Daughter's Day... What's that?

Footloose & Fancy Free: the uncensored version

This weekend the ‘jolly pages’ of a local English daily tried to tell us that the hep and happening creatures were busy planning mega splurges for Daughters’ Day.

And when’s that? This Sunday, of course. Some people dreamed up this idea around the year 2011, to celebrate a new ‘daughters’ day’ in India on the fourth Sunday of September, and of late, the sellers of soaps, shampoos, baubles and Barbie dolls have yet another excuse to pick parents’ pockets.

So what’s this ‘daughters day’ tamasha all about? Who should know better than the women in the NGO sector? So one phoned Bihar’s most prominent women’s organization, the Bihar Mahika Samakhya Society. “Daughters Day on Sunday? You’re not serious? We already have a women’s day, a day for the girl child, the One Billion Rising Campaign, and we initiated the Celebrate your daughter days all over the state. Whose idea was this one? Not the government of India, otherwise there would have been a circular to that effect!” That was their answer.


Thinking that UNICEF would probably be the best place to get an answer, one diligently rang up Nipurnh Gupta, the rights and media point person. If anyone should know about daughters days in the offing, it had to be Nipurnh. Anyway in the past week, she was behind a workshop for kids and cinema, and a two day regional conference that stressed the duty of the media to inform everyone about prompt and regular immunization of babies, especially daughters. Ms Gupta, hemmed and hawed a bit, and then said that if anyone came up with the idea of having a daughter’s day it was a good thing. “The more the idea that one should cherish daughters is brought into the discourse, somewhere it will impact the adverse sex ratio. Let’s ask parents whether they have really made sure that their baby daughters have received all the immunization? Has the child received DPT three times before she reaches 7 years of age? Has she received two doses of immunization for Japanese encephalitis before she reaches two years? What about Hepatitis B vaccine before her first birthday celebration?”



So, I decided to do a quick pop survey. Out popped my phone and I did a bit of screen tapping, and waited for the results.


Professor Muniba Sami what’sapped: “Daughter’s Day- this Sunday? For us every day is our daughter’s day.” Media professional Ann Mary John messaged, “Till date haven’t celebrated it, heard it was on the 28th, and I’m not sure that many of us are aware of this day. Marketing ploy?” Mehraz Haque, currently doing a PHD from Banaras Hindu University messaged: ‘Had no idea about this. Great. Wonderful opportunity to demand something from Daddy dear.”


So now, what's Daughter’s Day about? For the few with expendable incomes, it’s another reason to splurge and party; for those in the social work sector, it is another opportunity to drive home the point that daughters are not expendable, and to combat what they perceive as patriarchy and misogynist traditions; for the businessmen it’s a potential market to be exploited. For the harried middle class urban parents living in boxes called apartments, it’s a beautiful opportunity to stop for a moment and tell their little girls aged 5 to 50… that they are truly special.


Come on ye Fairy Godmothers! Celebrate that hardworking Cinderella. Pull her out of the pantry, wipe her face and give her a pair of glass slippers, take her on a ride to the Mall, waltz her into the food court. Treat her like a princess. Never Mind, she’ll be back among the pots and pans come Monday morning!


Author: Frank Krishner

The beat on the street goes on

Footloose and Fancy Free/ Frank Krishner

He stands with arms held aloft, his face dripping with sweat.  Strewn around him are bodies, still and silent. He cries out in a loud voice, “Main Nahin Chahta Yeh Nafrat Ka Dangal ,Yeh Jalta Shaher, Yeh Maut Ka Mangal… I don’t want this dance of hatred, this burning city, this festival of death…” It’s a pleasant day in February, just following a week of uncertain and inclement weather. The man is a performer, plying his art in the pleasant warmth of a pre-spring afternoon, in front of a cluster of people of all ages on the historic Gandhi Maidan of Patna.

The audience, some sitting on the ground, others standing, are engrossed in the performance. It is a street play about violence fanned by religious bigots, reflecting harsh realities of life. The show is part of a three day festival of street theatre, being held in memory of Jacob Srampickal, a Jesuit who devoted a lot of energy to studying and revival of the ‘theatre of the people’ in Bihar. Twenty five years ago, Srampickal held the first ‘All Bihar Nukkad Natak Festival’ at Ravi Bharati near Sadaquat Ashram.  The festival, an annual event, continues to this day.

“Street theatre is people-friendly. The dynamic and mobile nature of street theatre makes it possible to go to people where theatre is not accessible:  like streets, markets, slums, villages, schools, office complexes, parks, residential areas. It is a free show for everyone:  paan wallah, officer,  labourer, housewife or  student. Therefore, it never has a limited or ‘repeat’ audience. With actors moving at the same level as the audience, there’s no hierarchy . The simple and direct performance gives it power to reach people. There are no tickets as the aim is not to make profits. Rather, the audience is asked for contributions,” explains Prabha, a social activist from Buxar who has used the humble ‘nukkad natak’ (street corner play) to raise awareness among women on issues of income generation.

How has street theatre changed over the years? Birendra Kumar, a trainer with Ravi Bharati points out that television and reality shows have had an impact on the form and content. The format has evolved. Today some street theatre groups use costumes and basic make-up, he says. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because street theatre reflects the situation of the people, and today, the common man is highly influenced by the idiot box. Street Theatre reflects the idiom of the people, and raises contemporary issues.

Some trace the history of street theatre  to the 19th century when labourers and party workers wrote and did plays during the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Women  produced plays like "how the vote was won" during the suffragette movement in London in the 1900’s. The Soviet  Revolution spawned its own kind of street theatre to reach the unwashed masses. During World War II, street theatre played a role in fanning anti-war sentiments.

The history of ‘modern’ street theatre in India can be traced to Indian People's Theatre association (IPTA), formed in 1943, the first organised body to adapt the form to a more political end raising issues of imperialism and inequality. IPTA is regarded as the pioneer of the people's theatre movement in India.

HOW DEEP IS YOUR COMMITTMENT TO REFLECTING LIFE... OR ARE WE JUST PAWNS OF ESTABLISHMENT?

Shamsul Islam, a prominent theatre activist and writer notes that he first of the street theatre troupes came into being around 1967 in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi. Many of these troupes are still alive and active. He says that street theatre came into being at a time when India was beset with decline and degeneration in political, economic, social and cultural institutions. Street theatre appeared and  questioned the rot.

Hassan Imam, who needs no introduction to theatre enthusiasts in Bihar once told me that  street theatre as a genre was a reaction to the established theatre of the time. This new theatre emerged as a platform for the anti-establishment forces, providing opportunities to experiment and to express their dissent.  The nukkad is more than mere alternative theatre. It has a political message; to change the world, to encourage plurality, to promote an egalitarian society.

