"NOTHING" EMPOWERS WOMEN

For years, these women have been someone's daughters, someone's sisters, someone's wives or someone's mothers. In the old age, suddenly they find themselves to be not under the care of or care about any of them. They are nothing now.

What do you call this - a delayed empowerment or a mere desperation? 

For the past eight to nine months, during my visits to various villages in Kalahandi district in Odisha, I observed an interesting phenomenon regarding elderly women. Be it in a group or individually, they seem to be more vocal about their 'rights and entitlements'. They are fearless, less apprehensive, outspoken and more 'rational'. The transformation from 'purely traditional' to 'somewhat rational' over time, might have been facilitated by a multitude of factors - both external and internal. 

I feel that the main reason behind this 'delayed empowerment' in elderly women is 'NOTHING'. Yes, "Nothing" empowers women. For years, these women have been someone's daughters, someone's sisters, someone's wives or someone's mothers. In the old age, suddenly they find themselves to be not under the care of or care about any of them. They are nothing now. They are forced to stand up and speak for themselves. If they don't, survival gets more and more tougher for them.

Firstly,  in that old age, lack of regular income, and inability to earn their living, force them to a 'desperation' to fight back. Secondly, the apprehension that haunted them through out their lives, as to what the society, their male counterparts would think or say seems to have disappeared in their final phase. Lastly, the fear of being socially stigmatized seems to have vanished totally in front of the old age desperation and the new-found strength in having no strings attached.  In the absence of all those who relied on them for "honour", I think these women are able to put traditions aside and act rationally. 

Around June 2014, in a huge block level gathering to review MNREGA scheme, I witnessed this woman, slowly yet steadily and boldly climbing onto the dais and dared to question the Block Development Officer (BDO) regarding some entitlement she was due to receive. 

In an another incident around September 2014, I attended a cluster level meeting where in representatives from various self help groups in that area were present. Even when a few young and middle aged women were shy and fearful to even say their names, an elderly woman sitting at the back was exceptionally overreaching. She seemed to have answers to all our questions and solutions to all the problems. 

Very recently in April 2015, we conducted a gram panchayat level meeting, to find out about people's grievances. It was headed by Sub Collector of our district. Firstly, there were hardly any women attending that meeting. Secondly, even the young woman Sarpanch, did not speak a word. Then these two women walked in confidently and told the Sub Collector that they were not receiving pensions regularly. It might seem as a very small and trivial act for us. But when one tries to put oneself in their shoes, the context will be more clear. It is a big deal for the tribal women who would have hardly done such a thing before. It might be like a kindergarten child going to speak in front of an audience, for the first time.

What do you call this - a delayed empowerment or a mere desperation? I say, it is the both. They seem to be telling the society "We do not care for you and your stigmas anymore. We are free". And it is not a coincidence that all the cases I quoted are of widows and mostly from single women households. Yes, they are nothing. And I think - "Nothing empowers these women". This phenomenon finds further support in how the solar grandmothers are making the Barefoot College, Tilonia's efforts in solar energy training successful (Details here). You might have as well observed in your own grand mothers also, how liberal and rational they can get.

Skip this para if you are not a Game of Thrones follower :)

[To convey my point on "Nothing" more effectively I am borrowing an incident and a quote from George R R Martin's Game of Thrones. Samwell Tarly, a night's watch member, a coward at heart manages to kill a white walker and when inquired how he could do so, he replies - "I had to do something other wise Gilly (woman he was trying to save) and her baby would have been killed" (desperation). He further says - "I wasn't myself. I was nothing then. Nor son of someone or a friend of someone. When you are nothing, there is nothing to be afraid of" (Empowerment).]

This phenomenon shows how much the society is holding back women with unnecessary attachments, rules, conditions, restrictions and all the chains that do not let women take that much needed first step. Those who are able to break these shackles early, are able to stand up for themselves much in advance. Few of the rest do so much delayed at the fag end of their lives. The rest go unheard. 

