CARTOONS AND ALL THAT

In sharp contrast to the popular perception that an average foreigner anywhere in the world identifies India with its huge consumer market, India is identified more as a land of Raj Kapoors fantasies and Satyajit Ray realities, that of Uday Shankar’s ballets and Ustad Zakir Hussain out of the world percussions, that of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s literary works and M. F. Hussain’s paintings. Hard to believe but very true! Any society is known more by the creative works that are produced in it and the kind and degrees of freedoms that its creative fraternity enjoys rather than its per capita income. Let’s not be surprised if the west wakes up tomorrow laughing its guts out to a Government slapping charges of Sedition on a 24 year old cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who chose to depict the sorry state of affairs, the rampant corruption through his caricatures and then gets serious about the state of human rights in India with Binayak Sen wound still fresh and the US, China and UK consistently opposing India’s permanent membership to the UN security council sighting the alleged human rights violations in the Kashmir valley. So it is evident that either the people charging Aseem Trivedi with sedition absolutely ignorant of what they are playing with or it is yet another instance of its high handedness. Agreed that no one must fiddle with the national flag and the national emblem or ation anthem or national song but then we have had people creating havoc over a biography of late Mrs Indira Gandhi by Katherine Frank or Pradeep Dalvi’s ‘ Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy’ or demanding a caricature of Dr Ambedkar being dropped from an educational book and I guess they are not national nmblems! The point being made here is that its not about nationalism as being touted its about fascist shades showing up in democratic set ups. While we use or should I say misuse the article 124 to send a strong message to those associating with the IAC ( India Against Corruption) in any way, we have cleverly abstained from seeking legal interventions while dealing with things that certain sections or should we say selected sections of society found objectionable! Isnt this hypocrisy and high handeness rolled into one big dough of fascism? Isn’t this a mockery of democracy and liberal ideologue? And if it is so should we let a bunch of people to indulge in this carrot and stick game?

Undoubtedly distorting national emblem to get ones message through isn’t a pleasant thing but then I guess it is the scams like the Common Wealth Games Scam that saw Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi, the President of Indian Olympic Committee (IOC), incarcerated that are much more unpleasant and embarrassing tarnishing India’s image internationally and robs it of its dignity lowering its esteem! A woman constable being assaulted and kicked and battered to no end by men in a ruling partys rally in Odisha recently is I guess much more shameful and much more heinous . And thinking that it comes from a ruling party which has a woman heading its alliance, chosen a woman to the speaker’s post and yet unapologetic of the developments in Odisha is much more insulting and humiliating for the tri-colour and the Constitution than a caricature! It wasn’t long back that an aspiring model draped herself in the tri colour sensuously and got herself assaulted for the same just to rake in free publicity! Did we slap her with sedition and if not why ? and if not her why Aseem Trivedi? If the model was using the tri-colour draped around her waist to get her message through so was this cartoonist who was trying to get her message through usage of the national emblem instead of the national flag! Then what about the places in the Indian Republic where even the Indian Government hesitates to hoist a tricolour even on the Independence day! What about the Azad Maidan episode on 11^th August 2012 ? Wasn’t there a National Emblem carved on the monument dedicated to the Amar Jawans? So did we slap Sedition charges against the people who vandalised it? Did we slap sedition charges against a popular Bollywood comedian who poked fun at the National Anthem of India at an underworld party in Dubai? Was he slapped with sedition charges then? What about a certain fundamentalist section of Muslim society refusing to salute the tricolour and pay respects to the national anthem claiming it to be un-Islamic and Imams threatening of the dire consequences if the same is thrust on them? This inspite of the fact that no other Muslims in the entire world find any thing unIslamic about singing their national anthems , or saluting their national flags or personifying and saluting their motherland! Have we slapped sedition charges on them?If no then why now? Havent we become increasingly intolerant ? Havent we become a bad sport by not taking the constructive criticism in our stride?

To wind it up on a lighter note - a journalist friend of mine wrote to me from New York that he was worried about this mother who stays in India being slapped with charges of sedition thanks to her fasting habit in the view of Anna Hazare’s agitation! Today I am planning to retort that my worries are worse – my son all of six loves to draw caricatures but it was just yesterday that he gave me jitters by drawing a caricature named Gandhiji that looked funny and pasted it on the door – enough reason to give me sleepless nights and even seriously considering going outstation to avoid being jailed!!