The establishment struck back. Shamsul Islam maintains that in Kerala, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh street theatre was banned; performers like Prabir Dutta, Rajan and Safdar killed while performing.  In the mid ‘80s at Basti in Uttar Pradesh, a woman street theatre activist was picked up by the police from the midst of a performance and raped in order to teach her a lesson. In most of the cases, state repression was let loose in the name of combating Naxalism, he says.

Today, street theatre is a recognised art form and has gained legitimacy. Groups like Asmita and Bihar Art Theatre regularly attract youngsters who enthusiastically take to street theatre as a stepping stone to careers on stage or on television. Some old timers complain that the multinationals and the government have turned this form of protest into a new form of propaganda, but that is a topic for another day.

In the meanwhile, at the Gandhi Maidan, some 150 street theatre artistes and trainees have converged from several districts to raise contemporary issues: rising prices, intolerance, domestic violence, patriarchy, the unequal distribution of wealth, and so on.  The beat of the street goes on and on…

 

Author: Frank Krishner

In Search of Gandhi

FRANK OPINIONS/ FRANK KRISHNER

In Search of Gandhi

The famous Ajanta caves in Maharashtra are worth a visit, but a few kilometres away, there’s a fascinating quiet place called Jalgaon. Here, located in a property called the Jain Hills, is a phenomenon that has already found echoes in distant north Bihar. But first, a story:

It was 1985. A farsighted industrialist wanted to set up a factory to manufacture resin, the raw material for PVC pipes. It was the ‘license raj’. So he needed a licence. The file arrived in New Delhi. The project was  accepted. All it needed was one crucial signature, that of the minister. The minister called the businessman to Delhi to discuss the deal. The ‘cost’ of the signature was 5 crore rupees. The man said that all his life he had accomplished everything on merit, and he had never paid a single rupee as bribe. He told the minister that if there was merit in the proposal , then there was no reason to pay the bribe. The signature never went on the file. Fifteen days later, a license was granted to a competitor. The man who refused to pay a bribe was Bhavarlal H. Jain, whose group became the undisputed king of PVC pipes a decade later.

This Gandhian industrialist, now chairperson of the largest irrigation systems manufacturing group in India, that has gifted the world one of the most amazing tributes to the Mahatma, the first ever dedicated multimedia Museum named ‘Gandhi Teerth’.

A walk through the museum takes about three hours. On entry, the visitor is handed an electronic gadget with a set of headphones. The guest can choose to receive the narration in Hindi or English. In the first gallery, ‘Wants and Needs’, the guest is confronted with a touch screen  and asked to make an ‘avatar’ of himself- to choose the house, clothes, and lifestyle he wants from a set of visuals. The next exhibit shows his face (recorded by the camera) and along with it his lifestyle and the how ‘cost-effective’ it is for Mother Earth. This is the first of eleven stages of the ‘Gandhi Pilgrimage’:  the childhood, influences, student life, journey to England, then India, then South Africa, then the return to India and Champaran and so on. Each gallery has surprises, experiences and new learning opportunities. Mahatma Gandhi’s school leaving results, for instance, is an eye opener. He didn’t even make it to forty percent! Paintings, sculptures, replicas of lifestyle items, actual artefacts used by Gandhi, and audio-visual magic that transports you to the sights and sounds of the late 19^th and early 20^th century: it’s an experience to remember and cherish.

But that’s not all. Before you leave, witness the work being done across India by different ‘Gandhians in action’, people using their skills and knowledge to make India’s villages work.

GANDHI 'EXAMINATION' FOR PRISONERS BY GRF

Gandhi Research Foundation, founded by Padmashree Bhavarlal Jain, (the industrialist in the story) is an international academic and research organisation that doesn’t limit itself to armchair philosophy. It is actively involved in helping surrounding villages grow organic crops, adopt water harvesting, improve the condition of their schools, and aspire to a better economic status through small income generation measures that will be linked to viable marketing strategies.

In Bihar, Bhavarlal Jain, through the Gandhi Research Foundation, has offered technical support to the Gandhi Shodh Sansthan in a sleepy undiscovered corner of West Champaran. Every week, scores of school kids from neighbouring schools go to this ordinary looking building to experience Gandhiji and admire replicas and material made possible by the GRF. They also learn to spin thread on a charkha. This is not all.

Several young people between the ages of 21 and 32 are already making their way to Bhitiharwa. They are educated, articulate achievers from across India, with one vision: to develop an environment friendly, humane, responsible and Gandhian approach to rural development in one of Bihar’s most backward districts.

Mahatma Gandhi, on 20 November 1917, had established his second basic school at Bhitiharwa. His development work was based on education, sanitation, and health. In his autobiography, he expressed his regret that his work in Champaran was left unfinished, because of the lack of committed local volunteers. It is just possible, that 95 years on, the youngsters of Bihar will rise to the occasion and by 2017, Champaran will show signs of a vibrant ‘gram swaraj’.

 

Author: Frank Krishner

Dispatching Despatches

Last week, The Telegraph started a Bihar edition from Patna. I started reading The Telegraph from its inaugural issue some twenty years ago, when it stood up to challenge the staid Statesman, which was every Calcuttan’s breakfast read at the time. It is wonderful to see the familiar Broadsheet at my doorstep every morning, this time from Bihar.

And that triggered memories about my own days as the Gangtok Correspondent of The Telegraph, when I was in the Northeastern India in the mid eighties and early nineties. In those days, there was no internet, and so we newspaper correspondents had to depend on the old wire services provided by the Postal Department. We would write or type our stories out in longhand, and then toodle off to the nearest post and telegraph office to submit them at the counter for telegrams. In those days regular telegrams cost fifty paise a word, so the members of the Press had special ‘P&T’ cards that allowed us to send telegrams to our newspapers on credit. The special ‘newspaper rate’ was four paise per word.

We would have to write our stories in duplicate, and keep a carbon copy. When we arrived at the post office, we would have to submit both the copies at the counter. The despatch ( a very official sounding word, I loved it) would be recorded, and the carbon copy stamped and handed back to you. The chap receiving the telegrams wouldn’t be wearing a smiley face. He’d stare glumly at the paper and say something like , “Seven hundred words! I’ve got to type seven hundred words, and that UNI fellow has handed in a report six hundred words long!” How quickly the telegram would reach Calcutta from Gangtok would depend entirely upon how enthusiastic and skilful the telegraph operator was, and we pressmen had to keep the fellow in good humour if we wanted our despatches to be ‘first off the block’.
In 1989, the fax machine made its appearance, and what a wonder it was. The first time I saw a fax machine was in the office of the UNI Bureau Chief in Shillong. He really showed it off. In fact, he invited all of us 'hick journalists' in Shillong to his place to ogle at it over a couple of swigs of cheap rum!

