, I am pretty sure you do things in your own home that you would not want media filming and showing to your employers, right? I guess 15th August is just a public holiday then.

History is witness that it takes times like these to brew a revolution. It takes nerve to side with the right kind of morality, the one that does not pause in doubt and morph into something unrecognizable when overcome with prejudice, intolerance or fear. In my opinion, the LGBT community in India needs to empower themselves and be more vocal. A lot of homosexual individuals do not make their presence known. They prefer to lead privately gay lives often offering up the understandable explanation of "My sex life is nobody's business". Sure. And this attitude may afford them a relatively drama free life, but as a community it will not bring them to the status of equal citizens with equal treatment unless they come forward and fight for it. Today in the face of this scandal, Dr.Siras according to a news report is voluntarily leaving the university. There are so many gay individuals who avoid a scandal and walk away from the mess, not demanding their rights or questioning the raw deal they are dealt.

Last year, Chief Justices Shah and Muralidhar made me proud when they mandated that Section 377 was inapplicable to consenting sex between adults in private. They noted that, “Constitutional morality must outweigh the argument of public morality, even if it be the majoritarian view.” It was a small, yet mighty step in the right direction. And now, a group of idiotic television reporters and the Aligarh Muslim University has brought us a few steps back again.

My Name Is Khan - Media Holds India Hostage

sufferingsocrates — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:25:28 EST

Though I have been trying to restrain myself from blogging about My Name Is Khan (MNIK), the outcome and the coverage it has been given warranted me to write atleast a few words about the entire episode. There are three main protagonists about the entire MNIK episode. Shah Rukh Khan, the Badshah of Bollywood, fondly referred to as SRK, Shiv Sena, and the third annoying protagonist, the media.

Frankly, the Shiv Sena's protests and insensitive posturing and violence are but sure signs that it is in its last leg as a prominent political outfit. Its protests against Rahul Gandhi died down in a whimper, and even though they threatened to cast a shadow of violence around the screening of MNIK, the film has gone on to open to full house audiences. Another blunder by Shiv Sena, which is ailing under the senile leadership of Bal Thackeray. Not only is the Shiv Sena devoid of any agenda which helps Mumbai or Maharashtra as a whole, it has brought embarrassment to itself by taking on national icons like Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani and now, SRK.

SRK, to be fair to him has found himself in the midst of unnecessary politics, which Shiv Sena claims to have had success at. SRK had made statements on NDTV that there was a problem about signing Pakistan players in IPL. And that he wanted to have Abdul Razzak in his Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL. Shiv Sena conveniently misconstrued his statements and branded SRK a traitor, and asked him to apologise, questioning SRK's intentions behind signing Pakistani players and his statement of Mumbai for All. SRK to his credit, stuck to his stand and insisted that no one should question his Indianness. He was even asked to go to Pakistan if he felt so strongly about his support for Pakistani players. SRK repeatedly held his ground and refused to tender an apology for something which he never alluded to as anti-Maharashtrian or anti-Indian.

While SRK has been strong and has won the hearts of millions of Indians, the Shiv Sena has further floundered and its demise seems all too imminent. Uddhav Thackeray looks more like an order taker from his father, Bal Thackeray and is devoid of any political know how. In all this peculiar drama, one eerie coincidence is noticeable. Karan Johar (KJo) has been involved in all the major Sena protests in the past six months. Beginning with the use of Bombay in Wake Up Sid which Raj Thackeray's Mentally Nil Sena (MNS) protested, then the Shiv Sena presenting sarees for Kareena for her dare bare in Kurbaan, both of which KJo produced. Now it's his own directorial MNIK under the Sena hammer. Is Karan Johar the silent marketer that the Sena badly wanted? Is Karan using the Sena to gain publicity for his films?

Amidst all this, the media has enabled and embraced this episode and lapped it all up. The media has tracked down what SRK tweets, what Shiv Sena retorts and given it all the coverage which KJo would have hoped for. What is astonishing is the kind of headlines this whole nonsensical issue has generated. Over a period of an entire week, SRK emerged as new age India's freedom fighter against Sena and its goons. The media kept praising SRK over television, and insisted to the audiences in the country that SRK is being hard done by, and the Sena is being over the top.