Happy yet guilty !!!

I could not digest the idea that the very weather which gave me so much joy and filled my void had forced some to commit suicide and created void in many lives.

It all started when I had one of the best evenings of my life, around ten days ago. I along with a friend, set out into the wild to explore nature in the rain. I was ‘literally’ on top of the world watching the hills change colours from lush green, to brownish to orangish. It was a treat to my eyes when the last rays of the Sun turned the hills to glittery gold. There seemed to be no end to my joy when I saw a rainbow for the first time in my life. Yet times when there was no sound other than that of breeze, water flowing, or birds chirping or my companion talking, there, at that moment, it seemed as if “it was everything”. I could feel the life oozing out within and outside, every second.

That conversation we had with the nature, and its beautiful replies filled the void in me that this mundane life keeps creating every now and then. That evening continued to linger in my thoughts giving me unfathomable joy, until … until… that moment of guilt stuck me. It was when I read in the newspapers that very week about the damage caused to the crops and loss to the farmers due to untimely rains. I could not digest the idea that the very weather which gave me so much joy and filled my void had forced some to commit suicide and created void in many lives.

While I continued to ponder upon this happy-go-guilty feeling, today another incident happened. A massive earth quake killed at least a hundred people in Nepal and tremors were felt across North India. One of my friends tweets me expressing joy and praising the day for giving him an opportunity to experience tremors for the first time in his life. I would have reacted the same had I been in his place. Nevertheless that happy-go-guilty feeling struck again. I am sure many of us have gone through such moments.  

When I ruminated on this idea, I could recall many such incidents from the past. I think we felt the same dilemma when we had to welcome 2005 new year after Tsunami in December 2004. Back in my home town, I remember people not wanting to celebrate Diwali after the cyclone Hudhud devastated the city of Vizag in Oct 2014. I also remember to have had an ounce of happiness that a war (Kargil) has happened during my life time, though felt sorry for the lives lost.

In all the above incidents there are certain commonalities. They are either natural or lie outside of one’s influence. May be if I had the power to stop a war or prevent a disaster I would do so, rather than enjoying or living the moment. On the contrary, I was never seemed to have been celebrating my helplessness, I think I was just living the moment. The best part of this feeling is my realization that what gives me pleasure is giving pain to someone else. There are and will be many more from which I continue to draw pleasure and don’t even realize that the same is painful to someone somewhere. Also, there is a deep social and geographical connection to this feeling. The guilt that follows the happiness is mostly confined towards people or places one is surrounded by or associated with. I hardly ever related this guilt to some happenings in the Middle East.

I neither have a great mind nor an imagination to assume that pain and pleasure get cancelled on this earth. But it seems so somehow!!! When we take a moment to think through such happy yet guilty moments, I hope it will only widen our thoughts, open our minds and will be able to treat more of ‘others’ as ‘significant others’ and ‘one of us’. 

Suffocate schools with inspiration !!!

In this 21^st century, opportunities to learn are to be provided for rather than waiting for chance to work in one’s favour. Inspiration put in the air around will be inhaled no matter what, and will give excellent outcomes. 

Scouting for a skill or a talent is a herculean task. Various kinds of tests – objective, subjective, physical, interviews, group discussions etc – are conducted by schools/recruiters to identity right talent. Of course, these are not foolproof methods and so need to change with times and evolve gradually. What should precede scouting is our sincere effort to hone skills.

Such an effort essentially needs two things. One, believing that each one of us has some hidden skill or talent which needs a conducive environment, a little aid and guidance for it to be brought forth. Two, the individual should be given the freedom to experiment, make mistakes, learn and unlearn. I need no statistical evidence to state that our current education system is lacking in both.  

Any interest or skill is to be identified much early in a students’ life by making the process part of the curriculum. It will only make it difficult with passing time to tap that hidden potential unless they are lucky enough to get right opportunities at the right time in their life. But our education system seems to have taken the proverb “curiosity kills the cat” too seriously. So, we are killing the curiosity itself. A good learning environment would stoke curiosity not kill it.