I dug up a couple of my old ‘Telegram cards’: the yellow one is the one for The Telegraph, and the other one is the telegram card for The Times of India, which I wrote stories for while in Shillong. As I turned them over in my hand, I heard a song play inside my head.. “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day….”

Author: Frank Krishner

Forgotten short story

 Almost two decades ago, one of my short stories was published in The Illustrated Weekly of India.
It was typed on an old 'Brother' typewriter and sent off by good old  India Post from Gangtok.
I didn't think it would be published, but it was.
Since then, I've lost the carbon manuscript and even the copy of the published story, which a friend 'borrowed' and forgot to return many years ago.
On rummaging through some old papers, I discovered this acceptance letter.

It says

Dear Mr Krishner

This is with reference to your letter dated January 17, 1992 --- which I found on my desk only a few days ago, since I was on long leave. Anyway, this is ust to inform you that we have neither a shredder nor a lady in high heels in our outer office mailing rejection slips. Yes, we do have one in our inner office, but that bit of information is rather irrelevant, since your short story will not have to go by that route. Look for it in the Weekly issue dated February 29, 1992.

With best wishes,

Radha Rajadhyaksha

Assistant Editor.

Now these were the times before the e-mail and the SMS invaded our lives and made communication terse, functional, or merely banal.
Author: Frank Krishner

Abhivyakti: Subaltern Voices

As usual, the 9th Ravi Bharati Bihar Low Cost Film Festival featured a few films that provoked responses. One of these films was Debaranjan Sarangi's  'From Hindu to Hindutva'. This film revisited the scenes of the worst ever anti-Christian riots in Orissa and presented the various voices and viewpoints around the Khandamahal carnage. The film was mis-named.

Several people visited the festival with the sole purpose of seeing the film, and one of them was Mr Patrick John, a fairly well known commentator in the Patna Church media. He expressed his appreciation of the film and said that  it showed how religion is being use as an excuse to wipe out the minorities. He called for the Christians to find ways to heal the wounds. A pious thought, no doubt.

Rajinder Dash a former administrator who has handled some of the worst communal conflicts in Bihar during his time, mentioned that the film clearly stated the complexity of the problem: the clash between the militant missionaries on both sides of the divide: Hindu versus Christian; the other issue of it being a Dalit versus Adivasi conflict over land and resources, a third angle being the adivasi communities pitted against the mining companies, and a fourth angel being the political angle: administration, its political alliances with the mining lobby. The root of the clashes were mainly economic, he pointed out. Rajinder Dash, being an Oriya and familiar with the langage of the film and the area, said that the area was so remote that it was no surprise that the adinistration took a couple of days to repond to the violence.

If  Debranjan Sarangi's film [screened on the first day] presented the complexity of religious hatred and manipulation in the name of religion to commit murder and genocide, Arzoo, directed by Shashi Ghosh Gupta [screened on the last day] was the story of a young Muslim girl who rose above the hatred and trauma caused by the Gujarat genocide, and did something beautiful for children. the film was rated the most outstanding of the evening. Arzoo, agreed many participants, was the answer to all the Kandamahals and Gujarats. The courage of conviction of the protagonist of Arzoo shone through the film. Young people took an instant liking to the film. One participant said that the film should be shown in all the colleges of Bihar.

Morality TV or Living a Jehad – Ek manohar Kahani by Paromita Vohra sparked off a lot of reactions - outrage, disgust, incredulity, and wide eyed amazement at the blatant way in which human rights are violated in small town India, how news is manipulated and how myth and lies masquerades as news, the way the small town media of Indore panders to the Hindutva Brigade, and how the police and society targets women. Even women policemen are hand in glove with this regressive repression. Someone said.. "Just look at that sickening display of corruption and coercion... nothing like that would happen in Bihar....and yet they give Bihar a bad name!

The beauty and pace of Do Din ka Mela by Anjali Monteiro and KP Jayashankar took many viewer's breath away, and discussions ranged around the beauty of the shots, and certain sequences, the subtle humour, the nuanced editing.

Student films also sparked off debates and appreciation. BRIDGE THE GAP by Sharanya Gautam & Shilpi Gautam was appreciated for its very interesting use of symbols to argue for holistic primary education. Inside Out by Divya Cowasji and Shilpi Gulati sparked off a considerable discussion about a woman's right to space, a woman's right to her body, how the burkha has been portrayed as  a symbol of liberation, as a means for a girl to access spaces within the city, how the burkha isn't really a symbol of freedom, as a woman she should be able to claim the spaces without hiding behind the burkha and so on.

The films from Bihar were noticed for their portrayal of themes that many of the residents of Patna were not aware of - the beauty of Bhagalpuri silk, the forgotten wedding and birth songs from Mithilanchal, and so on.

Author: Frank Krishner

Bihar's RTE Dilemma

Background

The Right to Education Act, 2009 is a path-breaking piece of legislation that has widespread ramifications on the primary education delivery system. This Act will come into force on the first day of April, 2010. The Act calls for a substantial reworking and remodelling of the institutions and procedures at State level, as well as for the framing of rules under the Act that will ensure Primary Education coverage for every child in the state.

Objective

In order to effectively formulate the State Rules under the Act, a series of consultations have been organised by the Bihar Education Project Council with national experts, state implementation partners and decision makers and stakeholders.

The first consultation was held at State level on 18th and 19th February 2010 at Hotel Patliputra Ashok, Patna.



Mr Anjani Kumar Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Human Resource Development introduced the aims and objectives of the Consultation.

Addressing the stakeholders present, he pointed out that the Act was an ambitious one, specifically in the context of Bihar. He stated that in the past decade and a half, the kind of development expected on the elementary education front didn’t happen due to multifarious reasons.

“We can see that, in respect to other states, our state was quite backward in student-teacher ratio, school rooms, quality, teacher training, and facilities for disabled children. In the past three to four years, we have taken some measures which have resulted in the improvement of the situation to a small extent, but the ideal platform for us to launch such an ambitious Act does not exist at present,” he said.

The RTE Act had already been passed and was expected to come into force on the first of April. Bihar would have to do a lot, and do a lot of new things to implement the provisions of the Act.

The Principal Secretary HRD urged the participants to examine the ramifications of the Act carefully and try to come up with solutions. He highlighted some of the challenges.

