Follow blogs... follow hearts...

Bloggers around the world unite and take the credit for respecting the dignity of the public space provided by the new communication technologies. Bloggers are a dominant force in the society. Bloggers are heard now. Reputed mainstream media do give space and time to bloggers' point of view on issues of importance. I remember legendary author and critic Thomas Friedman saying you can’t do journalism in pajamas. True. I still believe that a formal training in journalism is a must to take up the public role to raise issues of critical social importance.

But here is a blessing in disguise. Now, prominent scholars, authors, writers, thinkers, journalists, advertising professionals, film-makers and others are blogging. For long, I have enjoyed reading Pritish Nandy, Vir Sanghvi, MJ Akbar, Gurcharan Das, Santosh Desai, Shobha De, Nikhat Kazmi, Poonam Saxena and many others. Now, I read their blogs more than their regular writing. I find them more frank, open and candid. Is it because blogging has liberating effect?

Some useful links:

• http://www.forbes.com/2003/04/14/bestblogslander.html
• http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1725323,00.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/
• http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/mme/blog/
• http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
• http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/
• http://www.ndtv.com/news/blogs/

The Best of the Web Links on Mass Media

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• http://www.mediaed.org/wp/links
• http://mediaeducationlab.com/links
• http://themediaspot.org/tags/media_education_lab
• http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article661.html
• http://www.aml.ca/home/
• http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/journalism/
• http://lib.sdstate.edu/lib15/mcomlinks.htmlhttp://www.lib.iastate.edu/collections/eresourc/journalism.html

Kaminey...Darker than life

I am not a film critic. As I love Bollywood flicks, I wish to talk and write. As an Indian politics, cricket and cinema is part of our daily mental and entertainment diet. The purpose is not to get intellectually stimulated. It’s pure entertainment. That’s why Pankaj Prasher (Jalwa Peechha Karro, Karamchand, Ab Ayega Mazaa) David Dhawan (Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Gharwali Baharwali, Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi) and Priyadarshan ((Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Bhagam Bhag, Malamaal Weekly, Hulchul) are my favorite contemporary Bollywood film directors. There are other film directors too but Vishal Bhardwaj is known for his Maqbool and Omkara. Bharadwaj’s latest amd much awaited Kaminey is not different. It's old wine in a new bottle.

What is entertainment? Simply put, you feel good about the whole situation or it makes you feel good and delighted. You smile or laugh. You even cry. You empathize either with the situation or with the character(s). And who is a good film-maker? Definitely, one who caters to head (pragmatism) and heart (emotions)? Kaminey disappoints on both fronts.

Kaminey is a dark comic. The film is about two identical twin brothers and dirty world of slums, drugs, guns, gangsters, self-centered politicians, ruthless cops and money. The film is set at the backdrop of Bengali mafia in Bombay. Sorry, it’s Mumbai. Priyanka Chopra (Sweety) is a middle-class Marathi girl and is in love with Shahid Kapoor (Guddu) form Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh. One brother lisps, while other stammers. They hate each other until they meet on a fateful rainy night. And in Mumbai it never rains, it pours. Cinema is all about escaping reality via fantasy. But Kaminey is far away from realism as the film is darker than the real life.

But all is not gone. Priyanka Chopra as Sweety and Amole Gupte as Bhope will certainly spell-bound you with their individual performances. Meghna Manchanda (edited Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara earlier) and A Sreekar Prasad’s editing of the film is commendable. Sound effects and cinematography of the film will keep you seated and glued to the screen.

Media Education, Media Stocks and the Monsoon

The entry of cable and satellite television in the year 1992 altered the media education landscape in India for once and all. Prior to the advent of cable and satellite television, there were few media education institutes in India. Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi apart from training Indian Information Officers and Army Office, offered Post-Graduate Diplomas in Advertising and Public Relations and Journalism. The Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), Jamia Millia University, New Delhi offered masters degree and Pune-based Film and Television Institute (FTI) offered diplomas in different aspects of film-making.

As cable and satellite television entered the country in unregulated market so as media education. Since then, there has been a spate of media schools promising students and career-seekers in media nothing less than the sky. Well-known media houses entered into media education. The Daily Pioneer launched Pioneer Media School in New Delhi. The Hindu group started Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. Malayalam Manorama started a media school in Kottayam. The India Today group started a course in television production in New Delhi.

The Express Group, publisher of The Indian Express, is soon going to launch The Express Institute of Media Studies. Other media schools associated with major newspapers include the Times Centre for Media Studies owned by The Times of India. 9.9 Mediaworx is planning to re-launch the School of Convergence. There is also report about the launch of a Knight Foundation and the MacArthur foundation media school in the New Delhi suburb of Noida.