Now why does this issue need to make the top of the headlines day after day, is downright ridiculous. Important issues such as fuel hike, its impact on inflation, and even the upcoming budget has been sidelined. These are the issues which need media coverage and will influence decisions and inform citizens of what lies ahead. Utterly irresponsible coverage by the television media which is hungry for TRPs alone. The day isn't far away when sting operations by media are done inside the hospital ward of film stars to assess if their urinary trouble is still persisting. The reporter may then say - "As you can see from the sting operation we conducted, X (the star) still urinates in trickles. The drops fall down due to force of gravity, and each drop is less dense than the last time we did the sting operation. Up ahead, watch our live coverage about how X goes about morning defecation."

The positive outcome of all this farce has been Sena's complete rejection by almost the entire nation. With MNIK opening to packed theaters, the message is loud and clear. Holding a city hostage to prevent screening of a movie and creating violence is insane and unacceptable. The other observation has been the alacrity of the police establishment. If only Mumbai Police had acted with such co-ordination and alertness during 26/11. The attacks could have been atleast mitigated to an extent. SRK and KJo have achieved their objective, and walked away with laurels for MNIK. The Shiv Sena has yet again shot itself in the foot. The television media has walked away with TRPs, and held the entire Indian audience hostage to an issue which has neither thrown light on the upcoming budget, nor addressed inflationary trends.

Haagen-Dazs, Mistaken Cause

mbjesq — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:59:56 EST

Photo credit: Times of India

As I have written in a different context, Indians have a strange love of parsing insults from the innocuous -- or as in this case, the poorly thought-through. Particularly when the phantom effrontery seems to come from foreigners.

The latest uproar involves a newly opened Haagen-Dazs ice cream store, which had the bad judgment to fly the banner depicted above to announce its store opening. It reads:

PARTIED AT THE FRENCH RIVIERA? WELCOME.
Haagen-Dazs

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS

Access restricted only to holders of international passports.

The reaction began with a sketchily described post by Times of India writer and Chief Editor of Times Internet, Rajesh Kaira, on his TOI blog, Random Access. According to Mr. Kaira a pseudonymous "friend" of his was refused entry to this Haagen-Dazs store for failure to proffer an "international passport."

The story was repeated by the TOI as a regular news story. Both pieces carried the headline, "Sorry, Indians Not Allowed."

Since then, it has blanketed the blogs, generating breathless commentary. Feedback from readers has been overwhelmingly incensed and incendiary, even in response to the commendably even-handed post on Desicritics.

I don't get it. Sure, the banner was stupid beyond belief. But that's just it: who could read it and believe that it intended anything as sensible as an insult?

The promotion clearly meant to create cachet by equating the consumption of Haagen-Dazs with the romance and luxury of international travel. Was this ice cream seller determined to sell only to people who vacation in San Tropez? Of course not. To people who wish to sell us stuff, "exclusivity" means little more than "limited to anyone who will buy."

In Noida, that means Indians. It makes no sense to interpret "international" to mean "foreign" or "non-Indian". How many non-Indians are regularly hanging-out in the strip malls of the heinous suburban dystopia that is Noida? We can agree that the ham-handed promotion doesn't reflect a great deal of business sense in the first place, but was it really intended to exclude 100% of the store's potential customers?

True, the Times of India writer says his anonymous friend was excluded by the store manager (an Indian) for failure to present the so-called "international passport." Is this remotely credible? First, consider the source: TOI. Enough said. Second, doesn't this smack of, "I know a guy who knew a guy who..."? Third, what the hell is an "international passport"? The only thing I can think of is the United Nations Laissez-Passer, issued to employees of the UN and ILO.

The concluding line on the banner, "Access restricted only to holders of international passports" is, indeed, problematic. It is rather artless and seems takes the theme of "exclusivity" far too literally. But the clumsiness of the language also suggests that this was something generated locally and not by the marketing department of the American overlords. Leaving aside the inanity of the "international passport" requirement, what professional copy writer would follow the word "restricted" with the redundant word "only"? One in India, only.

Common sense suggests that (a) this was a dumb-ass promotional idea, (b) to foster the equally dumb-ass consumption of absurdly overpriced ice cream, (c) badly mishandled in the execution by some dumb-ass Indian ad agency, (d) on behalf of some dumb-ass decision-maker either at the franchisee or within the licensor's organization. The interesting issue is the last. Who was ultimately responsible for this idiocy? If there is insult to be found in this fiasco, was it a racist barb emanating from shameless foreigners?