Parameters have changed a lot. For example it was quite difficult to bring the teacher-student ratio to 40:1. In the recent past, the government had appointed more than two lakh teachers, but even more teachers need to be appointed to attain that standard. If, in conformity with the Act, the ratio is made to 30:1, the question would be from where would three lakh teachers come? The Act calls for trained teachers, where would these teachers come from, he asked.

[The Act stipulates that EVERY child betweeen 6 and 14 MUST access school Compulsorily, and the STATE shall ensure this as the Act comes into force April 2010 ]

There are different categories of teachers at present, but under the Act all teachers would have to be trained and meet a nationally determined standard.

Stressing on the fact that the law had been passed and that there was no room to debate the provisions of the Act, he said that the Model Rules were a guideline along which individual states would frame the rules taking into consideration the local conditions, possibilities, and constraints.

He drew attention to the existence of implementation time frames within the Act, and asked the participants to deliberate on the ways and strategies that could be used to handle these time frames.

The Act calls for all schools to be registered with the Government, and the good thing about this would be that a minimum standard would have to be maintained in all schools. If these minimum standards were not maintained, then the schools would have their registration cancelled. He pointed out that there was a danger of harassment for private schools and complications in this context, and stresses the importance of evolving a system whereby implementation would be smooth and transparent.

It would be necessary to prioritise the areas of implementation, taking into consideration the priorities in the State. A workable time frame for the implementation of each aspect would have to be worked out.

One of the major challenges would be the fiscal aspect. Financial resources and allocation for different components would present a challenge.

He pointed out that currently education spending was about 15 percent over the budget allocation. The implementation of the new Act would weigh heavily on the state exchequer, and the challenge would be mobilising resources to meet the projected expenditure of approximately Rs 28,000 crore. He mentioned that even the developed states were finding it difficult to muster the resources required to implement the RTE act, and that it was generally felt that the Centre should contribute towards 90 percent of the resources required for implementation.

Mr Anjani Kumar urged the participants to come up with an implementable road map taking into consideration the ground realities of the State. He said that even though the issues thrown up by the RTE looked huge, it was not a time to be disheartened.

He said that the participants present represented a wide range: NGOs and pressure groups for educational reform, private schools, and stakeholders and it was his belief that the two day consultation would throw up useful recommendations that would help in a viable and priority based implementation road-map for Bihar.


Author: Frank Krishner
Frank Krishner documents several educational initiatives for UNICEF, the State Government agencies, and other International Organisations. This post and subsequent ones on the consultation are for the purpose of general awareness and for the response of the enlightened public.

Video in the ELT classroom

I have been using video technologies in the classroom since the late 1980’s. From videotapes to DVDs and streaming video from the Internet, the visual mode is still the most powerful and popular medium of communication. Far from being mere entertainment, carefully chosen films are, in fact, useful and highly motivational teaching tools for practicing listening skills and stimulating speaking and writing.
Though video technology became affordable in the late 1970s, video became an even more widely available teaching aid in the next twenty years or so. Today, although the CBSE[1] recommends the use of selected films in the classroom, its penetration into everyday classroom practice and course/syllabus design hasn't been deep. In fact, the video is still an outsider in over 90 percent of Bihar’s ‘English Medium’ classrooms. It’s a shame that even in University classrooms, the number one teaching aid at an ELT teacher’s disposal is usually a stick of chalk.

How can teachers use video in the classroom? Most often it is used either to present students with spoken language input for listening practice or to elicit student language output via speaking or writing. Videos may also illustrate cultural and nonverbal behaviour and can also be used for teaching a variety of content (e.g., “about” linguistics) and skills (e.g., media literacy, literary criticism, comparing book and film versions). [2]
Looking back at the early days, it may be recalled that the first pedagogical practice was the direct adaptation of existing methodologies to incorporate the new technology. The 1960s and 70s had seen the emergence of the functional/notional approach to describing and teaching language, and this had begun to substitute transformational grammar as the main underlying principle behind materials and course design. One example is the appositely titled "Video English", a series of videos which took the main functions of the English language (e.g. greetings and introductions, asking for and giving information, etc.), and developed short sketches around them. The videos were accompanied by useful teaching notes, classroom activities, transcripts, suggestions for teachers and additional language material.

I use videos in several ways in my language classes. Actually, there are broadly three kinds of videos that I use. The first category is gleaned from BBC English language teaching resources. These are specially designed teaching videos that are developed around a teaching point and come with a downloadable script that can be very useful for teacher and student alike. The second category is popular films and episodes from television series.
The third category – which the teacher in India can acquire with a little bit of resourcefulness – is the adaptation of authentic TV and video material for language teaching. Two examples are the BBC's "Television English" series, in which excerpts from (mainly non-dramatic) UK broadcast TV programs are the focal point for well-written language learning activities, and Sony Corporation’s teaching materials based on a limited number of major feature films.
In addition to these three main categories of video resources, there is content or theme specific course material such as “Business English" and "Tourist English" videos, as well as courses using cartoons, aimed at children.

How does one use video in the classroom? Like other ELT practitioners, I have developed my own techniques. These techniques are far from new. One such technique is silent viewing. The students view a sequence, for example of a couple ordering a meal in a restaurant, and then attempt to generate an appropriate dialogue for the scene. The actual dialogue can then be used as a model from which to adapt the students' efforts. Alternatively, if the students are already familiar with the dialogue, they can use the silent re-viewing to reproduce the conversation. The reverse technique is to play the sound only, and have students discuss what the scene might look like. The teacher may also make good use of the ‘pause’ or ‘freeze-frame’ option, to check comprehension and to answer unanticipated questions. In some viewings, students should be encouraged to indicate if they want a pause in the viewing to pick up on points of confusion or general interest.
There are a number of features found in real spoken language but not in typical teaching materials. Real people mumble and talk with food in their mouths; some speak rather rapidly and use nonstandard forms; they incorporate different levels of formality and colloquialisms; they talk in incomplete sentences and use all sorts of pause fillers, hesitation phenomena, and the like. Differences in speech may be found from those of different regions, ethnic groups, social classes, ages, even gender. Speech is full of variety and ambiguity and students need to develop some ability to deal with this, even if it’s just to learn how to ask for clarification when they don’t understand something. Using video examples, teachers can guide students do deal with language as it is really used.[3]

Normally, however, merely watching and listening is not enough in the classroom. Teachers have to structure activities around the video. We may have the students summarize the plots of movies or entertaining TV shows; they may be encouraged to describe specific scenes or characters in detail. For news or information programmes, students may be encouraged to locate specific information by looking for the answers to WH-questions such as What happened? To whom? Where? With some other stories , they may be interested in discovering he answers to: What is the problem? What are the effects? What caused it? Are any solutions suggested?
The abovementioned activities incorporate listening and understanding, as well as writing down key information, and talking about the video with others. The activities might take the form of comprehension questions (multiple choice, ticking off, or completion), note-taking, and discussion. The students may also be asked to fill in blanks in the transcript while listening or to focus on certain lexical and grammatical usage. This, of course means that the teacher has to do his (her) homework well, planning out the activities and developing the task sheets that are to be used in the class.