• Bhushan Sarmalkar.

NEWS – HOW DOES IT AFFECT OUR SOCIETY.

The Concept Of News :

Majority of the earths surface is covered by water bodies like rivers, lakes, oceans and icebergs. Although water is the essential component of all these water bodies, a sample taken from each of these water bodies is very likely to differ from the other at least marginally if not substantially, in terms of salinity, pH factor, mineral and organic content and hence more or less represents the composition of the parent body. Similarly, although human beings have inhabited earth for thousands of years from the poles to the equator, from inhospitable deserts to the dense equatorial rain forests evolving cultures and customs unique to that particular region, a simple event like marriage is likely to differ greatly from culture to culture not only in terms of rituals but even in terms of relevant attitudes and trends prevalent in that society at that time. Therefore every event providing a variety of information about a society has a variable potential to be 'news'. News therefore is like a 'probe' ( an instrument used to derive samples ) which provides a sample of the society revealing different dimensions or aspects of a society or in simpler words composition of the parent body.

What do news mean? :

News means different things to different people. For an aboriginal or primitive society like 'Bushmen' information of forest fires is news as is new developments in irrigation techniques is news for rural agriculturists or change in sensex figures for an average urbanite. A news of interest to a rural agriculturists may not be interesting at all for a tribal or an urban person. However, the same news can be made to have an universal appeal of varying magnitude. Every news is multidimensional and the number of dimensions to a particular news is a subjective matter, with one of the dimensions of every news occupying the center stage and determining the magnitude or the reach of the appeal. Here the role of a news reporter becomes vital from the point of view that what dimension or aspect of a story he puts on the center stage thereby determining the appeal of the news. Let us here consider an example of a news of decrease in the population of an aboriginal tribe like Andamanese considered to be genetically very unique and an important link in evolution of human beings. This news is of limited appeal restricted to a few people with interests in science. However, the same news could be made much more appealing if its other dimensions like poverty, illiteracy and high infant mortality, continuous exposure to elements and poor health facilities are given center stage supported by the dimension of the genetic uniqueness of the tribe which will make the news more appealing and at the same time informative for those ignorant or ill informed about these facts.

Role of News :

News have played a vital role in evolving the present day sophisticated smooth even edged human being from what it was a coarse uneven edged primitive human being. Primitive man mastered the skill of predicting possibility of natural disasters ( news) and tackling it, located zones vulnerable to elements (news) and mastered the ( news of ) periodic changes in his environment to emerge from his primitive life style to evolve human settlements. Identifying the deficiencies in the newly evolved life style and a constant search to tap the possibilities to fill those voids, possibilities of exchanges (news) with other settlements at every level were explored and thus trade was evolved which played a vital role in metamorphosis of villages into towns and finally into cities. This process was greatly fueled by news and needless to say it was certainly a very slow and gradual process which took years and is still going on. Hence the canvas on which the concept of news is being discussed is certainly a vast one and the concept of news itself underwent a great deal of change while it triggered changes in various aspects of human life both at individual as well as social levels.

The most important role of news so far in evolution of modern day human being is to rein some remnant animal instincts in human beings by laying down rules and regulations to guide them and imposing penalties and these were either inspired by achievements of some other group (news) or served as a source of inspiration to others (news). A constant probe into effectiveness of such guidelines in practice led to the evolution of better and effective systems. Hence news play two important roles

A.) Provides a matter for critical self analysis/self assessment : News acts as a reflection of a society serving as a matter for ones own self assessment or critical analysis.

B.) Provides a source of information : News act as source of information about a particular society or set up to others.

The role of news in present and future can never be underestimated as possibilities of betterment of different aspects of human life are ever expanding and news not only presents these possibilities but also provides an analysis of the same in form of anti and pro views.

Role of news in social context : In the social context news have undoubtedly played an unparalleled role in effectively voicing the concerns of environment activists like Suderlal Bahuguna and human rights activists like Medha Patkar, both Ramon Magsaysay award winners. The role of news in popularising the thoughts of Rajaram Mohan Roy, Mahatma Phule and Maharishi Karve can seldom be overlooked. The public outcry which forced the executive and legislative to review the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshani Mattoo case and book the culprits are shining examples as to how news played a vital role in forcing purposefully derailed executive machinery back into action, thereby reviving the faith of many who had lost faith in it.