I did a little investigation, calling first to Nestle, which owns the Haagen-Dazs brand, and then to the public relations office of General Mills, Inc., which owns the rights to all Haagen-Dazs franchise licensing outside of North America. The spokespeople at both companies stated that each store is an individual franchisee, with "independent responsibility and control of advertising and promotion." This doesn't necessarily mean, however, that General Mills didn't have a hand in the fiasco.

And which General Mills?

The next morning, I received an email from the director of Haagen-Dazs brand management at General Mills India Pvt. Ltd., Arindam Halder. Mr. Halder is the architect of brand management for Haagen-Dazs in India, and the man responsible for overseeing the opening of franchises like the one in Noida. His note offers some important details, which support my reading of the event as an ill-conceived marketing idea made even worse by incoherent manifestation:

There have been some reports on various online media alleging that the recently opened Häagen-Dazs shop in New Delhi, India, denied access to Indians. We vehemently and categorically deny this. Häagen-Dazs products and our Häagen-Dazs shop in India are and will always be for our consumers in India.
The recently opened Haagen-Dazs shop is open to one and all, and there’s no question of barring entry to anyone on any basis. The preview on Thursday, 10th December had a morning media event which was attended by journalists of repute from Indian media. The same evening we had a launch party for our friends and families, less than 5% of whom were foreigners. Also, during the mock training days at the shop leading up to 10th December, a lot of interest were generated and hundreds of walk ins were given samples of our ice cream. The store is now open to all public and seeing brisk business.

The poster in question was part of initial local store communication at a few locations within the same mall announcing the opening of the new Häagen-Dazs shop in the mall. The message was intended to suggest that you can enjoy, for instance, a taste of the French Riviera without traveling to France – by enjoying Häagen-Dazs. Unfortunately the reference to the international passport holder on the poster may have led to a significant miscommunication. This was completely unintended and we apologize for creating the misimpression that may have hurt our sentiments as Indians.

Regards,

Arindam Haldar
General Mills India

Clearly, there was no intent or attempt to exclude Indians; and we can all agree the brouhaha was the result of what Mr. Haldar euphemistically describes as a "significant miscommunication." But there are two very pregnant ambiguities in his statement. First, the "local store communication" language doesn't make clear who originated the promotional idea or created the banner, General Mills India (namely, him) or the franchisee. It simply says that the campaign was deployed locally, in the mall where the store was located. Second, the last line, in which Mr. Haldar says, on behalf of General Mills India, "[W]e apologize for creating the misimpression", suggests rather strongly that the banner came directly from General Mills India. It sounds very different than, say, "We regret that this misimpression occurred at a Haagen-Dazs franchise."

The concluding apology is also laugh-out-loud funny. So eager is Mr. Halder to self-identify as Indian, he essentially begs forgiveness for an Indian company having offended itself.

What conclusions can we draw from all this?

I think we can agree that there is no evil foreign hand in this story, no American or European racist out to mistreat Indians in their own country or determined to slight them. Indeed, Mr. Kaira of TOI got it exactly right (in his original essay, not the subsequent, abbreviated news item), even if he failed to look at the contribution of the licensor:

Whatever it is, it is idiotic. I checked later and found that the franchisee is an Indian company based in Delhi and the man incharge [sic] is also an Indian. I have often maintained that we ourselves are our biggest enemies. Our mentality is that of slaves and we think anything is good only if its approved by foreigners, or the “holders of international passport”. This is all about how India and Indians see themselves. Foreigners have nothing to do with it.

I don't necessarily fault the bloggers fanning the flames of this supposed outrage for failing to take the 15 minutes Mr. Kaira and I did to pick up the phone and get the facts. It is slightly disappointing, however, that the online commentators have almost uniformly ignored the obvious lack of malicious intent behind the fucked-up promotion. And there is yet deeper culpability in repeating only the tastiest, most shocking morsels of this story, in complete disregard of the basic fact that the errors in judgment were made not by foreigners, but by Indians -- even though this was reported and thoughtfully analyzed in Mr. Kaira's original story. This episode presents a cautionary study of how untrustworthy and manipulable online information can become as true journalism cedes way to what passes for "citizen journalism" in the blog world. It is always tempting to tell the story, not according to the facts, but according to the sermon one wishes to preach. The art is to tell a morally compelling story within the bounds of the evidence.