On a more practical level, where the classroom is fitted with a television and cable connection, such as the one we have at the Department of Communicative English with Media Studies in Patna Women’s College, it is possible to let the students have access to English news programmes aired on satellite channels such as NDTV 24x7, Times Now or CNN-IBN. The English news on Doordarshan can be a fairly useful tool to help beginners with weak vocabularies and limited exposure to the spoken word familiarise themselves with registers.
The television programmes that I have found most useful are those that relate directly to the students’ worldview. The popular chat show ‘Koffee with Karan’ , NDTV’s talk show ‘We the people’, and the quiz show ‘Are you smarter than a fifth grader?’ can be potent language teaching tools.

One of the great advantages of video is that it provides authentic language input. Movies and TV programs are made for native speakers, so in that sense video provides authentic linguistic input. Students in Bihar are usually taught to memorize some grammar rules and vocabulary; the actual ability to use the language may or may not follow. When faced with a real native speaker, they panic. The unfortunate situation prevalent today, especially in the ELT ‘teaching shops’ is that ELT teachers in are not native speakers of English, and in this context, the judiciously used film/TV show can be used as a substitute for the ‘authentic’ native speaker.

[1] Central Board of Secondary Education
[2] Katchen, J. E. (1996). Using authentic video in English language teaching: Tips for Taiwan’s teachers. Taipei: Crane.

[3] ibid


Author: Frank Krishner
Frank Krishner is a journalist, film-maker and documentation specialist who has authored the weekly column “Wordsmith” on English usage in the Education Times (Times of India). He has been teaching mass communication at Patna Women’s College for the past decade.

Meena teaches and entertains

60 children from 13 schools were invited to Abhivyakti 2008 to take part on a special Meena animation film appreciation workshop sponsored by Kalyanpur Cements, one of Bihar’s leading cement brands.

Abhivyakti is the bi-annual documentary and short film festival held at Ravi Bharati, Patna.

“I don’t think that only boys bully girls, the bigger girls in my school also bully smaller ones,” said Aditya Kymar of Don Bosco Academy.
“It is a very bad thing, teasing and making fun of girls. Big boys and naughty ones do it along the roads. If a girl has to pass that way, she will feel frightened. A girl who is harassed should complain to the teacher or her parents,” said Aparijata, a 14 year old girl from St. John’s Academy.

But what happens if the girl being teased belongs to a very weak section of society, and the boys who block her way to school belong to very powerful village families?
The students got together to enact their own version of the Meena film “Whose afraid of bullies”. In their story, the parents were powerless, and the teacher afraid to take action, but the children persuaded them to take the matter to the Panchayat.

The Meena animated series of films that raises several issues is an excellent value education tool, and this has been demonstrated by me several times at various AASRA Charitable trust media workshops for kids. The Meena workshops at the video festival at Ravi Bharati were a bi-annual feature, and we were always thankful to Mr Augustine Veliath, the Child Rights Officer at Patna (now in Delhi) for his unflinching support till 2004.

This year, Kalyanpur Cements, who are known to support local community building initiatives, readily helped us out with the required funds, thanks to Mr Faisal Alam, the Vice President sales and marketing. Mr alam visited the workshop and praised the kids for their presentation and acting skills.

The film “Ladki hi hoga” based on the desire for a male child, had the participants marking out things girls were not allowed to do at home and in the neighbourhood. The list was long indeed. Then the boys listed things that they were not allowed to do, even if they wished to: some said they were not allowed to enter the kitchen, others said that they were scolded if they touched a broom or washed clothes. “Girls can wear jeans, but we are never allowed to wear girls’ clothes,” piped up twelve year old Prem from Nav Deepti school. Aman Sinha from Don Bosco said that his mother insisted that he help with the housework, so he had the freedom to wash, cook, and clean.
The children worked out ways to end stereotyping in their neighbourhood and among friends. “In the modern world, it makes good sense to learn cooking, or else when we go away from home, we’ll face trouble,’ said the boys.

The film “Ek Ladki ki kahani” brought home discrimination because of lack of knowledge and fear, and enabled the participants to talk about HIV AIDS and broader issues of discrimination. The film on dowry, had the children discussing the futility of laws that cannot be imposed because they do not have general acceptance. It also brought about the misconception that city dwellers have that villagers are fools and out-of-date. The Meena film showed that an aware village headman and enlightened citizens could resist the machinations of crooked city dwellers.
The show was compered by Miller school student Alok Kumar. [in photo handing over the memento to Mr Faisal Alam]

The children had loads of fun. There were games, snacks and a wholesome lunch that was part of the proceedings.

Author: Frank Krishner

Alternative Voices

Documentaries from Jharkhand dominated the recently concluded Abhivyakti 2008 festival in Patna.
The smog caused by sponge iron factories over Simdega and the resultant pollution of the rivers and forests caused an uneasy silence in a packed auditorium in Patna. ‘Loha Garam Hai’, a 27 minute documentary on the simmering anger in the tribal regions over the unethical poisoning of water, land and air sparked an animated debate in the discussion session that followed. The film by Jharkhand filmmakers Meghnath and Biju Toppo was one of six films from Jharkhand that were received with enthusiasm by a discerning audience of media students, media educationists and practitioners at the 8th Ravi Bharati Video festival.

The story of two women writers placed within the context of the Adivasi reality, “Buru Gara”, received audience acclaim. The title means “Hill River” and it was an apt metaphor for the quiet struggles of the two women. Dayamani Bara, the first Munda woman journalist and the Sahitya Academy awarded Santhali poetess Nirmala Puthul. Adivasi literature of Jharkhand and tribal women’s literature in particular was the subject of this striking documentary.

“Gaddi Lohardagga Mail” was a piece of nostalgia replete with lilting tribal music that sang of the narrow gauge line that carried tribals from the interior pf Jharkhand to Lohardagga – a train that not only enabled tribal produce to reach the marketplace but also one that aided in the migration of families to faraway places. Bihar Film Development Corporation Chairman RN Dash, shared his reminisces with the audience on the Lohardagga Mail, which made its final run in 2003. The film was produced by Akhra, a Ranchi based media organisation and directed by Meghnath and Biju Toppo.