We do not even know how many Tagores we are killing at the budding stage. Imagine had Rabindranath Tagore been deprived of all the excellent exposure, encounters with eminent personalities and his own father’s guidance, what would have happened? The world would have missed a great personality. He mastered in all the arts that were introduced to him through someone. And he found his own inspiration from nature.

On the other hand, consider Ambedkar’s story. In spite of the caste discrimination he faced as a child and his familial problems, he was lucky enough to get good opportunities to get educated. He was highly self motivated and became the first not only in his family but also in his community, to have pursued higher studies. He later became an inspiration for millions.

In both the above cases, two things mainly mattered. One, the kind of exposure and opportunities one had. Two, how well the individual had utilized the opportunity.  Not all those who are given the opportunity will be able to use it well. But provision of right opportunities and exposure is the first step in the long journey. Especially in this 21^st century, opportunities to learn are to be provided for rather than waiting for chance to work in one’s favour.

So, who should ensure that students are exposed to right information, right opportunities to learn? It is the responsibility of family and schools. State cannot directly target families but they can motivate the parents only through schools. Even before that what should schools do to inculcate “learning” as a habit? It should not be by “asking” them to learn but by “inspiring” them to do so. What can inspire? The question is what not can inspire.

A book, a pen, a movie, a song, a talk, a walk, a chat, a meet, a toy, an animal, a bird, the nature, a game, a teacher, a problem, a leader, a story, a struggle, an innovation, a solution – will the list of those which can be inspiring ever end? NO. Institutions should use these to give positive strokes of inspiration to the students. That will inculcate a ‘culture of learning’. Any learning should be rewarded in an appropriate way, though the best way to do so is to put that learning to use. This will lead to more inspiration. Inspiration put in the air around will be inhaled no matter what, and will give excellent outcomes. 

For example, a reading club initiative in a school, where in children read and discuss a book, their opinions should be published along with photo in an annual magazine. Once in a while an exposure visit to a new place, an interaction with new people will definitely make students’ minds curious and enthusiastic to learn. A talent search period should be made part of school curriculum. Students should be given an opportunity to show case their talents, appreciated for and provided opportunities to further hone them.

Many private schools and organizations are already working on making the learning interesting, inspiring and lively through activity based learning and teaching techniques. It is not a difficult task for government to take an initiative to change the learning environment of every school. The first step is to start thinking in these lines and with sufficient will power it can definitely be implemented. Money should not matter when it comes to human resource development, which will have a long lasting impact on generations to come.

                                                                                                                                                                          

Cricket fans parented Virat Kohli ???

Within moments after Virat Kohli got out in the India vs Australia semifinals match, social media was flooded with jokes about him, his ads and his personal life. Many started blaming Anushka and concluded that his relationship with her was the reason behind his bad performance. There were many reactions and counter reactions from all sections of the social media.

One of the jokes that went viral was regarding his ad which says “Virat, I want you here in 5 minutes”. These kinds of jokes  are common. Even in advertisement with Ranbir (Pepsi), when Virat asks “main kya karoon Aunty?”, he was told “Tu ad shad na kiya kar beta, apne game pe dhyan de”. It is all part of fun.

But somewhere the pun has crossed the sportive limits. Our society’s natural instincts came forth. As many in social media rightly pointed out, this episode shows our casual approach towards women. Majority of the men who go behind women, take no time in blaming them for anything wrong. Discredit is usually given very generously to them. But the point of this article is something else.