Role of news in economical context : In the economic context news of progress made by countries belonging to South East Asian group made India review their economic policies and this eventually led to the country taking a U turn by liberalising its economy in1992 thereby greatly reducing unemployment, providing relief to the middle and lower classes in terms of the prices, quality as well as range of choice.

Role of news in national context : The role of news in spreading and gathering momentum of the 1857 War of Independence inspite of poor means of communications is one of the best examples of what role news can play in society. News has played a vital role in keeping the North Eastern States of India connected with the rest of India.

Role of news in the international context :On the international front the power of news that forced President Nixon to resign over Water Gate Scandal or exposed the tall claims of President Jimmy Carter to be hollow in case of Vietnam War and eventually causing embarrassment to US by forcing it to withdraw from war under public pressure thereby assigning it a humiliating defeat at the hands of a small nation can seldom be overlooked. India winning freedom in 1947 itself was a great news which inspired other freedom movements worldwide especially in Asia and Africa and by1965 majority of these nations had won freedom. News of civil war in Somalia, military rule in Haiti, called for UN intervention which restored peace.

Role of News in the future :

Progress is a continuous and never ending process and new inventions and discoveries provide effective solutions to meet new challenges and for betterment of human beings. In last decades India has seen an increase in number of cases being registered against people for treating animals unethically. Probably, the number of crimes done against animals in past exceeded both in terms of number and gravity however they were never reported probably because people then never considered them as crime or people were ill informed about concept as animal rights. However the news of animal rights conditions in countries as USA made people think and act on those lines and the day when it becomes widely accepted fact is not too far. Same can be said about issues like domestic violence, consensual sex in married life, and sexual harassment at work places. Probably these issues never figured on the Indian radar – why so, it still doesn't figure on the rural Indian radar – till cases like Kishwar Ahluwalia made every one review the entire scenario of womens rights and the crimes committed against them daily in broad daylight. The limitations of Judiciary and Executive to intervene in such matter called for recognising these vices as crimes which acted as precautionary measure and greatly reduced the number of such crimes. This has added yet another feather in the cap of democracy in terms of effectiveness to guarantee and deliver justice. It may also be recalled that even a news from a small nation like Bangladesh underlining the need to form an all party caretaker government at center before the polls to ensure free an fair polls can inspire larger democracies like India.

Internationally the news of human rights violation in Myanmar led to global protests calling for restoration of democracy in Myanmar and it was this recognition which earned Aung San Su Kyi her Noble Prize for peace. Similarly, with extremely stringent laws and harsh penalties for crimes as child abuse and prostitution in some vigilant countries the pedophiles often turn their attention to poorer nations like Thailand where it is easier to find vulnerable targets and this is coupled with widespread corruption which guarantees the escape of the culprits in face of any resistance. News acts as a check on such crimes keeping the masses informed about movements and activities of such people. News also keeps secret illegal trades banned by law like narcotics and prostitution and human trafficking under a check Back home the recent genocide in Nandigram at hands of Communist Party of India (Marxist) has evoked an univocal protests from artists, politicians and bureaucrats alike. The role of news to deliver justice when it is denied as in Jessica Lal and Priyadarshini Mattoo case when both executive and judiciary failed to deliver cannot be overlooked. A recent news feature on pathetic working conditions of sewers in Pune's Civic body not only attracted the attention of social welfare minister Meera Kumar who called for immediate action on part of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh bringing some relief to the sewers who were otherwise dying an unsung and untimely death due to professional hazards without any insurance covers.

With so many social issues as child labour, child prostitution and human trafficking to religious issues as fanaticism to global ones like global warming and political like human rights still not fully addressed the role of news to keep the people informed about their importance certainly cannot be ruled out.