Jharkhand filmmakers such as AK Pankaj, Sriprakash, Meghnath are trailblazers who have contributed significantly to the evolution of the Jharkhand documentary. The works stand apart for their grass-roots appeal, and they tell the story from bottom –up. They are truly authentic voices.

Director Shishir Tudu’s short film ‘Akshar ki Barsaat’ used puppets kids and a rural setting to bring home the importance for literacy. The music of this film was especially appreciated.

The three-day Abhivyakti festival attracts entries from media students. It is a platform for student and amateur film-makers to showcase their work and get instant and detailed feedback from peers, media educationists, critics and film makers. 12 student films were shown from various colleges in Bihar, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. Student and children’s workshops on film appreciation and regular evening screenings are part of the fare. Other documentaries of note were “Our family” a sensitive and sensitive portrayal of the transgender Aravani community of Tamil Nadu by Anjalai Monteiro and KP Jayashankar and Buddha in Bodh Gaya 2007, a one minute short by film artist Pranav Shahi.

Author: Frank Krishner

Abhivyakti 2008

Patna, Bihar 11 ,12, 13 April

The 8th Ravi Bharati Video Festival

Since the early 1990’s when VHS was a new medium, and the video cassette recorder was making its way into middle class homes throughout the country, Ravi Bharati organised the first All Bihar VHS video festival to encourage local video-film makers in the new medium.
The idea was to enlist camcorder in the cause of social communication; to use the relatively low-cost VHS as an alternative to the expensive, establishment-oriented ‘mainstream’ mass-communication machine.
Today, with computers and convergence media bringing down costs still further, the role of video as a narrator of the realities of the marginalised, the displaced, and the alternative, is evident to many.
Every two years, Ravi Bharati celebrates this with a three day alternative low-cost festival, inviting videos made by enthusiasts, students, children, idealists, social workers, educationists, documentary film makers and assorted activists. In 2004, “Abhivyakti”, the word for expression in Hindi has been chosen as the name of the festival. The films are intended to provoke discussions and ideas, and there is time for discussion after each film

Author: Frank Krishner

Bihar's Vijay Mallya?

Restaurateur, Property Developer, Realtor, and recently acclaimed Maruti Udyog Limited Best Entrepreneur of the year Rakesh Kumar Sinha is considering a career switch. Like his inspiration, Vijay Mallya, he might become a parliamentarian, to contribute towards a new, vibrant Bihar.

At sixteen, his dad presented him a Mercedes while he was still a student at St. Xavier’s Patna. At eighteen, while a studying at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, news came that his father, the well known businessman and philanthropist Shashi Babu was no more. An only son, he had no option but to take over his father’s business at that early age. Sinha has recently returned from Athens with the Maruti Udyog Limited Best Young Entrepreneur of the Year award . He received the award at an All India dealer’s conference in Greece to felicitate Maruti authorised dealers.

‘My individual mantra is to thing big and have the courage to invest,” says Sinha, inspired by the Vijay Mallya Kingfisher idea. His two year old car dealership not only beat Calcutta based dealers during the recent Durga Puja by festival selling over 350 cars in three days, his Vau’s Automobiles is the only one from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and Orissa to make the top 25 in the country.

Sinha took the plunge and invested in a state of the art, all glass showroom and automobile workshop at a time when other dealers were apprehensive to keep shutters open beyond 7 p.m. “In a sense, I am a pioneer. I’m not just selling a car, I’m selling a beautiful experience, an aspiration. People said that my glass windows would be smashed and that Bihar was too rowdy a place to take such a risk. Yet I gave people a beautiful show-room and kept my lights on till eleven pm. Nothing happened. This gave others the courage to invest in beautiful showrooms as well.”

“I want to enter the Lok Sabha to provide a fresh dimension to politics and governance. It’s a dream to do something different, not just earn money. Of that I have enough. I’d like to do something that will add more respect to my family name, and honour my father’s memory, he says.

For more stories on Bihar etc click here

An art student's protest

Ragging has suddenly become the hot topic of debate, with Indians seeing it as an oppressivbe practice. in the US, 'pledging' or joining a fraternity at college has similar and even more bizarre practices, but nobody becomes so protective there.

Stripping off one's clothes and doing crazy things are all part of the 'dare'.

In India, however, the cultural, sociologocal, political and caste consepts and the Victorian legacy rolled into one make the practice of hazing a very grey area. Several unfortunate cases have come to light. A section of the students feel it's prudishness and stupidity on the part of the 'no-ragging activists'. Victims and their families have a different take, especially when some first year students ended up dead.

Prashant, a student from the Government college of Arts and Crafts, Patna, Bihar exhibited a painting aptly entitled 'First Year' which sought to communicate his own feelings when he had undergone a similar 'initiation' as a fresher in College.

For more stories about incredible Bihar, click here

Information

Check out the new Fragmented rainbows here

http://fragbows2.blogspot.com/

Bihar's Muslims: in an educational Ghetto?

According to a Planning Commission report, only one per cent Muslim women and 3.4 per cent men in urban areas are graduates. In rural areas only 0.7 per cent Muslim men graduate and women graduates are too few to even register on a survey. Across India, Muslim literacy rate is 59.1 per cent, while the national average is 64.8 per cent. And 90 per cent Muslim students drop out by the time they reach high school. FRANK KRISHNER examines the Bihar situation.

In terms of education, Muslims fare much worse than the scheduled castes and tribes across the country and the problem is more economic than cultural, say a broad spectrum of Muslim citizens.

“It just isn’t true that Indian Muslims are backward-looking and resistant to education. Poverty is the over-riding factor. There are few government schools in pockets where there is Muslim majority and that’s why the kids are sent to the Madrasa, not the other way around, “ says Hasan Nezani, Principal of Patna Muslim Science College. Nezami, who once taught at the Military school, Ajmer, returned to Patna as the Principal of the Patna Muslim High School. The school, established in 1938, was reeling under several problems, including low attendance. Nazrani turned it around, lobbied successfully for its affiliation to the CBSE board, and today it stands as a much sought after provider of secondary education among the community.

The contribution of the community to education in this state has been significant. In Bihar, there are several secular and forward-looking Secondary and Higher secondary schools run by this minority community. In Patna, Rose Bud School ranks among the best English medium schools affiliated to ICSE. Its name is a reference to Pandit Nehru’s favourite flower and symbolic of his love for children. Mrs Rizvi, its founder principal is well known for her unflinching commitment to secular and democratic values. Rose Bud, as also International School are co-educational institutions whose alumni come from all sections and communities.