To her credit, and as we would expect, Deepti Lamba's Desicritics essay tells the full story -- as it was revealed in the original TOI piece -- and doesn't shy away from noting Indian responsibility for both the debacle itself and the underlying attitudes which engendered it. Yet, even Dee reaches the abrupt and slightly ambiguous conclusion that "racist brands" should be chased from India. Brands aren't ethical agents. People and corporations are. And those at the heart of this story were Indian. Perhaps Dee's intended plea is to abolish self-loathing; but somehow the anti-foreign implication creeps through.

There will be some, of course, bitterly disappointed that there is no longer a foreign scapegoat by whom to feel insulted; but they will have no difficulty transferring their ire to me for pointing this out. And it will feel just as good, since I am a foreigner.

If Indians want to salvage some national pride from the situation, they can always take encouragement from the fact this crazy promotion could happen in Mother India, but could never have occurred in the United States. After all, most Americans don't have a passport and have not heard of France.

The Times of India - Not For You and Me?

Aditya Kumar — Wed, 4 Nov 2009 08:12:36 EST

The Times of India's website carries a report on how the late Andhra CM, YSR Reddy met a sudden death on his Bell chopper. With the report, it also carries a picture of the body of the CM, that was found by the search party more than 24 hours of the disappearance. The picture is probably the most horrifying picture I have ever seen on any leading media house's website. Charred remains of the body of a man beyond visual recognition are out there for full view. A link below invites you to see more pictures. Its gory enough to make the average human being feel sick and maybe puke out.

As I write this, below the link and the story are about 37 comments posted by people like you and me. Out of these 37, at least 26 people have condemned or requested (or both) the TOI editors to remove the picture of the corpse as it defies sensitivities and sensibilities. The comments section is moderated by someone at TOI, surely not someone like you and me -- for moderation means that the comments are read. And since the picture is still there after 24 hours of the story, it probably means that someone at TOI does not give a damn.

But yes, the story features in the "Most commented" section of the website.

I think responsible organizations and media houses draw their own lines in reporting and journalism. Ideally, I think every single word and picture that goes into the website should pass through the same filtering that is applied to its counterpart in the print media. I raise up this point because the same article in print, in yesterday's TOI's copy does not carry this gory picture. Clearly, the filtering mechanism, if it ever existed for Times Of India's website, failed here. And since the forum below the article at the website is moderated, it would be a safe assumption that the comments of the readers were read but those guys at the TOI chose to discard them. It is dangerous -- a newspaper is supposed to be for the people. Is this newspaper run by insensitive incompetents?

Among all things, it baffles me what TOI achieved by letting this picture be a part of their online article. Does a degree of real life horror and vulgarity help them getting more hits? And more comments? Even if the comments are nothing but a collective condemnation of the report?

Media - Praise Only After Death

Golden Boy — Thu, 3 Sep 2009 12:04:13 EDT

Now that Dr.YSR Reddy has passed away, every TV news channel has decided to focus on his life story. We will now be told by the media, his relatives, and other politicians (of even the opposition parties) of how he struggled his way up the ladder of success in his lifetime, accomplished outstanding feats for the common man etc However all this would now be done, posthumously.

Till yesterday I, a common man in Mumbai, did not know much about this Personality. Now that he is dead, the Media - TV and Newspapers, and people who knew him will see to it that I read or hear about him, as they would sing kirtans and of him.

Suddenly, an entire day of a Country will be dedicated to him, schools and colleges will remain closed in different States and flags will fly half-mast.

-x-x-x-

In India, we celebrate the goodness of a person only after his death!

Dr.YSR Reddy achieved in his death all the airtime-coverage that in his lifetime he could never have even dreamt of.

Why do we get to hear of a person’s accomplishments and good words about him, only after his death?

The Media gives coverage to a Politician, a bureaucrat or a police officer only when it is time to point an accusing finger at the person.

No wonder then that we have no ‘Ideal’ in the Political circles for our kids.

What we hear from the Media is NEWS of Corruption, rape, violence, treachery, scandals! Acts of piousness and virtue are either looked upon with suspicion if given coverage, or do not receive coverage at all.

These are the signs of a growingly suspicious attitude in our Society.

-x-x-x-

Turn on any TV NEWS channel in the morning and chances are that you will feel sick in the stomach with the kind of negative NEWS that is served these days!

Yoga instructors advice us not to start the day by reading Newspapers or by tuning in to the TV NEWS channels early morning. For if you do, you will be served with a picture of the world that is gory, of people who are out there to get you!