An Adieu to Mrinal Gore

Veteran Socialist leader Mrinal Gore passed away last week. A devoted social activist turned politician who remained glued to her activism even at the pinnacle of her political career, she was a rare breed of politicians supposedly extinct as per the views expressed by many observers. For someone whose socio-political innings spanned five decades or half the century and saw her meteoric rise from being being elected to Panchayat to Municipal corporation to leader of opposition in the states legislative assembly that saw her pulling down a Chief Minister (A. R. Antulay) or laying a scathing attack on the Sharad Pawar Government for the policies it adopted to being elected to the Lok Sabha and finally calling it a day at 60 where-after she turned down a cabinet berth offered by the V. P. Singh Government, it would be least surprising then that the very same politicians she so bitterly criticized or gave jitters with her calls for peaceful demonstrations should felicitate her a few yeas back. Sharad Pawar remarked respectfully that it would be difficult to have someone with the kind of devotion, understanding and character that Mrinal Gore had in present day politics while Bal Thackeray whom she so bitterly criticized for his brand of communal politics remembered her as 'the lady who ruled the battlefield' but like Sharad Pawar he too believed that she was the last of the selflessly devoted and importantly clean politicians. In other words they both agreed that there would be no other Mrinal Gore !

I wondered why? Why should our politics be bereft of selflessly devoted clean politicians? Why have we come to believe that activists can no longer have any place in politics and factually speaking why should the political parties be reluctant to admit activists or why should politics be the last arena that an acticvist or a selfless person should think of entering? Is it the reason why the common man has increasing been unable to relate himself with the present day politics ? In any case, I guess if anyone is to be blamed for this pathetic scenario wherein a democratic sysem is slowly but surely mutating into an ugly system that seems more oligarchic than democratic, it is we the people – the common man! The very fact that the cremation of an activist like Mrinal Gore, with full State honour's was not covered by the electronic media too obsessed with reporting the demise of Rajesh Khanna and the pre- funeral procession, without a squeak of protest from any quarters, speaks volumes of the priorities of the common man today!

Bhushan Sarmalkar (JAI - Just Another Indian)

Mumbai 24th July 2012.

Child Abuse And You

Last two years have been very depressing. Depressing for me and the likes of me who are news freaks . Courtesy - the frequency with which the cases of kidnapping, sodomising, molesting, raping and worse brutal murders of minors were reported and kept surfacing and resurfacing in the daily news. Hardly had the serial kidnappings and subsequent rapes and murders of minors in Kurla ceased than another spate of similar happening surfaced recently in South Mumbai. In between news of a minor being kidnapped, raped and clobbered to death amidst Ganpati Immersions and several such tragic news kept pouring from all over and importantly from all sections of society and then gradually melted away. More disturbing than the news was the indifference of those in power and the general public towards these incidents. And as the resultant depression crept from the newspapers to the dining tables the best we could do was to stop discussing the issues altogether and better stop reading newspapers !

But then for how long? How long can we, especially those living in the nuclear families where both the parents work, go on reassuring ourselves on unfounded beliefs that our child would seldom be a victim of such a vice? In the second episode of Aamir Khans television series ‘ Satyameva Jayate’ dealing with Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), stress was laid on the little known facet of the issue – passing a strong bill to deal with vice. Passing a bill that will effectively deal with child sexual abuse will not only empower the Government agencies and legal bodies to deal with the vice sternly but even act as a deterrent. One of the reasons of developing nations like India fast becoming favourite destinations of paedophiles and those indulgent in child pornography is the existence of this lacuna in our system. But we must remember that this not as much about booking the guilty as much as it is about saving the innocent, unsuspecting and vulnerable and importantly the future of this country. With every second child having been subjected to sexual abuse of one form or other it would be a farce to believe that a traumatised, abused and shattered child would one day grow up into a normal healthy youth. And it would be least shocking if one of these silent victims turn out to be a serial killer or even a child abuser himself! It is in such events that we want that legal proceedings should move at a faster pace and justice be delivered at the earliest. But wouldn’t it be wiser if we lay more stress on striking at the roots of the vicious tree that seems to be growing leaps and bound every coming day rather that keeping on chopping the shoots? Pushing the Government to pass a bill to deal with Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) would indeed be striking at the roots of this vice.

Another important aspect of Child Sexual Abuse is to atleast identify if not book the culprit. It is quite likely that one’s close friend or a cousin may confide in him about his vicious sexual exploits and may even convince him that the act was not only consensual, enjoyable on the victims part but even initiated by the victim himself! The worst part of all this is that we buy his arguments fully aware that in no way is this act justifiable on his part! And even if what he says is true doesn’t the child need help? So in any case the best thing to do would be of course letting the guardian know about it and more importantly convince both the guardian and the victim that the child is absolutely not at fault. Our hesitancy to identify the culprit would only embolden the culprit and who knows his next victim may be your own child or a child from your house! Every time our child plays in public gardens or goes to tuitions or travels by school bus we expect the elders around to be vigilant and keep an eye on the child. But for someone reluctant to do as much as to identify the culprit known to him isn’t it a bit too much to expect from others?