“It is not a fallacy to say that Bihar Muslims are in a ghetto in more ways than one,” says Meher, a Mass communications undergraduate. “The way to get them out of the ghetto is through modern education. A small number of families of Muslims are middle class or upper class, and these families usually form their own social group. Unless the boys get modern education, they will not get proper jobs, and the community will remain as it is.”
Interestingly, Meher is just one of over 24 Muslim girls studying mass communication in the two media related departments of Patna Women’s College. For the past three years, about twenty percent of the students of Communicative English come form the community.

However, the picture with reference to primary education isn’t as encouraging. Many Muslim parents do want to send children to government schools and learn English rather than send them to Madrasas. Surveys and complaints to Waqf boards show that government schools in Muslim-dominated areas are too few. The Sarva Shiksya Abhiyan, seems to have met roadblocks in Muslim areas, says Nezani. ‘The main reason why the children are being sent to the religious schools is because they are given ‘bhojan’. If only some financial help could be availed of, things would be different.
Recently, the spotlight has been on the Justice Sachar report on the condition of Muslims. The Sachar Committee, looking into the representation of Muslims in every sphere of national life, has not yet tabled its report. The Planning Commission already has an action plan for Muslim education. It’s proposing a scholarship of Rs 1,000 per month to every Muslim girl in the country and an incentive of Rs 10,000 to higher institutes for every Muslim graduate. No doubt, it is a radical plan that will involve an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore.
A working group on education for Muslims, appointed by the Planning Commission, has submitted a roadmap for making education more accessible for Muslim children, especially girls. It’s heartening to know that there are a some modern schools for girls being run by the community, which cater to all sections of the society in Bihar, however more needs to be done as large numbers of Muslim girls continue to be kept home.

There is a sense of urgency in these Planning Commission recommendations. It is imperative that all young people be empowered to access gainful employment. No section of society can be left behind, if India, and Bihar for that matter, is to move towards meaningful development. The roles of the members of the community who are actively promoting modern education are the key to the aspirations of the Indian Muslim.

Toleave an opinion visit this link

Jamalpur, Pioneering Railway workshop

Jamalpur Workshop has the proud privilege of being the only railway workshop , where broad gauge cranes for railway's use are manufactured. This is the only railway workshop where large, microprocessor controlled 140-Ton capacity break down cranes for Indian Railways are manufactured indigenously with very little import content.
This workshop has completed over 140 years of glorious performance and dedicated service to the Nation. Ironically it stands alone in the Industrial desert of the northern part of Bihar in general and in Munger District in particular.This is the only workshop in Indian Railways to have been equipped with its own 5 MVA Power house.

Read more at
http://fragbows.blogspot.com/

Engineer, Tinker, Tiger-man, Chief!

Olive Ridley turtles, a biogas plant that uses conduits made from recycled polythene, a hand-cranked rechargeable lantern, tigers and civil engineering! These diverse entities have a single degree of separation: 37 year-old Chandan Singh.

Singh, who heads the India office of the Toronto based Green Power Canada, started out in 1994, armed with a fresh degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Sri Jaichamrajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), University of Mysore. His first job was as a site engineer of HUDCO, Mysore. He went on to become Project Engineer and Chief Project Officer for FanucGE, a Japanese multinational at Bangalore, and for Resources & Results, Mysore,
He returned to his home-town Patna five years ago. In 2004, he became Chief of the first Greenpower office outside of Canada. Why the career switch?
“Its not a career switch, per se”, says Singh,” its more like I started giving more time to the environmental aspect after coming to Patna from Bangalore. Frankly, the engineering projects I was doing in Patna were repetitive in nature and were more of pen- pushing. I collaborated with Dr Bindeshwari Pathak of Sulabh International, and was developing a railway waste accumulation and storage for them, but the project was shelved. system During the same time Greenpower Canada contacted me and I started working on the Biogas projects. During this time I was developing a biogas plant which out of plastic or polythene sheets, and it was later successfully installed at Chandanchaturi and Laxmiposi villages near the Similipal tiger reserve. This plant, made totally from waste recycled material and polythene sheets, is probably the first one to be installed in India."
For those who know him, it was no surprise. Since he was a little boy, Chandan was into practical wildlife protection. He used to buy snakes from snake charmers and set them free at Patna zoo.
Since he made the conscious decision switch to environmental based services ( as a social entrepreneur) from his full time engineering based career, he has no regrets. “I get to do what I really like and that's made a huge difference .It’s good soul food and the work satisfaction is really great. I meet a lot of interesting people from all over the world, spend quality time in the wilderness, work at the grassroots level and can actually make a difference. It feels real good!”
The money factor for environmental-based projects? The pay packages are good, and if one starts early, it's compatible to the best in industry.
If one is passionate about environment and loves the outdoors, saving the world from itself has immense possibilities. “Students from Patna should take up environmental causes in their spare time. Students are the best vehicles of awareness and pro active involvement from them is going to pay rich dividends to the society and to themselves as well.

Chandan has also developed a project around hand-cranked lanterns which use white LED’s and a battery power source. Once charged, it gives 6 hours of reading light. It is designed for use in deep rural areas where there is no electricity.

“Environmental engineering is a part of Civil engineering, and after coming to Patna I am giving more time to the environmental aspect of my training than the construction and designing side, “ says Singh who is also a senior consultant with a Patna based construction firm. Environmental engineering is just like any other engineering course, and is offered by universities across India. It is basically a civil engineering curriculum with special emphasis on water treatment, air, soil and water pollution etc. One can go for a full degree course, or do a B.Sc in Environmental sciences. Apart from these, one can undertake vocational courses on environmental management, Forest management, Rural planning and development which are also useful if one wishes to pursue this as a career.

The world needs bright young minds to find solutions, to conserve resources and protect nature. Environmental Engineers and other streams related to protecting our planet are important and adventurous as well, he says.

Constraints of the Media, with special reference to local and vernacular media units

Frank Krishner
[THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT THE MADHYA BHARAT AREA 'MILITARY-MEDIA SEMINAR HELD ON 28 MARCH 2007]

The relationship between the Armed Forces and the Media has always been an uneasy one due to their contrasting needs.

The Armed Forces are always prone to secrecy while the media is generally trying to pry open secrets.

Yet, since the Second World War, there has been a worldwide realisation that these two institutions need to coexist to achieve the ultimate goals of the nation.

General Eisenhower wrote in 'Crusade in Europe’, "The commander in the field must never forget that it is his duty to cooperate with the heads of his government in the task of maintaining civilian morale that will be equal to every purpose. The main agency to accomplish this task is the press."