For me, this episode has brought out some other important issue – that of ‘parenting’. Indian parents in general underestimate the multi-tasking capability of their children. They think that any involvement in extracurricular activities will ruin student’s studies. They are also apprehensive about their kids having too many friends. This is one of the main reasons for very meager participation of children in sports and arts. (Though the situation is improving now, it is still a long way to go)

I believe that our reaction towards cricketers’ performances reflected similar kind of parental no confidence. We expect them to perform and for some reason if they did not, immediately we tend to blame on their extracurricular. If some player is getting married or just had a baby – we might not blame these situations for their under performance. Why so? - Because they are acceptable to our parents and the society in general. Also, parents create ‘end of the world’ and ‘do or die’ situations for kids sometimes and react violently if they fail. Similar was the reaction when Indian fans threw bottles, chappals at our players in 1996 world cup semis?

Ads, personal life, IPL and many others will definitely have an effect on the players but both positively and negatively. When fans relate to these only negatively, I feel they are trying to parent the players just the way they themselves were parented. Was that what happened with Virat? We had too high expectations from him in this series, failing which fans parented him in the typical Indian parents’ way. Didn’t they?

e-solutions -- Effective solutions ???

The Union government launched a new initiative, Twitter Samvad a few days ago to enable and keep the government-citizen conversation going. This government’s determination towards e-governance was evident in ‘Digital India’ initiative - to build infrastructure, deliver services electronically and spread digital literacy. Even the previous government and a few state governments enthusiastically took up e-delivery of certain services and grievance redressal through social media. Of course, we all should hope that a day would come soon where most people will have devices to click, know where to click and that the governments would only be a click away from citizens.

Definitely, this is an ambitious target and it is a huge transformation from the present. As of now, there is only around 20-25% internet penetration in the country. This is least of our problems. The transformation from traditional to digital poses two major challenges. First, newly built service delivery/grievance systems should only ease the processes instead of complicating them. Second, the implementing agencies should be ‘willing to’ and be ‘able to’ deliver electronically.

The both of these are very vital issues – system and personnel. IRCTC though made ticket booking easy, issues like server errors, peak hour traffic, tatkal booking made user’s life difficult. This gave way to many unauthorized agents, fraudsters who took advantage of the loopholes and looted both the government and the passengers. And, most of the implementing personnel are still e-illiterates. The systems being built are beyond their capacity to comprehend. They might be having basic knowledge, but definitely not problem solving ability.

In addition to these, there are two more issues that are prominent, rural-urban divide and side lining of traditional grievance redressal mechanisms. Rural urban divide not just with respect to infrastructure, e-literacy but the very kind of service delivery and grievances arising are very different for rural and urban. The recent initiatives of participatory governance (mygov, twitter samvad) and grievance redressal mechanisms caters only to that 20-25% who use internet. This too is required especially as internet users are increasing year on and expected to reach around 40-50% by 2050.

However, the rural India needs more customised approach, though technology can still play a major role. Bangalore electricity board, Police are very active on facebook and twitter to not only keep people in the loop but also for grievance redressal. Two things help smoothen grievance redressal process through social media. One, ease of access in raising the complaint as it is just a click away. Two, doing so in the presence of many co-users and officials improves transparency and gives strength to the complaint. Rural areas rate zero on ease of access indicator; and access to wider audience is also limited to the people around and local officials. This way, the overall power a village has is lesser compared to its urban counterpart. Also, the fear of losing access to goods and services takes over the urge to raise a grievance.

The opportunity and transaction costs for public participation in governance or in getting their grievances redressed are higher in rural compared to urban. Opportunity costs include – daily wages for wage labourers, a day’s work for agriculturists etc. Transaction costs include – transportation charges for repeated visits to public authorities, time spent and the fear of losing the delivery itself for any complaint would invite the wrath of local officials.

To bypass all these, e-initiatives would have worked to an extent at least in an ideal situation, where the required infrastructure is available and e-literacy levels are high. That is not the case though, not only in rural but in most of the urban areas. So, it would be wiser to work on other forms of improving service delivery and grievance redressal mechanisms than waiting for ideal e-situations to develop.