In a first in the country, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is all set to start a Media Research Centre. The proposal for the media research centre is a part of the INR 650 crore Plans which has been submitted to the Planning Commission for its approval. B.B. Bhattacharya, Vice-Chancellor of the varsity, says, "The media plays a significant role in deciding the future of the country. But there's absolutely no opportunity here to study why the media behaves and reacts to issues the way it does". It sounds so appropriate. For once, serious media academics will probably find some space.

As we know most of the central, state and deemed to be universities offer under-graduate and post-graduate degree courses in mass communication. There are plenty of other universities offering media education in distance education mode. In the middle of the big-wigs, there are small players. Critics call such media institutes as education malls or shops but I prefer to call them education kiosks. Students with high marks get into government run universities. If quality is not assured, at least these students complete their education at affordable fees. But large chunk of the students are left attended at the mercy of the private players.

There are some serious media educators in the country. With decades of experience in media education, they are struggling to run their own modest media schools. But they have lost all hopes. The visibilities of such media schools are lost in the advertising clutter. Big players with deep pocket is the new mantra. But can money really buy quality education?

The story doesn’t end here. Let me cite two contradictory reports. According to MediaKhabar.com, Indian entertainment and media industry is to grow by 10.5% cumulatively over 2009-13 to reach INR 929 Billion. On the other hand, according to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities cited in the Contentsutra.com, deficient rainfall this monsoon season and the resultant slump in demand in sectors will adversely impact earnings of media firms and may have a disproportionately negative impact on media stocks.

On the top of it, numbers of students pass out every year are three to four times more than the media jobs available. Students seriously interested in pursuing career in media simply do not know what to do and where to go? Look at the state of Indian media and journalism. Indian broadcast journalism has touched its lowest common denominator. There is confusion. There is chaos. What really went wrong and what can be done? From its inception, the government chose to remain ignorant. Media education in India was and is free for all. There is no regulatory mechanism in check quality media education.

For those aspire for quality media education must raise voice and demand for it. Students and parents must demand for relevant, contemporary and sound curriculum, quality teaching by full-time faculty members and top-grade professionals as permanent staffers, state of the art infra-structure and equipment, industry interface and industry placements. There is no point waiting for a media education policy… It may happen. It may not. For last seventeen years or so, no one has bothered. It’s a time to take a call as time is running out…The ultimate looser is not alone those who seek a career in media but media in India as whole.

Back from Vacation…Some Reflections

When we started planning our annual vacation in the mid of June, some of our close firiends suggested: Think twice before you plan your vacation to India. It’s not the right time to be India. They said, it’s hot, humid, sultry and on the top of there is no sign of rain. Be aware of the swine flu too. Obiviously, we were double minded as we had an option and an invitation to go to Ireland. Do we really need to take so much time to decide? I do not think so. Home is where your heart is. Finally, we decided to go to India.

We packed our bags and a D60 Nikon camera and we were in India. We knew we will beat the heat. But how? Keep travelling. So, we end up travelling more than 2500 kilometers by rail and more than 600 kilometers by Tata Sumo accross four national highways. We travelled to five Indian States. I do not intend to surprise anyone but for mere general knowledge sake some of the Indian States are more than the size of the countries like Croatia. To beat the heat, we went upto the hill, Patnitop.

This vacation was not all about fun and frolic. For long, I have been wondering to know as what makes India going. Professor Dipankar Gupta’s The Caged Phoenix: Can India really fly? added more doubts? Though, I do not negate all the apprehensions raised by the author but I could see some thing drastically different on the ground. At the same time, I have always been of the view that the people and the people's power defines and decides any nation's destiny. Politicians can fail people, so can be the judiciary and media but people can not and will not fail themselves.

We visited West Bengal. As we were coming out of the Dalkola railway station, we met eighty-year woman standing firm and selling peanuts. On the national highway 31 (NH 31), we met young couple selling bamboo baskets. In Patnitop, I met and elderly Gujjar horseman. These unsung hero's refuse to retire. They are the backbone. They are the economy. They are the future.

We heard radio and read newspapers while travelling but we hardly watched television. But we knew what all was on Indian television. Sach Ka Saamna, Rakhi ka Swayambar, Balika Badhu, and so on. But no media is talking about these people who are silently and reluctantlesslly propelling India's growth and prosperity. I call them "silent revolutionaries". As I raise concern, I do not think these silent majority even care. Now, I realise and know why world's developed economies are reeling under economic depression, but India is smiling.