We as a Society are becoming so intellectualized and so utterly disconnected with our hearts that we can no longer view anyone or anything without suspicion.

We need the Media: the Newspapers, blogs, writers, and newsreaders to reinforce on our minds time and again how bad are the people and the politicians, communities and their history, the streets or some country.

Kids grow up in this hostile environment digesting all the negativity, telling themselves that everything is a mess. They either turn into a rebel or turn totally selfish with no thought for the other and no love for one’s neighbour, in an over competitive world where “everyone and everything is so BAD”

No wonder then that modern diseases like Diabetes, hypertension, skin-diseases, cancer, heart diseases, and mental disorders are all stress-related diseases. We have lost sight of the world as a beautiful place.

-x-x-x-

In all this if one were to ask objectively what keeps this Fear and Suspicion alive amidst ourselves, we will see how all the Negative conditioning of our minds via the Media, have led us into an in-bred distrust of other people and the society; we will see how suspicion has become a tool for us to keep ourselves on our toes all the time in a “ big bad world”. We would rather trust a bad opinion about somebody, some community or somebody’s history than trusting a good opinion. Fear breeds fear, and makes us feel well-prepared.

The Solution:

I believe that there are many instances of generosity, heroism, humanity and love from the past and the present that never finds its way into the NEWS bulletins. If these were to be a given a fair amount of coverage, that in itself will be a great triumph for humanity and a revolution in our attitude as a people.

There are many NEWS out there that can nourish the hearts and minds of the new generation, heal the scars from the minds of the old generation and bring out the goodness that still remains in the world.

In balancing between the Positive and the Negative, the Nourishing and the Dejecting, can true Journalism really serve (and perhaps save) society!

Forgive Kasab! Hate his Sin, Not the Sinner!

Golden Boy — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:57:05 EDT

There was a special news documentary on the Five faces of Kasab.

The first three have already been disclosed: “Dhokebaaz”, “Makkaar”, and “Shaatir”.

People, who work 9-6, have a family to raise, and watch cricket or News like this, in the evening, have never thought what goes on in the mind of a person on the death row!

Why is it so difficult for us to accept that this 20+ something guy from Pakistan who was involved in the murder of hundreds can have guilt and a change of heart too?

Don’t we have different faces? At times we are holy angels and saints and the other times, which we normally wouldn’t want to see or show, we are monsters!

So what is the problem in accepting that Kasab can have a human face too?

Isn’t it possible that after more than 200 days in the closed walls of a prison, the truth is finally dawning on this chap beyond the conditioning of his 'Aakas' in Pakistan in the training camps?

Truth always triumphs! But for it to triumph do we need to repay Kasab with blood? Can’t we allow truth to triumph (dawn) in his heart, let him understand the heinous crime he has done, which no God – call it Ishwar, Allah, or God can forgive.

But punishment is not always Death, na? There is always a 3rd option, to let him live, to forgive him but punish him with a life behind bars, for him to repent and find salvation!

Let India, as befits her Culture and Tradition, set an example!

Gwalior Politics and Conspiracies

Amitabh Mitra — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:22:37 EDT

Many years back I had written to Anand Sharmaji asking him if there is a remote possibility of me getting a Congress nomination for the Gwalior Lok Sabha Polls. I had told him in no uncertain terms that I lack financial clout in spite of the people of rural and urban Gwalior loving me.

Anand Sharmaji was a leader of the Youth Congress during those days. It was an abrupt question to which he had no answer, other than asking me to spend more time in Delhi.

Is it possible for an ordinary Indian like me to have dreams of being a part of the August body, the Indian Parliament?

I belong to the town of Gwalior, a ramshackle old place with heritage and honour which I proudly share with its entire people.

The auto driver tells me in chaste bad land Hindi ‘Doctorji. Please don’t come back to Gwalior, because it is painful for all of us when you leave’ In typical Hindi / Urdu mixed dialect he adds that I give urticaria (Khujli) to everybody here, the journalists, doctors, engineers and politicians. We keep on scratching even after you have gone. This would not happen if I settle down permanently back in Gwalior.

The palace in the middle of the town has kept the common man in awe for centuries and in the 60th year of independence, palace politics dominates the Lok Sabha elections also.