A single window grievance centre for all grievances in every gram panchayat should be a good thing to start with. The application form should be treated as a complaint-cum-RTI application. Hence, the complaint should get a reply for the grievance raised within 30 days like in RTI. This has two advantages. One, many who would not have heard of the powerful tool called RTI, can take advantage of it easily. Two, government-citizen interaction improves, time bound redressal is assured and accountability of public authorities towards people increases.

In many of our states, (and even Union government’s) legislations for time bound service delivery of goods and services were enacted. They all have either two or three tier appeal authorities – at district, state/centre. Even the first appeal and second appeal be allowed to be given at the GP level at the single window grievance cell. Only a single format form for all grievances will eliminate all confusions and let people utilise the opportunity and get services delivered. They may be given a receipt as in RTI and charged a minimum fee. On the question as to who should be running the grievance cell can be debated. Nevertheless, it should be an independent body with very less stakes in the day-to-day administration.

The process should be as simple as the one laid down by Supreme Court in case of a PIL. It said a postcard would suffice. Our huge postal network can come in handy in strengthening the grievance system. If the locality has sufficient levels of e-literacy or even otherwise, user friendly interactive kiosks which record the grievances instantly can be set up.

In this digital era where everything seems to be easy to be implemented in an e-way through technology, it is important to strengthen traditional ways of grievance redressal. Though PM is trying to take utmost use of the radio network and rejuvenate it, it has been a one-side affair so far. To get more inputs from people, setting up of community radios may be encouraged, which works the same way as a social media, (people generated content, shared across a community but specific to a geographic location) but without internet. This government managed to build a good narrative around ‘digitizing India’. Similar focus should be given to all weather grievance redressal at everyone’s doorstep – digital or non-digital. 

Should we cooperate or non-cooperate ?

Cooperation and non-cooperation are like two sides of the same coin, both are needed but only in the right contexts. The non-cooperation movement during 1920-22 led by Gandhi had not only played a significant role in Indian freedom struggle but also laid down some important principles for functioning of a democracy. In his June 22^nd 1920 letter to the Viceroy, Gandhi had asserted the right recognised ‘from time immemorial of the subject to refuse to assist a ruler who misrules’.

The words ‘subject’, ‘assist’ and ‘misrule’ in this sentence need to be marked. Their meanings and interpretations in independent India are blurred. Firstly, we are not subjects anymore yet we need to answer the question as to whether we are citizens in the true sense. Secondly, in a democracy, we ourselves are responsible to choose our representatives (not rulers). Thus we no longer have to assist them but we cooperate. Thirdly, we do not have a consensus on what is misrule. What was misrule yesterday is taken to be genuine today.

A true democracy would give its citizens their due rights and entitlements and in turn, a true citizen would cooperate with the government in right doings and non-cooperate in the wrong ones. This would keep the misrule in check. Achieving this is not as simple as it sounds. It is an intricate web of cooperation and non-cooperation between the government and citizens, within government, within citizens etc.

Across these varied nexuses, abetting has become the norm and any kind of non-cooperation is strangled. Every effort is made to punish those who do not cooperate. First, the “rights” are given to people freely through legislation and then they are to be “bought” with bribe. There is a whole chain of cooperation starting from the beneficiary at the bottom to the highest official. The internal chain of co-operators also has external political, business links, which further complicate the web of nexuses.

At the slightest hint of non-cooperation, the entire web turns against as we have seen in the case of D.K.Ravi, Karnataka bureaucrat recently. In 2012, a 30-year-old IPS officer Narendra Kumar was crushed to death in MP for fighting the stone mining mafia. Another dedicated officer Satyendra Dubey was shot dead for exposing financial irregularities in golden quadrilateral project. These are only a few instances. Frequent transfers, political interventions are other tactics used to punish the ones who hinder the business as usual.