L N Subramanian, in an article “Media as force multiplier” wrote: “In India, we have a poor history of media relations. The Armed Forces closed themselves off and were content with the odd archaic newsreel on the forces. The most glaring example of this early on is the case of the 65 Indo Pak war, which even after a sound thrashing, the Pakistanis got themselves accolades by wining and dining the Western media. However, it is in the arena of internal security operations that poor media relations have really hurt the armed forces, the Government and the country at large.[1]

Constraints of the media

Let’s look at a few basics from the journalist’s point of view.

I cut my journalistic milk teeth in North Bengal, Sikkim, and Meghalaya during the troubled mid eighties and early nineties, and have had the opportunity of seeing reality through the eyes of the ‘small and medium’ newspaper establishment.

Perceptions: In border areas, where the security forces have to battle home-grown insurgency, relationships between the two establishments are at its best wary, and at its worst strained. The Army Jawan and his officer are often viewed as bullies, lacking sensitivity of local customs and respect for women. The army sees civilians and their institutions as tiresome, undisciplined and irritating. It cannot understand why the editors should give space to ‘the enemy’.

The media must be responsible, but to whom? The vernacular media is born of the soil; it reflects the aspirations of the people. The conflict is not black and white. There are shades of grey.

During CI-ops [counter-intelligence operations], the army finds itself in an unenviable position. Much of the troubles one sees are actually manufactured by civilians [the politicians], and over a period of time, when they get out of hand, then the army is called in. It is called upon to execute a job. Contain the insurgency. It expects that journalists support the efforts ‘wholeheartedly’ and ‘serve the nation’, and not wail over a few broken eggs.

Friction results when the local press is seen to be carrying stories and statements from rebels and other local leaders who may not want to toe the government line. It’s a question of perspective: civilians expect negotiated, long term solutions within the ambit of human rights. After all, they share their ethnicity, culture and space with the ‘rebels’.

As for the army, ‘most CI Ops are conducted at the Battalion and lower level and it is at this level that efficiency is understood solely by the body count or 'kills'. Here the broad aim of ending the insurgency gets translated to 'take no prisoners' and exterminating the 'Anti-national Elements' - terminology not without political significance.[2]

The army expects the press to ‘do its duty’ and pass on information to nab the ‘anti-national elements’.

The foot-soldier journalist is also in an unenviable position.

A credible journalist must maintain his links to the sources of information, and has to be trusted by them. He cannot be an ‘informer’. He has to be equidistant from the politicians, the police, the army and the insurgents and yet close enough to be trusted by them so as to get accurate and reliable news. Quite a tightrope performance!

There is also the factor of civilian – armed forces interaction. People living near the army camps sometimes come into conflict with the Jawans, be it over a goat, a brawl, or over the more serious charge of molestation and rape. Reporters trying to investigate will usually come up against a stone wall. The army has its own code, and brooks no interference from the civilian press. Statements are not prompt and forthcoming. Communication gap. The local press reports will portray the army as hostile and insensitive. The army will say that the local press is biased and unfair.

Constraints in power equations:

The vernacular media and the local press are often vulnerable to pressure and threats by militant groups. Local reporters are usually underpaid, existing on shoe-string budgets. Even for the town-based correspondent of a ‘national’ newspaper, it’s imperative that he survives to write his story. The local editor-cum-owner of a small newspaper cannot afford the luxury of having his press burnt down, or his paper boycotted for not publishing a press note by a militant group.

On the other hand, the editors of most local English language papers have cordial relations with the army and security forces. Vernacular papers may not share the same ‘status’ with the local army brass as English language papers.

Constraints of time: The press needs to deliver its news fast. It needs accurate, timely briefing. There are deadlines to be met. Stories cannot be kept on hold indefinitely while one waits for a response from the appropriate Army spokesperson.

The money factor: The press survives on revenue from advertisements. Vernacular and local papers often have no option but to survive on Government advertisements and political patronage. Not much of the budget is available for news-gathering. The main source of news is the wire-service. This is supplemented by the local press-release. The local editor actually needs press releases. Press releases cut down news gathering costs. An army press-release is usually carried.

Lack of expertise: Closely linked to the preceding point, not all media organisations can afford to have a designated reporter who is an ‘army expert’. Covering the military is a different ball-game. For example, not many reporters know what the armed forces do in their UN peace keeping assignments.

To the majority of the vernacular and local language reporters, ‘news’ means whatever they have been assigned to at the moment. Rapport building exercises by the army are largely regarded as a ‘jaunt’, and the expected payoff should be so many inches of column space and a few pictures.

The situation is fast improving with new recruits coming to the profession with degrees in journalism, and the availability of background material on the internet which is just a click away.

Lack of knowledge on military matters: The Civilian press needs to be trained in the technique for military reportage. I illustrate the point by directly quoting Subramanian:

The importance of the media in India’s first television war can be gauged by the fact the Kargil Committee report devoted a separate section to this issue. The report noted that while the coverage was satisfactory, it was apparent that the media lacked training in military matters and the Armed Forces lacked the training to facilitate the task of the media.

Since the MOD information cadre was not up to the task of handling the media, the briefing functions were taken up by a group of senior civil and military spokesmen.

Army HQ set up an Informational and Psychological Warfare Cell with direct access to the Army Chief to monitor and disseminate information in a calibrated manner. While this was in the capital there were no corresponding arrangements at the Corps, Division and Brigade levels. This resulted in wildly inaccurate and speculative reports of intruders capturing a number of Indian Army bunkers, building three storied bunkers with cable TV and buying cement from the Dras – Kargil market. (A similar characteristic observed in reports of the recent arms depot fire at Bharatpur)

The lack of knowledge about military matters resulted in umpteen reports questioning the absence of the army chief away in Poland as well as the Northern Army Commander away in Pune at the same time. These operations were limited to Corps level and were handled as such. [3]

The way ahead: Regular interaction between Army and the Press, along with a tendency towards openness on the part of the army, especially when civilians are involved or hurt or killed as part of the action.

The media should capitalize on the great news potential of the human interest story. The stories of the army men who lost their lives in counter-intelligence operations as newsworthy as those who die in war, but are rarely recognized as such.

The media should train its reporters and correspondents so that there is a better understanding of the working and constraints of the military. This, of course, can only be possible with Army cooperation.

On its part, the military must also examine and respond to such important ‘civilian’ concerns as Human Rights, regular and open briefing, and freedom of expression.


[1] L N Subramanian Article: Media as Force Multiplier Bharat Rakshak Monitor - Volume 2(6) May-June 2000
[2] Bikram Jeet Bhatia Article; A ‘general’ need for reform, May 2005, India Together {website]
[3] L N Subramanian Article: Media as Force Multiplier Bharat Rakshak Monitor - Volume 2(6) May-June 2000