A Member of Parliament who brought shame to the people of Gwalior is Ram Sevak Singh of Congress,Gwalior MP in the Lok Sabha . He was caught on camera accepting 50,000 rupees for asking five questions in the Parliament. The sting operation rolled by the news channel Aaj Tak caught 11 MPs taking bribes representing different political parties. Ram Sevak Singh, a virtually unknown face in Gwalior was pushed up suddenly by the Congress I and given a parliamentary seat. It is a well known fact that parliamentary seats are given and not won. The Congress had to remove him from his primary membership as a face saving gesture.

Yashodhara Raje Scindia of the BJP was declared elected to the Gwalior Lok Sabha seat. She defeated her nearest Congress rival Ashok Singh by over 35,000 votes. The misfortune is that Yashodhara Raje never belonged to Gwalior.

Yashodhara Raje Scindia, a fabled billionaire in her own right was pitted in a 24-candidate contest. Businessman Ashok Singh also a millionaire and owner of prime properties in Gwalior of the Congress was her main rival.

Besides 18 independents, Mr Munnalal Goyal of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party nominee Kedar Singh Vidhuri and Lok Janshakti Party's Phool Singh Baraiya were also in the fray.

Dreaded dacoit Rambabu Gadaria's sister Ramshri Baghel was also in the fray as Rashtriya Samanata Dal nominee.

About 14 lakh people exercised their franchise in 1470 polling stations on March 8. The votes were counted on March 11.

In the faction-ridden Congress in Madhya Pradesh, political compulsions forced Jyotiraditya to campaign for party nominee Ashok Singh, who is considered close to AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh.

For the foreign-educated Yashodhara, her elder sister and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had taken over the campaigning reminding the electorate about the contributions of the late Rajmata.

Late Rajmata (Cong) and Vajpayee (Jan Sangh) were earlier elected from Gwalior in 1962 and 1971 respectively. The late Madhavrao Scindia represented the constituency in 1984, 1989 and 1991.

In 1996, the BJP had not fielded its candidate to facilitate the victory of Madhavrao, who was in the fray as a candidate of Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress after the Congress denied him a ticket along with other hawala-tainted dreaded dacoit Rambabu Gadaria's sister Ramshri Baghel who was also in the fray as Rashtriya Samanata Dal nominated leader.

Yashodhara Raje Scindia of the BJP got 252314 votes and was declared elected to the fifteenth Lok Sabha. Ashok Singh of the Congress I got 225723 votes and was defeated again.

So why did the Congress high command give Ashok Singh a seat in spite of losing in the previous elections?

The parliamentary seat always went to obscure people who obviously have used their financial clout to get a seat allotted for them. M.J. Akbar, a former Member of Parliament and a well known literary figure has confessed in his blog about the vast amount of money which each contesting member spends to retain the constituency

Jaswant Singh has won from Darjeeling. Like Yashodhara Raje of Gwalior, he doesn’t have any connection with Darjeeling. I had met a Punjabi journalist in Bhutan during 1985 who revealed that he is a Member of Parliament of Darjeeling. I couldn’t stop my laughter when he couldn’t reply me in Nepali.

I believe that I can speak better Nepali and have a better understanding of the Nepali psyche of the Gorkhaland areas than Jaswant Singhji.

Jaswant Singhji also knows that a separate Gorkhaland state is just a dream. He is playing a dangerous game with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and the aspirations of people there.

Rahul Gandhi, I believe had a dream of bringing professionals to the forefront of politics irrespective of their financial status or family background.

Let me see if such things happen in the distant politics of India.

Also Read: Faces from Gwalior

I'm a Blogger - Can I Has Money?

rads — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:16:34 EDT

I miss the times when I used to be able to spend time with the paper and my morning coffee. Sipping the 2nd cup of the day, I'd sit back after the home emptied itself and comb through it in a serene cloud of silence. Turning the pages, occasionally pausing to savor the language, and then at times brushing past the jargon not making much sense of it, but marveling at the sheer genius of being able to string words without saying a thing, was, indeed a luxury. Something that perhaps few folks who have the luxury of sitting back home and doing "nothing" while the rest let the clock dictate them can relate to.

Sipping my evening tea, I picked up the Post magazine (which I incidentally think can produce some fine gems despite being overshadowed by its parent) and I turned to the "spot the difference" pages wishing that the husband did'nt beat me to it. He did, and I tried finding the last difference that he could'nt, and of course gave up. The man is brilliant when it comes to picking up nuances in a visual form and I stop there. I then flipped it back to the column - Below the Beltway - Gene's weekly.