Non-cooperation not only in bureaucracy but outside of it too is treated equally brutally. Here again the organised cooperation among multiple stakeholders work against those who do not cooperate. RTI activists, who have been striving to make the system transparent and accountable, were either killed or ostracised. Recently, women’s rights activist Sunita Krishnan’s car was attacked after she uploaded rape videos to shame the rapists. Irom Sharmila’s, is another classic case, who is charged with an attempt to commit suicide for her non-cooperation through a 14 year long hunger strike.

So, it seems as a society we are failing to protect the honest and upright who raise their voice against wrong doings. On the other hand, we are getting more and more comfortable in cooperating where we should not be. Because of the complexities of the myriad rules and regulations, huge delays in the system, for all practical purposes we cooperate with bribe takers, the corrupt and the middle men. In getting a driving license or a passport or a train reservation there is more incentive to cooperate with the wrong to get things done.

As Gandhi said, it becomes our right to refuse the misrule but atleast in the short run, it goes against the one who refuses. The larger worry is that the society is slowly embracing and preferring to encourage the wrong than to non-cooperate with them. For instance, one of the reasons for prevailing of vote buying during elections, is ‘vote selling’. A voter is willing to take money and sell his vote away. I am not totally blaming the voter.  For him, may be it is better to accept whatever he gets now, as he is not sure what he would get after elections. But there are a section of voters who are opportunistic and so cooperate with the corrupt.

Both cooperation and non-cooperation are continuous processes, the former gives immediate returns and the latter long term ones. Encouraging the wrong once started, becomes a habit and gets imbibed in the culture, and makes it difficult to change the course later. Non-cooperation is a continuous struggle, at every level. It is so difficult that even someone of Gandhi’s stature was able to do it on a mass scale only once. Yet at individual level he never cooperated with what he truly believed to be wrong. The moments of mass actions do come, but come very rarely, at an appropriate time when things are conducive. Yet we should not underestimate the power of a few, who stand against the huge tide of organised and unwanted cooperation. As Margaret Mead said “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed that’s all who ever have”.

The Black - Forever Bright !

Black is as underestimated as colours are overestimated. Our incapacity to appreciate darkness, or rather face darkness, renders our lives incomplete.

It is the ‘day of colours’ today celebrated as ‘Holi’ in India and what other occasion would be more apt to reflect upon “black”. Black is a fascinating colour (if I may call it a colour, though it is not any one colour) with various shades. Science says black is a result of absorption of all light. It has all colours in it. It has everything, yet nothing. In spite of it absorbing all colours, we see nothing since it reflects nothing. Black has its own difficulties, lighter and darker shades since its inception on this earth.  

Over the centuries, black came to be associated with evil, death, unknown, taboo etc. Black magic, black comedy, black box, black day, black mail – are a few to mention. Of course, this is mostly a western notion of black. Its interpretation may differ in different cultures. Nevertheless, black is as underestimated as colours are overestimated. It did not get its due appreciation. We are too fascinated with the brightness of the world around us and yearn for colours. Our incapacity to appreciate darkness, or rather face darkness, renders our lives incomplete. Just as not all that glitters is gold, not all that is black is bad. Though there are many who love black; the fashion industry, Hollywood and Bollywood making the most out of its elegance, black is much deeper than what we tend to see. 

Life begins in the darkness of the womb of a mother. When we shut our eyes black is all that we see. There is no moon light without the darkness of the night. All the colours in the world put together, cannot match the beauty of a firefly in the dark. Darkness blurs the artificial barriers we humans built to differentiate and discriminate among ourselves. Darkness is egalitarian; it does not care about complexions, whereas colours are partial. The darkness of the night lulls the soul and gives us peace. Most importantly, the existence of darkness is the reason we are able to appreciate the so-called ‘colours’ so much.

Then why don’t we celebrate black? Why isn’t there a festival of darkness/black? Why should any bad day be a ‘black day’? Why should anything unknown including the ghosts and devils be associated with the darkness? Why all the taboos are black – as in black comedy? Why a black cat is a bad omen in many cultures?