Supressed or compromised sexual freedoms, our reluctance to recognise an adults sexual needs as his natural basic needs, worse labelling them as sins and those indulgent in it as sinners are the facts at the remote root end of the of the Child Sexual Abuse issue resulting in the same natural urges manifesting itself in such an abnormal and gruesome form. Hopefully we will respond to this wake up call and as we surge forward to make legal provisions and empower the Government agencies that will hopefully deal with the menace effectively, we will also not forget to retrospect and change the way we look at or have been looking at things and issues and make space for a view that is much broader and matured wherein a great deal of emphasis will be laid on education and effective communications.

Bhushan K. Sarmalkar (JAI), May 2012, Mumbai.

Chirasmaraniya

Have good wishes or an aspirations sincerely and leave its realisation to ‘Me’ says lord Krishna in the Holy Bhagwat Geeta.  How true ! Born with an ear for music, I always wanted to be an audience to good music – be it indigenous or otherwise. And then I have a special liking for instrumentals. Had it not been for friends and acquaintances like Ashutosh Save,  a news reader with Prasar Bharati and Nageshkar, Manager, Auditorium , Nehru Centre, I would have never realised my dream of being an audience to musical concerts. Ashutosh always makes it a point to gather invitation passes for me and my colleagues who share my passion for good music and takes great deal of trouble to deliver them being sure that I will make it to the concerts anyhow. Nageshkar never disappoints me. He makes passes available to me even at the eleventh hour being impressed by my love for Hindustani Classical Music.

Every musical concert has been memorable for one reason or the other and needless to say enjoyable, more of a spiritual experience except the one I attended this week end at Akashwani  Bhavan. With Pandit Nityanand Haldipur, a stalwart who honed his skills as a  flautist under none other than the legendary  Pannalal Ghosh himself, and Nayan Ghosh on the Tabla the evening was expected to be memorable one that would delight the audience . However, on the contrary it became memorable for the wrong reasons.

The concert began at 6.00 pm  sharp.  The evening opened with Raga Marwah being played in Vilambit Taal that was more than just enough to push the audience into the dark oblivions of serenity. Being used to the present day concerts that are at the most of 3-4 hours in duration, the gradual rendition of Marwah blossoming at a pace that can be compared to the blooming of a bud wasn’t going down with me very well. And both Panditji and Nayan Ghosh, products of old school , as evident from the orthodoxy reflected in their presentation, if I may be excused to  say , could not cope with the shortened durations. Ending Marwah as good as they could one could hardly overlook the fact that it was done abruptly. This was followed by Mishra Piloo in madhayam and finally it was Dipawali, a raga invented by Pannalal Ghosh himself, being played in vilambit taal . Having attended Carnatic – Hindustani jugalbandi  between flautist Ninad Mulaokar and Shivkumar Ananth Raman, Carnatic violinist on the 1^st February i.e just ten days earlier it was but obvious that I would draw comparisons and this was more so because I had been an audience to the well-defined taans and beautiful harkats of Ninads Hindustani flute as he played Bihaag. Pandit Haldipur also played taans, in fact with greater humility, sobriety and more gently however the overall experience wasn’t exactly as exciting as it should have been. Why could Pandit Haldipurs taan not reach the audience the way Ninads taans reached them at Ravindra Natya Mandir ? Was the sound system an issue with the Akashwani? Quite likely. And for a gentle instrument as flute this could cost dear. Just imagine a stalwart in his field putting in hours of riyaaz daily promptly  before the concert and failing to reach out to the audience – courtesy poor sound system!!  A good sound system a well informed and well groomed host are the assets or pillars of a musical concert and only a naïve would dare to organise a musical concert overlooking these vital points that are mandatory to make any musical concert a success. Prasar Bharati, I think, should be the last entity to indulge is such blunders given the fact that they have such a rich tradition of patronizing the performing arts .

So here’s a hoping as a concerned audience that  Prasar Bharati doesnot indulge in such negligence and hopefully Lord Krishna hears this one too and ensures that this too is realised!!
                                                                                                                                               - Bhushan Sarmalkar (JAI)