Almost always filled with subtle humor on everyday annoyances and peeves to DC's political circus that surrounds us in the area, the man never fails to bring out a chuckle and at times, even a guffaw in us. It helps even more when such beauts can be shared by more, and these days my older two have chimed in to lend their take, twist and add-on to Gene's words.

Last evening, I snorted a hefty dose of some strong ginger tea up my nose as I read these lines. (and if you thought that helped clear my sinuses, it so didn't. Just very messy, I assure you, in case someone decides to try it.)

The point I am trying to make is that it is very, very difficult to get a book published, which is why I am dismayed by a hot new phenomenon in the publishing industry: People who cannot write are getting fat book contracts for work they didn't do. I'm talking about certain kinds of bloggers: people who run Web sites that subsist on things like reader-submitted snapshots of dogs in stupid outfits or photos of big plates of greasy food. The publishers are paying these bloggers for this "content," which they then turn into paperbacks.

I digress just a bit to allow for my own take of what I see:

In recent times, there's been a spate of bloggers bagging book contracts and they've been looked upon with wonder, amazement and awe within our blogging community. It seemed the cool thing to do once you have enough readers subscribed to your blog. Look closely and most were arts majors, journalists, creative poets, copywriters or ones who at least grew themselves to belong to one of those categories. They are indeed a marvel and I admire the grit for following through dreams.

Then again, the phenomena of writing and garnering an audience (for publishing purposes) is not entirely about writing as I quite naively imagined until recently. It's quite like how one climbs the ladder of success everywhere else. Though can't imagine why I thought writing was above it all! It's not so much of what you know as who you know. You'd think with a creative avenue like writing, the most successful and cash-able are the ones who are well, creative. Who let their ideas, words, content and style be so inimitable and un-cookie-cutter-like that people would want to pay to read them.

After reading a few bad books that I refuse to review apart from expending the minimum energy one can, I am led to believe as a sad inference that I am indeed woefully right!

I think this trend is a bad idea. But how do you fight an idea? Maybe you don't. Maybe you just decide to cash in on it yourself.

If Gene decides to join the crowd for the most ridiculous book ideas, who am I to contend?

Let's see now: read Chetan Bhagat? Writers like him ought be applauded to give hope and faith to all aspiring writers. The ones that enjoy the words, the play, the fluidity and the unique visual art that gets created within each reader's head. That is what an art form is, in my humble opinion. A medium, where the artist provides the freedom for the recipients to take it and make it their own by how it speaks to one is inherently slightly different than the other.

Here's the: Me want book kontract, too. - The column by the inimitable Gene Weingarten's in May 17th Washington Post.

Movie Review: Oliver Stone's W.: An Unexpected Bush Biopic

Aditi Nadkarni — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:35:20 EDT

When I first saw trailers of W. I expected to see a hysterical and comedic reproduction of Dubya Bush's antics. I mentally prepared myself to see some similarities with Will Ferrel's SNL Bush and wondered in anticipation if it would have the famous Bushisms, all the numerous goof-ups and faux-pas recreated. I was in for quite a surprise. W. has none of these elements. It is a biographical account that is funny only if one finds humor in the fact that a guy who, at least in Stone's depiction, seemed like an every day alcoholic loser was elected a leader of the free world and had access to the nuclear codes. You can either chuckle or grimace at the enormity and futility of the war he led a nation into. W. is a film that makes one wonder if democracy is a tool of history, just a means to chronicle the kind of people we choose to lead us and and in George W. Bush's case an opportunity for history to record that this bitter joke was by the people, for the people and on the people.

It is truly difficult to see George W. Bush as a president of anything, much less a superpower. I mean this with no malice toward the man but it really is. I have watched him stutter through several speeches, make a complete ass of himself, provide free material for Comedy Central, commit social and political blunders and now I just cannot imagine him as a leader of anything. I think that the only reason he got away with leading a country into an unnecessary war is because the rest of his antics appealed to people's sense of humor and we all just learned to dismiss his colossal blunders as "Ah, is Dubya at it again? What did he do this time?". Jon Stewart put it well when he said, W. should not have been president, he should have been a mascot for the United States. Oliver Stone gently reminds us of the anger we were supposed to feel that got lost in our uncomfortable laughter.