I think it is because we sleep through darkness rather than exploring it. Not just in the literal sense of sleeping during the nights but we tend to silence various forms of darkness. We are afraid to face the darker side of our own self, thus giving way to hypocrisy. Mothers try to hide the worse qualities of their children. A society tries to cover its collective wrongs and project itself as something different. If we do not know anything, we put it in a black box. If we do not want anything, we put it in a black spot. This tendency of segregation is not allowing us to face the life to its fullest. That is why we find the need to ban so many things or black out so many ‘unwanted’ things.

We should remember that except for the natural darkness or absence of sun light, rest all forms of darkness we associate with black is purely a human creation. We associate grief to black, in order to highlight that grief is unwanted, uncalled for and undesirable. True, who would want to grieve? But grief is grief in the first place because we created something called happiness and value it more than grief. In addition, we falsely associate colours with happiness and black with grief, and try to avoid it, though both are our creations.

Black is for experimenters. It has every colour absorbed in it. Only those who experiment with it will be able to find different colours in it. It has everything yet reflects nothing. It is one’s own willingness to see through it, and face it, which reveals various shades of it. Black will remain that abstract nothingness which doesn’t give any concrete answers to our life questions. However, for those who look through and experiment with it will see its colours unleashing. Those shall realise that black is much beyond the superficial colours which reflect one single light. For them, black is confidence, black is elegance, black is bright and black is light. It is not that simple to comprehend ‘nothing’. History shows only a few were able to celebrate the darkness, celebrate the black and add more shadows to complete one’s life. 

Indian Media - Noise and Silence

Neither the noise nor the silence of our media will have any long term positive impact on the society, on the other hand, both may result in unintended and unwanted consequences.

It is in every one’s knowledge that media reports news and events selectively. ‘Breaking’ news and ‘sensational’ news are not just subjective in the general sense of choosing according to one’s interests or prejudices but they are deliberately chosen to raise the TRP ratings. In the process many more interesting, worth covering and important events are being deliberately left out. This discrimination is not just among various events/incidents, but also among various castes, classes and categories.  

This news article (“Ignored and discriminated against: The sad story of India's paralympians - http://www.firstpost.com/sports/ignored-and-discriminated-against-the-sad-story-of-indias-paralympians-2053495.html”) shows how less an attention these sports’ champs got. Better media coverage helps in garnering more support for various sports. But many media channels think that (and practically speaking rightly so) there is no need to cover certain things as there is not much audience, living the point aside that there is no audience because many are not aware.

What is the way out of this vicious cycle? It needs courageous visionaries from both the sides – media as well as audience, though it is more important for them to be present in the media. We have come across many movies (Taare Zamin Par, Chak de, Stanley ka dabba), ideas (Halla Bol – series highlighting social issues), shows (Satyamev Jayate) which took up a not-so-popular subject and through their work tried to make it popular. They proved that people actually supported good thoughts when presented in an interesting way.

On the other hand, even if they cannot make things interesting for audience, it is media’s responsibility to bring out the unheard and let people know. Certain ground realities like untouchability, caste and gender discriminations, child labour, poverty etc needn’t be packed nicely but a passionate presentation will suffice. Many a presentations by media tend to raise sympathy among the viewers, while it is empathy and compassion that are more important to be spread.

With every right comes a corresponding duty. Media has the right to speech (even selective) but has an equal amount of duty to give the whole information, and cover all events equally passionately. The movie “Hitler – The rise of evil” portrays a character of a journalist who dares to raise his voice against the atrocities, brutal and autocratic ideas of Hitler and how Germany and its people will pay for their ignorance and silence. He loses his job, and was taken to concentration camp and ultimately gets killed. His lone efforts might not have changed the course of history of Germany, but had his contemporaries in the media put a collective effort for the larger good of the society, things would have been different. Similarly, neither the noise nor the silence of our media will have any long term positive impact on the society, on the other hand, both may result in unintended and unwanted consequences.