It is a daunting task for a director to put together a film that provides some insight into the psyche of a man whom people have already judged and learned to dismiss. Stone manages to actually give us glimpses of the former president's life before the presidential years and events that may have resulted in his actions. These glimpses, mind you, don't justify any of the craziness of the Bush years but provide an almost neutral, by-stander like slideshow of all the episodes that from the director's point of view matter toward the outcome of this presidency. Towards the end, I was laughing but not in amusement. I was laughing in sheer incredulity and not at Bush but at the people who supported him and also at those that had to scaffold his place in history so their own would not collapse.

The choice of the cast was interesting. Josh Brolin as President Bush is less farcical than the real man himself and it is his restrained delivery of the role that turns the film from comedy to biography. In the public eye Vice President Cheney and his actions have been widely discussed, criticized, ridiculed and even defended by some, but the man is so covert in countenance that his thought process seems almost unfathomable. And hence in my opinion, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney was more than convincing. He was the Cheney of our imaginations.

Dubya's "Born again" religious status, his struggle with alcoholism, his relationship with his father, his sibling rivalry with Jeb Bush and the dynamic among members of the Bush administration were aspects of the former president's life that we never really gave much thought to in evaluating his judgment and intelligence during the presidency. We never, as part of a world with its eyes on a presidency, wondered what drove him into committing such public follies or what factors fueled the cronism of those years. Oddly enough despite his lack of action in response to Hurricane Katrina, he never struck me as an evil human being who wanted his actions to cause the political or economic devastation that they ultimately have in recent years. He mostly came across as funny and lost but never as sinister and scheming as his vice-president. W. always seemed like he was just this jolly guy who was filling in for the real president but was generally clueless about what the job involved; there was a part of us that felt sorry for him as we watched him stutter through press conferences and look like a deer caught in the headlights every time a tough question about the war came his way.

Stone takes us into that man's world, the world on the other side of the press conferences, into his office, his meetings and even into his home. There are some dull patches within the film as with any biography of a political figure. I did wonder if those patches were in the perception of the audience because we come in expecting to see either a wildly comedic entertainer about George W. Bush or an openly incriminatory biographical account of a man the world loves to deride.

Kudos to Stone for incorporating into a biography his own perspective. For it is challenging, I believe, to provide a personal perspective of a life so publicly scrutinized. It may not be a historically accurate account since none of us will ever know what went on behind the closed doors of the Oval Office but it sure is a unique one that in the most fascinating manner has the ability to engage Bush detractors and supporters alike.

Sophistry in Indian Media

Sujai — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:48:23 EDT

Nietzsche said, ‘There are no facts; only interpretations’.

This is so true with the newspaper Times of India (TOI). For over three months they ran extensive Lead India Campaign urging and exhorting urban voters of Bangalore to come out and yet. Few days before elections, they even predicted a dramatic increase in the voter turnout because of their campaign. Voting took place yesterday in Bangalore and the voting turnout was not impressive

Bangalore recorded a ‘feeble 50%’ turnout. According to the Times of India,

The 50% average for the four Bangalore constituencies is lower than the 54% recorded in the last Lok Sabha polls before delimitation.

So, in reality, after the intensive campaigning we saw the turnout decrease by 4% from the last Lok Sabha elections. As again, the rural Bangalore compensated for urban Bangalore. Bangalore Rural posted 60% turnout while Bangalore North and Bangalore Central posted only 45% turnout.

However, that did not stop TOI from making the following claim. Their patted themselves on their back, with the first-page lead-news story, claiming:

Call it the impact of the aggressive ‘go-vote’ campaign by various citizen groups or the sheer need to take charge of their destiny, Bangalore saw a 6% higher voter turnout…

‘What?’ you may think. ‘What sheer nonsense!’ you may say. How could TOI twist the facts around to suit their agenda you may ask! For that you have to read what Nietzsche said once again – no facts, only interpretations, and of late TOI has become very good at it. The next sentence tells you how they use the facts to promote their agenda.

…as compared to 2008 assembly polls.

You see – though the Lok Sabha turnout has actually decreased from 54% to 50%, TOI conveniently compared Lok Sabha turnout with Assembly poll turnout to prove that their campaign achieved success. Most often, the dynamics for Lok Sabha polls and Assembly polls are quite different, and that’s why the pundits keep the comparison separate.

Indian Media, and the Times of India, have mastered the art of sophistry, and their incessant campaigns on every issue are only becoming annoying – but my fear is that it will soon become the biggest propaganda machine, worse than Indian politicians, capable of brainwashing its readers to promote its vested interests and ideology.